《Reborn: I'm A Dragon Girl With An OP System》
Chapter 1 Do You Believe In Being Reborn?
Billows of smoke rose over the horizon. The fires of war were zing. I stood alone on top of the ridge, looking down at the massive army in front of me. Yes¡ I was alone. I had no massive army to aid me. That was because my small vige was left to live or die on its own. You may think I am dumb foring here alone. But I have no choice. If I let this army that numbers in the tens of thousands push any further, my home, my family, and those who have treated me kindly over the years would die.
I am not some saint, nor am I some hero. If I do not know you, I will not run to try to save you. I am only doing this for those I care about and nothing more. If I happen to save lives that have nothing to do with me, then it¡¯s their luck that they were included.
I know it might sound crazy, and I know I might sound rash, but I am someone who holds close bonds dearly. My kind parents who raised me with so much love and care. My older brother who protected me when the vige kids bullied me. The auntie that lived next door who always baked a few extra cookies for me. There were many who truly treated me as their family, and I am grateful for their kindness. The least I can do is repay that kindness by protecting them all.
One may ask where I got the courage to fight such arge army alone? One may ask if I was afraid of death? Ignoring the first question, for now, the second question is easy to answer. Yes, I am afraid of death. I am very scared of death. In my opinion, anyone who says they are not scared of death is an idiot, or at least I would have thought if this was before¡
As for the first question¡. Well, I have a secret that I have hidden from everyone since I was young. A secret that expands past the world I am currently in, to a ce called Earth. It¡¯s hard to exin, but before I begin, let me finish things here¡ -.
Raising my head to the sky, I raised my hand up with an open palm. My eyes glowed slightly as faint magic circles began to appear within them, and softly from my lips, I spoke a single phrase. ¡°Grand Fall¡¡±
¡ª
¡°Faith, what do you think of him?¡± My friend Jen, short for Jennifer, asked as I was forced to watch the guys ying ser out on the school¡¯s field. This year I just turned sixteen, and I can say I have never had a boyfriend in my life. It¡¯s not that I am ugly or anything of the sort, it¡¯s just more of a, boys are a waste of time thing. Some may say I am making excuses, but it is what it is. I would prefer to keep what precious time that I have for myself in doing things that are less stressful like reading. Yes, I am what is called a book nerd or bibliophile.
To me, reading is life. I love getting lost in a story and picturing myself as the lead of the novel. The idea of bing someone who can cast spells and go on amazing journeys has always been something I loved. But s, in a world where science rules, there is no such thing as adventure anymore.
¡°Faith, are you listening to me?¡± Jen nudged my shoulder, breaking me out of my daze.
¡°Sorry, I was thinking of what I would readter on¡.¡± I truly was thinking about the novel I just started reading. It was very interesting. About a world of magic and a girl who grew up from nothing to be someone everyone had to look up to.
¡°This is why you will never get a boyfriend!¡± Jen yelled while pinching my cheeks. It hurt. I do not know why she does this. It¡¯s not like I have chubby cheeks. I only weigh around one hundred pounds.
pping her hands away, I pursed my lips. She always brings up the fact that I have never had a boyfriend. ¡°Who cares about boyfriends? All it is, is a fuss. I would rather not deal with. Plus, having a boyfriend means my¡.¡±
¡°Yes, I know your precious reading time would be taken up. Geez¡ Faith, I wonder what will happen to you in the future. If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that you went out to exercise every day, I would think you were a neet. Anyway, now tell me what do you think of that guy there.¡± Jen brought the conversation back on topic.
I looked down at the boy she was talking about and saw nothing really noteworthy about him. Maybe it was just my sense of not understanding what the opposite sex should look like to be appealing, or maybe my thought process of a good looking guy has been ruined by the novels I read. Either way, I found nothing amazing about him. He may be good at ser, but so what? Will he be an amazing star someday if he continues down this road? Probably not. It is more likely that he would end up at some dead end job trying to make ends meet. Unless he actually goes to college to get a degree in something that will make him money in return.
Either way, there was nothing for me to see. So I just stared at my friend Jen with a nk expression which she knowingly sighed and held her head. ¡°I swear Faith¡ What happened to the cute girl who used to run around and do so many things when she was younger? Now you are just a cute girl who hides her looks behind her sses and long ck hair.¡±
I wrinkled my nose at her question. What was the point in being cute? Right now, I am at the top of my ss, working hard towards my future. Yes, I know some say to enjoy life to its fullest when you are young, but that won¡¯t give me a good paying job that will allow me to cover my hobby. It is already bad enough that I still have quite a few years before I finish my education but still¡
¡°Alright! I will stop. There is no changing you.¡± With thisst sigh from my good friend, I left the window to go sit down.
My days at school normally went on like this. It was an easy life. I never thought for a moment that my life would change that same day.
¡ª
As usual, after school, I walked home with my best friend, Jen. We were always together. She was like family. She was my sister through and through. No matter what happened, she would be by my side. She was always overly protective of me, shielding me from anything that might cause me harm. Like one day, she had beaten up three boys who corned me in the school hallway. They got mad at me because I wouldn¡¯t do something they asked. We were in elementary school at the time, and the idea of differences between males and females was not instilled into our minds back then. So they had no problems with using force against a girl.
But Jen became my knight and shining armor that day and really let them have it. We have been together since young, which meant my parents and her parents were also friends. So it was only natural for the two of us to be close.
Now while I might be airheaded at times when my mind wanders about a book I read, Jen was the person who would not think before acting. And on this day, that is exactly what happened. We were crossing the street at the time and were just about to step back onto the sidewalk on the other side when Jen suddenly realized she had dropped something.
She turned and bolted out to pick up the object she dropped. Until this day, I still have no idea what she actually dropped. I only saw a truck barreling towards her. It seemed the driver might not have been paying attention.
People say that your body just moves on its own. There is no rhyme or reason for it. It just instinctively moves. When I saw Jen was about to be hit by the truck, I shot forward while screaming her name. ¡°Jen, look out!¡±
¡°Ahh!¡± I pushed hard, shoving Jen with all my might causing her to tumble over. I only saw her distressed look before I felt something heavy hit my body, knocking me to the ground. Thest thing I remember was a stabbing pain in my head and Jen¡¯s crying voice calling out to me. ¡°Faith, no! Faith, stick with me! You can¡¯t die on me!¡±
I have never heard Jen so desperate in my entire life. I could already feel my life force fading. It was a scary thought, but I already knew I was about to die. I regretted a lot. I regretted making my best friend have to feel like she was the cause of my death. Knowing she would need to live with such pain from this moment on tore me apart. I wish I could have apologized to her. I also regretted not finishing the light novel series I just started reading. It was very good. It was all about a silly dragon girl¡ Andstly, I regretted not being able to say goodbye to my parents, who raised me with love and care. But now I would not have such a chance¡.
The strange thing about life is that things only be known once they have been discovered. For me, reincarnation or being reborn after death was only something you would see in fantasy, and I have read a lot of fantasy. I am not sure if I was ever supposed to retain my memories of my past life, but when I opened my eyes next, I could clearly remember everything. It was just that¡
Chapter 2 A New Life
¡°It¡¯s a baby girl!¡± I heard a voice yell out along with a cry of happiness.
I had no idea what was going on. I was having a bit of trouble even opening my eyes. It actually took a few minutes to open them, and when I did, I realized something was off. ¡®Yeah, this is not right¡.¡¯
In my peripheral vision, I could see my name, Faith, and under that were two bars, one blue and one red. The red one had numbers in it that read: 10/10. But the blue one was a bit abnormal. It just showed an infinity sign. I was not sure if this was a bug or not.
While I did not y games much, I can say for sure that this was a mana and health bar. I mean, any novel about online games had such things.
When I shifted my gaze to the old woman looking at me with a concerned look, I suddenly realized something was very wrong. I was not sure why but the old woman seemed very very big¡ Almost like a giant.
It may sound crazy to say, but it was truly my thoughts at that time, that I had entered a world of giants. It actually took me a few minutes to realize the baby girl they were talking about was me. I had just been born. But what I did not understand was why the old woman was staring at me as if I had seven heads.
¡°Mr. Cyrilia, you should take a look at this¡.¡± The old woman said before I felt my body being handed over to someone else.-.
To be honest, I was not expecting that I would be blinded by the handsome man who came into view. He had fiery red hair and orange eyes that looked strong yet soft at the same time as he gazed at me. ¡°Looks like our littledy has inherited our ancestors¡¯ blood¡ This is troublesome¡.¡±
His words gave me a bad feeling. I started feeling like I might end up being discarded. I had no idea what kind of deformities I had, but I was sure whatever they were was not good, at least going by the expressions I was seeing. ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter¡.¡± After a few moments of silence, the man spoke. ¡°She is my daughter, and I will care for her as such. Nothing will ever change this fact. She is and always will be my precious daughter. We can only hope and have faith that she will be able to ovee the things that happen in the future.¡±
While thest part of what I am now sure are my father¡¯s words, did sound ominous. I now know that my father is a good man who seems to love me even with whatever defect I might have. While I am scared to know what is wrong with me, I am sure I will figure it out as time goes by, I mean I do feel something is off with my body. Hopefully, it¡¯s not something serious like I am missing parts of my body or something else. If I could move around better, I could check, but sadly, the most I can do at this time is move my mouth and eyes. ¡®Being a baby sucks¡¡¯
¡°Have faith, huh? Faith, what a pretty name! Darling, let¡¯s name her Faith.¡± I could hear a young woman¡¯s voice. For some reason, I could feel a strong attachment to this voice. I instinctively knew she was my mother. I was also surprised that my name was now going to be the same as before. In a way, I was very happy. This was the name my parents in my previous life gave me, after all.
¡ª
Six months passed, and I was now able to sit up on my own. I had to work really hard at it as my current body, well, you know, baby bodies are not all that strong. It was not like I was idle during this time. While a little embarrassing, I had to get used to the nanny changing my diapers. It was quite embarrassing to have to tinkle in my pants. But after a while, I did get used to it. As they say back on Earth when in Rome do as the Romans do.
I found out my parents¡¯ names. My father¡¯s name was Sander Cyrilia, and my beautiful mother, who had strikingly white hair and deep blue eyes, was named Lilith Cyrilia. They were a very happy and loving couple, and they both showered me with love. While I still loved my parents from my past life, this new life was not bad at all. I would be sure to treat these kind and loving parents before me with the same love and care they are giving me.
We were not rich. The house we lived in was very simple wood construction, two bedrooms and not much in the way of furniture. But I do not mind. I would prefer to be poor in a loving family than in a rich family where everyone was cold.
Another thing I found out was that I was not a single child. I have a five year old brother. He always stayed many feet away from me when he was alone. It seemed he was afraid of harming me. Although I did grip his finger one day and giggled at him which caused him to smile. As I am a baby, I should at least act like one, right? To be honest I have no idea what I am doing as a baby but since I can not do anything else, I just fake it when people are around. So far things seem to be working out well.
Now for the so called defection of my body. Well I am clearly not fully human. While my parents are, it seems my father has ancestors who were dragonkin. Yes this was a different world. It was definitely not Earth. Magic existed here. My mother and father like to cast small spells to entertain me.
I also learned a lot while sitting in my mother¡¯sp as she taught my big brother Eric. He was a bright child who already knew how to read and write. Well read and write well for a five year old that is. My mother would teach him to read, write, history of the world I now live in, and math. In terms of math, it seems that magic needed a bright mind who could easily do math to conjure up magic circles. While there was simple addition and subtraction, the world also had its own branch of math that was far beyond me, but I was learning slowly. I did find some simrities to math on Earth which was helping me a little bit. My problem was that my little newborn brain was too small to fullyprehend things. I hoped this would fix itself as I got older. The more I tried to learn, the more sleepy I felt.
As for this new world¡¯s history, I found out I am on a continent called Chomoris in a town called Wandermere. The town was situated in the Gravos Kingdom. There was at one point and time a race of dragons who had ruled over the world. No one could stand up to their power. But for some reason, without any reason why, they all disappeared, only leaving the half breeds known as dragonkin. And as I said before, I was not human. I am a one hundred percent dragonkin.
I had a chance to see my own reflection a few times, and I have my mother¡¯s hair and my father¡¯s eyes. Besides that, I have a few dragonkin features. Red stubby horns that stick out of the side of my head. Slightly pointed ears. Bumps on my back which my father said was where my wings would grow out, andstly, a red scaled tail. Yes, I have a tail, and to be honest, It¡¯s quite a handy thing to have.
It¡¯s not like it¡¯s just there dangling between my legs. I haveplete control over its movements. In fact, I have been using it to help me move around some. But other than these aspects, I looked human. Luckily I should grow up to be a beauty, although there is a slim chance I might grow up to be ugly. It has happened before where all the good looking genes disappear somewhere and are lost in the whole formation of the fetus. If I could cross my little fingers, I would, just to be on the safe side.
Then there was the system. Yes, the system. It seems it is no different from a normal game system. Although it is pretty basic, and I have no spells to be seen. I figured out how to make the system menue up by saying status within my mind. It showed me my basic stats.
[Name]: Faith Cyrilia
[Age] 0.5
[Level] 1
[Race] Dragonkin
[HP] 10/10
[MP] ¡Þ
[Status Points] 0
[Strength] 0.2
[Vitality] 1
[Intelligence] 5
[Mind] ¡Þ
[Agility] 0.1
I can only guess that my high intelligence is because I am reborn. Vitality is probably due to being a dragonkin. But I am still confused about the mind and mana stat. I mean, why infinity? I have no idea if this is actually true. This symbol could be something else entirely. If it does end up being true, then it would be somewhat OP.
Other than this, everything else seems to scale pretty well. I know I have levels and also status points, but I am unsure of how to get any of these. I wonder if I have to kill things. Maybe slimes or spiders? Should I be wary of killing some MC from one of the novels I read? Well, if I do identally kill them in the future, then I will apologize now. Not that with my puny strength, I would be able to do anything of the sort.
Oh yes, it seems my body growth will also naturally grow my stats. When I first opened my status window, both strength and agility were set to 0. But over the past six months, it rose to a whopping 0.2 and 0.1! I am moving up in the world! When I get older, I n to work out and learn everything I can. I don¡¯t want to be some muscle freak, but I do wish to be someone strong. I will need to have something to keep my mind off things anyway. There are no light novels in this world. Sadly my greatest hobby is gone. But I am very intrigued by magic, so I will be looking deeply into that.
Chapter 3 Quiet Days
And so two years passed. I have learned a lot in the past two years. Well, I mainly concentrated on learning what I could about the makeup of magic circles. I have officially gone from being a bibliophile to being a magicliophile. I know I made up a word, but there was no other way to describe it. The concept of magic in this world really intrigued me. Magic of this world was not all about chanting spells and creating things like in the fantasy stories I read back on Earth. Casting can be done instantly as long as you know the runic equation that created the spell. At least, this is what I have learned so far. I really want to try magic, but I am also afraid I might mess up. So until I can get proper lessons like my older brother, I will have to wait.
My daily life is pretty simple, and to be honest, after living sixteen years having to go to school and studying all the time, this kind of carefree life is not bad. Although I am sure, I would definitely be even happier about this kind of lifestyle if I was even older before I died.
I still think back to my old life from time to time which brings me to tears when I think about the people I left behind. Unlike novels where the protagonist somehow forgets everything that happened in their past lives, their parents and friends, everything seems to fly out the window the day they show up in a new world. I mean, it would be different if they had nothing in the past lives, but a lot of the novels I read, these people had families and friends, yet as soon as theye to a new world, they start yelling y the demon lord and what not.
Luckily there is no demon lord in this world¡ At least, I do not think so. Nothing I have heard so far mentioned anything about some supreme evil. Then again, my doting parents might just be keeping these bad things from my brother and me.
Speaking of my brother. He is turning into a handsome young man, and he is always bringing me things back from his time outside. Anything he finds shiny, he will bring back to give to me. For some reason, he thinks I have an obsession for shiny things. I could reject his gifts, but when I see his shining eyes, I can not bear to say no.
I am able to walk and run around now. My stats have also risen as well.
[Name]: Faith Cyrilia-.
[Age] 2
[Level] 1
[Race] Dragonkin
[HP] 30/30
[MP] ¡Þ
[Status Points] 0
[Strength] 2
[Vitality] 3
[Intelligence] 5
[Mind] ¡Þ
[Agility] 1
My strength rose a lot, and so did my vitality. My intelligence is still the same I am not sure if it is just harder to raise because it is already high or that I might actually be stupid. I hope it is not thetter. What I found out about my stats is that my vitality is actually linked to my health, which was good to know. As for my mana and mind, they still show an infinity sign. I can only hope this doesn¡¯t mean something like null. With my current interest being magic, I would hate to find out that I can¡¯t even use it.
Today is a special day for me, though. I can finally go outside. I am actually quite excited because I have been locked up indoors. My mother and father said that going outside is very dangerous due to the monsters that roam around. While we may live in a small vige, monsters, do sometimes roam through it. In other words, monsters will be searching for food, and I would be a prime appetizer.
¡°Eric, you are not to leave the yard with her, and you must keep an eye on her at all times. Also..¡± My mother was lecturing my brother, but for some reason, her voice went quiet, and she began whispering into his ear. My brother was also nodding his head with a very serious expression.
I waited patiently by the door as Eric walked over and took my hand. ¡°Faith, make sure you stay close okay? I do not want to lose my cute little sister.¡±
His words made me smile. My family were truly caring and loving people. ¡°Mmm! I promise.¡±
I had finally learned to walk well enough during the winter. And as the snow began to melt, my little legs finally allowed me to run. During this time as well, when no one was looking, I was also doing things like pushups, situps, and squats. Although I can¡¯t do more than maybe five of each at this time. I was still able to build up some strength. I was actually almost caught a few times but yed it off as if I was dancing. Luckily it worked.
The outside world I could see through the window of the house. We lived in a vige that was located on a high grassy ridge. Because there were no trees blocking the view, You could easily see far off into the distance. One day I hope to see the sights of this world. At first, it was unique because there were two suns and three moons. Although I am used to seeing them now, it is still an amazing sight for me.
As I walked out of the house holding my brother¡¯s hands, my bare feet touched the soft grass, which felt like I was walking on clouds. It was soft and springy and tickled my toes as the des wiggled their way into between them. My tail swayed as my brother brought me to the side yard. It was a small yard with a short stone fence warped around my family¡¯s small wooden cottage. It was a simple life, but to bepletely honest, I love every bit of it. The air is fresh, and the sounds of the songbirds singing in the morning were music to the ears. I was fully enjoying this new life.
I sat on the soft grass, enjoying the warmth of the day. I plucked some long des of grass and began weaving them together. This was something I used to do with Jen back on Earth when we were young. By doing this, I feel like I am a little closer to her. ¡°Faith, what are you making?¡±
¡°A wreath! Brother, do you want me to make you one too?¡± I asked while smiling at my most handsome brother, for someone who was only seven years old. I felt slightly bad for the girls who fell in love with him. Eric was the serious sort and always said things bluntly unless it came to me. Even with our parents, if he did something wrong or if they did something that did not seem right, he would point it out tly without holding back. But when it came to me, he would always tiptoe around me, afraid of making me mad. He was very cute.
¡°If you want to make me one, I will dly ept,¡± Eric replied. I could see the anticipation in his eyes which made me giggle inside. I shed him a wide smile and nodded my head. ¡°I will make you one then!¡±
While I worked on my brother¡¯s grass wreath, we talked andughed. I felt lucky to have a brother who was willing to keep mepany so I could y outside like this. But who would have thought that there were bullies in this world?
¡°Oi! Eric, why are you hanging out with that halfling for? Don¡¯t you feel disgusted for having such a monster in your family!?¡± I heard a boy yell out over the fence. I looked up to see a pudgy young man wearing fine clothes standing there ring at me.
If I was truly of the mentality of a two year old, I would have probably started crying due to this brat¡¯s harsh words, but luckily I am not. I have always expected this since the day I was born. And I think this was also the reason why my parents did not allow me outside. I know they were not embarrassed due to my looks but more concerned over my well being. They did not want anyone to affect my self esteem. Sadly, no matter which world you live in, bullying seems to be something that will always appear.
¡°Trent, I do not care if your grandfather is the vige elder. If you say one more thing bad about my sister, I will not hesitate to beat you up.¡± My normally calm brother suddenly yelled out in anger. Seeing him stand up in front of me to protect me made me feel warm inside. He was definitely a good big brother.
¡°What¡¯s going on? Trent, did you say something to my daughter!?¡± Ah¡ Mother is mad. That voice is the voice she would yell at father with. I peeked out from behind my brother to see the big bully¡¯s face turn pale. It seemed he was afraid of my mother. Humph! Serves him right. To be honest, I think I will grow up to be very beautiful. Wait until he sees me then. And if he still tries to pick on me, then I will just beat him up myself.
¡°Mrs. Cyrilia! I was just stating the truth!¡± Trent finally spat out. He seemed to have summoned up all his courage to say that before turning around and running away. His courage onlysted a few seconds. I figured as much. All bullies were like that when faced with someone stronger.
After the brat ran away, my mother came over and picked me up, trying to console me. Not sure if she thought I was sad or what, but her embrace was warm, so I didn¡¯t say anything. ¡°Eric, you did good. If anyone tries to pick on your sister, you must protect her, okay?¡±
¡°Don¡¯t worry, mom. I will always protect Faith.¡± My brother¡¯s righteous reply made him look like a little man just then. He will surely make his wife happy in the future.
Speaking of wife, it seems in this world, girls and boys reach adulthood at fifteen and normally have a family going by sixteen. It may seem young, but this was just how it was. Of course, you will not see me with a husband by that age. I will be too busy with magic. Although this seems to be more of a thing for poorer families while the upper ss will have engagements at fifteen and then married at eighteen.
But like I said this is far beyond me, and I do not n to get married anyway. If I am able to use magic, I will do nothing but work hard at learning everything I can so I can study magic even further. Hopefully, that day wille soon. But for now, I will just enjoy my quiet days.
Chapter 4 Learning About Magic
My days were just that very quiet. While I was not offended by what Trent said that day, my brother would only allow me to y in the backyard right behind the house. I understood why he was doing this, but I still felt a little sad about not being able to see more of the area from outside the house.
There were days, though, that when my mother was done with her chores that she would take me outside to the front yard. So I always took this chance to look around and take in the view. It was very important to me to see the outside world. It was a ce without tall buildings or densely packed housing. More like what you would find back on Earth, except to get to the next town would take you a few days to a week or more instead of ten minutes to an hour.
As the days went on, my mother discovered that I knew how to read. I was caught reading one of the books on the basics of magic. After a bit of questioning, I finally gave in and said I understood how to read some of the books. On that day, my mother shouted out happily: ¡°My little dear is so smart and bright!¡±
In a way, she was not lying. I mean not to toot my own horn, but when you are in a new world with a newnguage, you have to learn things from the ground up. But maybe because I was someone who remembered their past life from the very moment they were born that I was able toprehend things much faster than an average kid. But since that day I was caught, I finally began getting proper lessons in magic. Although I have not been allowed to put any of it to practical use.-.
There was a disease called ¡®Mana Sickness.¡¯ It was something that kids under the age of five would get if they began using the mana built up in their bodies. In this world, mana was part of everything. The air we breathed, the nts on the ground, it was everywhere. Even the food I ate would have strands of mana in it.
But because my body was still young, it was dangerous to move the mana within our body. If I did, it could cause my body to react to the mana, and I could end up with mana sickness. Every living being, when first born, needs time to allow their bodies to strengthen. While I was pretty sure my dragonkin body was most likely able to handle it, I did not dare risk it. My mother scared the pants off me when she told me that those who get mana sickness not only have a shorter life spans but are also unable to cast magic.
To be honest, when I learned of this, I began sweating buckets and thanked my smart brain for not being stupid and trying to use magic at such a young age. I can not even count how many times I thought about trying to put into practice the things I learned during the days when my brother was being taught practical magic.
So right now, the lesson I was being taught was very much a tease. ¡°As I said during yesterday¡¯s lesson, magic consists of many different calctions. The faster you can process the calctions, the faster you can cast a spell. While some spells are as easy as adding a few runes together, when you begin adding in runic calctions, things get veryplicated. Not only will you need the correct amount of mana to cast such spells, but you will also need to be able to calcte the spells fast enough to even make them viable.
¡°It is not like you can cast a spell and take your time during the process of it. When casting, you have at a maximum of five seconds to cast a spell. This includes even the highest tier spells such as Grand Fall, which has over a hundred runic calctions.¡± I watched as my mother waved her finger around and created a small magic circle in front of her. It shimmered with a bluish light as it floated gently in the air. I could see the runic markings within it, but only half the circle was filled up with these runic markings.
¡°This here is a simple everyday water spell. Ifpleted, it will fill up a bucket of water. But as you can see here, I onlypleted half the calctions that were needed. (?????) These big runes are the main runes that correspond with the element, which in this case is water, while the smaller runes, (???? ??? ?????? ?? ????? ?? ??), indicate what the you want to do with this spell. For this rune, it would be, fill the bucket in front of me. But as you can see, I do not have a bucket in front of me which would then turn the house into a bucket. Which is why when ites time for you to actually practice magic, you will only be allowed to use magic outdoors under strict supervision.¡± My mother smiled as she said this, but there was a deep meaning within her words. It was one of those, if I catch you doing magic indoors, I will spank your butt and make you clean up the mess, meanings.
¡°As you may have noticed, this is only using runes to tell the magic circle, which element to cast, and what to do with it. The runic calctiones in on the activation sequence. We will not go over that today. Eric, you already know all of this, so I won¡¯t ask if you understand.¡± My mother turned her gaze to me and smiled warmly. ¡°Faith, if you have any questions, please let me know.¡±
It seemed my mother was doing a refresher course on magic today. But it was quite informative, and to see a magic circle actually formed in front of me while being exined helped a lot. While it may seem weird, the first half of the circle had the element name spaced out with the conditions being written in between. When you put the whole form together with the runic calctions for the activation sequence, you could then cast the spell. But a question came to mind when I looked at this. And since I was one to always ask instead of holding back, I raised my hand. ¡°Mother, if someone already knew the answer to the runic calction, could they just use the answer of the calction with the condition to quickly cast the spell under a second?¡±
I guess my question was not what my mother was expecting. She looked at me with round eyes of shock before her lips curled up to a big smile and began pping her hands together. ¡°Faith, you truly are a genius! Your question is actually a very good one.¡±
My mother seemed extremely happy that I was so smart for my age. Even my brother Eric nudged me and gave me a thumbs up. I am d my family does not find me weird for being unlike a normal two year old. Normally I would do my best to act like a child of my age, but when it came to things that I am very interested in, all my acting skills went out the window, and my desire to know more about my interest takes over. Like now in how I asked such an un-little kid like question. At any rate, I was still happy for the praise, and this could be seen with how my tail was wagging back and forth. Sometimes I wonder if my ancestors were part dog or if dragons really wagged their tails when they were happy.
¡°To answer Faith¡¯s question, the answer is simple¡. No. it is not possible to just ce the answer of the runic equation into the magic circle and make it activate. The runic equation is what is used to channel the flow of magic into the magic circle. It regtes the magic in the magic circle in order to use the proper amount of magic that is given within the condition. Now before you ask, ¡®how does the runic equation understand what the correct amount is?¡¯ The question is much more difficult to answer, and to this day, no one actually knows.
¡°Magic has always been part of our world and has been in use since even before the first civilization to document it was created. We do not know how or when the first spell was created, it could just be something that was just known from birth and is still an ongoing topic within the magic academy in the capital city.
¡°We only know that the magic is being restricted within the runic equation to limit the amount of output the magic creates. This is why without a proper activation sequence, with its runic calctions, no magic circle will ever be able to produce magic.¡± It truly amazes me how my mother knows so much. From what I understand, my parents have never left this vige and were childhood sweethearts who got married at fifteen and had my brother by the time they were sixteen. The only education they got was from their own parents. This was just how small viges like mine worked. But the way my mother exins things was very simple and easy to understand. I was soaking this information up left and right, and now I felt a challenge. I wanted to be the first person ever in history to create magic circles without needing the lengthy activation sequence.
And so now I have a short term goal. Of course, I still had to wait until I was five to actually cast any spells due to the fear of getting mana sickness. But just the idea of being able to do something no one else was capable of was something I couldn¡¯t help but dream about. Just thinking about pointing out towards my target with my finger and instantly sending a fireball out without much effort made me shiver with excitement. This was the same excitement I would feel when reading light novels back on earth when the main character would suddenly burst out with some amazing power. Those kinds of scenes would send chills of excitement down my spine, making me want to cheer the main character on out loud. I, of course, refrained from doing that as it would be embarrassing, but I would giggle like a fool when I read such parts. At any rate, I now had a firm goal in mind.
Chapter 5 Mana Flow
Today I am very excited. I am currently outside, and after three long years of waiting, I am now five years old and am able to finally begin magic training. Surprisingly during these past three years and my strong dedication to studying and working out to grow stronger, my stats have raised exceptionally.
[Name]: Faith Cyrilia
[Age] 5
[Level] 1
[Race] Dragonkin
[HP] 100/100-.
[MP] ¡Þ
[Status Points] 0
[Strength] 7
[Vitality] 10
[Intelligence] 8
[Mind] ¡Þ
[Agility] 6
I am not sure if it¡¯s because I have been working out and running around a lot the past few years, but along with my strength and agility stats, my vitality skyrocketed as well. To be honest, I do not think I would even care so much about how strong or fast I was if not for the fact that I have a system that showed me my progress. That and my brother seems to have be my trainer. During the past three years, there were a few more times when the kids from the vige would show up to take a ¡®look¡¯ at me. And as always¡. Kids are mean. But it was always the same, calling me a monster or some kind of demon.
I mean, they even called me ugly! Me! They called me ugly when I am, and I do not mean to sound conceited, but I am beautiful! My mother and father are also beautiful looking so I can only thank them for that. I guess worrying about not getting their looks was unneeded. Anyway, because of this, my brother worried for my safety for when I was finally old enough to roam around on my own. So he began helping me with training. This also included sword training. Yes, me, the bookworm, is suddenly bing a swordmaster¡. Well, I know how to swing a sword, at least.
Speaking frankly, using a sword is not all that bad. Kinda makes me feel like a hero from the novels I read. Anyway, my past few years have been fruitful if you ignore the idiots. And more importantly, I am about to be baptized in using mana. I will finally be able to cast my first spell, or at least I hope. I have memorized every single spell in the magic books our family owns. Surprisingly we own a lot. I am not sure how it is for other families, but we have an entire bookshelf of nothing but magic books, like ten in total. And some are even on advanced magic.
Sadly though, the only thing I haven¡¯t been able to figure out is how to achieve my goal of not needing to always use the runic equation to activate a spell. I wouldn¡¯t mind being able to instacast some summon magic. I mean, how cool would it be to suddenly summon a weapon like gungnir? Or maybe even excalibur? Unfortunately, I have no idea if there is such a thing as summon magic in this world. I couldn¡¯t find any information on it and when I asked my mother she did not seem to know either.
¡°Faith, are you paying attention?¡± My mother¡¯s dutiful teacher¡¯s voice broke me out of my thoughts. She was going over the basics once more, and well, I have them all memorized, so it does get boring after a while. Of course, I would never say this out loud because I did not want to anger my mother. She is thest person in this world I would want to anger. I would rather get in a fistfight with my father than anger my mother.
I quickly straightened my back and looked at my mother while nodding my head: ¡°Yes!¡±
¡°Good.¡± Ah, she gave me that knowing look. But she also knows I have memorized everything. So it seems she will let this slide. ¡°You may begin. Just do it like I taught you.¡±
Finally! I got the okay. To start off, before I can actually cast any spells, I have to first circte my mana in my body. I felt a shiver of excitement as I tried to concentrate. After so many years, I could finally begin the process of using magic.
¡°Faith, listen carefully. When you are trying to use mana for the first time, it is best to allow the mana in your body to flow around naturally to allow you to get the feel of how the mana flows around your body. Now close your eyes and find the mana hidden in your body. It is normally around the top of your stomach. Sometimes it can be found in the chest area as well.¡± My mother was very right about the positioning of the mana in my body. I would never tell her that I have already discovered where my mana was.
My mana could be found near the center of my chest, closer to my heart. I am not sure if this was because I was a dragonkin or not, but my mana source seemed quiterge. I closed my eyes and concentrated on my source of mana. I could feel a slight warmness in my chest as I stirred the mana within my mana source. I did my best to start with a small flow of mana, just a small hair sized strand of it, so I could not overwhelm my body.
The strand of mana flowed naturally around my body. I could feel it slowly getting smaller as it made its way through. It seemed parts of my body were soaking in the extra mana. After it disappeared, I pulled another strand out this time, it was twice as big. I did this a few times before deciding to allow my mana to flow out naturally. But as I did, I heard my mother yell out to me: ¡°Faith!¡±
I opened my eyes to find my hair fluttering about, and in front of me, dust and rocks were swirling around, while the grass bent sideways from the wind. I suddenly felt worried that something was wrong and looked up at my mother, who had a hand over her mouth staring at me in shock. After a moment of disbelief, she came to her senses and yelled: ¡°Faith, slow your mana and restrict as much as you can.¡±
I slowly nodded. I had no idea what was going on, but from my mother¡¯s words it seems my mana was causing this unusual phenomenon. I kinda felt like one of those super guys from that anime show bear balls z, at least I think that was the name of it¡. I did not close my eyes this time as I wanted to focus on my surroundings as I slowly tightened the knob on my mana flow. As I did, the reaction to the world around me slowly subsided until the dust and rocks settled on the ground. The grass that was bent over from the strong gusts of wind I was generating slowly stood back up as well. I never thought I would make such a scene on my first time, allowing mana to flow around my body.
¡°Faith, do you feel okay?¡± My mother asked. I could tell she was very worried about me. I can guess why I mean, after all, I just turned into an action hero. But to be honest, even when my mana was flowing out of me, I did not feel any difort. I felt perfectly normal. I actually felt veryfortable. Right now, my mana is only flowing slowly out in a tricklepared to the floodgates I opened earlier.
¡°I¡¯m fine. I do not feel weird.¡± I replied. I even made a show of it by jumping around and running in ce. Only when my mother saw I was still very spunky did she finally let out a sigh of relief.
¡°That¡¯s good¡ I was afraid you used every drop of your mana. But now I know you must have a veryrge mana source. Can you feel how much mana you have left?¡± Now this question here was a bit tricky¡.
I have both mana and health bars. I know my health does drop because I fell once two years ago and lost a single point of health. I really scuffed up my knee and elbow pretty badly. But for my mana, I had no chance to actually find out if my mana would be reduced if I used it at all¡ I mean, I have an infinity sign for my mana amount. And well¡ Looking at my bar now, I think I could have released even more mana from my body indefinitely. Of course, I can not tell my mother that, so I am forced to lie. ¡°I have like a little less than half left.¡±
¡°Oh my! To think my baby has so much mana. You really are a genius!¡± My mother seemed to be very excited. I hated lying to her, but I had no choice. It was not like I could say I have a system and seem to have infinite mana in a world where no such thing exists, or at least as far as I know. From everything I have read, every being has a limit on their mana source, and if it runs out, it will cause the person to faint, and in worse case scenarios, they might even die from mana deficiency. I have read about such things in books. This was also why I said just under half because if I said it was too low, my kind and caring mother would definitely be scared. and begin to freak out. I did not want to see that.
But now, she was hugging me and praising me for being some kind of sublime being. Well, as long as she is happy. I really owed my parents a lot for taking care of me and defending me from those who scorn me because of my looks, which I think they are just jealous of. I mean, who wouldn¡¯t find me cute? I have cute red horns on my head. A set of red bat-like wings on my back, and my red-scaled tail is very pretty, like a red emerald. My long white hair with my orange eyes fits me perfectly. Yes, I sound like a narcissist, but the truth is the truth. But the more I think about it¡. I might look like a demon to those around me. Aw well¡ It is not like I am here to impress them, nor do I care what they think about me. Only those who treat me kindly will get the same treatment in return. As for those boys who always say mean things about me. Well¡ Hehe¡. Just wait a few days when I finally get freed from the confines of the stone walls of my yard. I will teach them a thing or two¡
Chapter 6 My OP System
Sadly I was forced to rest for the rest of the day. I studied magic for a while, which quickly turned into ten hours. This world, called Mestea, day length was much longer than Earth¡¯s and was thirty two hours long. Due to the double suns, the night cycle was short, making the daytime much longer as well.
When it got dark, I closed my book, ate some dinner, and went to my room which was once just my brother¡¯s room, but now I share it with him, and climbed into bed. Although I was disappointed in the fact that I was unable to cast a spell, I was very happy that I had sessfully released my mana and allowed it to flow around my body. But strangely, I felt my body was much stronger than it was before. I mean, I could feel the mana being absorbed into my body during the process. I was not sure if this was the reason for this new feeling of strength but I did not mind feeling stronger. But as curious as I am, I opened up my menu. ¡°Status¡¡±
[Name]: Faith Cyrilia
[Age] 5
[Level] 1
[Race] Dragonkin
[HP] 200/200
[MP] ¡Þ
[Status Points] 0
[Strength] 17
[Vitality] 20-.
[Intelligence] 18
[Mind] ¡Þ
[Agility] 16
¡°Oh? Looks like I benefited from that. Or was it because of something else?¡± I mumbled under my breath as I stared at my stats. I have no idea just how strong this actually made me, but it did seem to at least give me a power up! I gazed at my stats, marveling at the high numbers when they suddenly changed.
[Strength] 17 ¡ú 18
[Vitality] 20 ¡ú 21
[Intelligence] 18 ¡ú 19
[Mind] ¡Þ
[Agility] 16 ¡ú 17
¡°Hmm?¡± I looked at the stats that had just increased by one without me doing anything, feeling very surprised. Of course, my first thought was something was wrong. ¡°Is it bugged?¡±
It was not like I could actually test it to see if it was bugged or not. I mean, I have seen my stats go up before on their own, but it was after I had worked out. My only way of testing to see if it would happen again was to stare at them. And so I did¡ Iid there and stared at my stats for what felt like an eternity but only ended up being around an hour. And that was when it happened again.
[Strength] 18 ¡ú 19
[Vitality] 21 ¡ú 22
[Intelligence] 19 ¡ú 20
[Mind] ¡Þ
[Agility] 17 ¡ú 18
¡°Is it really because I released my mana earlier?¡± I fell into thought trying to figure it all out when it hit me. ¡°My mana flow! I never closed it off!¡±
I remember that my mother told me to reduce the manaing out of my body but never told me to close it off, so I didn¡¯t! I quickly checked, and as I thought, my mana was still trickling out very slowly, seeping into my body, and was being absorbed by my muscles and organs. I had gotten so used to the feeling that I hadpletely forgotten that it was still being released!
I started to get very excited because if I never ran out of mana and was able to continuously keep my mana trickling out like this, wouldn¡¯t my stats continue to rise by one point an hour? That was thirty two points per day, and after a single year which was six hundred and fifty seven days, that was twenty one thousand twenty four stat points each! ¡°Isn¡¯t this too OP?¡±
I quickly calmed myself down because I knew I was getting ahead of myself. If such a thing was possible, I would end up truly bing a monster. I did not wish to expect one thing and then end up being sorely disappointedter on. I watched my stats for a while longer to see them change once more before deciding it was time to get some sleep.
[Strength] 19 ¡ú 20
[Vitality] 22 ¡ú 23
[Intelligence] 20 ¡ú 21
[Mind] ¡Þ
[Agility] 18 ¡ú 19
I woke up to the sounds of the songbirds singing by the windowsill and gently rubbed my eyes. I looked around my room at my brother¡¯s bed to see that he had already gotten up. He had been busy helping my father more out in the field. Evenst night, he did note home untilte. But this was to be expected of harvest season. It was a very important time for my family. Without selling our harvest, we would not be able tost the year. This also meant that my mother would soon be busy prepping the portion of our crop we will use for the family for storage.
Unlike Earth in the days of old, magic substituted for things like refrigerators. My father built arge box which was then imbued with ice magic to be used as a freezer to store our food stock. Of course, he would add to it when it was low by going out and hunting small game. Food was thest of our worries even though we lived so far from any other vige.
As for spices and other things that the family needed, we could trade for those when the merchant came every month. I have not seen this merchant myself, but I do hope to visit it the next time ites around, now that I am older.
After waking up some, I suddenly remembered what happenedst night and once again opened my status menu.
[Name]: Faith Cyrilia
[Age] 5
[Level] 1
[Race] Dragonkin
[HP] 300/300
[MP] ¡Þ
[Status Points] 0
[Strength] 30(Max For Level)
[Vitality] 30(Max For Level)
[Intelligence] 30(Max For Level)
[Mind] ¡Þ
[Agility] 30(Max For Level)
¡°Max for level¡ So I guess I can¡¯t just be a monster within a year. But it caps at thirty for the level, does that mean I can only gain thirty more points per level?¡± I really wanted to test this, but currently, I had no way of leveling up, nor did I even know how to level up. I closed the menu andpletely closed off my mana flow. But as I did I pped my forehead for being so dumb. ¡°What was I thinking by leaving it to trickle all night!? What if it suddenly dried up!?¡±
Now I know that my mind and mana stat have infinity symbols but what I just did was very risky! There was no way of telling if the stat was truly infinity. ¡°I will need to be more careful from now on.¡±
¡°Faith, are you up? Hurry up and wash up ande eat. We will continue yesterday¡¯s lesson.¡± I heard my mother yell, which instantly made me excited. Today is the day I will finally cast my first spell! For real this time!
I quickly used the big bowl on the table in the room that was used for washing our faces and sshed it over my face before drying it off and rushing towards the kitchen. I needed to eat quickly, or I would waste even more valuable magic casting time!
My mother chuckled as she saw me sitting down and shoving the food in my mouth. ¡°Faith, slow down, we have all day.¡±
¡°I know, but it¡¯s magic. I already couldn¡¯t cast it yesterday due to what happened, but today is the day! I have been waiting so long!¡± My eyes were shining, and my excitement was overflowing. I couldn¡¯t wait to finally cast my first spell!
My mother smiled warmly at me and ced her hand on my head, ruffling my hair. ¡°To see you so excited about something makes me feel at ease.¡±
My mother¡¯s tone was warm, but I got a little confused as she knelt down in front of me and took my hand. She looked up at me with a serious expression before she began speaking again. ¡°You must know that you are different from the others due to inheriting your father¡¯s ancestral bloodline. Demi humans¡ No matter what race they are from, are not well liked within the human kingdoms. Some kingdoms even enve them. Luckily our Gravos kingdom has banned very, but demi humans are still not treated fairly. Only those who are able to show they have talents that the kingdom can use are given special treatment.
¡°This is why when I first saw you reading at such a young age, I was so excited and happy. Faith, I need you to grow up strong and be ready to face a world that does not treat demi humans kindly. But I also want you to know that no matter what, me, your father, and your brother will always be here to defend you from the wrongs of the world. You are a beautiful girl and are very kind, although a little naughty at times. But all three of us love you very much.¡± Seeing the tears welling up in my mother¡¯s eyes also made me begin to tear up. I now understood why my mother was so happy when I did things beyond her expectations. Why she would always praise me for being smart. I reached out and hugged her tightly. I truly loved my family of this life. They were always worried about my well being and concerned about my future.
¡°Don¡¯t worry, mother, I will be amazing at magic so no one will look down on me.¡± I said softly. She only hummed and hugged me tighter. This was a day I am sure I will remember for the rest of my life.
I am not sure how things will end up in the future, but one thing I know for sure is that I will grow stronger, and I will make sure to protect the ones I love and care about. Those who treat me kindly will be treated kindly in return. But those who try to harm me or my loved ones, I will not let them off easily. I will not go around attacking people just because they said something bad about me or because they gave me a dirty look, but if they tried to harm me or my loved ones, I will then retaliate. This does not mean those mean boys will not get beaten upter¡. Hehe¡ I will make them call me big sisterter!
Chapter 7 First Spell
Today is a beautiful day. A gentle warm breeze blew across the grassywn out behind my house, causing the tips of the grass to bend ever so slightly. The puffy clouds in the sky slowly made their way by casting faint shadows on the ground. Songbirds were in the trees singing away. It is indeed a good day. But what made this day better than any other day is the fact that right now, at this very instant, I am about to cast my first magic spell!
The long awaited day was finally here. I just had to make sure not to make a scene as I did before. At least, I hope I do not shorten my magic casting time. I just need to make sure I keep my mana output to a minimal amount required for the spell.
I was excited when I saw my mother walking over with a small bucket and cing it in front of me. ¡°Faith, for your first spell, you will be filling this bucket with water. It is one of the best beginner spells because it will allow you to be anywhere and still be able to create water.¡±
I sighed internally hearing this. I knew my mother was saying this just in case one day I found myself alone due to being a demi human. A lot of books I read back on Earth talked about such things as discrimination against demi humans, and now that I am living in such a world, I guess it is true. Although Earth also had its fair share of discrimination as well. This was something I never understood and probably never will. All I know is that in a world where power isw, I just need to be stronger than others in order to not get bullied.
While I say power isw, this is not always the case. From the history books, I read that there are many kings and queens in this world. And while they might be powerful by themselves, some have powerful retainers who will follow their orders and are much stronger than those kings and queens. While I live on the continent of Chomoris, and this continent alone is as big as Earth itself, there are thirty more continents and millions of inds in this world as well. This is able to house over a thousand Earths. At least, this is my estimate. I do know that if you added up all thendmass and oceans on earth, it would just barely fit on the wholendmass of Chormois.
As for power struggles, those who are powerful with ambition could easily wipe out a country or two and take over if they so wished. There have been instances in the past where a king or queen angered a person so powerful that the next day their entire family was wiped out, and the person they angered took control of the kingdom. I couldn¡¯t help but think how cool that is. Of course, I have no wild ambitions to do such things, nor do I wish to wipe out anyone¡¯s family, I just want to be strong enough to protect my family from any harm.-.
¡°Faith, all you need to do is follow what I have shown you many times. Channel your mana into the tip of your finger and allow it to form the magic circle.¡± My mother was exining things to me as I copied her motions.
I released a stream of my mana and channeled it down my arm. The process was much simpler than I had thought. I figured it would take me a few tries to channel my mana the way I wanted, but it turned out to be very simple. It was no different than me wanting to move a finger. As soon as I thought about my mana moving to the tip of my finger, the mana all rushed to that point and patiently waited for me to give it its next order.
I then proceeded to give my mana the instructions on what I wanted it to do, and soon the magic circle began to form in front of me. I first started with the conditions of what I wanted the magic to do, which was to fill the bucket on the ground in front of me with water. Then I began adding in the runic equation and the activation word.
This was the slowest part of the process, and I already knew this spell would not cast, but I decided it would be best to take things slow so I would not suddenly cause a huge explosion or something. Although I am using a water spell, there was no telling what might happen if I was not careful.
Rune after rune began to appear on the magic circle, and my mother watched from the side with an approving look. She seemed to have noticed I was taking my time and being careful. Knowing her, she would definitely yell at me if I went too fast.
After a few minutes, I was finally able to finish my magic circle and added in the activation word. ¡°Finished.¡±
¡°Let me check it.¡± My mother knelt down and inspected the entire magic circle before nodding her head. ¡°It¡¯s perfect. Very well done. Now this time, do it faster so it can be activated.¡±
Seeing my mother smile so brightly when Ipleted something she tasked me to do with such perfection made me happy and a little relieved. Relieved because it meant I could put her worries at ease, even if it was just a little bit.
I drew back in my mana and redid the spell once more. This time I did it within three seconds. I had a much better feel for how things worked, so I was able to form all the runes very quickly. I am not sure but I think this has something to do with my intelligence stat.
¡°Okay, Faith, go ahead activate it.¡± My mother announced the golden words, which made me excited to see my first spell finally being activated.
I took a deep breath and watched with shining eyes as I spoke the magical words: ¡°Fill!¡±
A small ball of water began to form as streams of mana flowed out of the magic circle intertwining with each other. The ball of water slowly began to get bigger and bigger until finally, it was the size of a basketball. It slowly moved over the bucket and settled down inside of it before releasing and filling the bucket. I was so happy that my tail was wagging back and forth at an incredible speed. I was filled with so much excitement I couldn¡¯t contain my joy and jumped up into the air and shouted: ¡°I did it!¡±
¡°Very good! To be able to cast a spell on your first try is truly amazing. Faith, most kids would take a few days before even forming their first magic circle correctly. But you did things so smoothly as if it was second nature to you. I think magic is something you were born to use. As a teacher, I couldn¡¯t be more proud of you, and as a mother, not only am I proud but relieved. I hope you will continue to study magic. Only by excelling in something will you be able to stand with your head held high without worrying about anyone trying to look down on you.¡± I guess my mother is really worried about my future. While I can be with them until they grow old and die, after that, I would be left alone. She is worried I will be targeted by those who dislike demi humans.
I could only sigh and look up towards the sky. Even if I am disliked, I will not care. But I should at least aplish something in my life that will give me a kind of status. This way, my mother and father will be able to be free of worry. I turned my gaze back to my mother and nodded my head: ¡°I will work hard and excel at magic to the point no one will be my match.¡±
My day continued like this. I trained with the same magic circle filling the bucket so many times I lost count. My mother kept asking me how my mana was and I kept her up to date, saying it was decreasing slowly even though it was not.
At the end of the day, I had dinner and went back to my room, and got ready for bed. My brother hade home early since the crop harvest was now in its final stages and not as much work needed to be done. I looked over at him to see him reading a book on magic. I pursed my lips and walked over to the side of his bed and knelt down, resting my head on my arms, and looked up at him. ¡°Brother, can you take me outside tomorrow?¡±
Eric looked over at me with a confused expression and asked: ¡°Did you not go outside today?¡±
¡°No! I mean outside, outside. I want to walk around outside the yard. I want to go to the edge and look out over the valley below. I want to see the town. I want¡¡± I have a lot of wants, I know. I wanted to do a lot, and I knew I was still too young to do it all. I was old enough to leave the yard, but I knew my mother would probably not let me without an escort. Which was why I was currently pleading my case to my brother.
Eric looked at me helplessly. It was the same look he always gave me when he was unsure of how to answer me without hurting my feelings. ¡°I-I will need to talk to mother and father first. If they say yes, I will bring you out for an hour. But not to town just yet.¡±
I quickly nodded my head and smiled. My brother was the best. ¡°That¡¯s fine, I just want to walk around a bit.¡±
¡°Then go to sleep. We will talk to them in the morning.¡±
When the next day came, I excitedly got up and rushed downstairs to hear words of doom. ¡°No! She is not leaving the yard yet. Eric, it is not that I do not trust you to look after her, it is the others. I do not want them doing anything to my daughter. When she is a little older and can protect herself better, then she can go out.¡±
When I walked into the room, my brother gave me an apologetic gaze. I sighed and flopped down into my seat, and pouted. I should have known this would have happened, but there was nothing I could do. Mother¡¯s words were thew of this house, and in order to not gain her divine wrath, everyone followed herws to the letter.
My mother looked at me and shook her head. She ced her hand on top of my head and said: ¡°It¡¯s only for now. We will need to teach you how to use protection spells and attack spells just in case. If you are attacked, you need to be able to defend yourself. I trust you and your brother, but I am scared about the other vigers. They might not treat you kindly and might try to do you harm.¡±
I looked up at my mother and nodded my head. ¡°I understand.¡±
And so, my days of magic training began to intensify.
Chapter 8 The Incident At The Cliff Part 1
I trained day in and day out. I had be somewhat obsessed with it. I would not stop recasting the same spells over and over until I could do them all in under two seconds. I have no idea how many times my mother had yelled at me to take a break, but even when I was forced to do so, I would still be thinking of faster and easier ways to cast spells. My goal to instantly cast spells was something I truly wanted to reach. This way, if I ever felt danger, I could quickly cast a protection spell. Even a fraction of a second was a dance between life and death when it came to magic or any attack for that matter.
I had already died once, and I refused to do so again. At least until I got to live a fulfilling life. Even now, after spending seven years in this world, I still think back to that day. I still think back to the time when I rushed out in front of that speeding truck to save my best friend. I will always remember that moment. Although a lot of my memories from that time are starting to fade. Sadly this was just how the brain worked. I am sure they are still there, hidden deep within the memories banks of my brain, and one day I may recall a scene or two from that time when I run into a simr situation, but for now, I guess it is okay for some of them to fade away.
I have been working hard not only to be strong but so that I could finally adventure out of my yard. I have learned three protection spells. One that is called earth armor. This encased the user in a thickyer of earth, protecting them from harm. Then there was water shield. Although it was named shield, it was more of a bubble of water that surrounded the user from fire-based attacks. Andstly, there was my personal favorite, mana shield. It was a much more practical shield, and I actually learned this one in secret. Because it was a shield that would lower one¡¯s mana based on the damage they took so, basically, with this shield alone, I would be invincible. It was not widely used due to the fact that it consumed mana, but because I seemed to have an endless amount of mana, it was like it was a magic tailored-made for me.
No matter the attack, no matter the element, mana shield would block the attack with ease. It was as simple as the water spell with how its magic circle was created, which made my cast time for it less than a second. Although not instant, it was pretty close to being instant.
For attack spells, I have learned all the basics that my mother would allow me to learn¡. At least the ones she knows I have learned. I won¡¯t go into detail, but I have learned a lot of magic that my family would never believe was possible for a child my age.-.
For two long years, I have created a magic circle for every magic spell possible, and thanks to my high intelligence, I can remember them all as if I was looking at the book while practicing them. I never actually casted the spell itself as I knew it would not be good, but I have created many magic circles in under five seconds, even for the most advanced tiered spells.
And so now I was standing in front of my mother with eyes full of hope as I opened my mouth and asked: ¡°Mother, please allow me to go outside the yard and explore!¡±
¡°Faith¡.¡± My mother looked very apprehensive right now. But there was no way she could say I was not ready to leave the yard. Or that I was unable to defend myself. She saw for herself my growth.
¡°Mother, I will stay by her side. Faith has behaved and worked hard learning magic so she could meet your demands, and I hate to admit it as her brother she excels in not only magic but also swordsmanship.¡± Ah, my most handsomest brother hase to my rescue!
It was true what he said. I have also been learning how to use a sword on top of magic. My brother would learn from the town guards and then teach me. And recently, I have been slowly catching up to Eric in regards to swordsmanship. I am not sure why, though. I have never used a sword in my life, but it seems to being naturally to me.
My mother stared at my hopeful eyes before letting out a long, drawn-out sigh. ¡°Okay, but you need to be back before sundown. And Eric, you need to protect your sister no matter what. Do not let others bully her. Even if it is the vige elder¡¯s nasty grandson, just teach him a lesson. Your father and I will take care of the rest.¡±
I almost burst outughing at my mother¡¯sment. This was because she had chased that brat many times over the past few years for saying mean things to me. But now, if I met him on the outside, I could finally beat him up!
But what was most important of all was that my mother said yes! She had said yes, that I could go outside! I once again began jumping for joy. I couldn¡¯t contain my excitement. I guess seeing my excitement made my mom happy because those stern eyes from a few seconds ago quickly turned soft. She patted both me and my brother on the head before sending us on our way.
As soon as I stepped foot through the gate of our fence, I felt like a bird who was just released from its cage. I happily skipped a little ways forward before stopping and turning to look at my brother. As always, he had a helpless, pampering smile on his face. He has always treated me like a gem, and I love him for that. He works hard to help out the family and even trains in the sword so he can teach me. He does so much I can never thank him enough.
He walked up to me and grabbed my hand to keep me from running forward. I know after living sixteen years in my past life, I was truly acting like a little kid at this time, but I couldn¡¯t help it. I had been looking forward to this just as much as I was looking forward to casting magic. ¡°Faith, I know you are excited, but we must be careful. We will head the long way to the cliff so you can finally look out over the valley.¡±
I turned my eyes up towards him. He was now twelve years old and was very tall for his age. I felt so short standing next to him, but I guess that¡¯s just how it is. My father was also a very tall man. And he takes after my father in some aspects. You could say he was a mini version of my father. Except he had the same bleach white hair like myself. With how kind and caring he was, I knew he would definitely have a wonderful wife and family in the future.
We made our way along the rocky dirt road. I looked down at my new boots that my mother made for me that were red in color and matched the scales on my tail, and smiled. It was my first pair of boots, after all. Since I came to this world, I have always been barefoot, running around. To be honest, it felt weird to be wearing anything on my feet after seven years, but I am sure I would beining about the rocks if I did not have them.
We made our way to down the road towards Auntie Finna¡¯s house. I had seen her a few times over the fence, walking down the street. She seemed to be a nicedy who always smiled and waved at me. She did not seem to be someone who despised demi humans like myself. She even once gave me some cookies. It was people like her that still gave me hope that being a demi human would not be so bad.
¡°Oh! Faith!¡± I heard a familiar voice call out to me to find Auntie Finna walking over with something in her hands. I already knew what it was because I could smell the freshly baked cookies from where I was standing. I let go of my brother¡¯s hand and ran over to Auntie Finna.
¡°Hello, Auntie!¡± I smiled sweetly at her. She was a widow who lost her husband due to a gue that had once run through the vige. She was lucky and never caught it, but a lot of people from the vige died during those dark days. She never had children, but she was always nice to those around her. Even my mother and father said she was a caringdy who was well liked throughout the vige. She made her living selling baked goods in the vige center. My father and mother would also help her out during harvest season, giving her some supplies tost her a few months. It seemed my father was her husband¡¯s friend.
¡°You seem to have finally gotten your wish, huh dear?¡± Aunty Finna smiled brightly at me as she patted my head before pushing a cloth package in my hands. It was warm to the touch, so I already knew they had juste out of the oven. ¡°Take these and snack on them while you look around. And if anyone dares to pick on you, you tell me, and I will give them an earful.¡±
¡°Hehe¡ I will be sure to tell you if anyone picks on me.¡± I smiled and bowed my head as I said my thanks. ¡°Thank you for these. I will be sure to share them with my brother.¡±
¡°You¡¯re a good girl, I know. Tell your mother toe over to visit sometime, or I can go over there. We haven¡¯t talked much since you were born.¡± Auntie Finna¡¯s expression turned a little sad and lonely. I felt bad for her. She was all alone, working hard to keep herself alive.
¡°I will be sure to tell her. Thank you again!¡± I said my goodbyes, and Auntie Finna waved us off as she returned to her house.
Now with freshly baked cookies in hand, I took my brother¡¯s hand and continued towards the cliff.
Chapter 9 The Incident At The Cliff Part 2
¡°Brother¡.¡± As we walked, I called out to my brother. I have had something on my mind that I have been meaning to ask him for a long time now. But the timing never seemed right. My brother had given up a lot of his childhood to either help out around the house or keep mepany. I felt bad because he could have gone out and yed with the other kids in the vige.
¡°Hmm? What is it?¡± Eric looked down at me and asked. He had on his usual brotherly smile.
¡°Am I a nuisance? Am I keeping you from doing the things you want to do?¡± I asked. Comparing myself to my past life, I felt more needy in this life. I would have been alone most of the day while my brother did his things and my mother did hers. As for my father, sometimes I forget what he looks like as he is always working, but as soon as I see him, I recognize him right away. In my previous life, I could go out and y and do many things with my best friend, but in this life, there was no such thing as I was a demi human, and people lived much farther apart.
When Eric heard my question, he stopped walking and spun me around so that I was looking at him. His eyes seemed to hold a hint of anger in them. ¡°What do you mean? A nuisance? Faith, I never once thought of you as a nuisance. You are my baby sister, and I vowed from the day you were born that I would watch over you and protect you. I do what I do to stick to my vow.¡±
¡°But¡. But you could have gone out and yed with the other kids and have fun doing things besides helping me train. It¡¯s not like you are stuck doing all these things. I am not saying I do not appreciate it, in fact, I really feel blessed that you are giving up so much to keep mepany, but¡.¡± Tears began to form in my eyes. I wanted my handsome, loving brother to be able to have a life that did not revolve around a person that was shunned by the world.-.
¡°Stupid.¡± Eric spat out. I looked up at him and felt pain on the middle of my forehead. He had flicked me pretty hard. I was sure there was a red mark there now. I held my head and looked up at him, wondering what he was going to say. He shook his head and looked up at the sky, and let out a sigh. ¡°I would never want to make friends with those idiots. Theye by our house, which lies on the outskirts of the vige, just to pick on you. Why would I want to y with them? I would rather beat them up and send them packing. Faith, you seem to not understand that we Cyrilia are a family who puts family first above all else. Father has always told me from the day he knew Mother was pregnant that I would need to protect my younger sibling. To make sure that he or she will never feel left alone.
¡°He knew that he was always busy and that Mother would always have to do many things around the house. I grew up with this as well. The day you were born, you were so tiny that I was afraid to even get near you. But the first time you gripped my finger, I vowed to be there for you no matter what.
¡°So no matter what, if someone picks on you or tries to harm you, you can tell your big brother. I will always defend you even if you were in the wrong.¡± Eric¡¯s words were full of warmth and care. He patted my head gently as he spoke, making me want to cry. I had never thought of it that way. I had been selfish in always asking him to keep mepany when he wasn¡¯t busy. But now that I think about it, I would do the same for him if I was the older sibling. I have always been one to care about those who are close to me.
I held back my tears as much as possible as I wiped the ones that had already spilled. I then forced a smile on my face as I hugged my amazing big brother. ¡°I won¡¯t ask such dumb questions anymore¡.¡±
¡°Good. Now let¡¯s get going. We are almost there.¡± And so we set out on our journey to the cliff edge ones more.
Although I now wish I never came here¡. In front of us was the brat of all brats, Trent and his little gang of goons. Trent had an evil smile on his face as he looked at us. ¡°Oh? If it isn¡¯t the demon. Eric, did you finally decide to get rid of her? Are you going to toss her over the edge and see if her demon wings will allow her to fly?¡±
¡°Trent, watch your words. Vige elder¡¯s grandson or not, I will still beat you up. You already know you are no match for me.¡± Eric spoke coldly as he drew the sword on his side out while pulling me behind him.
I had never seen Eric like this before. I have heard him yelling at the vige kids but never seen him pull out his sword. The air around him changed altogether. It was much different than when we would spar in the backyard.
Trent¡¯s expression turned serious once Eric drew his sword. ¡°Eric, you should know better than to draw your weapon unless you are willing to face the consequences.¡±
With a wave of Trent¡¯s hand, the five other boys behind him also drew out their weapons. It was normal for kids seven and older to carry a short sword on their waist to protect themselves in case of any monsters. But right now there were no monsters around. Unless you counted me. But I was too cute to be a monster¡.
¡°I would not draw my weapon if you were not acting so viciously. What has my baby sister done to you that calls for you to always pick on her? She has not even left my family¡¯s yard until today.¡± Eric seemed ready for a fight, but I knew he could not take on six people at the same time. There was just no way. He may be good with a sword, but the most he could take on would be three people, even if they were amateurs.
¡°Brother, let¡¯s just leave.¡± I pulled on his shirt to get his attention. I may be able to deal with the situation on my own because I had a mana shield, but I could not protect my brother at the same time. I was able to use many kinds of magic, but to actually use it inbat was something I had yet to do, and I did not know how good my control would be just yet. I will say that I really wanted to beat this kid up right now but not when he had six people backing him up with swords. It would only take one stab to kill any of us.
Eric looked down at me, who looked back up at him with pleading eyes and nodded his head. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±
¡°You think you can just leave Eric? You drew your sword on us and want to leave?¡± Trent seemed hell bent on causing us trouble no matter what.
My point of being nice and trying to settle things without violence was reaching its max. I did not wish to identally kill anyone, but they were starting to push their luck. And to bepletely honest, I did not know how I would react if I did kill someone. I normally stayed away from those who thought ill of me. Even in my past life, I would not associate with those who did not like me or would hurt others for no reason. But as I went to step forward, my brother pushed me back. He looked at me and smiled as he said: ¡°Ignore them, we will just go.¡±
With that, Eric turned around and grabbed my hand, pulling me along. I knew Eric was worried something bad would happen. I could feel the sweat of his palm as he gripped my hand tightly. ¡°Hold it right there! Take one more step, and I will fry both of you with my fireball!¡±
I was done¡. He threatened to burn us. I could stand being made fun of. I could easily brush that all off, but now he made a threat on my and my brother¡¯s life. This was something I would never stand for. I pulled away from my brother, turned around, and stretched out my hand. A red magic circle began to form at an incredible speed. I took a deep breath and began speaking the activation word. ¡°Fireba¡.¡±
I never got to finish saying the activation word because Eric had covered my mouth. ¡°Faith. Let¡¯s go.¡±
¡°You!¡± I heard Trent yell out behind us. There seemed to be a tremble in his voice. I guess he never expected my spell casting to be so fast. ¡°Eric, stop right there! Let¡¯s settle this once and for all! Let¡¯s bet!¡±
Both Eric and I once again stopped in our tracks and turned around to see an angered Trent standing there pointing at us. Eric stepped forward and once again pulled me behind him. I was not sure if this was to protect me or to protect the six boys who seemed to be staying further back than before. ¡°What kind of bet?¡±
¡°A¡.¡± Trent looked around. It seemed he had note up with what to bet on. ¡°A race! We will race. We will race from this cliff to the forest edge on the other side of town. Whoever can run to the forest edge and back will be the winner. If you win, I will leave your sister alone, but if I win, that monster needs to leave our vige!¡±
Chapter 10 The Race
¡°Trent, do not push it! My sister is not to be in any part of any bet.¡± My brother yelled. While my brother was against it, I had a different idea. ¡°We can bet, but I want a second condition for when I win. Since you brought up the idea for the bet, I am sure you will not mind if I add a second winning condition on our part.¡±
Trent¡¯s rage induced eyesnded on me. He smirked and said: ¡°Fine! Name your condition. I will agree to it, but the person racing will be you.¡±
¡°No, I will¡.¡± I cut my brother off. I knew he wanted to take my ce, but I figured with my current agility, there was no way any of them would catch me, especially if I applied a wind spell to my body to make me faster. ¡°That¡¯s fine, I ept. My condition is if I win, you will stand there and receive a beating from me.¡±
¡°You!¡± Trent¡¯s eyes widened. It seemed he never thought I would make such a condition. But this worked out perfectly for me. Because if I beat him up due to our bet, then he couldn¡¯t run home and tell his grandfather I beat him up out of nowhere even though I have every right to.
¡°Faith¡¡± Even my brother seemed to be a little taken aback by my condition. I only looked up at him and stuck my tongue out. Seeing me joke around seemed to have caused him to rx as he chuckled and ced his palm on my head. ¡°How sure are you that you can win?¡±-.
¡°One hundred percent.¡± I answered without hesitation. I mean, my agility was at thirty. I can guarantee that I was the strongest person here. I just hid it well. When I looked over at Trent, I could see the slight worry in his eyes. I chuckled inwardly. To me, it seemed he was notpletely sure he would not suffer a defeat and have to be beaten up by the very person he kept calling a monster. As for losing, well, it never crossed my mind.
¡°Since you are one hundred percent sure, then I will not stop you. But Faith, no matter what, you must win. If he were to bring up this bet to his grandfather, we may be in for some trouble.¡± My brother seemed to be worried about the oue if I lost. But I was not worried in the slightest. The only way they could beat me is if they were faster than me. And by looking at the kids in front of me, not a single one would be able to beat me. I mean¡. I would be using magic to make myself faster anyways.
With the okay from my brother, I pointed my finger at Trent with a smug smile on my face. ¡°Since things are settled, let¡¯s do this.¡±
¡°Fi-Fine! Everyone, line up!¡± Trent yelled at the brats behind him. I snickered because I knew he would not y fair. He challenged me but wanted even his friends to take part in the race. Sadly I never said that Trent could be the only one to race. Not that it mattered.
Seven of us all lined up on the road. This road led through the outskirts of the town all the way to the forest edge. From there, we would then turn around and race all the way back. I looked over at Eric, who was standing off to the side with a worried expression, and smiled at him. ¡°Brother, you call the start of the race.¡±
Eric nodded and walked to the edge of the road, and raised his hand. ¡°On your marks¡. Get set¡.. Go!¡± He lowered his hand to signal the start of the race, and I, of course, went to take off only to feel my foot being entangled with someone else¡¯s, causing me to fall face first onto the ground.
¡°Ouch! Cheaters!¡± I cried out as I looked over at the young boy next to me, who was one of Trent¡¯s minions, with a cold re. He quickly looked away, not daring to meet my eyes. My nose, hands, and knees were now scratched up. Luckily I did not get a nose bleed.
Ignoring the stinging pain, I quickly got up and chased after the other boys. I only got a few feet away when I heard someone crying behind me. I didn¡¯t even need to turn around to know my brother did something to the kid who tripped me. But this was perfect since no one was paying attention to me. I closed my eyes and opened them again. Green magic circles began to form in my eyes. ¡°Wind Rush!¡±
I had learned through practice while trying to keep my special magic circle training a secret how to form the magic circles on my eyes instead of needing to generate them in the air in front of me. This helped a lot in hiding my special training. It was also a good way to not let your enemy know you were casting magic.
As soon as I said the activation word, my speed increased by tenfold. Wind Rush was a spell that removed the wind resistance on the body allowing a person to be much faster than normal. In no time at all, I sped past the boys who thought they were winning. I ran so fast that everything seemed like a blur around me except what I was seeing straight ahead. It was a form of tunnel vision.
In no time at all, I arrived at the forest edge. I turned to look to see if anyone was behind me, but I couldn¡¯t even see a shadow of the other boys. ¡°Humph! Can¡¯t even keep up yet want to make bets against me! I hope you all go bald!¡±
After letting off some steam, I began running back. I didn¡¯t even get a chance to take in the sights around me since I was only concentrating on winning the race. By the time I reached my brother, no more than ten minutes had passed. ¡°Hah! I won!¡±
¡°And they ran away¡.¡± My brother said as he walked over to me. He shook his head and sighed: ¡°As soon as their n to make you trip and fall failed and you passed them, they all ran into the vige instead of continuing the race.¡±
¡°Humph! He can hide for now, but the next time I see him, I will make him live up to his bet!¡± I shook my fist in the air, causing my brother tough.
¡°I took care of the one who tripped you. How are your wounds?¡± Eric looked at my red knees, which still had traces of blood on them.
My health only dropped by a point, so it was nothing serious. ¡°Nothing to worry about, they only sting. Let¡¯s finish what we came here to do!¡±
I had originallye here to look out over the cliff. I did not wish to leave until I did. So now that the brats were gone, I could finally enjoy my reason foring here. I took my brother¡¯s hand and led him towards the cliff edge.
I can say now that all the hassle was worth it. The view from the cliff is absolutely breathtaking. The low lying clouds that hung just past the cliff¡¯s edge over the vast valley below made the scenery very beautiful.
I sat on the edge with my brother beside me and pulled out the cookies I got from Auntie Finna, and snacked on them while wagging my tail and kicking my legs back and forth. I thought I would be afraid of heights, but for some reason, I did not fear sitting on the edge like this. I did not get any vertigo or anything like that, which I found weird as I was once scared of heights in my past life. I wondered if that fear was washed away when I was reborn because of my race or for some other reason.
At any rate, even though things were hectic today, I could still call today a good day. I was able to stick it to the bullies and make those brats run away. I wonder if they would find trouble for me any time soon. But today did make me realize that I needed to practice magic more. Which meant I would need to find a secret spot to practice.
As I was someone who could not really die from being attacked by anything¡.. As much as I could figure anyway, as long as I used my mana shield and my mana never went down, then I could easily go deep into the forest and train there. Maybe I could also finally level up some¡ But the question was how was I going to do it without needing an escort.
To be honest, I wanted to tell my family about my system thing and how I had infinite mana, but I did not know if they would believe me as there did not seem to be any record of such a thing. At least not from the books I have read anyway. Well¡. Maybe they would believe me, but if word got out somehow that I was a freak of nature and someone tried to use that against my family or myself, I would not only put them in danger but myself. This was why I decided to keep this a secret for the time being. But that still leaves me with trying to figure out how to get into the forest for training without needing to drag my brother along.
¡°Faith?¡± My brother called out to me. I turned to look at him with a puzzled expression. ¡°How did you run so fast? I wasn¡¯t going to ask, but it still puzzles me how you were so quick. The forest is at least an hour away on foot. But not only did you run there, but you ran back and in such a short time frame.¡±
Ah¡ It seems I went a bit too far without realizing it¡. Now, this is troublesome. I wonder how I should exin this¡.
Chapter 11 The Bond Between A Mother And Daughter Part 1
I knew if I took too long to answer, I would end up looking more suspicious, and I only had one excuse I could think of. I lowered my head and twiddled my fingers as I answered Eric¡¯s question. ¡°Ummm¡ Don¡¯t tell Mother but¡. I have been secretly learning a few intermediate spells¡ I used wind rush on myself to make myself faster¡.¡±
I waited and waited, but yet my brother did not answer me. Only after what seemed like an hour but was in reality only a minute or two that went by did I finally lift my head to see him staring at me in disbelief. He raised his finger and pointed at me at a loss for words. ¡°You¡. You¡. Hahahahaa! I wished I saw Trent¡¯s face as you ran by. I could only see his back, but when you charged right past him, he froze, and only after you were far, far ahead of him did he turn and run towards the vige. My guess is that he knew if he stayed and let you beat him up that he would suffer badly. Let¡¯s hope this will be a lesson to him and that he will no longer try to bother you anymore.¡±
¡°Brother, you are not mad that I learned spells I should not have?¡± I asked. I was worried about him telling Mother! She was an angel when she was in a good mood but turned into a demon when she was in a bad mood. If my mother knew that I had been using intermediate spells without her permission, she would spank my bottom!
¡°Hmm? Why would I be mad? I already know how great your control over magic is. I also know you have a great deal of mana. So I am not worried about you getting sick from casting a spell as long as you do not cast something that will drain it all up in one go like grand fall or something like that.¡± My brother reached out and patted my head. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t say anything to Mother. I know you are worried about that, but I will never tell on you.¡±
Hearing him make such a deration made me purse my lips. ¡°Lies! You told Mother that time I tried to cast a fireball on my own! My butt really hurt after that, you know!¡±-.
¡°Ah, that¡.¡± I watched as Eric¡¯s cheeks turned red as he scratched his nose. Humph! Caught in your own lie. He¡¯s lucky he is my brother or I would beat him up! If you add up all the years, I have been alive in this life and my past, it is like I am over twenty. I, a twenty year old, was spanked by my mother on my bare bottom! One of the most humiliating experiences in my two lives.
¡°I didn¡¯t think she would spank you¡. Sorry¡¡± They say to forgive and showpassion. Since it was his only time actually getting me in trouble, I will let it slide.
¡°I will forgive you, but only this one time.¡± Of course, I still had to put on a show that I am being reluctant otherwise, he might tell on me again, and I would need to undergo the red bottom technique my mother seems to have mastered.
My first trip outside ended on a good note. I was able to see an amazing view that made me realize just how expansive this world truly was. Maps and pictures can never truly allow you to grasp the size of the world around you. You need to look out and see the far distant mountains that would be months away if you tried to travel there.
But now, my concern was how to find a proper ce to really practice my spells without being under the watchful eyes of my family. I could try asking my brother, but there is no way he would allow me to enter the forest. I could go near the forest entrance because it was rtively safe, but I could not go into the forest on my own. He would immediately say something to our mother.
¡°If I could just go outside on my own¡.¡± I mumbled under my breath. If I was able to roam around by myself, things would be so much easier.
¡°You say something?¡± My brother asked. I just hoped he did not hear what I said instead of just pretending he didn¡¯t. Either way, there was nothing I could do about it if he did. As long as I was not caught, there was nothing he could do!
¡°No, just talking to myself,¡± I replied with a smile, trying to wave off the conversation. But I was still in a dilemma. I needed to practice my magic and learn to fight against real monsters, and hopefully level up. I was not sure if this would work, but it was something I had to deal with sooner orter. I would rather not wait untilter in case something happens and I need to fight. Without proper practice, it would be very bad. I already epted the fact that being a demi human would not make my life easy, but that did not mean I would allow others to look down on me.
When we got home, my mother had already heard about the race with Trent. It seemed no matter what, in a small vige, not much goes unnoticed and will always make its rounds. Even if my mother is someone who is normally home all the time, she will still hear everything going on in the vige. Plus, we were not very quiet while yelling at each other.
¡°Are you two stupid!?¡± My mother yelled, causing both me and my brother to flinch. ¡°How could you ept such a bet!? Faith, do you not understand what it would have meant if you were kicked out of the vige. He is the vige elder¡¯s grandson! He only needs to tell them that you made a bet, and the results would need to be upheld. We would all end up needing to move!¡±
¡°But we didn¡¯t lose¡.¡± I tried to plead my case, but my Mothers re quickly shut me up.
¡°Faith, it is not about winning or losing! You made a bet that if those brats actually did win, they would make a fuss until the bet was upheld and you actually left the vige. Your father, me, and your brother would all need to leave with you because there is no way we would allow you to suffer alone! Don¡¯t do such stupid things in the future. Also! Eric, you are also just as guilty in this because you did not stop your sister!¡± My mother finished with a long, drawn-out sigh. She looked at the two of us and shook her head. ¡°You two are getting older. You need to be responsible for your actions. Now tell me, Faith, when and where did you learn intermediate spells?¡±
¡°Huh?¡± My mother¡¯s question stunned me. I have no idea if my mother has irvoyance or not, but she somehow knew I used an intermediate spell.
¡°Don¡¯t try to lie to me either. You tripped and fell, which gave you ate start. You may be fast, but those boys would have done so much more to you if you tried to run past them. Plus, the locals saw you reaching the forest in a short amount of time. The only way for you to do such a thing is to use a spell called wind rush, which is an intermediate spell. Now exin to me when did you learn this spell?¡± Ugh¡ Why did my mother need to be so smart!? She knew everything, and she wasn¡¯t even there! This is so unfair!
¡°I read it in the books.¡± She knew I had read all the magic books in the house, so this was a given.
¡°Reading and practicing are two different things. Wind rush is aplicated spell that requires almost thirty runic equations. Now tell me, when did you practice this spell? Do you know the dangers of using spells that could deplete your mana? Faith, you could die from mana exhaustion!¡± Seeing my mother¡¯s worried yet angry expression made me realize she was not so much as mad at me for casting the spell but worried that I could harm myself from casting such magic too early.
¡°I¡. Mother, you told me yourself that my life would not be easy as I am a demi human. Having more spells to protect myself is better than not having enough. Wind rush allows me to move at an extremely fast speed allowing me to get away from anyone who is trying to harm me. Plus, you know I have higher than average mana. So how would it harm me?¡± I pouted my lips. I never talked back to my mother before, but this time I did, because I keep being told my life will be hard, yet she gets mad when I try to better myself¡.
¡°Faith, that is not what I am saying.¡± My mother sighed as she looked at me. I could see the pain in her eyes. ¡°You are growing up much faster than I would have liked¡.¡±
The conversation ended there. I am not sure if my mother was feeling guilty or not, but she seemed to not want to talk about the subject anymore. I knew she was saying all this out of her care and concern for me. But I only had so much time until I was eventually going to be an adult. The more I learned now, the more ready I was, the better it would be for me in the future. I think she realizes this but still wishes for me to always be her little girl.
That night I went to the kitchen area when my mother was alone and hugged her from behind. ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡. I should have told you ahead of time¡.¡±
¡°Faith¡.¡± My mother turned around and hugged me tightly. ¡°I just want you to always be safe¡ I know you have a huge weight on your shoulders, and I wish there was something I could do to relieve that, but unfortunately, your mother is too weak.¡±
¨CAN: Hello, author here. Since no one reads author notes, I decided to add this here. I am looking for your input on this novel so please leave ament letting me know. Thanks!¨C
Chapter 12 The Bond Between A Mother And Daughter Part 2
I was surprised to see such a side of my mother. She was always standing strong, even in the face of my father when he got mad over something, she would always win. She was like a war maiden from the heavens who came to vanquish the demons who gued thend. While I missed my parents from my past life, in this life, Lilith Cyrilia was my mother and a loving and caring one at that. She was the reason I could grow up happy even though I was different from the others. And seeing her like this did not sit well with me. I hugged her tighter and buried my face in the nape of her neck. ¡°You are far from being weak. Only a strong mother could have birthed my brother.¡±
¡°Pfft!¡± My mother seemed to find my jab at my brother funny. ¡°Faith, no matter what happens in the future, your family will always be behind you.¡±
¡°Mmm¡ I know. I just know I do not have much time before I reach adulthood and want to be ready. I can not always weigh you and father down. I will need to venture out into the world and find a ce where I can work and settle down.¡± It felt saddening to say such things, but it was the truth. While I still had a solid eight years left, that was still only eight years. I needed to prepare for what was toe way in advance.
My mother looked at me with watery eyes and let out another sigh. This was something she does a lot as ofte, and it was mostly because of me. ¡°You are right¡. You need to begin to understand the world around you more. While I can teach you things, without actual experience, you will never be able to truly understand the world you live in. I will not restrict you anymore. But Faith, promise me you will never go too far. I know you wish to be stronger, but you must never use a spell that is too powerful. Otherwise, you will end up exhausting your mana, and without anyone around, you could be left vulnerable or die altogether. So always be careful and make sure you keep a close eye on how much mana you have left. Always keep some in reserve to use wind rush so you can run away.¡±-.
Hearing my mother¡¯s words, I almost jumped for joy, knowing I could now go out on my own, but I knew now was no time to be celebrating. My mother was saying all these things because of how much she cared about me. There was no way I would not be emotional even if I was excited at the same time. ¡°I will make sure I always have plenty of mana to spare.¡± I think this was one promise I would never need to break, at least I hoped for the time being.
I spent the next few days sticking to my mother like glue, helping her with whatever I could. Although she did kick me outside a few times. But the soft smile on her lips showed that she knew I was doing it for her. I just wanted her to know that I was not trying to grow up too fast and that I still wish to be by her side. She was my mother, after all.
Today was a new day, and the songbirds were once again singing. It was one of the things I liked about waking up around here was the sound of these birds. It made me feel at home, at peace. I was not sure how the sounds of other ces were but in this small house where my father, my mother, and my brother lived, it was a ce that made me feel safe.
Today¡¯s goal was to head out to the wheat field to visit my father. I never got to see him much, so I nned to go out and visit him, even if it is for only a few minutes. I just hoped those working with him do not start saying anything bad to me. But knowing my father and how he was, he would probably beat them up if they did. When he heard that Trent was calling me names over the fence, my mother and brother had to hold him back and talk him down from racing over to the brat¡¯s house and giving him a good spanking. He was not a violent person unless it came to his family, and it seemed the vigers went out of their way to not anger him.
¡°Mother, I¡¯m leaving,¡± I yelled out to my mom as soon as I put my boots on. I was just about to open the door when I was yanked back by the scruff of my shirt.
¡°You need to eat breakfast first. The outside world will be there when you are done. Plus, I need you to bring something to your father and brother for me.¡± My mother pulled me right to the kitchen and made me sit down. I could only purse my lips and eat my breakfast.
Now I know what she said was true, but I just couldn¡¯t wait. I wanted to see my father and then begin exploring. My task today that I hadid out for myself was to head out to the forest. I had to find out if I could level up or not. And I also needed to actually see just how strong I truly was. I mean, if I got to level two or four today, wouldn¡¯t that mean I could triple my stats if I let my mana trickle out? Just thinking about it excited me.
After a quick breakfast and kissing my mother goodbye, I raced off towards the wheat fields. They were not far from my house, only a little ways down the road. In fact, they were on the same road my house resided on. I made my way past Auntie Finna¡¯s house and quickly arrived at the wheat field owned by my family.
The tall golden field of wheat made it almost impossible to find anyone in it. Especially for me who was¡. Well¡ Short. I really didn¡¯t know how to find them, so I could only walk back and forth trying to see if I could see them, but I ended up having to resort to jumping up and down until I saw my father on the left side of the field. ¡°Father!¡± I yelled out while jumping and waving.
I guess my voice carried over well because I saw my father look in my direction, and when he saw me, his lips curled up into a big smile. ¡°Faith, stay there. I will be right over!¡±
Hearing my father¡¯s words, I stopped jumping up and down and waited patiently. In no time at all, I saw my father running over, and before I could even react, he picked me right up and lifted me into the air, spinning me around. ¡°Ahhh! Hehe!¡±
¡°My baby girl is getting so big!¡± My father wrapped his big muscr arms around me, almost squeezing me to death. But I still loved it. I might not get to see him much, but I would sometimes hear my fathering home, and the first thing he would ask was how I was doing. He was always concerned about my well being. I wrapped my skinny arms around his neck and gave him a big kiss on the cheek. This action seemed to tickle his funny bone because he had a huge grin on his face as he let out a loudugh.
¡°What brings you out here today?¡± My father asked as he looked at the basket that was sitting on the ground.
¡°Well, I wanted toe see you, and since I was alreadying, Mother gave me this basket to give to you. She said it was yours and brother¡¯s breakfast.¡± I answered with a sweet smile.
¡°Hmmm? She even made the brat some food too?¡± My father pursed his lips as he turned to look out over the field. ¡°Brat get over here! Your sister brought us breakfast!¡±
¡°Faith did!?¡± I heard my brother¡¯s voice from within the wheat field and soon saw his head poke up. He was almost as tall as my father, and he was only twelve. I was starting to feel left behind.
My short staturepared to the rest of my family was starting to be a kind of issue for me. I had learned that demi human¡¯s growth was slower than others. My father told me that dragonkin have a longer lifespan than humans. At first, this bothered me, but gradually, I slowly began to ept it. But then I heard from my mother that those with high mana also live longer lives. If you take into consideration that my mana had a big fat infinity sign on it, wouldn¡¯t that mean I could basically live forever? Of course, I did not wish to die too soon, but the thought of living forever¡. I was not sure how I felt about that just yet. I guess I will only know by trying it once.
After chatting while my father and brother had their breakfast, I took the basket back to the house and headed out once more. My next destination was the forest! The only thing was I needed to somehow sneak my way there. If the other vigers see me going towards the forest, they will know that I am up to something. So I can only try to find a way around the entire vige without being caught. And the only way I know of is to run along the cliff down the backside of the far side of the vige. If I use wind rush, I should be able to arrive in no time at all as long as I do not run into anyone that is.
Chapter 13 Into The Forest
I made my way over to the cliffside, where I stopped to take in the amazing view once more. Although this is my second time seeing this view, it was still very breathtaking. Seeing such an untouchednd with no buildings or visible civilization was just amazing. I was not sure how things were more ind, but here on the outskirts of the kingdom, it was so sparse that if there was a vige down there, it was not visible, for me anyway.
I sat on the cliff edge for about an hour just to take in the sights before finally continuing my trip to the far side of the vige. This side of the vige was more rocky and unsuitable for farming, so there was nothing butrge boulders here and there. This gave me perfect cover as I raced towards the forest.
Once I reached the forest edge and stepped past the tree line, I finally came to a stop behind arge tree and breathed a sigh of relief. As far as I could tell, I did not pass anyone. So I should not have been seen. This meant I had quite a few hours to allow myself to test out the limits of my strength and the system itself. I did not hesitate to cast a mana shield around myself. This shield wouldst until my mana ran out or I canceled it. Just to be safe, I kept a close eye on my mana bar.
Now that I was protected, it was now time for me to begin venturing deeper into the forest. But before I took another step, I used the short sword at my side to carve a mark in the tree. It was a wonderful picture of the amazingly popr mellow kitty from Earth. Not that I had a lot of mellow kitty merchandise or anything in my past life. Only a shelf¡. Or two¡.
I ran deeper into the forest, which surprisingly looked quite normal to me. Simr to a forest you would find on Earth. I was actually expecting glowing nts and little balls of magical lights floating up into the sky, but s, I only got bushes, trees, and bugs. There were some overly sized mushrooms that came up to my waist, but that was about the most interesting thing I had seen thus far.-.
From what I read, the forests of this world were usually broken down into sections. They had the edge of the forest, which depending on the forest, could be from anywhere from a few feet to hundreds of feet. This area was rtively safe and unless searching for food, monsters never really ventured out to this area. And if they did, they would be heading to the vige anyway. Then there was the first boundary where the weak monsters normally roamed. If I were to put things level-wise, you could say level 1 to 5 monsters roamed this area. Of course, these are all my own assumptions. The second boundary was where monsters stronger than the level 1 to 5 roamed. I really can¡¯t give an exact level range on such monsters since, from what I read, the power of monsters in this second boundary relied solely on how powerful the monsters in the core region were.
I have no clue how strong such monsters were when I think about it. Should I ever be scared of such monsters? I mean¡ Infinity mana¡. Mana shield¡. I probably shouldn¡¯t get ahead of myself without knowing these things for sure.
I continued forward until I felt the air around me begin to change. I could now hear the calls of some of the beasts within the forest. I slowed down to a stop and began looking around me before slowly proceeding on.
This would be my first time ever seeing a monster, never mind actually trying to kill one. Right now, I can only hope to put what I practiced to actual use. If it was not for my mana shield and my assumption of having infinity mana, I would not evene close to even thinking about trying to fight a monster until I had proper training in doing so.
I may be excited and want to figure out my system after waiting seven long years. But¡. That did not mean I did not value my little life. Whether I will have a tough life as a demi human or not, I did not care. I nned to make the best out of this new chance of life that I was given. If I am shunned from viges, towns, and cities, then I will just roam thend and be a vagabond. I had no true goals except being strong enough to protect everything I cared about. Oh, and beating up Trent. I will not give up until I finally give him a good beating!
While lost in my own inner monologue, I paused my steps when I heard the sound of rustlinging from a nearby bush. I quickly got into a fighting stance, ready to fight at any time. My tail swayed slowly behind me as my eyes locked onto the bush that was shaking. I narrowed my eyes and lowered my body slightly, waiting for the moment for whatever it was toe out of the bush. A bead of sweat trickled down my forehead as I nervously waited.
I never thought thating out to fight monsters would be so nerve-wracking. What seemed like hours was only mere seconds. I took a deep breath and held it in before slowly releasing it as I tried to calm my nerves. At least my wait was not too long. Secondster, as soon as an object exited the bush, I struck out. My eyes closed subconsciously as a warm liquid squirted on my face and a loud pained squeak was heard.
Feeling something was off I opened my eyes to see my sword had run through a brown rabbit with floppy ears. It had a cute button nose that probably wiggled back and forth when it was hopping around. And I? I almost teared up seeing the cute yet lifeless body at the end of my sword. ¡°Mr. Rabbit, I¡¯m sorry!¡±
I killed such a cute creature! After almost bursting out into tears, I suddenly noticed a nub on top of the rabbit¡¯s head. ¡°Hmmm? Is this a horned rabbit?¡±
[Horned Rabbit Killed]
[Experience: +5]
[Area Quests Unlocked]
[Area Quest: Kill Ten Horned Rabbits]
[Rewards: Experience +200]
As I was inspecting the horned rabbit, a blue transparent window popped up in front of me with a bunch of messages on it. ¡°Area quest?¡± I tilted my head while looking at the screen that asked me to kill ten horned rabbits for an extra two hundred experience. I couldn¡¯t help but smile when I saw such an amazing thing. ¡°Two hundred free experience points for killing cute monsters¡ Done deal!¡±
It may sound horrible, but from what I know, even though horned rabbits looked cute, they could easily skewer a human, instantly killing them if the human was not on guard. Horned rabbits were very good at finding the vital points on their prey, almost as if they had a kind of vital point radar. They were also meat-eaters, meaning the fluffy rabbits back on Earth who looked cute nibbling on carrots and lettuce leaves could notpare to the cute meat-eating deadly horned rabbit. This species of rabbit would most likely kill off any Earth rabbit. The scary thing about horned rabbits is while they looked cute, they were also pack hunters meaning if there is one, then there was sure to be a few more¡.
I turned my head to see three more horned rabbits hop out of the bush and look at me with their cute beady eyes. This was definitely going to be a torture session, that was for sure. While I did wish to test my mana shield I did not wish to test actually getting hurt so I was never going to purposely allow anything to attack me.
¡°Eee!¡± I heard one of the horned rabbits let out a squeak beforeunching itself towards me. But what surprised me was that it did not seem fast at all. It was as if it was moving in slow motion. I have no idea if this was because I was focusing on it or if it was due to it being hostile to me, but I knew that what was happening right now did not seem right. I was easily able to dodge the attack and counter it by running my de through its body.
[Horned Rabbit Killed]
[Experience: +5]
[2/10 Horned Rabbits Killed]
A few messages popped up signaling my quest progress and experience gain. Luckily it was not in the middle of my vision but at the top peripheral, just right of my status bars. But I really had no time to care about it as I dodged the next horned rabbit and once again killed it, causing more messages to pop up. I did, however, find it funny that while it was showing me how much experience I gained, there was no experience bar to tell me how close to level I was. You would think such a thing would be mandatory with an experience-based system, but then again, I have what seemed like infinity mana, so my system was probably bugged out.
A few secondster, I had killed all the horned rabbits that had appeared, giving my current progress of horned rabbits killed at an amazing 4/10. I still needed to find six more horned rabbits. Luckily this type of monster, from what I heard, was abundant within the forest, and I hate to say it, but I do believe I have eaten its meat quite a few times. It also made me feel a little bad for not being able to bring them home¡. At least then their deaths would be for a good reason other than my experience points¡.
Chapter 14 Leveling Up And Skills
[10/10 Horned Rabbits Killed]
[Area Quest: Kill Ten Horned Rabbits Complete]
[Rewards: Experience +200]
[Level up!]
[Level] 1 ¡ú 2
[Status Points] 0 ¡ú 5
[Skill System Unlocked]
[Skill Points] 0 ¡ú 1
As I killed the tenth horned rabbit, a string of messages popped up in front of me. I actually began jumping for joy when I saw the level up message. But calmed myself when I saw thest of the messages talking about a skill system. I looked around before hastily leaving the area in order to find a safe ce to sit. In the end, I decided to climb a tree where I would be out of sight. I wanted to know what this skill system was all about.
¡°Hmm¡ No information but aprehensive skill tree¡. Let¡¯s see appraisal, mining, leatherworking, even herbalism. I see, so by skill, it was not talking about spells or anything like that but actual skills themselves.¡± I pursed my lips as I looked at each tree. It was kind of like a profession system you would see in an RPG. It had item crafting and many other things, even fishing. Like, let¡¯s take fishing, for example. If I were to stick a point into it, I would automatically learn how to fish any kind of fish, and my rate of catching fish would be increased slightly. If I continued popping points into the tree, my skill in fishing would improve.
¡°This is¡. Really handy.¡± It was not just one or two skill trees but hundreds. There were even skill trees formanding armies. Not that I ever think I would end upmanding an army, but you never know. Life can take strange twists and turns. After all, I was reborn in another world. I never in my life would have ever thought such a thing was possible, never mind being reborn in another world with a system.
I went through all the skills that were currently there and decided on taking Appraisal as it was the only thing really useful to a seven-year-old me. Once I selected my skill, I took a look at my status screen.-.
[Name]: Faith Cyrilia
[Age] 7
[Level] 2
[Race] Dragonkin
[HP] 300/300
[MP] ¡Þ
[Status Points] 5
[Strength] 30 (+)
[Vitality] 30 (+)
[Intelligence] 30 (+)
[Mind] ¡Þ
[Agility] 30 (+)
[Skill Points] 0
[Skills]
[Appraisal (LVL 1)]
I decided not to use my status points just yet. I wanted to check to see if the mana trickle would once again up my stats for me as well as checking to see that if they do cap at sixty, what would happen if I added the points to an already maxed out stat. What I did notice, though, was that there were plus signs next to each stat except my mind stat. This gave me more evidence that my mana and mind stat was definitely infinity. Of course, I would still be careful not to overdo it too much unless it was necessary.
¡°Since that is all settled, let¡¯s test this appraisal skill.¡± There was no special keyword or anything like that, skills were done by knowing. Like if I had put a point into forging and picked up a hammer used in forging I would instantly know what to do. At least, this is what I was getting while reading the skill tree descriptions. Appraisal only said by focusing on an object, I could get detailed information on the said object. So I plucked a leaf from the branch next to me and began focusing on it. Soon a small window appeared in front of me.
[Leaf]
[A leaf from a tree.]
Seeing the tiny bit of information about the leaf, I decided to check my sword as well.
[Short Iron Sword]
[Attack: 5-15]
[A short sword made of iron. Perfect for beginners.]
¡°Oh?¡± This actually surprised me. I did not expect this much information. It even gave the sword¡¯s attack power. The more I learned about this system, the more game like it got. But that was fine as well since it would help me in the long run. ¡°Time to try to level up again!.¡±
After I jumped down from the tree, I made my way over to where I had killed the horned rabbits. A few seemed to have been dragged off by other monsters, but with the few that remained. I focused on them to see if anything woulde up.
[Horned Rabbit (Deceased)]
[Type: Beast]
[Attack: 1-5]
[Level: 1]
[A low level monster that is quick and uses its long horn to attack its prey¡¯s vitals .]
¡°So they were level 1.¡± I scratched my head and tried to do some math on what I should expect from higher level monsters, but I was stillcking experience fighting anything but horned rabbits to really make any kind of guess. While they seemed to have been moving in slow motion, this could be due to the level the system was giving them. If that was the case, anything of a lower or same level might be slowpared to, let¡¯s say, a level 3 or 4 monster. But without fighting a higher level monster, it was all spection and nothing I could really base anything off of.
That being said, I realized not once have I used magic¡. ¡°Alright! I will use magic in my next fight as well.¡±
I had two goals foring here. One was to level up, while the other was to practice my magic and begin experimenting with magic in out of the norm ways. I have pretty much understood the runic equations and how they work, so I wanted to go a step further and begin creating my own magic. Although I have already taken a step towards that with my magic circles being formed in my eyes instead of out in front of me. Eventually, I wanted to crack the code for instant magic.
There had never been any records of anyone creating magic circles in their eyes. So I was not sure if this was something I came up with myself or if others were able to do it as well. It was a process I created that used my eyes as the finger, channeling my mana through my pupils to draw the circles in my eyes. The magic circles were smaller, so with thebination of the two, I was able to generate the output of magic needed to actually cast the spell. But this required precise arrangement and needed interlocking mana connections between the eyes. Without the connections, they would not be able to cast anything, no matter how much mana is pumped into the magic circle.
I also figured out how to up the power of magic spells through this process. I have yet to test it out, but I could, in theory, make a fireball ten times hotter and more destructive with more mana and a small adjustment to the mana input runic equation. Luckily messing around with magic circles would not cause any kind of magic to appear out of nowhere. There seemed to be some fundamentalw that says that an activation word was needed. Of course, I haven¡¯t delved far enough into the runic equations to see if it was possible to remove the activation word just yet.
I was still learning and testing theories. Using my knowledge of all the novels I have read in my past life to bring out new ideas that might not have been thought up yet in this world or have but never tested. Not that it mattered as I was only doing these things as my hobby and did not care about telling others about my findings. Trade secrets should never be given away. This was my train of thought.
I didn¡¯t dare go too deep into the forest, but I still did not wish to be too close to the edge of it either, as it would raise the risk of me being spotted by the vigers. If I ever got caught, it would be the end of my excursion outside alone, this much I knew. At least until I got older anyway. But as of now, I could not let that happen. I had eight years to level up as much as possible and learn as much as I could about magic.
I was currently looking for more horned rabbits. While I knew they would not give me much experience, they were still good practice for my magic. And as they say, always start off small before trying to go big.
It did not take me long to find another group of horned rabbits. I quickly charged right in and began forming the magic circle. As I went to pass the group of horned rabbits, I stretched out my hand and softly spoke the activation word. ¡°Fireball!¡±
A ze of fire rotated in front of me before shooting out towards the horned rabbits. Within seconds, a loud explosion was heard, causing the leaves on the bushes and trees to flutter.
*Boom!*
[Horned Rabbit Killed]
[Experience: +5]
[Horned Rabbit Killed]
[Experience: +5]
[Horned Rabbit Killed]
[Experience: +5]
Multiple notifications spammed me at the top of my vision as I stood rooted and looked at the small crater in the ground. I had seen my mother cast a fireball before, but it was nowhere near as destructive as this. This was just¡. Insane!
A crater about three feet deep, smoking and melted rock. Charred earth and horned rabbit remains. Bushes and trees on fire, it was a scene of great destruction¡ Wait¡ ¡°Waterball!¡±
I had sweat dripping from my brow as I put out the fire. ¡°I need to be more careful with fire magic in a forest¡.¡±
I just hope the smoke from the fire does not bring a bunch of vigers here. But to be safe, I knew I should quickly escape the scene. And so that I would not be caught, I could only go deeper into the forest.
I just never expected that after running for ten minutes, that I would be faced with such a challenge out of nowhere¡.
[Skeletal Tiger]
[Type: Undead]
[Attack: 60-80]
[Level: 5]
[An undead monster that spreads rotting gue to its targets.]
Chapter 15 Not Invincible
Something I never thought I would ever see in my entire life is an undead creature moving around like the zombie movies you would see in the theaters and on T.V. back on Earth. But here, standing in front of me, was a tiger skeleton moving around on its own. Its glowing eerie blue eyes and ghostly fire that came up from its neck creating a mane, unlike anything you would see on a lion.
Even though this skeletal tiger was at a low level, I was still wary about fighting with it. I had read about these kinds of monsters in a book. Undead monsters were many times more powerful than their counterparts. And it was not just their strength that needed to be feared but the rotting gue that was inflicted on anyone who was harmed by it.
Just like in those zombie movies, those bitten by a zombie would turn into one. The rotting gue was the equivalent of that. If you were inflicted with rotting gue and did not receive treatment right away, you could only ask to be killed or turn into a brainless undead. Now not all undead were brainless. In fact, there were a few species of undead. There was the scourge which are the undead who had no intelligence and only knew how to kill and spread rotting gue. Then there was the risen, who are more like normal monsters with mild intelligence, andstly, there are the Lich, who are as smart as any other sentient race and even had their own kingdom to the south called The Great Citadel.
From what I have read normally when dealing with a scourge, it would require three or more people to exterminate it because no one wanted to turn into a scourge if they were wounded by one. So there had to be people there to kill anyone who was inflicted. This was mainly because when dealing with a scourge, they were usually nowhere near a ce that could expel the rotting gue.
I was not sure if everything I read was correct or not, but from what I understood, to expel the rotting gue, you would need a rare form of magic, and only those with a particr affinity to what is called holy magic would be able to cast this magic. Whether I could cast it or not, I do not know since none of the magic books I read had holy magic in it. So right now, I could only hope that my mana shield would block such ailments.
I could run as well, but it is said once you are locked on by a scourge, they will chase after you until they are disposed of. I actually never understood one thing about the books when talking about the undead. They always used the word kill when talking about getting rid of them. How do you kill something that is already dead?
I shook my head, trying to clear any unnecessary thoughts as I stared at the skeletal tiger. ¡°Physical attacks are useless on scourge unless you destroy the headpletely in a single blow¡. Only fire magic is able to really do damage to them¡.¡±-.
I was kinda torn on my n on how to deal with this. I could try to use my sword and really learn what my mana shield is able to block, or I could use fire magic again, which would probably be able to kill it quickly but might start another fire, drawing attention to this area.
¡°I guess I will try melee attacks for now and use ice magic to slow it down and restrict its movement.¡± I did not want to bring any unwanted attention, so melee attacks were my best option at this time.
My eyes glowed with a dark red magic circle: ¡°Colossal Strength!¡± I called out, causing a red aura to envelop my body. As the name suggests, it was a spell that increased my strength. The increase was three times that of my normal strength. I was hoping by increasing my strength enough that, I could get a single strike in to destroy the skeletal trigger¡¯s skull ending the fight quickly.
As if sensing that I was about to attack, the skeletal tiger let out a roar before pouncing at me. I quickly dodged to the side and went to strike out, trying to hit the skeletal tiger on the head, but I seemed to have greatly underestimated the strength of an undead.
*ng!*
My sword rang out as if it had hit an immovable metal wall. The vibration from the collision ran up my arm, almost making me drop my sword. And before I could even react, I felt something heavy hit my mana shield, sending me flying back smashing into a tree. ¡°Arg¡¡±
Pain¡ I felt pain in my body. The impact jogged my bones, causing me to feel immense pain. This was the first time I felt such pain. It was as if the nerves in my spine had been pinched upon impact. It actually stunned me, making it hard for me to move.
Gradually the pain in my body began to fade, but by the time it did, I only got to raise my sword to block the iing skeletal w mming down on me. ¡°Ahh!¡±
My body was mmed through the tree and sent flying into another tree. I truly felt like a punching bag at this point. I looked at both my health and mana and saw that my mana was still perfect, but my health had actually dropped by ten points! It was then I realized a huge w in the mana shield. Indirect damage was not fully blocked. I am not sure if this was because mana shield was never tested properly due to the consumption of mana when taking damage or if it was because people thought it was too useless to even use. But I was finding out firsthand that mana shield was not omnipotent.
The mana shield blocked the attacks from the skeletal tiger without issue, but the trees I was mming into were causing me some damage. I am sure I would have lost much more than ten points of health if the mana shield was not protecting me at least a little bit.
In a way, I was d I was finding this out now. I mean, what would have happened if I ran into someone who used an area attack on me. Since it was not direct, wouldn¡¯t I instantly die? This thought sent a shiver down my spine as I tried to steady myself.
¡°Faith focus!¡± I could not let my mind wander at this time. One wrong mistake, and I might just die.
Gritting my teeth and gripping my sword, I finally found time to try to get an ice restriction spell off. ¡°Ice lock!¡±
I watched as the skeletal tiger who was rushing at me came to an abrupt stop as its feet became covered in ice, freezing them in ce. Only when I saw this did I let out a sigh of relief. ¡°Minor Heal¡.¡±
Minor heal was an intermediate spell and would heal small wounds. I actually never used it before since I never really saw a need to use it. But right now, I could not risk letting my health drop much. There was no telling what will happen during this fight. I only know right now that I am really getting my but kicked!
The skeletal tiger was now stuck in ce. It was currently staring me down, probably trying to figure out why I was not crushed to mush or not turning into one of its kind or more importantly why it could not move. I could smell a hint of rotting stenching from its ws as it struck me just now. It was not something I really wished to smell again. Luckily I have a strong stomach otherwise, I would have lost my breakfast.
I had no idea how long the skeletal tiger would be restrained for, so I have to act quickly in deciding my next course of action, and honestly, I think that my only option is to use fire and hope all goes well. I will just need to make sure I have waterball ready to quickly put out anything that catches on fire and reduce the smoke plums.
I took a deep breath and decided on this n of action. I stretched out my hand and recited the activation word: ¡°Fireball!¡±
The whirling ball fire shot forward and mmed into the skeletal tiger¡¯s head, causing a loud explosion.
*Boom!*
I watched as the mes shot up towards the tree branches and brush near the impact point and quickly began casting waterballs left and right to put the mes out, all the while keeping my eye on where the skeletal tiger was.
As the dust and smoke cleared, I started to be nervous because there had been no notification popping up saying I killed it. I stared at the bones that had copsed on the ground inside the small crater very closely waiting to see what would happen. I began to feel something was really wrong. I could see that I destroyed the head. I mean, there was nothing left except a few fragments and half the skeletal body. But as the seconds ticked by, I saw it. The bones began to shake and rise up off the ground.
Piece by piece, the bones began to form together, and even the parts that were small shards began to regenerate. I stood there in shock because I had never read or heard anything about a scourge being able to regenerate like this!
As I focused on the skeletal tiger, its information popped up in front of me, causing my face to pale.
[Wrathful Scourge Tiger]
[Type: ???]
[Attack: 360-380]
[Level: 25]
[???]
Chapter 16 Wrathful Scourge
Seeing the level and amount of damage it could do, made me feel very afraid. I realized now I had been way too rxed when going into this and did not take into ount for strange things like this to happen. Just because I have never read of any ounts of it in the books at home does not mean that such things were not possible. But something like this where the monster was originally a level 5 turning into a level 25¡. I couldn¡¯t wrap my head around it, no matter how much I tried to think about it.
There was one thing I did know at this time, and that was I had to be careful. If this new kind of monster were to hit me at its current level, I am sure I will be sent flying to somece that I would nevere back from. Whether I lived or died would be another question. But I also knew that I could not run towards the vige. This meant I only had one option, I had to run deeper into the forest. Because if I did run to the vige, I would be bringing about everyone¡¯s doom.
While I had a feeling most of the people in the vige disliked me, only Trent and his goons have ever said anything mean to me. So I did not wish to see anyonee to harm who never actually harmed me. And if they dide to harm due to this monster, it would be my fault.
¡°Fireball! Wind Rush!¡±
With no other choice, Iunched a fireball right at the wrathful scourge before running off deeper into the woods. Sadly I could not leave any marks to find my way back. I could only hope to rely on visual direction by climbing trees if I am able to escape this predicament.
¡°Roar!¡± The wrathful scourge seemed angered by the attack just now and began chasing after me. Luckily it did not seem to have any long-ranged attacks, so I could make use of my small figurepared to the wrathful scourge¡¯srge body to make it in between batches of trees and bushes with ease.
I weaved in and out of the trees, testing the intelligence of this monster to find that it was actually quite dumb. It would get caught up on two trees that were next to each other that I would slip through even though it could easily just run around them and catch up to me. Not that I wasining because this was good news for me.-.
My brain spun as I began trying to formte a new n using theck of intelligence the wrathful scourge has. ¡°I am not sure it¡¯s possible, but in theory, it should be possible to form multiple magic circles at the same time. If I use two ice walls and then bombard it with fireball after fireball, I should be able to kill it¡. At least, I hope.¡±
To be perfectly honest, I have no idea if this would even work. But I need to restrict the wrathful scourge¡¯s movements as much as possible. And casting ice lock on a monster that is way above my level was not something I was going to risk stopping and trying to cast. In the books I read, it says ice lock can be easily undone if the monster is stronger. They can easily shatter the ice with brute force.
I know there is a saying that you do not know until you try. While that was very true, in this situation, it was not something worth risking. I would not risk my little life to test a spell. Ice wall was more practical in this situation as I could easily manipte its thickness, making it as sturdy as a boulder. By using two of them to herd the wrathful scourge into a narrow passage that it might not be able to get through, it would at least give me more time to prepare my attacks to try to take it down in a barrage of spells.
Now I know I could use an intermediate attack spell in this situation, but the problem with that is that the power of my spells seem to be much higher than that of a normal spell. My only thought on why this was, was because from the novels I read, intelligence sometimes also acts as a boost to magic power. While I do not know if this is actually true or not, in my case, I do know that my fireballs are more powerful than my mother¡¯s by a lot.
I continued to run while I drew magic circles in my eyes, trying to create multiples at one time. The process had to be quick in order to cast spells almost instantly, or it would be useless. Every second counted because every second was one step closer to a chance of me dying.
One would think that it would be tough trying to do so many things at once, but for some reason, I was able to have multiple thought processes as I ran through the forest and was creating magic circles. It actually surprised me that my mind seemed to be able to handle such things a little too well. This may be another perk of having infinity mind.
I ran for almost fifteen minutes, and during this time, I have created the same two magic circles over and over until I finally got them down to creating two ice wall magic circles and fifteen fireball magic circles at the same time. ¡°I think this is good enough¡.¡± I mumbled as I looked for the perfect set of trees.
My idea right now was to find a set of trees for the wrathful scourge to get caught up on. Then I would cast my double ice wall on both sides of it. When it broke through the trees, I would already have my fireball spells flying at it. I just had to do everything correctly and make sure my timing was perfect.
I was actually sweating. My palms were soaking wet, and I could feel my fingers starting to prune because of it. This whole situation was a lot to take, and the pressure of what I was about to do was really weighing me down. I took a deep breath as I spotted the set of trees that fit my n and charged forward.
I slipped through the gap between the trees and quickly turned around, four magic circles appearing in my eyes, two in each. I reached out both my hands as I skidded to a stop and yelled out: ¡°Ice Wall!¡±
Two, one thousand foot long walls that rose up to ten feet into the air, and were almost six feet wide formed in front of me in a V shape, only leaving a small gap for me to see through. I took a deep breath and shakingly let it out as my eyes glowed once more. The wrathful scourge had already destroyed the trees in front of it and was now charging right toward me. The closer it got, the tighter the space became for it until it finally seemed to have lodged itself in between the two walls of ice.
My eyes were filled with fifteen magic circles each, thirty in total. I closed my eyes and opened them once more before extending my hands out once again. ¡°Fireball¡.¡±
Fifteen fireballs formed in front of me and shot through the space between the walls of ice, barreling down the channel I made right at the wrathful scourge. The wrathful scourge must have felt the danger of the fireballs because it began to struggle to get out of the way but with how far it was wedged in and how thick the walls of ice were, there was no way it could force its way out. Each of the fifteen fireballsnded directly onto the wrathful scourge. And as the first explosions were going off, another fifteen followed up behind them.
*Boom!*
When I saw the massive explosion, I knew right away that I had gone way overboard. I braced myself for the iing shock wave that spread out from the impact point. I watched as the walls of ice shattered and vaporized under the extreme heat of the fireballs and the force of the explosion. As the wave of energy spread out, I lowered my body to try to ward off some of the impact but was still sent stumbling a few feet back.
[Wrathful Scourge Tiger Killed]
[Experience: +20000]
[Level up!]
[Level up!]
[Level up!]
[Level up!]
[Level up!]
[Level up!]
[Level up!]
[Level] 2 ¡ú 9
[Status Points] 5 ¡ú 40
[Skill Points] 0 ¡ú 7
¡°Hah! Hahahahahaha! I did it!¡± Seeing the notification and the experience I had just gained, I couldn¡¯t help but shout out for joy as I sprawled my body out on the ground. I was very tired. With all the running around and nning as well as attempting to cast so many spells at once, I just really wanted to take a nap.
But after a few minutes of rest, I still got up to examine the damage. A crater at least over fifty feet deep and one hundred feet wide had formed. My ice walls seemed to have acted as a natural barrier, so no mes spread to other parts of the forest. Knowing the wrathful scourge was dead, I walked right over to the crater and looked down inside. ¡°Hmmm? What¡¯s that?¡±
Deep in the middle of the crater was a shiny object that caught my attention. I do not know if it is because of my dragon heritage or not, but shiny objects always quickly catch my eye.
Not wasting any time, I slid down into the crater that was still smoking from my attack and walked over to the object that glimmered in the center. When I got close enough, I saw a purplish, bluish stone with a gentle glow about it lying there in the dirt. I reached down and picked it up, and focused my eyes.
[Item Acquired: Evolution Stone]
[Evolution Stone]
[A consumable item that will help any being evolve.]
Chapter 17 Evolution System
¡°Evolution stone?¡± I turned the stone in my hand over as I looked at it curiously. I had yet to read anything about evolution stones, so this was something I would need to look into. But one thing I did not understand was how to use it. ¡°Do I eat it?¡±
[Acquired An Item!]
[Inventory System Unlocked.]
[Evolution Stone Detected!]
[Evolution System Unlocked!]-.
¡°Inventory system? Evolution system?¡± I was done being surprised by all the notifications popping up, but it seemed my system liked to add things as I get them. ¡°I should make myself scarce first before someonees to investigate.¡±
I could only sigh. I kept having to run away from the scene of my crimes. I figured it would probably be best to head back towards the cliffside before it got toote. I had plenty of time to explore the forest to look for ces to level up at, and find ces to experiment with my magic. To be honest, I have really been living on that fine line of exposing myself ever since I entered the forest. I was fine when I was just fighting horned rabbits, but now I have created a huge mess in two ces. This was not good. If the vige expands its patrols within the forest, I might end up losing my training ground. And that would ruin all my future ns.
But before anything, I really needed to wash up. I had blood from horned rabbits caked on my skin and mixing in with my sweat. I needed to find a spot to wash up that was not so exposed. Out of what is called everyday magic, there were a few that were perfect for these situations. One was called hot rain magic, which allowed you to create a ball of hot water that will rain down onto you like a shower back on Earth. Ever since I learned of it, I have always used it when I can. Then there was the warm breeze magic that was nothing more than warm wind that you could blow on your body or clothes to dry them, andstly, there was whirlpool. The best thing about this kind of magic is you could make it an actual attack or just a simple washing machine. You could create a small one in front of you and toss your clothes into it with some soap to clean them. Because of these spells, day-to-day life was rather simple when it came to hygiene and clothes washing.
I ran for about fifteen minutes before looking around to find a spot without any monsters. I ended up finding a spot by a huge tree that had some low-lying branches. I created an earth version of ice wall called earth wall to make an enclosure. Only when I was surrounded did I finally strip my dirty clothes off and toss them into a whirlpool before taking a shower.
About an hourter, I was fully dressed and feeling refreshed once again. I have always had a habit of staying in the shower for way longer than needed. There was something about the hot water beating down on my skin that always rxed me. ¡°I should figure out where I am¡.¡±
Undoing the earth wall around me, I climbed the tree next to me and made my way to the top to look out over the area. It was my first time getting a good view of the area, so when I saw the expansive sea of forest that led to the other side of the long teau that my vige was perched on, I was quite surprised at just how big the area was. I turned to see the edge of the forest not far from my position. While I had run at least a mile into the first, it was not far enough from the forest edge to make mepletely lost. ¡°Okay, that way is out. I will just need to get to the forest edge then circle back around.¡±
I sat on the tall tree branch looking out over the forest, taking in the view for a moment before deciding to just go ahead and check out the new additions to my system. I quickly opened the menu to see two new additions. First, I opened my inventory and looked at it. It looked no different than any video game inventory that was based on a slot system. It was just I had no idea how to put anything into it. Scratching my head, I plucked a leaf off the tree and, following what I normally had to do, I concentrated on it, but this time I thought of sticking it into the inventory.
[Add Leaf to inventory?]
A message popped up in front of me asking if I wanted to add the leaf to the inventory or not. ¡°Yes¡¡± After I spoke what seemed to be the magic words, the leaf disappeared from my hand and now took up a slot in the inventory. When I focused on the leaf, a secondary window popped up, giving me details about the item. Although the information was no different from what I would see if I appraised it. Only there was a button underneath the information that said retrieve. If I concentrated on it, it would light up as if I was hovering over it. ¡°So it¡¯s basically a mental type control system when dealing with things. Same as with the skill system¡. But at least this is helpful. I can now carry many items with me without needing to actually carry them.¡±
I used the retrieve button on the leaf, and it once again appeared in my hand. Or more like I subconsciously reached out to grab it as it appeared. A kind of strange feeling as if I had no control over what I was doing. But I was sure I would get used to it over time. I would rather be controlled for a few seconds to grab the item that was appearing than letting, let¡¯s say, my evolution stone drop to the ground and break and be waste.
Speaking of the evolution stone. I set aside the inventory to test it moreter and went to check out the new evolution system. ¡°Hmm? This is kinda amazing!¡± My eyes widened when I looked at the evolution system. ¡°Only the top two are lit up and show a slot above the name. The evolution stone must go into that slot?¡±
I tilted my head to the side as I looked the menu over before checking out the two options I had for evolution. ¡°Let¡¯s see¡. First one is a Dragling¡. A young dragon race that can not transform into humans until they are older but are ten times stronger than other young dragons.¡±
I pursed my lips. There was no way I would want to evolve into a dragon race that I can¡¯t actually stay human in. My eyes quickly fell onto the next option that was lit up. ¡°Dragnoid¡ An evolved form of Dragonkin. A humanoid dragon race that can transform into dragons. Size and scale is dependent on current age. A Dragnoid¡¯s dragon form is five times stronger than its human form. Partial transformation is possible with practice. Will acquire skill dragon breath for both humanoid and dragon forms. Takes one hour toplete evolution.
¡°Now, this is more like it. But the question is will I still look the same after evolution? Will I still be the cute me that I am now?¡± While I know I may sound narcissistic, my current looks have to stay the same, at least enough so that my family can recognize me. I did not wish to turn into some kind of freak of nature or end up looking like someonepletely different. But the idea of bing an actual dragon was kind of enticing. I mean, it¡¯s a dragon, right? I might have dragon aspects already, but aren¡¯t baby dragons supposed to be cute?
I was really debating on what I should do. But I was worried about what would happen to me physically. I tapped my chin and pondered but still couldn¡¯te to a firm decision. I decided to wait for the time being. I stuck my evolution stone into my inventory and climbed down the tree.
I left the forest as quickly as possible and walked along the cliff edge, making my way back towards the road that leads to my house. It was there that I saw my brother walking over to me. I smiled brightly and waved my hand at him. ¡°Brother!¡±
¡°You idiot! Where did you go!?¡± My brother yelled, causing me to flinch slightly. I lowered my head and dared not to look up.
¡°I¡.¡± I wanted to say something, but before I could, I was pulled into his embrace.
¡°Faith, you have no idea how hard Mother, Father, and I have been searching for you. There have been explosions going off in the forest, indicating a powerful monster battle. We thought maybe you were caught up in them.¡± I kind of felt bad because I know for a fact that those explosions were my doing. So in truth, I was caught up in them. But I could not tell him such things, or I would definitely be locked away.
¡°I¡. I was on the other side of the vige exploring the rocky area.¡± I lied¡ I hated it, but I had no choice. I am sorry, brother!
¡°The rocky area?¡± My brother sighed as he released me. ¡°That ce can be a maze sometimes. There are also elementals that sometimes appear there, so you need to be careful in that area. Come on, let¡¯s go find Mother and Father. They are very worried right now.¡±
Chapter 18 Planning
Currently, I am sitting on my knees with my head lowered as my mother points her finger at me. She seems to be very upset that she could not find me easily. ¡°Faith, do you know how scared your father and I were? We thought you were caught up in themotion in the forest! From now on, you must tell us exactly where you will be going, or else you can only stay in the house!¡±
¡°I¡. Mother, I was only on the other side of the vige? How was I supposed to know there was going to be some kind of explosion in the forest?¡± I know she is ming the right person, but I really can¡¯t be restricted! If I have to tell her where I will be and then she goes looking for me, and I am not there, wouldn¡¯t I be just yelling out I am doing something sneaky? ¡°Plus, what if I want to go elsewhere than where I say I will be? Do I need to walk all the way back home to inform you?¡±
¡°Faith, that is not the point!¡± My mother was really starting to get mad. I normally never talk back to her, but this time I did. Only I couldn¡¯t lose my ability to go level up. Growing stronger was very important to me at this time.
¡°Lilith, calm down. Faith has a point. If she said she was going to the west side of the vige and wanted to go to the cliffside after a while, would you really make here all the way home just to turn around to go back out even though she had just walked past the ce?¡± Ah! My father is my guardian angel who came from the heavens above! He understood me perfectly!
¡°Sander! Are you saying you were not worried when we couldn¡¯t find her!?¡± My mother turned her anger towards my father. I was actually starting to feel bad because everything was my fault, to begin with!-.
I watched my father shake his head and sigh as he calmly spoke. ¡°Do you think I went around yelling Faith¡¯s name at the top of my lungs because I was not worried? Of course, I was worried. It¡¯s just that Faith is older now and needs to be more free. We can not just lock her up. Isn¡¯t this why you agreed to let her out on her own?¡±
¡°Fine! But if this happens again, Faith will need toe back and tell me where she is no matter what!¡± I watched as my mother huffed and walked towards the kitchen. I let out a sigh of relief and made a silent promise to be more careful.
With things seemingly settled, I went to stand up only to have a big hand sp onto my shoulder. I looked up at my Father, who had a serious expression on his face, and suddenly had a big chill run down my spine. ¡°Let¡¯s go outside and talk, shall we?¡±
I could only nod my head. I had no idea what he wanted to say, but I knew I should be ready for anything. I followed my Father to the back yard where he sat on a log we used as a bench to sit around the small campfire we had in the middle of the yard. He patted the spot next to him, telling me to sit down. I could onlyply and wait for what he was about to say.
¡°Tell me, what did you run into in the forest?¡± My father¡¯s words were like a bomb going off. But I somehow did expect this.
¡°I¡.¡± Expecting and knowing how to answer were two different things. I was at a loss for words. I did not know if I should tell the truth or what.
¡°Faith, I already know you were the one in the forest. I spotted your footprints when I went to investigate and even cleaned them up for you. I am not telling you you can no longer go into the forest, but you fought with something that required you to use excessive force.
¡°Don¡¯t think just because I am not around that I do not know anything. You have to remember you got your dragonkin blood from me. I have heightened senses and see much more than you think. Even the smallest trace of your scent will not escape my nose. I only faked not being able to find you in order to allow you to return on your own. So tell me, what did you run into?¡± I waspletely shocked that my father was able to tell so much just from my scent and footprints. I couldn¡¯t help but purse my lips and give him a look that said this is not fair.
Sadly, I could only sigh and tell him the truth. ¡°It was a skeletal tiger, a scourge.¡±
¡°I see¡. But that should not have been the reason you had used such force, so tell me what else happened.¡± I was starting to wonder if both my parents were some kind of heroes before having my brother and me. I knew this was not the case since they both grew up in this vige but still. They always seemed to see right through me! But then again, I guess they wouldn¡¯t really be my parents if they did not know their own kids. So I went ahead and told him the truth as to what happened. Leaving out the evolution stone, of course, and changed things here and there.
¡°I see¡ So the scourge seemed to have some unique power to reanimate into a more powerful monster, which caused you to have to use a few intermediate tier spells¡.¡± My father paused as if he was in deep thought before continuing. ¡°Faith, never tell your mother about this. You would be banned from going into the forest.¡±
I was surprised by my father¡¯s words. I was waiting for him to outright stop me from going into the forest once he knew I actually went there. ¡°You¡¯re not going to punish me?¡±
¡°Punish you for what? Saving the vige? While it may be dangerous in the forest, monsters like scourges rarely appear and would take much more than a single little girl to kill. But you did it on your own. While the force you used was excessive, you still managed to keep yourself safe as well as the vige. To be honest, you would be regarded as a hero if you were not demi human. But because you are, we have to keep things quiet, or things will getplicated. Faith, I want you to know I am very proud of you. Even while in danger, you thought about the safety of others first. You could have just run to the vige, but you didn¡¯t.¡± My father pulled me into a hug and kissed the top of my head. I could feel his warmth sinking into my heart. My father was someone who always said what was on his mind and never lied, so I know he was not just saying these things to try to make me feel better.
¡°But Faith, from now on, you must be extra careful. Do not go into the forest too deep. Also, stay near the western edge. Most vigers do not go there. If you wish to keep going there to train, you need to make sure you do not bring too much attention to yourself. Also, if you run into anything that you can not fight, run to the vige whether you bring the monster here or not. Your safety takes priority above all else. I will handle the bacsh.¡± My father rubbed my head and stood up. ¡°Let¡¯s go inside and try to pacify your mother, or I might need to sleep outside tonight¡.¡±
I couldn¡¯t help but giggle at my father¡¯s words. Not just because they were funny but because they were true. He has had to sleep outside many times because he angered Mother. But I now have a sense of relief. I thought I would be banned from going to the forest, but now I had my father¡¯s permission. This meant I could continue to level up.
I spent the rest of my day sucking up to my mother, trying to brown-nose my way into her good graces again. It was not until after dinner that she finally came around. After so much excitement for one day, I was happy in the end, things turned out okay.
As Iy in bed, I began nning out what I would do for training the next day. I had so much I needed to do, and I was starting to feel like I was rushing things a bit too much. But when I thought about what might happen in the future, I couldn¡¯t help but begin squeezing in everything I could. I decided to section my day off between leveling and practicing magic. So far, with my mana trickle, my stats were indeed increasing like before. So I could only wait until they were finally capped to use any status points. To be honest, I actually saw no need to use these points as of now since I could get free points just from leveling and letting my mana trickle. As for the skill points, I did not know what to use them for at this time. I figured, like my status points, I would use them when I needed them.
This way, when I finally go off on my own, no matter where I am, I will always have the ability to pick up any trade no matter what I end up doing to make money. I wanted to leave any and all options open for the future.
As for evolution, I was still thinking about that. I have been looking at the evolution trees, and they seem to be very enticing on many levels. Mainly the special traits. The Dragnoid evolution line was quite good, from partial and full transformations to fire breath in both forms to even evolvingter on into Grand Dragnoid that was able to use more than just fire breath. From there, the evolution lines branched out to many different dragon lines, but they were all blurred out. I could only see the next line which was Grand Dragnoid. But what I noticed was that to evolve into a Grand Dragnoid I would need ten evolution stones. I felt a chill just thinking about needing to fight monsters as strong as the wrathful scourge. I could only hope I did not run into such beings again any time soon.
As I was falling asleep I decided to first look for a hidden ce to train tomorrow before I began my new routine.
Chapter 19 Days Like This
The next day after a stern warning from my mother, I ventured back out into the forest. My goal today was to find a ce to practice magic away from prying eyes. I do have to say that I was much more rxed going out today than I was yesterday. I guess it was because my father knew I was in the forest, and I was notpletely hiding everything from my parents, but there was just so much more they did not know and would probably never know. Right now, I could only hope things kept the status quo.
I went about two miles into the forest, staying near the rocky area as my father told me to avoid any vigers. This side of the forest even seemed much more peaceful than the area I went tost time. I only ran into a few horned rabbits, but they all ran away from me, unlike before, when they would attack me. I am not sure if this was because of my level or what, but it was nice not to have to stop to kill the cute little things.
My stats are steadily going up as well.
[Name]: Faith Cyrilia
[Age] 7
[Level] 9
[Race] Dragonkin-.
[HP] 550/550
[MP] ¡Þ
[Status Points] 40
[Strength] 55
[Vitality] 55
[Intelligence] 55
[Mind] ¡Þ
[Agility] 55
[Skill Points] 7
[Skills]
[Appraisal (LVL 1)]
Being able to have such a massive increase in strength all around was really insane. The forty status points I had sitting there were nothingpared to my passive. But I was thinking of just dumping it all into vitality so I would have higher health. But I decided I would wait until it all capped out. For the time being, I would let my passive fill out my stats before trying to level any more. Of course, if I was forced to fight a powerful monster and had no chance of escaping, I would still kill it even if it meant leveling up. My lifees first before experimenting.
After a few hours of looking around, I finally found the perfect spot to train. There was a small horseshoe-shaped rocky protrusion that came out of the ground and towered a hundred feet or so into the air. The area inside was sparse with trees but had a wall of trees covering the entrance making for a perfect barrier from prying eyes.
I stood in the center of it and looked around. You would think such a ce would be a perfect home for powerful monsters, but I could only see horned rabbits and a few other monsters, but none of them seemed to be bothered by me. The area had more rocks than trees which made for a perfect testing ground. The rocks were big and made good targets.
I found a good spot to sit and began deciding on what I was going to be doing for the day. ¡°With my current ability to split a magic circle in two and also create multiple magic circles at once. It should be possible to fuse two elements, right?¡±
I pondered for a bit before finding a small rock and began drawing magic circles in front of me. I wanted to first draw them out to see if the runic equations could be mixed or not. ¡°I do not think it is possible to fuse fire and water as they are two opposing elements, so I will leave that element out but fire and lightning¡. The runic equation is almost the same between the two. If I were to tweak it here and here¡.¡±
My problem with fusing elements was getting the proper sequence. Which should be created first and which should be the more dominant one. From all the books I have read, the theory of magic fusion was only touched upon, and none of it was ever used in day-to-day practice. This was because the process would consume a lot of mana, and if there were people out there that could fuse magic, they were the ones at the top of the food chain.
Just by reading the runic equation, the fusion process alone would consume quadruple the amount of mana for creating the magic circle, and this was not including the mana sucked out of you to cast it. The more I learned about magic circles, the moreplicated they got. Leaving out a single portion of an equation to speed up a spell cast would cause drastic changes to the oue of the spell.
I have no idea how many times I have failed now while trying to make things instant. I still have not given up on making a spell instant cast. Because I know how much even a fraction of a second counts now while in battle after experiencing realbat.
I drew magic circle after magic circle, trying to figure out the correct form, but even as the day went on, I still couldn¡¯te up with anything that would work correctly. I leaned back and looked up at the sky. The setting sun was starting to turn the sky from the bluish hue of day to the orange hue of evening, so I knew it was time to go home. I used some water magic to wash away my scratches so I would not leave any evidence behind before making my way home.
The gentle breeze that blew by made my hair flutter slightly as I walked along the cliffside. Just thinking about how many years had quickly passed already made me realize how quickly time flew by. Seven years in a new world, and I have quickly grown ustomed to it. Not that I had any choice but to. But to be honest, I really do love this world. I do miss my life back on Earth as well, but I would never go back even if I was given a chance to. Well, maybe to tell Jen that I was okay. I have no idea how she was doing. Maybe one day, I will be able to create magic that will allow me to travel to or peer into other worlds. I just wished to know how she was holding up. I hope she is doing fine.
I do worry for my earthling mother and father as well. They loved me dearly. I hoped they did not do anything stupid after I died. Now that I was thinking about it, they might even me Jen for my death as well¡ I sighed and stopped to look out over the valley below. I bowed my head and sped my hands together. With my eyes closed, I said a little prayer for both my parents and Jen. I am not one to be overly religious. In fact, I was not religious at all. But that did not stop me from saying something. I just wanted to wish them all good fortune and peaceful lives.
Being a little emotional at times was not a bad thing. I just wished to keep those from my past life in my heart no matter what. I looked out over the beautiful scenery and smiled softly. If they could only see this, I am sure they would all be at peace.
¡°Faith!¡± My father¡¯s voice came from not far. I turned to see him walking toward me. He had a sickle in his hand that rested on his shoulder.
¡°Father? Is something wrong?¡± I was hoping I did not cause another scene somehow without knowing it.
¡°No, I just happened toe here to take in the fresh air and spotted you. How was it? Your training that is?¡± My father answered as he walked over and ruffled my hair. His hands were big and strong and actually made me feel kind of tiny.
¡°It¡¯s going. I have been trying to make my casting faster.¡± I did not go intoplete details because I was not sure if he would change his mind about my training in the forest if he knew I was trying to fuse magic.
¡°Just don¡¯t overdo it and run out of mana. Because if you do and I have to go searching for you, your mother will not let either of us off.¡± For some reason, I had a feeling my father was more worried about his own well-being than mine when it came to my mother. Not that I me him. My mother would never make me sleep outside when she was mad. But I also did not want to be subjected to the red bottom technique. Otherwise, I might be sleeping on my stomach for a few days.
¡°I promise. I won¡¯t overdo it.¡± Not that I could. My mana never went down, thankfully. If it did, I do not think I would like magic as much. Now that I think about it, I wonder what would have caught my interest if I only had limited mana. Maybe cooking? Sewing? I have no idea, to be honest. But it probably would have been cooking since I do enjoy it a little bit. I just don¡¯t like doing dishes or the prep work¡.
Not that it matters. With my system, I can choose whatever skill I want and be a pro at it. I can go from noob to five-star chef in just a few seconds. Time dependant on how quickly I can add points to the skill tree.
¡°Hop on; I will carry you back.¡± My father knelt down in front of me and motioned for me to climb on his back. I smiled and did just that. My father was tall, so seeing things from a new height every once and a while was not so bad. I hooked my arms around his neck and rested my chin on his shoulder. I wished days like this would continue for a long time.
Chapter 20 Fusion Magic Part 1
As the days passed, I would go to my secret area and work on magic forms and nothing else. I was still trying to find a way to fuse fire and lightning together. And today was no different. I sat in the same spot as always, looking at the magic circles etched into the ground while pursing my lips. I felt like I was missing some kind of link between the two. ¡°Ahh! This is getting me nowhere¡.¡±
I scratched my head and sat back, looking up at the sky. ¡°Clouds are starting toe in. I should probably call it a day soon. Let¡¯s check my stats first¡.¡±
[Name]: Faith Cyrilia
[Age] 7
[Level] 9
[Race] Dragonkin
[HP] 2700/2700
[MP] ¡Þ
[Status Points] 40-.
[Strength] 270(Max For Level)
[Vitality] 270(Max For Level)
[Intelligence] 270 (Max For Level)
[Mind] ¡Þ
[Agility] 270 (Max For Level)
[Skill Points] 7
[Skills]
[Appraisal (LVL 1)]
¡°Finally capped!¡± I had been waiting for this moment! If this was a game and my character had such high stats at level 9, I am sure there would be nothing I couldn¡¯t kill under level 30 at the minimum. But this was finally my time to figure out if applying status points to capped stats would actually allow them to exceed the cap.
I took a deep breath before finally adding a point to vitality.
[Status Points] 40 ¡ú 39
[Vitality] 270 ¡ú 271
[HP] 2700 ¡ú 2710/2710
¡°It really does allow me to break the cap!¡± My eyes shined with happiness. While my health is high, I am always worried that I will never have enough. So being able to up my vitality to gain more health was a huge thing for me.
[Status Points] 39 ¡ú 0
[Vitality] 271 ¡ú 310
[HP] 2710 ¡ú 3100/3100
¡°Not bad¡. At least now I can continue leveling up. It will all need to wait until tomorrow, though.¡± Or so I thought.
The next day it was heavily raining, keeping me stuck inside with nothing to do. In the end, I ended up doing more research on magic, looking at the books we had and hoping to find something that might help me with my fusion magic.
I couldn¡¯t help but sigh as I opened the books I have read many times now. I have memorized each of these books. I could recite each page on-demand if someone asked me to do so. So I knew I would never find anything new. But I stillbed over them in hopes of finding something. If not, anything that could help in my fusion magic.
I sat by the window in my bedroom with the wooden shutter propped up to block the rain but also so I could look outside as I contemted what I read. The humid air made everything feel sticky and myself feel sweaty, but there was nothing I could do about that. This world did not have anything called a dehumidifier or an air conditioner. I could only suffer under these conditions. After a while, you do get used to it, but it still made me feel sluggish.
¡°Faith, you look like you are about to melt away and turn into a slime.¡± I heard my brother¡¯s teasing voice. I couldn¡¯t help it, though. I was really not feeling up to anything with how sticky I felt. There were actually slimes in this world. Only they were mostly found in the londs down below the cliff. Every once and a while, a slime would appear near the top of the road that leads down into the valley. But normally, the vige kids will go out and kill it as a means of practice.
I hate to say it. But from the pictures I have seen in books and stories I have heard about slimes, they seem to be very cute. Sadly another creature that looks cute but is actually very deadly. If a human gets surrounded by many slimes or falls asleep in an area that they are active in without protection, one could quickly find parts or all of their body being slowly digested. Slimes are considered the world¡¯s cleaners as they can eat anything. The word ¡®eat¡¯, is probably the wrong word to use as they dissolve their prey with their bodily fluids. To be honest, I think I would prefer to be eaten then dissolved slowly. At least by the time I hit the stomach of whatever attacked me, I would either be dead or at least close to it. It may be a strange thing to say, but this was how I felt about it.
Slimes were also beings that were immune to physical attacks and needed to be killed with magic of a different element. So a blue slime could be killed by any element but water. The same could be said for any type of slime. Slimes were born from magic and only from elements that were abundant in the area. They were basically harmless to a certain extent. A child could easily kill them if they can cast the correct spell.
A slime¡¯s main attack was its pounce. After contact, the fluids on the slime¡¯s body would rub off onto its target and dissolve the clothing of the person. If the fluids touched skin, it would begin to burn and dissolve the skin. But unlike when it is trying to consume you, the damage is minor and not fatal.
At my brother¡¯s teasing, I just ignored him. Because he said something that reminded me of something I had read before. Slimes sometimes had two fused elements. In areas where magic of two elements is abundant, they would be formed of those two elements. My eyes widened at this revtion as I jumped up from my seat. ¡°Brother, you are a genius!¡±
I ran by my brother, who seemed to be confused as to why I was praising him as I ran out of the room back to the bookshelf. ¡°Found it!¡± I quickly turned to the page with slimes that exined in great detail about how they are born.
¡°By elements intertwining with each other, they can form a mix of elements which gives birth to a dual element slime¡. If this is true¡..¡± I couldn¡¯t wait! I grabbed my raincoat and tossed on my boots. I was about to run out of the door when a big hand grabbed my shoulder.
¡°Faith, where do you think you are going without saying anything?¡± I turned to see my father¡¯s questioning gaze which caused my mind to nk out for a second. I was so caught up in my revtion that I had forgotten that I was still only seven.
¡°I think I figured out the issue that I have been having with my magic. Father, if I do not go out and try it now, I might forget everything!¡± I was slightly lying because I could never forget. But still, I had to go out now. This was something I had been working on all week! I had to find out if my way of thinking was correct or not. It would be fine if I could just work it with magic circles, but I had to actually cast them to prove my theory.
My father looked into my eyes, that were full of determination, and sighed. ¡°Fine, but I am going with you. It¡¯s raining, and the roads are dangerous.¡±
¡°What are you two talking about?¡± I heard my mother¡¯s voiceing from behind my father. I paled because I did not know if she had heard what I was saying.
¡°Faith thinks she had just figured something out about casting magic and wanted to go out and try it. I will go with her. We are going towards the rocky area where it will be safe to see if her idea works or not in case something happens.¡± My father answered truthfully. Although it was not about spell casting.
I looked at my mother, who was eyeing my father suspiciously before she nodded her head. ¡°Just be back before it gets dark.¡±
I breathed a sigh of relief when I heard this. But now I am a little troubled. I knew I would need to exin fusion magic to my father now, and I hoped he would not keep me from using it. ¡°Alright, Faith, get on. I will carry you over.¡±
I climbed on my father¡¯s back and left the house with him. We had only gotten halfway down the road when he asked: ¡°So tell me, what is it that you are so excited about? I know it is not casting speed.¡±
The dreadful question had finallye. I took a deep breath and collected my thoughts before trying to finally exin myself. ¡°The past week, I have been working, without any sess, on magic forms that would allow me to fuse two elements together, creating a new spell. I have yet to even attempt to try anything outright, only drawing magic circle after magic circle on the ground, but nothing I worked up seemed like it would work, nor did I wish to try it unless I was actually sure it would not blow up in my face. But now, after remembering how double element slimes existed, I figured the process of fusing two elements together with magic was not much different than how it happens in nature.¡±
¡°Fusion magic, huh? Faith, fusion magic is said to drain a lot of mana. Are you sure you are able to cast something like this?¡± My father seemed more worried over mana deprivation than anything else.
¡°If my idea does work, it would be no different than casting a few spells at a time. Meaning it will use much less magic than the fusion magic theory read in books.¡± I replied. It was true. If my idea on fusion elements actually worked, it would reduce the mana cost by almost eighty percent.
¡°Hmmm¡. If it does work, I want you to teach me. Also¡. Do not tell anyone about this. If word of fusion magic spread, it could cause a huge imbnce in the world. And I, for one, do not wish for war. I only want to learn it so I can protect you, your mother, and your brother. And also so I can get a better understanding of what you are working so hard on.¡±
Chapter 21 Fusion Magic Part 2
¡°Over there.¡± I pointed at a cluster of trees blocking the entrance to my secret practice ground. The rain was stilling down, but the two of us did not mind one bit. In fact, it was probably best if it was raining that way, if anything did happen, the rain could help put out any fires that might ur.
¡°This ce is not bad at all. I never thought this ce existed. I had always thought the protrusion was just a tall rock formation. Never thought it created a little oasis..¡± My father¡¯s expression showed how surprised he was. It kinda struck me as odd as to why this ce had never been discovered before, but when I think about how the people in the vige rarelye to this area due to theck of wildlife, it did make some sense as to why it was not discovered or if it had been it was ignored. Theyout of the trees also blocked it from view from inside the forest as well.
¡°I just happened to spot the area and lined it up with the rocks from the outside. I poked around a bit and was able to find this ce.¡± I said as I climbed off my father¡¯s back. I walked over to the more rocky area and pointed at a certain spot. ¡°That is where I normally go to do my thinking.¡±
¡°You spend all day there drawing magic circles?¡± My father asked. I could tell he was surprised at my dedication. I mean, I am out here for hours nonstop drawing these magic circles like some obsessed freak of nature. But I can¡¯t help it. Even when all I did at home was read all the time besides doing my homework, which I hated doing because it cut into my free time, I just read. I read every novel I could find, whether online or printed version. I was so obsessed with losing myself in the worlds the authors created that I didn¡¯t care about other things. Love, romance, none of that mattered. My friends were out being bashful while talking with boys while I was dreaming about the hot male lead from the novel I was currently reading.
I know these are two different extremes, but this was just how I was when I put my everything into something. At least¡ At least magic is beneficial to my new life while reading back on Earth was just a hobby. I mean, yeah, I could have be an author, but that was only if I could put my thoughts into words and actually produce something that was decent enough that would make people want to read it. I will admit I did try to write a few times but¡. It took too much time, and then I would have less time to read¡.
¡°Yep! I have been here trying toe up with a solution to my problem all week.¡± I replied. I couldn¡¯t sit down now with how wet things were due to the rain, but it didn¡¯t matter.-.
¡°So what is the process you are talking about that you havee up with. I am now your student so help me understand so I can attempt to do this with you.¡± My father was raring to go, which made me smile. It was very rare for the two of us to get time to bond like this, so I was actually quite thankful for the rain. It kept my father from needing to go out into the fields.
¡°The process is like this. If a slime is made of condensed magic, we just need to create magic and condense it into a natural process using magic itself. Only then can we turn the end product into a spell. Afterpleting the magic circles, we will then need to speed up the casting time and get the spells to cast and merge at the time giving birth to a new kind of magic. ¡± I exined. I had no idea how easy it was to understand, but that was the basic idea of it.
¡°Wait, you are casting two magic circles simultaneously?¡± I watched as my father¡¯s eyes widened in shock.
¡°Mmm¡ It would be like this.¡± I reached out in front of me with both hands and using a single finger on each hand, I began writing to different magic circles at the same time. My speed was quick and seemed very natural. I am sure my father could tell I have practiced this a lot. I was just unsure if my father would be able to do it as well. After all, I could process multiple things at a time without issue.
¡°I see¡.¡± I heard a sighing from my side, causing me to look up at my father. He scratched his head and began attempting the same thing. It was no easy task, that is for sure. He started off slow and messed up quite a few times. But eventually, he started to get the hang of it. My father was truly amazing. He was learning really fast. I watched him practice for an hour. It was not like I could give him tips as I was just naturally able to do it.
An hour passed, and he had finally gotten the hang of it. ¡°This is difficult, and any loss of concentration can mess up the magic circle but. But once I get the hang of it, I should be able to cast just as fast as you. Faith, what is the next step?¡±
¡°Now we change how the magic circle is written. While still keeping the fundamental basis of it. Let¡¯s start with the fire circle. We are not trying to create a fireball but actually gather and condense the fire elements in the air. So in order to do that, we will need to change what we are doing and what the oue is, and then down here in this form, we need to change how it is gathered. If we take the runic equation that is used to condense the ice in ice wall and rewrite it like this, we should be in theory able to condense a mass of fire elements into a ball.¡± I finished my magic circle in three seconds before saying the activation word: ¡°Condense!¡±
The area in front of me began to grow warm as fire elements began to gather in the air. The mass of orange that had no true use but resemble molten metal floated in the air. ¡°So this is what it looked like when it condenses¡.¡±
I looked at my creation with great interest. It was my first time ever rewriting a spellpletely to do something else, so this was all intriguing to me. ¡°Now, in theory¡ If I did the same for the lightning element¡.¡±
I began drawing another magic circle in the air that soon created a ball of condensed lightning that floated next to the ball of condensed fire. I inspected the two of them before feeding my magic into the two and began moving them closer together. This was where the greatest amount of mana consumption would happen. I could not allow the two condensed elements to just merge in one go. I had to be careful and do it slowly, little by little, as the elements began to intermingle.
Sweat dripped from my brow, and I bit my lower lip and steadily merged the two elements into the other, allowing the condensed balls to be one. Fifteen minutes passed before I finally made them merge together. ¡°I did it!¡±
Floating in front of me was a yellow and red ball of elements coexisting with one another as if it was very natural. ¡°This is quite amazing, but the time it takes to do the merger is way too long. Also, how do you n to make this into a spell?¡±
My father¡¯s question was a good one. The process was kind of sloppy, but to really do anything, there would need to be a final magic circle that took in the merged elements to create a spell. ¡°The entire process is only preliminary, I hope tobine the entire method into a single magic circle at some point. But for now, to actually cast it would be something like this.¡±
I drew out the magic circle I had in mind and gave it an activation word. ¡°Staticfire!¡±
The condensed magic floating in the air suddenly burst into an electrified fireball and swirled in front of me. To my surprise, it was much more stable than I had imagined with a wave of my hand, I sent my new creation towards the rocks. ¡°Go!¡±
It flew out at an incredible speed before mming into arge boulder.
*Boom!*
Arge explosion went off as both fire and lightning danced together. Arcs of lightning spread out, destroying more of the area while fire melted the rock at the epicenter. I had officially created a spell that was both a single target and an area of effect at the same time.
As the dust and debris settled, I saw a wide, deep crater in front of me, still glowing hot even under the rain. ¡°It was much more powerful than I expected.¡±
¡°Faith you¡.¡± I turned to see my father¡¯s mouth was open so wide you could literally stick an egg inside of it. I had actually forgotten he was here. I had once again tuned the world out around me while working on something¡.
¡°This¡. I¡.¡± I was having a hard time exining. This kind of magic should not be something a seven-year-old should be able to cast, never mind creating.
¡°Faith, never show this to anyone else. But perfect it. This magic could be something that can save your life one day. Sadly, I can only say it is beyond me.¡± My father seemed a little disappointed. But I was feeling relieved at least I wasn¡¯t yelled at or questioned in detail about why I am able to do all of this.
¡°I promise not to show anyone else.¡± I nodded my head. I know it would be dangerous to do so. This kind of magic, if formted on a grander scale, let¡¯s say using a magic spell like grand fall, which already is very destructive, and then is fused with another kind of equally destructive magic, it could cause catastrophic consequences.
¡°Also¡. You can only practice with me around. I will make time every night for a few hours in the evening to stay with you while you train. I will also make up an excuse to tell your mother why we will being homete as well.¡± My father seemed to be nervous and excited at the same time. I am not sure if my father really likes magic or what, but his eyes shone kinda like mine when I casted the spell just now. Maybe my father and I do have a lot more inmon than I had thought. ¡°Andstly. We will also train you more in swordsmanship. I will get you a teacher to train you more in the early mornings. Never put all your eggs in a single basket. Magic is good, but it will not get you out of every situation.¡±
I nodded my head, agreeing with his statement. It was true that it was better to be safe than sorry. ¡°Then I will make sure I learn well.¡±
Chapter 22 Merchant Caravan
While my first try with fusion magic was sessful, it was far from beingbat ready. I mean, no enemy would ever wait fifteen plus minutes for me to cast a spell, that was for sure. But now that I had an understanding of the process, I could begin working on a new fusion magic spell, which would work in a universal manner. I wanted to be able tobine any two spells using the same runic equation and only needing to change the elements.
As the days passed, my new schedule was filled to the brim. In the early mornings, my father¡¯s friend, a guard from the town guard, woulde over to help train me in swordsmanship. He was actually quite nice and did not treat me any different than he would others.
During the day, I would be off trying to level up and practicing what I learned in swords and magic. At night I would spend a few hours working on my fusion magic with my father. And before bed, I spent much needed mother-daughter time with my mother.
Eventually, it had be time for the day that most vigers of Wandermere waited for. The day the merchant caravan would roll into town. It was a day that everyone who worked hard every day took time off toe to trade and sell their wares to the merchants to buy what they needed in return. In a way, merchants were actually making a killing because they never really lost any money. Instead, they gained money by selling salt, sugar, and other things at a much higher price than what they bought them for. This was because you could not get such items in the vige unless you took the time to run to the nearest city and back, which was at least two weeks or more travel time. -.
But besides being a kind of lifeline for certain items, this was going to be my first time actually adventuring into town. I had no idea how people would react toward me, but I did know that I would be with my mother, father, and brother.
¡°Faith, are you ready?¡± My mother asked with a smile. She had made me a white one-piece dress with flowers on it, especially for today. She even put my hair up into pigtails. When I inspected myself in the mirror, I felt I looked pretty cute.
¡°Yes, I¡¯m ready!¡± I said with a smile before running to my mother¡¯s side and holding her hand. In truth, I was excited and nervous at the same time. I knew the people of the vige did not like demi humans. I did not care too much if they said bad things about me, but if they started cursing my family, I might now be able to control my anger.
My family has shown me so much love and care that there is no way I would be able to stand people talking badly about them. I rather the words be directed at me and only me. But I think it will be okay. I mean, most people seemed against angering my father. He was big, tall, and strong. To me, he was like a hero who came to the countryside to spend the rest of his days. However, I knew this was not true because my mother tells me stories about their past all the time.
I loved to listen to such stories as they were mostly about how awkward my father was when he first started trying to court her. He would do silly things like one time he had picked both a batch of flowers and a batch of mushrooms. The mushrooms were for his mother and the flowers for my mother. But being as nervous as he was, he had closed his eyes and held out the batch of mushrooms to my mother, causing her tough at him. When he opened his eyes and looked at what he had done, his whole face turned bright red.
I really could see my father doing something silly like that. He was a man who loved his family very much. I have no idea if one day I will ever fall in love, but if I do, I hope they will love me as much as my father loves my mother. For now, though, I do not think I will evere to find anyone who will love me for me. I mean, I am kind of a weirdo. Plus, I have a long, long life ahead of me, and I really do not see the need for such matters at this time. Those kinds of things will happen when they happen.
I mean, let¡¯s say I live forever due to what looks to be infinity mana. Then wouldn¡¯t it be saddening to always see those you love die? I am not sure I could take such things. I would prefer to stay single forever. That way, I would only have to deal with saying goodbye to my family once, and that is it. Of course, it is not like I can control what happens in the future, so like I said before, those kinds of things will happen when they happen.
When I got outside, my father picked me up and put me on his shoulders. It was much higher than when he carried me on his back. I could see much more even though it was only a few inches higher. I know I should be acting more my age as I am well over twenty if you count my previous life, but being a kid again was truly fun. Times like these can only be enjoyed at this age, and I wish to cherish every minute of it.
We walked down the dirt road towards the vige center. For the first time, I really got to get a good look at how the vige wasid out. Normally I am too preupied to even care to look towards the main part of the vige, but it seems to be done in a circle shape with a single main road leading to the vige center. There was no grand fountain orrge well in the center, just a small flower garden that had a statue of a young woman kneeling down, looking as if she was tending to the flowers themselves. When I asked my mother and father about it, I was told that the statue was a tribute to the vige founder¡¯s daughter, who died during a monster tide.
The vige has been around for hundreds of years, so I was surprised to see how well the statue had been taken care of all these years. But it seems the current vige elder is a descendant of the vige founder.
As we walked down the road of the vige, Auntie Finna spotted us and waved her hand back and forth with a bright smile on her face. ¡°Lilith! Sander! Are youing down as well? Oh? Eric is pulling the wagon, I see! He has grown to be so handsome and strong. I bet all the vige girls will be trying to marry you soon!¡±
¡°Auntie Finna, you just said that the other day!¡± Eric said while blushing. It seemed Auntie Finna loved to tease my brother. It all started when he was trying to impress one of the vige girls down by the wheat fields. Auntie Finna saw him liftrge bales of wheat and eyeing the girl who was watching from afar. She found it cute and couldn¡¯t resist yelling out at him, praising him for his strength. His whole head turned bright red, and the girl giggled. I kinda wished I was there to see it. I would have teased him right along with her!
But I do have to say that my brother is quite handsome. I hope whoever he ends up with will love him like how my mother loves my father. But with how kind he is I am afraid he might be bullied by the girls. I guess it will be up to me to make sure any girl he begins to court is up to my standards of who my big brother can marry. I think my current state of mind actually might make me a brocon¡ Awe well¡. I just want him to live a good life.
¡°Faith, you areing too? This is your first time, right?¡± Auntie Finna asked. She was always one of those people who were able to brighten up anyone¡¯s day. She was kind to everyone and always tried to help others.
¡°Mmm! I just hope it goes well.¡± I hated sounding like a downer, but everyone knew what I meant. This was my first time actually appearing in front of most of the town. I am sure they have heard all about me by now.
¡°Humph! Let them talk if they want. It¡¯s just because they are jealous of how cute you are.¡± Auntie Finna said while shaking her fist. In truth, I really found her to be cute.
¡°Mmmm! It is, as Finna says, let them talk. But if they talk too much, my fist might start itching.¡± My father¡¯s words were half-joking, half-serious¡. No, his words were all serious. There is no doubt in my mind that the first person to say anything will end up being hit.
¡°Sander, don¡¯t go around hitting everyone. We can do things in a much simpler manner. I will just burn them all¡¡± Ah, my mother¡¯s scary side ising out. She was highly skilled with fire magic. So I am sure she can set quite a few people aze if she truly felt like it.
But I felt warm knowing I had so many willing to protect me from the wind and rain. I could not ask for any more than this. I just hoped our family outing would not get ruined.
Chapter 23 Dark Days Part 1
As we made our way to the center of town, I could already hear the hustle and bustle of the other vigers as they went from merchant cart to merchant cart, looking to trade their goods and buy some of the things they needed.
When we finally arrived, I got to see what is called a nmoogol. It is a kind of monster that resembled a cross between a buffalo and a rhino back on Earth, just extremely hairy. They were also huge, at least a few feet taller than a horse. They were very strong and could pull quite a bit of weight. How much, I am not sure since I have not read much about them. They are monsters but not, kinda like owning a horse on Earth. They are monsters that were raised from birth which, due to this, keeps them out of the book I had read on monsters, and unlike horses, these nmoogols eat meat instead of grass.
The wagons of merchants were very unique. They were made of wood and almost looked like a small house on wheels, with curved roofs andnterns dangling from the side. There was one big window with a wide counter where items were lined up and a person on the inside dealing with all the vigers that walked up. It was the first time in my life seeing a true merchant caravan. My eyes wandered here and there as I looked around, but soon my excitement began to wane as my eyes passed by the people of the vige. Some did not seem to mind my gaze, but some would make nasty or disgusted faces at me or lower their heads averting their eyes.
You could say this was my first real taste of discrimination from adults. They did not say any words but the looks they gave me prated me in the same way. I really did not understand why I deserved to be looked at in such a way. It was not like I tried to harm any of them. I have never even seen more than half these people, never mind getting any chance to offend them. You would think I killed their sister or something with the way they looked at me.
¡°I guess I will have to get used to this¡.¡± I mumbled without much thought. I guess my father heard me because he squeezed my leg a bit tighter but did not say anything. But that small squeeze was his way of reassuring me that he was here for me. -.
I tried to push the bad thoughts to the back of my mind as I continued to look around. But no matter what, those gazes were hard to ignore. I was really feeling my good time turn sour.
¡°Sander, how about I take Faith back¡.¡± My mother seemed overly worried that someone was going to say something to hurt my feelings, or maybe she could feel my mood was quickly changing.
¡°Humph! Let these bastards say something! I will shove my fist down their throats.¡± My father did not seem to be in a happy mood as he stared at all the vigers. They quickly looked away when my father¡¯s gaze fell on them.
¡°Father, Mother¡ maybe I should go back¡.¡± I said softly. I did not want anything to happen because of me. While it was a shame that I would not get to see what items the merchants had, I would prefer not to have any kind of problems start because I was around.
¡°Alright¡ If Faith wants to head back, then fine¡. I will sell our items and get you something good.¡± It seemed my father was a bit reluctant to give in to the vigers, but he probably thought I was really offended by them. While I was, I knew it was something I had to get used to, so I was doing my best to ignore them.
My father lifted me off his shoulders and set me down. My mother took my hand and squeezed it tightly before patting my head. ¡°Let¡¯s go back.¡±
¡°Mmm¡.¡± I forced a smile and squeezed my mother¡¯s hand back. We went to walk back through the crowd, but we only moved a few steps when I was suddenly shoved hard from the side. Causing me to lose my grip on my mother¡¯s hand and fall a few feet away from her.
¡°Faith!¡± My mother cried up as Inded on my butt. ¡°Let go of me! Get out of my way!¡±
The new dress that my mother just made me tore due to my feet getting caught up in it. I looked up to see some olderdies grabbing my mother and holding her back. They had grabbed her hands, making it so she could not cast any spells. She was screaming at thedies and struggling to getaway. Even during her struggling her eyes were always locked on me. ¡°Faith, runaway!¡±
¡°What are you doing!? Unhand me! Is this how the vige guard is supposed to act!? If something happens to my daughter, I will make you all pay!¡± I heard my father¡¯s voice yell out. I turned to see him fighting with quite a few vige guards. None of them were people I knew. Auntie Finna was also being restrained, and my brother was being held on the ground. They had smashed his face into the ground. I knew this because I could see that his nose was bleeding.
¡°Haha! Serves a monster like you, right! I wonder if your mother had an affair with a monster out in the woods. That is why you turned into this. You can only me them for what is about to happen.¡± I turned to look up at Trent¡¯s smug face as he walked through the crowd. Behind him were two guards. He sneered at me and turned to the others. ¡°Hold them back! They can watch as I exterminate this monster and save the vige.¡±
Tears began to well up in my eyes. Why? Why was this happening? I have never done anything wrong to these people. I looked around, looking for anyone who could help my family, but they all just turned away. Those that seemed to feel things were wrong lowered their heads, not daring to go against the vige elder¡¯s grandson.
Was this the fate of those who were demi human? This was no different from a lynching¡. I really couldn¡¯t understand¡ My mind was a mess, and tears flowed uncontrobly. ¡°Faith! Don¡¯t hold back and run away! Don¡¯t let your training go to waste!¡±
Hearing my father¡¯s voice, I turned to see him being forced to the ground by six guards. His face was slightly swollen, but his eyes were full of worry and fear. It was not worry and fear for himself but for me. He was afraid I would end up dying here¡. ¡°Faith! Don¡¯t just sit there! You must protect yourself!¡±
¡°Yes¡ I wanted to grow stronger to protect those I love¡. Those who showed me kindness and cared for me¡.¡± I felt like something had snapped in my mind. I slowly rose to my feet and looked at the people who were holding my parents, my brother, and Auntie Finna down, and rage began to well up inside me. It was a kind of rage I have never felt before in my two lives. I felt like I was in a dazed state, as if time had stopped for me altogether. My eyes began to ze over, and all of a sudden, all I could see was red.
¡°Let them go¡.¡± My voice was low as I raised my head and stared at the one I knew who was responsible for all of this. ¡°Trent, let my family go right this instant!¡±
¡°Wha-What!? Do you think I will listen to a monster like you!? It¡¯s their fault for harboring a disgusting monster like you. Once we rid our vige of you, we will kick your family out to wander to thends below!¡± Trent¡¯s words fueled my rage even more.
My mother and father have always told me that no matter what happens, they would never abandon me. If I were to be kicked out of the vige, they would follow me, and as a family, we would be nomads roaming from here and there. They were people I cared for more than anyone in this world. I would never abandon them, no matter what. ¡°Wind Rush! Air Walk!¡±
Everything seemed to happen way too fast. By the time I could really understand what I was doing, I was standing in the air, grasping Trent¡¯s neck, looking down at all the vigers. My eyes swept over everyone who was restraining my family with a cold gaze. ¡°Let them go, or I¡¯ll snap his neck!¡±
Words that I thought would nevere out of my mouth flowed out so easily and so coldly that I didn¡¯t even recognize them myself. For the first time in my life, I was experiencing what it means to want to kill someone. What scared me more was how my mind waspletely calm when I thought about how easy it would be for me to twist my hand and take the life of the young man I was grasping onto. That feeling of holding someone else¡¯s life in your hands was a scary one. But for my family and Auntie Finna, I was willing to bear the crime of staining my hands with someone else¡¯s blood.
I wondered if this was how a soldier felt at a time like this when they first came face to face with having the choice to kill someone. My body was trembling. I was not sure if it was due to rage, fear, or even excitement. But I knew that at this moment, this was my only course of action. These guards would not listen to just anyone. Only the vige elder¡¯s family had the ability to order the vige guard.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before gazing coldly at the guards anddies still holding my family and Auntie Finna down. They all seemed to not know what to do. But as I went to order them to let my family go once more, an old voice echoed over the quiet vige center. ¡°What is going on here?¡±
Chapter 24 Dark Days Part 2
I looked over to see an old man hunched over with one hand on his back by his waist and the other hand inching forward with his cane. From the way everyone was moving out of the old man¡¯s way, I could only guess that he was the vige elder and Trent¡¯s grandfather. ¡°Is no one going to speak?¡±
A guard walked forward and whispered into the old man¡¯s ear. The old man looked up at me, and that one look made me feel a strong pressureing from him. It seemed the vige elder was not as simple as he looked. ¡°Little girl, can you let my grandson go?¡±
The old man¡¯s words angered me. Was he asking me to let go of the main culprit? For what? To spill out lies? I couldn¡¯t help but spit out coldly: ¡°Why should I let him go when my family and Auntie Finna are being held captive? Why should I let him go when he was trying to kill me just now? Old man, I do not want to sound rude, but asking me to let go of the person who is harming not only me but my family and friends and had also set up this lynching, I think it¡¯s a bit too much, don¡¯t you think?¡±
I was beyond angered. I raised my hand and wrote a me spell in front of me. ¡°Ignite¡.¡±
A me of fire danced in my free hand as I brought it closer to Trent¡¯s face. ¡°I will say it again. Release my family and Auntie Finna.¡±
I watched as the old man¡¯s gaze drifted from me to my family members and a frown appeared on his face. ¡°What the hell are you guys doing!? Is this how the vige guard should handle themselves!? Sander, exin what happened!¡±-.
I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw the guards letting my father up. But I felt pain seeing how bruised and beat up he was. My father was strong, but if he is snuck up on him, he won¡¯t be able to do much. ¡°You bastard!¡± My father roared as he got up and punched one of the guards in the face causing him to smash into the crowd of vigers. Screams could be heard as blood dripped from the man¡¯s face. ¡°Vige elder, you said my daughter would be weed here no matter what. You said no one would try to harm her. And now here your good for nothing brat of a grandson just tried to hold a public lynching!¡±
My father roared in anger. This was the first time I saw him so angry. I could even see some scales forming on his body. It seems he actually had a bit of our ancestral bloodline within him. He turned and looked at me, his eyes growing soft. ¡°Faith, go ahead and kill the little bastard. Your father will bear it all!¡±
¡°No, wait!¡± The vige elder yelled out in a panic. It seems my father¡¯s words really scared him. ¡°Sander, please let him go. I will severely punish him and put him in a holding cell for a few years so he can learn his lesson. But he is thest of my bloodline.¡±
I watched as my father¡¯s chest heaved up and down. ¡°I want every guard who participated and every woman as well punished with the most severe punishment below death. My family has done nothing but help this vige, and this is the respect we get in turn. Not a single one of you even stepped forward to try to help. All of you are a shame on humankind. All thend that I own will also no longer belong to this vige. This means no more wheat will be given to the vige or its people. All rental rights will also be revoked. You must agree to all these demands, or I will have my daughter snap that little bastard¡¯s neck!¡±
As my Father was saying this, he helped my brother up. Auntie Finna and my mother also walked over to his side. Luckily they did not get seriously hurt, I could only see a few bruises on their wrists. They all began picking the things up from the cart that had spilled. I kept a tight grip on Trent. I only needed to squeeze his neck a little more to kill him. Deep inside of me, I truly wished to do that. Scum like this did not deserve to live. But I kept my calm and pushed those feelings down. There was a time and ce for everything.
I saw the old man sigh and shake his head. ¡°I can¡¯t allow the wheat fields to be taken away. That would be cutting a lifeline for all the farmers.¡±
¡°Why do I care? It¡¯s mynd!¡± My father said with a sneer. ¡°If I see a single person on any of mynd, I will burn the fields to ash!¡±
¡°Sander, you are being unreasonable!¡± The vige elder yelled out. My anger began to soar once more, causing Trent to groan in pain. Hearing his grandson cry out, the vige elder began to panic once more. ¡°I am sure we can work something out if we all calm down.¡±
¡°Old man, you want us to calm down? Do you not realize if I was weak, I would have died before you even showed up?¡± I understood that the old man wanted to save his grandson. I was angry, and I was holding myself back big time, but I was starting to lose my patience.
¡°I understand¡.¡± The old man lowered his head. I could tell from the tone of his voice that he was feeling regretful. ¡°If I had not believed that Trent wantedmand of the guards to take a few with him out into the forest, then none of this would have happened. I am just as at fault as he is. But please, as I said, he is thest of my family¡¯s bloodline.¡±
The old man looked up at me with eyes that showed no hint of malice. I felt like what he was saying was not a lie. But this still doesn¡¯t change the fact of what has happened here today. Some things can not be forgiven so easily. ¡°Father¡.¡±
At my call, my father hopped up into the air with me and stood in front of me. This was a fruit of our training at night called air step. A spell that allowed you to walk on air. It was a tricky spell because you had to trust your magic, and you also had to have perfect control of it or you would fall to the ground. It was an intermediate spell, almost a high ranking spell, but because of its low mana cost, it could be used by anyone as long as they had the concentration to use it.
¡°Faith?¡± My father looked at me with a questioning gaze. His eyes were soft when he looked at me. A big difference from the cold gaze he was giving the others.
¡°What if¡.¡± I whispered into my father¡¯s ear. While holding Trent out away so he couldn¡¯t hear anything. ¡°Will this work?¡±
¡°Hmmm¡ As long as you are willing to do it this way.¡± My father answered with a nod.
¡°I just don¡¯t want to cause more of a scene than necessary. It is already a fact I can never enter the main vige again¡.¡± I said, lowering my head. I hated to say it, but I would have no choice. I could not risk any incidents like this again.
¡°Alright.¡± My father nodded and patted my head before turning around and letting himself fall to the ground. We were not high up, only about ten feet off the ground. ¡°Vige Elder, let¡¯s do this. Let my daughter beat up Trent and all the women who were involved today until she is satisfied, without killing them of course, and I get to beat up the guards. Andstly, I will continue to lend mynd out, but¡.. You all will need to pay a higher tax.¡±
I had not known at all that all the farnd near my house was owned by my father. It all seemed to have been passed down to my father from his father, who got it from his father. It was all inherited, and it seemed to have been lent out for many years now. I had been wondering why we were never in the need of anything with how littlend we had.
The Elder frowned slightly but still nodded his head. ¡°Fair enough. I agree.¡±
I smiled hearing that as I raised my little fist and pulled it back. Trent seemed to find my sweet angelic smile terrifying because his eyes shot open wide and with a little bit of fear.
*Bam!* *Bam!* *Bam!* *Bam!* *Bam!*
I kept hitting him over and over again. The entire time I was smiling away. I am sure I probably looked like a demon to the vigers, but I no longer cared. Right now, I was letting out all the anger that I had bottled up. To make things worse, I was secretly healing him. With every punch, I would break his nose, over and over again. With healing him in between, he would end up with no pain until I broke his nose once more. I punched his eyes, his cheeks, and his mouth. I didn¡¯t heal those. I nned to beat him up until he was unrecognizable. When I finished with this face, Inded on the ground and tossed Trent like a piece of trash to the ground before I started kicking him.
No one dared to stop me, not even the vige elder. They all watched and gasped as I continued my torrent of blows to Trent¡¯s body. I have no idea how many teeth he spat out or how many bones I broke so far. All I know was he deserved every bit of this beating. Only when my anger subsided, enough did I finally let him go. He was probably in a lot of pain to the point he couldn¡¯t even move. He was still breathing that much, I did know.
Now that he was done, it was time to take care of thedies who held my mother and Auntie Finna back, but when I turned around, I saw them all on the ground already and my mother cracking her knuckles. It seemed she needed to vent her anger as well.
On my father and brother¡¯s side, well, those guards were not having a good time. My father¡¯s fist was like a steel beam smashing them in the head. I wondered if they would have brain damage once he was done with them. I had refrained from doing that to Trent as I did not want to cause more trouble. But all in all, I was very satisfied with this scene. It was a breath of fresh air knowing my family was able to vent out their anger as well.
Chapter 25 Village Meeting
A few days passed since the merchant caravan, and the public failed lynching. My family and I all thought that we had settled things, but it seemed that was not the case. It was evening time, and my mother and father were spending some time together by the firece.
My brother was busy studying, and I was still working on my fusion magic. The day after the incident, my father filled my mother in on our training and exined to her my breakthroughs. When she found out about my fusion magic, she jumped for joy and began praising me all over again. Because it seemed if I did share it with the kingdom, I could be a court magician. This was an idea forter on, but I was not sure how much I wanted to be around people after this incident.
Well, at any rate, it became a family rule to not speak of my fusion magic. All my drawings of magic circles were also destroyed after creating them. Luckily I could imprint them in my mind before they got destroyed. Sadly, I was still having a hard timebining it all into a quick cast spell.
It was on this day that a knock came at the door. My father frowned and got up while motioning for me to toss my papers into the fire, which I promptly did. He opened it up to see the vige elder¡¯s assistant standing at the door. He was a young man in his early thirties. ¡°Sander, it is good to see you.¡±
¡°Out with it. Why are you here?¡± My father did not seem to like anyone from the vige after what had happened. It was to be expected, though. While Trent and the others were sent to prison because of what they had done, the fact of the matter that it involved so many vigers and no one actually stood out to help in their time of need made it hard for him to trust anyone.-.
¡°The vige elder has called a meeting to address the concerns of everyone in the vige. He has asked for you and your daughter to also join the meeting as it concerns her.¡± I suddenly felt sick. I was going to have to face all these stupid people again. I really just wanted to say I am not going, but if I don¡¯t, I am afraid it would end up causing us issues if we can not voice our own opinion.
I nced up at my father, who was looking back at me and gave him a nod. He then turned to the vige elder¡¯s assistant and asked: ¡°When is the meeting?¡±
¡°An hour from now. But the vige elder wants to speak with you beforehand.¡± The vige elder¡¯s assistant replied. He seemed to feel a bit of relief. I am not sure if this man is a bad guy or a good guy, but I feel he is one of those neutral type people who don¡¯t make opinions on things. At least, this is my first impression of him. I could bepletely wrong, though.
¡°We will be there soon.¡± My father said before giving his thanks to the vige elder¡¯s assistant and closing the door.
¡°Sander¡.¡± My mother called out. She was worried about what was going to happen. I could tell by the expression on her face.
¡°Lilith, don¡¯t worry. No matter what happens, I will not let anything happen to Faith. Plus, I think if Faith got really mad, no one could stop her.¡± My father walked over and patted me on the head. In truth, I think if I really needed to, I could do as my father said. But the thought of killing others was not something I really wanted to do if I could help it. Although, I know the kind of world I live in would not truly allow for such a thing to happen. I know sooner orter I will have to kill someone. I just hoped it would note too soon.
¡°Faith¡.¡± My mother walked over and hugged me as well. ¡°No matter what happens, we are with you. So do not let anyone walk all over you. Our Cyrilia family has given a lot to this vige, so if they do try to do something, we will burn the fields and leave this ce and find a new home.¡±
¡°Your mother is right. We will leave if they try to do anything to you.¡± My father echoed my mother. Even my brother came over to join in on the hug.
I really had no idea how I could ever repay my family. Even my brother, who would soon be old enough to marry, was never once angry with me. I am sure many girls were not willing to look his way no matter how handsome he was due to him being my brother. But he never held any of it against me. He was the best big brother in the entire universe.
My father had me wear the leather armor he had prepared for me to go out into the forest with. At his word, I attached my sword to my side and then got lifted up to sit on his shoulder as we made our way down to the vige elder¡¯s house.
It was already close to evening time as we walked down the dimly lit road. As we walked by some houses, the people living there would close their doors and window shutters as if we were some kind of bandits or invading army.
When we arrived at the vige elder¡¯s house, the old man was already standing outside waiting for us. ¡°Sander, you are here. Come with me.¡± The vige elder nced at Sander then at me before motioning for us toe in.
The vige elder¡¯s house was the biggest in the vige. This was a given as he was the leader. However, even though it was big, it was a far cry from being anything amazing. It had two floors and was made with the same material as the other viger houses. He brought us to a sitting area that had rustic wooden furniture. And sat down. A young woman who looked to be a maid brought us tea and some crackers. ¡°I wanted to speak with you. This vige meeting was called because of those asking for your family to be banished. And! Before you lose your temper, hear me out. I will not banish your family. But unless you can convince them to back down, I will need to do something. But I will make sure it will not hinder you or your family. I do not wish for this, but as the vige elder, I have to listen to the vigers¡¯ints.¡±
¡°Comints about what?¡± I asked. He told my father to calm down but not me. ¡°Are you saying they can do as they please just because of their prejudice?¡±
¡°That is not what I am saying, but to appease those who mighte to harm your family, I will need to do something on the surface. Little Faith, you¡¯re a bright girl. I know this by how well you act. Even earlier, when my grandson was abusing his power to try to get rid of you, you still held it in and saw the bigger picture. I thank you for that¡..¡± The vige elder bowed his head to me. He must have been really worried that I would kill the stupid brat, not that he doesn¡¯t deserve death.
I couldn¡¯t actually deny his words. But still, it was stupid that we were being forced to give in to the majority when we did nothing wrong. But if it will keep my family from having to be banished from the vige, I do not care. But one thing I did not understand was that if we owned thend, how could they banish us? I am sure it is probably some kind of crazy rules and regtions of the vige. But still¡.
¡°As long as it is not too unreasonable¡ But Elder, let me say this. If they push things too far, I will burn those fields and make them useless or I will take them back altogether. You may be the vige elder and have the right to kick me and my family out of the main vige, but I still own thatnd if you know what I mean. You know more than anyone that my family are all highly skilled mages.¡± My father¡¯s words seemed to have carried some weight to them because the vige elder quickly shook his head.
¡°Sander, I already said no one is being banished! I have the final say, and you have my word this will never happen. If nothing is able to be concluded between the two sides, I will enforce something that everyone will have to follow. But banishment is not on the table.¡± The vige elder made sure to make thest point very clear. The vige could not live without those fields. It was the livelihood of many vigers, after all.
¡°Alright, but I will say this if anyone renting a field from me shows up, I am taking it back.¡± My father stated firmly. This was understandable because if someone were to really show up that was renting a field from the family they are trying to banish, then they were not showing any respect to those who are helping them survive. They would just be digging their own graves even if they were greedy and hoping to get thend for free if we did get banished.
Chapter 26 The Reality Of Being A Demi Human
There was arge room within the vige elder¡¯s house that was used for meetings. Currently, the room was full of people¡. Well, one side of it has thirty or so people all crammed together, while my father and I stood on the other side alone. I clutched my father¡¯s hand and looked down at the ground. The gazes the people on the other side gave me were filled with malice and even murderous stares. My father must have felt my unease because he quickly pulled me behind him to shield me from the others.
This was my second time dealing with such a thing. The first time was the merchant caravan, and now this time. I truly wonder what I have done wrong to make people hate me so. It¡¯s not like I ever did anything to any of them, yet they still treat me as some kind of monster. I know my looks are strange to most, but I never tried to harm anyone except for Trent. It could be that my little disy of strength also scared them. Either way, it was all unfair.
The vige elder looked at both sides and cleared his throat, getting everyone¡¯s attention. ¡°Ahem¡ Today¡¯s meeting is to address the concerns of everyone here. First, Randol, you are the representative of the vigers so let¡¯s hear what you have to say.¡±
Randol was a fat man with a mustache that wrapped around his jaw. His clothes were just as rugged as everyone else¡¯s, but he seemed to have a more haughty air about him. ¡°Vige Elder, we came here today for two reasons. First, is that Sander should not have so muchnd under his name. As a vige, it should be allocated to those who are actually using it. Having a man who has a monster for a child should not be allowed to havend of his own to use against us hardworking human vigers.¡±
¡°Randol, shut your mouth! You call my daughter a monster one more time, and I will rip your damn throat out!¡± My father yelled out. If I was not holding him back, he would definitely have lunged at the mean fat man. If he really did resort to violence, it would give these bastards a reason to take away whatever they can.
¡°Silence!¡± The vige elder mmed his cane off the wooden floor and stared coldly at Randol. ¡°Randol, I said you could speak of your issue, not pick on a young girl! Say another word, and I will hand over your entire property to Sander!¡±-.
¡°Vige elder!¡± Randol cried out, looking at the old man in disbelief, his big face turning red with anger. He looked over and red at me instead of my father. I didn¡¯t understand what I did, but he decided I was the enemy.
¡°Randol!¡± The vige elder did not miss what he did, causing the fat man to snort and look back at the vige elder.
¡°As I was saying, he should not have so muchnd under his name to hold over the vige. He basically has the livelihood of our vige in his hands.¡± I also wondered how my father¡¯s family acquired thisnd. It seemed weird that thend was not under the vige elder¡¯s control.
¡°Thatnd is not something I can just take or give. If I did take it, it would be destroyed, and I would get repercussions from the king. Thatnd belonged to Sander¡¯s grandfather and was given to him by the previous king himself. It may not seem like it, but Cyrilia is a knight family in name.¡± This was like a huge bombshell to me. I never knew I was a kind of noble. It made me wonder why we lived so far out by the border. But I guess I can understand with how nice the scenery is.
¡°This¡.¡± Randol looked at my father with a bit of fear. My father gave him a smug look back. I couldn¡¯t help but pump my little fist as I inwardly cheered my father on. But that fear disappeared when he looked at me. ¡°Fine. Thend can¡¯t be touched, but the little girl is too dangerous! She is already able to use intermediate magic at her age. What if she goes on a rampage in town? She needs to be restrained!¡±
¡°So stupid! My daughter only used magic in order to protect herself. She was having a good time until that brat tried to hold a public lynching! Are you telling me she should have sat there quietly and let her head be cut off!?¡± My father yelled out. He seemed to not understand why Randol would even suggest such a thing.
¡°Humph! She is inferior to us humans, so why not? She should bow down like other demi¡¯s and do as we humansmand!¡± Randol blurted out in anger.
¡°Say it again!¡± My father took a step forward, but I quickly held him back.
¡°Father, calm down. He is trying to get you to hit him!¡± I said in a not-so-low voice.
¡°If I hit him, his life will be gone. Shall we try it?¡± My father was truly angry.
¡°Randol!¡± A loud bang was heard once more. But seeing how the old man did not say anymore, I had to question his words. He did not seem inclined to keep his word from before about taking Randol¡¯s property.
¡°Vige elder, you saw it! Not everyone in the vige is so inclined to allow such a thing to be wandering around. We do not feel safe! As the vige elder, you need to figure out a solution!¡± Randol was gritting his teeth. I am sure he wanted to call me all kinds of names. But I really couldn¡¯t stay quiet anymore.
¡°It has been a long time since I have been running around on my own, but not once have I ever entered the main part of the vige in order to not bring trouble to those who might dislike me. I have always thought it was the best way to avoid trouble. But mister fatty here has made things very clear. He wants me to set his house on fire so he can experience what it means to truly anger me. I can act like the child I am and throw a fit because people are bullying me. Maybe I should really start acting like Trent and be the town bully. I am sure that spot needs to be filled up. I can bully everyone in this ro¡.¡±
¡°Enough! Faith, I know you have been staying away from the vige. And I am sorry that your first time actually entering the main part of the vige ended in such a way but to make such threats¡.¡± The vige elder was definitely not a nice guy. I could tell because he seemed to be siding with the fat man.
¡°Make such threats? Then tell me, old man, what have I done wrong? Tell me, what have I done to make these people hate me so? Tell me, why is it just because I am slightly different, I am being treated in such a way? Do I not speak the samenguage as you? Am I not more intelligent than half the people in this room? Can you answer me this!?¡± I was losing it. Tears began falling from my eyes. My father quickly scooped me up. All my anger and confusion was spilling out. I just wanted to know why. What I did to be looked down upon.
¡°This¡¡± The vige elder was at a loss for words. There was only one reason, and he knew it. It was because I was a demi human. Nothing more, nothing less.
¡°Because monsters should not have the same rights as humans!¡± Randol answered in the old man¡¯s ce.
I could only stare nkly at everyone in the room. This was the reality of being a demi human. A sad reality just because I looked different. The same thing happened on Earth due to the color of peoples¡¯ skin. It seems no matter what world you are on, it was all the same. ¡°Vige elder, from this moment on, my Cyrilia family has nothing more to do with this vige. We will not step a single foot into the main part of the vige. The tax on thends I own will be raised by one hundredfold. I had expected more from you.¡±
My father¡¯s words caused the others to suck in a cold breath of air. In truth, we did not need to go to the vige for anything. We could easily get things ourselves. But it seemed the vige elder was not very happy about my father¡¯s words.
*Bang!*
¡°Sander, stop right there!¡± The old man yelled out. ¡°You can not raise the taxes so high on thend! That will just cause more unrest in the vige. Do you want to start an uprising?¡±
My father snorted and turned to look at the old man. ¡°Uprising? My wife alone can burn this whole vige to the ground. What makes you think they can do anything to my family? Wasn¡¯t this whole meeting due to them fearing my daughter and her power? Then what am I? I am someone who has held off the beast tide multiple times to save the lives of you people, but yet this is how you treat my family and me. Vige elder, as I said, I expected better from you. You seem nice on the outside, but in truth, you are no different from them. Now, if you will excuse me.¡±
¡°Sander, stop right there, or you will be banished from ever stepping foot in the main vige!¡± The vige elder yelled out. His whole body was shaking in anger. He was the leader of the vige, I understood that, but he had no control over thend that my father owned. On top of that, he was going against the very thing he promised he wouldn¡¯t do.
I heard my fatherugh as he smiled brightly at the old man. ¡°Fine by me. I will be evicting all the farmers from mynd. You and your vigers can find a new source of food or try to cultivate some of thend outside the vige away from my family. Oh, except for Finna, she can stay. She has always been kind to my family and me.¡±
Chapter 27 Cyrilia Village
It is now my twelfth birthday. Five years have passed since the day of the vige meeting. My father and I stormed out of the meeting hall leaving behind an enraged vige elder and a bunch of vigers cowering in fear. For the first year and a half, they tried to make things work. Some even tried to steal from ournd only to end up being sent home in a box. My father was being very territorial. Even some of the vige guards had quit their posts toe and beg for my father to take them and their families in. These people were on good terms with my family, so my father allowed them to move into one of the abandoned houses.
From what I heard, the main vige had be split. There were two factions fighting it out every day at the vige elder¡¯s house, trying to get him to lift the banishment on our family as they had no way to get wheat to feed their family.
Trent had also been let out, but I am sure he had wished he stayed in prison where he was protected. My father told me that vigers had found him dead out in the forest. This, of course, caused another stir. Some ming me, saying I did it when I had not even seen that brat since that day, and others think that someone did it out of anger because he was the cause of everyone¡¯s suffering.
In the end, the vige elder hade to beg my father to allow the vigers to use thend once more and lifted the banishment he imposed on my family. But sadly, things were a bit toote for that as my father had already worked things out with the merchants to have them stop by ournd to sell some wares when they visited the vige. At that time it was basically two viges living side by side. While one was suffering, the other was growing.
My father has be the vige elder of what is now Cyrilia vige. Yes, he started his own vige and sold plots of hisnd to the vigers, who were always nice to our family. It was a vige where discrimination was something that would put you into jail. We ended up turning some of the wheat fields into housing areas. In truth, there was much morend than needed and some that was uncultivated. We had a good supply of fresh produce every year, and the people living under my father¡¯s g were all very nice.
I am also an aunt now. Kind of funny if you think about it. I mean, I am an aunt, and I am only twelve. But this was just how this world worked. My brother ended up marrying the girl who used to watch him work out in the fields. I learned that her family was actually on good terms with ours and was one of the first to move to our vige.
Even though he is married and has a bundle of joy, a baby boy named Leo, to take care of, he has never changed. He still brings me home shiny things. I am still not sure why he does this even after all these years. His wife¡¯s name is Rachel, and she is a very kind, warm-hearted girl. She spends a lot of time with me, which is nice. While I could consider her a friend, in a sense, we were family, so it was only natural for us to get along.
Although she does have this strange habit of polishing the scales on my tail, it has be a nightly ritual. But I don¡¯t mind because my tail has be very shiny and pretty because of it. I myself have grown up to be fairly cute if you ignore my chest area that is budding but nowhere close to anything special. My wings are much bigger, and I can now use them to fly if I want. While I have matured in other areas, my height has not gone up much since I was ten. I look like a mature ten-year-old, sadly, but I am still cute. I think it is all due to my race, so I am sure I will grow more over the next few years¡. I hope anyway.-.
My level has stagnated, though. The higher the level I am, the stronger the monsters, the tougher the fights, and the more experience per level I need, making leveling very slow. Currently, I am only level 17.
[Name]: Faith Cyrilia
[Age] 12
[Level] 17
[Race] Dragonkin
[HP] 5500/5500
[MP] ¡Þ
[Status Points] 40
[Strength] 510
[Vitality] 550
[Intelligence] 510
[Mind] ¡Þ
[Agility] 510
[Skill Points] 15
[Skills]
[Appraisal (LVL 1)]
I have still yet to use the evolution stone. But I have decided to use it. Actually, I had made the decision a few years ago and have only been waiting until I was older to do it. I haven¡¯t told anyone about it, but I could only hope after my evolution, nothing will change. But I am firm in my resolve. I figure bing an actual dragon would allow my strength to grow more. I think I have be obsessed with growing stronger. I can¡¯t help it, though. I am closer and closer to the day I should finally set out on my own.
I already told my parents that I n to leave soon and see the world. My mother cried, and my father sighed nonstop for almost two weeks until they finally came around. They knew I needed to go out on my own. Mainly my mother keeps telling me to find a nice man and bring her home some grandbabies. But that won¡¯t happen any time soon. I am someone who is destined to be alone for life, I think.
By the time I even look old enough to have a rtionship, my parents will probably be gone. I don¡¯t like saying this, but the average lifespan of a human in this world is only one hundred years at most, just like on Earth, while the average lifespan for those with lots of mana is around one hundred and fifty years or more if human. If lucky, my parents will live longer lives, but this is only if things like gues and other health issues do not surface. I can only pray to whatever god oversees this world that they can live to a happy old age.
Since I have decided to undergo my evolution soon, I have already scouted a spot in the forest to evolve. While it says it only takes a single hour, I figured it would be best to find a safe, secluded space to do it in, just in case. The ce I found is a cave that sinks into the teau. It was uninhabited, and even if something did move in, I would just chase them out. I figure once I set up a bunch of barriers to keep everything out, I will be safe to do my evolution.
Currently, though, my mother is decorating the house and working on making some snacks along with a meal. I am banned from doing anything. Rachel is in the kitchen with my mother as they work on the festive dinner they were preparing. Birthdays were only normally celebrated on the day of bing an adult, but because I am nning to leave soon to adventure out on my own, we are holding it now.
When evening fell, everyone sat out in the yard to enjoy the nice spring day around arge table my father made just for this asion. I had my nephew in my arms as I cradled him, rocking him back and forth. He was very cute and looked like he was going to take his looks from my handsome brother. Not that I am saying Rachel is ugly. She is actually quite pretty, but my nephew needed that strong chiseled jawline that will make him look very handsome in the future. Or this could just be my bias as I find both my father and brother to be very handsome.
I have no idea how long my trip will be after I leave the vige, but I do know that no matter how far I travel and how long I am gone for, I will always be worrying about my family. I have no idea how many times I have promised myself to at leaste back every year or two if I can. Maybe one day, I can research and create a teleportation spell that will allow me to return in an instant. The smiling faces of my family will always be something I miss. But that is life. I can not always stay here. I need to venture out and explore the world I have been dreaming about seeing with my own eyes.
What path I take and where it will lead, I do not know. I only know that I will figure that all out as time goes on. Life will always lead you to different ces. I mean, I ended up in another world, so anything can happen.
After an amazing meal, I sat by the campfire and stared up at the sky, thinking about all the things I have done in the past twelve years. Time really does fly by. ¡°Four more years until my past life¡¯s death anniversary.¡±
Luckily no one was close enough to hear me talking to myself. Any time I was alone staring up at the stars, my thoughts always drifted back to my days on Earth, making me wonder how everyone was. But on this night, my mncholy thoughts were interrupted when something dropped on my stomach. I looked down to see a shiny rock¡. ¡°Brother¡.¡±
¡°Hmmm? So happy you are speechless?¡± My brother asked with a bright smile on his face, seemingly oblivious of my questioning look.
¡°I am just wondering when you will stop giving me shiny things!¡± I said with a pout, but in truth, I was finding this whole thing funny.
¡°What!? You don¡¯t like it!?¡± My brother seemed truly surprised. ¡°But you always smile and say thank you every time I give you something shiny!¡±
¡°That¡¯s because it came from you! Of course, I would treasure it, but I have never once said I loved shiny things!¡± Well, this was not true. Even now, I have this strong urge to take this shiny rock and stash it away with the other things.
¡°Ah? Ummm¡¡± My brother¡¯s cheeks turned red. ¡°Then give it back. I will get you something else.¡±
¡°No! This is mine now!¡± I said, using that as an excuse to take the shiny rock and run away. I can¡¯t help that I actually do love shiny things!
Volume One End!
**AN: Hopefully this did not seem rushed but I really had nothing else nned for this volume. Let me know what you think. Tomorrow the second volume will start! Also, no more time skips for a while.***
Chapter 28 Evolution Part 1
It has been a few days since my birthday. Everything is back to normal. I decided to spend the past few days attaching myself to my mother and helping her out with her daily chores just in case something goes wrong when I evolve.
I knew more than anyone that I was taking a serious risk. At least bing a dragnoid would still allow me to turn into a human, or at least that is what is stated in the system. There are a lot of things that I am worried about, like what if something goes wrong and I turn into a small lizard or some other kind of animal by ident and can never turn back. ording to the system, such a thing would happen if I chose the dragging evolution path. But I am going with the dragnoid evolution path, which is a humanoid race that can transform into dragons. I just hope I do not end up bing a lizard man or something with a full dragon body covered in scales but in a humanoid form. Not that there is anything wrong with such races but just saying. I prefer the current look that I have now.
As a dragnoid, I am wondering just how cool my dragon form will be. I wonder if I will be a huge massive dragon that would cause entire kingdoms toe at me with their armies. I could end up being a baby dragon that is small and cute as well, but who knows.
¡°Mother, I¡¯m going out!¡± I called out as I finished putting my boots on. -.
¡°Faith, be careful! If anyone from the other vige shows any kind of hostility towards you, just beat them up. Do not let anyone look down on you!¡± My mother has really be violent as ofte. It seems she had heard some people talking badly about me in Wandermere vige. Wandermere is the name for the vige before my father split hisnd off from it and made his own vige. While my family normally stays out of Wandermere, there are those who have family still living there refusing to move. It¡¯s not banned from assisting those in Wandermere either. My father is a good man and will help those in need. Of course, that need excludes certain families.
¡°I will!¡± I opened the door and headed out. Even now, as I am running down the street out and around Wandermere, I feel nervous. My hands are mmy as a thinyer of cold sweat is beginning to form on my body. But even so, it will not stop me. I have already firmed my resolve to evolve and hopefully grow stronger. I only wished I could have more information on what I was getting myself into. It¡¯s not every day one is able to evolve. Or, to be perfectly honest, I am not sure if evolution is even a thing in this world. I am hoping to find out more about it when I finally venture out on my own.
It didn¡¯t take long to get to the cave I have found. I stopped right in front of it, looking at the overgrowth that covered its entrance. The cave itself was somewhat hidden by tree roots. A tall tree grew on top of the entrance, and its roots hung down on its sides. Green moss and vines also lined the entrance making it hard to spot. If I wasn¡¯t specifically looking around carefully for an evolution spot, I would probably have passed right by it without ever knowing it was here.
The area of the forest I was in was at least four miles deep. Vigers would never daree this far, and for good reason. While they would not be able to tell the levels of monsters, I could, and the monsters here were all around level 13 to level 15. With me being level seventeen, they were easy to kill or scare off. Only a few more aggressive monsters would actually attack me even though I am of a higher level than them. Not that anything could really hurt me unless it could send me flying with mana shield up or use an attack that is indirect.
One thing I did find out was that indirect attacks do harm me, and by a lot. I kind of found out the hard way. I was fighting a pack of electric monkeys, and one of them casted an electric area of effect spell. While the initial attack did not do anything, when the electricity bounced off of something and then hit me, I received the shock of a lifetime. It was my own fault, though. I could have dodged but didn¡¯t, thinking it would not hurt me. It was the first time I had ever lost over one hundred points of health.
I was finding it hard to understand how mana shield worked. It made me wonder how mana shield knows what attacks were indirect and which were not. I mean, when the electric monkey¡¯s area of attack first hit, the mana shield absorbed all the damage. My mana did not drop at all after absorbing the attack, but once the electricity bounced off something, it became indirect and harmed me.
It made me wonder if mana shield had a small window after absorbing an attack that it would not absorb anything or not but I have been hit many times in a row with other attacks without any injury. I need to investigate more, but I also need to figure out a way to test without actually harming myself in the end. Because of this, I have been debating on whether or not to up my appraisal to see if it will let me analyze spells if the appraisal skill was at a higher proficiency. This was something I was still debating on and how many points I would sink into it. As of now, I could max it out. I wondered if it would help me in finallypleting my fusion magic.
I looked deep into the cave before taking a deep breath and slowly letting it out. I was trying my best to calm my nerves as I took a step into the cave. ¡°Ignite¡.¡± I created arge me to float in front of me to burn away the cobwebs. I was not exactly scared of spiders, but the cobwebs were very annoying. But just because I was not scared of them did not mean I shouldn¡¯t be careful. Just like back on Earth, some of this world¡¯s insects had poison sacs as well and could poison someone if they bite them. Not all bugs were poisonous, but a lot more were. Even a flying mosquito might be poisonous if not careful. Luckily unlike Earth though, covering your skin in a thinyer of mana could keep you from being bitten by mostmon insects. Only a few rare insects that I have been told about can bite through it and into your skin, but that is human skin. My skin is much tougher. At least, that is what I tell myself.
The cave ran deep underground, at least fifty feet. But it was a straight path that nted down sharply. Not enough to make it seem like a slide but enough to force you to watch your footing in case you do fall. The upper part of the cave was made ofrge rocks caked with mud and roots, but the further down you went, the rockier it got. It was its own ecosystem in itself. But no actual monsters or things I would now consider monsters. After passing level ten, I no longer see anything level ten and under as a monster. While they technically still are, to me, they are just wild animals that run away when they see me.
It didn¡¯t take long to get to the end of the cave, it was an open dry area, unlike the rest of the cave. I have been wondering since I have found the ce whether or not some monster made this ce its den at some point. But I had to say, after burning away the cobwebs, the whole area was fairly clean if you ignore the rocks and dirt on the ground. It was clean for a cave anyway. It was about one hundred square feet of space, making it a cozy little room.
After looking the room over, I turned towards the entrance. ¡°Earth barrier! Water Barrier! Fire barrier! Wind Barrier! Lightning Barrier!¡± I looked at the barriers now blocking the entrance and nodded my head in satisfaction. ¡°Let¡¯s hope this is enough.¡±
Now that the barriers were up, it was finally time to find a ce to sit and begin my evolution. I used sweeping magic, which was nothing more than wind magic that used gusts of wind to move debris, to clean the cave floor. Once I cleared an area out, I roasted it a bit with an ignite spell to warm the cold rocky surface before finally sitting down. Only when I waspletelyfortable did I open my system menu and begin looking at the evolution system once more. As I read the same text over for the thousandth time. An idea popped into my head. ¡°If I were to up my appraisal skill now before I evolve, would the information in the system be more detailed?¡±
I had thought about this before, but since level 1 appraisal had no change to the system, I kinda threw it to the back of my mind. But now I wondered if maxed out appraisal would actually do something. Since I nned to up it anyways to hopefully help with my magic, I might as well try it out now to see if I can get more information.
¡°It¡¯s all or nothing! No harm in trying!¡± I quickly switched back to my status menu and began hitting that plus button.
[Skill Points] 15 ¡ú 6
[Appraisal (LVL 1 ¡ú 10(MAX))]
Chapter 29 Evolution Part 2
As soon as my appraisal skill hit max, two new status information popped up. Attack power and magic power. I was finally able to tell exactly how strong my spells and physical attacks were.
[Attack Power] 5100
[Magic Power] 5100
Just like my health, attack power and magic power were based on one of my stats, and those stats seemed to be strength for attack power and intelligence for magic power. This was something I knew a lot about because most of the novels I read that were based on video games, especially RPGs, were the same. They used these two stats as a base for your actual magic power and attack power. Sometimes there was a racial bonus, but from what I can see, my system seems to be pretty cheap and is all based on my stats. I just hoped this extra detailed information actually applied to other things as well. ¡°Let¡¯s test it out¡.¡±
I picked up a rock and concentrated on it. Soon a notification popped up in front of me.
[Rock]
[It¡¯s a rock.]
[Can be used to y games or as a crude weapon.]-.
[Damage 0-1]
[Special effect: 10% chance of annoying the target, causing them to turn their attention to you.]
¡°This¡.¡± I did not know if I should beughing or crying at this description. While it did give a lot more information, just the fact that it is so detailed was quite amazing. ¡°Okay, enough with the rock. Let¡¯s look at the evolution tree again.¡±
When I opened the evolution tab, I was greeted with a whole new box with information in it. ¡°The evolution system is used inbination with evolution stones in order to allow a being to evolve into a more powerful form taking on that bloodline. An evolved form wille with some good qualities and maybe some bad qualities. Please choose your evolution paths carefully¡. Sigh¡. This was very easy to figure out from the very beginning¡. What I want to know is if my body will¡. Wait, why are there three starter evolution lines!? Did appraisal open up a hidden line!?¡±
I was seriously stunned. There were never three starting evolution lines. Before there was only Dragling and Dragnoid, but now there was a third line. ¡°Dragonic¡.¡± I clicked the name and began reading the information that popped up. ¡°A humanoid race that is half-demon, half-dragon. At some point during primordial times, the two bloodlines merged together wlessly, taking only the good points of both races and fused them together to make a much more powerful dragon bloodline. The dragonic race is a very long lived race and has the ability to transform into a demonic fire dragon. They can also partially transform parts of their body, giving them an edge in humanoidbat.
¡°This is truly an amazing bloodline¡. But what would I look like if I were to¡.. ¡± I looked next to the information and saw a small button. I clicked it, making a new, bigger window open up in front of me. ¡°This is me!? Wait. it¡¯s me but not the me of now¡.¡±
Staring back at me was me. But, I had much paler skin, my horns were no longer just smooth horns but scaled horns, and my fingers were much longer as well as my nails. My ears seemed to be a tad bit longer and thinner as well. It was not much of a change but visible to those who knew me. Luckily this was all it was. On the mirror was another button that had an icon of a dragon. I pressed the button, and I swear I almost screamed. I do not mean scream as in frightened but in a more of a fangirl type deal? I mean, what I was seeing was just too cool!
¡°Just in case¡ let¡¯s check the other ones.¡± I quickly checked the other two evolution options. Dragling is nothing more than a small dragon. While cute, I would be stuck that way. I am not sure if the higher evolution lines for this evolution gave you a chance to evolve into a higher form or not, but I was not going to risk it. Plus, right now, Dragonic seemed to be my best choice, even if Dragnoid seemed cool. Mainly because it says, it was more powerful. It fits in line perfectly with my obsession to grow stronger. Lastly, I checked Dragonoid, and I must say I am d I did up my appraisal skill because I would have be a lizarddy¡.
¡°I was going to choose it anyway, but Dragonic is my choice.¡± I switched back and reread the info on Dragonic once more. I now knew for sure that this was going to be what I wanted. I clicked the slot for the evolution stone, which caused two windows to pop up. One was just a single slot in the middle of the window, and the one next to it was my inventory, but only the evolution stone was showing. After taking a couple of deep breaths to calm my nerves, I finally moved the evolution stone from the inventory to the evolution stone slot. There was no confirm button. Everything became blurry as an overwhelming pain shot through my body. ¡°Ahhhh!!!!!!!!!!!¡±
I have never felt such pain before. It felt like all the bones in my body were crushed all at once, after someone ripped out the nerves and was twisting them over and over. The jolts of pain caused tears to well up in my eyes. I could only hunch over into a fetal position and try to endure the pain. Thest thing I remember was my vision going ck.
As my eyes fluttered and opened slowly, the dimly illuminated walls of the cave came into view. ¡°Is it over?¡± I slowly sat up. I felt very sticky, my clothes were soaked in sweat. But the first thing my eyesnded on was my elongated fingers and the w-like fingernails that extended out past them. My skin was much paler than before. It was exactly the same as what I saw in the evolution screen. I felt perfectly fine, but I still examined my body. I stripped down and took a look at everything to see if anything else changed, but luckily it was all the same. Just the features that I saw in the system had changed. However, the scales on my tail were much thicker and stood out more. But besides that, nothing else changed.
After getting dressed once again, I let out a sigh of relief and finally opened my status menu to see if my stats had changed. That was when I felt like my eyes were going to fall out of my head.
[Name]: Faith Cyrilia
[Age] 12
[Level] 17
[Race] Dragonic
[HP] 15500/15500
[MP] ¡Þ
[Attack Power] 15100
[Magic Power] 15100
[Status Points] 370
[Strength] 1510
[Vitality] 1550
[Intelligence] 1510
[Mind] ¡Þ
[Agility] 1510
[Skill Points] 6
[Skills]
[Appraisal (LVL 10(MAX))]
¡°What the hell am I, thest boss!?¡± All my attributes had jumped by one thousand boosting all my visible stats to over fifteen thousand. It is not like I am unhappy but more stunned than anything. I mean, this was much more than I had ever expected. I know the information on the Dragonic race said it was the strongest dragon bloodline, but still, this was just insane. Right now, I truly felt like I was the final boss of some role ying game.
I sat down on the floor once more and looked through my system menus. Nothing else changed due to maxed out appraisal. Only the two things I had seen so far. Except that the evolution menu has now changed. It now only has the dragonic bloodline evolution, and it was very linear. The other bloodlines had more choices after the first evolution, but this time I only had a single path if I wished to evolve again, but strangely enough, the number of evolution stones tripled that of the other bloodlines from what I remember. I needed nine evolution stones to evolve into a Dragonic Princess. I am not sure if this is some kind of purer version of the dragonic bloodline or what, but it did have the word princess in its name, so I can only think that this was the case. Maybe a royal bloodline or something. I was not quite sure and would need to find some way to research this Dragonic race.
Sadly my information on certain things about this world is limited to what I have readily avable. I hope one day I can gain ess to arge library, then I can shut myself inside of it for a while to read and gain the knowledge I so need about this world. This is also one of the reasons I am leaving home. Hoping to find a ce to gather more information about the past and present times. On magic, history, and anything else I can learn.
If I truly wished to survive in this world on my own, knowledge is a very important thing that needed to be gained in order to survive. It was second only to strength. ¡°Now then¡. I have the inherent ability to change forms. I probably should go deeper into the forest and check this out. I do not want prying eyes to see my dragon form.¡±
I had to be sure to keep my evolution a secret as much as possible until I find out if other beings in this world are able to evolve as well. I probably would never show my dragon form unless it was absolutely necessary.
Chapter 30 Faiths Mighty Roar
I can¡¯t say that I was not excited right now. I mean, even as I move past the trees, I am spinning around in joy, wanting to quickly try out this new innate ability of mine. I remember the image of myself when I pressed the dragon button to get a glimpse of my transformation, and I must say it was just amazing. But I also knew I needed a good spot away from everything just in case.
The ce I was heading to was like a small mountain on top of the teau where my home was located. It was like the inlet I found before and towers up over the treetops. The way this teau was formed in such a strange way made me wonder what must have happened to make the rock formations form like this in the past.
Like was it some kind of catastrophic event? Maybe some powerful being that could wield unimaginable power had reforged the entirendscape creating this teau that had its own mountains. To be honest, I think the powerful being route might not be too far off. When my mother was teaching me history, there were stories of past wars that changed thend in many ways. People who wielded spells that destroyed entire sections ofnds, creating whole entire new environments. In the southern part of the continent, there is supposed to be a field of ice and a field of fire, side by side that stretches for miles. It¡¯s on my list of top ten ces to visit when I finally set out on my own.
The number one ce I wish to visit, believe it or not, is the royal capital, Sky Lake City. It¡¯s a city that hovers in the sky with a massiveke in which a grand castle is built in the middle of. I want to see just how fantasy this world is. I heard in order to get there that, you need to ride on an airship that flies in the sky using magic as propulsion. These airships are basicallyrge wooden boats that could fly in the sky. I wonder if one day I will ever own such a thing. While I can soar through the sky as it is now, that ispletely different than standing on the deck of a massive airship. I think the novelty of it all is what gets me.
Then there was the dwarven capital city of Dwrognar. From what I read, the city is the home of automata, otherwise known as golems. They are the technical marvels of the amazing engineering of the dwarves and one of the reasons why most kingdoms do not mess with dwarves. My mother told me out of all demi humans, dwarves are considered to be the only ones able to truly walk around freely besides the high elves. This was because if you angered the wrong one, it could spark a conflict with either kingdom. High elves were known for their powerful magic, and they even taught in the royal capitals magic academy. A ce I will probably never be able to go. Although I would not say, I would not want to. It has a massive library, and I could learn many things there.
You would think after going to school in my past life, I would stray away from anything to do with school, but school in this world was much different and was focused around magic. At least, this is what I got from everything I have read. But sadly, I am a demi human and nowhere even close to being able to go to such a ce. Well, I may be able to if I ever crack the code for fusion magic. But I think that would be my only chance. And even if I wasn¡¯t a demi human, my family was way too poor to pay the tuition fees. I did not know the exact sum. I think it was 100 gold a year, only something those from prominent society could actually afford. Maybe I can sneak in some time and take a peek.
I came to a stop in arge valley in between two peaks. ¡°This should be big enough, I think¡.¡±
I really had no idea how big my dragon form was, I only knew that it looked really cool. ¡°Now then¡. I better umm¡ Take my clothes off¡¡± -.
I was really hoping no one would show up while I was doing this. I did not know if my clothes would rip during the transformation. Since I have never done this before. Thest thing I wanted was to transform fully clothed and end up ripping my clothes to shreds and then try to run home naked without a single person seeing me. While I could use my tail for cover and my hands, it was still the fact of it all! That and it never dawned on me until now that I should have brought another set of clothes just in case. I guess transformation while wearing clothes will need to be tested some other time.
I once again made a circle of earth using earth all to hide myself before stripping down. After folding my clothes up and setting them aside in my inventory, it was finally time. ¡°So how do I actually transform? Do I do like they did in those Japanese shows back on Earth and yell out some kind of phrase? Heeeeeeeeennnnnnnshiiiiiiinnn!¡±
I stood there making a strange pose for a while before blushing. Yeah, this is pretty embarrassing, but I had to give it a try once. I let out a sigh and scratched my head. ¡°Do I just need to will it?¡±
Since it was supposed to be innate, an ability that shoulde naturally to me, I should be able to just kind of think it(will it), and it should work. I shook my body, trying to rx myself before closing my eyes and picturing the image I saw in the system. It was then that I felt the wind brushing past my face. It was a gentle breeze, not very strong. When I opened my eyes, I knew for a fact that something had happened because my line of sight waspletely different. I was now looking over the treetops of the forest. ¡°I did it!¡± I yelled out. Strangely enough, my mouth, that was now much longer than before, still moved as if I was speaking like a human, just that my voice was also much louder. This caused me to cover my mouth with what were now myrge ws.
¡°Inspection time!¡± I looked at my front legs, which were covered with reddish ck scales, my ws were pitch ck and very long. They were at least half an arm¡¯s length of an adult male. I still had five digits and could move them like my humanoid hands, which was a relief. But my body was now very big. My underside was a brownish yellow and much softer than the rest of my body. My tail was much longer and studier too. I felt like I could easily break down a castle wall with it. Why I suddenly started thinking about breaking castle walls, I do not know¡
All in all, I had to say for a dragon, I looked very majestic. Well, I am the only dragon I know, so I am not sure about other dragons. But from my point of view, I thought I looked very noble. Dragons were a noble race, after all. I just hoped if someone saw me, they would not suddenly bring a huge army to try to kill me. ¡°Oh, what about my stats!?¡±
This thought just came to mind. I wondered if my stats had changed at all after my transformation.
[Dragon Form]
[Name]: Faith Cyrilia
[Age] 12
[Level] 17
[Race] Dragonic
[HP] 115500/115500
[MP] ¡Þ
[Attack Power] 115100
[Magic Power] 115100
[Status Points] 370
[Strength] 11510
[Vitality] 11550
[Intelligence] 11510
[Mind] ¡Þ
[Agility] 11510
[Skill Points] 6
[Skills]
[Appraisal (LVL 10(MAX))]
¡°So this is what it¡¯s like when the final boss suddenly transforms into their final form and bes immensely powerful¡. I wonder if with partial transformations if I am able to also boost my stats¡¡± If this was possible, then I could easily transform my arms and legs and give myself an extra stat boosts in any fight.
But right now, I am kind of in a dilemma. There is one thing I really wanted to do when I transformed into a mighty, majestic dragon. And that was to let out a world shattering roar! I was seriously debating whether or not I should. ¡°Should I? Well, I guess I can just quickly turn back into my humanoid form and get dressed quickly before making a quick escape. I mean¡. I only get a chance to do things for the first time once¡.¡±
I dropped to all fours and lowered my head and wiggled my butt. ¡°Ahem¡ Ll¡ Laaaa¡. Okay, here we go¡ Ahem¡.¡±
I took a deep breath and then¡.
*Rooooooaaaaaaaaaar!!!!!!!*
I let out the mightiest roar.
I did not hang around after letting out such a roar. I quickly transformed back into my humanoid form, which was a very strange experience because this time as I had my eyes open. No pain, it was more like a poof, and I was already humanoid again. Inded softly on the ground, gathered and put my clothes on, and ran away from the area. I was sure that roar just now echoed back towards the vige. I can only hope I did not cause a beast tide. I did not think of that before actually roaring like that¡ I suddenly felt a headacheing on. ¡°I guess I can only try to deal with any monster if I see any on my way home running towards the vige.¡±
Although I wouldn¡¯t mind if a few certain people died from Wandermere, I still couldn¡¯t kill those who were innocent. Sadly it seems I will be saving those I do not wish to save if there really is a beast tide.
But as I made my way out of the forest, I noticed the monsters that were normally roaming about were doing just that. I guess my roar did not have any intent behind it, so no beast tide was formed. But this now brought a new thought to mind. Couldn¡¯t I start a beast tide if I learned how to push my intent into my roar? Like, what if I wanted the monsters in a forest to go on a rampage and attack a city? I wondered if it would be possible. Would I do such a thing? Well, it depends¡. I guess it is more of a question on a time and ce basis.
Chapter 31 Word Of War
By the time I got back home, Cyrilia vige was full of chatter about my majestic roar. I don¡¯t like to brag, but it was truly amazing. I couldn¡¯t help but raise my nose a little higher than normal, hearing everyone talking about it. There was very little panic, so I did not feel that bad about my mighty roar. But as soon as I walked through the door of my house, I was pulled into a big hug by Rachel. ¡°Thank the gods! Faith, I was worried that something happened to you!¡±
¡°Big Sister Rachel, I am fine nothing happened.¡± I smiled and hugged Rachel back. Out of all the people I knew who were once outsiders to my family, only Rachel would be willing to hug me like this. She started doing it from day one when my brother first brought her home. Her exact words were: ¡°Why are you so cute!¡± And then hugged me without any sign of letting go. From that day on, she spent more time with me than my brother, to the point that he even asked if she was here for me instead of him. Sadly the answer he wanted to hear did not escape her lips, she bluntly nodded her head and said: ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t Ie for Faith? She is such a dear! Don¡¯t be jealous of your little sister.¡±
My brother moped around the house for almost a week after that. I did find it all rather funny, though. So I couldn¡¯t help but giggle at his depression. But it seemed Rachel was shy around my brother at the time, so she was always asking me questions about him. She truly liked him a lot. But this was also how we became so close. She fit right in with my family once she became more at home with us. She was very nice, was caring, and put others before herself. Even when she was pregnant, my mother would scold her for trying to help with the housework. She would always tell me to take Rachel out for a chat in the backyard. It had be my job to make sure she wasn¡¯t doing much.
Childbirth in this world was not easy. While there was healing magic, unless you are highly skilled, the chances of death during childbirth was still very high, almost a five percent chance. Luckily Rachel had my mother and I there by her side. Auntie Finna was also there helping out during that time. To be honest, childbirth was a scary thing when seeing it for the first time, but once I saw my little nephew, I fell in love. While I will probably never have a child of my own, the possibility is always there. But I will say this. I will make sure highly skilled mages are there to cast healing magic on me, or I might kill whoever impregnated me. This was one of the reasons why my brother was only allowed in the room when the baby was finally born. Rachel was very good with magic as well, and from the look in her eyes while she was pushing¡.. I think my brother would have died.
The days after my first transformation flew by, I did not do any testing with magic or anything. The time before I was going to be heading off on my own was growing nearer. I was nning to leave in the next two months when mid season, which is what summer is called, rolled around. -.
It was thest week of the new season, which is what spring is called in this world, that my father gathered the whole family together. The expression on his face was very serious, almost dire.
¡°We just got word that the Norian Kingdom has dered war on our Kingdom of Gravos.¡±
¡°What!? Sander, what do you mean?¡± My mother cried out. The look on her face was full of worry and fear.
War¡. Just like on Earth, war was not a funny matter. All it brought about was death and destruction. The worst thing about war was that you could be called to bear arms at any time. And because my father was considered a knight even though inherited, he would be forced to go to the front lines along with my brother¡ I really couldn¡¯t let this happen. If anything happened to them¡. I might just end up wiping out an entire nation. I haven¡¯t tried it, but I am pretty sure I can cast spells in my dragon form, which means that 15k + stats that I have would probably wipe a country off the map.
¡°Faith?¡± My father looked at me, his nose wrinkling up. ¡°What happened to you?¡±
Ah¡ They finally noticed. I forgot to think up a good excuse for my change in body features. While subtle, there was no way my mother and father wouldn¡¯t notice. As for my brother? Yeah, not really something he would pick out. He didn¡¯t even notice when Rachel cut her hair short. He slept outside for a few days for that one.
¡°I ummm¡.. Well, it seems my dragonkin blood is a bit stronger than we thought¡.¡± I lied¡. I hated it, but I couldn¡¯t really tell them, hey, I evolved into an amazing demon dragon! I do not know enough about the demons of this world. There is nothing in the books about them, so I do not know if they are bad or good.
Plus, what if my father starts suspecting my mother of cheating on him? This wouldn¡¯t be good either. I have read a few novels where the wife would have a child that looked nothing like the father, and it would have features that did not match anyone in the family. I so did not wish for them to start fighting.
¡°When did this happen?¡± My mother went from worrying about the war to worrying about me.
¡°While I was out practicing earlier¡.¡± I replied while lowering my head. I hoped they would not dislike my new appearance.
¡°Faith, make sure you let us know right away if something like this happens again.¡± My father gave me a suspicious look. I do not think he is thinking about what I was thinking about before. I think he is actually putting two and two together. But for now, I will not speak about it. If he doesn¡¯t ask, I will keep it to myself.
¡°Mmm, I promise.¡± I answered back while nodding my head. Luckily, for now, nothing else would change about me. At least until I evolve again. How I will look then, I do not know.
¡°Good.¡± My father nodded his head before continuing on an even more important issue. At a time like this, I actually had to thank the Norian Kingdom for being stupid since it took the spotlight off me. Not that I want war, but still, I was having cold sweat drip down my back just now.
¡°We need to prepare. Cyrilia vige will need a ce to hide all the women and children.¡± My father looked over at me. I knew right away when he was thinking.
¡°I can make an underground tunnel leading to the inlet I train at, plus I can seal it off if needed.¡± I offered. I figured this would be the safest ce for all the women and children. It was deep enough in the forest and out of the way that any invading army might not want to risk their men entering.
¡°Then I will leave it to you. Rachel, you help Lilith with preparing food storage. Eric and I will begin rounding up the men to hunt monsters for materials for armor. The women will need to be put to work sewing armor for the men. We have no time to spare, so we will begin all of this starting today.¡± My father has always been one of those better safe than sorry type people. While right now, things are just hearsay, he would prefer to be ready for what was toe than anything else.
But this also brought up another problem. ¡°Father, what about Wandermere?¡±
My father¡¯s facial expression changed slightly as he looked at me. ¡°What about them? I only care about those in my vige. People who look down on demi humans can rot and die for all I care. I will not allow people to follow you through the escape route, only for them to turn on you in the end. I am not that nice of a man.¡±
I pursed my lips and said nothing more. I was very satisfied with this answer, though. While I feel for the woman and children in Wandermere, they will eventually do as my father had just said. They would give honeyed words to save their own lives, but once they reached the other side, it was a sure thing that their so called kindness would change. This was just human nature. And a side of humans I hated, to be honest. While this did not count for all humans, it did count for some. And it only took those few in a group to cause chaos. I was not going to allow there to be any chaos when we are trying to run away.
¡°Alright, everyone, get to work. Eric, head down to the James¡¯s and ask him to begin forging as many swords as he can.¡± My father gave out a few more orders to my mother and Rachel before pulling me aside. ¡°Faith, if we really do go to war, I will leave it to you on who you allow to escape with you. If you wish to invite those from Wandermere, I will not say anything. But, if any person speaks out against you, kill them. Do not hesitate, just kill them.¡±
My father was dead serious. I didn¡¯t give a reply, only nodded my head. While I knew one day I was going to kill a humanoid being, I was still kind of nervous about it. I was hoping it would note so soon, but it seems the days before my hands are stained with blood areing closer. Because¡ I already decided in my heart that if war does break out, I would protect my family no matter what the cost was.
Chapter 32 Preparing Just In Case
Currently, I was in a rocky area of Cyrilia vige, looking for a somewhat hidden spot. This area was in the opposite direction of the only entrance to the teau. By making the entrance to the tunnel that will lead to the safe area in the opposite direction, it will help keep the vigers safe from having to go near any enemy.
We still did not know if the Norian army was going to show themselves. But we still had to prepare just in case. My job, as my father had instructed, was to create our escape route. The rocky area was perfect as I could easily move some of therger boulders to hide the entrance I was about to create. While it may be in the opposite direction, I can easily use destruction magic to make the tunnel that led there. I would need to dig deep down in case they have some kind of detection magic. I did not wish for anyone to be caught during the escape. As far as I knew, detection magic could prate deep into rocks, but the distance was based on the amount of mana input you used.
With a wave of my hand, ten magic circles appeared in front of me. This was a levitation spell that reduced the weight of objects by limiting how gravity affected the object. With this, I lifted boulders hundreds of times my size up off the ground and began stacking them in the most natural way I could think of. Although a random pile of boulders in the middle of nowhere is not the most natural thing, I was doing it so that they kinda fell into ce. I had to lift some boulders up a second and third time to get them to fall in the right spot.
After I was satisfied with the cement of the boulders, I began using destruction magic finally. The spell itself was not the easiest to use as it would not, much unlike its name, destroy anything. For some reason, it did not work on organic things like humanoids or nts. And it was tricky to destroy the things it could without overdoing it. I have studied it quite a bit and was able to figure out some of its quirks. To this day, I think it is one of the hardest spells I have used, and it is only an intermediate spell. To put it in different words, the high level spell grand fall is easier to cast, and in fact, I can cast it really quickly. But destruction magic takes a lot of extra alterations to the runic equation when you are trying to do specific things with it.-.
Luckily my obsession with magic wouldn¡¯t let me give up on it after failing the first few times I tried to use it. It took almost three months before I finally got the hang of it. A lot of trial and error. But it was well worth it as in times like this, it reallyes in handy.
With another wave of my hand, I created a new magic circle and began destroying the rock under the boulder formation. Magic circle after magic circle was created as I dug down at a nt until I felt things were deep enough and slowly ttened the tunnel out. Only then did I begin digging in the opposite direction. Using detection magic, I was able to get a good image of the area above me so I could easily tell which direction was correct. I continued to destroy the rock over and over. The process was quick and easy. If this was Earth, there would be no way anyone would be able to finish such a long tunnel in just a few hours, but magic made such a thing possible.
After an hour, I had already dug my way under Wandermere. I seemed to have dug right under the vige elder¡¯s house and could see a group of men standing there arguing with the vige elder. ¡°Let¡¯s see what they are saying.¡± I added a second spell that oveps with the detection spell called hearing. It allows me to hear whatever I was seeing, no matter how far the distance, as long as I could see it clearly I would be able to hear what was being said.
¡°Vige elder, what do we do!? If war really does break out, how are we going to fend off any attackers?¡±
¡°What are you worried about? The Cyrilia¡¯s won¡¯t allow their vige to be harmed. I am sure before the enemy even gets near, they will dispatch them.¡±
¡°But what if they don¡¯t? What if they turn and run?¡±
¡°Then I will report them to the king for failing to uphold their duties as inherited Knights! Just like how you men will also need to fight. Just stand behind Sander, and you will live to see another day.¡±
Hearing the vige elder¡¯s words really angers me. You want to make use of my family!? Humph! I snapped my fingers, and the next thing I hear is people yelling about a fire. Serves them right. How dare they try to use my father as some kind of meat shield. I had been thinking of letting them escape with Cryilia Vige, but now I won¡¯t. Screw them! I can not and will not forgive anyone who dares try to make use of my family. My father was right when he said to not help the people of this vige.
After huffing a bit more, I continued on my way towards my hidden practice grounds. It took another two hours, but I had finally dug my way back to the surface. I made sure to make a staircase leading up to make it easier for the vigers to climb out. With things set for the tunnel, I quickly hid the exit with a few boulders to give it some cover. I dusted my hands off and looked up at the sky, ¡°Let¡¯s hope no war breaks out.¡±
Oh, how I wished I never said those words. Because the next afternoon, my father told me that the Norian army had already crossed our border. He had sent some of the vige guards out to check the borders, and well¡. It seems they will be on our doorstep in a few weeks¡¯ time. ¡°Why are they heading here?¡± I did not understand why they would firste to this vige of all ces.
¡°Faith, this vige is one of the few viges here on the border and the closest to where they crossed. They would use this ce to gather supplies to progress further ind until they get to the next vige or town.¡± My father exined.
I guess it made sense, but I couldn¡¯t help wondering how they had such good intel on our vige, I mean, it was kind of out of the way and hard to see. I took a deep breath before letting it out. I couldn¡¯t say I was not worried. In truth, I was very worried. My father, my brother, and the kind men of the vige would need to go to the front lines to defend our vige. It was basically a suicide mission, but if they turned tail and ran and word of it got back to the king, we would all be seen as traitors of the kingdom. Kingdomwes before our own well-being¡ And as my father is a knight, not only him but my mother, brother, Rachel, myself, and even my baby nephew would all end up dying. Turning your back on the crown was punishable by up to nine generations of your family.
¡°It looks like I will need to step in¡.¡± I mumbled to myself. Luckily my father did not hear me, he seemed to be lost in deep thought. I am sure he would tell me to run no matter what. The Norian Kingdom was a kingdom that still saw demi humans as nothing but ves. If I was caught, I would end up with a ve cor to live out my life as a ve. I do not even want to think of the horrors I would have to face if I became a ve.
¡°When should we hold the evacuation?¡± I asked. I needed to know when we would be moving the women and children out.
¡°At the end of the week. As your part is done, you will help your mother and Rachel with the food preservation. Your magic is more powerful, and you have more mana, so you can freeze more food. Also, spend the next two days hunting some of the bigger monsters. Get as many as you can. I am sure you won¡¯t have any issues bringing it back, will you?¡± My father asked. He seemed to be trying to cover all our basis. There is no telling how long the fight will be or how long the Norian army would end up upying the vige if we do end up in defeat, so food storage was a priority.
¡°Yes. Have Mother and Rachel gather everything once they have finished their preparations, and I will move it to the safe area.¡± I clenched my fists at my side. I will first evacuate everyone before moving to the front lines. Before my father and the other men are forced to fight, I will wipe out this stupid Norian army that dares to threaten my family¡¯s safety. I just hope whatever god governs this world can forgive me for drawing blood.
If I was living back on Earth, I would be living a carefree life. At this point and time, I would be probably job hunting or already working for somepany after college. Going out to eat with the other employees, drinking, and having a good time. Maybe even be married with a child, who knows. Life is ever changing, and it seems my life here will also be changing soon. I sighed as I left my father to finish what he was doing and headed back outside. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. ¡°I must do what I need to do to protect my family. I must protect the smiles of the people who love me so dearly. ¡°
Chapter 33 The Die Is Cast
¡°This should do. I made enough stone huts and also set up a cave for cold storage.¡± I went above and beyond and created much more. Just in case we all had to be stuck here for a while. No sense in everyone staying outside in the elements when I can just use earth magic and create stone houses. I made just enough stone houses for each family. While small they will make due for now. I even went out of my way to make an outhouse as well for each house.
It had already been almost a week since the Norian army had crossed the border. And their current direction was right for our vige. Old Man James has been working day and night. Although advanced in age, he was the best cksmith in Wandermere before moving to Cyrilia vige. He got sick of all the discrimination. Histe wife seemed to have been a demi human as well. My mother and even thedies of the vige have all been in working mode. Making armor and equipment for the men and boys who would be going to war. Each one knew what would happen if those soldiers got into the vige, so even if they did not wish to see their husbands or children off, they had no choice. Women were prime targets for soldiers, sadly.
What strikes me as strange is that those men and women of Wandermere have not even begun preparing. It is as if they are relying on my father to handle everything. Because I know this is exactly what is going on, every chance I get, I set the vige chief¡¯s house on fire now when I pass by. Even tonight, there is a nice ze lighting up the night sky in his garden. No point in being discreet when the entire Norian army is heading our way. If anything, I am causing them to eye Wandermere than Cyrilia Vige. I mean, what is more noticeable: a small vige that is pitch dark at night or the huge zing lightbulb that is lighting up the night sky? I think the answer is pretty much a given, and anyone who answers otherwise is in dumb.
¡°Faith you¡¯re back. Get ready to move out. You will be bringing everyone tonight to the safe zone.¡± My father was the first person I saw as I walked through the door. His words were also something I had expected. He had told me earlier we would move during the night so not even the eyes of those in Wandermere could see where we had escaped to. I had already nned to destroy the entrance to the tunnel once everyone was through so that no one could ever use it. -.
¡°I will gather everyone now.¡± I said before turning back around and going to leave but stopped when my father called after me.
¡°Faith, thank you for all the hard work.¡± I sighed, hearing my father¡¯s words. I turned and looked at him with a forced smile. ¡°I do not need thanks. I just need my father and brother to be safe.¡± I did not let him answer as I disappeared into the darkness. I would finish my final task and leave the vigers to my mother and Rachel. Then I will deal with the Norian army. Before the brave men of Cyrilia vige set off to war, I will deal with those who wish to harm my family. It will also keep the bastards who are against my father from stabbing him in the back as well. There is no telling what they will do in order to save their lives. They might try to kill my father and serve his head up on a silver tter to the general of the Norian army. But sadly for them, they will never get a chance to do such a thing.
It took a while, but we gathered all the elderly, women, and children and got them into the tunnel. After sealing the entrance, I led everyone to the safe area. ¡°Faith dear, is this where we will be staying?¡±
¡°Yes, Auntie Finna, I hope you do not mind, but I set you up to stay with my family.¡± I smiled and held Auntie Finna¡¯s hand. She seemed very worried. She had no one but our family to rely on anymore.
¡°No, I don¡¯t mind at all.¡± Auntie Finna squeezed my hand and lowered her head next to mine. ¡°Thank you for thinking about me.¡±
I smiled, hugged her neck, and kissed her cheek. ¡°Of course. You are my Auntie Finna. I would not let you go through this alone!¡±
¡°You are always such a dear!¡± Auntie Finna hugged me tightly. We talked as we walked. My mother was settling the others in while Rachel was helping keep an eye on the kids, my nephew wrapped in her arms.
After I settled Auntie Finna in, I went to find my mother. ¡°Mother, I need to go back to the vige. I will be back soon.¡±
¡°Okay, be careful. Oh, and Faith, tell your father if you see him. Tell him¡. Never mind¡.¡± I almost teared up. I could see the panic and worry in my mother¡¯s eyes. I pulled her into a hug, not wanting to let her go. ¡°He will be fine. I promise.¡±
I smiled and kissed her cheek before letting her go and running off, disappearing into the night. I caught a confused expression on her face, but I could only apologize internally for lying to her. I do not know when I will be back. I do not know how powerful the Norian army is, or if I am overestimating myself. I could be misjudging this world¡¯s power bnce and be only on the lower spectrum of things. I do not know since I have never left this teau. But I do know my stats are absolutely insane and when in my dragon form, they are even crazier. I hope this is enough to ovee an entire army.
I did not n to return to the vige. I already knew my father was not nning to move to their defensive positions until the next day. Tonight was a prep meeting that would go over their n to do what they can to protect the vige. A suicide mission that all the men there knew they would most likely die in. And me? I was now standing at the edge of the cliff, looking down over the mighty Norian army below.
In front of me were billows of smoke and the light of campfires of the tens of thousands of soldiers below. It may seem crazy for me to even be here standing alone against so many. But for me, this was the only way. The only way to ensure the survival of those I love. My home, my family, and all those who have treated me so kindly over the years. I wish to protect them all, even if it means bing a demon myself.
Whether or not I will survive any of this, I do not know. But none of that matters. None of it¡. I took a deep breath and looked up at the sky. For my family, I am willing to risk it all. For them, I am willing to give up this life of mine. I owe them much more than they can ever imagine. I raised my hand up towards the sky, magic circles forming in my eyes. Softly two words escape my lips: ¡°Grand Fall¡.¡±
A loud rumble could be hearding from the sky. The darkness of night instantly lit up. A massive ball of fiery rock could be seen piercing through the¡¯s atmosphere. This was what grand Fall truly was, a spell that could wipe out an entire city. A spell that could easily defeat an army that was not prepared. But sadly¡. I looked down at theyers uponyers of magic barriers being erected and frowned. ¡°They sure move quickly¡.¡±
Knowing grand fall would probably not wipe them outpletely, I rose into the air. I turned and looked at the vige behind me and waved my hand. A blue fog spread out in front of me. It stretched across the entire cliffside blocking off any path towards my position. This spell was called confusion mist. It would make those who enter it always return to where they started, no matter how hard they try. ¡°Forgive me, Father¡. But my wish is to protect you all¡.¡±
I hoped the fog that rose high into the sky would keep my father at bay. I turned back and around and watched as therge meteor finally made contact withnd. The ground shook violently as my spell and the Norian army barriers collided, causing waves of energy to spread out in all directions destroying thend below.
Who would win? I don¡¯t know. The grand fall spell does not allow for any adjustments, so it was not like I could make it any more powerful. But it was not like I was going to sit around to wait and see who the winner or loser would be. I wrapped myself in a mana shield and flew out towards the army. With a wave of my hand, more and more magic circles began forming around me. Condensed fireballs began to form at each magic circle, over a thousand in total. This was an improved version of the normal fireball and would do hundreds of times the damage than the original.
¡°Since you want war¡.¡± I raised my hand once more before slowly lowering it: ¡°Then I will give you war.¡±
My white hair fluttered in the breeze. My orange eyes glowed as if they were on fire themselves. I felt no emotion. I felt nothing as I watched my attacks that were like a machine gun firing over and over towards the shields. I would bombard the enemy with so much magic they would think an army of millions was attacking them from the dark. My n may seem horrible. All I was doing was a frontal assault, but what do you expect from someone who has no skill in militarybat? Yes, I could spend points and be a genius in it, but what good would that do me now? I am notmanding any army. I came out here for a purpose. And that was the total annihtion of the invading army in front of me. I would not allow them to run or surrender. I will destroy them all, then and only then will none of them be able toe back to take revenge. For some reason, the thought of destroying them all brings a smile to my face¡.
Chapter 34 Boiling Blood
¡°Tch¡.¡± I clicked my tongue. The barriers of the mages of the Norian Kingdom were much morepetent than I had expected. ¡°Then¡ Grand Fall.¡± I let another massive meteor drop from the sky. I decided since I could not get through their barriers with magic that, I should take out the ones creating them.
The only problem was those same mages were surrounded by soldiers. ¡°I guess I will need to charge in. Once I am inside the barrier, I can cast magic¡.¡±
I let my body fall into the shadow of the cliffside. At the same time, my machine gun like condensed fireballs were still firing off, one after the other. I had set up themand line for the spell to be one that continuously fired. With each attack, it would drain the appropriate mana from me. I did not need to be near them at all. I had no idea the actual distance at which it would stop, but I could keep the magic in the air going while I was doing other things. It was an idea that came to me when I was trying toe up with andmine kind of spell. I was trying toe up with spells I could use while out on my journey that would allow me to sleep peacefully at night.
It was then that it dawned on me that I had no idea if spells could even be activated in such a way since they would need to be supplied with my mana and all spells needed an activation word. But when I thought about it more, there were tools and other things that did not require an activation word to use the power of the magic inside. Otherwise, things like airships and other objects powered by magic wouldn¡¯t be able to exist. -.
It was then that I remembered reading about something called runic scripting. It was a way to infuse objects with certain spells while only needing to set a trigger activation. The only problem was that they needed much more mana than a normal spell. Almost fifty times as much. For me, that was no issue, but it made me think that if I can make a runic script that self activates, why can¡¯t I do the same with a normal spell, hence the machine gun like barrage I was using at this time. I tested my theory out, and it worked. But then I wondered if I could be away from the spell as it was continuously firing off. So while I was destroying rocks with my spells, I wandered through the forest. While keeping an eye on the area with the spells with my detection magic and sure enough, they kept going even when I was miles away from the area.
Thankfully, while the fireballs may not be breaking through the magic barriers, they still made a perfect distraction. Along with the double grand fall that they were trying to ward off, I should be able to make my way into the enemy lines. With detection magic going at full st, I was looking for the weakest spot in the enemy lines. And it seemed due to my sudden attack, they were not in the best of formations. It took me only a few minutes to find the weak point, so I charged in.
With my sword drawn and covered in a self-made vibrating wind spell that makes it so sharp, it can cut through any metal. I walked right up to the barrier and pressed my hand against it. When I saw that it was only a barrier that blocked magic, my lips curled up. But that was when a strange feeling began welling up inside me. An urge deep inside me so wished to shed the blood of those in front of me. I am not sure if these strange feelings were due to my new bloodlines or not, but it was starting to make me feel¡ Not me¡ But at the same time, I knew I would have to give in to this new instinct and finally drench my hands in blood. Was I ready for such a thing¡. No¡ But I wasmitted to keeping my family safe even if I must be a demon myself.
¡°Hey! Who are you!?¡± I was noticed right away when I walked through the barrier. It must have been a shock to these soldiers to see a little girl walk in. I mean, I did look ten, after all. Not to mention my horns, wings, and tail. It only took a few seconds for another soldier to yell out.
¡°What is a damn demi doing here!? She doesn¡¯t even have a cor! Someonee, bring me a cor! She¡¯s a cute one.¡± The soldier¡¯s words caused me to frown. Cute? Maybe¡. But I look like a child. Plus, I am holding a sword. So this makes no sense. I can only see these men as pretty stupid, I mean. I, a lone girl, have a sword and am on a battlefield with two grand falls smashing into their barriers, along with so many fireballs mming into those same barriers as well. But to them, I pose no threat? Shouldn¡¯t they be more wary while under attack, or is this because the enemy looks down on the kingdom they are invading?
I guess none of this matters, though¡. I tilted my head to the side and smiled before disappearing from where I stood, eleration magicbined with strengthening magic. My speed was almost at the speed of sound. ¡°Shit! Watch out!¡±
My sword swung through the air and connected with its target, slicing through the neck of the closest soldier to me. I had finally done it¡. I had killed a humanoid being for the first time, and surprisingly¡. It made my blood boil. I felt nothing. With a wave of my hand, hundreds of magic circles formed in the air. Fireballs, just like the ones outside mming into their barrier, began sting everything in front of me.
The painful cries of the soldiers who were dying due to my actions, some being cut down by my de, others being burned alive from the condensed fireballs that hit them. Even with the strong stench of blood entering my nose. Even with the sight of soldiers¡¯ innards falling to the ground. Even as the blood of my enemy that sprayed on my clothes, my hands, and my face, I showed no reaction. I was making the world around me a fiery, bloody hell of death, and I seemed unfazed. This scared me the most.
But I could not stop. I had to annihte the enemy no matter what. It was either them or me. Only when the enemy waspletely wiped out would I know that my family would be safe. I danced in the blood of my enemies as I continued my rampage. While I killed soldiers with my sword, I began focusing fire on the mages in the center that were being protected. With them being forced to set up barriers in two different areas, their mana was slowly draining. The barriers that were blocking the two grand falls were starting to waver.
And me? Right now, I am invincible. Not a single sword could pierce my mana shield. Not a single spell could break through and singe a strand of my hair. I was like the goddess who had descended on the battlefield to dish out divine punishment on those who have sinned. Having so much power and being able to fight alone without a single worry was a power any kingdom of this world would wish to have for themselves. At the same time, I was internally conflicted about how powerful I truly was.
I wanted power, but I wonder if having so much power now that I was using it to kill so many was actually a good thing. But even while I was struggling with all of this, my lips were still curled up into a smile, a giggle had even escaped my lips. My blood felt like it was on fire. I was starting to wonder if bing a Dragonic was a good thing. I began to wonder if I should have done my research better but¡. ¡°I feel so exhrated! Hahaha!¡±
I hopped, jumped, skipped, and twirled my way through the battlefield. I have no idea how many have died at my hands, but my spells were firing indiscriminately in all directions. The screams of pain. The yells for my death. I could hear them all, but they all seemed to blend together. The chaos I was causing was forcing the army¡¯s formation to move toward me. It seemed themander was not as stupid as some of these soldiers.
¡°1¡ 2¡. 3¡. 4¡. How much longer can you hold on for?¡± I began singing a strange song. It was eerie and so unlike me, but I couldn¡¯t stop myself. I felt the more the scent of blood filled my nose, the more my mind was starting to slip.
¡°I need to finish this quickly¡. Any more and I will lose myself¡.¡± I muttered while waving my hand. I was putting my everything into this while I still have some control of what I was doing. Thousands upon thousands of magic circles filled the sky above the Norian Army. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. ¡°Heaven¡¯s rain¡.¡± A high level light spell that formed spears of light that were as hot as the sun rained down from the sky. Secondster, a shattering sound could be heard as the two grand falls pierced through the barriers.
*Boom!*
A wave of fiery energy swept thend as the two meteors crashed into the ground. My little body was flung backward straight into the cliff wall. mes spread out in all directions as pain surged through my body. ¡°Cough¡¡± blood spilled from my mouth. I struggled to press my hand to my body as I forced out two words: ¡°High heal¡.¡±
A wave of warmth filled my body. My wounds quickly healed up as I stumbled from the Faith-shaped imprint in the cliff wall. I used detection magic to see through the cloud of dust and debris. To my astonishment, arge portion of the Norian army had actually survived. ¡°I guess it¡¯s not over yet¡. But luckily, I feel myself again.¡±
Chapter 35 The Scarred Lands
The pain had slightly snapped me out of my crazed state. But not enough to keep my mind from slipping back into it. The scent of blood and the agonizing screams of those who were not killed but still severely hurt rang out in my ears. Whaty before me was no longer the lush greenndscape that I used to love looking out over. It was now a massive crater with scarred burntnds all around it. And outside this crater were the leftover remnants of the Norian army.
I pped my wings and flew up into the air. With a wave of my hand, I created a magic circle in front of me. ¡°Blow¡.¡± A strong gust of wind swept by, blowing away all the dust and debris. I could now get a clear look with my own eyes at the destruction I had caused.
I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes, but I pushed them down. Right now was not the time for this. If I am to continue on to finish off the enemy, then I need to hold my emotions back. I needed to allow myself to once more sink into darkness.
To finish what I started, I need to rely on that feeling of bloodlust and craziness. Maybe if I had more time to grow, I could deal with all of this with a level head, but I, unfortunately, did not have time to trulye to terms with what it meant to be a demon¡.
As I watched the Norian army foolishly begin gathering in the same spot, I could only shake my head. ¡°Only fools would gather together once more.¡± I really couldn¡¯t understand why they would cluster together like this unless they were trying to be wiped out. -.
I extended my detection magic over the area and tried to figure out what they were doing. It was then that I noticed a single person hiding in the middle of the group as they tried to retreat. ¡°That must be themander. I really wonder if he thinks using his own men as shields will truly protect him. He was better off running for it on his own. At least with his men scattered all over, it would make things more difficult for me.¡±
Letting out a sigh, I waved my hand and sent a rain of fireballs down onto the group. The entire area turned into another crater, not leaving a single person alive. I had effectively destroyed the Norian army that had made their way here. While the battlested a lot longer than I had nned, I worried for my future. The feeling that welled up inside me was growing stronger by the second due to the smell of blood. I was starting to get an urge to cross the border myself and wipe out the entire Norian nation. My instincts kept telling me to kill those who wished to harm my family and I.
It was taking my everything to keep myself from doing what my instincts were telling me. I bit my lip, drawing blood, using the pain to clear my head, but it was of little use, my mind was slowly sinking back into a crazed state. But sadly my work was not done, so I could not leave the area. ¡°I should use detection in the surrounding area in case there are any other troops.¡±
I flew up high into the sky and allowed my detection magic to spread out over the area near the border. What I saw was not a pleasant sight. Rape, piging, and all the atrocities you could think of were happening out in the viges near the border. The Norian army was not just this group alone but looked to be quite a few of what was called on Earth an army corps, which consisted of around forty five thousand soldiers.
From what I was seeing, besides the one I just wiped out, there were quite a few crossing the border. This made me realize that the poption of this world was much higher than I could have ever imagined. It made me wonder just how big the cities of this world truly were. It also made me even more excited to explore this world.
But between the excitement and wonder, my bloodlust was rising more and more. The thought of seeing thousands of soldiers die by my hand was filling me with crazed thoughts.
I knew if I did not go out and deal with this, my father and brother and the other men of the vige would have to deal with it. I was starting to feel as I did before when I was dancing around in the blood of my enemies. My lips were already curled up into a smile. I took a step forward and was about to fly out when a voice came from behind me. ¡°Faith!¡±
I froze. My entire body became stiff. I did not want my family to find out about this. But somehow¡ Somehow my father was able to make it through the fog. As I turned around, I was like a broken doll. My mind was still filled with the thrill of killing, so my lips were still curled up into a sinister smile.
As I looked at my father, who was looking back at me. The me whose white hair was now dyed red in blood. The me who was covered from head to toe in the blood of her enemies. The me who was smiling like a maniac. My father¡¯s brow wrinkled as he slowly came to stand in air in front of me. ¡°Care to exin?¡±
¡°Haha¡.¡± I giggled. I couldn¡¯t stop it. I felt my body twitching. As if it wished to stab out with my sword. But I could never harm my father. The man who raised me with so much love and care. Tears welled up in my eyes even though they were still wide and crazy looking. I was scared. I was truly scared of myself and what I would do. I quickly backed up, afraid I wouldsh out. But my father stepped forward once more.
¡°Faith, what is wrong?¡± My father asked, his voice holding no anger. It was full of care and concern.
¡°Don¡¯te close¡.¡± I said beggingly while lowering my head. I did not wish for him to see my expression. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I backed up some more.
¡°I wille close! You are my daughter when something is wrong, I, as a father, will stand by your side and try to help you as much as I can!¡± My father came over to me and was about to pull me into a hug, but I quickly retreated some more.
I looked up at my father, tears rolling down my cheeks. ¡°Father, please go¡. I am having a hard time controlling myself. Please¡ If you get too close I¡ I¡. I might end up hurting you¡.¡±
I did not wish to hurt anyone I loved. I regretted evolving so much now. If I had only waited. If I only waited to see just how dangerous the Dragonic bloodline was, then maybe¡. My thoughts were cut off when I heard an angry voice fill my ears: ¡°Faith! You dare reject my help? Do you think so lowly of your father? I might not look it, but I am pretty strong myself!¡±
¡°Father, it¡¯s not that! I just¡.¡± Please just go. Until I can gain control of myself, please¡. I cried out in my heart. I couldn¡¯t bear to say it out loud, though.
¡°Humph! Like I will listen to a brat of a daughter!¡± My Father suddenly took a step forward and appeared in front of me. His big muscr, tanned arms wrapped around me and pulled me into his embrace. My mind went nk, and the sword in my hand slipped from my grip. The tears that were already falling turned into a waterfall and rained down my face as I let out all my pent up emotions. ¡°Whaaaa!¡±
I cried. I cried like I have never cried before. All the feelings inside me about continuing my killing spree disappeared. All that was left was all the emotions I had bottled up inside me were released like a trickling faucet that was turned on full st. I had killed so many. My entire being, even my soul, was now stained in the blood of others. I felt like a little kid as I buried my face into my father¡¯s chest.
My father did not say a word as I cried. He only gently rocked me back and forth in his arms, rubbing my small back with his big hands. It felt like my soul was being healed by him. Out of everyone in my family, he knew the most about my worries and fears about my future. Things I even kept from my mother in order to not worry her, he knew about. I guess you could say I was a daddy¡¯s girl.
At some point, as I cried in his arms¡ I fell asleep¡..
When I woke up next, I found myself in my own bed. Next to me was Rachel, who was holding my hand still sound asleep. I looked down to see my clothes had been changed, and it seemed someone must have bathed me as well. I knew my father would never do such a thing, so I can only guess it was Rachel or my mother who did it. I guess I must have made them all worry about me. I wonder what my father told my mother. For some reason, I was starting to worry. I wonder if I should pretend to sleep for the day? No, I do not think that will trick anyone. I am a pretty bad actor.
I looked up at the ceiling and let out a sigh of relief. I felt one hundred percent me again. This feeling alone was enough to make me rx. I never wish to end up in such a state again. I hope nothing like this happens again that will make me lose myself. It scares me to think about it. What if I can not return to my senses? Will I be some kind of death goddess? I can only hope the future will bring nothing but peace.
¡°Faith, I know you are awake, we need to talk.¡±
Chapter 36 Blood Lines
I was able to get out of bed without waking Rachel. She must have been really tired. I felt bad that I had caused her so much trouble. When I went to the main room, my mother, brother, and father were all sitting there waiting for me. I walked in with slow steps with my head lowered, waiting to be yelled at. I mean, I ran off and faced an entire army by myself, not to mention killing so many people. If you add in the strange way I was acting in front of my father, I was in for a long bout of questioning.
¡°Faith,e sit.¡± My father patted his knee. I slowly edged my way over and sat down on it. He pulled me into a hug and rested his chin on top of my head.
¡°Faith, can you tell us why you did what you did?¡± My mother asked. Her voice was calm, but I could hear a hint of trembling as if she was about to cry.
I looked up at my mother, whose eyes were indeed tearing up, before lowering my head again. ¡°I just wanted to protect you all. Ever since I was born, I have been grateful to have such caring parents. You never once shunned me for being a demi human. You treated me so well and were even willing to be kicked out of Wandermere vige for my sake. I love you all so much, so when I thought about how I might lose Father and Brother, I acted without much thought. I was willing to be a demon to keep you all safe. Even if I was hated by the world, as long as you three were safe, I would not care.¡±
¡°Faith!¡± My mother started crying as she pulled me right from my father¡¯s embrace into hers. She hugged me so tight that I felt like I would die fromck of oxygen. Thankfully my father came to my rescue. ¡°Lilith, if you keep squeezing her, she will die.¡± -.
¡°Ah!¡± My mother eased her hug but still did not let me go.
¡°Faith, while I am touched by your sentiment and how much you love all of us, you still scared the hell out of all of us. I knew right away that it was you that put up the confusion mist spell. I can sense your mana for miles. Not only that, no one else in the vige has the mana to cast so many spells at once. I am very d you came back safe and sound, but you must never do something like that again without letting us know, alright?¡± My father¡¯s words held both care and sternness. I nodded my head in response. I should have been more forward with my actions. But I knew if I did, they would not have let me go.
¡°Ouch!¡± I felt a sharp knock on the head, causing me to look up at my mother with teary eyes. She just hit me hard!
¡°I am d it hurts. You need some sense knocked into you. How dare you run off and fight! I am d you are safe, but this and that are two different things! If you ever do that again, I will yank your pants down, lift your tail, and spank your bottom until it is as red as an apple!¡± I had no choice but to lower my head and say ¡®Yes, mama¡¯ to everything she said. I could see out of the corner of my eye that both my brother and father had moved away from me. The looks that they gave me were filled with pity. Why is it that at times like this, they always leave me behind!? What happened to all the familial love from a few seconds ago? Brother, why are you pumping your fists at me as if telling me to fight on!? Maybe I should have dragged him along with me. Then he could share some of this burden!
Trapped in my mother¡¯s arms, I was given a three hour long lecture. At some point, I became numb to what she was saying and even nodded off a few times, which resulted in being hit in the head again. All I can say was I was able to escape the red bottom technique. My poor little bottom had been saved!
But before I was in the clear, Father called me to take a walk with him. We walked down the road leading towards the cliffside. He held my hand as we walked. It reminded me of the times when I was younger, he used to do the same thing. Just like this, father and daughter walked silently down the rocky dirt road. When we reached the cliff, we both sat in our usual spot at the edge, looking out over the vastndscape below. But now¡. The area closest to us was no longer a beautiful sight. It was a burnt wastnd that was created by none other than myself.
Off in the distance, the sound of explosions could be heard, and smoke in multiple areas was rising up into the sky. The images of everything that happened were shing in my mind. Luckily the smell of blood was no longer in the air. Now that I was getting a good look, it seemed someone had cleaned up the battlefield. No dead bodies could be seen anywhere.
We only sat in silence for a short while when my father finally spoke up. ¡°Faith, do you have something to tell me?¡±
I bit my bottom lip. I was unsure of what I should even say. How am I supposed to exin anything? I mean, should I juste out and tell him everything? Should I tell him that, hey, your daughter is someone who was reborn and has this crazy system thing? I have hidden all of this in case people found out about it. I did not wish for them to be able to use anything against my family.
¡°Faith, you do not need to hide it anymore. I already tested your blood against your mother and I. We know your bloodline has changed. You can¡¯t tell me your recent appearance change is due to your bloodline suddenly bing more purer because your bloodline since birth was as pure as a dragonkin bloodline can get. But now¡. You have a different, stronger bloodline running through your veins. And it is neither your mother¡¯s nor my own.¡± My father¡¯s words made me finally look up at him in shock. He knew my bloodline was no longer the same. Right now, It could be said I was no longer blood rted to him. I suddenly felt a little scared. I knew it would not happen, but I couldn¡¯t help that sudden feeling of fear that welled up inside me of being told I am no longer his daughter.
I guess he sensed my fear because my father pulled me into a hug. ¡°You will always be my daughter, I just worry about you. When I saw you in that state of bloodlust that was controlling your actions, I knew something was not right with your bloodline. This is why I checked. Faith, you will have a harder time from now on. You must gain control of this new bloodline. Never let it control you. A strong bloodline can be a double edged sword, as you now know. It can cause you to gain incredible power and do things you would never be able to do otherwise. But they can also consume you and erode your mentality so that the ancient will within it can control your every action.
¡°I do not know how you gained this bloodline, but whatever it is, you must be careful. That is why we will put you in a situation where you will have to try to control it no matter what.¡± My father¡¯s words were starting to piece together some of the things I was confused about. I never knew bloodlines had wills within them. This exined a lot about my actions during the fight.
¡°Father, have you ever heard of the dragonic bloodline?¡± I decided to ask. It may help me in understanding my new self. It was better to confide in my family than to one day hurt them due to my ignorance.
¡°Dragonic?¡± My father fell into thought. ¡°I am not too sure. Is there anything you know about your bloodline?¡±
¡°I know it is a cross between demons and dragons. I¡. I am also able to transform¡.¡± I did not have much practice, but I could transform my hand partially. I did not dare transform into my big dragon form right now for fear of others seeing it.
I stretched out my hand and closed my eyes. My blood began to flow towards my right hand, and in a matter of seconds, it had grown to fifty times its normal size. A dragon w with ckish red scales and long ck ws. It was still small inparison to my normal dragon form size but it was just as deadly. Although it was big, it did not feel heavy to me at all. I could even move it around freely. This was my second time being able to do this.
¡°This¡¡± My father¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Faith, quickly transform back! Never let anyone see your transformation. Now I know where that roar came from, it was you¡.¡±
¡°Yes¡. That was my full body transformation into a dragon¡.¡± I confessed. Judging by his reaction, it would be very bad if anyone saw my dragon form. ¡°Is being a dragon bad?¡±
¡°It¡¯s not bad per se. It is more that they would try to use your power for themselves. Faith, you have to be very careful from now on. Even more so than before. Never tell anyone else about this. We will have to keep this a secret between the two of us.¡± Seeing my father¡¯s serious expression, I quickly nodded my head. ¡°Faith, it is not known by many, but dragons still exist in this world. They are still the most powerful beings known to all humankind. They are feared, revered as gods, and also objects of greed. While the dragonkin are a dying race, they are no match to an actual dragon. I now understand why you were able to be powerful enough to destroy an entire army. As for the cross between demons and dragons, this poses another problem¡. Get rest today. Tomorrow we set out.¡±
¡°Where are we going?¡± I asked. To suddenly leave like this confused me.
¡°We are going to war. We need to get you to control the ancient will in your bloodline.¡±
Chapter 37 Restraining The Ancient Will Part 1
¡°War¡.¡± While I hated the idea, it was true that unless I can get control over my ancient bloodline, I will always be at risk of losing myself to the ancient will. It seemed to be a type of will that wished to ughter. And I, for one, was not a fan of ughtering. Although my previous battle did not make it seem like I was against it¡ In truth, I just wished to adventure around and only fight if it was absolutely necessary. I was not against helping others and whatnot, but this was my true wish. I wanted to run around seeing the sights of the world and then stop in to visit my family every once in a while. This way, I could go to differentnds and learn more magic along the way. But now, not just once but twice, I will need to venture onto the battlefield.
Although I did not wish for it, I knew it was important. At least this time, I would not be alone. So maybe, just maybe, under my father¡¯s guidance, I will be able to quickly gain control over this will. ¡°Faith, are you listening to me?¡±
¡°Huh?¡± I lowered my head and blushed while pursuing my lips. I really wasn¡¯t listening.
I heard my father let out a long sigh as he knocked me on the head. ¡°Listen to what I am going to say. We will take things slow. We will first get you used to the scent of blood before we have you fight anyone. Only when I am sure you are able to handle that will we move to the next step. To control your will, you will need to take baby steps.-.
¡°Your great grandfather was a knowledgeable man. He taught me many things when I was younger. How to control bloodlines was one of them. He is also the reason why I know dragons still exist. I was there with him when I was young when we saw one for ourselves. I will never forget that day. My grandfather took me out to the mountains that you see way over in the distance over there. We were searching for a kind of ore. An ore to make me the sword I still use to this day. I was just a year older than you at the time.
¡°We climbed halfway up the mountain, and we were sitting on a ledge resting when we saw it. It was a fire dragon. All of its scales were a deep red color, and the body itself was massive enough to turn day into night. While the books say dragons are gone, they are still here, most likely staying away from worldly things. The Dragon race is an ancient race that has years upon years of knowledge that all dragons gain from their parents when they are born. Sadly dragon kin never got to have such a trait.¡± My father sighed as he leaned back, using his hands to prop his body up.
¡°Farther, did great grandpa ever mention anything about demons?¡± I wondered if this would jog my father¡¯s memory about a demon race. ¡°Not that I can remember. It might be a race from ancient times. One that was not documented much. But Faith, how do you know that you have such a bloodline?¡±
This question made me freeze. Yes, how would I know what my bloodlines were? ¡°I-I am not sure¡. I just kinda know? It¡¯s hard to exin.¡±
I think I am bing a genius at lying. Although it was not the best of skills to be mastering. It was still getting me out of many sticky situations like how it was now. Because my father nodded his head and sighed. ¡°It is said that bloodlines will sometimes allow you to sense what you are. The royal family has an ancient bloodline, and so do some of the highest nobles in the kingdom. This is the same for all kingdoms. You will barely find a royal family of any kingdom without an ancient bloodline. Some make them stronger or make it so that their magic is insanely powerful. As for our kingdom, the Gravos royal family has a high aptitude for magic. I heard even the crown prince is more powerful than the highest court magicians.
¡°But he still doesn¡¯t hold a candle to my Faith! To think you were able to cast not only two grand falls but also multiple heavenly rains. The amount of mana you have really surprised me. And kind of makes me a bit jealous. I can only cast one grand fall at most before I am almost out.¡± My father¡¯s words caused my mouth to drop open. I now realize he had been watching the entire time! On top of that, he can even cast grand fall! I held my head. My father, a man who farms for a living out on the border of the kingdom, has enough power to be a high royal court mage.
¡°When I tell you I am not weak, I mean it, you brat! What are you holding your head for!¡± My father pulled me into his arms and began ruffling my hair.
Even though I now know that my father is like super duper cooler than before, I still worry for him. This is a man who says the wrong thing to my mother all the time and ends up sleeping outside because of it. Will he truly be okay? I looked up at my father, who was still praising himself and smiled. In this life, I am truly blessed.
No matter how I think about it, It is like I rolled a lucky die. I was able to be reborn into a family that loves and cares for me even with my strange habits and body features. I could have been born into one of the families from Wandermere, the ones that hate demi humans. I could have been killed at birth, sold off, tossed in a river, and many other kinds of horrible things, but no, I was given a chance to live a life that I can say is truly great. While it does has its ups and downs and my own eagerness for strength has kind of put me at a crossroads, even now, as I lean against my father¡¯s chest and look out over thendscape, I can say so far, my life has been great.
¡°Come on, we should head back before your mother gets mad at us. Don¡¯t worry, I will take the me so you won¡¯t be lectured again.¡± My father said, rubbing my head. At times like this, I can¡¯t help but want to scream out: Father, I love you! But then I remember him leaving me high and dry earlier, so I keep it inside. That reminds me, I think I need to work with Rachel and get even with my brother as well. And so, as I hold my father¡¯s hand and walk back to our house, I am thinking up schemes on how to get revenge on my brother. Teach him to run away!
When we got back to the house, my mother was indeed waiting, but she did not yell. I went to keep Rachel, who was now awake,pany, while my father went to speak to my mother. I guess he was exining things about tomorrow.
The rest of the day was spent ying with my nephew and drawing on my brother¡¯s face with charcoal after Rachel got him toy down for a nap. The entire dinner, everyone was giggling away. I drew a big fat turtle on his forehead and gave him ck roon eyes and a mustache! Very childish, I know, but still. He deserved it! It was only untilter that I heard him scream my name, so I took refuge in my mother¡¯sp. The one ce he would not dare cause trouble. In the end, all he got to see was me pull my eyelid at him and stick out my tongue.
It was the next morning before daybreak that my father and I stood at the cliffside once more. We looked out towards our destination, where smoke plumes rose high into the sky. The shing lights of magic could be seen even from where we were standing. ¡°We will start there. We will first only observe. One step at a time. And Faith, don¡¯t worry, I will be here to help calm you down.¡±
¡°Mmm¡¡± I can not say I was not nervous. I mean, there was always a chance of causing the same thing as before to happen. I took a deep breath and stepped off the cliff, and shot forward towards the battlefield. ¡°Airwalk!¡±
¡°Airwalk!¡± My father¡¯s voice was only a second behind mine. He was already running next to me through the air. ¡°Faith, use eleration; otherwise, it will take a few days to even arrive.¡±
¡°Okay! eleration!¡± My body shed as I stepped forward, disappearing from where I once was. My father was once again on my heels.
We ended up traveling for an entire day and night and only arrived at the first battlefield in the early hours of the morning the following day. We stood in the air and looked down at the battle still raging on, where two massive armies were shing. The sound of swords striking swords, the strong scent of blood that filled the air. The cries of those who were badly injured. All of this made my little fists clench tightly. I was already feeling the call from deep within me to join the fight and kill everyone in sight. But before this urge began to take control, a big warm palmnded on top of my head. ¡°Your first task is to restrain your ancient will with everything you have. We will only watch until you are able to do so.¡±
Chapter 38 Restraining The Ancient Will Part 2
I know if it was not for my father¡¯s hand, I would have already lost myself and would have already been in the middle of the battlefield killing friend and foe. But I have to say, as I am watching this battle rage on, I am seeing a lot of different parts of the battlefield that are just not going well for the Gravos Kingdom.
¡°Father, they are going to lose.¡± I could already see the Norian Army overwhelming the Gravos Kingdom army. Maybe it was because I did a surprise attack with such a big spell that the Norian army was caught off guard big time, or maybe it was because themander of this army was much different from the other one, but I can say the group was much more united in how they are advancing and retreating when needed.
¡°That they are. I am surprised you can see it so well. This group of Norian soldiers has amander with a good head on their shoulders. As for Gravos, they have the border guardsmander Sliminian. He is a drunkard and never keeps his men in line, which is why he was put on the border. Since he is from a high ranking noble family, they couldn¡¯t just strip him of his status since he really did notmit any serious crimes, so they sent him to the border to get rid of him.¡± My father exined. While he may suck atmanding his men, I still have to hand it to this Sliminian man for actually showing up to fight.
Thinking for a second, I quickly brought up my menu. I nned to get some military skills just in case. But when I looked at my current status, I was kind of shocked to see how low my level was¡.
[Humanoid Form]
[Name]: Faith Cyrilia
[Age] 12
[Level] 32-.
[Race] Dragonic
[HP] 20000/20000
[MP] ¡Þ
[Attack Power] 19600
[Magic Power] 19600
[Status Points] 445
[Strength] 1960
[Vitality] 2000
[Intelligence] 1960
[Mind] ¡Þ
[Agility] 1960
[Skill Points] 21
[Skills]
[Appraisal (LVL 10(MAX))]
While it was low, I at least still had 21 skill points to use. I can only guess that each of those soldiers I killed was worth little to no experience. Out of all the skills, there were two for major battles, Military Tactics and Military Command
[Skill Points] 21 ¡ú 1
I got both of these skills and maxed them both. I do not n to ever join battles again, but at the same time, with how this world works, there is no telling what the future will hold. So, such skills coulde in handy at any time.
As soon as I maxed out both of these skills, my view of the battlefield was much different now. Even in the losing situation that the Gravos army was in, I could find three different routes for their victory. ¡°If they would just throw up fog spell and spread out instead of clustering, they could easily reduce the number of losses and gain more ground¡.¡±
¡°Oh?¡± I guess I was speaking my thoughts out loud because my father reacted to my words. ¡°I am surprised you were able to see such a tactic. It is true that if themander really did as you just said, they would have a chance to turn the tides.¡±
¡°Father¡. I want¡.¡± I couldn¡¯t just sit by and watch this continue to happen. I mean, I have a chance to turn this war around and push the enemy back, and I wouldn¡¯t even need to raise my de. But the main thing is I did not wish for an army who was doing such hideous acts to win this war. If they somehow took over Gavos, that would put us under the rule of a demi human hating kingdom that enves demi humans like me. Not that I can be considered human anymore.
¡°Alright, if you wish to beat back these bastards, then so be it. I can tell just keeping your mind on something else is actually helping you control your will. This could be a very good thing. Let¡¯s go.¡± My father took my hand and tossed me up onto his shoulders before taking off towards the back of the Gravos Military line.
He used air walk and gentlynded outside themand tent for the Gravos army. Our sudden appearance startling the soldiers standing outside. ¡°Who are you!?¡±
¡°Tell old man Sliminian that Cyrilia is here.¡± My father didn¡¯t even flinch when the swords were pointed at him. I, who was sitting on his shoulders, looked down at him to see a smug grin on his face. I can only guess that my father has some history with this Sliminian guy.
The guards looked at each other before one of them nodded to the other. ¡°Wait here.¡± One of the guards said before turning and going inside the tent. It was then a loud banging sound was heard, followed by a yell. ¡°That bastard is here!? Let him in!¡±
¡°Father?¡± I called out only to have my father pinch my leg lightly, making me purse my lips.
He gently let me down and held my hand, and pulled me into themand tent. The inside was rather big and had arge table with a huge map on it. There was an old man with a long grey beard standing at the far end of it with a few other soldiers in metal armor standing on the sides. ¡°Cyrilia, you damn brat, what are you doing here? I haven¡¯t seen you since you were, what, fifteen years old?¡±
¡°Sliminian, I think you are growing too old for this already. I mean, you¡¯re losing the war. I came to offer some assistance. I want you to turn overmand to my daughter.¡± My father did not even beat around the bush. His words suddenly causing an uproar in the tent.
¡°Are you insane!? You want a little demi girl to lead the bat¡ Ugh!¡± A soldier yelled out but soon found a fist in his face. Go, Father! To be honest, seeing the man get hit felt really good. I wanted to hit him as well but I kept my little fists to myself.
¡°Watch your words. My daughter is not something you can talk about when you are losing a battle. You know, the army that was near my vige is no more, and it is thanks to my daughter that we could win.¡± My father did not go into details, but the looks on the faces of the soldiers and even Sliminian¡¯s expression, were priceless because they knew that our vige had no army. ¡°So what will it be? Do you wish to win this war or not?¡±
Sliminian stared at my father, it seemed he was unsure what to do. He looked at me, then my father, and then back at me and asked: ¡°Little girl, what would you do to win this war?¡±
I looked up at my father, who nodded at me and gave me a little push to step forward. I took a deep breath and let it out before walking over to the table that had a huge map. I began pointing out points marked on the map as I began to exin. ¡°Here, here and here, right now, you are all clustered together trying to push through the enemy line. This is wrong and is making it easier for the Norian army¡¯s mages to attack you. What you should be doing is splitting up into much smaller groups. This will widen the range in which the Norian mages will have to cover. Use a fog spell and three groups to push forward in a frontal assault while using hit and run tactics at the side picking off soldiers who were focusing on the frontal assault. This will weaken their nks and allow you easier ess to the mages. Once the mages are gone the battle is ours.
¡°Our mages would only need to keep the fog spell active while using shields to protect themselves and our own people. This will not only conserve their mana but will also allow for use of a bigger spellter on, to force the Norian mages into a corner. The Norian mages will have to work on dispelling the fog over and over, protecting their men, and also attacking.
¡°As long as their mages are kept busy with minimal loss of mana consumption on our side, we can easily turn the tides and push the enemy back.¡± I exined the best I could. As I finished, I looked up at Sliminian, whose mouth was opening and closing. The tactic was simple and clean. It would also reduce the loss of our men because any spell cast by our mages would not block the view of our soldiers. To them, it would be like they were seeing things on a clear day while the enemy will be trapped in a fog.
¡°This¡. This¡. Haha! Cyrilia, your blood is quite amazing to have such a fine daughter! I agree to let hermand.¡± Sliminianthen looked up at the other men in armor and asked: ¡°What about you guys?¡±
¡°I see no reason to say no. To be honest, even with all of us here, we thought the war was going to end up in our loss. We were all preparing to die. But with the n she just said, it actually gives us a chance.¡± One of the soldiers answered.
¡°I agree as well.¡±
¡°As do I!¡±
¡°Little miss, I apologize for my earlier words. You will be my life savior if we win this. A life debt is not something one can repay easily. I promise to help support you if you ever need my assistance.¡±
Chapter 39 Turning The Tides
Hearing the soldier who had first said something about me being a demi human changing his colors kind of irked me. I didn¡¯t even say anything and just waved him off. I did not wish to associate with people who disliked demi humans.
¡°Since I havemand, Sir Sliminian, can you give out the orders I just gave? It would be best if I just ryed my orders through you. I highly doubt a bunch of soldiers will want to listen to a twelve year old girl who looks ten.¡± I did not wish to beughed at by a group of soldiers losing their lives because I am some little girl. It is best to use an intermediary that the soldiers know and trust.
¡°No problem. This is also for the best. My men are a bit of a problem.¡± I watched as Sliminian shook his head with a bitter smile. I guess his men were a handful. It is not surprising as most of the people sent to the border areas were people that caused too many issues or did things they shouldn¡¯t have in the capital. Those sent to the borders usually never got to leave the border unless they died.
¡°Good. I will be counting on you. I will watch the battlefield from the sky to keep a close eye on the progress. Make sure the mages know that the fog is to only block the view of the enemy, not our troops.¡± This was the most important part of our attack. The spell for the fog should only blind the enemy, not us. Otherwise, it would be pointless to even use it.
¡°I will be sure to make this clear. But¡ You said you were going to watch from the sky?¡± Sliminian seemed to be confused by my words. -.
¡°Mmm¡ My father and I will be in the sky overhead. I will ry orders to you from the sky using magic telepathy. Don¡¯t worry, I will be sure we win no matter what.¡± Losing was not an option, at least not for me. I did not wish to see the Norian army advancing anymore. If we did not stop them here, there was no telling how many more troops would cross the border. If a demi human enving kingdom took over I would b in trouble. It was not that I did not trust our kingdom it¡¯s more of I did not wish for that slim chance we might lose to happen.
¡°Sliminian, you better hurry and stop asking questions.¡± My father cut in. It was true that every second counted.
¡°R-right¡¡± Sliminian did not ask anything more before dishing out orders to the others.
I walked outside with my father before the both of us hopped into the air. We got to a decent height and looked down at the battlefield to see things were still looking bad. But slowly, as Sliminian got his orders out, the Gravos soldiers began falling in line. Within minutes a massive denseyer of fog covered the battlefield blocking Norian soldiers¡¯ view. Some of the Norian mages were quick to react and casted a wind spell to clear them away, but before they even got to see through the thickyer of fog, it was reced with another fog spell.
¡°Not bad, Sliminian¡¯s men are moving as he ordered. I guess for a drunkard who has a group of misfit soldiers, he really has good control over them. Faith, what do you think?¡± My father asked. His eyes were shining. He seemed to be really excited about this new discovery he made about me. To be honest, it was not so bad sitting back and watching the n I had schemed up working so well. The Gravos soldiers were easily executing my n without issue.
There were three groups of five making a push through the middle of the Norian army while the rest of the men were working on weakening the sides by picking off any stragglers and then retreating back. If one of the men in the middle got injured, they would retreat back to get healed, and someone else would take their ce. This tactic was working so well that even I, who came up with it, was surprised.
Because the fog was blocking the vision of the Norian army, those in the fog were slowly beginning to be thrown into chaos. This was all to my n, and I was happy to see it. The best part of this n was the mages were able to reduce the amount of mana they were using. Since both sides had already used up a lot of mana, mana itself would be the deciding factor of this battle.
¡°I think the Norian army will soon retreat. Themander for this group of soldiers is smart.¡± I then reached out my hand and pointed to the rear of the Norian army. ¡°See, they are already pulling back. This is good because it will give us time to recuperate and heal the injured. The mages can also recover their mana. If they do fully retreat for the time being, then we have fully won this fight. However, the war is far from over.¡± Sadly with the condition that the Gravos army is in, they were in no shape to be chasing after the enemy to try to pick off as many as they can. Before anyone did do such a thing, I quickly sent Sliminian a message: ¡°On my word, have your men hold the line and do not give chase. Only kill those within the fog still.¡±
¡°I will send word, Young Miss.¡± Hearing Sliminian speaking so respectfully to me sent shivers down my spine. He was an old scruffy man. Way above my years and was calling me Young Miss. Maybe if he was dressed as a butler, I could take it, but he was scruffy and mean looking. Well, maybe if this was some kind of yakuza family, this would be normal?
Two hours passed before the Norian army pulled a full retreat. Luckily this battle did end up as I expected. ¡°Healers should be healing the injured! Battle mages should be resting and recovering their mana. The infantry should be taking shifts and looking for enemy movement. Rest while you can!¡±
As I yelled out orders, Sliminian was repeating them to make sure his men listened. I looked out over the battlefield and sighed, seeing all the dead. I could only hope the Gravos kingdom would at least send money back to their families. Surprisingly this whole entire time, while watching the bloodshed and smelling the thick iron scent of blood, I did not once feel my ancient will react. It was as if my concentration on the battle as amander had actually suppressed it fully.
Another thing I found was that I was actually really enjoyinging up with battle ns. It was a fulfilling feeling to see my ns y out so perfectly. ¡°Father¡¡±
¡°Hmmm?¡± My father looked down at me with a warm smile. I have a feeling he already knew what I was about to say.
¡°Would it be possible for someone like me to join the knights of our kingdom and work my way up through the ranks?¡± I wondered if I could one day really be amander of my own army. It is a kind of spur of the moment thought but after this one battle, I really did enjoy this kind of thing.
¡°I do not see why not. The dragon knights, the most prestigious royal knights brigade, ismanded by a demi humana a Tigerkin named Fromos. He has been in service for over one hundred years and has helped Gravos push back many invasions.¡± My father¡¯s answer gave me a light at the end of a dark tunnel. I never thought Gravos would allow such high ranking demi human. ¡°But Faith, to be a knight, you must first go to the magic academy and graduate. Only then can you join any of the knight orders. For someone like you who is good both in sword and magic, you should be able to easily enter the track for magic knights and be the top of your ss.¡±
Magic knights, I have heard about them before. They were the best of the best. Both sword and magic. While normal knights could use some magic while they fought, a magic knight was on a different level. They were just as good as a mage in magic and as good as any knight with a sword. They were an unstoppable force, and anyone who graduated from the magic academy as a magic knight would be given a title based on their ranking within the school. It is said that first ce will allow even amoner to be a viscount. To be a magic knight, I could kill so many birds with one stone.
¡°Father, how does one join the magic academy?¡± This was the biggest issue. From what I know, it cost a lot to join. So I was unsure how I could even go to such a ce.
¡°This is not a problem. You just need to bring Silminian to victory, and you will be offered a reward from his majesty. So let¡¯s work hard and push back the enemy shall we?¡± It seemed my father was more scheming than me. I think he nned right from the beginning to get me this chance to get into the magic academy. And I really do need to thank him for it. This was a golden opportunity. The magic academy was a treasure trove of knowledge as well as me being able to maybe make some friends¡. But why do I feel like this is the start of some bad otome game?
Well, if a bunch of handsome men do throw themselves at me, I can always just beat them up. Give them the old one-two! Well, if they are not annoying, I wouldn¡¯t mind being friends, but if it¡¯s a rtionship they are seeking, then they will be waiting for all eternity. Not that any of that would ever happen. With my luck, I would get the one guy who has some kind of strange fetish chasing after me. And my current looks do not help either. I still look like a little girl no older than ten.
Chapter 40 Change On The Battlefield
¡°Sir Silminian, how are the men?¡± I asked as soon as I saw Silminian walking in. He was covered in dirt and sweat.
¡°Morale is high thanks to you. We were on the verge of being defeated but yourmands led us to being able to push the enemy back. On behalf of my men and I, I thank you.¡± Silminian words held sincerity. I can tell he was very grateful for my help. I just wished he stood a bit further away because he stunk¡.
¡°The war is not over yet. We still need to work on the next n.¡± I already could imagine what themander of the Norian army was thinking. ¡°What are the reports from the soldiers keeping an eye on the enemy?¡±
Silminian straightened his back and walked over to the map. And began moving the pieces he had ced down. ¡°Here is where they are camped out. It seems they were also recuperating. The first battlested a while and we took the most damage before you showed up, the tactics we used helped even the fight. Although we are still outnumbered¡±
¡°Hmmm¡¡± I rubbed my chin. I leaned back in the chair I was sitting in and fell into thought. ¡°The enemy will probably try to steal our tactics. Which is what I want.¡± -.
I smiled which turned a little evil. My father looked at me and rubbed my head. ¡°What do you have nned now?¡±
¡°It¡¯s simple. The enemy will waste their mana keeping the fog up. While we will not try to counter the fog spell at all, instead, we will do this.¡± I stood up and began moving the pieces on the map that represented us, they were nothing more than a few chess pieces. ¡°When the enemy enters the fog our mages will create arge one hundred foot tall earth wall. We will trap as many enemy soldiers as we can and only then will we dispel the fog and take the enemies¡¯ heads. Although to get as many as possible we will need one group of brave and quick men to act as bait. Our mages will only worry about putting barriers on them to protect them from attacks. Don¡¯t worry about protecting our mages, I will handle that. As long as we can cut off a big group of the enemy¡¯s forces we will be able to deal a heavy blow to their numbers.¡±
¡°Young Miss, you have really shown me a new light. Your ns all seem to be perfectly wless in design.¡± Silminian praised me but I couldn¡¯t help but sigh because these ns would never be any good if I did not have the skills for it. Militarymand and military tactics were truly meant to be used together.
¡°I do not need praise, I just need you and your men to carry out my orders. Keep a close eye on the movements of the Norian army. As soon as they begin to move we will as well.¡± I may sound arrogant but I really did not want his praise. I just wanted everything to run smoothly. My future was at stake here!
After Silminian left to go carry out my orders my father ced his big hand on my head. ¡°How are you feeling? Is your ancient will staying dormant?¡±
¡°Mmm¡ No sign of it. But after this next battle, I will need to join the fight as well. I need to make sure everything is under control no matter the situation.¡± If I am on the battlefield and am thinking of how to turn the tides or how to sessfully infiltrate the enemy¡¯s rear line, I might be able to suppress it. While I am not doing anything my ancient will is staying quiet but I still needed to test it while in battle, close up, right in the thick of it.
¡°Should I join you on the battlefield?¡± My father asked. I looked up at him and smiled while shaking my head.
¡°Nope. I need you to keep an eye on everything. If something strange happens I will need you to let me know as soon as possible.¡± While I might be able to keep an eye on the battlefield with detection magic it was not ideal. Having my father be my eyes in the sky was much better.
¡°Then I will make sure I do not let you down.¡± My father¡¯s words were always reassuring. He has never once let me down in my life.
It was not until the early morning of the next day just before sunrise that the call to battle was heard. The Norian army attacked us once again, probably hoping to catch us off guard. And just like I had guessed, as soon as they got close enough they casted a fog spell to cover part of the battlefield. Now the show was truly about to begin.
I stood in the sky with my father watching the movements of not only the front lines but also the rear. I could see the mages getting ready to cast some big attack. ¡°Silminian, have our pulling group enter then quickly retreat. No one is to remain in the fog after counting for two seconds.¡±
Silminian didn¡¯t even say a word back as he began passing on my orders. While I knew the mages could easily cast a spell in under a second there was still ag time between the cast and activation. This was why I said enter for two seconds. Thatg time would be enough to keep making our enemies waste mana on an area of effect spell which cost five times the mana than a normal single shot spell. Secondster a massive me circle was cast engulfing the fog, not a single one of my men were in the fog meaning it was a pure waste of mana.
My father let out augh. ¡°Haha! Did you see that! Look, the mages are being cursed at by theirmander!¡±
My lips curled up seeing this. Being yelled at like this for wasting so much mana was just lowering the mage¡¯s morale. This will hopefully cause problems as the battle goes on. Amander who yells at and degrades his soldiers is only asking to be rebelled against. Whether it is turning against them or rebelling by not listening to orders in the end it will cause the enemies fighting prowess to suffer. Sadly for our side though, we had yet to execute my n.
As I continued to watch the enemies¡¯ movements I was starting to see a pattern. ¡°Father, is it just me, or are they all trying to force the left side?¡±
¡°Hmmm?¡± My father looked out towards where I was pointing and frowned. ¡°You are right. Why would they be doing that?¡±
¡°I have a bad feeling.¡± The enemies¡¯ movements could be considered a tactic but only a tactic if you have reinforcementsing. As I realized this I quickly swept the area with my detection magic and sure enough, another group of Norian soldiers was making their way here. ¡°Silminian! Stop sending men to the left and pull back! Gather everyone in one ce I will shield you all! There is iing from our right nk!¡±
¡°Father, help the stragglers on the right. I will go help on the left and allow our men to fall back. We can not lose a single soldier!¡± We were already low on numbers, to begin with. Now that the Norian army had reinforcements it was not going to be an easy fight for us. While I may be able to fight them off myself the issue still stands that I have to protect those under mymand first and foremost. If they die here there would be no meaning to victory.
¡°On it!¡± My father did not question my orders at all and quickly went to the right nk to help those who were injured and needed assistance retreating. I even thought I saw a big smile on his face as he took off. It made me wonder if he had been itching to fight this entire time. As for me, I was headed to the left nk where our men were trying to fight while retreating. My n was now all messed up. We never even got to execute it due to the change on the battlefield.
As I made my way to the front lines I bit my thumb. It was vexing¡ My n would have been perfect if not for the interference. But this is my own fault for being too cocky. I had not taken into ount all of the scenarios. ¡°While I have enough knowledge to be a greatmander my problem is inexperience.¡± I muttered to myself as Inded on the battlefield, sword drawn.
My appearance startled the Norian soldiers but the Gravos soldiers all gave me a grateful look. It seemed Silminian had told them about me. ¡°Everyone, quickly fall back! Earth wall!¡± I created a giant wall the length of the left nk cutting off a huge chunk of the Norian soldiers from the rest.
I heard a roar of cheers from the Gravos soldiers, it seemed this simple spell was enough to boost their morale big time. ¡°Enough cheering and gather up! Kill who you can as you retreat but never stop moving your legs!¡±
I rushed into the Norian soldiers and began cutting them down. I had no time to even think about killing or anything like that. My mind was always on keeping my soldiers alive. When I saw one about to be attacked my hand would wave and a barrier would appear in front of them giving them time to back away. My sword never stopped once as I danced across the entire front line of the battle field.
¡°Faith we have gathered!¡± My father¡¯s voice rang out in my ears. I looked across the muddy blood soaked battlefield and sighed before turning to my own men and waving my hand. Four grand domed barriers formed over and around them. These were the same kind of barriers that could stop grand fall. ¡°Now then, I should also join them.¡± I also needed toe up with a new n. And to do that I needed to get a better grasp on the situation.
Chapter 41 A New Plan
And so now we are surrounded¡. Not that it matters. With me here, there is no way for anyone to be able to prate our barriers. I was able to figure out where this other group of Norian soldiers came from. It seems the battle to our north ended with the small group of Gravos soldiers losing. It¡¯s sad, yes, but there is nothing that can be done. The ones that were fighting the Norian armies were no different than the men at Cyrilia vige.
And as I said, we are now surrounded by over sixty thousand soldiers at least. Maybe even more. I was currently sitting around a campfire drinking tea one of the soldiers had in their pack. Yes, I was drinking tea. Why? Because it was the best way to not only boost morale for my men if I was calm and rxed but also cause the enemy watching us hang around like we were not surrounded would begin to get impatient, and when people get impatient, they do stupid things. At least, this was what I was hoping for. I mean, if I can get a few of those soldiers to barge into barriers I have set up, I can make it so they can indeed enter but never get out, well¡ not alive anyway.
But currently, I need toe up with a new n. When fighting a prolonged battle, it is the one who runs out of supplies and ammo first that will lose. I had a long stick and was drawing a map of the field in the dirt in front of me. I was surrounded by my father, Silminian, and the squad leaders. The other soldiers were busy gathering what supplies we had. We would need to begin rationing if this fight goes on for too long.
At least on the surface, this is what it looked like. I currently had a few mages good with earth magic making a tunnel to our camp. It will just take time for them to get there. As long as we have a connection to our camp to resupply us, we canst in this encirclement for a long time. Although we could also retreat through this tunnel it would be a foolish move and would end up killing us all. One earth spell would be all the enemy would need to kill us.
I am actually splitting my thought process into three different directions. I have two detection magic spells going, one to watch the enemy and one to keep an eye on the mages digging the tunnel. And while doing that, I was trying toe up with a counterattack. -.
¡°From what I can tell, they have quite a few mages, at least a thousand of them. Maybe more, as it is hard to pinpoint them if they are mixed in with the soldiers. Themanders of both armies are currently talking under a barrier that wards off detection magic. The Norian soldiers are watching us like we are rabbits waiting to be captured and brought home to be stewed. Now that I think about it, rabbit stew does sound good¡.¡± My mind wandered a bit, but this caused the big smelly men around me tough out loud.
The issue I was having was the tight formation both armies had around us. With how outnumbered we are, it would be difficult to try to push our way out. I could try to make a clear path for us, but that would mean trying to be in two ces at once and risking the lives of my men. I already asked my father if I should just take things into my own hands since it came down to it, but he told me no. I should try to make it so that the men under me will get a sense of pride knowing they helped take down a huge army. It would also look better on me when the report is sent to the king.
This, of course, made things more difficult for me. As I ran over scenario after scenario, I kept ending up with arge number of losses on our side, and I refused to allow for that. And as amander, I should be in the back directing and not taking action myself. I could be considered the final line of defense. A goodmander can bring their troops victory without ever stepping foot on the battlefield. And since I have added bing amander to my list of things to do, I will not do things half heartedly.
Now, if I were still just thinking of going out and wandering the world like some lost soul, I would just do what I needed to do, but now it was very different. Coming up with proper strategies that will ovee all odds is something I really enjoy.
¡°Hehe¡. I think I just thought of something good¡.¡± I realized that I was thinking too inside the box. Just like with magic and how I have always thought outside the norm, like with fusion magic, I could easily do the same here and now. Fusion magic does not need to be cast by a single person. No¡. A spellbined with someone else¡¯s spell can be considered a cebo fusion magic as well.
¡°Faith, you got that smile on your face that tells me you are about to break the normality of society again.¡± My father teased. I turned and stuck my tongue out at him.
¡°I guess you could say that.¡± I stood up, pulled him down to my height, and whispered into his ear so he could understand where my idea came from. I couldn¡¯t help but smile when I saw his eyes shoot wide open.
¡°Can we do that?¡± My father asked.
¡°We can try. The worst that can happen is that the spells sh, and it all fails. Then we just need to hide out in our little area and work up something new. But if it does seed, we will have a way to wipe out the entire Norian army or at least a good portion of them.¡± I exined.
¡°Young Miss, can you tell us what you have nned?¡± Silminian eyes were glowing once again as he hovered over me. I kinda wanted to take a few steps back away from him, but I needed to exin things clearly to everyone. So I quickly moved back to my seat.
¡°Gather all our mages, they all need to hear this as well.¡± This was a n that involved them, so they needed to hear it in fine detail because I will not be able to go over it during the fight. Because in order to pull this off, I will be very busy taking over the job of shielding my men.
It took five minutes for all the mages to gather together. And only then did I begin exining things. ¡°Okay, first off, we will be doing what I like to call elementary fusion magic.¡± I pointed at the ground with my stick and made a few holes. ¡°In these locations, we will have fifty mages at each location casting wind magic that will blow out in a wide cone in front of them. The other mages will split up and join the other mages who are casting wind. You will then cast fireball and stone spear into their wind magic. You will keep casting them until you run out of mana or the enemy has begun to retreat. Basically, how this works is we will use the wind magic to increase the damage and speed of the fireballs and earth spears.
¡°Now, I am not saying this will work one hundred percent. This n might fail, and we will need to huddle up under the barrier again. But if it does work, we will be able to deal a decisive blow to the enemy. If it does not work, we will sit back and rx while you recover your mana.¡± I looked up at all the mages and asked: ¡°Are you all willing to give it a try?¡± This was important. While they would be forced to do it anyway, even if they did not want to, but forcing them to do something could also cause them to secretly reduce the amount of mana they used in their spells which was not something I wanted them to do.
¡°We will follow Young Miss¡¯s n!¡± One of the mages yelled. This was followed up by more yells. Hearing so many willing to cooperate let me breathe a sigh of relief.
¡°Good, I will need you to pump each spell with as much mana as you can without it blowing up in your face. We need to make sure we do as much damage to our enemy as possible. And do not worry about the enemy barriers, I will take them out.¡± High ranking spell Dispel¡ A magic that not many could cast due to its high mana consumption. The stronger the spell you are trying to dispel, the more mana you needed to use, which was why it was hardly used on the battlefield. I had no idea about this spell until earlier when Silminian mentioned it to me. He even knew the equation for it. It was a spell allmanders needed to know about. Of course, this kind of spell could only be learned in the academy.
¡°Young Miss, what will our soldiers be doing?¡± Silminian asked.
¡°They will be defending the mages. All soldiers who have mana will be on barrier duty to keep the mages safe as they will not have time to cast defensive barriers. All soldiers who can not cast spells will be on clean up duty. If any Norian soldier breaks through the attack, they will take them down.¡± I took a deep breath and focused on my detection spell that was watching the mages underground and smiled. Things were going smoothly so far. I let out my breath and pped my hands. ¡°Alright! Let¡¯s get into formation!¡±
While everyone else was breaking to get into positions, I pulled on my father¡¯s sleeve. ¡°Father, I am not sure if this will work or not¡.¡±
¡°It¡¯s fine. It is worth a try. If it works, we will be winning a losing battle if not, we can just think of something else.¡± My father ruffled my hair, causing me to close my eyes and clear my thoughts.
¡°Then let¡¯s pray it does work. I do not want our morale to drop any¡.¡±
Chapter 42 To Arms!
A change had happened on the battlefield. The air was thick, and the atmosphere was tense. I could tell the enemy was confused at the sudden change in our current formation. Never in their life would they ever think that a trapped enemy wouldunch arge scale attack. But this was also what I was counting on. As soon as my barriers dropped, we would beunching our attack and hope that it will be sessful. If it is, then we will have victory in our hands. If it isn¡¯t, I will need to act quickly. This was why I was currently standing in the air to get a better view of the battlefield. My detection magic was spread out all over. I was making sure to catch each movement while I protected my men who would be at the forefront.
I gazed over my men, who were all in position, all staring intently at the barriers and Norian soldiers in front of them. I had to give them credit for their courage. And I had to thank them for trusting me with their lives. I will do my utmost to protect them all, no matter what. It may seem like a promise that one would be unable to fulfill, but I will do my best to keep this promise.
War was not a game. I know this well. Coming from Earth, I never once experienced the hardships of war. But seeing it with my own eyes and even fighting in the midst of it, I fully understand the feeling of wanting to protect something. Whether it is family, friends,nd, your king, or money, it all held meaning to the people putting their lives on the line. Looking down at these brave men who had gathered together, even if they were troublemakers, they all had a reason to be here, and not a single one has tried to run away.
And the one who is responsible for keeping these men alive bying up with the correct ns was me, and me alone. I took a deep breath and nced at the men waiting for my order. I slowly let it out as I raised my hand and lowered it. ¡°To Arms!¡±
At my words, the barriers copsed. I watched as the mages began casting their wind spells. Massive hurricane force winds kicked up the dirt, rocks, and debris, sending it flying at the enemy. But this was not the critical point. I clenched my little fist as I watched the mages behind the wind casting mages begin firing fireballs and earth spears into the wind. -.
*Boom!*
Never in my life would I have expected the results I was seeing. The fireballs turned the wind spells into a raging inferno that was like an explosion firing out in a wide cone. And within this inferno, hidden in the raging mes, were spears of rock flying at an elerated speed. I could hear the screams of the Norian soldiers that were being burnt alive. I could smell the melting of metal, burnt clothes, and flesh being cooked altogether. It sickened me. It made my stomach turn. But I pushed what threatened toe up, down. I had no regrets. Just like before, when I wiped out the Norian army that came to my doorstep, I felt no remorse for my actions.
¡°Faith, should we move forward?¡± My father¡¯s words broke me out of my thoughts. I looked around and saw the enemy setting up barriers around their men. I waved my hand, dispelling them all, before turning to my father and nodding.
¡°We should. Our mages have plenty of mana, and this n is working far past my expectations. If we push forward and keep this up, we will be able to send the enemy packing.¡± I did not waste time before sending Silminian my orders. He quickly ryed them to the others, and our men began pushing forward in all four directions.
The Norian mages were doing their best trying to protect their men with barriers that they could no longer cast any actual spells due to me continuously dispelling them. The entire enemy line was falling apart, and theirmanders seemed to be at a loss of what to do. Their Norian soldiers were running for their lives, not caring for any orders. Tens of thousands of soldiers were incinerated just like that.
With my men now pushing forward and the enemy in disarray, they could safely push back without worrying about any counterattacks. ¡°This¡. I feel like I cheated somehow.¡±
¡°It is the results of your nning. If you did note up with such a n, we would have been stuck in the encirclement for who knows how long. This n has won us this battle.¡± My father picked me up and ced me on his shoulder. Like this, we gazed down at the battlefield and watched as the enemy tried to retreat.
As I looked around at our victory, my eyesnded on the twomanders who were also trying to flee the wave of mes. ¡°Father, let¡¯s take a few prisoners.¡±
¡°Oh? What do you n to do with them?¡± My father seemed confused by my suggestion.
¡°We need to know how many more armies they n to send over the border and how many have already crossed. If we can gather the intel needed, we can use it to make further ns.¡± I do not really understand the politics of this world. But I do know that any and all intelligence that can be gathered is very important. If they had many more armies the size of the ones we just fought, then we would be able to send this information to those in charge and let them deal with it ordingly.
¡°Even if you capture them, they will probably never speak. Those who are inmand and in the know are too prideful. They would rather die than betray their kingdom. It is the knight¡¯s way.¡± I could understand what my father was saying. This was a world where one¡¯s word wasw. If let¡¯s say I said I would marry so and so when I grew up, even if that person turned into some horrible person, I would need to keep my word and marry them anyway, or else I would be the one looked down upon by society. And a knight¡¯s loyalty was no different than their life. They give their word to protect the kingdom. And a knight¡¯s word is like a heavenlyw to them. They never break it.
But this was not to say there was no way to make someone talk. As of now, I was no knight. Which means I can use unknightly methods to make one talk. I am starting to think I am walking down a dark path¡. I need to think of something else¡ I held my head in my hands, wondering what I can use as a means to make someone¡¯s lips squeak. I started thinking of the methods people used back on Earth to make people talk. That did not lead to torture. ¡°Truth serums¡. Hypnosis¡. Wait¡. That will work!¡±
¡°Figured something out?¡± My father was grinning with curiosity. I am starting to think I have be a source of entertainment for him.
¡°We will use a hypnotic illusion spell.¡± It was an intermediate spell, but the runic equation was a bit tricky. Confusion. A spell that messed with the target¡¯s mind. If used right, it can get people to see what you want them to see and will control them to a certain extent. All I needed to do was make them believe that their king was standing in front of them and make them give a report.
¡°You are talking about confusion!? Faith, are you sure? That spell is not easy to use. I heard it can also backfire and put you into a state of confusion as well, and unless you can break out of it yourself, you would be stuck like that.¡± What my father said was true. Because the runic equation was so difficult to write in such a short time, many have messed it up, and in some cases, instead of just failing to cast, it would cause the spell to backfire on them, putting the caster into a confused state for all eternity. The caster alone would have to break themselves out of a confused state. No one else would be able to cast cancel the magic on them unless they had someone use dispel on them. And to find someone who could use dispel¡. You had better chances of actually canceling it yourself.
¡°Yes, I know it is dangerous, but it is the best way to get the information we need without needing to resort to torture. I, for one, would prefer not to do such things.¡± I will kill, but I will not torture someone. I had to have a line that I will never cross.
¡°I understand that, but the risk is too great. I won¡¯t allow it.¡± My father seemed dead set on not allowing me to use this spell, but it was the only way.
¡°Father, did I not cast confusion mist? It¡¯s just as difficult, and I casted it on arge scale. The confusion spell itself is no different. I am one hundred percent sure I can cast it. I will even draw out the magic circle a few times beforehand to make sure I have it down. You can watch me to make sure I do not make any mistakes.¡± I hoped I could convince him, or else I am sure my father will make Silminian and the rest torture themanders.
¡°Ten times. You, Have to do it sessfully ten times.¡±
Chapter 43 Battle End
I rolled my eyes at my father. I knew what he was trying to do. ¡°Father, are you crazy? You want me to cast a spell that takes up more mana than grand fall ten times?¡±
¡°Who are you trying to kid! Faith, I have watched you cast spells willy-nilly as if it did not matter how much mana you used. Now you want to y the I only have so much mana card? Let me tell you, you may be able to trick your mother, but you can not trick your father, who has watched you cast more spells than anything. I mean, how many dispels have you cast in just a short time. You are even still casting them!¡± I could only purse my lips. Okay, he had a point! So what! Every girl needs to have their own secrets!
¡°I will cast it once!¡± I snorted and cast another dispel. I was not going to entertain him this time around. He made this sound argument that he was worried the spell might bounce back on me, but here he goes telling me to make the magic circle ten times! It costs a lot of mana, you know! Not that it mattered to me, but that is beside the point!
¡°Three times.¡± My father¡¯s words were firm. I could only concede. The entire time we were bickering, we had already caught the twomanders of the enemy army.
After themanders were caught, the rest of the Norian army, what was left of it, finally surrendered. They no longer had a will to fight. It seemed the basic fusion spell really caused their will to fight to disappear. Not that I could me them, I mean, their entire army was almostpletely wiped out, and this was done by an outnumbered and surrounded enemy.
When we did catch theirmanders, my father had blinded them so they couldn¡¯t see anything before quickly casting a binding spell on them so they couldn¡¯t take their own lives. With themanders and other prisoners in tow, we took them back to our base camp. The Norian Soldiers were put into temporary tents with strict guard and binding spells on each one of them.-.
Themanders were taken to another tent and tied up to the pole in the middle of the tent. My father kept them blinded and bound but made it so one of them could talk. For some reason, it seemed he was very used to these kinds of things. I had a feeling my father and mother were not speaking the truth about their pasts. Whatever the case, I still love them no matter what. Even if I were to find out my father was nicknamed the devil of some battlefield in the past.
To start, he only removed the spell, mute, from one of themanders. It was the spell that kept themanders from speaking. ¡°You will never get a word out of me! I will never betray my kingdom!¡±
¡°Yeah yeah, shut up!¡± My father yelled out before turning to me. ¡°Do it. Three times.¡±
I pursed my lips and brought up the confusion spell from memory, and began writing it in the air. The entire spell was not one I was used to, and had only tried creating the magic circle a few times, so I could not write it as quickly as my others. But even still, within four seconds, I still had the entire thing written out and hovering in the air. I watched as my father crouched down and studied the magic circle in front of him while rubbing his chin. ¡°Hmmm, you were pretty slow in writing it.¡±
I stomped my feet and kicked my father¡¯s shin as I crossed my arms in front of me. This was all he had to say!? I just casted a spell that so many court mages would find impossible to cast! And I haven¡¯t even practiced it much! And he says I was slow!? ¡°Haha! Your temper is not small! I was just joking with you. Not bad, but you made a mistake here.¡±
I looked at where my father was pointing, feeling a bit surprised. I could have sworn that I wrote the entire thing right. I studied the runic equation from top to bottom, but I couldn¡¯t find a single thing wrong with it. That was when I realized I fell for my father¡¯s trap. I felt a sharp pain on my forehead.
¡°Ouch!¡±I gazed up with an aggrieved expression looking at my father, who had a big grin on his face and wanted to yell! He was so petty! He would even take revenge on his daughter! ¡°Humph! I¡¯m telling Mother you hit me.¡±
¡°Wait, Faith, don¡¯t!¡± When I saw my father¡¯s panicked expression, I couldn¡¯t help butugh. I knew my father¡¯s achilles heel, my mother! ¡°Wait!? Why do I have to be afraid if you tell your mother!?¡±
¡°Took you long enough.¡± I jabbed before rereading my entire magic circle from start to finish. Just in case I did miss something. I then wrote it two more times.
¡°So?¡± I asked as my father went through each magic circle. I was even able to cast thest one in three seconds. I was surprised at how quickly I was able to create a magic circle that I had barely practiced creating.
¡°Each one is perfect. How is your mana?¡± My father finally asked after all this time. I could only sigh and give up on this man. He knew me more than I did, it seemed.
¡°I¡¯m fine. I can cast this spell a few more times with ease.¡± I replied. There was no sense in hiding any of it after all. Not like I will need to cast the spell ten more times. Just two, and I will be done for the night. So as long as my father doesn¡¯t ask me to start bombarding the area with magic spells, I should get away without having to act as if I ran out of mana.
¡°No matter what you do, you will never get a word out of me!¡± The onemander who could speak yelled out.
¡°Mhmm¡ Confusion.¡± I quickly cast the spell, not wanting to waste any time. This was where the spell really became hard. I now had to manipte themander into thinking I was his king. The main trick when casting confusion was to have an idea in mind of what you wanted your victim to see. This meant the stronger the mental image you had, the better the chance of sess. I was hoping my overpowered stats woulde in handy at this time.
Luckily themander¡¯s expression was enough to tell me he was under my spell. While I had never actually used the spell on anyone before, I could just feel that my magic had taken effect. ¡°I heard you failed.¡±
¡°Your majesty! I know I have failed, but they used some strange tactic! Your Majesty, if you could just send more troops!¡± Themander was currently kneeling on the floor in front of me, begging me for more troops. My father had to remove the restrictions on him, or the confusion spell would not be as real. So right now, themander thought he was speaking to his king. As the image in my head was that of themander facing the king, I did not ask anything as a king would note right out and ask questions he would first talk about the failures.
¡°What were my orders to you when you first set out?¡± Because themander mentioned wanting his king to send more troops, it made sense to ask a question like this as it was as if themander was going against his king¡¯s wishes.
¡°That three hundred thousand soldiers was enough¡ If we could not take the kingdom of Gavos to at least take as muchnd as we could.¡± Themander¡¯s voice trembled as he spoke. But this meant that there were still around three armies the size of thest in gravos territory. I looked up at my father, and he shook his head. ¡°I will restrain him again and hand him over to Silminian. Our job is now done.¡±
I nodded. I also felt we had done enough, there was no point in asking for more information if the king never intended to send more men. Just getting the number of troops still in Gravos was good enough. The Gravos military could handle the rest.
We wiped out three of the six armies that hade across the border. If this was not enough merit to get into the royal magic academy, then I don¡¯t know what is.
¡ª
Silminian was crying tears that streamed down his old face as he held my shoulders, thanking me for my help. Now, this would be no problem if it was not for the fact that he had globes of snot leaking out of his beard. ¡°Young Miss! This old man will never forget this! You have done a great deed to this kingdom! I will make sure to report it to the king!¡±
¡°I just did what needed to be done. I can not allow our kingdom to get overrun by another, especially one who hates demi humans.¡± I said with a forced smile.
¡°Silminian, we will be taking our leave. My wife must be worried by now.¡± My father spoke up as he pulled me away from Silminian and lifted me up into his arms. ¡°I expect to hear back from the capital soon. Make sure you tell them everything.¡±
¡°Haha! No worries, you have my word.¡± Silminian replied with a firm nod. After saying our goodbyes, we left themand tent and headed back towards our home. I really could not wait to sink into my bed and get a good night¡¯s sleep. I never thought my first experience with war would actually give me a new goal in life.
Chapter 44 Trouble At The Gates
The flight home took a few hours since we used elerate magic to speed ourselves up. I say fly because I was using my wings, but my father was hopping through the air. Even with my wings which makes me faster than running, my father was still keeping up.
¡°Lilith, don¡¯t you think you are being unfair!? We are all from the same vige!¡± A voice roared as my father, and I reached the entrance to Cyrilia vige.
¡°Old man, let me tell you now if you and those bastards behind you even try to take a single step into this vige, I will cook you all!¡± My mother¡¯s voice quickly followed. It was just as loud or even louder and held a firm threatening tone. I couldn¡¯t help but frown. I recognized the man¡¯s voice right away. It was none other than the vige elder for Wandermere vige.
¡°Lilith, that is enough! Don¡¯t think just because you are good with magic that I have no way to counterattack! The war is at our doorstep, and you are not even willing to save fellow humans!¡± I could only sigh. Fellow humans? Could people who tried to lynch a seven year old be considered human?
I went to step forward and go to my mother¡¯s aide when I felt my hand being grabbed, pulling me back. I turned to see my father shaking his head at me. ¡°Your mother is not weak. If you look closely, there is a tad bit of excitement in her eyes. She has not been in a fight since she was young and reckless. To tell you the truth, how we met was actually a lie. We just didn¡¯t want our past to influence you and your brother.¡± -.
My eyes opened wide. Wasn¡¯t it that they were childhood friends? Didn¡¯t they grow up together in this vige? ¡°Your mother and I are from this vige. It is just that both our families were a bit special. Your mother, for one, is a descendant from one of the great mages who shook the world a few hundred years ago. Her family has always had strong magic. As for me, as you know, I am a descendant of the dragonkin, and if I am angered, I will take on a few features of a dragonkin, like scales and sharp teeth.
¡°Back then, when I first met your mother, we got into a fight. And well, she beat the hell out of me using strengthening magic. And I, with my pride at the time, did not like the fact that I lost. So¡. I kept challenging her. Each time I challenged her, I ended up with my face in the dirt and my butt in the air.
¡°As we grew older, I began seeing your mother as not just someone I must defeat but someone I wanted to court. Both of our parents always told us to find the ones we love. I guess at the time, they already had an idea that your mother and I would end up together. But it was not easy. When I finally confessed my feelings to your mother, she told me t out that if I can not beat her in a fight, she will never marry me.¡± I watched as my father gazed lovingly down at my mother. I now understood why my father was afraid of my mother. Even if he was stronger than her now, he waspletely traumatized by being beaten by her since he was little. And for this¡. I give my mother two thumbs up. Good job, Mother! Your trained Father well!
¡°So, how did you finally win?¡± I was very curious if he was always being beaten down and he still married my Mother, then he must have done something.
¡°I kinda cheated¡. Anyway, it¡¯s a story that should not be told to one¡¯s kids.¡± My father scratched his nose. I think in the dim light of the evening sun, I could even see a hint of blush on his face. But now that he said something, I was very curious. It was at times like these that I wished there were spells for reading someone¡¯s mind. But knowing my father, he would probably detect me using magic instantly, and I would be caught red handed. So I will just leave it as a story I will never know.
At any rate, the thought of love blooming out of being beaten up has confirmed one thing for me. My father is a one hundred percent pervert masochist. The mighty image of my father was slowly shattering. Oh dear father, why must you be this way? ¡°Faith, if you do not wipe that look that says that you are pitying me off your face, I will flick your forehead every day on the hour every hour!¡±
I quickly turned away. Forehead flicks hurt! I pursed my lips and turned back to the scene below. Currently, the vige elder¡¯s face is turning purple. Even veins were popping out on his forehead. ¡°Old man, I will say this again. Your Wandermere vige has nothing to do with our Cyrilia vige. You may call the people behind you humans, but to me, they are just monsters in human skin! I will give you to the count of ten to get these people out of here, or this ce here and now will be a true battlefield!¡±
¡°You! Lilith, you better not go too far! We are in a time of war. You should be helping others!¡± The vige elder¡¯s words may seem righteous, but to me, they were just a senile old man throwing a tantrum. But I knew one thing, neither side was going to budge, and the vige elder seemed like he wanted to anger my mother. Things did not seem right.
¡°Father, something seems off. I¡¯m going down.¡± I couldn¡¯t just sit anymore.
¡°You¡¯re right. Go ahead. ¡± With my father¡¯s consent, I pped my wings and floated down to the ground,nding in between the vige elder and my mother.
¡°Faith!¡± My mother cried out with a bright smile. ¡°I thought you and your father¡.¡±
¡°Mother, before we catch up, we need to deal with the matter at hand.¡± I turned and gazed coldly at the vige elder. His old eyesnded on mine. I could see a hint of disgust within them. I guess he mes me for ruining his vige. ¡°Do you have an issue? Why are you bringing a bunch of demi haters to Cyrilia vige? We do not ept people who are prejudiced against demi humans. So turn around and leave.¡±
¡°You! Little girl, you should show some respect to your elders! Our kingdom is at war with the Norian kingdom. We should be working together, not against each other. Also, this is no ce for little girls to be speaking, so step aside while I talk to your mother.¡± I was really trying not to kill this old man in front of me. He really dared to push me aside when he has been doing nothing but trying to talk his way into the vige?
¡°I have no say? I¡¯m sorry, but this is where you are wrong. I am in my vige. My father is the vige elder of Cyrilia vige, and as his daughter, I have the right in his absence to step in when an old bast-man is trying to weasel his way in. I do not know what you came here for. But I do know that you are aware that the army that was at our doorstep is already gone. Killed, everyst one of them was killed by me and me alone. But you still dare try to use war for selfish gains?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but snort at the old man. I could tell by the fact that he only brought men with him that he hade here to do something he would never do if my father was around. Did he think the people in this vige were weak!? I am starting to wonder if he fell and bumped his head and lost some of his sanity. Before, he was at least kind of sane, even if it was only by a small percent.
I watched as the old man¡¯s face grew darker and darker. Not that I cared. He was already lucky that I had not sent him and his goons flying yet. ¡°What? Nothing to say? If not, turn around and go back. I would like to spend some time with my mother after all. And to be honest, looking at your hypocritical face makes me sick to my stomach.¡±
I know I was being harsh, but I really disliked this old man. Him and everyone from Wandermere. It sickens me to know he waited for my father and I to not be around to bring people here. My guess is that he waited to make sure we were really gone before cooking up some kind of n. Did he think my mother was a pushover?
The vige elder did not respond. He looked at me as if he wished he could murder me before turning around and waving for his goons to follow him. I snorted once more and waited for him to reach the slope before casting an ice spell on the ground. ¡°Ahhh! You little brat!¡± Doing this was fine. I am still young after all¡ body wise, that is¡. But I am a petty person, just like my father.
¡°Hahaha!¡± I heard my motherughing from behind me. ¡°Faith, you truly are my daughter. I also cast an ice spell just now.¡±
I turned around with my mouth open in shock as my mother embraced me. The pettiness runs in the family!¡± I am so d you are back safe and sound. You have no idea how worried I was.¡±
I shooked my head and smiled while hugging my mother back. But this onlysted a second before she pushed off me and asked: ¡°Where is your father?¡±
¡°Up there.¡± I pointed up, causing my mother to tilt her head up to see her husband standing in the sky with his arms crossed across his chest. Yeah, my father was trying to act cool to impress my mother. ¡°Mother, just ignore him. Let¡¯s go home. I want to have a nice rest.¡±
¡°You¡¯re right. Let¡¯s go.¡± My mother held my hand, and the two of us walked through the gates to the town,pletely ignoring the man in the air.
¡°Hey, wait for me!¡± My father¡¯s panicked voice came from behind us.
Chapter 45 Messenger From The Capital Part 1
A few months went by since I arrived home. Word was that the royal knights pushed back the other three armies and wiped them outpletely. It seemed that the information we got from themander hade in handy in the kingdom making a swift decision. What I found strange was that the kingdom had no ns to attack back. When I asked my father about this. He told me that normally only armies of that size would be used for probing. If it was going to be a full scale invasion, the number of soldiers crossing the borders could range in the tens of millions. This alone made me realize just how popted this world truly was. But what surprised me was theck of towns and viges as a whole. The number of people my father was talking about could fill many countries back on Earth, while in this world, it¡¯s nothing more than the size of a major city¡¯s worth of people.
Luckily things worked out, and the Gravos kingdom was spared from a full on invasion. However, I did wonder why, if we have so many soldiers, why they are not shoring up the borders? But I guess that is a question I will leave for when I join the academy. If I get to join that is.
As for the vige elder, he never came back. Now that both my father and I were here. I will say this¡ After everything that I learned from my father that day when the two met. It made me wonder why, if they were so strong, they could be held back so easily during the time when I was on the verge of being lynched. But after going through all my memories and everything that I have been told so far, the assumption that I havee up with is that, first, my mother is weak physically unless she can cast magic. If I am not wrong, thedies who held her back did so before she was even able to cast a spell. My Mother, unlike me, still had to write her spells in the air. As for my father, he is strong, very strong, but if caught off guard, he will definitely end up being restrained, as long as he was really outnumbered. Which he was on that day. But this was just my own assumption. When I asked my father, he snorted and said he did not wish to talk about it. I could tell by the tone of his voice that his anger was self directed. I think he was disappointed in himself.
With everything settled, I have just been rxing and enjoying some quality family time. I had originally nned to set out on my journey. But now that things have changed, I will be sitting around waiting to see if anythinges of the report that Silminian was to give to the king. -.
Currently, I was lying on a stone wall staring up at the blue sky with a long piece of grass sticking out of my mouth. I was wearing a white blouse type shirt and a pair of blue shorts made of a cotton type material. My tail hung over the side of the wall swaying back and forth while my wings spread out to my sides. I was trying to see what shapes I could see in the clouds. It was something I remembered doing when I was young back on Earth. I used to have fun trying to find different animals in the clouds. But now, all I could see were runic equations. I think my brain might have something wrong with it. ¡°I really should take more breaks from studying magic¡.¡±
¡°Excuse me!¡± A crisp, clear, noble yet soft voice entered my ears. I raised my head to see a cute young girl around my age, maybe a year younger than myself standing there. Behind her were a bunch of knights wearing shiny metal armor with swords at their sides. What surprised me was that none of these strangers gave me any bad feelings. None of them showed any contempt for a demi human like myself. I probably thought of this before but was I even considered a demi human anymore? I mean, would humans need to be called demi dragons because they were inferior to the might of a dragon? No matter how I look at it, it was all still racist, so I will just stop thinking about it, at least until it pops into my mind once again.
The girl had long golden hair and purple gem like eyes. I could tell from how she was dressed that she was probably a noble of some kind. But what confused me was why would they send a young girl was my first thought, but then it dawned on me that she may be lost. ¡°If you are trying to get to the capital, you have to follow the road down the teau and head to the northwest along the road all the way, as long as you do not take any other turns you will be on the right track.¡± I learned the way to the capital from the merchants. Luckily it was handy knowledge.
¡°Huh?¡± The young girl seemed to be confused by my words. I stared at her for a minute before looking up at the guards to find one or the snickering, which made me realize that I might have been wrong.
¡°You¡¯re not lost?¡± I asked.
¡°Why would I be lost!? I am here to see you! My name is Adel. You are Lady Faith, are you not?¡± The young girl answered. She quickly adjusted her attitude after her initial outburst.
¡°It is a pleasure to meet you, Adel. My name is indeed Faith. Is there something I can do for you?¡± I think I was finally understanding that my first assumption was correct. But why would they send a young girl¡?
¡°Yes, I bring word from the King.¡± Hearing this, I couldn¡¯t help but feel slightly excited. I mean, I had been waiting for this day since the end of the war.
¡°Then please, this way. My home may be small, but it is very cozy.¡± I motioned with my hand and began walking towards the house. Adel smiled and followed at my side. I could see her sizing me up and I, her. ¡°So Adel, may I ask why they sent a young girl instead of a normal messenger?¡±
¡°Oh, that¡¯s because the king wanted you to feel asfortable as possible, so he did not wish to send a scary old man. But Lady Faith, I have heard that you have really outdone yourself. You not only repelled one of the invading forces on your own but also led Sir Silminian and his men to victory as well. You are truly amazing.¡± When Adel smiled, she had two small dimples that formed. It was very cute.
¡°I see, then I should thank the king for thinking of me. And Adel, I already call you by your name, so there is no need to call medy. It makes me sound old.¡±
¡°Pfft¡.¡± I heard a sounding from behind me. I turned to see a knight who was a bit smaller than the others covering his mouth. He looked much too young to be a knight, but I guess in this world, age was only a matter if you were capable of doing the job or not. I rolled my eyes at him and went back to talking to Adel.
¡°Then Faith,¡± Adel said in a low voice, but the smile on her face twitched. I think the knight¡¯sugh irked her.
We walked into the house, in which only one guard came in with Adel, and of all of them, it was the younger knight whoughed that followed after us. ¡°Mother, we have a visitor. It¡¯s the people from the capital.¡±
¡°Oh?¡± My mother came out of the kitchen. When I looked over at her, her eyes were wide but quickly went back to normal. I cocked my head to the side, wondering why but when I looked at Adel, things seemed to be normal. ¡°Wee to our home. I am Lilith Cyrilia. I have already sent a message to my husband, who will be home shortly. My daughter inw Rachel will be out shortly with some tea.¡±
¡°You are too kind, Lady Lilith. My name is Adel. I do apologize for taking so long toe here, but the king and his advisors have been terribly busy with reforming things after the invasion.¡± Adel was speaking as if they had already sent a message to the house. Was this how all nobles talked?
¡°It is fine. To be honest, it would not matter if anyone dide as it was something we should have done.¡± My mother was speaking very differently than normal. It made me wonder if she drank bad milk¡. It was just this morning that she was yelling about how ungrateful the king was and how long did it take toe say a word of gratitude after my daughter put her life on the line to defend this unappreciative kingdom. So seeing her act so cordial made me wonder if my mother had her body switched with another¡.
¡°Lady Lilith, I think you look down on your daughter¡¯s achievements. If the kingdom were to ignore such a genius, then there would be something very wrong with this kingdom.¡±
Chapter 46 Messenger From The Capital Part 2
¡°You jest, Lady Adel, I have never once in my life looked down on my daughter.¡± My mother¡¯s eyes were scary. I have no idea why it seemed like she was having some kind of battle with Adel.
¡°I do apologize if my words came out wrong. When I grow up and have a daughter of my own, I hope to have one as cute as Lady Faith.¡± Adel¡¯s words made me blush and a little happy. I mean, being called cute by an outsider, even if it held no meaning, still made me feel good. I mean, at least I thought I looked cute.
¡°Sorry, I¡¯mte.¡± My father¡¯s voice cut the tension in the air. He walked in, covered in sweat and dirt. He had been out in the fields. I turned to look at him, and for some reason, he had the same shocked expression on his face for a split second that quickly disappeared.
¡°Sir Sander, my name is Adel, and I am here on the king¡¯s order.¡± I watched as Adel rose from her seat and gave a curtsy. A real live curtsy! That was enough to tell me that Adel was definitely at least a noble but¡. I wonder why she didn¡¯t give my mother a curtsy¡. This puzzled me. Did she fall for my father? But she is only eleven at most!
As I scratched my head over my own stupid thoughts, the conversation in front of me continued: ¡°Lady Adel. It is a pleasure. Please do not stand on ceremony. The Cyrilia family does not like all that fancy etiquette stuff.¡± -.
My father walked over, sat next to me, and leaned forward while folding his hands in front of him. ¡°So what is the word from His Majesty?¡±
¡°The King has said that he wants your daughter Lady Faith to join the royal magic academy during the next enrollment as a special student. She will get all the same treatments as a high ranking noble and will have a full allowance as well that is provided by the royal family. The king is very grateful that Lady Faith was willing to put her life on the line at such a young age and that such a genius has actually appeared in our kingdom. He wishes to help her grow at any expense.
¡°He has also decided that he would like to meet Lady Faith as well. But he said he will wait until after she has joined the academy and has gotten used to her life in the capital. He worries he would make Lady Faith too anxious. He said he would award her the rank of knight, butws for titles and ranks are only given when enough achievements are earned, and they have finished their training at the magic academy.¡± I was trying my best to hide my enthusiasm. I mean, I just heard the magic words, royal magic academy! I was ready to jump for joy! This was what I was aiming for!
Going to the royal magic academy was my main goal. Being able to learn the things I can not here in the vige was a huge step closer to maybepleting not only my fusion magic but also a step closer to gaining the status needed to begin my path to bing amander.
¡°I see¡ Hmmmm¡.¡± My father leaned back and closed his eyes. I looked at him, then at Adel, whose eyes seemed to be nervous? Why would she be nervous if this was something the king himself was giving out. The air was tense for almost five minutes until my father opened his eyes and leaned forward once again. ¡°Lady Adel, I hope there will be no mishaps. If something happens to my daughter¡.¡±
¡°Sir Sander, the king has already stated that Lady Faith is to be treated well. You have the royal family¡¯s word that if anything happens, Lady Faith will have the royal family¡¯s backing.¡± Adel quickly interrupted my father. I watched a smile appear on his lips. It seemed this was the promise he was looking for.
¡°Then I will leave my daughter in your care. When will she leave?¡± My father asked.
¡°She is to make her way to the capital before the next entrance exam in six months. While she is automatically part of the academy as a special student, she still needs to take the exam so we can see where to ce her. No matter what her scores are, she will be allowed to join. But I think with her abilities, Lady Faith will definitely be put into a top ss.¡± Adel answered, which confused me.
¡°There is a test to join the academy?¡± I was starting to get nervous. I have read every book in the house but would it be enough to pass the exam!?
¡°Yes, while there are some academic courses, it is mainly based on the strengths you showed on the battlefield. The royal magic academy is there for talented individuals who want to better themselves and get a head start above the rest.¡± Adel exined, but to me, this exnation did not make sense.
¡°If the academy is for those who want to better themselves, then why does it cost so much to enter? I mean, let¡¯s say I never once stepped foot on the battlefield, and my talents went unnoticed by the king, and I never got this chance to join the academy for free, but instead, I ventured to the capital and wanted to join the academy to put my skills to the test. Then what? I would not be allowed to even take the test because of its absurd high entrance fees. Would you not lose out on many ¡®Talented¡¯ individuals?¡± I did have a bit of sarcasm at the end, but it really irked me when one person is talking about talent when they might be missing many talented people, but those people could not even enter the academy due to their high fees. There was no secondary academy that others could join. It seemed a bit unfair to those with real talent and no money. ¡°If you ask me, the so called talent is only those who can pad the pockets of those who run the academy. Does passing the test even have real meaning? Does the king not realize his words seem hypocritical?¡±
¡°You! Careful with your words!¡± The young knight yelled out. But I only sneered at him.
¡°Did I say anything wrong? Are you going to cut me down for speaking the truth?¡± I stared at the young knight. I wanted to see what the snickering young man from early would really do in such a situation. To be honest,ing from Earth, while there were certainly schools that did just as the royal magic academy did, there were still other options.
¡°It¡¯s fine!¡± Adel yelled out. As she looked at the young knight, her eyebrow raised. ¡°What Lady Faith has said is actually true. And to be honest, she has said what I have always been meaning to say. It¡¯s just hard to do when so many nobles would be against it.¡±
¡°You can keep the nobles happy by having lower institutions that are made formoners with little to no money. You allow themoners to go to these lower institutions, and when you find said talented individuals, you could then offer them a schrship just like you are with me. You can even make it so to lower cost and be able to amodate more areas of the kingdom with more lower institutes to cover the millions that may want to join by having them do work before and after the sses. This will reduce costs by a lot, even for those who can not pay to go. You can also give extra benefits to those who can afford to pay.¡± This was an idea I just came up with, basically mixing public schools back on earth with a private school you would pay for.
The kids who had little to no money would be able to secure a means of training and could better themselves while doing a little work within these new academies. Even if the teachers were of a lower standard, it would be enough to educate those who wished to learn and would still benefit the kingdom in many ways. The smarter the popce was, the more innovation woulde to the kingdom.
¡°This¡.¡± The young guard seemed speechless by my words. My guess is that such a thing was never thought of. But that is only because nobles had the loudest voices.
¡°It is pure genius!¡± Adel stood up and walked over to me, grabbing my hands. holding them in hers. her actions caught me by surprise. ¡°Such a thing has never been thought of before and could actually allow us to truly bring huge benefits to the kingdom.¡±
¡°It was just a thought¡. I mean, by doing this, you could find those hidden talents that are lost in the wind due to not having the status or money.¡± It was the only way I could think of that would allow future genius to rise. What kingdom would not want to gather as many great minds as they could?
¡°I will bring it up with the king as soon as I get back! Lady Faith, your words of wisdom have once again helped the Gravos Kingdom.¡± Adel suddenly curtsy to me. I quickly helped her up in a fluster.
¡°Please don¡¯t do that. I am not used to such respect, plus I already said to call me Faith. Leave thedy out of it. To be honest, if I tried to curtsy like that, I would probably lose my bnce and fall.¡± I waved my hands back and forth. I do not think I can get used to this kind of treatment¡.
¡°Hehe¡. You are truly cute, Faith.¡± Adel said with a smile.
Chapter 47 Saying Goodbye
I gave Adel a wary smile mainly because she was giving me a strange look like I was some kind of big piece of meat. Sorry to say I am not a wild animal¡. Or am I? I once again had to question just what I was exactly. Whether I was an animal or not, at this moment, I felt like I was being targeted by not one but two people. For some reason, the snickering guard was also staring at me as well. So the goosebumps on my body were tripled. They got tripled due to the strange smile on the guard¡¯s face. I really couldn¡¯t wait for this messenger to leave.
¡°T-thanks, you are quite cute yourself, Adel.¡± Although I was saying this with a forced smile due to the intensity of their stares. It was true that Adel was a beautiful girl. Her hair was golden and not like a blonde golden but a true golden color, and her purple eyes really matched well with it. She seemed more like a small little goddess than a human.
¡°Hehe, you are a charmer La¡ Faith.¡± Adel replied with a sweet smile. I guess my ttery eased her up a bit because her stare was no longer as strong.
¡°Since this is how things are, then Faith will be there for enrollment.¡± With my father agreeing to the considerations that Adel gave, I was now bound for the capital. Luckily not with Adel. I do not think I could handle being stared at for so long. The trip to the capital was a long one. Even if I were to leave today by horseback, it would probably take me at least five months to arrive, maybe even barely making it for the entrance test. But if I were to use magic, I could make it in less than a month. And I figured it would also give me a chance to explore a bit, so I nned to leave soon.
After a few more words of pleasantries with Adel, Adel decided to take her leave. It seemed she was in a rush to head back. Outside the house, Adel was once again holding my hands, gazing into my eyes with those purple eyes that drew one¡¯s attention. ¡°Faith, I will see you in the capital! I shall also be joining you at the academy so let¡¯s be friends, okay?¡± -.
I looked at the sincere smile on Adel¡¯s face and actually smiled back. For once, she was looking at me normally. I could read it in her eyes the uncertainty and anxiousness as she asked me to be her friend. It seemed she truly wished to be my friend. At least, I hoped. Having a friend is always a good thing, especially one who is able to pass on the king¡¯s words. My guess is she is at least a count, marquess, or duke¡¯s daughter. I do not know if there is some kind of inner circle title that ranks each of these nobles¡¯ titles, but I do know that either way, for an in name lower noble like me to have such a persone to me personally, I should feel privileged and yet¡. I only feel it is a waste of resources. Sending so many knights out to protect one person when they could have just sent a messenger. I hoped those knights were getting paid extra for this.
¡°Yes, let¡¯s be friends, Adel.¡± And so I made my first real friend, I think. I will have to wait and see. So until we meet again, we are just parting acquaintances.
After Adel¡¯s departure, my mother, for the first time in her life, tied me to her side and spent every waking moment with me. She knew I was going to be leaving soon. I have never once had the chance to say goodbye to people I loved and cared for until now. And just the thought of leaving my warm and loving family really pulled on my heartstrings to the point that I started to tear up.
Leaving home for the first time. Venturing out into the world all alone, while exciting, it was at the same time a cause of worry. Things like what happens if I meet a powerful foe that I can not defeat? What if¡. Well, that was all I was worried about, really. Food and other things were easy toe by. I could just hunt for some food and cook it anywhere. Water was never a worry, and I have never been afraid of sleeping outside. I mean, if it really came down to it, I could just sleep in my dragon form. How many idiots would try to start a fight with a dragon?
Actually, now that I think about it, no matter what world you live on, there will always be that one idiot. At least in the novels I read, there was always a hero who thought they were king. Always stealing the cutepanions from the other males in the group and always talking about how righteous they are. I have always hated those kinds of characters. In those kinds of novels, it was the side characters that I found more attractive. Like the knight who was willing to do what he could for the group while the hero yed around. This was why I always liked the ones about the viins or viiness that were trying to change their fate. It usually ended up with someone who reincarnated into a book.
In a way, I would not have minded reincarnating into a book myself, but this world is far from any novel I have ever read. I could be that side character who died without ever being able to show up in the novel. Maybe the lynching was my true doom. At any rate, all I know is that I was about to start my journey, and I could not be any happier yet sad.
I spent another two weeks at home. I was preparing for my travels and stuffing my inventory with all kinds of good things like food and more food. I also made a few tents that used monster hide sewed together then using a kind of weatherproofing glue made from monster fat that sealed it all together. I made five in total, just in case. You never know. My food stockpile was enough to feed all of Wandermere and Cyrilia viges for a year. It was a mix of rice, forest vegetables, and lots of meat. I was even able to find some monster fish in a small pond near the other side of the teau. They were rather big and could feed a few families.
And of course, I packed a lot of clothes. My mother and Rachel also made a bunch of new clothes for me as well. And my father¡. He had a new set of leather armor made for me. It fit me perfectly and seemed like it wouldst a good while.
But all good things eventuallye to an end. I was standing with arge backpack on my back that I would stash awayter but kept on for appearances¡¯ sake. After all, my parents still did not know about my system. ¡°Faith, you are to be careful on the road. Do not follow any strange men even if they offer you candy.¡±
I really wanted tough at my mother¡¯s words, but I did not wish to get the red bottom technique before I left. She was dead serious in saying this. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Mother, I do not like candy all that much.¡± This was true. The candy in this world was far behind in standards. While many kids like it, it was different for someone like me who had candy back on Earth. I think it is mostly due to the fact that candy here was usually just sugar cane with no vor or vored with honey. While it was good once and a while, the same vors over and over got a bit much.
¡°Yes, you have always been a strange child.¡± My mother held her cheek as she said this, as if getting lost in her memories. After a few moments, she finally smiled and pulled me into a hug. ¡°Always remember you have a home here.¡±
¡°Mmm¡. I wille back to visit as soon as I can.¡± I finally couldn¡¯t stop the tears as I hugged my mother. I was crying for two reasons. I loved my mother of this world, and because I never got to say goodbye to my mother on Earth.
My mother and I hugged for who knows how long. Only when we parted did she wipe her eyes and turn around. I knew she was reluctant to see me go, but I had to. ¡°You grew up so fast. It seemed like just the other day you were running around in your diaper, finding everything strange and amazing.¡±
¡°Father, I still do that now minus the diaper part.¡± I said with a chuckle. I hugged him tight and buried my face into his chest. My father was a good man and an amazing father. ¡°Don¡¯t get into too much trouble while I am gone.¡±
¡°Haha! Why am I the one who¡¯s getting lectured?¡± My father let out a loudugh as he picked me up and hugged me tightly. He swung me around a bit which caused the others tough. I will surely miss everyone so much.
Last but not least were my brother and Rachel. Rachel held my hands while my brother handed me another shiny object¡.I, of course, snatched it up as soon as I saw it. ¡°Faith, take care of yourself. ¡°
¡°You too. Take care of Big Sister Rachel and my little nephew. And Brother, protect the vige well while I am gone.¡± I spoke in a low voice at the end. I would be gone, so one less deterrent would be gone. The vige elder of Wandermere may try to act up while I was away.
¡°You can count on it.¡± My brother nodded and ruffled my hair.
I finally looked at Rachel and whispered: ¡°Keep track of all the times he has wronged you. I will get back at him for you.¡±
¡°Hehe¡. I will have the ink ready!¡± We both chuckled and hugged before I stepped back and looked at my amazing family.
¡°Mother, Father, Brother, And Big Sister Rachel, I am off¡.¡± I walked backward a few steps with my hands behind my back before turning around and beginning my new journey. As I ran down the road, I raised my hand and waved at them. I could hear my mother and father yelling to me to travel safely from behind. I wille back here the first chance I get.
Volume 2 End!
Chapter 48 The Open Road
I turned the corner and headed down the road that leads off the teau. It was then that I stashed the backpack away into my inventory. It actually had nothing but clothes in it, so it was not even the slightest bit heavy, not that it would matter. Before I could leave and officially start my journey, I had onest thing to do. To ensure the safety and security of my family. I decided to make a very small detour to Wandermere Vige and visit a certain old man who will love to see me.
I entered the vige and easily made my way to the vige elder¡¯s home without a single person being able to detect me. Even as I open the vige elder¡¯s door and waltz right in like I own the ce, no one has noticed me. One may wonder why this is, well, the answer is very simple¡. I put everyone to sleep! The entire vige was currently sleeping. Everyone except the people dealing with the vige elder.
So I could easily just walk right up to the door to the vige elder¡¯s study and open it right up to see an old man spitting tea out across the room. ¡°You!? Why are you here!?¡±
¡°Why?¡± I answered back with a question while tilting my head. ¡°The answer is simple.¡± -.
I walked over and took a seat while waving for the servant to give me some tea. The old man looked as if he was about to jump across his big wooden desk at me but sadly for him, it would be a futile attempt. ¡°I came here to tell you that I will be leaving for the capital. The king has awarded me for my duties in the war, and I will be attending the Royal Magic Academy.¡±
¡°And? Do you want me to congratte you? If it was not for you, do you think my vige would be in the mess it is in now? Would my grandson be dead?¡± The old man yelled. But I could care less. I took the cup of tea the maid gave me and took a sip. The tea was not too bad. It was a wonder how he was still getting such good things. After taking a few more sips, I put it aside, sat forward, and sped my hands together while giving the old man a confused look.
¡°Why would I care about what happens in your vige? It has nothing to do with me. I am only here to tell you that if you do not wish for your precious vige to be wiped off the map, nothing should happen to my Cyrilia Vige. When I mean nothing¡.. I mean¡ If a single incident happens, no matter how small it is, I will destroy your precious vige with you along with it. Even if it is not anyone from your vige¡¯s fault, I will still me you before finding the true culprit. So always keep this in mind no matter how long I am gone for. Because even if you kick the bucket and you somehow get another heir to your disgusting bloodline, I will kill them and everyone else along with them. I am sure you have seen the crater next to the cliff. I think my power is in to see.¡± I stood up after finishing my words and picked up the teacup once more and down the rest of its contents before turning to the servant and giving her my thanks. Only then did I turn and leave the pale faced old man to his thoughts.
I figured I would give him this warning. This warning alone will be enough for him to realize that any schemes he maye up with will be his full undoing. He will forever be under my finger. As I left the room, I heard the sound of porcin breaking. My guess is he threw his teacup, which was a shame as it was a pretty cup.
After leaving Wandermere, I was now finally standing at the edge of the teau, looking out over the road I was about to take. I turned back and looked at the houses that were off in the distance and gave a slight bow towards Cyrilia vige. ¡°Until I am able to return once again.¡±
The path down the cliffside was not wide by no means, big enough for a merchant¡¯s carriage to make it up or down one way. If someone wasing down it, it would be impossible to pass each other safely. While it was a narrow path, from what I know, there has never been a single ident. That was because once a year or after big storms, people wille out and test the path to make sure it was safe to travel. Loose rocks will be removed off the cliffside if they look like they would cause andslide. Such jobs were easy to do with earth magic.
The path itself zigzagged down the side of the cliff, making it longer than it needed, but in return, it made it safer. Now, I could have easily just jumped off and slowlynded on the ground, but this was not why I was leaving so early. I wanted to enjoy my journey. I wanted to take my time and see the sights as I made my way towards the capital.
Twenty minutes is what it took to reach the bottom. From here, it was a long dirt road. While there were many small towns and viges along the way, I did not know if I would stop at any of them, as, well, I am a demi human. There is no telling how much I will be hated. I just hope the capital is not as biased. It seemed the knights that I met were perfectly fine with me, but they could have been handpicked. Only the snickering young knight was a bit of a headache, but that was for all different reasons.
Speaking of the capital, I hoped Adel would calm down by the time I entered the academy, her gaze kind of freaked me out. Well, maybe more ufortable than freaked out. But that possibly could be contributed to her being overly excited. Luckily though, she did not seem too into my father as I had thought. I do not know how I would have handled the whole mistress appearing out of nowhere cliche. I mean, I might have had to roast the girl. She seemed only my age, so having to roast such a young girl did not sit right for me but to keep my family happy, I would have to close my eyes, grit my teeth and puff out a bit of fire.
As I walked down the road, I hummed a song. Nothing more than something I made up that has no words and was probably really out of tune. On Earth, I listened to very little music as I was always studying or reading, so there was no way I would ever remember any songs from my past life.
I will say this, though, the sky was a clear blue with only a few clouds off in the distance. The birds flew in flocks across the meadow. The ugly man standing in front of me with a sword in his hand, pointing it at me with a lustful gaze, was also very peace¡. It seems I might be in a little bit of a pickle.
I had read about it in books and have fantasized about fighting them myself but never in my life would I ever think I would ever run across bandits in my entire life. Real live bandits. There were ten in total, from the looks of it. Some wore bandanas while others did not. There was even the bald scared bandit standing in the front who looked more muscr than the rest. My guess was that he was the leader.
I touched my finger to my chin to decide how I should deal with this situation. I had quite a few choices to choose from. There was the heroic act where I gantly tell the bandits: ¡°Stand down, scum! I will not let you stain thesends. Either give up or die!¡±
Then there was the whole frail maiden act: ¡°Ahhh! Bandits! Please don¡¯t hurt me! I will be good and hand over all my goods!¡±
I could even do the seductress act and try to seduce them but¡. I looked down at my body and sighed. ¡°I guess that one will have to stay on the shelf.¡± Not that I could even ever do such a dirty thing. I have read stories where girls would try to save their lives by giving themselves up but for me, no. A big fat no. I would rather fight to the death.
I could act like I was one of them and call them old buddy. They looked stupid enough. But I do not think that would work either. I only had two options left. The first was to ignore thempletely and continue on my way, or the second one which was to just say nothing at all and kill them. To be honest, I would prefer not to kill anyone. Thest thing I want is my ancient will popping up out of nowhere.
So I guess I will just ignore them. But who would have thought that the bandits would not let me pass? ¡°Littledy, it is not your lucky day. Hand over all your valuables ande with us. We will make sure to find you a really good home for a few silver coins, of course.¡±
¨CAN: So this is the start of volume 3! I hope everyone is enjoying the novel so far. I want to thank everyone who has been supporting me. I would like to announce that the Novel will be going premium soon. I will be working on 20 privileged chapters in theing week or two, and when they are done, I will be going premium. I know many of you may stop reading this, and I will be sad to see you go, but it was to happen eventually. Sadly I can not keep the novel free for all as I do have bills to pay. But still, I want to thank each and every one of you for supporting Faith. Thank you.¨C
Chapter 49 Searching For Treasure
Hearing the bald headed bandit make such amand made me stop my steps. I turned and red coldly at the bald man. ¡°Are you sick!?¡±
¡°Huh? No, I feel okay?¡± I guess the bald bandit was caught off guard by my question because he truthfully answered me.
¡°Then why are you stopping a little girl? Only sick people would do such a thing. Humph! Now, if you will excuse me.¡± I snorted and turned around. I once again began to walk by the bandits, who were all standing there in a daze. But once I did pass them, something came to mind. Bandits steal and hoard treasure¡. If they have treasure, that means I can steal from them and keep it for myself without feeling guilty. It would be impossible to ever trace back who the treasure belongs to unless it was marked in some way. I tapped my chin and turned around once more, causing my hair to flutter out and behind me.
¡°Is there something else?¡± The bald bandit seemed to have lost all interest in me. I guess my words got through to him.
¡°Yes, actually!¡± Since I was going to do this, I should make myself sound righteous, right? I parted my legs, so they were spread out a little, stuck a hand on my hip, and pointed at the bald man in front of me. ¡°How dare you bandits try to rob innocent people! I will make you surrender to me today!¡±-.
¡°Look, littledy, we do not want anything more to do with you, so please just run alo¡.. Oooofffff!¡± My foot cut the bald man off as I nted it firmly on his face. Using that same face as a springboard, I jumped high into the air and spun my body around. Using my tail as a whip, I smacked four more bandits in the face sending them flying.
¡°What the hell is this demi!? Why is she so strong!?¡± I heard a bandit yell which I quickly shut him up bynding on his head and shoving it into the dirt.
In under a minute, I had all ten men on the ground, rolling around in pain. I walked over to the bald headed bandit and lifted him up, and pped his face. ¡°Take me to where you keep your loot.¡±
¡°What!?¡± I watched as the bald headed bandit¡¯s eyes opened wide in surprise. I guess he only now realized what my true intentions were. But of course, I would not miss this chance to p him again, so I did.
¡°I said¡. Take me to where you keep the loot. Or do I need to p you until you understand?¡± I once again raised my hand only for the bald heard bandit to quickly raise his hands in front of his face. ¡°Wait! I will!¡±
¡°Good!¡± I nodded my head in approval before dropping the man to the ground and waving my hand. ¡°Magic hand¡.¡± Magic hand was a magic spell that created hands out of magic and allowed you to use them to grab solid objects. Since I really did not wish to touch these bandits, I was using the spell to pat them down and toss their weapons and other useful items into my inventory. If anything, I could use themter for something. What that something was I did not know yet.
Within ten minutes, I had a train of bandits being led by a rope chained together by their wrists behind me and one bald one in front of me. My sword was pointing at his back as I made him lead me to his hideout. ¡°You better not be leading me to a small stash. I can just use detection magic to find the rest.¡±
¡°Miss, I would never!¡± I heard the bald headed man yell. I could see the sweat dripping off his bald head. I think he was truly worried about dying. Sadly for him, not only will I steal all of his money for myself, but I will also turn them in for the bounty. From what I know, any bandits that you turn in will allow you to earn a silver or two per head. Even if they were only worth a few copper coins, that was still a few copper coins. Much more than I had before. I might sound cheap, but so what? Money is money. I don¡¯t even have much except the few silver my father gave me. So in a way, I was kind of lucky these nice bandits were so willing to give me their loot.
We walked deep into the forest to a small ground cave that looked to be dug out using earth magic. I know this because of how smooth the walls were. Before entering, I used earth magic to bury the nine other bandits up to their heads so that they couldn¡¯t try anything funny. Then I had the bald headed bandit lead me to the treasure. ¡°You must have a lot of loot, right?¡±
¡°Miss, I do not know what you expect from us small time bandits, but we do not have much¡.¡± For some reason, just from hearing the tone of the bald headed bandit¡¯s voice, I felt like maybe he was telling the truth. But I must have faith! Just like my name, I must have faith that this baldy was lying.
Sadly dreams and reality cane crashing down quickly. ¡°What is this?¡± I asked as I stared at the half-full treasure chest that looked to be full of junk. While there was a lot of silver, maybe a few golds worth, it wasn¡¯t really as much as I was hoping for. not to mention there was nothing really shiny in there either. I mean, there was that anime¡ What was it called¡ Oh, right, yers! It had a main character named Mina Inverse. She would always yell ¡®fireball!¡¯ and blow up bandits while stealing all their loot. It was one of the few shows I liked to watch in my past life on Earth.
But sadly, the big stash of treasure was nothing more than a half filled box. I sighed and looked at the bald headed man with a bit of pity. ¡°Must be rough being a crappy bandit¡. I mean, you go out, and rob people, and all you get is this? What about the money from all the women you sold off? Are you sure you are not hiding another treasure trove somewhere? Detection!¡±
¡°I swear this is all we have! Miss, I do not know what your idea of a bandit is but this is actually quite good for bandits. I can even proudly say we are one of the richest bandit groups around.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but let my mouth drop open. Were bandits really this bad!? I was in serious shock. If I had known this, I would have just kept walking! What was the point!? Such a waste of time for a few gold at most. I pursed my lips and waved my hand, sending the whole half full treasure chest that was only like four feet by two feet in length and width. I mean, it only stood about three feet off the ground. It was a sad little treasure chest. In my past life, I had a chest at the end of my bed that was bigger than this thing and fuller too! It might not have been good stuff, but at least it was full!
After not detecting anything but a bunch of dirty rooms, I sighed and poked the bald headed bandit with my sword. ¡°Come on, we are going to the next town.¡±
¡°What?¡± I turned to look at the bald headed bandit that was looking at me in confusion. What did he mean by what? Did this fool really think I was going to let them run free? They were worth money!
¡°What, what? I said let¡¯s go. We are going to the next town. How can I turn you in if I don¡¯t bring you back?¡± I poked the bald headed bandit once more with my sword, making him walk forward. He could only lower his head and ept his fate.
What I did not take into ount was that the next town would be so far away. ¡°It will take a while¡.¡± I sighed and looked at the train of bandits behind me. ¡°I guess no matter which world you live on, making money will always be hard.¡±
¡°Miss, can you not just let us go? Wouldn¡¯t it be a hassle to drag us with you all the way to the next town?¡± I heard the bald headed bandit ask. I turned and looked at him and snorted. ¡°I am going that way anyway, so why would it be troublesome. Can you not whine? It gives me a headache, and I might identally stab you with my sword. You know, my father always told me to be careful when I was around other people as I have a strange twitch. The vige doctor called it the stabby mc¡¯stabby syndrome. I sometimes will randomly stab out with my sword using my full force, twist it and then pull it out. I identally did it to a mean kid once, and he lost his legs and arms¡. And then another time¡.¡±
I watched as the more I spoke, the paler the bandits¡¯ faces became. For some reason, I found it interesting, so I kept making up stories as I pulled them along. If anything, it served as entertainment to me. I was not sure if this was considered physiological torture or not, but it served as a good way of making them all shut up. Now they no longer whined about anything.
Chapter 50 Ambush
Night set in after making quite a bit of ground. The bandits were currently nice and warm in their holes with their heads sticking out. Since it looked like it was going to rain, I even put some big leaves over their heads. Whether it would protect them or not is another story.
¡°Umm¡. Miss. Can we talk about this?¡± The bald headed bandit seemed to not like my little setup.
¡°Huh!?¡± I turned, and with a furrowed brow, I unsheathed my sword and began walking over to him. For some reason, his face paled, and he began sweating. ¡°Wait. Never mind. Haha! The temperature is just right. I think I can sleep wonderfully tonight.¡±
¡°Oh? Then I am d all my hard work was not in vain. I could have sworn you were about toin.¡± I gave him a blossoming smile that would warm anyone¡¯s heart. But I am sure to him, it was as if he was looking at a devil. I mean, I had the horns for it!-.
¡°Haha, why would Iin when you have gone out of your way. Look at the pretty leaf! It is perfect to keep the weather off my face. I thank you kindly.¡± The bandit grinned, showing me a toothy smile. ¡°Then I will be off to find us dinner.¡±
Sadly I still had to feed the bandits. I get more money for them being alive from what I know. Bandits that are kept alive can be used for prisonbor. Also known as another form of very but only for those whomit crimes. This did not discriminate on race or even gender. If youmitted a crime that was not worthy of death, instead of sitting around inside some cell somece mooching off the taxes of the people, you were sent to do hardbor. Mining and other jobs that would require a lot of people. The kingdom ensured a roof over their head and two meals a day. But they worked from sunup to sundown. While I personally think this is the proper way to handle prisoners, I am sure some human rights activists on Earth would have screamed unfairness!
At any rate, having them buried up to their heads means they will not do anything stupid. I even solidified the ground, so they were basically frozen in time except for their heads. I was about to head off into the woods nearby when I stopped and thought for a moment. ¡°Oh right! If you have to go to the bathroom, do it now because we will not be stopping for you to do your thing on the road.¡±
I also did not wish to see anything I shouldn¡¯t since they would all need to be near me while they went. At least this way, I can spray them with water until they don¡¯t stink any more afterwards. But now, with this reminder out of the way, I put up a circle of rock dirt around their heads before I walked into the forest to try to find a ce to eat. I was not going to share my food with them, of course, I would find them some food, but it will probably be some leaves from a tree. Just enough to keep them alive until we make it to the next vige. As for the circle of dirt, it was fortified with a protection spell so no one could break through it. I couldn¡¯t have people stealing my paid day, now could I?
I quickly found a good spot for a campfire and gathered a bunch of rocks and sticks. Once it was set up, I tossed a small puff of my dragon breath on it to light it on fire. Dragon breath was indeed handy. I wish I could use it in front of others. But if I did I could be giving away the fact that I was actually a dragon. Then I would be in for all kinds of problems.
But now, with the fire lit, I could begin roasting a monster chickig. A chickig tasted like chicken and bacon merged together. It is to die for if you add a bit of salvaini spice. This kind of spice was not something you would find on Earth, at least, it was not something I had ever tasted before. It was a peppery, spicy taste but had a refreshing aftertaste. It is very hard to describe. But by sprinkling some of this on and rubbing it into the meat, then roasting it over the fire slowly, it was to die for. My mother would get mad at me and my father for eating out in the woods at night.
I sat and watched the flickering of the me. Besides the bandits I have following me around, this was actually my first time being alone outside at night. In a way, it was kind of exciting while at the same time a little lonely. I had always been with others, so this was really different for me. Even in my past life, I had always had someone around. I sat back and looked up at the cloudy skies above and sighed. ¡°I can¡¯t even see the stars¡.¡±
It would be fine if I could gaze at the stars just a little bit, but the threat of iing rain ruins my mood. Makes me feel dreary andzy. No sooner than when I thought this, I felt a drop of rain fall on my head. I pursed my lips and waved my hand, creating a protective dome over the area so I could eat in peace. ¡°Now that I think about it, those guys may drown¡. Detection!¡±
I sent out my vision over to where the heads were sticking up out of the ground and waved my hand once more, creating a protective dome around them. ¡°That should keep them from dying.¡± With nothing better to do, I began drawing in the dirt while I waited for my chickig to cook. It was a thick thigh leg, so it took a while, almost thirty minutes until it was finally roasted just right. I happily took it off the fire and bit into it. It smelt and tasted so good I even had drool running down my chin.
¡°Not bad for my first time¡ But still¡ It is not as good as father¡¯s. I still have a long way to go, I guess.¡± As I ate, my right ear twitched. I heard a cracking sounding from the forest. I still ignored it as nothing could get through my barrier unless it was someone powerful. So I kept munching on my chickig thigh leg.
Not long after, I watched as a group of monsters I had never seen before came out of the forest. There were at least thirty in total. Each one was about half my height and had bodies shaped like a lion but with thick scales on their back and long narrow heads that had a strange looking mouth. I watched as one in front of me opened its mouth, which split its head into three sections revealing rows upon rows of razor sharp teeth. ¡°Oh? A nerdal! I saw pictures of them in that book!¡±
It didn¡¯t dawn on me until their heads split. It was a unique feature to the nerdals. They were creatures that could eat anything, and I mean anything. The nerdals were alsorge pack hunters. They never had fewer than one hundred in their pack at all times, which meant. That there were many more that had yet to show themselves. They were also very smart, so to fight them, you would need to be overly powerful and smarter than them. I just so happened to fit both categories. ¡°If I am not wrong, aren¡¯t their hides worth a lot of money?¡±
I kept thinking about it trying to remember where I got this information from. I then remembered a conversation I had with one of the merchants. He said the hide of a normal sized nerdal, if in perfect condition, would go for around twenty silver, more if it was bigger. ¡°Hehe¡.¡± I rubbed my hands together. I mean, this was a lot of money in front of me. I just had to kill them without damaging their hide. This meant stabbing them through the mouth or casting a spell down their throats. This was why it cost so much for a single perfect hide. The way to kill it was to get up close and personal with it.
For me, this was no problem. At least I hoped¡. But first thing is first, I need to finish dinner. I can¡¯t fight on an empty stomach, right? It also seems that my chickig might be what attracted them here, which made things better. Since they were so smart, I could use this to anger them and make them stick around until I was done. So I started to eat my chickig with gusto while making all kinds of smacking sounds with my lips. ¡°So good¡ Mmmm! Oh wow! So tender¡. Yes, this is right¡.¡±
If anyone were to walk by at this time and heard my words, they would think something naughty was going on. But I swear I am only eating my chickig! Luckily my noises did seem to anger them because the nerdals were charging at my barrier, trying to break in.
It was just when I was about to finish eating when it happened. ¡°How dare you attack a fair maiden!¡±
Yes, I watched as a young man in knight¡¯s armor jumped from only god knows where,nded next to my barrier, and began shing his sword and firing magic at the nerdals. Yes, he was just shing away, cutting them up into bits and pieces¡ Yes, the twenty silver a piece hides were being ruined right in front of my eyes. I could feel the money slipping away. ¡°You damn idiot! Stop! Stop attacking! No, you¡¯re ruining it! My twenty silver!¡±
Why is this idiot here!? Why is he ruining my money!? This is all I could think as I did away with my barrier, and instead of going to kill nerdals, I went at the stupid idiot! ¡°Wait, Miss! Why are you attacking me!?¡±
¡°Because you¡¯re a damn idiot!¡±
Chapter 51 Knight In Shining Armor
I couldn¡¯t believe it. In a matter of seconds, he had killed so many of the nerdals that my heart felt like it was bleeding. ¡°Three gold! Three gold you destroyed!¡± Three whole gold!
¡°What three gold!? Hey, stop swinging your sword at me! Wait, why are you firing magic at me!? Was I not saving you!?¡± This idiot just did not seem to understand! I already told him to stop attacking, but he won¡¯t listen!
¡°You idiot! Who needs your saving!? I was happily luring them over while I ate dinner, and you came along, destroying my precious materials! Twenty silver! Twenty silver for each one you killed! Pay me now!¡± I did not care if this stupid boy had to strip naked and give me all the armor he was wearing. He would need to cough up my three gold!
¡°What!? Wait, you were luring them!?¡± I could see this kid was not all that bright. But I had to admit he was very strong. With my strength, he was able to defend against my attacks just now without losing any ground. We actually tied in strength. This truly surprised me.
¡°Yes, I was! Now, pay me five gold!¡± I yelled, stomping my feet. My money! Normally I would not be so greedy, but I had everything nned as soon as I saw the nerdals, and this idiot¡ this idiot ruined it all!
¡°Five gold!? You said three!¡±
¡°That¡¯s because you keep killing them!¡±
¡°They keep attacking me!¡±-.
¡°Then let them kill you!¡±
¡°No!¡±
I do not know if the nerdals seemed to have decided to side with me, but they were going all out to kill the young man while ignoring me. And me? I was busy defending my precious silver! Since we were fighting to a stalemate, I changed tactics and began blocking the young man¡¯s ability to fight the nerdals.
¡°Why are you doing this!?¡± The young man yelled out.
¡°Because you owe me money! Look how many you killed! Why did you have to be Mr. Knight In Shining Armor when I was trying to eat!? Go save someone who wants to be saved!¡± I really have no idea why I was getting so angry, but it seemed the more I spoke to this idiot, the angrier I got. I just wished he would take a hint and leave.
¡°How could I, the one destined to be the hero of thend, let a young girl fight such terrifying beasts on her own!?¡± What is this some kind of wanna be hero syndrome!?
¡°I guess¡ I will need to get serious then¡ elerate!¡±
¡°What!?¡±
*Bam!*
I smacked the young man as hard as I could in the back of the neck, causing him to drop to the ground. I then grabbed him and swung him around a few times before tossing him like a bag of trash towards the road. ¡°Hah! I should have done that, to begin with!¡±
I held my head and shook it before ncing at the nerdals that were still around, looking at me as if I was their hero. I felt no more killing intent from them, which made me not want to kill them anymore. But that thought onlysted for a second before I began attacking. I guess my sudden change in attitude startled them because I pried one of their mouths open and shoved a fireball down its throat. Brutal, I know, but this was the best method. It only took me killing one of them to understand I was still an enemy as they began attacking me left and right. Fifteen minutester, I finally had thirty nerdal corpses in my inventory. Sadly the ones from before all got chopped to pieces by Mr. Idiot.
Now I am not only in a bad mood, but it was also raining, so I am also soaked. ¡°I still need to sell the stupid bandits¡. Which means I need to feed them.¡± I was too tired andzy at this point to look for proper edible food, so I just grabbed a branch off a tree with a bunch of leaves and figured it would do.
I stuck up a barrier over my head while I used heating to dry myself off. Only when I waspletely dry did I head back. But who would have thought that on my way back, Mr. Knight In Shining Armor was up to his old tricks again? ¡°What are you doing?¡±
¡°What am I doing? I am trying to save these poor souls who were buried up to their heads by some demon.¡± The young man answered me without even looking back at me. He was currently bashing away at the barrier around the bandits in the ground. On top of that, he just called me a demon!
¡°So you not only want to kill my nerdals, but you also want to take my bounty on those bandits!? Are you a thief!? Fireball!¡± I tossed out a fireball without much thought. I was sick of this kid just butting in where it did not belong!
¡°Why are you attacking me again!? Can¡¯t you see these people need help!?¡± The young man quickly jumped back and stared at me with an aggrieved expression. While the young man was handsome, with his blonde hair and blue eyes, he was a total idiot.
¡°Those are bandits that I caught that I am taking back to the nearest town, and you want to free them!?¡± I mean,e on. Why do I have to run into such a weirdo as soon as I start my journey?
¡°Bandits?¡± I watched as the young man lowered his sword and scratched his head. ¡°Even if they are bandits, can¡¯t you at least treat them better?¡±
¡°You really are stupid! Why would anyone give good conditions for the bandits they caught!? They murder and sell people for a living to steal their goods. And you want to treat them nicely?¡± My chest heaving up and down. This idiot¡¯s only purpose in life was to anger me, I swear.
¡°Why do you keep calling me stupid this, idiot that?¡±
¡°Because you are a one hundred percent idiot! Can you at least take a look at the situation before you act? No, no, please don¡¯t forget that. How about this. Give me the seven gold you owe me and be on your way.¡±
¡°Seven gold!? You said it was only five before!¡±
¡°Because you owe me ten gold for all the nerdal material you destroyed!¡± In truth, he only owed me five gold. There were not that many nerdals, to begin with. But since he was an idiot and was wasting my time, I figured I would tack on a bit ofpensation. I mean, there is no harm in taking a little kickback for the headache he has given me, right?
¡°Why is it ten now!?¡± I had to hold my tongue because I almost burst outughing, looking at the young man¡¯s pathetic face.
¡°Ahem¡¡± I cleared my throat and slowly spoke. ¡°Because you are making me deal with an idiot. So quickly pay up, oh hero of justice.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t have it!¡± The young man said proudly.
¡°So you are not going to pay what you owe? Then take off all your armor and give me your sword. I can at least sell it for somepensation.¡± I mean, something was better than nothing. This would also give him a good lesson in not just jumping in when it is not needed. Whether he truly felt I needed saving or not has nothing to do with me. I am someone who only cares about those close to me everyone else can shoo away. Of course, if I saw someone in need of help, I would probably try to help them, but this was beside the point. I, however, would make sure that whoever I was helping truly needed my help.
¡°No¡. I need them both. Plus, if I give them to you, I would have nothing else to wear.¡±
¡°What you wear has nothing to do with me, just take it off and give it to me!¡± I couldn¡¯t take it anymore and walked right over to the young man and took his sword before I began pulling on his armor.
¡°Miss! I swear I will pay you back, please let me keep my armor!¡±
¡°A hero should always pay their debts!¡± I suddenly realized I was no different from a bandit right now. While he did owe me money, I was also starting to feel conflicted. One thing I did notice was that this entire time he had not looked down on me for being a demi. I sighed and let go of his armor and gave back his sword.
¡°Fine, keep it. But if you go to the capital, look me up at the magic academy. My name is Faith Cyrilia. You owe me twenty gold from this day forth. So if you do not give it to me by the next time we meet, I will strip your armor off you.¡± In light of him not being a demi hater, I can only do this.
¡°Twenty gold¡ Alright, I, Charles Doli, swear on my path to being a hero that I will one day pay you back, miss Faith.¡± He doesn¡¯t even have a heroic name!
¡°Then Charles, I will be waiting. Now then, I need to feed my bandits, so I will not keep you.¡± I didn¡¯t even wait for his reply before walking through my barrier and undoing the mound of dirt surrounding the heads in the ground. I then began ripping leaves off the tree branch and cing them in front of the bandits¡¯ faces. ¡°I didn¡¯t have time to find anything proper, so make do with this. Although I am not sure if they are poisonous or not¡.¡±
Chapter 52 The Town Of Hammerlin
¡°Miss, we can go without the food¡.¡± I heard the bald headed bandit say. I looked over at him and drew my sword. ¡°Waa! Look at these tasty leaves. I can¡¯t wait to eat them.¡±
Seeing the bandits all eat the leaves happily, I nodded my head in satisfaction. I turned around to go prepare a spot for me to make camp, only to see that the idiot was still standing there. Drenched from the rain staring at me. ¡°Why haven¡¯t you left yet?¡±
¡°I wanted to know why are you so strong?¡± Charles asked suddenly. To be honest, I also wanted to know why he was so strong. I mean, my stats were off the charts.
[Humanoid Form]
[Name]: Faith Cyrilia
[Age] 12
[Level] 42
[Race] Dragonic-.
[HP] 20000/20000
[MP] ¡Þ
[Attack Power] 19600
[Magic Power] 19600
[Status Points] 495
[Strength] 1960
[Vitality] 2000
[Intelligence] 1960
[Mind] ¡Þ
[Agility] 1960
[Skill Points] 11
[Skills]
[Appraisal (LVL 10(MAX))] [Military Command (LVL 10(MAX))] [Military Tactics (LVL 10(MAX))]
On top of my stats being off the charts, I still had status points I could use, which may give me an edge over the young man, but the thing was, was that I was a dragon, and he seemed to be human from what I could tell. ¡°How about telling me how a human is able to be this strong at your age.¡±
¡°Because I am the hero!¡± Charles stated proudly, causing me to hold my head. Did he really think just because he said he was a hero that, that would exin his strength?
¡°No, really, how are you so strong? For me, I am a demi, so it¡¯s only natural for me to be stronger. It¡¯s just I have never met a human near my age that was just as strong as I am.¡± This was true. My family was mostly made up of half demis. While my mother was strong, she was only strong in magic. My father and brother were both strong due to their dragonkin blood. But even then, excluding my father, since I am not sure how strong he is exactly, I was still stronger than my brother. But here, a human boy who was around my age had strength equal to my own, and even then, I still do not know if he is holding back or not.
I watched as Charles crossed his arms in front of him and fell into thought. ¡°I think it started the day I had a strange dream and some beautiful woman in white withrge ti¡.¡±
¡°Get on with it!¡±
¡°Ahem¡.¡± Charles¡¯ cheeks turned slightly red as he cleared his throat. ¡°The woman said something about how this world needs a hero, so she was granting me the strength to be one. But I had to go out into the world and make people recognize me to be strong. Since then, I have been strong. Although I do remember this one time when I was around five that my mother asked me to pick some radishes, and I came back with a tree.¡±
I held my head. This kid was just born stupidly strong, and I emphasize the word stupidly. I mean, who mistakes a tree for a radish!? They look nowhere near the same! Plus, if he was able to pull a tree out of the ground at such a young age, what the hell was the story just now about somedy in white? Fantasy? Did he just toss one of his fantasies at me!?
¡°Ummm? Why are you making such a scary face?¡± Yes, I was ring at the boy. I just wanted him to leave so I could finally sleep.
¡°You got your answer, so please go. I need to rest.¡± I waved him off, not wanting to waste any more words on him. The sky was already dark, and I wanted to get up at first light.
¡°Then I will be off. If you are ever in need, remember Charles, the hero of Gravos, wille running! Just call out my name, oh Hero of Gravos, save me, and I will appear. Good day, fair m¡. Ouch hey! Don¡¯t throw boulders at me!¡±
¡°Then shut up and go!¡±
¡°Alright, I will go!¡±
I watched as Charles walked away with slumped shoulders. I let out a sigh of relief seeing him go. At least now I could finally sleep. I walked over to where my bandits were and undid the barrier over my head, and created a small room made of dirt. It was not too big, just big enough for me to sit inside and lean up against the wall to close my eyes. But before entering, I rebuilt the dirt wall around the bandits¡¯ heads to keep them out of sight. While my barrier would keep others out, it was not foolproof. That is why for good measure, I also set up a fewndmine spells around the area.
Only when I was satisfied did I tell the bandits to get some sleep before retreating to my little dirt hut. After cing a small fireball in the center to keep the ce warm, did I finally find afortable spot and sit down. I am not sure if it was because of how troublesome the day was or not, but my eyelids did not seem to be able to stay open, and I slowly fell into a slumber¡.
The next morning the rain had stopped, and the sun was high in the sky. To get rid of the bandits sooner, I decided to speed things up with the spell, elerate. While the bandits screamed for mercy, I arrived at the next town by noon. But when I saw the town, I couldn¡¯t help but feel that it felt more like a city. Tall buildings made of wood rose up over the huge stone walls that surrounded the town. The only entrance seemed to be the big gates to the city. ¡°If I remember correctly, this ce is called Hammerlin¡.¡±
I walked up to the gate with the tear filled bandits behind me. Of course, the guards quickly stopped me. ¡°State your business.¡± A guard that looked to be in his mid forties called out. Although the way he said it sounded rude, he did not have any harsh tone behind his words.
¡°I came to im a bounty on these bandits,¡± I said while pulling on the rope behind me. To my surprise, the bald headed bandit dropped to his knees and began confessing all his ins. ¡°Sir, guard, please arrest us, we are no good bandits that rob and kill people. We even sell women and children off to ve traders. If I am not wrong, I even have a three silver bounty on my head.¡±
¡°I have a one silver bounty!¡±
¡°Mine is two!¡±
Was this some kind of contest to see who was worth more!? Was my treatment that bad that they would rather be sent to do hardbor than stay another second with me? I have a sudden urge to make them travel all the way to the capital with me! I will show them a thing or two. I mean, even the guard is giving me a strange look! ¡°Maybe I should just wait until I get to the capital¡.¡±
¡°No, no! Miss, you do not need us dragging you down. You can just as easily get our bounties here in this town. Why would you want some dirty, disgusting men following you around?¡± I watched as the head bandit turned to his men behind him and shouted: ¡°What are you all standing around for? Quicklye to the guard and give him your name! We all got some form of bounty on us! Quickly help the Miss here get paid.¡± The bald headed bandit seemed to have drunk too much caffeine as he ordered his men around. I was truly at a loss for words.
¡°So, will you be turning them in or not?¡± The guard next to me asked. I could tell he was unsure of what to do at this time.
I sighed and waved my hand. ¡°Yeah. Take them.¡±
¡°Then please follow me to the headquarters.¡±
I nodded and handed my rope over to the guard. For some reason, the bandits all started cheering and happily followed after the guard as if they had just gotten away from a horrible monster. But I do not think I was that bad. I kept them safe. I fed them. I even kept the rain off their heads but yet they still seemed to be d to be getting away from me. I let out a long sigh as I followed after the guard.
When I passed through the gates, I was met with the hustle and bustle you would expect from arge town. The streets were packed with people walking to and fro. The buildings were tall and made me crane my neck just to see the tops of them. The bases were made of stone, while the rest was wood and ster, from what I could tell. Each building had six or seven floors. I was quite surprised at how big they were. What lined the streets were small stalls where vendors were selling their goods. I made a note to check them outter to see if anything interesting was being sold. ¡°I guess I can consider this officially starting my journey¡.¡±
Chapter 53 Merits
The guard headquarters was a four story building that was on the main road, surrounded by a short log fence. It was set back further because the front yard was used for training. It did not take a genius to figure this out because the yard was full of straw and wooden dummies for practicing, and a few guards were outside swinging their swords. There was even arge circr patch of dirt that a few other guards were at, two of which were sparring in the center. To be honest, I kind of wanted to test them out myself to see how strong they were, but I held back. Not that they would let me anyway but it was still fun to think about it.
¡°By the way, my name is Jack.¡± The guard, who had been quiet this entire time, suddenly spoke up. ¡°I forgot to introduce myself, which was rude of me.¡±
¡°Nice to meet you, Jack, my name is Faith.¡± I returned his greeting. I was finding it strange that not many people were giving me strange looks. Especially now that I was in the guard station. I wonder if this was one of the rules to join any guard or even the knights, that they had to at least be nice to demi humans.
¡°It¡¯s nice to meet you as well. I should have introduced myself earlier, but to be honest, I have been trying to wrap my head around the fact that you caught bandits, ten at that. Not to mention these guys seem quite scared of you, Haha!¡± Jack let out a loudugh. The so called bandits didn¡¯t seem to mind either. They evenughed along with him.-.
¡°Well, they would have been fine if they did not try to stop me.¡± I pursed my lips as I said this. It was because of these bandits that I had to deal with the idiot hero guy.
¡°Haha! Well, in a way, I am d they did stop you. The fewer the bandits on the road, the safer it is for the citizens. You would be surprised at how many reports we get each week. Sadly once someone is robbed, whether it be their goods or their women and children, trying to get any of it back is a lost cause.¡± Jack shook his head. I could tell he hated this fact.
¡°I couldn¡¯t just let them go free after they stopped me even if I did beat them up¡.¡± I really couldn¡¯t tell him the only reason I captured them was because I wanted their treasure. Sometimes it is best to lie.
¡°That is true. Haha. I thank you. Now then, if you will follow me inside.¡± Jack pushed open the door to the guard headquarters and led me down a small hall to arge room. There was a table in the center of the room, with chairs around it, and a small windowed counter in the wall on my left, with a man sitting on the other side. On the far wall to my right was a morefortable seating area with cushioned chairs lined up against the walls. It reminded me of a doctor¡¯s office when you went to visit and had to wait your turn. Besides that, there was a barded door that led to another hallway leading further inside the building next to the window on my left.
¡°Faith, I will ask you to wait here while we confirm their bounties and file the proper paperwork. Bringing in bandits also raises your merit with the kingdom, so it is good to make sure everything is on file. Plus, this way, you know you are getting the correct amounts.¡±
¡°Okay.¡± I nodded my head and turned to go sit in one of the chairs. Surprisingly enough, the chairs had open spots in the back and were pulled away from the wall to amodate demi humans. While it only took into ount for tails, I could still easily sit in it with my wings pressed against my back.
I looked around the room a bit and pursed my lips with how boring the room was. There was nothing on the white walls, not even pictures. It was a gloomy room that gave nothing for the eye to look at. If there was a picture, I could at least stare at it and nitpick it until Jack returned but sadly, I could only look at the white ceiling that had a bunch of bumps in it and start counting. Sitting and doing nothing was not something I was able to do unless I was trying to sleep.
While I counted the bumps, I began thinking about what I was going to do for the rest of the day. Since the town I was in seemed okay for demi humans, I figured I would do what I never got a chance to do before, and that was to browse the stalls and try out some of the food the town had to offer.
Wandermere used to have the same kind of setup until the lynching and the splitting of the vige. While small, it still gave a ce for the locals to sell what they had to others. So I was kind of excited to see what the town had to offer.
I ended up waiting almost thirty minutes before Jack came back from the back room with a stack of papers in his hands. ¡°Sorry for the wait. I never thought that all ten would really have bounties. I hate to say it, but you will need to sign quite a few forms.¡±
¡°Okay.¡± I got up from my seat and walked over to the table in the middle of the room. Jack began sorting the files out into ten stacks.
¡°The top page is the information on the bounty and how much the bounty is for. The second page is your authorization for us to take them in, and the second tost page is confirming that you received the bounties in full. Andstly, we need your signature, a drop of blood, and magic injection to make sure that you do not miss out on the merits. When dealing with merits that are not officially going through proper channels from the kingdom, like being a knight under the kingdom or going through the mercenary guild, you will have to fill out this form each time. You can also gain merits at the royal academy as well. But for a normal civilian, we have to have these forms of signatures so they can be filed and sent to the capital. When or if you ever register at any of the ces I mentioned, you also have to register your signature, blood, and magic.¡± Jack¡¯s exnation confused me a bit because I did not know anything about merit points.
¡°Jack, what do these merit points do for you? What use do they have?¡± I asked. I mean, if you do not know, it is best to ask.
¡°Merit points are used to allow even amoner to reach a higher noble rank. Although you would need a lot, you can reach the rank of baron or higher if you gathered enough merit points.¡± So basically, it was a means to rise through the ranks. It made me wonder just how many nobles this kingdom really had.
I thanked Jack for his exnation before quickly signing all the forms. By the time I was done, my hand ached from grasping the quill. I think at some point, I should really introduce an actual pen. Making such things would be easy. A metal pen with ink injected inside and a small ball at the end. Pressing down and writing will allow the ink to escape, I should probably have the parts madeter on to try it out. I wonder if this kingdom has a thing called patents. This way, after it is made, I can sell it exclusively under my name.
After finishing the paperwork, Jack handed over a small pouch full of silver coins. ¡°Fifteen silver in total. Also, take this.¡± Jack handed me a small card. ¡°This is your pass. It is good for three days. Normally they cost three copper, but since you have done a good deed, this one is free. You will need it if you get stopped by a guard.¡±
I see, so it seems there was a kind of citizenship when it came to towns. You needed proper identification if you nned to stay for long periods of time in the town, which made sense since if someonemitted a crime, those in town could be tracked with these cards. I could even feel a bit of magic in it. A tracking function was my best guess. To be honest, with how this world was all over the ce with technology, I was not surprised.
By having everyone carrying a form of identification, if someonemitted a crime, it would be easy to find out who it was or if the person was even allowed to be in town. You probably had to get one of these before entering town, so unless you scaled the walls, you were stuck getting one. And if you tossed it afterward, then the guards would easily find it and then begin searching for you. Very intuitive for town protection.
¡°Thanks!¡± I once again gave my thanks before exiting the guard headquarters and making my way to the street. Now I could finally check out the stalls. I feel like eating some meat¡.
Chapter 54 Selling The Goods Part 1
Sadly before I could even think about the stalls, I had to find a ce to sell my nerdals. I had at least a few golds worth which would allow me to shop a bit more. ¡°Excuse me.¡± I stopped in front of a shop that was run by an older woman. I had spotted her setting things up before going into the guard headquarters. She looked to be in her mid forties and was on the bigger side, but when she turned and looked at me, she did not show any disgust at all. Hearing me call out to her, the older woman turned and smiled brightly at me before walking over.
¡°What can I do for you, youngdy?¡± I really was quite surprised at the way people weed demi humans in this town. While I did feel a few malicious gazes, most people didn¡¯t even pay attention to me. Those that did look at me would smile before going about their things.
Compared to the stares and whispers I got back in Wandermere, this town was like a safe haven for all demi humans. Of course, this was only spection. Who knows, if they were not all gloating inside and at some point, I would be part of some game where I am given some food rations and had to run away from all the humans trying to kill me. If I survive for a certain amount of time, I win. At any rate, for the time being, they were all being nice to me.
¡°Yes, can you tell me where I can sell materials from nerdals? Is there an armorsmith around?¡± I did not know exactly who I was to bring this to, so I figured an armorsmith of some kind would be best. And since I did not know what the town had for craftsmen, I figured the term armorsmith would work best.
¡°Nerdals? You actually have materials from nerdals? Hmmm, if you are going to sell them and want to get the most out of them, you can sell them to the mercenary guild down the street. Just keep going until you see the big sign with the skull and swords. I never understood why they chose such a signboard, but that is the best ce to sell materials. As for an armorsmith, There is the cksmith and the leatherworking shop. I have never heard of any armorsmith.¡± -.
¡°Thank you! When I sell my materials, I will be sure to stop by and buy a few things as my way of saying thanks.¡± I waved at the older woman and ran off. I could hear her telling me I didn¡¯t have to buy anything but. She was selling what looked to be some kind of pastry, and I wanted to try it anyway.
The mercenary guild was not hard to find. It was a fairly big building with huge doors at the entrance, and as the older woman had said, there was a big sign with a skull and sword. The swords were piercing through the skull. Kinda made it seem like a bandit hideout than a mercenary guild. But nheless, I was here to sell things, and if I can get more moneying here, then I would do just that. Although¡. I walked over to the side and sat down, and opened my menu. ¡°Let¡¯s see¡. Business¡. Business¡. Ah, here we go¡. Business Tycoon! A skill that allows me to be the best of the best when ites to business. Not only does it allow me to understand how to make a sessful business, but it also allows me to know when someone is trying to rip me off. A kind of business sense.¡±
And so I took the skill Business Tycoon and maxed it out. This was probably the best all-rounder skill because even if I had to hide in another kingdom somece, I could always rely on this skill to make me money in the future and forge a new path if need be.
[Business Tycoon (LVL 10(MAX))]
With that set, I walked into the mercenary guild with my head held high. However, as soon as I stepped through the door, a loud voice echoed through the big hall. ¡°What the hell is a demi doing in here!?¡± A young man with spiked hair yelled out. To be honest, I do not even know what made him act so tough. He was just as skinny as I was, and I¡¯m a little girl! He looked like a bad take on the evil viin from some crappy movie made back on Earth. With his sharp pointy green spiky hair and loose fitting leather armor, I really wondered how he even fought in such a getup.
¡°Bastard, Jerad, apologize this instant!¡± A woman at another table yelled out. ¡°You dare pick on a little girl!?¡±
¡°Gesel, shut up and mind your own business! You know more than anyone how much I hate demis.¡± Bastard Jerad answered. He really had a unique name, it seemed to fit him well.
¡°You! Just because that rabbitkin told you off in public, you now hate all demi humans!? Are you an idiot?¡± Oh ho ho? Do we have some kind of drama going on in Bastard Jerad¡¯s life? So basically, he was rejected and told off, and now he hates everyone.
¡°Damnit. Gesel, I will kill you!¡± Bastard Jerad seemed to have lost his cool. But I think this young woman named Gesel did it on purpose because as soon as Bastard Jerad charged at her, she turned to me and winked. For a woman who was full of muscles, she was a very kind person. And by muscles, I mean they were bigger than my father¡¯s. Anyway, never judge a book by its cover. Sometimes they got unique names like Bastard Jerad. This is the lesson I will take home from this little incident. As for Bastard Jerad, he was knocked out cold without even being able to put up a fight. As I thought, he was rather weak.
I walked up to the counter and rang the small bell to the side that was used to call the person in the back. ¡°Can I help you?¡± A young man with sses walked over and sat down behind the counter. To be honest, I was just barely tall enough to see over the counter. It made me realize just how short I was.
¡°Yes, I need to sell quite a few nerdals hides¡. Well, more like the entire monster.¡± I hoped they would take the entire corpse, or I would need to take up the skill needed to harvest monster skins. And to be honest, I really did not wish to take up such a trade. But now that I am thinking about monsters. For some reason, I did not feel my ancient will at all when I killed the nerdals. I wonder if it is because of the way I killed them or some other factor that is now restraining it. Well, whatever the reason is, I am grateful for it.
¡°Little Miss, I do not see any nerdals with you.¡± The young man¡¯s words brought me back from my thoughts.
¡°One second.¡± I reached out to my side and grabbed a nerdal from my inventory. With a loud bang, it fell to the floor.
¡°Hot damn spatial magic!¡± I heard a loud, gruff voice yell out behind me. Spatial magic was a thing? I never heard about it, but by the surprised look and the fact that someone knew about it, I guess it was. It was also at this time that I realized that I did forget that people did not have inventories like me, which is a big blunder on my behalf.
¡°Littledy, to think you are able to use such a high ranked spell¡ How about joining my merc group?¡± The gruff man ran over to me and reached out to take my hands. I instinctively reached for my sword.
¡°Fred!¡± Gesel, who hade up behind the gruff man, grabbed him by the cor and pulled him back. ¡°You were about to lose that hand. See how the littledy already has her hand on the hilt of her sword. She is no amateur. Or else she wouldn¡¯t have a fully intact nerdal with no damage on it.¡±
After scolding Fred, Gesel smiled at me and pulled me squatted down. She was like six foot five, so while she was standing, I had to crane my neck to look up at her. So it was nice of her to squat down to my level. ¡°Little miss. I suggest never showing that magic to anyone. People might even try to kidnap you. Luckily the only one here who would do such a thing was just knocked out by me. Hahaha! Isn¡¯t that right, boys?¡±
¡°Right! Gesel knows us best. We could care less about spatial magic, but littless. There are merchants and a few other not so noble individuals who will try to covet your magic as it is only something top mages can cast. So be careful.¡±
¡°I will¡ Well, since I already showed it to you once, can I take out the rest of the nerdals?¡± I did not want to cause any issues, but it was hard to pull out the nerdals if I couldn¡¯t ess my inventory.
¡°Wait, you have more!?¡±
Chapter 55 Selling The Goods Part 2
¡°Mmm¡¡± I nodded my head and began pulling the nerdals out one by one soon, there was a pile of dead nerdals taking up arge area. The way I killed them made it, so no blood got anywhere, so besides the dirt on their bodies, there wouldn¡¯t be a huge mess to clean up.
¡°This is insane!¡± Gesel yelled out. I could see where she wasing from after all to her I was just a small girl who looked frail.
¡°Ahem¡¡± Mr. sses behind the counter cleared his throat. I turned to look at him with eyes full of expectation. ¡°I can see that each one is in very good condition. The standard market price for a nerdal hide in pristine condition is twenty silver. Since we will need to skin them ourselves, I will give you fifteen silver each.¡±
¡°Oh! Not bad. To think even Mr. Stickler over here was willing to give a decent price for once.¡± Geselmented. I can only guess that Mr. sses is someone who always lowers the price of things to save the guild money. Which is not a bad practice but sadly for him, I did not take the skill ¡®business tycoon¡¯ for no reason.
¡°Wait!¡.¡± I raised my hand, stopping everyone from continuing. I walked over to the counter and looked Mr. sses in the eyes, and asked: ¡°You said the guild will be skinning them. So does that mean the guild will also create items with the materials?¡±
¡°Huh? Yes, we do. We do all the craftsmanship and then sell them to our mercenaries.¡± My lips curled up hearing this. This means they would be making a bigger profit. Why should I get the short end of the stick when they will be making out like bandits. -.
¡°So if you will be selling them which will, in the end, make you a huge profit, why are you not buying them from me at market price? If I am not wrong, even the meat of the nerdal is worth a few silver. Since you will still make out on the deal, should you not at least be offering twenty two silver per nerdal?¡± I watched as Mr. sses¡¯ business smile cracked.
¡°You are really shrewd for your age.¡± My smile widened as I gave a small bow. ¡°Thank you.¡±
¡°The highest I can go is eighteen silver each.¡± I shook my head and waved my hand putting all the nerdals back into my inventory. ¡°I am not so hard up for money that I would sell my things for lower than market value. Sorry for disturbing you.¡±
With that, I gave my thanks to Gesel and the other man before walking towards the exit of the guild. ¡°Wait! Fine twenty two silver¡ Geeze¡.¡±
I smiled and turned around. The items from a single nerdal will go for triple the amount the hide is worth once the items are created. Not only that, but they can also use the ws and even the teeth of the nerdal to make tools and weapons. So it would have been a bigger loss for me to sell for anything cheaper.
Very soon, a bunch of workers from the guild came out from the backroom and began hauling the nerdals away. And while they were doing that, I was happily receiving my gold. Seven in total! Hehe, money, money! To be honest, this was the first time in both my lives making so much money. A single gold could be considered like a thousand bucks back on Earth. So for me, someone who never had an actual job making seven gold in a single day was a happy event. Now I could go out and try those pastries!
¡°Hahaha! I have never seen Mr. Stickler so angry before. His lips and eyes were twitching like mad. You have no idea how many have tried to get him to pay a higher price but always failed, and today he really had no choice since you brought so many nerdals. The armor made with a nerdal hide, if it is a full set, could easily sell for one gold coin. So he is not taking much of a loss. But he will always try to lower the price.¡± Gesel came over and patted my head. ¡°So now that you are rich, what do you n to do?¡±
¡°Mmmm¡. There was a pastry stall down the street that I wanted to try out. The olderdy that ran it was nice enough to send me here so I could sell my things.¡± I promised I woulde back, and I would! I would be sure to buy all her pastries if they were really good. I can stick them into my inventory to save forter. All these years, I have only had Aunty Finna¡¯s cookies and some snacks my mother would make, so trying out something new was always fun.
¡°Oh! Gretta¡¯s ce. Mind if I tag along? I have been itching to try her new goods.¡± Gesel¡¯s eyes lit up as she spoke about the pastries, but I have a feeling that while she was going for the pastries, she was also doing this to give me some protection.
¡°Sure, let¡¯s go! My treat!¡± I said with a smile. Those who are kind to me, I will be kind to in return. Since Gesel was willing to help me even before I had shown my skills, I would return that kindness in kind. Even if we may only be passing acquaintances.
¡°Oh! Looks like I will be hugging your thigh for this pastry run then! Hahaha!¡± As Geselughed and so did I. Gesel¡¯s smile seemed to brighten the mood of the room even if she did look like the hulk.
¡°Hey, what about me!?¡± Fred cried out, chasing after us. I smiled and waved him over, which he quickly smiled back and followed along.
The three of us left the guild and made our way down the street towards Gretta¡¯s ce. This time as I walked down the road, I really took a good look around at the people on the streets, and I noticed that mixed with the groups of humans were also demi humans. Seeing this I couldn¡¯t help but be happy but also purse my lips at the same time. I wondered why this town was so demi human friendly.
¡°Wondering why there are so many demi¡¯s are walking around?¡± I guess Gesel saw through my thoughts as I heard her question. I nodded my head as I turned to look at her. ¡°Hehe¡ It is because the town lord is a demi himself. He is nothing more than a small baron, but he has built this town into what it is today. A ce where demi humans and humans can walk around freely. No one is treated differently here. Sadly ces like this are far and in between. Even in the capital, while thew says anyone caught discriminating against demi humans will be fined or arrested, there is no way to truly control it.¡±
¡°Gesel, you go to the capital a lot?¡± This interested me. I knew next to nothing about the capital, so hearing that Gesel has been there, I couldn¡¯t pass up this chance to ask her.
¡°That I have. As a mercenary, going to the capital is something I will do on a regr basis. Although I do happen to like Hammerlin the most. It is a peaceful ce with good people. While it still has some bad apples, at least while walking down the street, you will never have to worry about being discriminated against. I do not know what your ns are, but if you¡¯re ever looking for a ce to settle down in the future, you can alwayse here. I will help you find a good ce to stay. Why do you ask? Are you nning to go to the capital?¡±
¡°Yes, I need to reach there in the next few months. I am joining the Royal Magic Academy.¡± I found Gesel very easy going and easy to talk to. Kinda like an older sister.
¡°The Royal Magic Academy, huh? I also went there.¡± Gesel¡¯s eyes narrowed, making me curious as to what she was about to say. ¡°Be careful. That ce is a closed box. There are many factions in the school. Some pro demi humans, and some who see them as nothing but inferior beings. I, for one, have always been pro demi humans. After all, when I was young, a tiger beastkin gave his life to save me. But that is just me and the main reason why I fell in love with this town. So always be careful who you befriend in the academy.¡±
I couldn¡¯t help but sigh. I kinda figured the capital, the Royal Magic Academy, in particr, was not going to be an easy ce to stay at, but I guess strength will silence all. I do not wish to resort to violence, but if I have people harassing me left and right while I am trying to learn, then I will put them in their ce, even if they are a prince or even a princess. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I will be sure to take care while I am at the academy.¡±
¡°Good.¡± Gesel patted my head before walking forward and waving her hand. ¡°Gretta!¡±
¡°Oh, Gesel! Are you here for the new creations?¡± I heard Gretta¡¯s voice ring out happily. It seems Gesel was a regr here.
¡°Haha! The littledy over there is treating me. Now that I think about it. I never caught your name! Haha!¡± I couldn¡¯t help butugh as well. I also just realized I never gave my name. To be able to get along with someone so well without even knowing the person¡¯s name or any formal introduction shows just how well the two of us clicked.
¡°Then let me formally introduce myself. My name is Faith Cyrilia.¡±
¡°Wait, did you just say Cyrilia!?¡±
Chapter 56 A Very Good Day
¡°You are that Faith Cyrilia!? The one who helped fend off the Norian armies!?¡± Gesel¡¯s eyes were wide open as she stared at me. I, for one, would have never thought my name would be so well known. I could feel my cheeks burning up as I scratched my head and nodded. It was kind of embarrassing. It was like being a celebrity in a way. Although for me, it was due to killing thousands of men. Now that I think about it, I am not sure if I should be happy about being well known for killing so many people¡.
¡°To think I would get to meet the little genius that every noble is talking about. Not to mention I get to hug her golden thigh while I mooch snacks. Haha!¡± Hearing Gesel joke around andugh made meugh as well. She had this kind of charm about her that made it so you could not not be in a good mood around her.
¡°Alright, let¡¯s get down to the reason we came here!¡± I could smell the yummy pastries and really wanted to try them out.
¡°You¡¯re right! Gretta, give us the works!¡± Gesel ordered while pulling me to a small table that was off to the side. She sat me down before sitting across from me. ¡°Now, Miss Genius. How does it feel to know that you are like the number one star of the capital now?¡±
¡°I do not know about being a genius, but I just did what I needed to do. If it was not for the fact that our kingdom bans very, I would have not rushed into harm¡¯s way. I would have taken my family and hid somece in the mountains. Believe it, or not my Cyrilia family are all strong.¡± I flexed my muscles as I said this, causing Gesel to let out anotherugh. She then mmed her arm down on the table and grinned at me.-.
¡°Let¡¯s see how strong you are. Come on, arm wrestle me.¡± Gesel opened and closed the palm of her hand. Her huge muscles bulged. At this point, I was not sure if I should or not. I mean, if I did win, I would feel bad. But if I didn¡¯t win ande to find out that I was actually rather weak after everything I had been through, then I would prefer to go out and level up some more. But seeing the fighting spirit in Gesel¡¯s eyes, I sighed and gave in and ced my skinny arm up on the table.
¡°Fred, you be the judge.¡± The middle aged man that came with us, who was as quiet as can be. The one person who had I forgotten was even here. Walked over from the nearby stall that was selling meat skewers and frowned upon seeing the situation.
¡°Gesel, are you really arm wrestling a kid? I mean, isn¡¯t that a little unfair?¡± Fred asked as he sat down and bit into his skewer.
¡°What do you mean unfair!? Did you not hear what I said earlier!?¡± No, Gesel, he did not since he was not with us! Is what I wanted to say, but I stayed out of it. I think there was a thing going on between the two. You could say my horns were tingling when I looked at them bickering.
¡°You said something?¡± Fred asked, causing Gesel to stare at him as if he was crazy.
¡°You didn¡¯t listen at all! Look here, you know the name Cyrilia right?¡±
¡°Hmm yeah. Back at the capital, the genius girl¡. Wait¡¡± Fred looked my way. I gave him a smile and a wave. I would ask if he wanted an autograph, but I am sure he wouldn¡¯t understand what I mean. ¡°You are Faith Cyrilia!? Hot damn! No wonder you can kill all those nerdals! That exins it. Okay, then never mind, I want to see who is stronger now. The Genius of her time Gesel or the neer, Faith!¡±
Now Fred was all fired up. I helplessly shook my head and grabbed Gesel¡¯s big hand. In a way, this looked quite funny because her hand engulfed mine. Which kind of gave her the advantage, so I guess I would need to really work hard at this. With our hands gripped together, Fred ced his hand on top of ours. After finishing the meat in his mouth, he looked at both of us to see if we were ready. ¡°And go!¡±
I felt an overwhelming force pushing against my hand, causing me to firmly push back against it. Gesel was strong, and I mean strong. She had a lot of power, and I was struggling quite badly. This was the second person I have met sinceing out into the real world whose strength was on par with my own. First, it was an idiot fake hero, and now Gesel. The world was much bigger than I could ever imagine.
Because of the size difference, I knew I wasn¡¯t going to win. Gesel had more leverage than me, so my little arm was bending in a funny way. ¡°Faith, you are really strong!¡± Yes, so are you! I really wanted to cry. My lovely stats were nothing! Sigh¡. Oh system that has granted me such great power, why have you forsaken me¡? I sighed as I relented and allowed my hand to flop over.
¡°See, I told you it was unfair. Look at the size difference!¡± Fred yelled. He then looked at me and shook his head. ¡°If you were not so tiny, I am sure you would have won. Plus, she cheated. She held onto the table.¡±
¡°No, I did not!¡± Gesel cheeks turned red. I looked at the edge of the table, and sure enough, finger marks were embedded into it. I looked up at Gesel, who turned her head to the side, whistling away. After a few moments, she finally threw her hands up into the air and yelled out: ¡°Fine! I cheated a little! But who told Faith to have such monstrous strength in such a skinny body!? I have a reputation to uphold, you know!¡±
¡°Hehe!¡± I let out augh. And shifted my thigh to the right covering up the marks on my chair. Yeah, I was cheating too¡ I heard a chuckle to my side, and Fred gave me a knowing look. I can only lower my head in shame.
¡°Here you go! One of my newest creations. Mipalia filled sweet bread. The mipalia has a kind of tart taste that will make your taste buds scream.¡± Gretta announced while cing a few tes in front of us.
The smelling from the pastry was unlike anything I smelled before. I had no idea what mipalia was, but whatever it was, it smelled amazing. It had a fruity smell to it but nothing I had ever smelled before. I picked up the pastry with my hands and bit into the soft doughy sweet bread. A burst of tart yet sweet vor filled my mouth, causing my lips to pucker slightly. but after the tartness, my lips couldn¡¯t help but curl up into a smile. I even let out a squeal as my body shook. ¡°Gretta, this is amazing!¡± I had to praise her. It was truly delicious.
¡°I am d you like it! I had a hard time preparing the mipalia. It was a tough ingredient as the fruit¡¯s shell is so hard that it took my husband an entire day to break open a single one with a hammer and chisel. But once he got the hang of it, we got quite a few opened, only then could I start preparing it. Sadly these are only limited additions as theye from the Kingdom of Lodinia.¡± Gretta let out a long sigh.
It was hard to get the ingredients you wanted from other kingdoms unless you went to that kingdom and found a supplier willing to deliver. And Lodinia, of all ces, was basically asking for trouble as it was a kingdom ruled by beastkin. They did not really like humans very much, and traders seldom went between the two kingdoms. The worst part about the kingdom was it was a desert wastnd. This was why none of the kingdoms cared too much for Lodinia at first. But before they realized it, the beastkins kingdom grew at a rapid rate and now they were a strong power on par with Gravos or the even Norain Kingdom.
¡°Anyway, I am d you all like them. I got one more. I would like you to try it as well and let me know if it is worth selling. I have an actual supply line for this one.¡± Gretta ran off to prepare more pastries while I finished up the one in my hand. Mesta, a world that could only be dreamed about in stories and people¡¯s dreams back on Earth, was alive and thriving, and here I was, experiencing it all for myself. I was really starting to get excited about the future.
I spent a few hours chatting with Gesel and Fred before saying goodbye, as they had things they had to do. She told me to look for her if I ever pass by the capital¡¯s mercenary guild hall. I hope we do meet again. I found Gesel to be a really fun person.
After they left, I bought a lot of pastries from Gretta, who was shocked when I kept pointing to each pastry one after the other. The other pastry she had us try, tasted like a chocte truffle. It tasted very good. With my hands full of pastries, I walked towards an inn that Gretta rmended and booked a room. Only when I was behind closed doors did I store all my pastries away. I will say that I did get strange looks from the innkeeper when she saw me carrying so many pastries. All in all, I can say today was a very good day.
Chapter 57 On The Road Again
Currently, I was soaking my body in a nice hot bath. Unlike how most fantasy novels portrayed the worlds in an ancient times setting where you either used a pot to do your business or ran to an outhouse out back. And if you wanted to bathe, you needed to get some water from the well and dump it on your body one bucket at a time. Nope, nothing like that. Hot baths and proper toilets can be found in the rooms. While it wasn¡¯t really separated except for the toilet, I did not care. To be honest, I do not know how those girls during those times could deal with it. I wouldn¡¯t want to expose my body for everyone to see.
After a nice hot bath, I got out a new set of clothes and decided to head out to get some of those meat skewers that Fred was munching on. They smelt very good. Sadly I never did get a chance to ask Gesel if she and Fred were a thing. He seemed to stick to her like glue. Maybe it is one of those unrequited loves?
As I made my way downstairs, the innmarm stopped me and called me over. ¡°I was so busy earlier I never introduced myself. My name is Lisa. If you need anything just call me or my daughter Becky. Speaking of that girl, where did she even go?¡±
Lisa looked around and let out a long, drawn out sigh. I guess her daughter is always skipping out on work. ¡°Okay, I will! Thank you!¡± I said with a smile before heading out of the inn. I only nned to stay the night and begin my trip once more tomorrow. While I really like this town and how nice everyone is, I still needed to move on. Just knowing there is more than one ce in this world, so epting of demi humans is enough to let me know that I will always have a ce to go. -.
¡°Now then¡ Time for some of those tasty meat skewers.¡± I licked my lips and walked over to the stall from earlier. There was a young man behind the counter working away over a zing fire.
¡°Hiyo! What can I get ya?¡± The young man asked. He was about sixteen-seventeen, with a white bandana wrapped around his head to catch the sweat that was dripping down. His short spiky ck hair poked up out the top of the bandana.
¡°Can I get four skewers, please?¡± I asked. The smell was making my mouth water. I did not know what seasoning they were using, but it smelt oh so good.
¡°Hiyo! Will be right up, five minutes.¡± The young man yelled back. I watched as he handed over the skewers he just cooked to the man next to me before taking out four long wooden sticks with points at the end of time and stabbing them into some marinated meat. Chunk after chunk of meat was added to each skewer with a few vegetables in between. He then began holding them over the fire with one hand, and with the other hand, he began adding the spices. The grease dripped down from the meat into the open me, making it re up. I stood there with shining eyes as I waited to sink my teeth into the tasty meat. My current state made me chuckle because I remembered a meat loving dragon in a novel I used to read back on Earth. Sadly I never got to finish reading it.
¡°Order up!¡± The young man yelled as he handed me the skewers, I took them and quickly paid. After giving my thanks, I hurriedly went to find a ce to sit and eat. I will say this. If it smells good, it will taste good, and the taste was absolutely amazing! It was out of this world, and the meat was so thick and juicy! While Mother¡¯s cooking was also very good, this was just on a whole new level. This could easily be sold in a high ss restaurant back on Earth.
I didn¡¯t eat all four, only two. I stashed the other two away in my inventory. This way, they will still be piping hotter on when I go to snack on them. With a full belly, I began looking around at the shops. There were quite a few interesting things. And quite a few things, I had no idea what they were or what they were used for. But sadly all my attention was taken when I reached this shop with a lot of shiny things. One gold coin¡. One entire gold coin, and I bought the entire shop out. The old man who ran the shop stared at me as I fervently bought all his merchandise with shining eyes. I just couldn¡¯t hold back. It was not until I returned to the inn with multiple bags full of shiny things that I realized I might have a major issue. My mother told me not to follow anyone with candy. This was easy to do, but what if they have a shiny rock? This thought scared me.
¡°I need to be careful from now on¡.¡± I muttered as I put my loot into my inventory. None of the items I bought had any real use except looking pretty and shiny. I sighed and decided to just stay inside the inn for the rest of the day. It was already getting close to evening time, so I decided to call it a day.
The next morning I said my goodbyes to Lisa and finally met her daughter, who had a big lump on the top of her head. It seemed she got punished for running off. She was busy wiping tables with a sour face, so I didn¡¯t say anything to her.
As I got to the front gate, I ran into the nice guard that I met when I first came here. I gave him my thanks and hit the open road once more. This time I hoped I wouldn¡¯t run into any more bandits. As I walked down the road humming a song I made up on my own, I walked with my hands behind my back and a skip in my step. I am currently enjoying my solo travel. The warm, gentle breeze that swept past my face felt really good. But I found it funny that no matter how long I stay out in the sun, my skin is always white. I never get any sunburns or anything. Even as I grew up and was outside all day under the hot sun, I still never got a single sunburn. My brother, on the other hand, would turn as red as a tomato. It was kinda funny, actually. Because I would sneak up behind him and poke him on the reddest spots making him yell at me and chase me around the house.
I guess I was that annoying little sister, but even so, he would always run to my aid when I needed him. He was truly a good big brother¡ I paused my steps and looked up at the sky. ¡°Hasn¡¯t even been that long, and I am already feeling slightly homesick.¡±
I sighed and continued forward. While I will always remember the fun I had while growing up with my family, I still needed to venture out into the real world. I just hoped the rest of my journey to the capital will not have any more idiots in it. However, I did n to do a bit of testing while out on this journey.
First and foremost, I needed to find a ce that had tall enough trees to block my dragon body and test out whether or not I could transform with my clothes on. Now that I had plenty of clothes to spare, I wanted to be sure I wouldn¡¯t end up naked one day if I ever needed to transform into a dragon. I also need to search for more level up spots. To be honest, when I checked my stats before, I didn¡¯t even realize that I had gained ten levels from the nerdals. I had been so busy dealing with other things that it all slipped my mind. I had wondered where I got the skill points to even get business tycoon after the fact but didn¡¯t dwell on it too much.
At any rate, I still need to level up. After my run in with so many strong people in a short period of time, I really needed to prepare for the day I run into some so powerful that I will get my little butt whipped. I can only hope at that time that my abilities will allow me to escape with my life. This world was big. Very big. And if there are dragons still in this world, as my father told me, then the chances of running into one that was not friendly is not zero percent. They are known to be very powerful, so I was a bit worried.
Of course, I have no ns to try to fight such creators or make enemies with them. I want to go to the magic academy, graduate at the top of my ss and get myself a proper noble rank. Then I will work my way through the ranks of the military and hopefully eventually be amander. Just remembering the battlefield, making strategies, and then watching them y out felt right to me. One of those moments that said this is where you belong. It was also the best way to ensure my ce in this world and not end up standing on a stage with a cor on my neck being auctioned off to the highest bidder. That was thest thing I wanted.
If one dayes and I have the chance to abolish such a tradition, I will do it. But only if that day trulyes. Until then, I will work on bing stronger and stronger. And see what this world will be like one hundred years from now or even a few thousand years from now if it is true that my infinite mana will allow me to live forever.
As I was lost in my thoughts, my nose twitched. ¡°I smell blood¡.¡±
Chapter 58 Roadside Ambush
Yes, the scent of iron filled my nose, and it wasing from not too far off. I sighed and rushed forward. If it was happening on the road, that meant that someone was in trouble. While I could ignore it, what kind of person would that make me? I know I speak about not caring about others, but at the same time, I can not ignore what I already see. Well, in this case, smelled.
As I rounded the bend down over a hill, I saw a carriage tipped over on the side of the road and the scaled horses that were pulling it, all dead. A group of people were huddled together off to the side. It looked like a family of some upper ss nobles. Their guards surrounded them and were fighting off what looked to be bandits, but when I saw how they were fighting, I knew they were more than just bandits. ¡°Norian army deserters?¡± This was just a guess because theirbat and style and how they used magic while wielding a sword resemble that of the Norian army front linesmen.
Knowing this, I couldn¡¯t just sit around. I drew my sword and entered the fray. I first targeted the so called bandits that were overwhelming some of the guards with numbers easily cutting through them with my sword. ¡°Wha? A demi? What the hell is a demi doing here!?¡±
Hearing this, I frowned and turned towards the guard I just saved and stuck my sword in his face so that the tip of my de was just barely touching his nose, causing a trickle of blood to run down his face. ¡°Is this the time to be asking stupid questions? Are you not supposed to be protecting your master!? You should feel lucky that I did not just take your head just now.¡± -.
I guess my threat scared him because his face turned pale, and ran away to fight the so called bandits after I withdrew my sword. I was not looking for any kind of praise or reward, I was only doing what I think is right. Maybe Hammerlin affected me slightly and made me forget that people really did not like demi humans all that much. I sighed as I continued my killing spree. Within a matter of minutes, all the so called bandits were dead. Sadly blood sttered on my clothes and face. I really did try not to get any on me.
To be sure everything was all set, I turned and looked at the family who I had helped save and began walking over to make sure they were all okay. They did have kids with them, after all. But I only got two steps when a few guards rushed forward to surround me. ¡°What are you doing?¡±
¡°Drop your weapon!¡± One of the guards yelled. I couldn¡¯t believe it. They wanted to arrest me after I saved their stupid butts!?
¡°Why would I drop my weapon? Wasn¡¯t it me who just came to your help when you were being overwhelmed!? Now you treat me as if I am your enemy. I just wanted to make sure the people I saved did not need any healing. Forget it. If they are injured, then let them die.¡± I snorted and turned around. I went to take a step and push past the guards, but they formed a tighter circle around me.
¡°Where do you think you are going!? Drop your weapon. You will need toe with us.¡± The guard, who seemed to be the leader, yelled out while pointing his sword at me. I turned and looked at the family who was just standing there, not saying anything, and frowned.
¡°Mana shield.¡± My eyes lit up with magic circles. A barrier made of mana surrounded me as I walked forward towards the family. I was mad. Really mad. I can take discrimination if it is directed towards me. But when I go out of my way to help someone, and they still treat me as if I am the enemy, then screw it. Before leaving, I will be sure to give them a piece of my mind.
I stared at the middle aged man and woman with cold eyes as I began to speak to them. ¡°Sir, Madam. I do not know what kind of hearts you have, but from the looks of it, they are ck. Not only do you not say a word of thanks like normal people when receiving help, but you allow your guards to turn their weapons on someone who was only here to help. And then you want to forcefully take me away? How sick in the head do you have to be? How about I make sure each one of you loses a leg so you can remember the next time you get into trouble that if someone helps you, you should at least show them a tiny bit of decency and respect.¡±
¡°Humph! You dare speak in such a way to my father and mother!? You¡¯re nothing but a dirty demi human. You should feel d we even took an interest in you. Bying with us, you can at least work with your head held high, knowing you are employed by Viscount Sullivan.¡± These words spilled out of the mouth of a young man who was just crying not too long ago. He even still had tear stains on his cheeks. But now, here he was acting all high and mighty as if nothing had just happened. Even his parents were smiling at him as if he was saying something good.
¡°What the hell is a Viscount Sullivan? Can you eat it? If I did not show up, your guards would have been wiped out, and you little boy would have died a horrible death. Why are you acting so haughty when you look like you have been crying for hours? Forget it. A family full of fools will always be a family full of fools. But I must say good luck walking back. With how pampered you people are, I am sure you won¡¯t get far before falling to the ground and throwing a tantrum.¡± I let out a long snort, Before turning around, ignoring the swords pointed at me and speaking softly. ¡°elerate.¡± With a small flicker, my body disappeared from where I stood.
I will have to make sure to remember that snot nosed brat who seemed to be around my age. I wonder if he will end up in the Royal Magic Academy at the same time as me. If he does¡ Hehehe¡. I am someone who holds grudges. The son of Viscount Sullivan, huh? He had blue hair and ice blue eyes. I wonder if that is some kind of bloodline trait. I wonder how I should bully him? Maybe Adel is of a higher rank. If I do not see him before I meet up with Adel, I will make sure to ask her for some info on this Viscount Sullivan.
I kept elerate on for a while before canceling the spell. I am sure those nobles are probably peeing themselves now that they see how great I truly am. ¡°Muwahahaha!¡±
I am pretty sure if someone saw me right now with how I wasughing evilly with my hands on my hips and my head tossed back, they would think I am some kind of demon lord. I mean, I have the right look if you look past my youthful cuteness. I got horns, a tail, and wings! I could easily pass the demon lord tryouts in any movie back on Earth.
Afterughing out loud like a crazy person, I felt much better and went back to my travels. After all the excitement the first few days, the next two weeks were very slow going and peaceful. Although today I did find a good ce to check a few things out. The main thing I wanted to check out was my clothes and transformation. The forest I was currently in had what looked to be very ancient trees that went high into the sky. Much taller than the trees near my home. So it was a good ce to do a little testing. I could even cast a little magic to really block things off. Although I did intend to do that anyway.
After making sure I was quite a few miles out, I looked around before casting earth wall and creating a tall dirt barrier around me in a half mile radius. I then took out some clothes that I had prepared for this testing since I did not wish to destroy my wonderful armor. After getting changed, I took a deep breath and transformed.
I will say one thing about transforming. It is still something I really needed to get used to because it was so very cool every time I did it.
Because I had some y room, I walked around a bit to get used to the new form and surprisingly found it very easy to move in. ¡°Not bad. Not bad at all¡. But now, here is the real test.¡±
With another deep breath, I let it out slowly and looked around, I did not see any signs of clothes anywhere. So I could only hope that all was well. I closed my eyes and felt my body getting smaller and smaller. When I opened them again, I looked down at myself and smiled brightly. ¡°It worked! I do not lose my clothes!¡±
Knowing this made me feel much better about things. Now, if I ever needed to do a quick escape, I could. ¡°Now then, let¡¯s go find some monsters for experience! I need to replenish my skill points as soon as possible!¡±
Chapter 59 Mr. Blobs
¡°Exp! Exp! Exp! Oh, exp how good are theee!¡± As I sing a strange song, I am currently racking up experience points. I need to at least get ten more levels just in case I need a new skillter on. You never know how handy these skills cane in. While militarymand, military tactics, and business tycoon were amazing, there is always a chance that something else wille in handy in the future.
Besides leveling, I discovered something very important about my ancient will. While searching for some decent monsters to farm, I found a bandit hideout and ran into some very bad scenes. This group of bandits didn¡¯t even deserve to live, and I kinda lost my head. Luckily I did not sink too far. I think my ancient will only show itself if I be too emotional. I noticed a stark difference between killing the bandits on the road and killing the bandits at the hideout. My ancient will began to show itself as I started to kill the bandits in the hideout while the ones on the road did not. It scared me a little, but I was already too deep into the bandit¡¯s cave to back out, and the girls¡ Let¡¯s just say they are in a better ce now.
Human beings are cruel. No different from any monster. As a former human being, I understand that we stereotype different races based on intelligence factors, which is kind of unfair in a sense. But this is just how it is. But just because humans are smarter does not mean that humans are no less monstrous than a monster who attacks a vige.
At least the monster had a reason to attack the vige. They do things based on instinct alone. While humans, who are supposed to be the more evolved species, will do cruel acts just for the sheer pleasure of it. This does not go for all humans, but the bandits I met today were such cruel humans. And witnessing their cruelty and having to grant the wishes of the girls who were suffering due to said cruelty, I do not think I will ever forget this day.
Now I know that this is not Earth, and I know that there are many races in this world. And I know for a fact that the same cruelty that I witnessed today could be said to happen with other races as well.
At any rate, this incident allowed me to understand my ancient will a tiny bit more. So I will need to try to keep better control over my emotions when I engage in battle, or I might end up losing my mind and turning to the dark side. -.
The current spot that I am in can be said to be a farmer¡¯s paradise. Well, an experience farmer, not a normal one. That was because at this ce I found a rare replicator slime. It can be said to be one of the more dangerous slimes due to their ability to replicate if not dealt with properly. If someone were to sh them in half or explode them in the wrong fashion, two to hundreds of new slimes would instantly form. But this was also what made them good for farming.
Since slimes were strange creatures made of magic, they were very unpredictable and had many strange attributes as they could be made up of different kinds of elements and none elements, hence the replicator slime. The replicator slime was a strange slime and the only one that could be diced into many pieces with a sword. Normal slimes will just rebound any weapon, no matter how hard they are hit. So they will need to be killed with their opposing element.
While not able to be killed by physical attacks, as said before, these slimes could be cut. And if you diced one up, so many more slimes would appear that you would be in quite a bit of trouble unless you are me and were trying to create thousands of them at a time. These slimes happen to be level 30 slimes and still give me experience. While not much, when you add up thousands of them that I identally blow up and disintegrate, they will give me quite a bit of experience.
And¡ Because replicator slimes are kind of rare, it would be a shame not to keep one. I read about a spell in one of the books that allows people to contract with monsters and allows you to be able to strengthen them and make them grow stronger. But those who can make such contracts are far and in between. This was because a lot of mana was needed to even sustain such a contract.
And so I forced a contract on a replicator slime and named it Mr. Blobs. And because of this, I can make it split apart any time I wish, well kinda. And¡ It also opened up a new option in my system.
[Companion Menu]
Yes, I have a full blownpanion menu. It shows all of Mr. Blob¡¯s stats. And the best thing is that Mr. Blobs can also level up as well.
[Name]: Mr. Blobs
[Level] 30
[Race] Replicator Slime
[Evolution] 4578/10000
[HP] 3000/3000
[MP] 12230/12230
[Attack Power] 300
[Magic Power] 500
[Skills]
[Replicate (LVL 10(MAX))] [Pounce (LVL 7(MAX))] [Dissolve(LVL 10(MAX))] [Fireball (LVL 1(MAX))]
[Earth Spike (LVL 1(MAX))]
And ording to the statistics, it can also evolve. But the main thing that is amazing is that all its replications can be under mymand as well, or I can choose to remove my authority over them, making them a normal slime. This meant I can make Mr. Blobs replicate and then release it from my control. The only problem is that he can only replicate ten at a time before I have to wait for an hour to make more. I am not sure why this is. Maybe because of the contract or the system itself. I will have to look into it and see if there is a way around it. Also, the slimes created by Mr. Blobs with his replication can not replicate under my control. I can¡¯t even hurt them myself. It is as if the system blocks it.
So in order to make thousands of more slimes, I have Mr. Blobs create a bunch of slimes and then release one of them. I then dice that one up and allow it to replicate over and over, and bam, I got myself the ability to farm as much as I want. With an area of effect a minuteter, I have thousands of free experience points flying towards me. I wonder, though, does this make me some kind of homicidal maniac? If I was on Earth, would I be taken to jail for animal abuse? I am really not sure.
I will say this though, currently, I have a stockpile of mini Mr. Blobs inside mypanion menu. So I basically have an army of slimes to level up. And Mr. Blobs himself is even capable of shrinking down onmand so I can rest him on my shoulder. Quite the cute little guy if you ask me. In his full form, he is up to my knee in height.
As for the experience farming, I have actually gained 4 levels already. But the experience was slowly fading, which means I need to level up Mr. Blobs before I can farm like this again. But 4 levels does mean 4 more skill points, which was good.
So after clearing out the rest of the replicator slimes, I ced Mr. Blobs on my shoulder and walked back towards the road. I still had a little while before dark. I can only keep Mr. Blobs out while I am moving at normal speeds, otherwise, he just falls off and tries to make his way back to me. I felt bad the first time I used elerate, and he went flying away and crashed into the ground.
One thing that did surprise me about Mr. Blobs was that he could use magic. He had two spells: fireball and earth spike. Both were level 1, and I have no idea how to make them level up. I can only hope it is like one of those use type systems where if he uses the spell enough, he will be more proficient in it and will eventually learn more spells as he grows. This is my own wishful thinking, and will not know until the time actuallyes. The only other thing is that I can only feed Mr. Blob once a day to make his experience go up. Afterward, he will get a full status, and the feed button gets disabled. He also does not need to sit there and slowly dissolve the food I give him as it will be auto consumed through the system, quite convenient when ites to a slime that slowly dissolves its prey.
And even though I can only feed him once a day, based on the level of the monster, the amount of experience that Mr. Blob gains can go up and down. If lower level then it will be less experience, but if it is a higher level, he will get a huge chunk of his experience bar in one go. If you put everything together like this, it makes Mr. Blobs very amazing and versatile.
Chapter 60 I Do Not Need A Man
There are a lot of things I would expect out of life. Many that I am working towards now. But never in my life would I ever think that while walking down the road, a random stranger would walk up to me and get down on one knee and propose to me. Yes, aplete stranger. I have no idea who this young man is, but if anything, he has special tastes. He looks to be around fifteen while I, well, I look way too young. ¡°Why won¡¯t you marry me!?¡±
Yep, this is the same question I have been asked over a hundred times now. And my answer has been still the same: ¡°I do not need a man nor any kind of love. I just want to continue my travels in peace and quiet. How many times do I need to repeat myself!? In this past week, this is the over one hundred times you have proposed to me! Do I need to start getting violent!?¡± I yelled while kicking him to the side, sending him flying off into the field next to us as I stomped forward. I just wanted to get rid of this idiot!
I mean, everywhere I go, there are nice people and idiots. But the number of idiots is starting to outnumber the number of nice people. I just want to walk in peace and chat with my Mr. Blobs! Even if Mr. Blobs can¡¯t speak, he still understands what I am saying, and due to our contract, I can kind of feel what he is trying to rte to me. Like right now, he is bobbing up and down and jiggling. He is telling me that he wants to punch that idiot too. See! Only Mr. Blobs understands me! ¡°You¡¯re right. Hitting him a few times would make me feel better for all the aggravation. What? Hehe, should I sick a few hundred on him? No, no. I mean, he hasn¡¯t really been all that bad, just annoying. Since he really hasn¡¯t caused me any harm, I can¡¯t just go hitting him or anything. What? I kicked him for the one hundredth time? Mr. Blobs, can¡¯t you just ignore the small details?¡±
Yes, only Mr. Blobs understands me. He also makes for an excellent travelpanion. Over the past week, I have gathered quite a few replications of Mr. Blob. And one thing I learned about when Mr.Blobs levels up, so do his replications as long as the replications are in the menu system. A kind of passive gain. I figure I can use my slime army as a trump cardter on. If anything happens and I am outnumbered, then¡. Bam! Millions of replicator slimes casting fireballs everywhere.-.
Actually, the reason I am even replicating them is because I felt like it would be cool to stand on a battlefield, point out in front of me and go: ¡°Mr. Blobs, I choose you! Unleash the slime apocalypse!¡± While my naming sense may be way off, at least it is better than some names. But I figure a huge amount of replicator slimes would be a huge help at some point, especially if they were all evolved forms. I kinda can¡¯t wait to see what Mr. Blobs will evolve into. Only time will tell.
But none of this will help my current situation. I know I just knocked the young man away from me, but the problem is that he keepsing back! I have no idea why he is so stuck on me. Before this, I have never met him, nor have I ever spoken to him. It was very creepy! ¡°Maybe I should just run away again for a little while?¡±
I let out a long sigh and activated elerate after taking Mr. Blobs into my arms. To be honest, I have done this before. And somehow, that same young man had caught up to me in no time at all. So I figured I would add somebody strengthening magic to the mix this time and really run as fast as I can. If he still catches up to me after this, then I do not know what I will do. All I know is that he is annoying.
But who would have thought that just walking down a single road, I would run into such weird urrences? I am starting to wonder if I have some kind of curse ced on me, and I just don¡¯t know it or if the real reason my family originally moved so close to a border was to escape all the weirdos in this world. If this was really the case, then I do not me them. I mean, who would want to live with a bunch of weirdos?
There is another possibility that I kind of do not want to ept, and that is that I am the weird one, and the reason this is all happening is because it is perfectly natural to propose to people you have never met in the middle of a road that has nothing around it. No¡. Absolutely not! This is crazy! Why would anyone do that!? And so I ran and ran. I had no choice. Escape the weirdos of the world. It is best to run by them all.
Or so I thought. ¡°How are you ever here!?¡±
¡°Why do you keep running!? What is so bad about me that you will not marry me!?¡± The annoying young man asked.
¡°Why would I marry a stranger!? And do not give me that we can start to get to know each other starting now, routine, because it will not fly. Let me add that if you say anything like destiny this or destiny that I will chop off your legs and make damn sure you can not follow me anymore.¡± Is it because I am cute? Is it!? Is this why the weirdos keep popping up? Should I smudge dirt all over my face or something!? I mean, by the looks of this young man, he looks pretty rich, so I don¡¯t understand. But looking at his expression, that is saying, how did you know I was going to say that? I think this is not the first time he has tried to court a girl like this. ¡°Since you understand, please leave me alone! Because I will only say this once more and after this, I will start punching. I do not need a man, nor do I ever n to get one. I have my own ns in life. And none of it has anything to do with love.¡±
What is the point of love and all that when I will probably live forever? I mean, the more I think about it, how could I deal with watching my lover grow old and grey while I do not look much different from the day we had met? To be honest, I do not think I could ever really handle that. I may have a fling here and there as I get older, but nothing serious. I mean, I can not turn into an old prune. While I have never dated or cared much about it, that does not mean that I have never dreamed of having my first kiss.
¡°I¡.¡± I had forgotten that the young man was even here. ¡°You are going to the Royal Magic Academy, yes?¡±
I took a step back. How does he know this? Wait¡. If he is dressed this well, then he must be a noble of some kind, so maybe he knows who I am? But even so¡. ¡°I do not think what I am doing is any of a stranger¡¯s business. Anyway, I will be off, do not bother me again, and do not even think of proposing to me again, or I will break your legs.¡±
With these words, I walked past him without waiting for his reply. I just wanted to be left alone to enjoy my journey! Hopefully, this time he will take a damn hint. I already made myself very clear! But as I was walking away, I heard the young man yell out: ¡°I am Johan Flimsly! I am marquess Flimsly¡¯s son! I will see you at the academy Faith Cyrilia!¡±
¡°You damn stalker!¡± I yelled before turning into a ray of light. I think I just had the coldest shiver in my entire life, run down my spine. So that idiot did know who I was. Was it because I was being talked about around the capital that I was suddenly being stalked by a creepy man? I will need to make sure I keep a better eye on things when I go to sleep at night. Maybe a few more barriers, morendmine spells as well. I could even put thousands of slimes around my sleeping spot to really ward any enemies away.
Well, At least this time, I think the weirdo will finally leave me alone. I just hope I can find a town here soon. I do wish to find a ce to sleep for the night. I want to sleep in a nice soft bed. While I do not mind sleeping outside, it does get tiresome after a while.
Chapter 61 Monster Tide Part 1
Sadly I had to travel for three more days before I finally arrived at the next town. Just like Hammerlin, it had high walls to protect it from any monsters. The town¡¯s name was called Lovesdale, and well, I am now sleeping outside for two reasons. One, this town was like a red light district, and two, they did not let me into the town. While very was illegal, it did not mean segregation was not. So there were many towns that demi humans were not allowed to even enter, and Lovesdale was one of them, and thankfully so. I mean, just standing at the gate, I saw scenes one should not see until they turn the proper age. My pure maiden heart was not ready.
And so, I am currently lying on top of arge rock out in the middle of a field, staring up at the starry sky. It is at times like this that things seem very peaceful. The sounds of the insects and nightlife around you giving off a chorus that is static enough to slowly put anyone asleep. Lately, I have found much rxation in being alone away from everyone else. I do not have to worry about what others think or what others might do to me if I am not paying attention. I can see why many dragons in stories back on Earth went out of their way to find caves to live in solitude. All while gathering many shiny things.
But this was not in any way a change in my goals in life. I was just enjoying the fact that after a week of harassment by some idiot, that I no longer have to deal with being bothered by anyone. Although I do kinda wish I could have slept in a nice warm, soft bed after so long. But fate was not with me, but this is also not so bad either.
I have no idea when I fell asleep, but as I open my eyes once more, I can hear the sounds of howlinging from the distant forest. On top of that, the ground under me is shaking violently. I have never experienced one myself, but from what my father had told me before, the sounds and vibrations I was feeling at this time were all signs of a monster tide. I quickly got up and took to the skies, and flew over towards the forest. Sure enough, the sounds of trees breaking could be heard all around. ¡°Looks like Lovesdale is in for a rough night.¡±-.
I could tell that it was only around two or three in the morning. The moons were still high in the sky. If someone were to ask why I was not taking care of the beast tide myself since I could easily do it, my answer would be simple, they were not nice to me. Why should I do nice things for them? Treat others how you wish to be treated. That is my motto! Well, it¡¯s not, but still. If they had offered to allow me to enter the city to get an inn or turned me away due to my age, I would have done so, but they discriminated against me for being a demi human. So why should I take care of it myself? They have guards who can take care of it all. But¡. I looked over at the town that was still brightly lit and sighed. My eyes shed with a magic circle, and four fireballs appeared in front of me. ¡°I can at least use this to warn them. Fireball!¡±
I changed this fire spell so that it would not burn for a long time and so that even a drop of water could put it out. It should be enough to get the guards¡¯ attention so that they can see what is going on. My weakened fireballs flew through the air and exploded on the top of the wooden wall setting it on fire. I could hear the shouts of the guards from where I was. Luckily one person noticed the happenings while putting the fires out. Soon the entire wall had the town guard standing on top of it. Some even gathered at the gates getting ready to mount a defense.
As for me, I flew off to the sky and sat in the air. I took out some cookies Aunty Finna gave me, some snacks from my mother and Rachel, and a big ss of moogoose milk. Moogoose were kind of like a cow but just a giant bird. The milk that you got from them tasted slightly sweet. I set up my little snack party in the air as I waited for the monsters to break the forest tree line.
I did not need to wait long, and to my surprise, there were quite a few high level monsters. The levels ranged from level 1 all the way to level 40. Kinda makes me want to kill the level 40 ones, but that would ruin myte night TV.
Yes, I was using this as entertainment. I might sound evil, but aw well. I mean, it is not my duty to protect the masses. I was nice enough to warn them, and they look like they might be able to hold out. If it gets too bad, I might step in. But I should let them do what they are trained to do and get paid for. Protect those around them.
And so I popped a cookie in my mouth and munched on it while I watched the mass of thousands of monsters rushing towards the town. ¡°Oh, they are trying to form a defensive line? Eh!? Why are they only defending one area!? Are they dumb!? The monsters will push into town this way! Hey! No, you do not need ny percent of your forces on the left side where all the low level monsters are heading! You only need twenty percent! Twenty percent! Ahhh! I want to smack them!¡±
I couldn¡¯t help but yell out as I munched harder on my snacks. This town guard was horrible, and their leader was ever worse. I think he is even drunk! ¡°Ahhh! I can¡¯t take it anymore!¡±
I really couldn¡¯t. I mean, I thought the guard would at least know what they are doing, but they are basically leaving only a few men to defend against the strongest part of the wave. I quickly stored away my snacks and wiped my mouth before flying over to where theirmander was standing, swaying back and forth on top of the wall, andnded behind him. He didn¡¯t even notice me at all! I lifted my foot so that my knee reached my stomach and thrust out with it, kicking the stupid human in the butt. ¡°Stupid human! At this rate, you will all die!¡±
¡°What the hell!? Who kicked me!?¡± The drunkmander turned around to see me standing there. His eyes narrowed, probably seeing double. I waved my hand as my eyes lit up with magic circles and doused him in ice cold water. ¡°Ahhh! You damn demi brat, what do you think you are doing!?¡±
¡°What am I doing!? I am trying to help you save this town. Look at what you have ordered! How are you men supposed to protect this town if your people are all focused on the low level monsters that even a child can kill!?¡± I was mad. The right nk was about to be overrun, but this damn mad man was not even paying attention.
¡°What right does a demi brat like you have to tell me how tomand my men? I know exactly what I am¡ Ooooffff! You hit me!? Oooofff! You hit me again!¡± I even hit him a third time before picking him up and tossing him down to the ground below.
I then flew up into the air and looked at the battle before amplifying my voice with magic: ¡°Listen to me! If you wish to protect this town, focus on the right nk! The higher level monsters are on the right nk. A group of one hundred of you can deal with the left nk!¡±
¡°Don¡¯t listen to her, do as I say!¡± I heard themander yell out as he crawled up from the dirt, blood covering his face. I am sure I broke his nose. But he deserved it, and he deserved to be beaten up more but now was not the time. With no time to lose on arguing with an idiot, I waved my hand and cast a binding spell on him, and also put a mute spell on him so he couldn¡¯t speak any longer.
¡°If you listen to this drunkard, you will not only kill yourselves but also the people in the town you are supposed to protect. Move all but one hundred men to the right nk now! Anyone who doesn¡¯t move will be killed on the spot! You few hundred will stay.¡± I waved my hand once more and cut off a hundred men from the rest of the group with an earth wall and corralled them towards the low level monsters.
I could hear yells of descent directed at me, but I did not care right now. All that mattered was fending off this monster tide that seemed endless. Seeing how the other soldiers refused to move, I waved my hand once more and, using earth wall again, I started to corral the rest of the few hundred men towards the right nk. I felt like I was dealing with sheep! I could tell by the screams and yells that these men did not wish to fight the stronger monsters but so what!? This was their duty. Their duty was to protect the masses! If they can not protect the people from a threat, what right did they have to live? If I catch any fleeing for their lives, if the situation is not against us, then I will turn them to ash. If the situation is against us, I could understand, but there were enough people here to handle the situation. Plus¡. They had me!
Chapter 62 Monster Tide Part 2
¡°Keep attacking!¡± I yelled out. I was having a hard time dealing with these guards as they were not willing to listen. I was currently standing on top of the wall looking down at them, but things were just not going smoothly. ¡°Should I change how I work with them?¡±
I tapped my chin as I watched more people trying to run away from the stronger monsters when there was no need to. I waved my hand, and three bolts of lightning struck down in front of the guards trying to run. ¡°Stop trying to run away! We are far from losing the fight, and not a single person has taken damage. So why are you trying to run!?¡±
¡°Shut up, you stupid demi! No one wants to follow under yourmand!¡± One of the men yelled at me, so I struck him dead on with lightning before healing him again.
I watched as the guard I just hit with lightning look up at me with fear in his eyes and sneered before cupping my ear and asking: ¡°What? I am sorry I didn¡¯t catch that? You wanted to fight them head on? Then what are you waiting for? Rush in already!¡±-.
But even with this, it was only a temporary fix. There were too many, and each one seemed to despise me with a passion. To truly get them to listen, I would need to zap them all. ¡°Oh? My cute Little Faith is here!¡±
Hearing that familiar voice, I turned to see a bright purple eyed Adel standing there with a big grin on her face. ¡°Adel? Why are you here!?¡±
¡°I got a message from the capital saying that a bunch of nobles sent out their sons to court you. As soon as I heard that, I quickly made my way back. I have been traveling nonstop, so I might be a bit of a mess. I had stopped at the inn here and was sound asleep, but then I had a dream that I heard your voice. But it seemed It was not a dream after all.¡± Adel said as she hooked her arm with mine as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Seeing her sudden closeness made me think of Jen from my past life. She used to do the same. She would run up to me and hook her arm with mine and hug it while talking about this and that. In a way, this made me feel a little closer to Adel. But to be honest, I am very surprised that Adel was even here. To think she turned back around to meet up with me all because those idiots were trying to find me to court me.
¡°Ah yes¡. I ran into one of those idiots..¡± I guess I made a strange face because Adel beganughing.
¡°Haha! I can see by your expression it must have been tough. But more importantly, are you having issues?¡± Adel asked as she pointed at the monster tide.
¡°Well¡. I wasn¡¯t really going to do anything about this because there was a town guard, but the idiot over there had no idea how to lead his troops. So I bound him, muted him, and tossed him aside. I then tookmand, but I feel more like a sheepherder than amander right now because none of these men like demi humans. To keep them in line, I have been hitting them with lightning bolts.¡± I mean, I had no choice. If I look away for too long, someone takes a chance to try to flee, so I have been training them with love taps.
¡°I see¡ Pfft¡ Hah¡. Hahahaha!¡± Adel cracked upughing. In a way, it was funny but still! ¡°Sorry, Faith, it is just that the way you speak about it makes it funny. At any rate, let me give you a hand.¡±
I watched as Adel pped her hands, and two knights appeared on top of the wall. ¡°You two takemand and follow Faith¡¯s orders. If they do not listen, just kill them. The Gravos Kingdom does not employ useless people. Those who continue to try to run away will be deemed deserters and deserting at any point and time during a battle, whether it is enemy or beast, is grounds for death for not upholding the kingdom¡¯sw that they must vow upon when taking up a position of either a town guard or knight.¡±
Hearing Adel make such decisive actions made me realize how weak I was truly being. I knew thesews as well, but as I was only a stand inmander and had no true authority, I resorted to striking them with lightning and then healing them. This way, they would get punished, and at the same time, I was saving myself from being charged with killing someone. Because, to be honest, I do not know if any of these guys are sons of some noble or something and thest thing I wished to do was to suddenly be targeted for another reason altogether.
¡°Listen up, you ignorant bastards. If I catch anyone trying to run away during battle, I will kill you on the spot!¡± One of the knights had already stepped forward and began yelling at the men down below. And shockingly, these basta¡. Guards were listening to him without issue. It made me want to identally let a few lightning bolts go.
¡°Faith, just give your orders to Sir Randford. He will then ry it to the scum below us. I will be sure the guards of Lovesdale and theirmander get a good earful.¡± I had to admit Adel seemed to be a girl of action.
With the guards now under proper control, the monster tide was quickly being taken care of. While I should be rejoicing, I still couldn¡¯t bring myself to do so when I had worked so hard to get these guys to listen to me to no avail. With Sir Randford takingmand, it is as if a fire was lit under these guards¡¯ butts, or they drank a gallon of caffeine because they were all charging in with boundless energy. I let out a sigh as I continued giving mymands. I could only bitterly smile when my words were loud enough to cover the whole battlefield, yet the guards would not budge until Sir Ranford repeated them.
¡°It must be hard¡.¡± I heard Adel mutter under her breath. I knew she probably did not mean to say anything out loud. She didn¡¯t even notice she had spoken out loud. But it was true it was hard and also made me wonder if bing amander was going to work.
I looked up at the sky and closed my eyes. I pushed out all my negative thoughts to the back of my mind and hoped that if I work hard, I will eventually be acknowledged. That those under mymand will see my hard work and show me the respect I deserve. Although I am slightly cheating with my skills from the system. But I do hope in the future that everything will work out. This was the path I chose, after all.
Under the dualmand of me and Sir Randford, the monster tide was easily repelled. So now I was standing in front of a certain idiotmander. I waved my hand and undid the binds and mute spell on him while bracing myself for what was toe. ¡°You damn demi brat! How dare you treat me like this. Do you know who I am!?¡±
¡°She does not need to know who you are, Baron Strands. As far as I can tell, you are not even fit to hold the title of baron. You indulge in douchebaggery and run this town as some kind of hostel. If it was not for the fact that there was still one legitimate inn left in the town, I would have missed meeting up with my cute Faith. As for the monster tide, you are an utter failure as amander. The king will hear about this.¡± Adel¡¯s voice was loud and very cold. This was a whole new side of Adel that I am getting to know about. And it seems Adel is truly trying to be my friend, which makes me feel slightly warm inside.
¡°And who are you to say such thin¡.¡± I watched as Baron Strands turned and looked at Adel, his face turning whiter than my own. I had a feeling Adel was someone from a powerful noble family. Maybe the daughter of a duke or even a princess. I do not think her status is lower than any of these, especially with everyone¡¯s reactions when they see her. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Adel eyeing the baron as if to say if you tell Faith who I am, I will cut off your head. ¡°You¡. Ahem¡ ¡± Oh? Seems he is brighter than I thought. Tch¡. I was curious as to who Adel truly was, but I will wait until she is willing to tell me herself.
Chapter 63 Merciless Adel
¡°So will you exin to me why you would give out such horriblemands and when pointed out you do not listen at all? Are you an idiot!?¡± Adel asked, staring at Baron Strands with an eyebrow raised and her arms crossed across her chest. She even had one foot impatiently tapping the floor, waiting for his answer. Since the beast tide was over, Sir Randford was taking care of cleaning up and ordering the guards while we were currently in the guardhouse.
¡°Pri¡.¡±
¡°Adel¡¡± Adel said coldly. I covered my mouth, trying to hide myugh. I mean,e on. The idiot already started saying your title. It does not take a genius to figure it out! I saw Adel side eye me, so I stuck my tongue out at her.
¡°Pri-Miss Adel¡ You do not understand I had everything under control. Then this demi brat came along and¡.¡± A loud sound of skin against skin rang throughout the room.
I stared at Adel in disbelief. She had just smacked the baron so hard he fell to the ground in shock. ¡°I do not want to hear you speak any discriminating words towards my friend. Faith is not someone you can speak to lightly, nor can you ever say anything that would offend her. Offending her is the same as offending the royal family.¡±-.
¡°This¡.¡±
¡°This, nothing! Now answer my question, are you an idiot!? If Faith had not stopped you and taken overmand, the right nk would have been overrun. Thousands of people in this town could have been attacked by monsters and killed. This blood would be on your hands. You are lucky I do not have you dragged back to stand in front of the king to be dealt with.¡± Adel seemed really mad. Her hand was very red. I pulled her back and cast healing magic on her hand to keep it from swelling. My guess is she used all her strength because the baron¡¯s face was also swelling up.
One should not look down on a frail looking girl. They can produce some shocking power every now and then. Just as Adel did just now, she showed power beyond what I would ever expect. This was another reminder to myself to never underestimate anyone around me. No matter what they looked like, they could be super powerful demon lords, and I wouldn¡¯t know it until it was toote.
¡°I¡ It was apse of judgment¡.¡± Baron Strands finally spat out an answer, but for some reason, he was ring at me. What did I do? I saved him from doing something stupid.
¡°Hmmm? I will be reporting this to the King. For now, me and my cute Faith will be heading back to the inn.¡± Adel snorted and grabbed my hand and was about to pull me out of the guardhouse when Baron Strands suddenly yelled out.
¡°It is fine for you to return to your inn, Miss Adel, but my town has a strict policy that no demi humans are allowed inside.¡± Baron Strands looked at me with his lips curled up as if he won some kind of prize. Did he really think I wanted to step foot into his lewd town? I mean, people are doing this and that in the middle of the road here.
¡°Oh? So you are saying I am not allowed to go back to the inn room I paid for?¡± Adel asked coldly. I could see her purple gem like eyes trying to pierce through the baron¡¯s head.
¡°Miss Adel, I said you can go in if you want, but the demi girl has to stay outside.¡± I guess this baron is truly an idiot. Did he think that Adel was trying to confirm his statement? Did he not realize what she was saying?
¡°Yes, exactly. Since Faith is not allowed in then, that means I am not allowed in. I never thought a town under the Gravos kingdom would rebel in such a way. It seems you need to be removed from your post and have yournd and title stripped from you. What do you think, Baron Strands¡ Sorry, from this moment on, it is Mr. Strands. Sir Randford!¡± Adel yelled out. It seemed she was dead serious. I could only shake my head and sigh. It seems the baron did not have much of a brain. No matter how much you hate demi humans, you should not let your hate control your actions. Otherwise, it cane right back at you and p you in the face.
¡°Miss Adel, you called?¡± Sir Randford walked into the guardhouse, his sword already drawn.
¡°Take thismoner and toss him outside the gates. Anyone with thest name Strands is no longer allowed to take a single step inside any vige, town, or city within the Gravos Kingdom.¡± Adel was merciless. I never expected that she would go this far. But in a way, it made me frightened. What if the two of us got into a fight? Would I be kicked out of the kingdom? Would my head roll? These kinds of thoughts began to fill my mind causing a cold sweat to roll down my back. I would need to make sure never to anger Adel.
¡°By your word.¡± Sir Randford stepped forward and grabbed Mr. Former Baron by his fancy shirt and began dragging him out of the guard room.
¡°Wait! Miss Adel, I was wrong! I can change my ways! Don¡¯t do this!¡± Surprisingly he was still calling Adel Miss Adel instead of the unfinished Pri title. This did show at least some loyalty to the kingdom. I mean, I believe if I spoke up for the baron and asked Adel to give him another chance, she might just do it but unfortunately, I was not that kind. I was already kind enough to help him protect his town, but I didn¡¯t do it for him, I did it for the people who lived here. While the guards and the baron might be demi haters, that did not mean everyone was. And even if it was only a few people, I hoped to at least keep those people safe. There were far too few people who did not mind demi humans after all.
¡°Sir Randford, you are moving too slow. I do not want to hear his voice anymore.¡± Adel said with a frown,pletely ignoring the former baron¡¯s plea.
¡°My apologies, Miss.¡± Sir Randford hastened his steps and quickly dragged the former baron away. The only ones left were me and Adel.
¡°Now then!¡± Adel pped her hands and slipped her arm around mine. ¡°Us two will now head to the inn. I already have a room so you can share a bed with me tonight. I do so wish to get to know you better.¡±
I could only helplessly smile as Adel dragged me out of the guardhouse and into town. I did not mind sharing a bed as I used to do it with Rachel all the time, but Adel always had a strange vibe about her that made me wary of her. But this could just be my overthinking. Maybe it had to do with how she acted when we first met. I am not too sure.
The hustle and bustle of the town was nowhere to be seen. Everyone had cleared the streets. Under the order of Sir Randford, it seemed thew of the town had now changed. It was no longer a redlight district like it was before. Now there was no telling if this willst beyond this night or not, but it was at least quiet now, so I hoped to get some sleep eventually.
The inn that Adel was staying at was actually quite expensive looking. It was much different than what I had expected in a town like this. It was very much the word high ss. The inn itself had seven floors and even had a lift to reach those floors that worked using magic. When we arrived at the top floor, Adel dragged me along to the end room and opened the door using a key that was imbued with magic and brought me into what I would call a presidential suite. Arge sitting room, dining room, a massive bedroom with a huge bath, and even a small kitchen at the side. To this world¡¯s standards, it was very extravagant.
¡°Come, I am sure you must be tired. The bath here is already hot so help yourself. I will ready some food for you. Believe it or not, I am not a bad cook!¡± Adel said with her nose held high. I could tell she seemed to take pride in her cooking. It did make me smile, though, but what I did not get was why. Why was Adel being so nice? This seemed to be beyond her scope of duty, would it not?
¡°Adel. I know this might sound rudeing from me, but why are you doing all of this for me?¡±
Chapter 64 The Real Adel Part 1
Adel looked at me with uncertain eyes before lowering her head. She yed with her fingers for a minute as if lost in thought. ¡°You are the first¡. From the moment we met, you have not treated me special at all. You treated me as if I was a normal girl without much concern for doctrine. As you may have guessed, I am not some ordinary girl. I am none other than Princess Adellia Gravos. I am the first and only princess of the royal family. When I first heard my father speaking about you, I instantly wished to get to know you more. A girl my age who was able to fell multiple armies of an enemy nation and did so without asking for anything in return. When I thought about the courage that it must have taken to confront such an adversary, I wondered if I would ever have to make such a choice in my life. If I could do what you did.
¡°When I found out that my father wished to reward you by giving you a chance to join the royal academy, I begged for him to let me be the one to see you in person. I begged and even made my case saying that since you were a young girl having some ugly old man show up would make you feel ufortable. It was only then that he finally allowed me to make the trip to go to your house.
¡°When I saw you for the first time, I watched as youid on the stone wall without a care in the world chewing on a de of grass. The sight alone tickled me slightly and made me giggle. It was then that I thought to myself. Wouldn¡¯t it be nice if I could have a friend like this who was so carefree. A true friend¡.-.
¡°Faith, you might not believe it, but as someone who is a princess, I should have girls my age flocking to my side wanting to be my friend¡.¡± I watched as Adel¡¯s expression turned to one of self deprecation. She gave me a forced smile as she continued: ¡°But you know¡. Each one of those girls does not care a wink about me. They care about my status. They care about propping their family up and getting a higher rank. They care about using my royal status to bully those as they want. And then get angry when I tell them to never do such acts again.
¡°I am someone who loves the people of the Gravos Kingdom. I love each and every person in it as it is what allows the kingdom to flourish. Whether it is demi human or human, each one ys an important role in our economy and allows our kingdom to stand tall amongst those who wish to see it fall.
¡°But even so¡ I do not wish to be treated like a princess. I do not need fake friends. I only need a single true friend and nothing more. I am sorry for keeping my title a secret, but I did not wish for you to change your attitude about me due to my status. I just wished for us to be true friends, someone I could confide in and who would confide in me.
¡°I will understand if you do not wish to be friends with me anymore after this. But I hope you will mophh¡¡± I ced my finger on Adel¡¯s lips before pulling her into a hug. A person in high standing is not always happy. Only having those around you who only care about using you is never fun. I can feel Adel¡¯s sincerity. I can hear the cries from the bottom of her heart that are asking for someone to truly be her friend. Someone she can trust and rely on.
¡°Then, Adel, let me reintroduce myself.¡± I pulled away from Adel and took a step back, and bowed my head slightly. ¡°My name is Faith Cyrilia. I am nothing more than a farmer¡¯s daughter from the border vige of Cyrilia. Born and raised by two wonderful parents. I hope on this day the two of us can truly be friends.¡±
Adel¡¯s eyes were staring at me in disbelief before a smile finally formed on her lips. She then pulled the hem of her skirt into a curtsey and bowed her head to me. ¡°Miss Faith, my name is Princess Adellia Gravos. First Princess of the Gravos Kingdom. I may be royalty, but I do hope you will treat me as a normal girl and will be my true friend.¡±
¡°Hehe, you can count on me!¡± I smiled and pulled Adel¡¯s hand. My worries about before werepletely gone. I did not see a princess in front of me but a true friend that I can rely on in the future. Her being a princess was only a side bonus. Because I can tell from how Adel acts, that she truly does love the people of this nation and is thinking about how to best benefit the people. If I can help her in this endeavor, then I will do so. I can also tell she is not lying about wanting to be my friend. Some may say I am being too naive but one does not know what is over the hill unless one climbs to the top to see for themselves. I feel being true friends with Adel is worth the risk. The worst thing that can happen is I get mad and blow up the kingdom, right?
Maybe one day, I will tell her about my system and ask her if she is willing to allow me to use my appraisal on her. As of now, I only use it on monsters and nts, but I do wonder what kind of information I will get when used on a human. Maybe their three sizes? I gazed at Adel¡¯s chest, then at my own. A sigh escaped my lips as I realized that life may just be unfair after all. I am still growing! But so is Adel!
With our formal introductions now over, Adel chased me to the bathroom so I could wash up, before running off to the kitchen. And I must say the bath in this inn was absolutely amazing. It was just the right temperature, and the hot water was sinking into my bones, causing me to almost pass out fromfort. It had already been well over a week since myst hot bath, so I was a little stinky. And now that I think about it, Adel had been quite close to me. No wonder she was pushing me into the bath so quickly! She must have smelled my stink! Hah¡. So embarrassing¡. Aw well. Not like I am trying to impress her or anything.
¡°Faith, I left a nightshirt and some underwear here for you. I do hope they will fit. I am not sure since they are not meant for demi humans.¡± Adel¡¯s voice came in from the other side of the door. The bath had a dressing room area where you could change your clothes that was split from the bath area by a door. To be honest with how Adel acted, I expected her toe waltzing in to take a peek. But I guess that only happens in those Japanese light novels back on earth. Not that it matters. I got everything she has, so it¡¯s not much to look at unless she had a tail fetish. Rachel had such a fetish¡. Would a Princess be willing to shine my scales for me though I wonder¡.
My mind wandered a bit more before I noticed my fingers pruning, so I decided it was time to get out. I slipped out of the bath and used magic to dry myself off from head to toe before wrapping a towel around me and walking to the dressing room. As Adel said, there was a nightshirt and some underwear for me to wear. Surprisingly the underwear was a lower cut. While I had clothes in my inventory, I remembered what Gesel said about it and decided to just wear what was given to me. I mean, I can not just suddenly pull my travel bag out of nowhere and go: Teehee, I had this the entire time!
Adel was a bright girl, so this would not work on her. So I could only put on the clothes she offered and walk out of the bathroom. Luckily everything fit rather well and even took into ount my wings with an open back. Although the back of the nightshirt rose up due to my tail, but there was nothing I could do about that. I mean, when I was in a good mood, my tail would curl up a little and not drag on the floor. Only when my mood was down, did it droop down on its own. My tail seemed to have a mind of its own.
As soon as I opened the door to the bathroom, my nose was filled with the smell of cooked food, and surprisingly it did smell quite good. I guess it goes to show that Adel did have a thing for cooking. ¡°Faith, perfect timing. I was just setting the table,e eat!¡±
Adel¡¯s excited voice filled my ears. She looked much happier than before. Maybe because she was now open about her status? Either way, it was good to see someone as nice as Adel smiling. She reminded me a lot of Jen, my best friend on Earth. Maybe this was why I was starting to feel a kind of kinship with her. At any rate, she is the first friend I have made outside my family. Now let¡¯s hope I do not die to her cooking.
Chapter 65 The Real Adel Part 2
I sat down at the table where Adel was cing tes of food in front of me. Each te smelled very good. There was a noodle dish, a meat dish, a sd, and a few other side dishes I had never seen before. ¡°Adel, you really outdid yourself.¡±
¡°Hehe!¡± Adel put her hands on her hips and held her nose high. ¡°Cooking is one of the only hobbies I can do. It was also in preparation for when I got married to some man, but I am not so sure I want to marry anymore.¡±
¡°Why is that?¡± I asked, tilting my head to the side. But when I thought about it, it was kinda dumb of me to ask such a stupid question. Everyone had their reasons, like I, for one, do not see a reason to marry when my life span will be longer than others
¡°Mmmm¡. I suddenly realized that marrying someone I do not love or wish to be with is not something I want to do. I am sure my father will not be happy, but what can he do about it? Tie me up and ship me off to another country to marry some prince I never met before? I love my kingdom, but I also think I deserve to have my own happiness. And Faith, I have you to thank for opening my mind to allowing myself to seek just that.¡± I could not really rte to Adel¡¯s consequences since I did not grow up in a royal family, but I can say that if I was in her shoes, I¡¯d run away as fast as I could. But I do not know what I have done to cause her to change her mind though.
But even though I was a bit confused, I knew one thing. ¡°Then, if you are ever forced into a marriage you do not wish to be in, then call for me, and I will swoop in and save the day!¡± -.
¡°Then I will be counting on my cute little knight in shining armor to save me at that time.¡± Adel smiled with blushing cheeks. She did have a cute side to her, after all.
¡°I must say, though, Adel, the man you do end up falling for will be one happy person. This food is amazing!¡± I was starting to wonder if everyone in this world were five star chefs. I mean, everything I have tried since being reborn in this world is always amazing.
¡°Hehe¡¡± Adel gave me a forced smile and continued eating. I wonder if I said something wrong? Maybe it is just my imagination.
After a very well made dinner, I climbed into bed with Adel. Adel was wearing the same kind of nightshirt I was, except hers did not have an open back which confused me as to why mine did¡. It was almost as if she was prepared for everything. Not that I am reallyining I mean, I do finally get to sleep in afy bed for the first time in a while. So I immediately snuggled into the nkets without reserve. I guess Adel did find it amusing cause I heard her chuckling at the side.
¡°This is the first time I am actually sleeping in bed with another person. I am d my first experience is with someone who is not out to use me or a man I barely know.¡± Adel said as she snuggled up next to me. To be honest, I was not sure how to respond to her words. All I did know was that I was very tired.
When I woke up the next morning, I was met with Adel¡¯s head using my shoulder as a pillow and my arm as a hug pillow. She was still sleeping peacefully. I have no idea when I fell asleep, but I did sleep very well. Seeing Adel¡¯s sleeping face next to me, I could tell she was in a deep sleep as well, she looked very rxed. Although her brow was slightly furrowed, which made me wonder what she was dreaming about. My first slumber party with my new friend was quite uneventful. I was expecting Adel to talk my ear off, but it seems she respected the fact that I was tired and let me sleep. My guess was that she was also really tired.
Iid there staring at the ceiling for a while before Adel finally stirred. She lifted her head and rubbed her eyes, looking quite confused. ¡°Faith? Oh right¡. Good morning.¡±
¡°Good morning.¡± I said with a smile while stretching my now free arm. It had gone numb a while ago.
¡°Let me wash my face, and I will prepare breakfast.¡± Adel crawled out of bed. Surprisingly she looked used to doing things herself. You would expect a princess to need a maid or two to take care of her, but she seemed fine and right at home doing everything on her own, although a little shameless as she did just take off all her clothes in front of me to put on new ones before heading out of the room. She did seem to be in a daze, though.
About ten minutester, I sighed and stretched once more while letting out a yawn. Only then did I get up myself as I decided to head to the bathroom, but before I could, I heard Adel¡¯s voice call back into the room. ¡°Faith, I have clothes prepared for you in the bathroom. So wash up and get changed. Breakfast will be ready soon.¡±
I almost yelled back, ¡®Yes, Mom!¡¯ But I held it in and chuckled to myself. But once again, I was given a surprise. Shorts that took into ount my tail. A shirt that also ounted for my wings. A pair of socks, boots, and even a hat. ¡°Did Adel prepare all of these just in case?¡±
This was the main question on my mind, so after getting dressed, I walked out to the dining area and sat down. When Adel came out, I decided to ask. ¡°Thanks for the food. But Adel, why do you have clothes and clothes that fit me so well?¡±
¡°Ah¡. Sorry. Must seem strange right? Well, I kinda had them prepared before turning around. I had nned to give you these clothes on your first day at the academy as a gift, but I ended up giving them to you now instead. As for the sizes. I asked your sister inw, Rachel¡.¡± I kinda wish I knew when she had time to do all of this. Did she even meet Rachel!? I had my suspicions, but since Adel said it like this, I can only just ept what she is saying. For all I know, she had used some spell on me to get all my body measurements when she held hands with me back at the house. I mean, just getting clothes made would take a while as well.
¡°Well, thank you. It is thoughtful of you to prepare so much for me.¡± I could only give a smile and change the subject. ¡°Are you going to head back to the capital today?¡±
¡°Mmm¡ What about you? Do you n to wander around more?¡± Adel asked. Her eyes showed a bit of envy. I guess as a Princess, her ability to run around and do as she pleases is very limited.
¡°I was thinking about it. I mean, I still have a few months, and if I really need to rush, I can always use magic to speed along and make it there in a week or less, depending on where I am at the time. The world is vast, and ever since I was young, I have always wanted to go on a journey and see its beauty. While I still have this dream, I figured I would live it in between following my new dream of bing amander of my own army.¡± I still had plenty of time and have seen so little. I wanted to check out as much as I could before arriving in the capital.
¡°I see¡¡± Adel lowered her head as she took another bite of her food. I knew her mood had been ruined, but there was not much I could do. We were friends, yes, but I still had things I wished to do as well. About a minuteter I heard Adel speaking in a low voice. ¡°Umm¡. If you do not mind¡. Can¡. Can I travel with you for a short time? We will be surrounded by guards, but I still do not want to head back just yet and was kind of hoping we could travel together.¡±
¡°That¡¯s fine.¡± I saw no reason why not. I mean it is more fun to travel with others to experience things with friends. While it can be fun to travel alone, it does get boring being by yourself.
¡°Great! There was a ce I wished to take you to that I am sure you will love. It is a ce I discovered by ident. It is a very mystical ce.¡± Adel¡¯s eyes lit up. Her gloomy mood was all gone. Seeing her smiling again made me feel better. I was starting to feel bad for leaving her alone after she had turned around toe back to help me out.
¡°Then let¡¯s check it out!¡±
Chapter 66 The Spirit Race Part 1
Two weekster, the carriage that I was in stopped off on a side road. Well, calling it a road might be stretching it, but because it was more of a path cut through the thick forest. To be honest, I thought that riding in a carriage for two weeks would be ufortable, but I guess royalty really knows how to ride in style.
For one thing, I never would have thought that there was a thing called dimensional magic. It was a type of magic that could create a whole different space. From what Adel told me, this magic requires ten people to cast, and each one needs to be linked up because the spell itself is crazy long. Probably something I could not even cast in my current state. But I still wished to see the magic equation for it. It was different from spatial magic because dimensional magic was a ce living beings could enter and had to be stationary, whereas spatial magic could be essed from anywhere. Now, if you put such a thing on a carriage, it can then move around, but it has to be moved manually. And the carriage we were in had a smallpartment that could be entered that was big enough for a small bed and a bathroom.
It felt kind of strange entering the door in the back of the carriage to find a small bedroom that was just as big or even bigger than the carriage itself. And by small bed, I mean a bed big enough for two people. If it was a single sized bed, there would be room for more things in the room. But just to make something this size took a long time to do. The equation always has to be adjusted for what you were trying to create.
Adel told me that there were ces called small worlds that were created in ancient times that are not even close to being fully explored that the magic academy has ess to. There were dungeons and all kinds of things inside to explore. And every year, the students would enter them to try their luck. If you brought something back, the academy would reward you with extra merits.-.
Sadly some of these small worlds had multiple entrances, so other kingdoms would also use them. But there seemed to be some kind of fundamentalw that every kingdom would only allow those under the age of eighteen in. This has been some kind of strict rule that, if broken, would result in every kingdom attacking the one who broke it.
Adel also told me that the dangers inside were not only students from other kingdoms but also the rare and ancient monsters living inside. It truly amazed me that the more I learned about this world, the more exciting it seemed. Such arge vast world that seemed to have no end to it was waiting to be explored. As I am supposedly going to be long lived, I had plenty of time to explore it all. I wonder what else I will find in the future. Maybe some underground civilization with high technology? Or some ancient alien technology not of this world?
My imagination couldn¡¯t help but run wild, but it was because of this that I so wished to explore things in the future. But getting back to the carriage, it was a rather smooth ride. Especially since we had the small space to sleep in.
During these two weeks, I have learned a lot about Adel. Like she is pretty much able to do anything. She is well suited for living outside the castle with her survival abilities. She knows which nts in the forest are editable or which nts can help heal wounds. Even the nts that are rare that could be taken back to be sold for a fair amount of gold. I, of course, did not let them pass by me, so I picked them up and stored them away.
Because we have gotten closer, I told her about my ¡®spatial magic¡¯. I didn¡¯t tell her about the system itself, but I did let her know about my ability to store things. She pouted for a few hours but soon got over it soon after. I guess she was happy that she could give me nice clothes. While it was nice of her, I felt like it was taking advantage of her. Which was not good. Friendship was not something you could buy! And I think this was why she was always trying to buy me many new things.
Like we stopped in one city, yes, an actual city. And when I say city, I mean something along the lines of the size of like Connecticut in the United States back on Earth, but the entire thing as one city. She dragged me to these high end shops and was buying me all kinds of dresses that fit demi humans, which were more expensive than a regr dress.
To be honest, I kind of felt weird wearing a dress. Between the people who were ring at me hatefully and my own self conscious with wearing a dress, I just felt out of ce. I did find out, however, that while the city I was in, which was called Dagnar, allowed demi humans to live there, it was just that the quality of life was not very good for them. So me being a demi human in a fancy store made me the center of attention, and I am sure if it was not for Sir Randford and the other knights surrounding me and Adel, we would have been tossed out.
Another thing I had noticed was that no one even knew who Adel was. But I guess this was normal as there was no realmunication between the cities besides inspections that happened twice a year. So no one even knew what their king looked like.
This has also bothered me a great deal as it must be hard to understand how your citizens are living if you are only reading reports from each city, town, and vige. Those who do the inspection might be even taking a kick back on top of it to leave out anything that is unfavorable to the noble who is in charge of that city, town, or vige.
As such, there is no telling how much money is actually being embezzled, or whether it is actually being used appropriately. Like funds to aid the poor and farmers that are under a nobles rule. When I asked Adel about this, she could only give me a bitter smile and tell me that because the kingdom was so big, it was indeed hard to keep track of it all, even with a team of people working on it.
The filing system they used, used magic for indexing things and keeping things on file, which was pretty interesting, but it was not foolproof. Many mistakes can be made, and everything is only registered based on what is reported by the investigators.
At any rate, you can say I now have a few fancy dresses. I did n to buy some at some point because I heard there would be dancing in the academy that required formal wear, so now I guess I would be all set.
After all, I was not going to the academy to be a prim and proper youngdy. I was going there to learn military tactics and be a goodmander. A life filled with battle is the life I nned to lead. I would be one of those old army veterans who tells war stories to their grandkids. Although I think I would only be telling them to the new slimes that I replicate.
Adel fell in love with Mr. Blobs when I resummoned him during our trip. He was now treated as the king of the carriage. She would feed him all kinds of things, which sadly did not raise his level at all. Adel¡¯s face nched when she saw me throw a random monster corpse to him that was twenty times his size. She even yelled at me and told me he was going to get fat andzy.
I had to exin everything to her about how slimes worked before she finally understood. Only then did she let Mr. Blobs eat the monster corpse. But that brought on all kinds of new problems because the corpse disappeared as soon as Mr. Blobs touched it. I really had no way of exining it, so I lied and said that Mr. Blobs was a rare kind of slime and that I had no idea what breed he was.
With so many things happening, you can say that the past two weeks have been fun and fulfilling. Which brings us to the path we were about to set out on. I still have no idea where we are going, and Adel refuses to tell me. But I was very curious as to how Adel knows about anything out this far from the capital. I mean, she told me herself that she rarely leaves the capital for anything and even if she does, it is only a few miles away from the capital itself. Not that it really matters. If she wishes to tell me, she will.
Chapter 67 The Spirit Race Part 2
¡°We will need to go on foot from here, so it will probably be best if we change.¡± Adel said while grabbing my hand and pulling me into the small bedroom.
¡°Do you have armor, Adel?¡± I asked as I started to pull out my leather armor and the underclothes that went with it.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Adel already taking her own clothes out and felt my question was kind of stupid, but she still kindly answered with a nod. ¡°Yep! Everyone needs to have armor when going to the academy, so I have a few sets.¡±
A few sets¡. I looked at my only set of armor that I normally had to wash a few times a week and sighed. Must be nice to be rich. I really need to start earning some money! Although I guess normally, when one went out, it could be said they would only be carrying a single set of armor on them. So I guess it was not wrong to only have one set. I think I will start going with the motto of, only real adventures wear one set of armor until it can not be worn anymore! Although I do get annoyed with how sweaty I can get when it is hot¡. Maybe I should get a few sets after all when I be rich. So much for my motto. -.
¡°What¡¯s so funny?¡± Adel¡¯s voice entered my ear. I almost jumped out of my skin because she put her face right next to it. I looked over at Adel, who was already dressed while I was still standing there in my underwear, and pursed my lips. ¡°Just thinking about something my brother did when he was younger.¡± And so I lied. But I can¡¯t help it. It is too embarrassing to say that I was lost in my own thoughts and that I was basically talking to myself and making myselfugh. She will think I am crazy, and then bam! I will be booted out of the carriage.
¡°Hmmm?¡± Adel raised an eyebrow as I quickly averted her eyes and began putting my armor on at lightning speed.
A couple of minutester, we were standing outside the carriage, looking at the long path in front of us. It was already starting to get dark, but I guess there was a reason why we had to make this trek at night. Sir Randford stood in front of us and began issuing some warnings. ¡°The ce we are heading to is owned by the spirit race. We must not by any means attack anything unless it attacks us first.¡±
So it seems this ce is under the watchful eye of the Kingdom. No wonder Adel knew about this ce. This at least answered the question I had before. ¡°Princess, Miss Faith, Always watch where you are stepping as well. Do not step on any spirits by ident. Spiritse in all different shapes and sizes and are easily injured, but if angered, they could upturn the entire Kingdom by causing droughts and other natural disasters.¡±
The spirit race was a race that was the closest to the world and was born from the world. Any spirit race habitats were always secured and protected by the government. A one thousand mile perimeter is always established around their habitats. So this way, even the soldiers would not be able to bother them. During times of war, a huge force of soldiers would protect the habitat before any cities or towns. This was just how important they were.
And amoner like me would never be able to check this ce out without being with someone from the royal family. I had read all of this in a book, and was a major part of any kingdom¡¯s history. It was also something I needed to learn more about when I entered the Academy. They say knowledge is the greatest weapon, and to be honest, it truly was.
¡°Are you ready?¡± Sir Randford asked.
¡°Yes!¡± Both Adel and I responded at the same time, causing us to giggle. While Sir Randford was trying to be all serious, I was still rather calm. Because if anything happened, I could quickly act no matter what the situation held. At least, I hoped.
All the guards except Sir Randford all stayed behind while Sir Randford led the way. We made our way down the path that had tall grass up to my shoulders growing on the sides that hung over the sides of the path. We had to watch our step every inch of the way to make sure no spirits would fall victim to death by foot.
Although we did not actually see any spirits until about three hourster when the sun finally went down. Only then did we start to see glowing lights begin to fill the forest all around us. And to my amazement, spirits of all sizes began walking around. Some were shaped like leaves, while some took on the forms of sticks. There were even those who were nothing but a rock. Each one had a set of big ck eyes, and almost stick figure sized arms and legs. You could even see some floating through the air as little balls of light.
¡°From here on, be extra careful.¡± Sir Randford reminded. But what made me chuckle was the cute little voices of the spirits that repeated Sir Randofrd¡¯s words. ¡°Yeah, be careful!¡± ¡°He said to be careful!¡± ¡°Careful, careful!¡±
I smiled and looked at the cute little spirits that wereing to check us out. I guess they were quite a curious race. I had a few climbing up my leg, so I stopped so that they would not get hurt. I even helped them up so they wouldn¡¯t fall. But as I did all this, everyone else was giving me strange looks, which made me realize that neither Adel nor Sir Randford has a single spirit around them.
I watched as Adel smiled warmly at me and shook her head. ¡°Leave it to Faith to do the unthinkable.¡±
I could only smile and stick my tongue out at her. The little spirits kepting out of nowhere and climbing on top of me. At some point, I have no idea when but my head was covered in quite a few of them. Some rode on my horns while others swung from my hair. To be honest, this was the first ce that seemed truly magical to me in this world. I know this sounds weird since I have been casting magic, but this was how I truly felt at this time.
As we walked further up the path, the bigger the spirits got as well. Currently, I had two rock spirits holding my hands while morerge ones surrounded me. I do not know what it is that they like about me, but they seemed dead set on being near me.
Adel, on the other hand, was pouting. She wanted to have one of the little ones sit on her shoulder, but it spat at her and called her stinky. I almost died fromughter while Sir Radford¡¯s face turned bright red from trying to hold back hisughter. And poor Adel, the victim, lowered her head and pouted even more.
By the time we reached the top of the mountain, it was alreadyte into the night. But what stood before us was truly a mystical sight. Arge ancient tree spirit with a humanized face made of bark and a long beard made of leaves sat at the peak, looking at us with curious eyes. ¡°To think humans woulde this far after such a long time. And even a dragon who is loved by the spirits. This is indeed a grand asion. I had been wondering why the little ones seemed so excited.¡±
I watched as Adel stepped forward and dropped to one knee with her head bowed. ¡°Your Grace, I havee with a word from my father. He says the war has been quelled, and thends are safe once more. To ensure the safety of yournds, we had over a million soldiers encircling your territory to make sure it was safe.¡±
¡°I see¡ It is good the pact with your kingdom is being upheld. As you know, I am able to see all that happens in this kingdom. Every vibration is felt by me. I know that you humans are not all good. But I can see that you are at least good at sticking to your word. But this little girl is very different. She gives off a feeling that I have not felt since ancient times. Strong yet noble. One who will help those in need. It is also thanks to her that your human war was quelled so quickly. I hope you humans will treat her well.¡± I was a little shocked by what I was hearing. Why would the leader of the spirits of this Kingdom go so far to speak out for me?
Chapter 68 The Spirit Race Part 3
¡°Your Grace, you do not need to worry about this. On my name, Adellia Gravos, I swear on my honor that I will be harmed first before any harmes to Faith.¡± Hearing Adel swear on such a thing left me feeling strange inside. Why would Adel protect me over her own life?
¡°Adel, please retract that statement. Your life is not something that should be taken lightly.¡± I really couldn¡¯t have Adel sacrificing herself for me at some point to uphold her word. I mean, I have mana shield! What can hurt me unless it is indirect? Thest thing I want on my consciousness is Adel being seriously hurt or ending up dead thinking she is protecting me.
¡°No, I will not!¡± Adel immediately refused. Looking at her serious expression, I could only sigh. I guess I can only promise inwardly that I will keep her safe if anything were to happen.
I guess Adel was happy with me giving in so easily because her puffed out cheeks quickly turned into a satisfied smile. The leader of the spirits looked back and forth between us and nodded his head. ¡°I see you are both close, which is good. Child of dragons, I must ask you to look over this kingdom as well. Over the years, this kingdom has always held true to its promises and has made sure mynds are peaceful and kept safe from any of the other races. My spirit race is not one that can fight easily, and when we do, it will bring devastation to thends even if it is not the fault of those who live upon them. But we are also not a race that can be created easily as we are all born from the itself. So I ask that if those from outside this kingdome to invade thesends that you assist the kingdom in warding them off. If you do this for me, I will be sure that your home vige will always have a bountiful harvest.¡±
I gazed up at the leader of the spirits who was trying to make a deal with me in surprise. I guess he truly can see everything in this kingdom. But this was not a bad deal. It would not only help my family out but also aligned with my goal in life anyway. ¡°You have my word. If war breaks out, I will be on the front lines defending thisnd. I also do not wish to see anyone taint thesends of yours. Not when so many cute spirits live here.¡±-.
¡°Then I give you my thanks. It looks like this kingdom will have a prosperous future with this child helping it out.¡± I kinda felt embarrassed. I have done nothing, but the leader of the spirits kept showering me with praise. I now had to live up to his expectations and keep my end of the bargain, so that my family, no matter how long they live for, will always have good lives. For farmers having a bountiful harvest every year is something that brings life and energy into their passion.
My father loved working in the fields, and so did my brother. My brother will one day take over for my father as he grows older and will also have his own family grow more and more. The more they can harvest each year, the more they can sell to the merchants. It would then allow them to provide for the new Cyrilia that are born. A faint smile formed on my lips, thinking about it. My nephew will one day grow up and have kids, and his kids will also grow old and have children of their own. I just hope each one of them will live peaceful and eventful lives full of happiness. And I¡.. I will watch quietly from the side.
¡°Faith?¡± Adel called out to me, breaking me out of my thoughts.
I looked over at her and smiled. ¡°Thank you for bringing me here today, Adel.¡±
¡°Hehe, I just wanted you to see this ce.¡± Adel blushed slightly. But I am really d I got toe here. I got to see such an amazing ce. This will always be a day I will remember.
We ended up talking with the leader of the spirits for a while before saying our goodbyes, but before we left the mountain, a voice entered our ears. ¡°Child of the dragons, please wait a moment.¡±
¡°Hmmm?¡± I turned my head and looked up towards the mountain top.
¡°One of my kind has tried to hide themselves in your hair. Little one, it is useless to hide.¡± The leader of the spirit¡¯s voice was stern. Soon I felt some tousling in my hair before a flower spirit popped its head out from within.
¡°I want to go with her¡.¡± The flower spirit voice sounded like a young girl, but I could only assume that she must be much older. I could also hear a bit of stubbornness in her voice.
¡°You know it is dangerous outside for our kind. If you leave this mountain, I can not protect you no matter what happens.¡± I guess ording to the leader of the spirits words, the spirits here are allowed to roam as they please but will not be protected by the pact of the kingdom.
¡°I know, but I will be safe with her.¡± The little voice replied as the small figure with a humanoid shape, wearing a green leaf bell shaped dress and had a flower growing out of the top of her head, floated in front of me. It did seem to be a girl, from what I could tell. I am not sure if spirits had a male or female. I watched as she turned to me and bowed her head. ¡°Please let mee with you. I will hide myself in your hair no one will know I am there.¡±
A long, drawn out sigh came from the top of the mountain. ¡°Child of dragons, would you mind looking after this little one?¡±
¡°It¡¯s fine. I do not see why not. But she will need to behave.¡± I had no issues if she followed me around. I mean, after all, she was cute and small, so she wouldn¡¯t take up any space. I wonder if she will get along with Mr. Blobs? I guess I will need to introduce themter.
¡°Then I will leave this little one in your care. Child of dragons, I bid you farewell and safe journeys.¡± The voice of the spirit leader began to fade at the end. I gave a slight bow and turned back around. I guess I got a new travelpanion.
I looked at the flower spirit and smiled, and held out my hand. ¡°Since we will be traveling together, just call me Faith. Do you have a name by chance?¡±
¡°No¡. Spirits normally do not have names. Only names humans give us. Names have no meaning for us. But if you, Faith, wish to give me a name, I will dly ept.¡± The little flower spirit replied.
I stood there and thought for a moment looking at the little spirit, before a name popped into my mind. ¡°How about Little Bell?¡± Her dress was shaped like a bell which reminded me of a bellflower from back on Earth. They were very pretty flowers and had a bell shape.
¡°Little Bell¡.¡± Little Bell seemed to fall into thought for a second before nodding her head. ¡°This name I like, thank you Faith.¡±
¡°Then shall we go?¡± I asked, motioning with my hand. Little bell nodded andnded on my hand before running up to my shoulder and hiding in my hair.
¡°I will stay here. It will be the safest ce for me.¡± Little Bell seemed to want to just be there for the ride as if she was on vacation.
With everything settled and an envious Adel, we exited the path and made our way back to the carriage. It was already veryte in the night, so we nned to stay the night in the carriage at the end of the footpath. Adel was full of all kinds ofints because the spirits did not like her. Even Little Bell kept her distance from her. I felt bad but also found it kinda funny.
¡°Tomorrow, we will head out of this special area and head back onto the road towards the capital. Faith, are you sure you won¡¯t travel with me?¡± I could tell Adel did not want to travel alone. But I also knew once we reached the capital, we would need to separate as well. At the rate that we are traveling, we will also be there about a month before the academy¡¯s entrance tests. This means I could still take the time to get to know the area around the capital and the capital itself.
Since I could enjoy my time with my new friend before we would be split apart for a while, I figured why not. I have all the time in the world to travel around. ¡°Yeah, we can travel together. Once we reach the capital, you will need to go to the castle anyway. And I can take some time getting used to the city.¡±
¡°Really!? No, wait! You can¡¯t say no now! You already said yes!¡± Adel looked very happy, which made me smile. I just hope nothing happens in the future that will make this girl who longed for a friend to do something stupid like try to protect me using her life. One thing I have learned in my twelve years on this world is that when people give their word about something, most of them will always keep that word. I guess I will just need to make sure nothing happens that will put her in danger.
Chapter 69 Arriving At The Capital
¨CAN: New Novel Cover! Theplete and full size image can be found on discord!¨C
¡°Faith!¡± Adel threw her arms around me and hugged me tightly. ¡°These past few months have been the most fun I have ever had. I truly hope this next month quickly passes by!¡±
¡°It really has been fun.¡± I was not lying. The past few months while traveling with Adel had really been fun. The two of us could be said to be close sisters now. We spent every waking moment together and stopped off to see a few of the sights of the kingdom along the way, courtesy of our tour guide Sir Randford.
We saw awesome majestic waterfalls and many viges, towns, and cities along the way, and now I was at the capital, Sky Lake City. The capital that floated in the sky, well, a good portion of it. But sadly I would not get to see the floating ind part of the kingdom until I passed through therge gates in front of me and made my way further into the city. The floating ind was actually hidden by an illusion spell and one needed to enter the capital¡¯s middle region to even see it.
During our travels, I think Sir Randford was only stopping off at demi human weing ces because we did pass a few ces that we could have gotten an inn at only to pass them and camp outside. Which I did not mind, and neither did Adel. I found out Adel is scared of ghost stories. We had quite a bit of fun sitting around the campfire telling scary stories. Adel¡¯s face would always pale while holding my arm, shaking in her boots at the simplest story. It gave me a reason to tease her before sleeping.
Sometimes we slept in the carriage, other times, I would put up a protective barrier so we could sleep out under the stars. It was truly a fun time. And like all fun times, they do have toe to an end as everyone has their own duties and lives they need to live. -.
My only issue is the fancily dressed young man who has the same smirk on his face as the smirking knight who came with Adel to my home in Cyrilia vige. It was so simr that I was starting to think that he was indeed that knight. But something felt off. ¡°Adel, who is the dork over there?¡±
¡°Dork?¡± Adel raised her head and looked at me with a confused expression. I kinda figured that the word dork would not register in this world, but I couldn¡¯t help but call him that.
¡°The smirking fancy pants over there.¡± I said out loud, making sure the young man heard me. I mean, he was staring at me, and it was annoying.
¡°Hmmm?¡± Adel turned her head, and her eyes went big. ¡°Brother!? Why are you here!?¡±
¡°Brother?¡± I suddenly had a bad feeling. I am not sure if it was the fact that the only princess of Gravos called the young man brother or not, but I can only assume that Mr. Fancy Pants is one of the three princes of Gravos. I just hope my remark just now will not get my head cut off and nine generations of my family killed. I mean, his entire being froze upon hearing my words. The face he was making also did not look right.
¡°Smirking Fancy Pants¡. Pfftttt! Hahahaha! It fits!¡± Adel suddenly registered my words and beganughing so hard she had tears in her eyes.
¡°My dear Sister, it is not verydylike tough like this in public. And Lady Faith, we meet again. Let me formally introduce myself. I am the first prince of Gravos. Prince Lance Gravos, The Crown Prince of Gravos.¡± Lance gave me a knightly bow. I do admit he is very handsome when he is not smirking. I do not know if he thinks that smirk of his is sexy or not, but it makes him look -100 points lower than he does now when he is acting regally. Oh¡. It¡¯s back again.
I bit my tongue in order to notment before giving a proper curtsey that Adel was kindly nice enough to teach me during our trip, along with other proper etiquettes. ¡°Prince Lance, it is a pleasure. My name is Faith Cyrilia, please call me Faith. The word dy¡¯ really doesn¡¯t suit me.¡±
¡°It is a pleasure.¡± Prince Lance replied with that stupid smirk. I really can¡¯t take it anymore! It just looks so stupid!
¡°Ummm¡ Prince Lance, if I may say something that might cause you to want to chop off my head.¡± I just couldn¡¯t stand it. For a handsome man to ruin his image by putting on such a stupid smirk just irks me. I mean, I would do the same if this was my father or brother.
Now I am sure there must be quite a few gaga females in this kingdom who faint when they see that stupid smirk but not me. Ie from a ce where idols were in flow bloom. Jen had even showed me a magazine of some male idol groups before. While I never really understood the appeal, I can at least say they were indeed handsome, and their smirks made them look sexier, but this prince, it just ruined his whole image. And this ising from someone who doesn¡¯t n to get married. But I do like to look at beautiful people, whether it is a man or a woman.
I saw Prince Lance¡¯s lips curl up into a curious smile causing me to wish I never opened my mouth. ¡°Faith, you need to be straight with him. He always does as he pleases. His Majesty will let it slide even if you beat him up.¡± Adel snorted and stood at my side. The way she looked at her brother was as if she was trying to keep a thieving cat from stealing her man.
I watched as Prince Lance red at Adel before turning to me and smiling: ¡°Yes, please feel free to speak.¡±
¡°Then¡. Can you please stop with that stupid smirk? It really ruins your handsome face.¡± Since I got the go ahead and have Adel¡¯s backing, I said it straight!
¡°Hah¡. Hahahahaha! She is so right! I keep telling you that that stupid smirk on your face made you look dumb! Hahahaha!¡± Adel was cracking up while Prince Lance¡¯s face turned ck. The smirk was all gone, reced with a sulking one. At least now, he still looked handsome.
¡°But the nobledies seem to like it¡.¡± I heard Prince Lance mumble under his breath. I could only scream out, ¡®I knew it!¡¯ inside my head. I mean, of course, the nobledies will praise him for everything he does. He is the crown prince, after all.
¡°Well, I just figured I should tell you that¡ I do apologize if I have offended you.¡± I decided it was best to make sure I apologized. I was pretty blunt just now.
¡°No, it is fine. What others think does not matter. Only what Faith thinks matters.¡± Eh¡. Did I just get hit on? I really wouldn¡¯t know, but I might have been. Or else he might just be being nice. I bet in reality, he actually wants to chop off my head for making him lose face.
¡°Brother, what is the meaning of this?¡± Adel stood in front of me with her arms stretched out to her sides.
¡°More like Sister, what are you doing?¡± Prince Lance and Adel were both ring at each other? Are they having a feud?
¡°Ummm¡.¡± I decided to cut in before they started brawling here in the middle of the street. I wonder if the two siblings were not on good terms? My brother and I never fought much. I used to pick on him, but he would let me get away with it most of the time. And the times he didn¡¯t, he would just tickle me until I almost peed myself. Although, one time, I did, and I ended up kicking him in the face out of anger. That time ended with me getting reprimanded by Father. Not like I meant to break his nose. I mean, he made me pee myself! Anyway¡ This was a family secret that no one will ever find out. But to have a very serious fight? I have never had the chance to have one since my family always cared about each other.
¡°Humph!¡± Adel snorted once more before turning her attention to me and smiling. She even took my hands as she began speaking. ¡°Faith, the inn is right down the road. It is called The Hayward Inn and is very demi human friendly as well as high ss. The inn owner is already expecting you. You can stay there for now while we get the house we have prepared for you to stay at prepared.¡±
¡°Adel, you really did not need to do all that¡.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but feel that Adel was spoiling me a bit too much. I did have money of my own. But I guess this is all set up by the king himself, so I probably should just ept it.
¡°No, she did need to. Faith, you must understand that you have done a great deed for our kingdom. His Majesty did not wish to bring you to the capital without having proper amodations, and we already said that everything will be provided by the royal family. So it is fine.¡± Prince Lance cut in, which for some reason caused Adel¡¯s gaze to turn a little scary.
¡°Then I thank you both and His Majesty.¡±
Chapter 70 Stupid Prince
¡°It is fine there is no need to thank us. Your actions in helping this kingdom are already enough.¡± Prince Lance replied and even bowed his head slightly. He then raised his head and gave Adel a big smile. ¡°My dear sister, I think you should be heading back, should you not? His Majesty, our father, is waiting for your report.¡±
¡°You!¡± Adel¡¯s expression turnedplicated. She stomped her feet before throwing her arms around me and hugging me tightly once again. ¡°I will be off. As my brother said, I do need to return to the castle to report to my father. But Faith¡.¡± Adel leaned her face closer to my ear and whispered in a not so low voice: ¡°Watch out for my brother, he is a yboy. Do not let him sweet talk you.¡±
¡°My dear sister, I can hear you. Faith, do not listen to her. I am still as pure as the day I was born. I am keeping myself clean until the day I meet my true love.¡±
¡°Pure? Clean? Hah! Let me tell you right now, Lance Gravos, if you dare do anything to my cute Faith, I will hunt you down with everything I have!¡± Adel yelled out while shaking her fist and snorting.
¡°My Faith!? Humph! We will see!¡± Prince Lance red at Adel as he spoke.-.
I guess as the bystander, I should stay quiet, but I do not understand why these two are fighting over me. It¡¯s like two male leads in an otome game staring each other down, waiting for the other to mess up. If this was a manga, there would be projections of mighty beasts behind the two with bolts of lightning shooting out of their eyes. Kinda wish I had some popcorn to watch the show.
After saying my goodbyes to Adel, who looked like she was about to cry as she left in the carriage, I stood there and looked down the long city road ahead of me. I could have gotten a ride, but I decided against it. I wanted to take a good look at the city I was going to be staying in for a while. Unfortunately, I can not see the floating ind which hovers over the lower part of the city.
My only issue was the young man standing beside me with his hands behind his back with that same stupid smirk on his face. I guess old habits die hard. ¡°Prince Lance, is there something I can help you with?¡±
¡°Me? I figured I would walk around with you a bit if that is okay?¡± Mr. Smirks smiled at me and caused me to want to kick him. Why would you want to follow me!? Sadly, I can not ask such questions since Adel is not here, so I have no one to protect me from getting my head chopped off. I wonder if this was his way of punishing me. He was taking revenge for myment earlier.
Nevertheless, no matter what the reason is, I can only sigh and reluctantly nod my head. ¡°If Prince so wishes¡.¡±
¡°Good! We should also stop to eat. I know a wonderful ce.¡± And with that, my day was suddenly decided for me. I do not know why it is, but this bast¡ Ahem¡. This prince is just as arrogant as the ones I read about in stories. I do not know what kind of favor he is expecting of me, but he seems dead set on bothering me for the time being.
¡°Then I will let Prince take the lead.¡± This is all I could say. To be honest, I was not hungry at all. Just before arriving at the city, I had already eaten lunch with Adel. She had made some delicious food, and I kind of gorged myself. Her cooking was just too good. When she gets married in the future, she will make her husband a happy man. Sadly then, I will not be able to eat her cooking as much.
But I do hope whoever Adel marries will treat her well. Because as her friend¡. No! As her sister, I must protect her from those evil people, even if it means crushing an entire kingdom in the process. Although I am sure it will nevere to that, at least I hope¡.
¡°Faith, these stores here are not too bad even if they are in the lower section of the city. They have many items you can not find anywhere else. I do stop in to buy trinkets here from time to time. Everything is made by the owners as well, which makes them even more unique.¡± While I did not wish to be walking the streets of the capital with the crown prince himself, I had to say he was quite knowledgeable about the ce. I really did not expect him to know so much. And the shop he pointed at was kind of run down, so It was surprising that he even goes there. As for these so called unique trinkets¡.. I am not sure what kind of animal that stuffed toy is supposed to be with its fat stomach and strange head with different size eyes sewn into it with a really creepy smile. But I can say this¡. This prince¡¯s tastes were a bit unique indeed.
¡°I see¡¡± I did my best to keep a smile. But we drew a lot of attention, and the girls on the street were ring daggers at me. I really wished to say I am not doing this because I want to! I am being forced to y along! Also, yay for being single forever! Don¡¯t worry, you want him, take him! This, of course, could not be said out loud, or my neck would have one less heavy thing on top of it.
It¡¯s not that I did not find the prince attractive, it is just that I do not want a rtionship. Just thinking about it puts me in a sour mood. But I can do nothing but force a smile and try not to lead the smirking prince on. ¡°Here we are! Fillios House Of Meat!¡±
Really? This is the ce you bring a girl to? Maybe I was thinking too much. There is no way any man who is taking a girl he likes out to a meal would bring them to a ce like this. I mean, this was basically just a meat shop! It reminds me of the sandwich shops back on Earth.
Surprisingly or maybe not, when we walked in, we had all kinds of eyes staring at us. None of them were from anyone who would look like a noble of any kind, onlymoners. And there was no staff here besides those standing behind the counter. There was even a small line waiting to put in their orders. It was definitely a busy ce.
After five minutes, we finally made our way to the front, where a middle aged man and his teen son were working. ¡°Your order?¡±
¡°Ummm, give me tworge barandalia and cheese with the special sauce. Give us the works.¡± As I stood there while the Prince ordered his food, I Iooked at the menu to see what I wanted. All the names were strange, so I did not really know what was what. But before I could even decide, Prince Lance grabbed my hand and began pulling me away.
¡°Huh? I haven¡¯t ordered yet.¡± I said in confusion. Was he not taking me here so I can eat? I may not be all that hungry, but I can still take it to go if I do not finish it!
¡°Order? I already ordered for us.¡±
Wait! What the hell do you mean you already ordered for us!? Why would you order for me!? I wanted to scream, but the only thing I could do was quickly take my hand back from the prince and sit down at the table, feeling a bit disappointed. Although it should be mentioned that the food here did smell good. I would need to inspect this ce more when I was on my own.
But right now, I had to deal with the matter at hand. In other words, deal with a prince I did not wish to deal with. If it was not for the way he was doing things, I would not mind walking the streets with him, but currently, he is acting a little too friendly for having just really met kind of like those domineering CEOs I read about. Well, this is my take on it as I have read many novels on romance in the past. And this was usually how those arrogant male lead types worked. Which was never my cup of tea. I always yelled out, kick him where it hurts! But now I kind of understand why they couldn¡¯t. When dealing with someone of a higher status, things were not so simple. Oh, how I wish Adel was here to save me! But then again, they might start fighting again. I kinda wondered if the women of this world like it when guys acted like this. I, for one, do not!
Chapter 71 Annoying Prince
I sat there and ate my meal in silence as Mr. Gabs continued talking to me about this and that. I only gave the perfunctory responses that were needed as I ate my sandwich. The only thing I can say that was good about this situation was the food. It was very good. So I will definitelye back again. ¡°So then he said, how can you have so many!? Haha! Funny, right?¡±
¡°Mhmm¡¡± I have no idea what he was just talking about. Who said what and the what now? I should just hurry up and eat. For some reason, he doesn¡¯t even realize I wasn¡¯t paying attention at all. Which means he was not even paying attention to me. For some reason, that irks me. I mean, I do not like him in that way, but as a girl, you would think the handsome guy across from you would at least pay attention to you if they take you out to eat. He is probably a narcissist.
After twenty minutes of listening to stories that I still have no idea what they were about, I finally finished my meal. ¡°The food here was delicious. Now, if your HIghness does not mind, I should probably be heading to the inn, so I can settle in.¡±
I quickly stood up and bowed towards Prince Lance before turning to leave. But who would have thought that the stupid prince would grab his sandwich and also stand up, following me out? How am I supposed to say nicely I do not want to be around you without sounding so rude that I would lose my head? Things were much simpler when I could just wave my hand and blow people up. For one thing, there is no way in hell that you will see me dating a prince in the first ce that would be a career ender for me. Those royals would never let me be amander! My dream would go out the window, so if this is his aim, then I am sorry, but please leave me alone!
I want to live free, and if I were to marry one day, I will not marry royalty. They have too many rules of can¡¯t do this or can¡¯t do that. That is unless I was queen. Then things would be different, hehe¡ If I had rule over a country, I would be sure to make it a free ce withws that are only there to protect the people living there. Set up institutions for learning and promote innovation to its finest. Sadly I do not think that will ever happen unless I go and take a country of my own¡. Not such a bad idea¡. I pursed my lips and tapped my chin. -.
If I were to take over a country, I would need to be sure the ones ruling it are people who are bad people. Maybe I should wipe out the Norian Kingdom¡¯s royal family and reform the whole country? But would I even be capable of ruling a country of my own? I am far too green. As it is now, I do not even have the power to fullymand an army. I hope that going to the academy will prepare me for everything. I want to be someone who is able tomand those under me to win every battle without losing a single man. I know not losing a single man is wishful thinking, but I can dream, right?
¡°Ouch!¡± My thoughts broke off when I heard a yelp from my side. I turned to see Prince Lance holding his hand, staring at Little Bell, who was looking at him with a fierce expression. ¡°Little Bell?¡±
¡°This human tried to touch you. Bad humans should stay away.¡± Little bell¡¯s puffed out cheeks, and pursed lips look so cute and funny.
¡°Pfft! Hahaha!¡± I couldn¡¯t hold it in. Little Bell was the perfect prince deterrent. I am sure Little Bell had picked up on my feelings of not wanting to be close to the prince. Which stemmed from many reasons but to think he went as far as to try to touch me.
¡°Wh¡. Why¡. Why is there a spirit here!?¡± Prince Lance couldn¡¯t help but yell out but quickly realized his mistake and covered his mouth. He turned and looked at the guards who were surrounding us and gave them a nod.
The next thing I know, all the people in the area were starting to be detained. ¡°What are you doing!?¡±
¡°What do you mean? There is a spirit here. These people who saw it all need to be detained until it is safely back in its domain! If anything were to happen to the spirit, it would destroy ou¡.¡±
¡°Prince Lance, if I may be frank, I am sorry, but you are going about things wrongly.¡± I shouted, interrupting the idiot. ¡°First, you should have asked me why I have a spirit with me, secondly, you should never oppress the people who are innocent. You are the crown prince and someone who is destined to take over the rule of this country. If you can¡¯t even handle a situation like this calmly, how the hell can you be king!?¡± I know I was way over the line, but this was the final straw. I can handle it if he is ordering me around and dragging me here and there, but I can not allow him to actually detain innocent people who have done nothing wrong. I waved my hand, and multiple barriers began to surround the people the guards were about to try to capture, blocking them from being able to touch them.
¡°Faith, what are you doing!? Are you trying to rebel!?¡± Prince Lance was not even listening to what I was saying.
¡°Rebel!? I am stopping an idiot prince from doing something stupid. Little Bell is under my care. The spirit leader himself asked me to take care of her.¡± I shouted back.
¡°Yeah yeah! Bad human! Bad! I stay with Faith!¡± Little Bell yelled out in a small voice.
Prince Lance stared at me in disbelief before looking back and forth between Little Bell and me. ¡°This¡.¡±
¡°It is not like I was hiding it. It is just that Little Bell does not like other people, so normally she is hiding in my hair, looking around. Even Adel can¡¯t touch her.¡± I exined slowly before waving my hand once more and removing the barriers. ¡°So do you see now that what you were doing was not the right course of action?¡±
I watched as Prince Lance held his head and waved his hand motioning to the guards to stand down. ¡°I see I did act out of line just now.¡±
Under my shocked gaze, Prince Lance bowed his head to the people he was about to arrest. ¡°I apologize for my rash actions. If anyone was hurt just now, please let me know. I will pay all doctor fees. Aspensation, I will give each of you two gold coins.¡±
Two gold coins! Give me four! In all seriousness, I am quite shocked at how quickly his attitude changed. He was willing to admit his mistakes and evenpensate those involved. I guess he does have a few prince like qualities to him.
¡°Faith, I owe you for stopping me, and I apologize for yelling at you just now. I acted rashly out of fear. As you know, a spirit is like the achilles heel of our kingdom or any kingdom for that matter. They can determine if a kingdom lives or dies. If you did not stop me just now, things might have turned even worse. Not only would I have harmed innocents but also would have caused a spirit to be angry with the kingdom.¡± I never thought a day woulde when I would get such a sincere apology from a prince, no less.
¡°It¡¯s fine. I just did what I should have. I apologize for my rudeness.¡± I let out a sigh of relief. I guess this will be a lesson for us all. And it also shows just how much the prince worries about this kingdom. He was about to sacrifice the few and his own reputation in order to keep Little Bell safe and protect the kingdom. This is very noble of him, so I can not fault him on that, but it was just how he went about it.
¡°Now then¡.¡± I figured while we were at it, I would ask a very important question. ¡°Why were you trying to touch me, a fair and pure maiden in the middle of the street?¡±
¡°Cough!¡± Prince Lance seemed to have choked on air. ¡°I was just trying to shoo away a bug that was on shoulder¡.¡±
¡°Liar! Bad human liar! Tried to hug her, you did! Liar! Liar! Liar!¡± Little Bell¡¯s voice came from inside my hair, causing me to chuckle. The one and only one in the whole kingdom besides the royal family who can say what they want to the crown prince without needing to worry about being beheaded. I guess this extends to me now that I am Little Bell¡¯s caretaker?
Chapter 72 The Hayeward Inn
With Little Bell screaming and yelling, Prince Lance¡¯s face turned bright red. ¡°Ummm¡ Faith, I just remembered I had something to do. I will meet up with you again soon.¡± And with that, Prince Lance walked away with all but one knight following him.
I turned to look at the knight, who smiled awkwardly at me and scratched his head. ¡°I ummm¡. I was ordered to guard you by the captain¡.¡±
¡°Do as you need,¡± I said with a nod and began walking down the street. As long as this knight did not hinder me while I walked around, I could care less. Although I do not think there is anyone more suited for the task of protecting Little Bell than myself. For one thing, Little Bell does not like to leave my hair, and she had promised me she would not run off on her own or show herself unless necessary. Prince Lance just had to try to make a move on, though. But I find this strange, why would he hit on me? I never said a word to make it seem like I liked him. I guess Adel was right, her brother is a yboy! And so Ibeled Princence a yboy in my heart.
The capital city had much more to see than I could ever dream of. There were so many businesses all seeing their own unique blend of items that it was enough to make my head spin. I thought there would not be too much innovation in a country where nobles rained, but I was proven wrong. There were many things that people were selling that were simr to things you would find on Earth, like the ¡®Heat Box¡¯, basically a microwave. But it used fire and required you to use a special metal dish to put your food on.-.
There were many things like dishwashers, clothes washers, and many other things. You can basically point out any of the household appliances and would be able to find a match for it that used magic instead of high tech. Not only did this make things much eco friendly, but also made it so that it cost no power, and was energy free. If anything, this makes these items much better than those found on Earth.
I ended up walking half a day before I finally reached the inn. This inn was the closest to the gates, while the house I guess that I was going to be getting was on the floating ind near the academy, like a fifteen minute walk. I have no idea how big it is, but knowing that it ising from the king himself, it will probably be quite big. Which means I will need to do a lot of cleaning¡. I hate cleaning the most. Such a boring task, yet it still needs to get done.
The Hayward Inn¡. ording to what Adel told me, it was the most secure inn in this part of the city. And sure enough, the front doors were guarded by knights. The knight that was currently following me nodded to them to allow me to pass through without issue. The door to the building which was made out of brick was made out of what looked like tinted blue ss. Compared to the other buildings, this was quite fancy.
That was something else I noticed about this city. It was very early 1920s style New Yorkish. All the buildings were brick and mortar and had about seven to ten floors max. Although there were a few buildings closer to the center of the city that had twenty floors or more, I think they used a metal frame construction for those. To be honest, it made me feel nostalgic.
The interior of the reception room was wide and looked no different from any fancy five star hotel I have seen on tv or read about back on Earth. There wererge white pirs that held up the ceiling and lounge couches situated here and there. The front desk was lined with gold with a reddish wood structure.
Behind the counter were three young women, all quite beautiful and wearing neat cored uniforms. When I walked in, one of them even came over to greet me. ¡°Miss Cyrilia, I presume?¡±
¡°Yes, I am¡.¡± I replied and gave a confused look. I wonder how she knew who I was without me needing to say my name. But when I thought about it, how many demi humans out there have my unique features?
¡°It¡¯s good to finally meet you. Princess Adellia had sent us a message to let us know what you look like, which is how I knew who you were. My Name is Seli, wee to the capital. We have a royal suite already ready for you. Please, this way.¡± Seli had me follow her. The guard who was guarding me this entire time also followed me, which made me wonder if this man would be standing outside my door at night. This kinda felt strange. While it might be normal for some, for me, it was a strange experience. Kinda made me feel like a princess myself.
I was taken up a private lift that goes directly to the royal suite. Once you got off the elevator, there was a small hall that had a small room to the right, which Seli told me was a servant room, so that would probably be where the guard would be staying, and at the very end of the hall after passing through a few magic defense systems was the entrance to the suite. But before I could even get there, I had to be registered with the magical defense system, which required a bit of my mana. I guess only the royal family his allowed to use this room, so the process to register was not known by anyone but the royal family and Seli, who was a top executive of thepany that owned the inn. She was working as a normal receptionist all because of me.
Once my mana was registered into the magic equation, I was now able to pass through the door. As the knight could not enter the room unless the defense system was de-activated, only Seli could follow me in. ¡°Miss Cyrilia, there will be a few maids from the castleing soon. I do apologize as I had not had time to get them here before your arrival.¡±
¡°Maids!?¡± I turned and looked at Seli in surprise. I mean, I never expected to have people waiting on me. Should I really let this happen? What if I get used to the finer things in life? I was a bit conflicted. I have never had anyone really wait on me for anything unless you count my parents in both lives. But I kinda had to rely on them when I was younger to survive, so I guess that doesn¡¯t count.
¡°Yes, Princess Adellia had me arrange it. Also, when they doe, you will need to allow them in. You can use the blue orb to the side of the door there to temporarily shut the magic defenses off. There is also another one outside as well. So if you wish to bring people over, you will only need to inject mana into them.¡± Seli went on to exin things about food and other things along those lines. Like to know if someone is here, there is a call system that uses a magical rune link from the hall and one that links to the reception desks as well. ¡°If you need anything, just use the call stone. The kitchen is open all day and night for those in the royal suite so call when you get hungry. You can order anything you like or pick from the menu on the table over there.¡±
¡°Okay, thank you.¡± I was a little excited about my stay here. It was starting to feel like a very expensive vacation that I got for free. All my daily needs were taken care of. Adel told me meals and amodations were all taken care of. But if I wished to buy anything outside of daily necessities, I would need to pay for it myself. Which is understandable with how out of the way they were going with these things. Plus, Adel has already spent a ton of money on me already, which I really feel bad about. So I will need to save up a bunch of money and get her something nice.
I walked around the room, which was more like a veryrge apartment, and felt kinda lonely. There was just me here in this big ce with nothing to do. ¡°I guess I can work on my fusion magic a bit¡.¡±
I walked over to the ss doors that led out to the rooftop garden and opened them up. Instantly the warm sun hit my skin, causing me to feel a bit calmer. I walked around the garden looking at all the flowers until I reached a wide circr area with benches. ¡°Now then, with everything that I have learned, I guess I need to work on the process of shortening the casting time of two spells to fuse them together into a single spell more quickly.¡±
Chapter 73 Maids!
¡°Ahhh! Again! So dumb!¡± I hit the ground with my fist. I couldn¡¯t help but be angry, the magic equations were just not working. I have no idea how long I have spent trying to create a working fusion spell, but my concentration was broken when I heard a sound overhead. I looked up to see arge wooden ship flying across the sky, and in front of my face, it disappeared out of sight.
¡°So that is the illusion spell¡. To think they can create an illusion spell that works like this.¡± I rubbed my chin as I gazed up at the sky. Even when I squinted my eyes, I still could not see the floating ind. ¡°Well¡ I still need to go to the academy, and I am pretty sure the ce the king would be preparing for me to live in will be on the floating ind. But I do find it quite interesting that such a huge ind floats in the sky without even casting a shadow.¡±
If one were to look from the distance, they would never see any giant ind in the sky, especially one that is big enough to be home to millions. The sun rained down on the massive city below without any obstruction. ¡°Wait¡. Is this not an actual illusion spell but a spell that just bends the light around the object?¡±
This actually made more sense to me. By bending light around an object, you can hide the object the light is bending around. I did a science project on this in school back on Earth. But it only resulted in working in a single direction. But the proof of concept was there. It was using magic which would mean they could create a sphere and encircle the object you want to hide to bend the light. But what I still do not get is how it is selectively hiding the floating ind while leaving thend below visible for all to see. And on top of that, if you make your way further into the city below, you will pass a boundary that allows you to see the ind from below. ording to Adel, even if you can see the Ind, it will still not cast a shadow on thend below. It is definitely strange. I really wish I could check out this magic equation for it. But I highly doubt that such a magic equation would be avable to the public.
¡°Ahhh! I want to see it!¡± I felt aggravated, so I stomped my feet a few times before turning around and going to order some food. -.
Only after eating did I finally begin to feel a bit better about my failures in my fusion magic. I sat back in my chair and looked out the window seeing the stars sparkling in the sky, and sighed. ¡°Tomorrow, I will do a bit of wandering around. I guess I can take a bath an¡.¡±
My self monologue was interrupted when a call came from the call orb near the door. ¡°Miss Cyrilia, are you in? We are from the pce.¡±
Pursing my lips, I walked to the door and opened it to see two beastkin girls and a human girl standing there in maid outfits. These were not like those sexy maid outfits but real ones made for the working girl where the dress goes down to their ankles. If they came in some kind of miniskirt, I would start to think this was some kind of sexy otome game.
I used the panel to the side to deactivate the defense systems and allow the three girls in. ¡°Come on in, it is safe to pass now.¡±
The three maids bowed their heads and walked into the suite. One had ck haired cat ears and tail, another had brown haired roon ears and tail, while thest was a dirty blonde headed human girl. Each girl looked no older than ten to thirteen years of age. This was a sad part of society. In order to live, some girls would sell themselves into servitude to be maids of nobles at a very young age. Sometimes it would be their parents who would sell them off. It was not to punish them but in hopes of giving them better lives. After all, not everyone had money to raise the kids they birthed. Instead of having them starve, it was more beneficial to have them work as maids. The lucky ones like these girls would get to work for royalty which would give them some status.
Of course, this was all under strict rules as well. Girls who were under contract were not ves. The maids guild took these girls in and got them jobs while a small portion of their wages would be used to keep the guild running. This was only one percent of their wages. The rest was up to the maids to do with as they please. Some were paid very well and could live on their own if they wished with the ie they were getting, but not many would do that since the pay was very good.
The guild also did monthly examinations to make sure their maids were not mistreated. I only know all of this because Rachel had looked into it. She had told me that if my brother did not take her, she would have be a maid. She said she had liked my brother since she was very young and always watched him from afar. So when they finally got together, she was so excited she almost screamed out loud and jumped for joy. Even if she could live a good life as a maid, she would rather be with the man she had fallen for so many years ago.
Each girl was also taught how to read, write, and do math. Which made them highly valuable. But these girls all seemed a bit timid. ¡°Can I ask why you all have your heads lowered?¡±
¡°Ah¡. ummm¡ Princess told us that we are not allowed to gaze upon your beautiful face, or we will be immediately fired.¡± The cat girl answered, causing my lips to twitch.
¡°What kind of crap is that!? Forget what she said, lift your heads.¡± I really need to pinch Adel¡¯s cheekster. What is she telling these poor girls!? Was she afraid they would fall in love with me or something!? I have a hard enough time getting people to like me, never mind having some young girls fall in love with me.
¡°This¡.¡± The cat girl spoke up again. I guess she was the leader of the group.
Seeing them still reluctant, I reached down and lifted the cat girl¡¯s face. When our eyes locked, she quickly averted her eyes, not daring to look straight at me. ¡°See, you looked. Now, did you get fired?¡±
¡°N-No¡.¡± The cat girl shook her head, her eyes finally staring right at me.
I smiled and patted her head. ¡°That is right. You can ignore Adel¡¯s order. I do not like stuffy things. I will never ask you to do something out of the scope of your duty or even make you do something you are notfortable with, so, please. Make yourselves at home here. Are you three hungry? Do you want some food? You can order whatever you want. Ah, before that, let¡¯s introduce ourselves. My name is Faith Cyrilia. You can call me Faith.¡±
¡°Miss¡ calling you by your name is against our guild rules. We can only call you Miss, Young Miss, Master, or Mistress¡.¡± The cat girl spoke up, causing me to purse my lips. I could only sigh and nod my head.
¡°Then call me as you see fit.¡± I can¡¯t force her to call me by my name, not after saying I wouldn¡¯t make them do things they did not want to do.
¡°Then Young Miss, my name is Annie, next to me is Rina, and beside her is Brooke.¡± So the cat girl was named Annie, the roon girl was Rina, and the human girl was Brook. I tried to drill these names into my mind so I would not mix them up.
¡°Alright then, Annie, please order some food for you three. Order whatever. It is all on the kingdom anyway.¡± I said while sticking my tongue out. The girls all stared at me, unsure of what to do.
¡°Miss, we can just eat what is in the kitchen, we should not eat such expensive food¡ We are just servants.¡± Annie seemed a bit nervous, which made me sigh. This was probably normally how maids were treated, but I haven¡¯t even been to the kitchen, so I do not think there was any food in there.
¡°It¡¯s fine. Why waste free things? Order food. Also, I will need to speak to Sei because if you three wish to leave, it will be hard without me around. I will get her to help register the three of you with the defensive systems. For now, order food, eat, bathe and sleep. I was nning to go bathe now. So make yourselves at home.¡± After saying this, I turned to walk away before stopping and turning back around. ¡°Also, wee. I do hope we can get along.¡±
The girls seemed pretty confused. But I guess that is normal. After all, I am amoner! I do not have the airs of nobility, nor do I ever wish to treat people who are here to help me as if they are below me.
There was just one thing I forgot about maids¡. They follow you everywhere! These girls were preparing everything for me before I could even undress! Looks like I got more things to get used to¡.
Chapter 74 The Kidnapping?
The next morning I woke up in my massive bed to a good smell floating into my room. My eyes fluttered gently as a knock came at my door. ¡°Come in.¡±
¡°Young Miss, did I wake you? Breakfast has arrived.¡± Annie hade knocking. In the end, while being scrubbed down by these new maids of mine in the bath, I found out that Annie was indeed the leader of the three. She has the most experience and was twelve years old. The other two, Brooke and Rina, were ten and eleven, respectively.
¡°No¡ I just woke up. Whatever you ordered smells good. You made sure to order enough for all of us, right? You didn¡¯t just order for me, correct?¡± Last night, I pulled Annie aside and had a private talk with her. I wanted to make sure whatever they ordered for me, they ordered enough for themselves and would eat with me and not wait until I was done to eat. I did not want the girls starving themselves or eating cold food because they were waiting on me. For one, I was not used to it, and secondly, I saw no need. Andstly, I would feel awkward while people watched me eat.
Annie blushed and nodded her head. ¡°Yes, I made sure everyone got what they wanted. We are just waiting on you to eat. While we will be eating with you, we can not start until the Young Miss is there.¡±-.
¡°Alright, let me get up then. My stomach is already yelling at me to dive in and eat.¡± I crawled out of bed, rubbed my eyes, and stretched before following Annie to the dining area. The other girls were already sitting waiting for me. I sat down and smiled at them as I said: ¡°Let¡¯s eat!¡±
I really did not know what my life had in store for me. As of now, I was just trying to n and take things one day at a time. While I may be young, I at least had goals. Those goals would be my reason to keep pushing forward, never stopping until I reach the goals I have set for myself.
Right now, my life may be easy, but in the future, there is no telling what will happen. My current level was already rather high, I think, and I could defeat almost any monster I came across quite easily. But I have found this world is not so simple during what little time I have spent traveling to the capital. It held so much more than I could ever imagine. Even now, as I sit and enjoy my meal, I know there are beings out there much more powerful than myself doing incredible things. Whether it be good or evil, I do not. All I know is that maybe one day I will reach the same realm as them and stand above all.
This might sound like I have grand ambitions, but my thought process is much more simple. I just want to be the best at what I have decided for myself. Whether it is magic ormanding, I wanted to master it all. But for now, I am still young, so a little bit of fun along the way is much needed.
After breakfast, I contacted Sei and had her help me register the maids so they could freely leave and enter without needing to wait for me to remove the barriers. After that, I decided to take a walk. I wanted to enjoy the scenery of the capital and see the sights for myself without any idiots interrupting me.
It was close to mid-morning when I finally stepped out of the inn. The streets were already packed with carriages and people going about their daily business. To my surprise, there were a lot of demi humans walking around, some of whom wore expensive looking clothingpared to some of the humans. Seeing such a sight where harmony between two races where differences in the skin or adornments on their body did not matter made me happy from the bottom of my heart. It made me feel d I was reborn in this kingdom. As such, I will do my best to protect this kingdom no matter what. Even if there are parts that do not act in the same manner as the capital.
As I made my way through the streets, I finally got to take in the beauty of a magic based society. The different mix of medieval and magically advanced objects seemed out of ce yet meshed together well. The society of this world has been going on longer than Earth¡¯s, but it has developed in a way that it has mixed old and new, so well that it doesn¡¯t need to go as far and beyond as Earth did. Transportation can be done in many ways, but the use of metal will not protect you from monsters. Magic barriers were much more durable and useful, so innovation into new metals never came to be a thing. This was why they still used wagons and carriages. It was much easier to make and could be imbued with magic to make it even stronger than metal.
Metal required too much work to mine. Only a few mines existed and the ore mined from them was used to make certain things. Trees would never run out because the spirits of the kingdom could make them flourish in a matter of days. During my journey to the capital, I had asked Adel about it. With how long this world¡¯s history was, I was sure all the forest would have been destroyed by now, but that was where the spirits came in. The contract with the spirits gave them a safe ce to live peacefully away from the society of humans, and in return, they would do many things, one of which was to elerate the growth of trees. In the areas that were clear cut, the humans would rent with new saplings, and only then did the spirits take over and make them grow to a mature size.
This process kept the forestry business under the strict control of each kingdom. The areas were cut and rented, so dayster, they can be cut once again. This not only kept things orderly but also kept the forest¡¯s habitats from being destroyed. Which was why many species of animals would not die at the hand of people but due to natural causes. A world full of beauty that would always stay a world full of beauty. Maybe this was why humans of Earth were on the verge of bing a civilization that would infect others and consume their resources one after the other because they did not think up ways to fix problems like this.
But when I think about it, human knowledge was not all that good back in the day. While this¡¯s poption is probably thousands of times greater than Earth¡¯s, it is also in a very stable state and seems to be in harmony with the nature around it.
¡°I said let me go!¡± As I walked through the streets, I heard a cry from a back alley. I walked over to see a girl around my age being dragged away. She had a fluffy tail and a pair of ears. With ck hair and white tipped tail and ears, and a round, oval face, she was indeed quite cute. But she was definitely in trouble. And seeing how I had seen it, I could not ignore it. ¡°Wind Rush!¡±
I sped along and quickly caught up to the group of men that were trying to pull the girl down the alleyway. ¡°Hold it!¡±
¡°Huh!?¡± A spiky haired young man turned and snarled at me. He was wearing spiked clothing and well¡. I guess it was supposed to be cool looking?
¡°Huh, what? The girl said to let go of her. I will give you to the count of three to do so, or you will regret it.¡± I said with a sly smile on my face. My arms were crossed across my chest while I stood in my most hero like pose. I mean he was the picture of a bad acting street thug. He would definitely say: ¡®What did you say!? I will beat you to death! Get her boys!¡¯ Or¡ ¡®Look, boys, another one wants toe y with us.¡¯
¡°Why are you threatening us!? We just wanted her to star in our y! She is perfect for the role!¡± I almost fell over. So they were not dressed like that because they wanted to!? What y happens in a back alley!? I was very confused.
¡°Actually, you both would be perfect for the heroines. We just need you to say a few lines. Our actresses who were supposed to be performing got into an ident and can¡¯t make it. The show will start soon, so please!¡± Another man in suspenders and a weird shirt spoke up, causing me to stare at them in disbelief. I turned and looked at the fox girl, who also looked very confused and really did not know what to say. This was definitely not the situation I had imagined!
Chapter 75 Im Playing The Demon Queen!?
¡°You can not go pulling on random girls!¡± I yelled as I stood in front of the three men who had attempted to ¡®kidnap¡¯ the ck haired fox girl.
¡°We are sorry! We were just in a rush. If we do not have two females y the two roles we are missing, we will not be able to put on our show!¡± The spiky haired man cried out. I could see that the three of them were sorry and also desperate.
¡°As long as the y is not indecent, I do not mind helping.¡± I then looked over at the fox haired girl who was still standing around with a confused expression. ¡°What do you think?¡±
¡°I¡. If you are doing it, I will too¡.¡± The fox girl answered. Her cheeks blushed as she lowered her head.
¡°Then let¡¯s check it out. My name¡¯s Faith, what¡¯s yours?¡± I was in no way talking to the three men. I was still a little aggravated with them. To be honest, I was hoping I could fluff the tail of the fox girl at some point since it looked very soft. I, of course, knew that this was very rude, so I would never do it unless I asked first. But as someone who also has a tail of her own, it would not be right to ask either. So I can only befriend her and hope she will let me fluff at some point!
The fox girl looked up at me with her big amber colored eyes. ¡°Sophie¡.¡± -.
¡°Then Sophie, let¡¯s go!¡± I reached out my hand to her. She hesitated for a moment before taking my hand and letting me pull her along. But when I walked past the three men who were still kneeling, I had to stop. ¡°What are you guys doing? Did you not have a y to do?¡±
¡°Ahhh! Let¡¯s go!¡± The three men quickly got up and lead the way.
Come to find out, while the ce we were just in was indeed an alley, the location of the y was actually at arge dugout theater. The whole ce was dug out of the ground, and stone wasid out in a stadium seating fashion, looking down at the main open stage. The y could be seen from all sides. It was really neat. And even more surprising was that the ce was packed. But I guess this was normal as there was no tv here. This made me think of maybe creating a magic that can be inscribed into runes and used like the magic washing machine or oven. You would just need to send magic with images in them across some lines that lead to the back of the tv set. And by changing the dial on the tv, you could switch the channel.
My mighty little brain was working. I couldn¡¯t help but stroke my chin as I pulled Sophie along. We reached the stage in no time and were quickly briefed on what we had to do.
¡°You guys are back!¡± An older woman with ratty clothes on came running over. I guess she was also one of the actors. ¡°Are these the girls?¡±
¡°Yeah, we kind of got too excited and almost lost Miss Sophie here. She fits the part of Abigail perfectly.¡± The spiky haired young man replied.
But seeing how Sophie was getting all the attention, I couldn¡¯t help but feel slightly left out. But I guess I was just the side dish to fill in the other role. I wonder which role I will be¡. Maybe a tree? A rock? I looked around but did not see any actors ying props. Do they not do that anymore?
¡°And this girl is the evil demon queen?¡± I suddenly heard the older woman ask, which caused me to freeze. Demon queen? Why am I suddenly being told to be a viin!? Why not a princess!?
¡°Yes, she is perfect for that part. She even already has the horns, and the way she threatened us made me realize she was perfect for the part.¡± I almost choked on air. How was this even fair!? Did I really look like some demon queen!?
To be honest, I am not sure what I think about this. I thought I looked pretty cute! I even double checked before leaving the house. Annie and the girls did an amazing job but now¡. But now I am some kind of Demon Queen. I have so manyints.
¡°We will need to get these girls ready. Sue, take these girls to the dressing room and get them dolled up.¡± The old woman yelled out, and before I knew it, I was being dragged away.
Sue, the girl who was doing our costumes and makeup, was very skilled. In less than thirty minutes, we were ready, and I have to say. I looked very evil! I couldn¡¯t help but pout because when I saw Sophie, she looked like a princess. Why was I the evil witch that could while Sophie was the¡. Never mind, I know why.
¡°Here are your scripts. You do not have much time so try to remember as much as possible. Maggie will be on the side using whisper magic to help you out. All I can say is do your best and thank you foring to our aid.¡± The older woman that I still do not know the name of left right after saying this.
I looked down at the script and read the title. ¡°The one who got away¡..¡± I tilted my head to the side and opened the script up. ¡°So this is about a princess who falls in love with the demon queen¡. Wait! That is a love story between two girls!?¡±
I pursed my lips. All in all, it was not a bad storyline. The princess was saved by the young demon queen when the demon queen was dressed as a man. After many tit for tats of the princess pursuing the demon queen as she tries to run away, the princess finally discovers that the man she had been chasing all this time was actually a girl and the demon queen who was bent on destroying her kingdom. ¡°Story is fine, gender bender and a one sided romance. The demon queen never actually returns the princess¡¯s love.¡±
I can see why this story would be kind of popr. It was rather engaging. ¡°Sophie, how are you? Will you be okay? Hmmm? Sophie!? Hey! Earth to Sophie!¡±
¡°Huh!?¡± Sophie broke out of her trance like state and turned her head towards me as if she was some kind of mechanical doll. From her pale face and lips that were turning blue, I think our princess will not be okay at all. I reached over and ced my hand on her head: ¡°Heating.¡± I let a warm current permeate through her body, causing her to slowly rx.
¡°Feel better?¡± I saw that her tension seemed to rx a bit.
¡°Yes, thank you¡. I am not good with crowds. I thought if I was with you that maybe just maybe, I could use this chance to get over my fear of crowds, but it seems that it might be too much for me. What should I do? I am not even able to stand up. My legs are mush.¡± I sighed and knelt down next to her and reached out and took her hands.
¡°I will be right there next to you, so just focus on me. Tune out everyone else around you and only focus on me. If you begin to panic, I will cover for you. A y is amazing because if things do not go as nned, as long as you get to the same oue, it will be fine. To be honest, I am nervous myself, but I still think it will be fun. Even though I am the demon queen¡.¡± I guess myst words tickled Sophie a bit because she finally smiled even though it was faint.
I guess her inability to reallymunicate or socialize well with others is why she was so easily taken away, then her scream early was probably all she could muster up at that time. But that is fine. I will do what I can to assist her. Luckily I have already memorized all my lines. The perk of having a system. Instant photographic memory!
Luckily the script was well structured, with every name on it next to their lines and how they should act at that point. ¡°Just try to remember as much as you can. I will be there by your side.¡±
¡°I will do my best¡.¡± Sophie seemed to have a bit of fight growing inside her. I just hoped it wouldst until we got on stage. I am no master of the acting arts, so¡. Wait¡ I can be a partial master! Let¡¯s see here¡ Hmmm? Acting only has one point level to it for it to be mastered? I guess it is really not that useful of a skill, but if used correctly, it will definitelye in handy in the future if not used on the stage. I don¡¯t n to set foot on another stage after this anyway, so having a maxed out skill with only one level was not bad.
[Acting (LVL 1(MAX))]
Chapter 76 The Play: The One Who Got Away Part 1
The stage was set, and it was now time for the y to start. I still do not see how the lines in this y are only a few. The two females were the lead characters! With my demon queen costume on, which was nothing more than a pair of men¡¯smoner clothing with a hat, I walked up on stage. This was the first scene where I had just arrived with a few of my subordinates in the kingdom undercover and was about to begin our stakeout.
¡°Your Highness, you did not need toe out and do this yourself. To think our queen will be walking around amongst these dirty people.¡±
¡°Frederick, your words are a bit much, do you think not? While I wish for world domination, I do not wish for all of its people to die. This kingdom will fall ande under my rule. Then the people of thisnd will be my people. As a ruler, have I ever treated my people badly?¡± My words were dignified and followed the script to thest letter. Even all my movements were on point, causing the spiky haired young man to stare at me in disbelief. Go, acting skill level 1 mastery! I know for a fact that if this was before, I would not have done any of this and might have even stuttered during the process. I think if I were to be a spy in the future, I could easily make people think I was a frog and not a sentient being.
¡°It is true that Your Highness has always treated us kindly, but these people have killed so many of our demon kind.¡± Spiky hair is not bad! While he was surprised at first, he quickly got back into character.
¡°They only started killing our kind after my initial attack. Did we not kill thousands of their own men? It is only natural while at war for people to fall on all sides. This is how war is. We destroyed cities and towns all the way here. Are you expecting them to not attack us back? Such foolishness!¡± I mmed the wooden table next to me and red at spiky hair. ¡°You will stay here. I will gather intelligence myself.¡±
The scene came to an end, and we quickly ran off stage while people took off the props to prepare for the next scene. The way they were racing back and forth so easily recing props showed just how skilled the people were at their jobs. I was truly impressed.
But the next scene was Sophie¡¯s scene. I walked over to her and held her hands. ¡°I will be right off stage on the opposite side. Just look at me and follow the script.¡± -.
¡°Okay¡.¡± Sophie nodded, her hands trembling. There was nothing more I could do. I could only say this much.
Sophie went up on stage, her movements slightly stiff, but she seemed to ease up as her eyes locked onto mine. A little maid ran up to her and grabbed her arms. ¡°Princess, please stop going out to town. If his majesty finds out, you will be punished again.¡±
Not good. Sophie seemed to have frozen up. I looked her in the eye and mouthed a few words to her. ¡°It¡¯s your turn¡.¡±
Sophie was still frozen. The little maid seemed to be unsure of what to do. My eyes lit up with magic circles as I used whisper magic to whisper in Sophie¡¯s ears. ¡°Sophie, do as I say. First, say: I am not going to sit around like a little bird in a cage. I want to go to town and visit the stalls like any other person.¡±
¡°I-I am not going to sit around like a little bird in a cage. I want to go to town and visit the stalls like any other person.¡± Sophie¡¯s voice cracked, but she was still able to say her lines.
¡°Now push the little maid off gently and hold up your skirt and march off stage.¡± Luckily this part of the scene was small. She did not have to do much besides say her lines and run off stage. I watched on as Sofia did as I asked, and as soon as she reached me, she fell to the floor.
¡°I did it¡ I actually did it!¡± Sophia cried out softly as she buried her head in her knees. For someone not good with crowds, I think she just did a fine job.
¡°You did great. It¡¯s my turn next, then it will be our first meeting. So we will be on stage together, take a breather and drink some water.¡± I smiled at her as she nodded her head before I walked back up on stage.
¡°What is with these streets? They are covered in filth. I am surprised there is no illness running rampant in this city.¡± I pursed my lips as I looked at the trash all over the ce. If this was a real city and the streets were covered in filth, then it would definitely end up getting many people sick.
I acted out as if I was walking down a long city street before finally stopping off at the cleanest food stand I could find. ¡°Master, five grillers.¡±
¡°Be ready in a jiff!¡±
I sat there looking around. My eyes narrowed as I looked out over the ground. I could hear the gaspsing from the crowd, which made me wonder if something had just happened, but I could not turn my head too quickly because the script said to look as scary as possible when scanning the crowd slowly.
¡°Food up! Here you go,d.¡± The stall owner dropped the food I ordered in front of me.
¡°Thanks, master.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t mention it. Not manye down these streets anymore ever since the new king took over. He took away the reforms that kept our city clean, saying that wemoners do not deserve to be treated well. It¡¯s not like we do not know what he is thinking. But even so, we still try to clean up as much as possible, but we have no ce to put it anymore. If we try to burn it, we will get arrested. If we try to store it elsewhere, we will get arrested. It¡¯s like he wants us to live in filth. Haha, look at meining. Sorryd.¡±
¡°It¡¯s fine. I just got into town myself, so I had no idea what was going on. I was quite taken aback by the way the town looked so dirty.¡±
¡°Yeah, most travelers are. I suggest not staying long if you do not want your health to be harmed. Sadly for people like me, this ce is our home. We can¡¯t just up and leave easily.¡±
¡°I guess not.¡±
The scene ended, but the set did not need to be changed. It was now time for Sophie to run up on stage and run into me. I watched as Sophie walked up on stage and suddenly ran at me at full speed. She was quick! Too quick! ¡°Sophie, slow down!¡±
*Bang!*
I watched as Sophie, now inmoner¡¯s clothes, flew headfirst over the table and into me. I wrapped my arms around her trying to keep her from getting hurt while using magic to keep my hat on my head. It was not supposed to fall off just yet!
¡°Mydy, are you alright?¡±
¡°Huh!?¡± Sophie looked at me in a bit of a daze before suddenly sitting straight up and cing her hands on my chest. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry!¡±
¡°It¡¯s fine. A prettydy like you should not run like that. If you get seriously hurt, it will be a crime to all beastkin.¡±
¡°Pretty!?¡± Sophie looked into my eyes and blushed bright red as she began panicking. ¡°No, no, I am not pretty. I am¡.¡±
I ced my finger on Sophie¡¯s lips and smiled. ¡°First, mydy, how about standing up. Our current position is kind of suggestive.¡±
I watched as Sophie, frozen and clumsily, tried to stand up, almost falling a few times. To be honest, this was far from the princess in the script, but this matched her current state, which was why I went with it. It made the scene flow much better.
I stood up and dusted off my clothes before cing my hand on Sophie¡¯s head. ¡°Since my lunch has been eaten by the ground, I will now be off. But mydy, be careful from now on.¡±
Sophie¡¯s expression was perfect. She blushed and lowered her head. Good job, Sophie! With the scene nowplete, I turned and began walking off stage. I used detection magic to see how Sophie was doing and when I saw her staring at my retreating back with blushed cheeks, I knew things had ended perfectly. Although it did take her a little bit to realize she needed to get off the stage.
Off stage, the older woman came over to me. ¡°Girl, you really saved the scene. Just follow how you are acting with the princess, and the rest of us will follow up.¡±
¡°I will do what I can to make sure we can make it through.¡±
Chapter 77 The Play: The One Who Got Away Part 2
The next scene came, and I was now supposed to be walking down the street. Behind me, the nervous Sophie was supposed to be hiding here and there, but instead, she was fidgeting as she walked in a straight path towards me.
In the script, I am supposed to stop and turn to look behind me but shrug once I do not see anything. But this time, since she is directly behind me, I can only turn and shake my head. ¡°Silly girl, when following someone, you must know it is better to try to hide in the process.¡±
¡°I¡.¡± Sophie¡¯s face turned red. I guess she realized her mistake. She looked left and right before quickly hiding behind a tall prop. It was just that the prop was a streetmp¡.
I shrugged and turned around, and continued going. The scenes continued on, and Sophie was stumbling through them, unsure of how to act. When it was time for her to speak her lines, I would help her along. Now it finally came down to thest scene. Somehow we had made it this far. This scene was the scene that would finish up everything. It was the scene where the princess would confess her love to the demon queen, only to be heart broken in the end.
But¡. Things were not going as nned. ¡°N-no matter i-if y-you a-are the¡..¡± Sophie couldn¡¯t stop stuttering, which was never going to make the scene end nicely. I could only think of one solution to this¡. Using whisper magic, I sent Sophie a message: ¡°Sophie shout: I just can¡¯t do this and run off stage! Now hurry up!¡±-.
Sophie¡¯s body jolted as she yelled out in surprise: ¡°I just can¡¯t do hits!¡± Before turningpletely red and running off stage with her hands covering her face.
Ah! She bit her tongue in the end! I really did not know whether tough or cry. For better or worse, she did y the part of a princess, but one that was very shy. I guess it is time to end it all. ¡°To think, after chasing me for so long, she would run away on her own. This is good. I can rx knowing I can destroy this kingdom¡. But¡. I guess I can spare her life¡. Although she was a princess, I can say for sure she was not like the rest of the royal family.¡±
I raised my head and looked up at the castle prop as the lights dimmed. Only then did I walk off stage. Since that was thest scene, the stage was being cleared while the narrator finished the storyline. When I went down to the actors¡¯ dressing room, Sophie was huddled in the corner, hugging her knees. I could hear small quiet sobsing from her direction. I sighed and walked over and knelt down next to her. ¡°Why are you crying? You did fine.¡±
¡°But I messed up the entire time! I made a fool of myself!¡± Sophie turned and looked at me with her tear filled eyes causing me to feel bad. What made it worse was her sagging ears and tail, which made her look not only cute but also more miserable. It was enough to make anyone¡¯s heart turn to mush and wish to protect her with fists of fury. Although, I can see where she wasing from. I would also feel the same as her if I messed up every line.
¡°But do you hear the apuse? Even if you messed up, who cares? The audience loved it, and that is all that matters. Come dry your eyes. We need to go back on stage. This time you will be right by my side, and all you need to do is bow.¡± I smiled at her and reached out my hand once more. She looked at it for a few seconds before reaching out and hesitantly taking it.
After she dried her eyes, I pulled her along and brought her on stage with the rest of the cast. The older woman from before was giving her speech. ¡°I want to thank everyone who came to watch the show. While this time the show was different from thest, I would like to thank our two stand in actors who hade to our aid when our two main actresses had gotten into an ident.¡±
The lightnded on Sophie and me. I smiled and waved at them before giving a bow pulling Sophie with me. I could see that Sophie was a wreck, and I hoped this would end soon. I could tell this was not having much effect on her inability to deal with crowds.
Once the older woman finished her speech, everyone bowed once more before leaving the stage. It was then that the older woman came over to Sophia and me. ¡°I have to thank the two of you for your hard work. While the entire thing was nowhere close to the script, it still served to be very entertaining to the people that came to watch. Here is your pay.¡±
The older woman handed me and Sophia a gold coin, which I did not stand on ceremony at all and took. Sophia, on the other hand, was a bit hesitant but did eventually take it under the older woman¡¯s persuasion. After giving her my thanks, I went to leave only to have a hand grab my shoulder. ¡°Wait. I wanted to ask if you would be willing to join our acting troupe.¡±
¡°Acting?¡± I pondered for a moment before shaking my head. ¡°Not really my thing.¡± With that, I turned and left, with Sophia closely following behind me. I heard the older woman yelling out at me but did not really care. I did not wish to be an actor.
¡°Why did you decline?¡± I heard a soft voice behind me. I turned and looked at Sophia who was standing there with her head lowered.
¡°Why? Because I did note to the capital to be an actor. I just figured I would help out since I was not really busy.¡±
¡°So you just arrived as well?¡± Sophia raised her head. Her ears and tail were still slumped down, so I guess she was still upset over the y.
¡°That I did! I am going to be going to the Royal Magic Academy next month.¡± As I said this, I saw Sophia¡¯s eyes grow wide.
¡°You are attending the academy as well!?¡±
¡°As well? So you will be going there too?¡± I asked. Although I pretty much knew the answer with how she was reacting.
¡°Yes. I was invited to go by Count Freedman. He had taken¡. A liking to me¡. He¡ He is probably out looking for me right now¡.¡± Sophie¡¯s voice trembled, and I could tell right away this was not because he liked her abilities. My brow furrowed. I probably should not get involved, but Sophie seems like a good girl, and I would be filled with guilt if I just let her be. But something did not seem right. I suddenly realized my first thoughts on the matter were not entirely correct.
¡°Him taking a liking to you does not seem to be enough reason for him to be sending you to the academy. You must also have a skill that is useful to him.¡± If it was just as simple as the Count being a sick bastard who would go after young girls, he would not send Sophie to the academy. The money would not be worth it. He could just lock her up in his house. So my guess is that Sophie is adept at something.
¡°I¡ I was born with a high affinity with spatial magic¡..¡± Now it made sense. I had read there were some people who had a perfect affinity to certain types of magic. This affinity allows them to cast magic at a much lower cost. While spatial magic requires arge amount of mana, if you have a high affinity with it then it would be much easier to cast from a young age. And the space she could open would also be bigger.
¡°That exins it. I can also use spatial magic. I was warned by a friend that showing it to others without the strength to protect yourself is akin to putting a target on your back. Since this is the case, let¡¯s go explore the city. I promise not a single person will touch you with me around. So from now on, let¡¯s be friends!¡± I said with a smile and held my hand out once more. Why do I feel like I have be some kind of knight protecting the fair maiden? Even if that is the case, it doesn¡¯t matter. I want to be friends with Sophie, and I will always protect my friends.
¡°But¡ If you go against the Count¡. Won¡¯t that cause you trouble?¡± Sophie was indeed a nice girl. Worrying about me when she was already in a big mess.
¡°He¡¯s just a count. I can deal with it. Plus, if youe and stay with me, he won¡¯t even be able to get through my front door. You will be fine.¡± I reached out and grabbed her hand, and began pulling her along. ¡°Off to explore the capital!¡±
I kind of hoped that this count guy would show up. I bet he is some pig who can¡¯t even get a wife, so he had to go off to a vige and pick up a girl from there. But his tastes were just¡. I really want to beat some sense into him. If he tries to make a fuss, I do have a few ways of dealing with him that would make it so no one would know where he went to. It might sound evil, but to protect my new friend, I will make him disappear. Sadly I know I can¡¯t just do that without a good cause¡. The more I thought about it the more I couldn¡¯t help sighing inwardly. What kind of mess am I getting myself into?
Chapter 78 Sophie
The more I think about it, and I know that violence is not the answer, but if it trulyes down to it, I will use what force I need to. I do not wish to deal with such things, but now that I have decided to befriend Sophie, I will protect her as such. A person who abandons their friends is not a person. At least, this is how I see things.
I know some of the ideals of this world are much different from Earth¡¯s, but I still can¡¯t stand by when a young girl is being forced into things. ¡°Sophie, Let¡¯s go to this sandwich shop I went to yesterday. It was pretty good.¡±
¡°Huh? Okay¡¡± As always, Sophie seems to be spaced out. She is probably still trying to understand what is happening.
I dragged Sophie all the way to the sandwich shop I went to yesterday with the prince. I really wished to try out a different sandwich this time. While the sandwich I hadst time was really good, with the prince being there, I did not really get to enjoy it. ¡°What can I get you two lovelydies?¡± The shop owner asked. He had a big smile on his face when we walked in. ¡°Oh, not with the prince today?¡±
¡°Why would I even wish to be with that idiot?¡± I asked with a sour face. I guess this tickled the owner¡¯s funny bone because he startedughing.-.
¡°Haha¡. Don¡¯t let him hear that. He will be very sad. You are the first girl I have ever seen the prince with.¡± I guess his teasing did not get the reaction he wished to see because I only sighed and gave him a look like please don¡¯t talk nonsense.
The more I thought about it, the more I realized that the prince might be under the king¡¯s orders. I mean, who would like a country bumpkin like me. I am nowhere near crown princess material. Plus, I would never do well dressing up in skirts. My tail would get in the way. Unless the skirts were tailor made for me, taking into consideration my tail and wings like the dresses Adel bought me, then maybe I could not refuse, but I still would not want to be some princess. I already have enough things on my te. Plus, I need to be able to have as much time as possible between my other things to work on fusion magic and other things. At any rate, even if the prince did like me, it would be a big no.
¡°Can I get a tontalinia sandwich, please? Extra greens, please. ¡± I found the green vegetables this owner was using blended nicely with the meatst time. So I wanted some extra. After I finished ordering, I turned to Sophie. ¡°What do you want?¡±
¡°I-I will have what you have.¡± Sophie answered me softly.
¡°Then order up! Two tontalinias with extra greens.¡± The owner yelled out. I paid before finding a seat with Sophie in the corner.
¡°So tell me, what does this Count look like?¡± I was curious about what this Count¡¯s appearance looked like. I wondered if my assumptions about his body were as I imagined.
¡°Around six feet. Well, fit and handsome if you can get by the eyes that stare at you as if you are a piece of meat.¡± To be honest, hearing Sophie¡¯s description, I was kind of surprised, but I guess judging a book by its cover is never a good idea.
¡°I bet that gets annoying. So even if he is handsome, you do not like him?¡± I had to make sure I was doing the right thing. If Sophie did like the man and was just too shy to say then I would say nothing but¡. If she did not like him and this man was actually trying to force her into a marriage or something along those lines, then it could be said he was trying to groom her for the future.
¡°No¡ I did not wish to leave my hometown. By using his status, he forced my parents to allow him to take me away. While he has been nice, I do not like him like that. I know he is only nice to me due to my magic and not that he likes me. When he brought me to his house, I could see he already had many girls older than me there who all looked down on me. I couldn¡¯t handle it, so I ran awayst night.¡± I guess it was a good thing that the Count was at least nice to her. While this does not change my initial impression of him. Even if he was not after Sophie for her looks, it still did not change the fact that he had snatched a young girl out of her home by force.
¡°Thene stay with me for a while. I got a big ce and extra rooms. So you can stay with me. When I move to the residence that is being prepared for me, you can follow along as well.¡± I did not hesitate to give her an option. She could always try to return home, but the road home would not be safe. Of course, I also do not know how well trained she is either. I mean, for all I know, she could be a serial killer. You can call it a bit of immaturity on my part, but I would rather risk it than let Sophie go off on her own, especially if she is not good with crowds.
Sophie did not give me an answer. It seemed she was lost in thought, which is also normal if you think about it. While I do not know much about her, she didn¡¯t know a thing about me. We ended up eating our food in silence. I was not going to push her into anything she did not wish to do. While it is saddening that I will not be able to properly help her if she does decide to go off on her own. There is nothing I can do about it.
After our meal, we walked the streets. I found out the weird looking doll was called a sombrenia. It seems to be a popr mascot at some kid¡¯s show a few blocks away. I kinda like the fact that there were many different forms of entertainment. From ys to musicals and, like I just said, kid shows with different characters who just try to entertain the kids. But surprisingly, no one even thought to make a school for the kids to go to to learn. While I did not like school much myself, I do know it is an essential part of life.
If schools are done in an object oriented fashion, then kids can go and learn everything they need to learn for certain skills while still getting the basics, reading, writing, basic arithmetic, and, of course, magic. All the essentials to get by in their daily lives plus the skills they wish to learn, a trade they can make money at. No need for extra stuff unless the students wish to learn it. History is not essential. What happens in the past should stay in the past. The future is what everyone should be looking towards. Now, this may be my own bias, as I hated history because I saw no need for it, but it is definitely not worth it. You only need to learn what you need to at the time of needing the information.
Like, let¡¯s say you are doing research on a subject. It would be good to look up information and see if anyone has ever researched it before. Then you can take the time to learn the history of that subject so you can change things in your own research. While I know I may be contradicting myself, I did indeed learn the history of this world, but that is only because the history of a fantasy world is much more entertaining than the history of Earth. But I still say it is not really essential. Well, I guess ancient learningnguages might be a good idea, but that is only if you are researching something to do with the ancient societies.
At any rate, it has been a half hour, and Sophie still hasn¡¯t said a word. She still seems to be lost in thought. She only smiles here and there. Why do I feel like this is what I was doing with the prince?
After leaving the shop with the strange doll, I stopped off at a street vendor which was selling some kind of treat. ¡°Sophie, do you want one?¡±
No answer. I turned to see Sophie standing there with her head lowered. ¡°Faith¡. You said I could stay with you, right? Will I cause an issue for you?¡±
¡°An issue? Why would it cause an issue? If anything, my ce is probably the most secure ce in this part of the city. I am not forcing you to do anything you do not wish to do. I just wanted to give you an option so you do not need to sleep outside or try to leave the capital on your own. Traveling alone is not easy. There are a lot of idiots out there.¡± Like an idiot hero. An idiot prince. Idiot bandits. A lot of things that I did not say out loud¡
¡°Then¡ If you are willing to allow me to stay with you¡.¡± I sighed seeing Sophie lowering her head once more. I wonder what made her this way. I guess things wille in time. She already told me about her problem but there seems to be more to it.
Chapter 79 Second Friend
¡°I would not have offered if I was not willing.¡± I said with a smile. Only when I answered did Sophie raise her head once more. I do hope she will be morefortable. But I fear she will lose her spot at the academy now that she is going against the count.
¡°Why? Why would you go so far for me, a person you just met?¡± Sophie asked suddenly. I can understand why she would ask this. I would ask the same thing. Aplete stranger was going above and beyond to help them. It just didn¡¯t seem ordinary.
¡°Why not? Are we not friends now? I mean we beat up bad guys together, acted in a y together, and even had lunch together. Are these not things friends do?¡± I asked with a bright smile.
Sophie seemed stunned by my answer. She kept mumbling the word friends over and over. ¡°Friends¡. You really wish to be my friend? I mean, I am nothing but a lowly demi¡. Ah!¡±
¡°Sophie, do not tell me this entire time you did not realize I was a demi human?¡± Sophie¡¯s entire face turned bright red. I guess I hit it spot on. Did she really not see my horns, tail, and wings!? -.
¡°I¡. Then, let¡¯s be friends¡.¡± Sophie clenched her fist and nodded her head. I guess now realizing I was a demi human made her feel more confident. This was good as a cute fox girl, she should be more confident. Back on Earth, fox girls were a thing of many boys¡¯ fantasies. I only know this because of all the web novels I read that dealt with them were pretty popr, and thement section was filled with a bunch of pervs. There is something about the fluff that gets them, I guess.
At least now I have officially made my second friend. I may even be able to talk to Adel and see if we can get Sophie into the academy as well. Having an affinity for spatial magic was something that was probably unheard of and would make her a great resource to the kingdom. Even though I have my inventory and can also cast spatial magic if I truly wish to, once I learn the magic equation, that is, I would not mind having arade next to me who could use it as well. Being able to bring artillery in on different sides of the battlefield is like a dreame true. Sneak in and set up pre-made defenses or artillery. Now that I am thinking about it, this would be very OP! I can imagine bringing in something like a magic cannon and setting it up behind the enemy¡¯s line and just letting it go to town. They would not think a single person would nk them and ce down such heavy artillery.
Just thinking of the possibilities was making me grow excited. ¡°Faith?¡±
¡°Ah! Sorry I was lost in thought.¡± When I get carried away, I lose touch with reality. I wonder if I will be a military nut in the future. But this one thing made me think of more ideas. But I would need the help of people more proficient in the area of magic weapon crafting. In other words, the dwarves. I will need to visit their kingdom sometime in the future.
I ended up buying two treats and pushing one into Sohpie¡¯s hands. She did not seem as reluctant as before as she took and began nibbling on it. ¡°We have most of the day ahead of us, so what shall we do?¡±
¡°I do not know. I have never been to the capital.¡± Sophie replied as she looked around at the stores. I should have expected such an answer. After all, she was just like me.
¡°You girls looking for something to do?¡± The stall owner who sold us the treat chimed in. I turned and looked at him but was unsure if this was one of those fake modeling agency type deals that pick up girls to do a fake photoshoot, only to make them do something bad.
I held my suspicions in since this world had no such things as I asked: ¡°Do you know of a good ce we can visit?¡±
¡°If you are not in too much of a hurry, you can check out the street show that is going on down the street. It¡¯s the annual harvest fest which brings out a bunch of street performers who do many different things. It is quite the show, and it is free.¡±
¡°Thanks, we will go check it out.¡± I waved at the stall owner and grabbed Sophie¡¯s hand, and began running in the direction he had pointed in. But who would have thought that by just down the street, he meant like an hour¡¯s walk?
But I had to say that when we arrived, my eyes were filled with different color streamers and balloons of all kinds. Magic lights of different animals danced just over our heads. They were not high up, so you could not see them unless you were in the area.
Men on unicycles rolled around while juggling torches. People dressed up in funny clothes, and strange makeup walked around trying to make peopleugh. I guess they were supposed to be clowns, but they did not look like clowns on Earth. They seemed more like a jester that you would see in ancient times back on Earth but scarier looking. But for some reason, the kids who were on the streets wereughing and enjoying the show they were performing.
The entire thing closely resembled that of a huge circus, and the people were wandering around having a good time. I do believe this event was more geared towards kids because there were many more kids here, unlike the y I acted in earlier.
Sword swallowers and me eaters did their things to entertain the crowd. It was really fun to see as I have never seen such things in both of my lives. I only ever imagined them as I read the novels that told about them. But seeing them in real life was much more amazing than I had ever thought. Sophie¡¯s eyes were also shining as she watched the shows going on.
We watched the show for some time before walking over to a concession stand for some drinks. The day was hot, so standing out in the sun was making us sweat and very thirsty. The drink we bought was called Furtain. A strange mix of wild fruits and greens that you can get in the forest not far from the capital. The strange thing about this drink was that it was said to be very healthy yet did not taste bad. You would think with its deep greenish orange color that it would be a strange vor, but it was actually quite good, and best of all, it cooled the body. It was tangy yet sweet.
We walked around the area and watched many of the shows when we spotted a tent off to the side that seemed to be doing some kind of fortune telling. The line was not long, so the two of us decided to check it out.
The tent was purple in color with what looked like moons and stars imprinted on it. I have never heard of fortune telling in this world before, so this was kind of unique. A young girl was in line in front of us, so I asked if she knew what to expect. Come to find out that the fortune teller only shows up at the festival every year, and no one knows exactly who the person truly is. The person always wore ck with a ck veil covering their face making it impossible to see who they were or how old they were. They only knew that the person was a woman. But every person who has had their fortune told by this mysterious person can say for sure that the fortune teller was legitimate. She had never been wrong, not even once.
I kind of felt it was hard to believe. I mean trying to tell someone¡¯s future was like sticking your hand in a mystery hole, hoping what you pull out will be some amazing treasure. The chances of it actually happening were practically zero. I could understand if the woman was able to guess a few things here and there every so often but to always be right was much different unless she had some kind of far sight that allowed her to see into the future.
After waiting a while, it was finally our turn. Both Sophie and I pushed back the purple curtain and walked inside. The room was dark and filled with sparkling lights on the ceiling of the tent. The room had a strong sense of incense that filled the area making one feel calm and rxed. And in the middle of this tent was a small table with a cloaked figure in ck sitting behind it. In front were two chairs. The person in ck acknowledged us with a nod and motioned with her hand towards the chairs. ¡°Please have a seat.¡±
Chapter 80 Fortune Telling
¡°Which one of you would like to go first?¡± From the sound of the fortune teller¡¯s voice, it seemed she was an older woman, but I do not know if this was the truth. From the smoothness of the skin on her hands, it seems more like she would be someone younger. I guess most wouldn¡¯t see such details when they were not looking, but I was a bit curious, so I was taking in all the details I could. It¡¯s not like I would go and ask her personally who she was or how old she truly was. Going that far would be rude to someone who wishes to keep their identity a secret. It¡¯s also unlikely that she would even tell me.
¡°Sophie will go first.¡± I answered, pushing Sophie forward.
¡°Huh? Faith!?¡± Sophie began to panic. I smiled and patted her shoulder. ¡°She is just reading your fortune. Nothing major will happen.¡±
¡°O-Okay¡.¡± Sophie turned and nodded to the fortune teller.
¡°Let me see your hand.¡± Upon the fortune teller¡¯s request, Sophie stretched out her hand. The small delicate hand that was no bigger than my own reached out and took it. I watched as the fortune teller extended one finger and began writing on Sophie¡¯s palm with magic. Secondster, many balls of light began to appear, floating around the room and condensing around Sophie. I did not feel any danger from them, so I was not worried they would harm Sophie. They were onlynding on her skin before flying off and floating in the air in between the fortune teller and Sophie. -.
After they all gathered, they began to condense and formed a screen in front of them. ¡°Let¡¯s see¡.¡± An image appeared on the screen. It was Sophie. She was smiling and walking down the halls of a building. In her hands was a book, and she seemed to be chatting with someone at her side, but that person was blurry, making it hard to know who it was. But the clothes she was wearing looked to be a uniform of some kind. Was this the Royal Magic Academy¡¯s uniform?
After a while, the scene changed, and Sophie was crying. Someone was hugging her, seemingly trying tofort her. But from her expression, the anguish she was feeling was clear as day, as if something had happened to her or a loved one of hers.
After the image changed once more, she was standing on the front lines of a great battle. Fire, magic, and smoke filled the screen. The scene of dead bodies littering the grounds was clear as day. Luckily my ancient will was staying dormant, or I might have caused a scene. Her armor was covered in blood. But her eyes were clear and full of determination. With one look, you could tell she was fighting for a cause she truly believed in.
After that, the screen went ck. There was nothing else to see. I looked over at Sophie, whose expression was hard to read. I could not tell what she was thinking at this time. ¡°Girl, do not think too much about it. The future is not always set in stone. When the timees, things will slowly fall into ce. Let the things that wille,e.
I nudged Sophie with my elbow to get her attention. ¡°As she said, what wille wille. No sense in thinking about it now.¡±
¡°Mmm¡¡± Sophie hummed an acknowledgment. But I could tell she was still thinking about it.
I sighed and looked over at the fortune teller. ¡°Can you read mine next?¡±
¡°Yes, of course, let me see your hand.¡± I reached out with my hand, and just like before, the fortune teller took it, but for some reason, she did not start right away. She only held it for a few seconds before finally going to work. I felt this was slightly strange.
The balls of light began to sweep around the room before touching me and condensing into a screen in front of us. I watched as the image on the screen appeared. This time it showed me in the Royal Magic Academy¡¯s uniform, but I was sitting in ss. Next to me, definitely asleep, was Adel, who was using my shoulder for a pillow and to my right was Sophie, who was scribbling notes onto the paper as she took the ss seriously. I can only guess I was paying attention. I am not sure since I do not know what I look like when I am paying attention.
The scene changed again, and now my eyes almost fell out of my head. The other person on the screen was too blurry to make out, and I am not sure what sex they were, but they definitely had long golden or blonde hair, it was hard to tell, and it was definitely me kissing someone. My cheeks instantly heated up. To be honest, I never once thought about kissing a girl but now, seeing this, if this was actually a girl and not a guy with long hair, I began to wonder. I wondered what the hell happened to the future me!? I wanted to lower my head to hide my embarrassment, but it quickly changed once more.
This time I was also on a battlefield. But I was kneeling down holding someone crying. I do not know who it was, but by the way I was crying while holding that person, I know for a fact that they must be close to me. The scene shifted once more, and my eyes looked crazed as I swung my sword at everything around me. Blood dripped from my body. I was soaked in it from head to toe. I was definitely in a crazed state. My ancient will must have taken over.
The gruesome scene once more changed. I was sitting in a tall chair, leaning against the armrest, looking down over a bunch of people kneeling. The look in my eyes was cold. As if the people below me were all about to die. I do not know what this all meant, but this me that I was seeing scared me. Those eyes did not seem to be me.
The scene moved to me setting flowers in front of a grave. The name on the grave was blurry, but the tears in my eyes showed how much sorrow I felt. I wish I knew what the name was so I could figure out if I already knew this person. If I did, I could be sure to watch out for them and try to keep them from dying.
Finally, the screen went ck. I am not quite sure how I feel at this time. Seeing those scenes that seemed to be nothing but heartache and craziness. I was not sure if I should believe any of it or not or if I should start making preparations to ovee these hardships. War, love, death¡. Why must any of it exist? I held my head. My thoughts are a mess. I almost think it would be better if I did truly be a demon queen and destroy this world. Then¡. I wouldn¡¯t have to deal with any pain or hardships. But I know I could never do it. I have people here that I care about, so destroying the world would not be a good thing.
¡°Young one does not need to think too much. You must fight fate head on in order to change the things you have seen.¡± The fortune teller¡¯s voice entered my ears. I looked up at her feeling a bit confused. Did she not just tell Sophie that whates wille? But all I got for my confused expression was a nod and a hand stretched out. ¡°One silver.¡±
I nodded and handed her a silver coin. It was fifty copper per person, so I paid for both Sophie and I. I stood up and bowed to the fortune teller. ¡°Thank you.¡±
¡°Come again next year. Maybe then things may have changed.¡± Hearing this, I nodded and began to walk out of the tent. Sophie quickly followed behind me.
We walked quietly back towards the inn. Both of us seemed lost in our own thoughts. But we only walked for half an hour when a group of men suddenly stood in front of us. ¡°You are Sophie, I presume?¡±
I looked up at the group of what looked to be about twenty men and frowned. I instinctively pulled Sophie behind me. I did not even need to look to see that she was sacred. When I grabbed her arm just now, she was already shaking like a leaf in the wind. ¡°Who are you, and what do you want with my friend?¡±
¡°Demi girl, stay out of this if you know what is good for you. We just want Sophie to follow us back.¡± I could only guess the one speaking was the leader. But what I really couldn¡¯t get over at this time was that these people¡¯s clothing were all mismatched. Leather and heavy armor covered parts of their bodies. Each one had a sword in hand, seemingly ready for a fight. Were these people poorer than the bandits I metst time?
¡°If you want to force my friend to follow you, then I will have no choice but to get involved¡..¡± After saying this I drew the sword at my side.
Chapter 81 The Foster Gang
¡°Why are all demis so stupid!? Get rid of her and do it quickly. Our boss does not like to wait.¡± The leader of the group yelled out. On his words, three men charged at me. I could only try to protect Sophie while fending them off.
But I was naive. I did not take a good enough look around my surroundings. Right as the three men struck out at me, two more came from our back and grabbed Sophie! Before I could even react, I was surrounded. I quickly kicked one of them away while pping the other two with my tail and went to try to break through the line, but I was quickly surrounded by earth magic.
¡°Get out of my way!¡± I yelled out while kicking the earth wall in front of me, smashing it to pieces.
¡°Girl, you are indeed strong, but you best stay out of this. I am saying this for your own good. Just forget about that girl. She belongs to the Count.¡± I heard the leader say. -.
The problem was not the fact that these men were surrounding me but the fact that I was in the city and could not kill. ¡°I might be fined for flying but screw it. I will not allow you to take Sophie away.¡± I jumped into the air and pped my wings, and flew off. I did not get far before sensing danger from behind. I quickly dodged to the side as a fireball came flying past me. I wrinkled my nose and put up a mana barrier before flying off as fast as I could.
The way I see it, I could not kill that man, nor could he kill me. Killing inside the city and getting caught was an instant death sentence. And this was aw that was upheld no matter what. With so many people, it would be hard to rule without such harsh punishments for crimes, which was why a list of crimes were ted for death without trial. As long as you were caught red handed or all evidence pointed to you, the guards and knights in the city could kill you without holding a trial. But evidence had to be shown. At least, this was how Adel exined it.
I flew off in the direction they took Sophie, but I hadpletely lost track of her. ¡°Detection!¡± I scanned the whole area, but there was no sign of them at all. I kept trying while looking high and low, but I could not find them anywhere. Even the men I was fighting earlier all disappeared. I pped my wings andnded down on the ground, and walked back out to where I was fighting those men and felt stumped. I quickly walked over to one of the stalls nearby: ¡°Excuse me, did you see thatrge group of men here just earlier that kidnapped a fox girl!?¡±
¡°You mean the Foster Gang? Girl, I do not know what rtionship you have with that fox girl, but I think you better forget about it. The Foster Gang has Count Freedman¡¯s backing. No matter what they do, as long as they do not break any of the three majorws, they can practically do anything they want.¡± The man I was talking to was referring to the three majorws that can get you on the spot judgment was killing, rape, and arson. While there was more than this, these three were considered the worst of the worst, which was why they were called the three majorws.
¡°Where can I find this Foster Gang?¡± I had only this one clue. If I wanted to save Sophie, I had no choice but to go in. If I use some sleep magic, I can knock them all out without having to kill anyone. However, I did need to hit the one who tossed a fireball at me. It singed a few strands of my hair!
The stall owner furrowed his brow before letting out a sigh. ¡°Little girl, I know you wish to help your friend. But it¡¯s best if you do not go¡. Just think of it as this old man trying to save your life.¡±
¡°Sir, please. I beg you. I will even pay for the information. Sophie is my friend and was already kidnapped from her hometown. How can I leave her alone now when she needs someone to save her? Plus. I am strong. I can destroy your stall if you would like me to prove it.¡± Yes, I used a threat! I have no choice. It is either he tells me, or I prove my strength!
The stall owner sighed once more before shaking his head. ¡°Go down to the east side of town at the East Side Slums. There is arge building deep in the slums. If you hurry, you can make it there by nightfall. But be careful. I heard they have set up quite a few magic defensive systems in that ce. Also, those bastards have someone who is able to set up teleportation points. This is probably how they disappeared so quickly.¡±
I fished out five silver and ced them on the stall counter. ¡°To show my thanks, thank you.¡±
I turned and took off from there. The east side slums was not a ce I knew about nor how to get there, but I figured with detection magic running over a great distance, giving me a view overhead, I should be able to find it with no problem. But if these people have teleportation systems, things may get tricky. If they have one to the Count¡¯s territory on the floating ind, then I might be in for a bit of a long flight. I just hope I can reach her before that happens.
I ran through the streets instead of flying this time. There was aw that kept people from being able to fly through the air. But I wonder why they would have such aw when from what I understand, there were not many who could fly on their own unless it was a demi human like myself with wings. Well, I guess there could have been a time when airships and those with wings would get into idents. Or it could be to ensure the safety of the nobles living on the floating ind. If I had to guess, thetter was most likely the case.
As I continued forward, I noticed a distinct difference in the quality of the buildings. They were bing more and more run down the further east I went. It made me wonder just how much of this city was actually slums. I guess my perception of the quality of life of the lower city was actually nothing more than an illusion.
If that was the case, then I wonder what could be done to improve the lives of these people. Seeing the kids running around in rags made my heart feel bitter. Here I was being treated like a princess while these kids were barely living. And the deeper I went into the slums, the worse it got.
Crime seems to run rampant here. I had to restrain myself from helping those I saw. Sophie¡¯s matter took precedence at this time. And even if I did help today. What about the next day? Or the day after? This was a ce where thew of the city did not reach, it seemed. What meaning did thews of the city have in this part of the city when no one came to police this section to keep crime low. And if they did, they were probably all corrupt. It is no wonder that the Count could have the Foster Gang hiding here doing all his dirty work for him.
I kept moving, speeding up as much as possible, whizzing by everyone who tried to stop me. I had no time to spare. Time was of the essence, and I still did not know if Sophie was taken to the floating ind yet or not. If she has made it to the floating ind, I would need to do one of two things. The first would be to beat the people in the Foster Gang until they tell me where the teleporter is, and the second would be to fly up there myself.
As I continued deeper into the slums, my detection magic finally honed in on the leader of the people I had just fought standing outside one of the buildings. I stopped off at a small alley not too far from the building and used my detection magic to scan the building. ¡°Four floors above ground and two floors below? But no signs of Sophie¡. Hmmm? A magic circle? Is this the teleporter?¡±
I was not sure, but since the boss man was standing there, I guess I could always ask him. I took a deep breath and walked out of the alley and towards the man who was smoking what I guess is this world¡¯s equivalent of a cigarette. I stopped right in front of him and watched as his eyes went wide and the cigarette in his hand dropped to the ground. ¡°You! How!?¡±
¡°Let¡¯s talk shall we?¡± I smiled and reached out and grabbed him by the next. My smile slowly faded as my eyes became cold: ¡°Where is Sophie?¡±
Chapter 82 Me VS. Count Freedman Part 1
¡°Urgh! She¡¯s already sent back to the Count. You can¡¯t¡. Cough! You can¡¯t get her back now!¡± Hearing the leader¡¯s words, I sneered and began squeezing his neck tighter.
¡°Where is the teleporter? Either you take me there, or I kill you and every one of your men. And do not think that I won¡¯t. I know this ce is not overseen by the knights and guards.¡± I was being serious this time. Just thinking about how scared Sophie must be right now. Being kidnapped and taken back to the ce she ran away from. How could she not be scared? My eyes lit up, and ten fireballs formed around me. One floated towards the leader¡¯s face causing some of his hair to be singed, while the others flew forward and mmed into the entrance of the building, blowing it inwards.
No more ying around. Even if there is a defensive magic set up here, it would not matter. ¡°Mana shield.¡± I softly spoke as I began walking forward without waiting for the leader to answer. I still had detection up and found only one source of residual magic that had enough power left in it to be considered for transportation. Whether I was correct or not was another story. But from my understanding of magic circles and runes, this was the most likely ce for a transporter.
¡°Argh! Let me go. I will tell you!¡± I did not listen to him. I was bringing him along with me no matter what, so why would I let him go so easily?
¡°Leader!¡± I heard a yelle from my side as I stepped through the entrance. I was met with no resistance at the entrance so I guess the defense system was not much of anything. I do, however, think I did feel a slight itch on the mana shield but nothing more. -.
I turned towards the voice that yelled to see six men staring at me with their swords drawn. I sneered, and a secondter, those same six men were now upside down with their heads stuck in the floor. ¡°So? Where is it?¡±
¡°Basement¡ the second basement!¡± The leader of the Foster Gang yelled out. I nodded and waved my hand, putting the stupid idiot to sleep. The basement was the exact ce I was getting the residual magic signature from. I dropped the leader and then grabbed him by the ankle and dragged him along with me as I found the stairwell. I already knew the whole ce in and out, so there was no need for me to ask for directions.
Any gang member that came to attack me was stuffed head first into the wooden floor boards. Sometimes with magic, other times by hand. With the bandits, it was feet first. This time it was head first.
I arrived at the bottom floor quickly without much issue. I made sure that every time I destroyed something that I put out the mes soon after. I did not wish to start a fire here in the slums. While I am sure there are a lot of people who are bad in these slums, the kids and the other good people who are living here struggling to make ends meet were not. One fire can destroy not only their homes but also take the lives of the thousands living in this ce.
In front of me, inside a small room on the second basement level, is a small tform with a magic circle slowly spinning around in a dormant state. ¡°Hmmm, connects to points between two identical magic circles. Interesting concept. Uses a form of space and time magic bending locations¡.¡±
I looked at the magic circle over and was quite surprised. Teleportation magic actually creates a bend in space and time to connect the two points. I made sure to imprint the entire thing into my mind before stepping onto it. I already understood the entire makeup of the magic circle. I injected a bit of my mana into it and then watched as the scenery around me changed.
¡°What!? Who are you!? Dedrei!? What is going on!?¡± A man wearing metal and leather armor yelled out while pointing a sword at me.
I guess the man in my hands was called Dedrei. Not thinking too much about anything, I used my detection magic and scanned the entire building I was in. It was definitely a mansion, and I was currently on the third basement floor. The building had three basement levels and four top levels. And the person I was looking for was locked away in a small room on the third floor. The room was dark and dim, with only a bed and a bathroom. There was not even a single window to be seen. Sophie was in the corner of the room with her head in her knees. I could hear her crying.
My anger started to take control as a loud crack was heard. Dedrei¡¯s head tilted to the side lifelessly as I raised his body up and tossed him full force at the guard, pointing his sword at me. ¡°All those who helped kidnap Sophie will be punished.¡±
Dedrei¡¯s body flew through the air and smashed into the guard, causing him to fly back with the body. Their bodies mmed into the wall, crashing through it before mming into the wall in the hall outside. I heard a cry of pain before silence. I could tell the other man was not dead, but he did have quite a few broken bones.
I know my actions may seem rash, but I do not care. Sophie is locked up like a prisoner when she has done nothing wrong. Whether these people wished to help the Count or not is not my problem, they still helped, and that is all I need to know in order to punish them. I didn¡¯t mean to actually kill Dedrei. He was just unlucky. My hands slipped due to anger¡.
¡°No, since taking the stairs, it will only cause issues for me. Since it is basically a straight shot, I will just fly straight up.¡± It was time to see just how good my strength truly was. I pped my wings and rose off the ground. When I reached the ceiling, I pulled my fist back and imbued it with magic before thrusting it out.
*Boom!*
A loud explosion of rock and cement rocked the entire mansion. I looked up and could now see a clear hole leading up to the first floor. I could hear the sounds of yelling and saw the guards running towards the hole I made with my detection magic. Not wanting to be dyed, I quickly flew up through the hole andnded on the first floor.
¡°I should have put more power into my punch.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but sigh at my ownck of intelligence. A bunch of guards came out of the side rooms and were now surrounding me.
I was about to make my move when a loud, arrogant sounding voice echoed through the hall. ¡°To think, the child prodigy that the noble circles have been talking about is nothing more than a two bit thief!¡±
I turned to see a young handsome man in fancy clothes walking over with a very angry expression. ¡°Count Freedman, I presume.¡± I drew my sword and pointed it at him. ¡°I think the one who should be called a thief is you, or should I call you a perverted thief? I mean, who goes around stealing young girls off the street?¡±
¡°Stealing young girls? I have no idea what you are talking about.¡± Count Freedman tried to act dumb.
¡°You are not very well informed, are you, Mr. Pervert? This world hasws that even a noble like you needs to follow. The girl you kidnapped is no older than myself, and if I am not wrong, you can not forcefully take her away no matter what. I have already heard about your grand little scheme in the country. Release Sophie now, and I will ignore everything you have done, and I will leave this ce. If you do not return her, I do not mind destroying your entire mansion.¡± I could see Count Freedman¡¯s face turning all kinds of different colors as he ground his teeth. If looks could kill, well let¡¯s just say I would be dead by now.
¡°You do not seem to understand how this world works. Those with high status are able to do as they please. I can do as I want because I am a count. There is nothing you can do to stop me. You and the girl are nothing more than amoner. I dare you to even think of bringing my¡.¡±
*Boom!*
A wall on the opposite side of the Count blew up. Count Freedman¡¯s eyes were wide in shock, and a trace of fear appeared within them as he stared at me. My hand stretched out in a gun pose. I drew it back and blew on the tip of my index finger. I smiled and tilted my head as my eyes glowed with an eerie light. ¡°I said I would destroy your mansion, and I mean it. I keep my words. I will give you onest chance. Will you end this peacefully, or will you have your house destroyed? Because I can say this now. No one is stopping me from taking Sophie back. She is my friend and is in need of my help. Plus, your status means nothing to me because I can probably say that I am the most important person in this kingdom besides the king himself at this time, now that I am thinking about it. If I realized this sooner then maybe Sophie would have been fine.¡±
Chapter 83 Me VS. Count Freedman Part 2
¡°Don¡¯t get ahead of yourself. You snot nosed brat! Men kill her!¡± I guess nobles will always be nobles. They let their status go to their head, causing them to have a huge amount of pride.
I guess this was going to end up in a fight no matter what. If I had been a bit quicker, then maybe this could all have been avoided, but now it is toote. The guards that were surrounding me all attacked at once. Either with weapons or magic. It all came flying towards me. I stood there with my mana shield on with a rxed expression.
*Boom!*
¡°Hahaha! Seems like your earlier actions were nothing special!¡± Count Freedman yelled out. I could only roll my eyes. But in a way, his words were true. They were nothing special.
¡°Hahaha! You caught me! My actions earlier were nothing special!¡± My voiceing out of the cloud of smoke and stupefied faces of the guards who were standing there frozen with swords shaking in their hands as if they hit a metal wall, seemed to have made the count freeze. -.
¡°You!? How!?¡± I could tell by the count¡¯s expression that he had no idea how I had just negated the massive coordinated attack.
¡°Hmmm? Because you said my actions earlier were nothing special, so I took your attacks to be special?¡± I answered his questions with a question of my own while tilting my head to the side with a confused expression. ¡°Oh, but I am not done yet. Earth wall!¡±
*Boom!*
All the guards were sent flying into the ceiling. I made sure to control it just enough to keep the count from being hit by it but also made sure it encircled him so he couldn¡¯t escape. ¡°You see, now this is something special. Think about it. All your men are unable to move. You are trapped and have no ce to go. You only have two choices. Release Sophie and never go near her again or¡.¡±
My lips curled up into a vicious smile as my body shed, and I appeared in front of the count. My sword poking at a certain sensitive spot on a man¡¯s body. ¡°Or lose the one thing that actually makes you a man in name only. Make your choice, or else you will lose much more than this mansion. I¡¯ll give you three seconds.¡±
¡°One¡.¡±
¡°Two¡.¡±
I watched as the count¡¯s face twisted in rage and fear. I spoke each number very slowly, enunciating each letter to the fullest extent. And just as my lips parted to say three, I pressed the sharp tip of my sword on the count¡¯s family jewels. I could see the beads of sweat forming on the count¡¯s forehead as he finally gritted his teeth and yelled out: ¡°Fine! You can take her!¡±
I smiled sweetly and pulled my sword back before my eyes lit up with magic circles, and I waved my hand binding the count. ¡°This is just a precautionary measure. The binds will disappear along with the walls of earth after I leave this ce.¡±
¡°Just go already!¡± The count yelled out. I guess he figured it was useless fighting me with words. The pure rage in his eyes told me that things would not end here, which I kind of figured as much. But I did not wish to kill a count for the time being. Unless I find out something had happened to Sophie that should not have, I will allow him to live. This is just me giving face to the king of this kingdom who was willing to give me a chance.
If this was amon bandit who did this, I would have killed him the moment I saw him. But since it is a noble, I can only leave it at this. I didn¡¯t even spare him a nce before turning and walking away. My tail swaying back and forth in a mocking manner as I did. I could hear the sound of teeth grinding together as I made my way upstairs. Since there was no one who would be willing to stop me at this time, I could just take the stairs.
As I reached the third floor, I heard cursing down stairs, but I ignored it. The whole house was well decorated with many expensive looking things, like vases and statues and art. And since they were just sitting out in the open like this, they also just happened to disappear as I walked by. Where they went, no one will ever know. But I was thinking to visit the pawnshop I saw on the south side of the lower city.
I know some would say that my actions are no different from that of a bandit, but I mean, they stole Sophie, so shouldn¡¯t I get somepensation for her? It can be considered physical and mentalpensation. For giving Sophie such a scare.
Before long, I was standing in front of the door of the room where Sophie was currently locked up in. I could now tell for sure the poor girl was crying. But what irked me even more was the number of locks on the door. ¡°You really had to go so far for a single small girl?¡±
I ignored the locks and pushed on the door, causing it to fall off its hinges. I guess there was even a magic barrier there because I heard a shattering sound as well. When I walked in, Sophie had raised her head, and the look on her face was priceless. I smiled brightly and waved at her casually as if what was going on was nothing more than a walk in the park. ¡°My dear Sophie, you seem to be looking well.¡±
¡°Have I died? Why is there an angel here?¡± Sophie¡¯s words almost made me choke on air. What angel!? I should look more like a devil, no?
I could only shake my head as I walked over and knelt down next to Sophie. I reached out with my arms and pulled the very confused fox girl into them and hugged her tightly. ¡°You have suffered greatly. But, as I said, we are friends. I will do what I can to help you. Sorry that my ipetence allowed you to suffer.¡±
I guess my words were like a wave of relief to Sophie, who suddenly buried her face into my chest and began crying her eyes out. She hugged me tightly as she let everything out. I knew it must have been hard. Afraid of not knowing what will happen to you. Not knowing how your life will be from now on. And not having the strength to even do as you want. She had run away once. She probably knew that running away again would not have been possible. They even locked her up as if she was some kind of dangerous criminal.
It took a while for Sophie to finally calm down. When she did, I scooped her up into my arms in a princess carry and walked right out of the house under the gazes of the maids and male servants. When I exited through the front door, I looked up at the already dark skies before pping my wings and lifting off the ground.
The city lights at this time of night were like a sea of stars as I flew overhead. Sophie had her arms wrapped around my neck and looked out over the scenery with wide eyes. She was not scared in the slightest. It was as if her trust in me had reached a whole new level. I wonder if she will now let me fluff her tail? I guess I should still wait. No matter how attractive the fluff is, I should not just randomly reach out and fluff the fluff.
As we flew in silence, I wondered what I should do next to deal with the wrath of the stupid count. I knew I brought a lot of trouble on myself, but there was nothing I could do about it. The count had crossed the line. Maybe I should ask Sei if she has a way to contact Adel. Then maybe I can get this all swept under the rug.
But for now, I will enjoy the sight before me. ¡°From now on, Sophie, you will stay with me. I will be talking with Adel, and I will see if you can still join the academy. This way, you will be able to decide what you wish to do with your life.¡±
Sophie was still silent. But her arms seemed to have tightened around my neck slightly as she buried her head in my shoulder. I could see her faintly nod at my words, though, so she at least acknowledged what I said. It was hard to make out what her expression was with how dark it was, but at least after such an event, she seemed safe.
I do not know what the future holds for her, but I do hope that it will be a happy one that is much better than the one shown by the fortune teller.
Chapter 84 Relaxing At The Inn
It waste at night by the time I finally reached the inn. Sophie had fallen asleep in my arms and looked to be sleeping quitefortably. When I entered the suite, my maids were actually up waiting on me and went right to work preparing a bath. I reluctantly woke Sophie up, who was very confused at first but quickly turned as red as an apple as she realized she had fallen asleep.
I chuckled as I let her down. ¡°No need to feel embarrassed. You have had a long day. Annie and the girls are getting the bath ready. Let¡¯s bathe, eat, then sleep, okay? You can spend the night with me.¡±
Sophie lowered her head and nodded, and followed behind me. But I could feel her gaze poking me in the back of the head as we walked. It was quite the intense stare. I wonder if she has something to say? Well, if she wants to talk, she will talk. I will not force her to say anything if she does not want to.
But now was my chance! I could fluff the fluff without seemingly being weird! As I finished undressing, I walked over and hugged Sophie from behind: ¡°Sophie, let me wash your hair and back, okay?¡±
For some reason, Sophie¡¯s face became even redder, but she quietly nodded her head. A strange girl indeed blushing over everything. But I have to say this softness was just too much. If I was not worried about being seen as some kind of perverted freak, I would have already pushed my face into this fluffy goodness. -.
But I restrained myself and continued to do the job I had assigned myself to. I took great care to make sure to be gentle while washing Sohpie¡¯s hair. I have a lot of practice, so I am confident in my hair washing. Rachel even said her hair felt extra smooth when I washed it for her. This was not really a lie, though, either, because I like to inject my mana into the hair and let it primate to the scalp. It seems magic has extra benefits that not many or none actually know about.
Seeing how Sophie had been quiet this entire time. I finally decided to lighten the mood a bit. ¡°So from today forth, we will be living together. Treat the ce as your home. Although I feel that you won¡¯t, it does have to be said: do not bully the maids. They are just like you or me.¡±
¡°I wouldn¡¯t¡. Bully¡ anyone¡.¡± Sophie¡¯s voice started off big, but I guess she got embarrassed by her sudden shout that the rest of her words got quieter and quieter.
¡°I figured as much, but what needs to be said should still be said, no? Anyway, do not dwell too much on what happened today. Forget about that count. I am pretty sure he is raging right now but not at you. You see, I kinda told him a white lie. I said my magic would disappear once I left the house well¡. Hehe.¡± He should never have angered me. If he did not do anything to my friend, he would still be sipping his expensive wine and indulging in the many wives he has. I, for one, do not care what he does as long as he does not harm those that I see as friends and family.
But to think that my first fully official day in the capital, and I am already bringing a girl home. If I was a boy, I am sure my parents would be jumping for joy. But I am sure even if that was not the case. If I had told them the story about what happened, my mother and father would take Sophie in, in a heartbeat. They are kind and generous, after all.
Sadly I can not save every person Ie across that is in need of help. Such a job is too big for a single person to handle on their own. The lives of those people in the slums need the kingdom¡¯s help to restructure in a way that does not interrupt their daily lives. It might seem inhuman, and if this was Earth, I would be bashed on social media for being biased, human rights vitions, and whatnot, but I would move all the people who do not wish to work into a section of their own while helping only those who wish to better themselves. Maybe seeing the different forms of treatment will cause them to rethink their path in life.
Those with criminal histories would need to be reformed unless they have already done their time. A city this size that can be considered its own small country back on Earth really needs to be reformed with a stricter system. But I am sure this would gain bacsh from the nobles who, like the count, use the slums as a base of operation for their dirty work.
No one would want the hub to hide their dirty dealings to be taken away from them. It would be too risky. But toe up with exnations on why the slums should stay around was something they would really have to work hard at. I mean, who can reallye up with a good reason to continue letting the slums stay a dirty ce where things hidden by society keep happening?
All in all, the only correct path on anything would be to do what can be done without giving too much. There is a fine line between helping those in need and taking care of them forever. Providing education and means to get better jobs is really the only route. At least this is my take on things. I would if I could take in everyone who wished to have a better life and work hard at it. But sadly, I do not have such means.
¡°Ummm¡. Faith, are you done¡?¡± I heard Sophie¡¯s soft voice and realized I was so lost in my thoughts that I was directly fluffing her tail this entire time.
I could feel my cheeks heating up as I let out a dryugh and scratched my head. ¡°Haha¡ Sorry. Let¡¯s get in the bath.¡±
¡°But you haven¡¯t washed your body yet¡. I-I can wash your back for you¡.¡± Although she stuttered, Sophie stood right up and pointed to the seat for me to sit down. I guess she wants to repay me.
But I have to say this¡. Thank god I have tough skin. Sophie¡¯s idea of washing someone¡¯s back is like using sandpaper and scrubbing it as hard as she can against the skin. Was this punishment? It was punishment, wasn¡¯t it!? I will make a mental note not to fluff the fluff anymore. My poor back wouldn¡¯t be able to take it.
After a nice hot rxing bath, the two of us retired to my room, where I went against my own pledge and happily dried andbed Sophie¡¯s tail and hair. She did not seem to mind, although her cheeks were bright red the entire time. After a while, the silent Sophie finally seemed to be willing to talk as she turned her head to face me. ¡°Faith, I never did properly thank you¡. You not only gave me a stranger a helping hand when I was being dragged away by those men, but when I was kidnapped, you came and rescued me from the hands of the count, even knowing you could suffer repercussions. I really do not know how to thank you for everything.¡±
¡°What thanks is needed? We became friends, and that is all that matters. No friend of mine will be allowed to suffer if I can help it. And if I can¡¯t stop it, I will use force like I did today, and once I talk to Adel, I am sure you will never have to deal with such things ever again. You can live your life the way you want to from now on. You can stay with me for as long as you like. Go to the academy, find the thing you want to do, excel at it, and then when you are ready, go off and do your own thing. Maybe one day, I will be handing you off to the person you are going to marry. Ahh, they grow old so quick..¡± I faked crying into my sleeve, causing Sophie to finally give me a genuine smile and giggle.
¡°Are you my parent now?¡± Sophie jabbed at me. It was good to see her smiling finally.
¡°Far from it, but I do want you to know you have someone to support you now. I will do what I can to help. I lived my life with very few people I could call friends. Adel was my very first true friend outside my own family. Now you are my second. I hope we can support each other. That is normally how friends work, no? We confide in one another and seek advice. Joke with one another and even fluff each other¡¯s tails.¡± Yes, I slipped in thest part, but I couldn¡¯t help it. Her tail was so soft and fluffy.
Sophie¡¯s face turned slightly red as she looked at my tail and pursed her lips. ¡°I can only shine yours¡.¡±
¡°¡±Pfft!¡±¡±
We both looked at each other and beganughing. I can see my friendship with Sophie will be a good one.
Chapter 85 Sophies Past
¡°Annie, Rina, Brooke, this here is Sophie, she will be staying with us from now on. So please treat her well.¡± I decided to give Sophie a proper introduction to the maids. ¡°Sophie, Annie is the head maid, so if any troubles crop up, just ask her. Annie, I will let you assign whoever you want to Sophie. Just know she is quite the shy one.¡±
¡°Then I will have Brooke wait on Miss Sophie then.¡± Annie gave me a bow before turning to Sophie and bowing to her. ¡°Miss Sophie, it is a pleasure to be working for you.¡±
Seeing the flustered look on Sophie¡¯s face made me chuckle. I knew she would react like this. But I am sure she will slowly get used to it. Brooke was a little clumsy, but she was a good girl and the younger of the two. So they should get along nicely, which was why Annie probably chose Brooke. The younger one would seem easier for Sophie to get used to. But I am sure in time, things will slowly work out.
¡°Okay, now that introductions are done. You girls can go to sleep. Sophie and I will clean up tonight. It¡¯s already sote.¡± It was pushing early morning hours, and I could tell Rina and Brooke were having issues staying awake, so I wanted them to head to bed.-.
¡°Young Miss, I will stay awake to clean up.¡± Annie offered, but I quickly rejected her offer.
¡°It¡¯s fine. Go get some rest. Sophie and I will be up for a while longer. There is no need for you to stay up. So go quick.¡± I shooed her away. She could only nod and listen to my words.
They had already made dinner, and it was slightly cold because we took so long, but that was fine. Since Sophie was so quiet, I began telling her this and that about myself and the things I had to deal with as I grew up. She seemed to find it all interesting and even nodded her head in a few spots when I talked about being hated for being demi human. As a demi human herself, I am sure she had to deal with some hatred as well.
After dinner, Sophie and I retired to my room after cleaning up. She did not seem very against spending the night together. Tomorrow I nned to get the maids to set up one of the spare bedrooms. There were six altogether, so there was plenty of room. ¡°Tomorrow, I will get a room ready for you, but if you still feel ufortable, you can sleep with me if you want.¡±
¡°Thank you¡. I¡.¡± Sophie had tears rolling down her cheeks. I bet she is probably homesick by now.
¡°Miss home?¡± I asked, and sure enough, she nodded her head.
¡°My mother and I used to sleep together all the time. We would talk about our days and figure out ways to tease my father the next day. We were shunned by our vige, and my father worked hard every day. I rarely could leave the house. The vige kids would throw insults at me and pull my tail and ears. I guess this is where my inability to be good with crowds came from. ¡± Sophie¡¯s voice grew soft at the end, but I could see why she would not be good around others.
¡°I would probably be like you as well if not for my strength. The best way to defeat your fears and things you are not good with is by facing them head on. Today you took a big leap and even got up on stage. That takes courage. You did well.¡± I said, reaching up and scratching Sophie¡¯s ears¡. So soft and fluffy! Ahh, to die for¡. Ahem¡.
¡°I really did not think I would be able to do it either. While I know I really messed up and caused you a lot of trouble, I am d I did it. It was the first step for me to shake off this issue. But I was only able to do it because you were supporting me. Your words gave me the courage I needed to keep pushing forward. But now that I am thinking about it, I am worried about what will happen to my family. Do you think the count will be so low as to actually do something to them?¡± Sophie¡¯s voice began to tremble. I could tell she was about to start crying again.
I couldn¡¯t help but sigh because I know I could not say: no, he won¡¯t. There is actually a fairly good chance that he may try to use them to make Sophie willingly go back to his side. But before that happens, I should try to contact Adel and see if she can do something. I know it is a bit out of line to be trying to use my connections like this, but I have no choice. It is either that, or I kill the stupid count altogether.
But if I did that, I am sure there would be bacsh from the other nobles. They would think of me as a threat to not only them but to the whole kingdom and push the king to get rid of me somehow. No matter how good of an aplishment I made, they would still try to kick me out. The only option to do that would be to use my biggest trump card! Little Bell! But wait¡ speaking of Little Bell¡ where has she been this entire time!? ¡°Little Bell?¡±
¡°Hmmm? You called?¡± Little Bell appeared in front of me in a ray of light, rubbing her little eyes. Sophie stared at the little spirit in front of her with wide eyes.
¡°Where have you been!? I was about to start panicking.¡± I really was. If the leader of the spirits found out, I lost Little Bell wouldn¡¯t the whole kingdom suffer? More than that, my parents would be the ones to suffer the most. Just thinking about it scares me to death.
¡°I was inside you. The day we left the forest, the elder had formed a space within your body for me to retreat to. I didn¡¯t want to disturb you today, so I went into the space to sleep¡.¡± To be honest, I am not sure how I feel about this. Little bell has her own house inside my body. And it was put there by the leader of the spirits¡. I think these spirits are much more than what they let on.
I took a deep breath and slowly let it out before looking back at Sophie. ¡°Sophie, this is Little Bell. She is a spirit. She has traveled with me for a while. But she is also a very big secret that can not be revealed easily. While I say this, she is also our biggest trump card if the count decides to capture your parents and try to use them against you. We will have a means of taking him down. So don¡¯t worry, okay?¡±
Sophie was trying to process everything and absentmindedly nodded. I could tell it was a lot to take in, but all she needed to know was that things would be okay. That night, Sophie fell asleep curled up and snuggled up next to me. I even heard her mumble in her sleep, calling out for her mother. It pained me to know that a girl her age was suffering so much. I gently stroked her head while I softly spoke with Little Bell.
¡°Little Bell, what is the space like? And where is it exactly?¡± I was truly curious. I had a Little Bell¡¯s house inside me, and I couldn¡¯t even check it out. This kind of irked me and also made me feel slightly weird. From some of the books I have read, there are many where the main characters will have special spaces inside their souls or minds that will be home to the contracted beasts or whatever they contract. I always felt it was kind of weird. I mean, there were some, where the female lead will have some old man inside them seeing everything they do. It made me wonder if these authors were just perverted or what. But if you put aside the fact that some old man was watching a girl dress, undress, and bathe all the time, the stories were pretty good otherwise. But these characters could visit these locations, whereas I can not. Well, for the time being, anyway.
¡°It is a small pond with a little forest surrounding it. It is not that big. It has many pretty flowers, so I like toy on them and fall asleep.¡± From how Little Bell described it, it did seem like a small little paradise just for her. For some reason, I feel slightly jealous. But one day, I will also have a small abode I can use as a ce to escape to. I mean, there are small worlds. If I grow powerful enough, I may just be able to create one of my own and make it a paradise for me to retreat into.
I smiled and reached up and patted Little Bell on the head: ¡°Sounds like a wonderful ce.¡±
Chapter 86 Starting A Business Part 1
The next few days, I spent them lounging about with Sophie. I helped train her a bit in magic and gave her some ideas on what she can do with spatial magic. Like inscribing runes into items to make them into storage devices. If she were to sell such things, she could make a pretty penny for herself. Of course, this would need Adel¡¯s help as well to make sure she was protected and did not get scammed.
But today was a day that I decided to do something about my own money situation. I still had some gold and could live off it, if I so wished, for quite a while, but it was not enough! So right now, Sophie and I were both on the streets of the capital heading to a cksmith that Sei told me about.
It was said to be the best cksmith in town when it came to intricate items. He was a one hundred percent dwarf! I was actually quite excited to finally meet a staple fantasy character. I know I am a dragon, and I know I have a fox girl sitting next to me, but dwarves and elves were different! They were like the cream of the crop when it came to fantasy.
We did not walk today. Sei was nice enough to get us a carriage as the ce we were heading to was very far away. The carriage was not as fancy as Adel¡¯s carriage, but it was still quite nice. It had tworge, scaled horses pulling it, and no one dared to stand in their way. Their hoofs alone were enough to squash me!
As we made our way down the streets of the capital, I rested my head on the window and watched the passerby as they did their thing. It was strange being able to ride around the city after all the walking I did the past few days, but to get to this cksmith, it would have taken almost all day by foot.-.
The trip was rather pleasant without anything really interesting happening. Little Bell did dance around while looking out of the window just as she did when she was in Adel¡¯s carriage. She seemed to really like carriages. I guess I should get one when I am rich.
The ce we pulled up to look like a run down shack. But as someone who is well read and had read of many situations like this in novels, I knew never to look down on the building. Normally the masters of their trade would always have such ces. Little Bell did get scared and turned into a ray of light and shot into my body. I was still getting used to this. Sophie held onto my arm and seemed slightly afraid as well. But to be honest, I had no idea what there was to be afraid of. I mean, it¡¯s just a run down smithy with a loud, angry voice yelling from the inside about how it was just not working.
¡°Why the hell is it not working! I could have sworn I forged the piece correctly.¡± Hearing the gruff voiceing from inside, I became curious as to what he was trying to make that would cause him to be so angry. With a fox girl at my side, I walked into the cksmith to finally meet Thurul.
¡°Excuse me!¡± I yelled loudly because I felt that if I didn¡¯t, I would probably be here all day waiting for the man toe out.
¡°Ahhh! Pull my beard out, why don¡¯t ya! Why did you have to yell so loud!?¡± Oops. It seems Thurul has good hearing. But looking at him now, I couldn¡¯t help but nod at the stereotypical dwarf in front of me. He was short and stout and had muscr arms. His long red beard almost reached his stomach, and he looked quite jolly at first nce if you did not look at the eyes filled with a bit of anger. ¡°Well, speak up, why are you yelling at the entrance of my shop?¡±
I scratched my head feeling slightly embarrassed as I answered: ¡°I heard you yelling from outside and figured you might be hammering away inside, so I did not know if you could hear me. Sorry for yelling. My name is Faith. I came here to talk to you about a job that will need a bit of fine tune crafting.¡±
¡°Hmmm? Not bad for a young¡¯en. Normally you all run around wild, not caring about how you talk to your elders. It¡¯s good that you came. I really needed a break.¡± Thurul seemed to be a down to earth guy. Even Sophie rxed a bit and let go of my arm.
¡°Do you have a ce we can talk? The item I want to make needs to be kind of kept secret.¡± I hoped he did have a quiet ce. Because if I started talking details or someone saw my blueprint, they would definitely take my idea!
¡°Sure thing, follow me.¡± Thurul did not make things hard as he nodded and took us to a side room. As soon as I stepped through the door, I could feel myself passing through a strong barrier. And I mean something I have no idea how to make. I once again realized how small my world ispared to the actual world around me.
The room, unlike the rest of the shop, was well kept and had two couches facing each other with a table in between. The walls were painted a light yellow with white trim. And the couches were both light blue, while the table seemed to be made out of some kind of expensive wood. Thurul even walked over to a tea station and made tea after having us sit down. When it was ready, he walked over and poured a cup for both Sophie and I before sitting down himself. ¡°So what kind of item would you like me to make you, littledy?¡±
¡°Before I show you anything, and I know this may be rude, but I need to know that I have your word to never tell anyone what I am about to show you.¡± I gave Thurul a deep look. One thing I loved about this world was one usually always kept their word, allowing those who swear on something to never break their promises.
¡°No worries, littledy. I have never spoken about anything I have ever crafted to anyone that is wished to be kept secret. So you have my word on this.¡± Thurul did not seem offended, which allowed me to breathe a sigh of relief.
¡°Then please take a look at these.¡± I set out two blueprints. One was for the ballpoint pen the other was for the cast to make it. As long as there were casts, things could easily be quickly made. I could then buy some metal and make them all myself using my dragon fire to metal the ore.
¡°Hmmm¡.¡± Thurul looked at the design, and it seemed he could not make heads or tails of it. ¡°Little Lady, do you mind if I ask what this is?¡±
¡°I call it a ballpoint pen. You see, the ball goes inside the tube here, and when you press down on it, it will allow ink to slowly flow out as you write.¡±
¡°This! Hahaha! Littledy, I think you will be making a killing if you sell these things. And you even drew up a cast for it. So I am guessing you are looking to mass produce them, right?¡± Thurul was straight to the point.
¡°Yes, I was nning to do so.¡± I answered. I mean, no sense in lying.
¡°Then let¡¯s make a deal, littledy. I just so happened to be needing more money for my research. Until you make enough to get your own little factory set up, how about you give me one percent of your sales per month, and I will supply the ore and will mass produce them for you?¡± Oh? It seems Thurul wants to be a business partner. I sat back and thought for a moment and nodded my head. This was not a bad idea. If it¡¯s only one percent, that would be nothing. But I do feel it is a bit too low since he will be supplying the materials.
¡°Let¡¯s do ten percent. If you are supplying materials, the amount you get in return should be a bit more than what you are spending. But we need to make a magic contract as well. This way, everything is set in stone.¡± Of course, business tycoon skill was now in y. Always get a contract no matter what. And also, always make sure that your partner is not getting screwed. Because if they pull out, you might go under yourself. Never burn your bridges.
¡°Ten percent¡. Alright, now that I think about it, that does seem fairer. The materials would end up costing more in the long run.¡± Thurul nodded his head. He gave me an approving look. I guess he was happy that I was not trying to screw him.
As I was thinking about the sales of these pens, another thought idea came to mind. ¡°Then let¡¯s talk about variations as well¡.¡±
Chapter 87 Starting A Business Part 2
Oh? This is truly a good idea.¡± Thurul seemed quite impressed with my ideas.
¡°Yes, the limited edition pens will allow me to sell them for fifty gold or more. Nobles like to have their fancy things, after all. Once I introduce the pens to the public, and they be popr, I only need to announce the limited edition pens. We can do one each month, and then they will be something like a collectible. But before I can even sell them, though, I need to get a patent from the king. Right now, I am just looking for a prototype.¡± I had a good marketing scheme ready to be yed out, but all of this relied on getting in contact with Adel. Sei already said she would pass the message on, so I am only waiting for Adel¡¯s reply.
¡°Alright. it shouldn¡¯t take long to have a perfect prototype for you.¡± Thurul nodded and stuck out his hand. ¡°Here is to asting partnership. ¡°
¡°Yes, to asting partnership.¡± I could tell Thurul was not going to back down anytime soon. Even he saw the money in this ¡®invention¡¯ of mine. I really could not wait to see it alle together. After this, there would be more and more things to create and sell. I really can not wait.
After a long trip back to the inn, Sophie and I went right to bed. She was still sleeping in my bed even though her room was done. It seemed to be a kind of therapy for her.-.
It was the next morning when the door to the bedroom was mmed open, and a figure sailed through the air and dived on top of me that I was rudely awoken, and poor Sophie was tossed to the side. ¡°My Faith! Oh, how I have missed you!¡±
¡°Adel, where is your princess like manners?¡± I could only helplessly smile as I patted her head, but I was starting to get creeped out with how she was taking deep breaths with her head pushed into my chest.
I had to wait for what Adel called her Faith energy bar to be filled up before she finally released me and sat up, still sitting on top of me. I watched as her eyes flowed over to a certain fox girl who was trying to make herself look small. ¡°This is Sophie, I presume?¡±
¡°Yes, the one I wrote about in my message.¡± I replied while nodding my head.
¡°She is indeed cute. I can see why that sick bastard of a count would like her. Since you have taken her in and exined to me the situation, I talked to father, and he okayed me to allow her asylum under your name. Father has given her yourst name and announced that she would be joining you at the academy during the meetingst night. Count Freedman was not happy. Father said his face turned many different colors before storming out of the hall after the meeting was over. But he did ask me to tell you to refrain from flying within the city unless it is an emergency. You set off quite a few defensive magic systems, you know!¡± Adel reached over and flicked my forehead.
¡°Well, I had no choice. I was not sure if the knights would trust my word of the counts. So as soon as I had Sophie, I rushed out of the house and flew away. Speaking of knights, the one your brother has keeping an eye on me, sleeps all day long, eats, and drinks. He hasn¡¯t left his room since I have arrived.¡± I, of course, would tattle on the ipetent fool. At first, I thought he was loyal to his job, but in one night! One night his attitude changed, and he became a fatso who sits around all day doing nothing! If he had aputer, I am sure he would be sitting in front of it looking things up and giggling weirdly.
¡°Don¡¯t worry, Sir Randford is teaching him a lesson as we speak. You will have a few knights as well. I will introduce you to them before we head out. I need to meet with Thurul myself and make sure he signs a separate contract with the kingdom to never speak of your designs to anyone. But for now!¡± I was once again embraced. I have no idea why Adel was so fond of skinship. But at least now, things were settled quite easily. Sophie was now Sophie Cyrilia which gave her protection as my family member, so none of the nobles could do anything to her without repercussions. This would not stop any deeper schemes, but it also gave me the right to step in legally and protect her. In other words, I am now her legal guardian, and without me agreeing to it, no one can take Sophie away.
While this was all good news, I am sure the count is probably nning something stupid behind the scenes. But with Adel backing me up, I can at least deal with the situation. It¡¯s just I do wonder when Adel ns to get off me. I need to use the powder room!
After finally getting to powder my nose, I walked into the living area to see Adel happily chatting with a very shy Sophie, who was slowly nodding her head with red cheeks while fiddling with her fingers. It seems she did not know how to act around Adel. ¡°So, what do I need to sign?¡± I asked as I walked over and sat down in the chair next to the table.
Adel smiled and picked up a few papers from the table and put them in front of me. ¡°You will need to sign here and here. The first one is specifically for you, which gives you full market domination over your invention. No one will be able to copy your design or sell it. If they do, they will be arrested and fined for reparations of one hundred gold per product they sold.¡±
I couldn¡¯t help but widen my eyes at this counteract. ¡°Isn¡¯t this a little too good? How did this even get approved!?¡± I may not know all thews yet of the kingdom, but even I know this contract seemed to be way over the top.
¡°Hehe¡ do not underestimate the power of the only daughter!¡± Adel answered proudly with her nose in the air. ¡°I just so happened to have one of the people who were in charge of doing patents to just so happen to make a contract that was much too good to be true, and I just so happened to go to Father and ask him to let me y with the royal seal.¡±
I facepalmed. Adel was too much! She snuck it past her old man! Won¡¯t he get railed by the merchants guild!? But I really had to hand it to her. Adel was going above and beyond for me. ¡°Adel, I owe you big time.¡±
¡°Hehe! Nothing is too much for my Faith.¡± Adel gave me a bright smile before pointing to the next document. ¡°This one is for both you and Thurul. It will bind the two of you together. I added the percentage amount that Thurul will be getting from sales. This contract is binding and can only be broken if both parties agree, just like you wanted. Each one of these are magic contracts, so they can not be altered after they are signed, so, please make sure everything is to your liking.¡±
I nodded and began reading them over. Adel did not stay quiet as she began continuing her conversation with Sophie. I took a few peeks at them and found Sophie was stuttering over her words, but Adel did not seem bothered by it in the slightest. Adel really is a kind person. I am d I have be her friend.
It took me almost thirty minutes to read the contract. I made sure to read it quite a few times to make sure I missed nothing. My business tycoon skill kicked in big time as soon as I started reading. No one interrupted me either. But the contracts were just what I asked for. The patent was simply amazing. I basically have a lifetime patent that I could own the ballpoint pen industry for the rest of my life or at least for as long as this kingdomsted.
With everything set, I signed the documents feeling very satisfied. With that done, I passed the patent document back to Adel and put the other in my inventory for use tomorrow afternoon when we took a trip to Thurul¡¯s shop again. He still needed to sign the contract as well. ¡°Adel, you are staying here tonight?¡±
¡°That I am!¡± Adel said without hesitation. ¡°I only have today and tomorrow before I need to head back, so I want to spend as much time as I can with you.¡±
¡°Okay, then we will have a big feast tonight and then¡.¡± I looked over at Sophie, who seemed absent minded, and smiled slyly: ¡°We can take turns brushing Sophie¡¯s tail.¡±
¡°Fuwah!?¡± Sophie¡¯s strange noise and surprised face caused both me and Adel to burst outughing. She was indeed cute.
¡°I was just kidding.¡± To be honest, I still nned to fluff the fluff.
Chapter 88 It’s The Prince Again…
The next day I woke up to both Adel and Sophie sleeping next to me curled up into balls. Adel had a serene smile on her face. She was overly excitedst night because she made a new true friend. While I could tell Sophie was nervous around Adel she did not treat her as royalty either. She treated her the same way she treated me. Adel took a big liking to Sophie because of this and they instantly became friends.
I stealthily slipped out of bed and left the room to be greeted by Annie who was outside patiently waiting like some kind of guard. But when she saw me she turned and handed me a robe. ¡°Good morning, Young Miss. Sir Randford is here and would like to speak with you.¡±
¡°Mm¡ Okay¡.¡± I nodded and rubbed my eyes before taking the robe. I have to admit Annie thinks of everything. I, myself would have walked out in my nightshirt but, thinking about it I am sure Sir Randofrd would get flustered and run away. There was a thing where women of high ranking should not show too much skin. While I could understand in some situations why this would be an issue but if it was hot out I will be damned if I am not wearing shorts and a short sleeve shirt!
I wrapped the robe around me and with my bed head and all made my way to the front room where Sir Randford was standing there waiting. ¡°Good morning Sir Randford, you wished to speak with me?¡±
¡°Sorry to disturb you Miss Cyrilia. I came over to let you know that I got word that his highness the crown prince is on his way over.¡± As soon as I heard that, the smile on my face quickly fell. -.
I really pondered what this prince really wanted? Why would hee all the way here to visit when I was not anywhere close to being friends with him. Adel was one thing, we were as close as sisters but, the prince was a different story. Luckily though, Adel was here this time, so I have a strong backing. If anything I can always sick Little Bell on him! Humph! Let¡¯s see if he dares try to hug me again. I guess my thoughts were written all over my face because Sir Randford gave me a worried look and asked: ¡°Is there a problem Miss Cyrilia?¡±
¡°Problem? Of course, there is a problem. Why would that id¡. Ahem¡. Why would the prince suddenly want toe over? Sir Randford, how much did he pay you to ruin my day? If I pay you more, can you ruin his day back for me?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but slightly chuckle at Sir Randford¡¯s current expression. He seemed to be drawn between duty and the bubble ofughter that was about to explode at any second.
After a moment of silence, Sir Randford got control of his emotions and gave me a slight bow. ¡°Miss Cyrilia I do apologize.¡±
¡°Pfft!¡± I couldn¡¯t hold back as I startedughing. There was a serious yet teasing look in Sir Randofrd¡¯s eyes that tickled my funny bone.
After a bout ofughter, I finally calmed down and let out a long sigh. In reality, I really did not wish to see the Mr. Ceo, wanna be. Thest thing I want is to be dragged around the streets of the capital by him again and forced to eat what he orders for me. Or doing some other stupid thing.
¡°Faith?¡± Adel came out of the room in a robe rubbing her eyes and stumbily walked over to me and held onto my arm while resting her head on my shoulder closing her eyes once more. It seems she was not ready to be awake just yet.
¡°Sir Randford has just told me your brother is on his way.¡±
¡°What!? Why is that bast¡.. Idit¡ Ahem¡ Why is heing here? No, wait! He better not be thinking of hitting on you again!¡± I saw a fierce glint in Adel¡¯s eyes but what made me chuckle the most was her stopping herself from calling him a bastard and idiot.
¡°Well, whatever the reason, my princess in shining armor can protect me from the evil prince.¡± I said jokingly but Adel actually nodded her head seriously and answered. ¡°Of course!¡±
Thest toe out of the room was Sophie who kept her head lowered as soon as she saw Sir Randford. I do hope we can get her to rx around others before school starts. I do not want her to be getting picked on for acting gloomy when she was such a sweet girl. I, of course, would protect her but still.
After breakfast and getting changed the three of us were about to try to sneak away and head to Thurul¡¯s ce before the prince arrived, our luck quickly ran out when a fancy carriage suddenly stopped in front of ours before we could even set off. A handsome dashing man exited the carriage and walked over to ours. Sadly although his looks were good he was after all Prince Lance. Which ruined his whole image. Not to mention he still had that stupid smirk on his face.
¡°My dear sister, you were not going to try to leave me behind now where you?¡± Prince Lance asked as he went to open the door to the carriage, assumingly trying to get in to ride with us only to find the door would not open. Adel had identally sealed the door shut, made it transparent from the inside only, and was currently sipping tea while looking at her brother through the transparent door struggling to try to open it up.
¡°Adel this is not funny! Open this up right now! You know what father said!¡± I heard the prince yell which made me raise an eyebrow and looked over at Adel who quickly turned away from me as soon as I did.
¡°Adel, care to exin?¡± I asked, with both eyebrows raised and my hands sped in front of me.
Adel kept side eying me and when she saw I was not going to let it go she finally let out a long sigh. ¡°That idiot father of mine asked my brother to woo you. I told father that that waspletely out of the question and that it should be enough for me to be friends with you but he seems to really want to tie you down to the kingdom. I had nned to tell you but every time I thought about it I would get angry and want to punch my brother. And then I started to think that maybe bing a queen would not be such a bad idea and that both my father and my brothers should just disappear.¡±
I almost spat out my tea. Adel, my dear did you not say you wished to not be a princess!? Wait more than that, did she just curse her family!? I am starting to think that maybe I should have a long talk with Adel. ¡°No need for any offing of any people. Especially the royal family. I have no ns to be woo¡¯d by your brother. He for one has no idea how to treat a girl anyway. He acts selfish and domineering. This might float some people¡¯s boats but it makes mine sink.¡±
¡°Hehe! I knew my Faith would never fall for his fake facade!¡± Adel yelled as she threw her arms around me and hugged me. I guess she was worried that if I did fall for her brother I would not be friends with her anymore. But that is just in stupid. I would be friends with her no matter what. Adel is a caring person and cares deeply for those she sees as friends. I would not toss her aside for anyone. I think guys back on earth have a saying for such a thing. What was it again¡ ¡®bros before hoes¡¯ or something along these lines? In this case, it is girls before di¡. No, I will just leave it at that. At any rate, I will always put my family and friends above others.
¡°Adel I know you are in there! Open up right now!¡± Prince Lance yelled out causing a huge scene out in the middle of the road. I really wish I could knock some sense into this idiot. One event after the other and he can¡¯t seem to understand that he has to keep up appearances even if he doesn¡¯t wish to.
¡°Adel, we should at least tell him he can¡¯te in because there is someone else here who is bad with men. Otherwise, I fear he may throw away the face of the royal family if this continues.¡± I nced at Sophie who was fidgeting in her seat. It seemed she did not know what to do. When I said her name she lowered her head even more. I guess the side effect of being forced to live with a strange man you did not know will cause such things.
Adel pouted and slowly released me. She looked at the door and stood up. After stomping her feet in frustration she walked over to the door. She extended her finger out and began creating a magic circle which she gently pushed towards the door. But what we all did not expect was that the prince who was going mad outside the carriage was currently pulling hard on the door. With the magic that was holding it closed now released, said prince was sent flying backward causing him tond hard on his princely butt.
Chapter 89 Explaining It Clearly
As for Adel, who got a front row seat to the sight of her brother falling down so gracefully, she was now rolling on the floor of the carriage looking nowhere near what a princess should be looking like: ¡°Hahahahaha! He¡ Fell¡ Butt.. Hahahaha!¡±
From where I was sitting, I could see the anger and embarrassment on Prince Lance¡¯s face growing by the minute. I knew that he was about to explode at any second. So I said nothing and sipped the tea in my hand. Sophie had scooted up next to me at some point and tried to make herself look as small as possible. Her ears and tail were sagging, making it seem like she was the one about to get yelled out.
¡°Adel! You did that on purpose!¡± Prince Lance yelled at the top of his lungs.
¡°Hahaha!¡± Adel was stillughingpletely ignoring the red faced prince. -.
I sighed and ced my cup down. ¡°Prince Lance, can you please keep your voice low. You are scaring Sophie and are attracting much unwanted attention.¡±
¡°But Adel!¡± Prince Lance looked at me like a child being scolded by his mother. I was really not sure how I felt about this. Did my scolding from before hit some kind of button in his head?
Thinking about this, I decided to give it a try. ¡°You are older than your sister, so you should be the mature one. Plus, she did not know you were pulling on the handle that hard otherwise, she would not have released the magic she had binding the door closed.¡±
¡°But¡.¡± Prince Lance red at Adel, who was now calming down from herughing fit before snorting and looking back at me. ¡°Faith, I would like to know if you would like to ride with me on the way to¡.¡±
¡°Absolutely not!¡± Adel shot right up and shouted. Her shout not only made Sophie and I jump but also Prince Lance.
¡°Sister, why are you blocking me!?¡± At this point, I really wish I could punch this prince and tell him hey, I want nothing to do with you. I do not like how he does things. He can treat some other nobledy however he wants, but I will never let myself be in a rtionship with a man like this.
¡°Blocking? Dear brother, you need to take a look at yourself first. You are trying to act as if you own Faith. Has she said anything about liking you? Has she said anything about wanting to be near you? Are you assuming just because you are the crown prince that, she will like you like all those other tramps who want to climb into your bed in hopes of bing a concubine and gaining some status? Do you know how many headaches I get from those girls who fake being friends with me while trying to get information on you? I will not allow my one true friend to be corrupted by you or harmed in some way by one of your crazy fangirls. Faith is mine and will never be yours.¡± I think Adel just imed me as if I was some kind of object but well¡. Adel is Adel, so I will just let it slide. I mean, she is telling her brother off for my sake, after all.
¡°You!¡± Prince Lance gritted his teeth. He looked at Adel with mes in his eyes before turning to look at me. ¡°What about you? Am I not good enough?¡±
I sighed¡ I really wish I did not have to do this, but it looks like I will have no other choice but to say this out loud. ¡°Prince Lance. Although you are handsome and are the crown prince. And I am sure many girls wish they could even get you to smile at them, but sadly I am not one of them. I have no wish for bing some princess or any wish that has much to do with status. I have dreams I wish to aplish. While I know turning you down could cause you to be angered and want to block my dreams, then I would have no choice but to move on to and that will allow me to see my dreamse to fruition, of course, I would bring my family along as well.¡±
I did not wish to turn him down so bluntly like this, but I had no choice. I did not wish to be stuck in this tug of war and end up forced into something I did not wish to be forced into. When I saw how dejected Prince Lance¡¯s face had be after hearing my words, I did feel a little bad but only a little.
¡°This¡. I would never¡.¡± Prince Lance lowered his head. He seemed to be lost in thought or maybe the shock of me actually turning him down was not even something he even thought about. ¡°I see¡ I guess it would block your path¡. Fine then.¡±
To my surprise, Prince Lance raised his head and smiled at me. ¡°I will support you in your goals, and maybe one day, you will see me in a better light. Adel, take care of Faith. I leave her in your hands.¡±
¡°You can count on it.¡± Adel said smugly, but at the same time, I could see a hint of pity in her eyes as she looked at Prince Lance.
¡°Then I will no longer bother you,dies.¡± Prince Lance gave a bow and walked away. Soon I heard the carriage in front of us begin to roll away. Only then did I let out a long relieved sigh and sit back in my chair.
¡°Faith, I think this might have been a shocker to my brother, who has always been used to girls liking him from the start.¡± Adel said as she closed the door to the carriage and sat back down.
¡°What else was I supposed to do when he put me on the spot? I do not wish for some grand title or status as crown princess. I just wish to go to the academy and rise through the ranks of the kingdom¡¯s army until I can finally lead a unit of my own.¡± While I know I turned him down, I do hope he will one day find someone who loves him for him and not because of his status. I hope he will also learn how to treat a girl properly after this as well.
Chapter 90 Sealing The Deal
¡°You are right. I do know that if you did not say anything, he would continue to make a fuss. This is for the best.¡± I watched as Adel sighed. ¡°I just know I will be hearing it from Father when I get back.¡±
¡°Oh, why is that?¡± I asked. I did not understand why Adel would be getting an ear full when she has done nothing wrong.
¡°Because it is partly my fault that my brother was not able to woo you. I tried to tell my father that trying to marry you to brother would not work out well, but he still decided to do it. So now I will be yelled at because I am sure he will me it on me for why my brother failed.¡± Adel exined, which made me realize this might just be true if the prince goes back and makes a fuss. But from his actions just now, he might not do that.-.
¡°Well¡.¡± I paused and a teasing smile formed on my lips. ¡°You can always tell your father that I am yours, and no one can take me away from you. Like you did to your brother.¡±
¡°Faith! I didn¡¯t mean it like that!¡± I watched as Adel¡¯s face turned bright red. I know she didn¡¯t mean anything by it but teasing her for it was something I couldn¡¯t resist.
I gave her a yful grin before turning to Sophie, who had been quiet this entire time. ¡°Sophie, you okay?¡±
¡°Fuwah!?¡± I guess I surprised her because she made an interesting sound when I spoke to her. ¡°Ah yes¡ I was just¡ I am not good with guys right now¡.¡±
¡°Sophie, don¡¯t worry. I promise on my name Adellia Gravos that no noble will be able to touch you. You will be safe staying with Faith. And your family will be moved from their current home to the Cyrilia Vige.¡± Adel¡¯s words shocked me. She never told me that she actually went as far as to move Sophie¡¯s family!
¡°Adel¡.¡± I almost teared up. Adel always goes far and beyond. But I guess I was not the only one moved because Sophie began crying.
¡°Hehe¡. If you are friends with Faith, then there is no way you are someone bad. I trust Faith¡¯s ability to judge people, and since she became your friend, that makes you my friend, so of course, I would make sure all things are covered. I know Count Freedman, that petty man, will definitely try something. Why I didn¡¯t say anything before was because I was waiting to get confirmation that things were set.¡± Adel blushed as she rubbed her nose. I could help but toss my arms around her and hug her.
¡°Adel, you are an angel!¡± I said with a big smile and tears in my eyes. I will make sure to always be on Adel¡¯s side no matter what happens in the future. I do not care even if she bes an enemy of this kingdom. She is someone with a good heart. Of course, this is only if she has not be a tyrant. If that happens, I will be sure to flick her forehead and make her snap out of it. But I will be with her through thick or thin. She is definitely a true friend.
Sophie¡¯s eyes were red with tears as she looked at Adel. ¡°Thank you¡ Thank you so much¡. I have been worrying about my parents¡¯ safety ever since I ran away the first time. But now. Now¡ Whaaaa!¡± Adel and I both looked at Sophie and smiled warmly before pulling her into a group hug. Sophie must have been very worried this entire time but bottled it up in order not to trouble us.
Sophie calmed down by the time we reached Thurul¡¯s ce. She decided toy down in the space in the back of the carriage that Adel and I used during our trip to take a nap while Adel and I headed inside the shop. We were now currently sitting in the guest meeting room sipping on tea while Thurul read the contract.
Thurul scanned the contract over and nodded his head. ¡°This contract is rather strict on both parties and leaves no room for anyone to screw the other over. I see nothing wrong with it, but before I sign, are you sure you want to give me ten percent? By the fact that I know these things will take off and will be sold out almost instantly, you will be handing over quite a huge chunk of change.¡±
¡°Thurul, if I did that, would I not be screwing you over? The materials alone will cost a good sum of money and if you got too little, you would barely be able to make even. Ten percent is what you deserve since all I am doing is selling while all the hard work lies with you.¡± I said while setting my teacup down and looking at him straight in the eye. ¡°Take the ten percent. To find an honest business partner and keeping them happy is hard to do. I do not wish to lose you before anything can even get made.¡± It was true that Thurul will be doing the brunt of the work. If I lost him, I would have to search for another cksmith I could trust. I have many more ideas, and I only wish to stick with one person.
I do, however, n to make a factory that will do mass production on pens before I go and start my next venture. There are many things I know I can build, and will need a knowledgeable person here to help me. I mean, I could spend points on cksmithing in my skill menu, but it will never be something I truly wish to doter on in life, so I do not wish to spend all my points.
¡°Then I will not stand on ceremony anymore.¡± Thurul smiled at me before pulling out an actual ballpoint pen and signing the contract. I looked at him in shock as he looked back at me with a wide grin. ¡°By the way, this is the first one I made, it works like a charm.¡±
Chapter 91 Buying A Dress
I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle at Thurul¡¯s teasing. He was definitely showing off the new pen he crafted. But this was also a given. If he did not test his own works to make sure they worked in the first ce and then sent them out only for them to not work at all, we would lose any chance of making any profit. Bad merchandise equals loss of trust from the masses, which would be hard to regain. But I was very happy that my design worked.
¡°How does it feel when writing?¡± I asked curiously. I have no idea if Thurul had made any design changes at all.
¡°Well, the very first one leaked ink all over the ce due to the ball not being able to seal it properly, so I had to make a small adjustment to the pen¡¯s head.¡± Thurul reached in his pocket and pulled out two simr pen tips, and ced them on the table. I picked up each one and looked at them, and immediately saw the difference. One had a grove to allow the metal ball to rest in, sealing the hole just fine, while the other did not.-.
¡°I see. My design only allowed for the ball to be pushed up and down but not fully seal the tip itself. Thurul, thank you for catching that. The grove at the bottom really helps in sealing the ink in.¡± I was truly impressed. It was a tight seal, and he even made a cap to go with the pen to keep it covered just in case. ¡°The spot here, can we add a thin piece that runs down the side so it can clip to someone¡¯s pocket?¡±
¡°You know I was thinking about that as well. And did actuallye up with something, look here.¡± Another pen cap was ced on the table, and I couldn¡¯t help but nod my head in approval.
¡°Then let¡¯s go with both. We can add a few extra silver to the price with the pens with clips. We can even make some extra limited edition pens as well. Clips, caps, pen body, and even pen end. We can make those who love to collect things spend a pretty penny to get.¡± My eyes were filled with piles of gold. I couldn¡¯t wait to fill up a chest and ce it in a dark, secluded spot where no one would be able to¡.. Ahem¡. I am starting to think I have an issue¡.
With things settled, I worked out the ns to have a few pens sent over to me the next day. I figured it would be good to have a few on hand. On the way back, Adel suddenly pped her hands together and gave me a bright smile. ¡°I just had an idea! Faith, would you like to attend a tea party with me tomorrow?¡±
¡°A tea party? I do not mind, but I do feel bad about leaving Sophie behind. Can shee as well?¡± I really did not want to leave Sophie alone during this time as she has been kind of clingy and insecure about what was toe.
¡°Of course! I nned to have here with us in the first ce.¡± Adel replied with a smile. She then stuck her head out the window to the driver and asked them to stop off at the best dress store that deals with demi humans.
A few hourster, a still half asleep Sophie was being dragged into a dress store, stripped and wrapped up in measuring tape before she even realized what was going on. ¡°Your Highness, what do you think of this color?¡±
¡°Hmmm? A deep purple adorned with stars around the bottom hem. Not bad. Match it with some gloves and a few essories, and it will be perfect.¡± As I watched Adel pick out fabric for Sophie¡¯s dress, I felt a little out of ce as I, for one, was not someone who has much knowledge in fashion. It was not that I do not like to look nice, it is just that I never really cared for fancy clothing or trends. If I could have gone to school in sweats in my past life, then I would have just because they werefortable. But my parents forced me to wear normal clothing. Even now, I tried to wear simple things.
¡°Faith¡ why is she¡.¡± Sophie was next to me with red cheeks. She had never worn any fancy dresses, not even when the count took her in, she still wore what she brought with her. So to be pampered like this was not something she could ever have dreamed of.
¡°Because you are friends. She does not wish for you to be picked on by the nobledies. We are going to a tea party tomorrow and will be surrounded by rich snobby girls who think they are better than anyone else. So tomorrow, stay by my side. If anyone dares to speak rudely to you, do not take it to heart I will deal with it. Take this as training to get used to crowds.¡± Since Sophie would be dealing with many of these snobby rich girls in the academy, it was best for her to get used to it now. Especially when she will not be with Adel and I all the time. We will not be able to protect her the entire time. But as soon as I find out someone picks on her, then I will make sure to deal with them in kind.
Sophie nodded her head, seemingly understanding this fact. One thing about Sophie was she was not dumb by no means, just overly shy and unsure about the people around her. It is actually quite surprising that she warmed up to me so quickly, but this may be because I am also a demi human. But then again, she warmed up to Adle as well. But with how Adel¡¯s personality is, it would¡¯ve only have been a matter of time.
Although I will admit, Adel can be a little over the top when ites to me. But she is a good girl with a good heart.
Chapter 92 Airship Dock
The next day all of us were in the bathroom getting ready. We had Annie, along with some of Adel¡¯s maids working on doing our makeup and hair. And to be honest, this was the first time I really experienced anything like this before. ¡°Miss Cyrilia. Your hair is amazingly soft.¡±
¡°I know, right!?¡±
¡°Miss Cyrilia, your skin is as soft as a babies. How do you even do it?¡± -.
¡°I know, right!?¡±
And for some reason, every time one of Adel¡¯s maidspliments me, it is Adel who is answering. Which then, in turn, causes her maids to chuckle. But I will admit that my skin and hair are truly amazing. I do nothing, and they still stay soft and bouncy. No matter how I look at it, I am truly blessed to be this cute¡.
I was not the only one beingplimented, though. Sophie, who had red cheeks, was being groomed and pampered even more than me by the maids, even Annie had turned traitor at the sight of Sophie¡¯s soft fluffy tail¡. Okay, I forgive her. I mean, who can resist the fluff.
Not to mention that even though Sophie is not trying to be cute, she just ends up looking cute no matter what. But when she was done and her hair was styled up, she looked like a whole different person. She went from the innocent, sweet cute to drop dead gorgeous. Adel really has taste because the dress Sophie was wearing really suited her well, a little too well. Combined with the makeup, new hairstyle, and high heels, she did not look like a teen girl at all!
As for me? Well, I was wearing a white sleeveless, backless dress that went down to my ankles with silver trimmings and silver high heels to match. I will say that I never expected that the dresses of this world would look like modern dresses from Earth, but they did. I was expecting to have to wear a corset or something, but when I asked Adel, she said that corsets went out of fashion when her grandmother created the current style of dress, and since then, the new dress designs have taken off.
I do not think I could be any more thankful for this. Because I, for one, did not wish to have to wear such a crazy style dress where it took six people to tighten your corset, and then you had to wear this heavy metal rack around your waist to keep your dress in a bowl shape while walking around. I made sure to pray silently to Adel¡¯s grandmother, the goddess of dresses.
After everyone was ready, it was finally time to head to the tea party. It was not until we stopped off at a certain ce that I realized that the most exciting part about this tea party was not the tea party itself but the means to get there. I was finally going to get to ride on an airship!
The airship dock, while it looked different, it was very simr to a train station with inbound and outbound traffic. There was regr airship transportation to other kingdoms that were in an alliance with Gravos, as well as a few of the other bigger cities that I have yet to visit within the kingdom. But those were the docks formoners. The docks we were headed to were used by nobles and the royal families. These were where the private airships each higher noble owned were kept.
I couldn¡¯t hide the excitement as I looked up at the wooden structure in front of me with a huge grin on my face. ¡°Faith, I did not take you to be someone who would get overly excited over an airship, especially since you can fly yourself.¡±
¡°Adel, this and that are two totally different things. First off, airships are like giant houses in the sky. Give them enough magic, and they can soar through the air forever. While I would get tired after a long flight. I mean, what couldn¡¯t be more magical than spending a night on an airship high in the sky, flying so close to the stars that you can reach out and grab them with your hands?¡± I know I was a little out there with my exnation but still. The romance of it all always floated in my imagination when I read novels that had such things. This was not like some airne or private jet. This was an airship like a boat on the water where you can go out on the deck and look out over the railing and see how tiny things look while feeling the wind brush across your face. Airships always had a kind of romance in my heart which was why when I learned about them, I really couldn¡¯t wait to ride one.
¡°I see¡. So a nighttime cruise through the stars¡ I see¡¡± I guess I sparked Adel¡¯s inner airship romanticism as well! It is so nice to have an airship buddy.
As I was smiling away, Adel was mumbling to herself. As For Sophie, she was as quiet as ever. I guess she was getting nervous. I turned and reached out my hand to her, which she did not hesitate to grab. I guess thatfort of having a friend at her side in times when you need them the most was something she desperately needed at this time. Not long after, Adel hooked her arm around my right arm as if taking up position as the three of us stood there waiting for the ship to be finished being prepared.
¡°Oh¡. I almost forgot. Faith, Grace Dollen likes to put on airs just because she is a marquess¡¯s daughter. She is prone to make rude remarks. The ones who follow her are daughters of counts and viscounts, and all have an air about them using Grace¡¯s status to do as they please. But do not worry with me at your side, you can deal with it as you please.¡±
Chapter 93 The Airship
I couldn¡¯t help but frown upon hearing this. I mean, I really did not wish to deal with some snobby rich girl as it was, but now I will need to deal with one who had an even bigger attitude that might be racist against Sophie and me. I could already see Sophie¡¯s face paling even more. I tightened my grip on Sophie¡¯s hand, trying tofort her.
¡°Ah! Sorry, I didn¡¯t mean to say that to scare you two!¡± Adel must have noticed the change in the mood and quickly apologized. ¡°I just wanted to warn you. Do not worry if they say anything that I find even remotely harassing towards the two of you, I will step forward. I promise I am not bringing you with me to make you two feel ufortable. I am doing this for two reasons. One is to show off the new pen and get it out there, so the nobles learn about it, and the other is to show that both of you have my backing.¡±
I see¡ Adel was worried about Sophie and I when we joined the academy. She hoped this tea party would not only help me sell my pens but also spread the word that we were part of Adel¡¯s main group of friends. Royal protection is a means to keep people from being able to do anything too serious to us. What they do behind the scenes is different, but that can always be resolved easily since I will just catch whoever did it to begin with, and use a few tricks to make them talk.-.
After another ten minutes of waiting, the airship was finally ready. When we got on board, I took everything in. I really wished to know everything I could about an airship, and I have no idea when the next time I would get a chance to ride on a private airship.
The first thing I noticed was the inner walls were all lined with runic inscriptions. Each one, from what I could tell, reinforced the wood creating a barrier. However, they were in a sleep state that conserved energy. My guess was they were used only during times of bad weather from what I could make out of the inscription.
¡°Adel, can I¡¡±
¡°Hehe, you want to see the runic inscription on the engine, right?¡± Adel chuckled and asked. My head nodded involuntarily. My passion for magic was taking over and making my body act on its own. ¡°Come. Normally I should not, but for you, I will allow it.¡±
Hearing this, my eyes lit up. Adel grabbed my hand and pulled me along with her while I, who was still holding Sophie¡¯s hand, pulled her along. Soon we arrived at the engine room, and all I have to say was it looked more like something out of a steampunk genre than a normal engine. The magic source used for the airship was encased in arge metal cylinder casing with a window that lit up the engine room. There were not one or two magic circles floating in the air above it, slowly turning as the ship was in an idle state.
When I began reading the magic equations, my eyes lit up. My fingers began moving on their own as magic circle after magic circle lit up in front of me. Each one mimicked the same magic circles the ship was using but were not active. I stared at the magic circles I wrote and put my finger to my chin as I analyzed them. ¡°Hmmm¡. Yes, if it is like this. I can actually change this portion and rewrite this over here¡. Hehe¡ I wonder if Thurul can take on a big job¡. Oh, and I will need to figure out a smaller version of the power source¡. Hmmm¡.¡±
¡°Adel, you are drooling¡.¡± Adel said in a defeated voice as she reached up and wiped my saliva with her hand, startling me out of my obsessed trance. ¡°Ahhh, sorry¡. I just¡.¡±
¡°It is fine it is not like this is not the first time I have witnessed your obsession with magic.¡± Adel smiled and, for some reason, lick her hand? Wait, is that the hand she used to wipe my saliva? It couldn¡¯t be, right? No, no, Adel is not like that¡ I mean, that would be weird¡. Yes, it was not what I think it was¡..
¡°Alright, let¡¯s head up to the top balcony. You have to see the ship as it enters the city.¡± Adel grabbed both my and Sophie¡¯s hand and pulled us towards the top deck. When we arrived, the ship was just about to take off. To be honest, I was excited to see how it all worked when it was fully activated. And I was definitely not disappointed. As the ship really started up, the magic circles that were in the engine room shot out of the top of the ship and grew almost ten times bigger, covering the entire ship. It slowly spun in the air. There were also two smaller magic circles to the side that also spun slowly.
As the magic circles began spinning faster, the ship began to slowly rise up into the sky. The ascension was slow at first but quickly sped up until it started moving forward with a fourth magic circle that formed at the tail of the ship and acted as a form of propulsion. When I looked over the side, I saw another magic circle that was just as big as the one overhead. It used many more magic circles than I had originally thought! To me, this was an amazing sight, and actually wished to fly down to the side of the ship to inspect the magic circles, but as I was about to jump over the side of the ship, both Sophie and Adel held me back and started reprimanding me. ¡°You can¡¯t do that! I would already be in trouble if they knew I let you look at the engine!¡±
¡°Yes, do not scare me like that!¡± Sophie, who was normally quiet, was even yelling!
I could only lower my head and nod at the two and hope that they would stop soon.
Chapter 94 The Tea Party Part 1
As the ship broke through the illusion that masked the floating ind from view, I finally got to take a look at the true face of Sky Lake City. The castle that stood tall high into the sky was pure white and built in the middle of thergeke. It was surrounded by a city a little smaller than the one below it. But this city was much more high ss and was only for nobles and the knights that worked at the castle. And off to the side, standing a little lower than the castle itself, was the Royal Magic Academy. I took up a great deal of space and had many buildings. From what I know, it had many research departments that were funded by the royal family. This would also be the ce I will be going to next month and will begin my training to be a knight.
The ship docked at the only airship terminal on the ind, where Adel already had a carriage ready and prepared for us. The streets were nothing like the streets in the lower city. They were not covered in cobblestone. They were all made ofrge smooth white stone bs that made the streets look rather upper ss? I guess I would say. To be honest, I saw no need to go all out like that when a regr carriage would ride just as smooth on the bumpiest road you could find. Yay magic!
After about an hour of travel, we passed through a luxurious metal gate and, after a few more minutes, finally came to a stop at the entrance of arge red brick mansion. Out front was a youngdy wearing a blue dress holding a folding fan in her hand. She had red hair and from what I could see, green eyes that looked like gems. I really had to say that she was quite pretty. I just hoped she would not start any issues with me or Sophie. I really did not want to deal with any of it.-.
The door opened, and Adel got out first, but instead of giving the girl who stepped forward to say hello any attention, she reached out her hand towards Sophie, who was about to climb out. ¡°Careful with your step Sophie.¡± Adel said with a bright smile.
Sophie blushed and nodded her head to answer. Her actions may seem rude to those who are of a noble status, but Adel could not careless as she knew Sophie was one of few words. Earlier, when Sophie actually yelled at me for trying to jump off the airship, I saw Adel look at her in shock because Sophie barely spoke more than five words in an hour.
After Sophie got off, she also turned around along with Adel, at the same time reaching out their hands to me. They both looked at each other and smiled. As for me. I felt like I was the one with the highest status here, with both the princess of the kingdom and a cute fluffy fox girl both helping me off the carriage. As for whom I presume is Miss Dollen, I could see her eyebrow raise at the scene in front of her. Surprisingly I saw no disgust in her eyes. What her true expression was like that was hidden behind the fan, I do not know. But after these years, I¡¯ve gotten good at seeing people¡¯s true nature through the eyes that gaze upon me.
I smiled as my feetnded on the ground and said: ¡°Thank you, Adel, Sophie.¡±
¡°Hehe¡ I know you are not used to heels, so, of course, I would be there to help you out of the carriage. Unlike at the airship station, you can not take your heels off to climb out of the carriage.¡± Adel answered with a smile. She then nudged Sophie, who looked up at me with blushed cheeks and nodded her head. ¡°Mmm¡ A-Adel asked me to make sure that I was the second one to get off so we can be sure you would not fall.¡±
I could only sigh. My two friends are so amazing! ¡°Then I will be sure to take you both out someceter then.¡±
¡°I will hold you to that!¡± Adel answered as she turned around with a slight hop in her step. ¡°Miss Dollen, it has been a long time. I, Adellia, thank you for inviting me to your tea party today.¡±
I watched as Adel did her normal curtsey. A tapped Sophie¡¯s hand to give her a reminder to also give a curtsey. We had already taught her the basics, so all she had to do was attempt it, whether she got it right or not. We did not need to say anything as we are Adel¡¯s guests, so she would introduce us to Miss Dollen.
Secondster, Adel turned and looked at us before turning back to Miss Dollen and saying: ¡°This here is my bestest friends in the entire world, Faith Cryilia, and Sophie. I do hope you do not mind me bringing two extra people.¡±
¡°Of course not. Your highness can bring whoever pleases. Miss Cyrilia and Sophie, was it? Not to be rude but do you have a family name?¡± I could tell Miss Dollen did not seem to be trying to be rude. I think she was just being curious as she asked this.
But seeing Sophie freeze up, I decided to step in and answer the question for her. ¡°Sorry, Miss Dollen, Sophie is not very good with new people. She has the samest name as me and is also amoner. I do hope this will not be a problem. Also, just to let you know, I am also amoner.¡±
¡°I see¡¡± I guess I was a bit too forceful because Miss Dollen seemed shocked at my straightforwardness. But when she lowered her fan and gave a true smile, I could tell she did not seem bothered by our status at all. Which got me thinking. I kind of wanted to ask Adel if this was truly the snobby girl she was talking about or not.
Chapter 95 The Tea Party Part 2
¡°You do not need to worry. Whilemoners may have been viewed differently before in my household but now things have changed.¡± Miss Dollen looked at both me and Sophie as she said this, not averting her eyes at all.
Adel seemed curious about this change in attitude and quickly followed up with a question of her own. ¡°And what brought this change on?¡±
¡°Well¡.¡± Miss Dollen nced up at Sophie and I and blushed. ¡°Let¡¯s just say sometimes there are times when people need to change and see the greater good of things.¡±-.
I watched as Adel pursed her lips and walked over and hugged both Mine and Sophie¡¯s arms as if she was protecting the two of us. ¡°Don¡¯t even think about it!¡±
I was a bit confused at Adel¡¯s sudden outburst. I watched as Miss Dollen unfolded her fan and covered her mouth with it as she let out augh that one would expect from a nobledy. ¡°Hoho! What do you ever mean, Your Highness? I was just saying that all people should be treated the same. Miss Cyrilia, Miss Sophie, please enjoy your stay. If any of the other nobledies cause you any issues, please let me know. I will be sure to beat them, skin them, then toss them off the side of the ind, Hoho!¡±
I kinda felt a chill run up my spine just now hearing that. Were all noble youngdies this violent? And why would she protect Sophie and I over her own friends? Was it because we were Adel¡¯s friends? I turned to look at Adel, who was grinding her teeth, and became even more confused. I looked back over at Miss Dollen, who seemed to have a bemused expression, but her eyes were staring daggers at Adel. Were things supposed to be like this at nobledys¡¯ tea parties!? I think I will take a page from Sophie¡¯s ybook and be the silent girl who only speaks five words. This way, my presence will be hard to detect.
Sadly I guess it will not always be possible to stay out of sight. As we walked towards the back garden of the mansion where the tea party was being held. The maids and butlers were all staring at us with strange expressions. Why this was? Well, Adel was holding Sophie and I¡¯s arms tightly with a scowl on her face and was growling at every word Miss Dollen spoke. In a way, this was kind of funny, but to not embarrass Adel, I kept my snickering in my heart. But I was still confused as to why she was acting this way. At first, she was friendly with Miss Dollen, but after they spoke no more than a few words, Adel was acting as if Miss Dollen was her worst enemy.
The back garden was quite amazing. Thewn art, I guess it would be called, was very pretty,rge bushes trimmed in the shape of monsters and other beasts. Each one with colorful flowers growing on it. I am sure this took quite a bit of skill. It made me wonder if I had such a skill in my system menu, but I, of course, would not take it as it was a skill that would be useless to me at this time.
We were led to the middle of the garden, which had a pavilion surrounded by a sea of flowers. It was truly a beautiful ce and a perfect spot for such a tea party. I could only guess that they used some kind of magic to keep the insects away since it was an open pavilion. Sitting there at arge round table were five other girls who were all dressed up. And right away, I could see the disgust in their eyes. Seeing this, I instantly went on guard.
I leaned over and whispered to Adel. ¡°Adel, these girls are not like Miss Dollen .¡±
¡°I know¡.¡± Adel whispered back and let out a sigh. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. While Miss Dollen used to be like these girls as of today, I can say for sure that she will defend you no matter what. As will I.¡±
¡°Mmm¡ Thanks, Adel. But just so you know, if any one of them picks on Sophie, I will punch them.¡± This was a fact. Sophie was already having a hard time with nobles, she did not need to suffer any more than she has.
¡°Don¡¯t worry. Act as you see fit. I will handle any bacsh.¡± I had to really thank Adel for being so protective of me and Sophie. I wonder if I should buy her a gift of some kind. Oh! How about a friendship token like jewelry or something. I know maybe a star that is broken in three parts that, when put together, would fit perfectly. If each is on a silver chain and all three of us have one, we will always be connected as friends! Hehe, I like this idea. I will talk to Thurul tomorrow.
¡°Thanks, Adel,¡± I whispered back, giving her a bright smile. I could feel my actions had caused even more ire from the group of girls. Which caused my brow to wrinkle slightly.
It was not until we got to the pavilion that someone finally spoke up from the other group of girls. ¡°Your Highness. I did not know you treated your maids so well. Even letting them dress up so beautifully.¡±
Ah yes¡ My brow was twitching for a good reason. It was because I was supposed to punch this stupid girl in the face. I see, I see¡ since that is the case, I should do just that. I smiled brightly, but I knew it did not reach my eyes as I stretched my right arm and rotated my shoulder a few times before drawing my fist back and saying: ¡°Nice to meet ya, the names Faith Cyrilia, it¡¯s been a pleasure, good night!¡±
The girl who had called me a maid, face instantly turned to one of confusion as my cute little white fist sailed through the air.
Chapter 96 The Tea Party Part 3
¡°Ahh!¡± Yep, I drilled her right in the face. Her nose ended up busted and swelled up instantly as blood sprayed all over. I held my strength back just enough to not make her head explode, but I guess it was not enough because she hit the ground pretty hard.
While the other girls screamed out in fright. Surprisingly besides the alwaysposed Adel, Miss Dollen looked at the situation with indifference. She pped her hands and yelled out: ¡°Someonee take this idiot and toss her back into her family¡¯s carriage and send her back.¡±
After which, she turned to me and bowed her head. ¡°Miss Cyrilia, Miss Sophie, I deeply apologize for what has happened here.¡±
I was kind of stunned by the sincere apology from Miss Dollen. ¡°No worries. I should be apologizing for being rash in my actions. Her words just now may have sounded nice, but there were full of malicious intent towards Adel. As such, I reacted on instinct.¡±-.
¡°Loyalty to the crown proves how much you care about this kingdom. What is more, is that you are indeed Her Highness¡¯s best friend, so I can see why you would be angry. Please sit. I am sure no one else will be stupid enough to say anything they should not, am I right,dies?¡± Miss Dollen turned and, just like my smile before, smiled at them, but her eyes were not smiling at all.
Adel sat down while I sat to her right and Sophie to her left. Next to me was Miss Dollen. I think she sat next to me because she now knew Sophie was not good with new people. All the other nobledies had their heads lowered further than Sophie¡¯s. It seemed they were afraid to even look in my direction. And with me sitting between the host and the princess this means they could not even look at them. But as I was lost in thought, I realized something. ¡°Ah¡ What was that girl just now¡¯s name?¡±
¡°No need to worry about some background character, Miss Cyrilia. Please have some tea and try the snacks. Miss Sophie as well¡¡± Ummm¡ Miss Dollen, please remember that there is also the Princess here. She is staring daggers at you, you know!
¡°Oh, you are not going to offer me some tea as well, Mrs. Dollen?¡± Adel asked, her expression was no longer even trying to fake a smile but one of pure anger.
¡°Oh my! Look at me. How could I forget about you, Your Highness¡. Hoho!¡± Miss Dollen replied while covering her mouth andughing. It did not take an idiot to realize that Miss Dollen was doing this on purpose to rile up Adel.
I was about to say something because, in a way, I did not like how Adel was being ignored, but Adel pinched my thigh, stopping me. I guess she knew I was about to say something. I could only sigh inwardly as I watched the two dueling it out. I looked over at the other girls, who seemed to not even dare to sip their tea while Sophie was like a hamster munching on the pastry she was just given. Seeing Sophie more rxed than the other girls made me chuckle. I guess she had a weak spot for sweets. This reminded me of the warning my mother gave me about following strangers with candy and made me feel I should remind Sophie of the same thing.
Next thing I know, a pastry was floating in front of my face. ¡°Faith here, try this, say Ah~.¡±
I couldn¡¯t help but give a wry smile towards Adel¡¯s strange actions as I opened my mouth and took a bite of the pastry. And well it was very tasty. Nobles really know how to make good food. It tasted simr to chocte but had a different hint of vor to it that I could not match with Earth¡¯s food standards.
¡°Miss Cyrilia, here try this.¡± Another pastry began floating in front of my face, this time from Miss Dollen. I instinctively opened my mouth and took a bite. This one had a refreshing lemony taste to it. But if I knew this was going to be some kind ofpetition between the princess and the daughter of the marquess, I would not have opened my mouth because after that, I had different kinds of pastries stuffed into my mouth one after the other to the point that my cheeks were about to bulge out.
¡°Gwirls!¡± I cried out. I just wanted to be left out of your little quarrel! If I eat any more pastries, I will never be able to eat pastries again!
¡°Ah! Faith, I¡¯m sorry!¡± Adel quickly wiped my lips with a napkin with an apologetic look while Miss Dollen handed me a fresh cup of tea. ¡°Yes, sorry, Miss Cyrilia.¡±
¡°I can breathe!¡± I let out a long sigh after I took a sip of tea. ¡°It¡¯s fine. But if you two are going to fight about whatever, please do not involve me.¡±
I looked at the two, who both lowered their heads with rosy cheeks, And nodded my head. Good, now I will not be used as a means to fight some strange feud. But for some reason, when I looked up at the other girls, they all looked at me with stars in their eyes? I wonder what made them change their attitude with me?
¡°Faith, this pastry is really good, try it.¡± Sophie leaned over the table and ced a pastry in front of me. I did not know whether tough or cry. It seemed Sophie just missed the whole show because she was busy eating pastry after pastry. But seeing her dark expectant eyes looking at me, I could only sigh and resign to my fate as I picked it up and ate it, only to hear a yelling from both sides of me.
¡°¡±No Fair!¡±¡±
¡°To think the true enemy was the silent one¡.¡± I heard Adel say in a low voice, and not even a secondter, I heard Miss Dollen say: ¡°Yes, I do believe you are right¡.¡± Why do I feel like these two are about to unite to fight amon enemy!?
Chapter 97 Introducing The Pen!
With things seemingly calmed down, the tea party became quite normal. The other girls got up the nerve to speak and were now happily chatting away. Even Sophie had loosened up a bit and was chatting with them. But what I found strange was the other girls were mainly chatting with Sophie and only answering questions with everyone else. I guess it is because Sophie seemed like the gentle one out of our group.
We were about an hour into the tea party when Adel¡¯s maid came over with a document in her hand. ¡°Princess, while going through the files. I saw that you missed one of the documents. I need your signature in order to send them off.¡±
¡°Oh my! How could I be so silly.¡± Adel took the document and began patting her body as if she was looking for something and then looked at the maid. ¡°Quill?¡±
The maid¡¯s eyes widened and, in a monotone voice, yelled out: ¡°Oh! How could I forget to bring some ink and a quill! Only if there was something that did not require me to run around withrge objects just to do a simple signature.¡±-.
I really wanted tough but held it in. I watched everyone¡¯s expressions, and they all seemed to be taken in by the dry skit that was going on between the princess and the maid. ¡°Your Highness, I can¡.¡±
The newfound camaraderie between Miss Dollen and Adel had formed after the silly fight between the two. But now, for some reason, they would both nce over at Sophie with a watchful eye as if they were scoping out the enemy. Hearing Miss Dollen speak up, Adel shook her head and then turned to me. ¡°Faith, can I use that new pen you just got? I will only need it for a second.¡±
I chuckled and nodded my head. I then reached up into my hair and pulled out one of the prototypes that Thurul gave me, and handed it to Adel. Who smiled and proceeded to uncap it. The other girls, except Sophie, all watched in great interest what this pen thing was. When they saw her holding a small metal rod, they seemed confused as they watched her press the tip of it against the document and began moving her hand.
It was Miss Dollen that spoke up first. ¡°Oh! My! Now, this is a curious item. Miss Cyrilia, where did you get such a thing.¡±
Before I could answer, Adel, who just finished signing the document, capped the pen, and ced her hands on her hips with her nose in the air, and proudly said: ¡°Faith invented it!¡±
¡°Oh!? Now that is quite amazing.¡± While her actions seemed quite out there, she was indeed not faking her surprise. She eyed the pen in great interest. And it was not just her the other girls were also looking at it in great interest.
¡°Yep! Faith is quite amazing, after all. These pens will soon be sold in a few select stores until she can open her own store. Then there will even be limited edition ones!¡± Adel was in full saleswoman mode. She praised the pen with how easy they were to use and pointed out how I could even store it in my hair like a hair clip. The more she spoke, the more the other girl¡¯s eyes shined.
Finally, after a fifteen minute rant, Miss Dollen looked at me and asked rather shyly: ¡°Miss Cyirlia, do you happen to have¡.¡±
I smiled and nodded my head: ¡°I do have a few here with me. But just to let you know.¡± I scanned everyone at the table: ¡°I have full exclusive rights to the patent, so do not try to replicate this and sell it.¡±
¡°Of course not!¡± Miss Dollen pursed her lips and looked at me with an aggrieved expression, one that asked do you really think I am that kind of person?
I smiled and nodded before pulling a few more pens out of my hair and handing them to Miss Dollen and the other nobledies. I then began to exin how they worked and how to refill the ink. Sadly I was unable to make a nonrefible pen, so I could not just keep selling new pens. But this was fine. With the limited edition pens, I should still make a pretty fat pocket of gold coins for a while. I already had an idea for my next venture.
While the girls were all examining their new pens I sat back in my chair. While things were strange at the start, thetter half of the tea party was quite rxing. Even the noble girls who had given me dirty looks all seemed to be genuinely kind to me and Sophie. I just hoped when we finally went to the Academy that things would continue this way.
Life for most people is short. They are born and slowly begin to grow up. They start off as small kids running around having fun, and then fifteen to twenty yearster, they are married and with children of their own. After more time passes, they pass away, leaving behind their loved ones. No matter how you look at it, time seems to be the only thing that most people can not escape. As I thought about this and Looked at Sophie and Adel, I wondered how young I will still look in the next thirty or forty years as these two begin to age and grow old¡.
Just thinking about such a thing was actually making me feel depressed. If I was right about how I would age, one day, I would watch both of these people grow older and older, and one day they will pass away. And then I will be left alone. Yes, I may find some new friends, but the fact that I will lose those around me at some point does make me feel depressed.
¡°Faith?¡±Adel¡¯s voice came from my side. I guess she picked up on my mood change.
I turned and smiled as I said: ¡°It¡¯s nothing. Just thinking.¡±
Chapter 98 Relaxing Night
Our little tea party finally came to an end, and all in all, it was quite a fun experience. As we were leaving, Miss Dollen made me promise not to ignore her at the academy. It was good to meet another noble who did not discriminate against me or Sophie. The other noble girls also seemed to be rather fond of Sophie as well. Which I think helped Sophie a great deal since she seemed to have loosened up quite a bit by the end of the tea party.
On the way back, my eyes began to grow heavy. I think I was both physically and mentally exhausted. Physically because wearing heels is a pain and mentally because, well, Adel and Miss Dollen¡ it is good to have a rivalry, but please leave me out of it!
I guess I did end up falling asleep because when I woke up, my body was stretched out on the seat. But when I realized how I was lying, I couldn¡¯t help but blush. My feet were resting in Sophie¡¯sp, and my head was in Adel¡¯sp. I looked up to see Adel looking down, smiling away at me, which made me even more embarrassed. I slowly got up and let out a dry cough to try to hide my embarrassment. ¡°Sorry¡¡±
¡°No need to be sorry. I did not mind one bit.¡±-.
¡°Mm¡ It¡¯s fine.¡±
Although they say it was fine, I still felt embarrassed. It seemed I was the only one to fall asleep. I leaned back on the carriage seat, feeling my eyes grow heavy once more, but before they could actually fully close once more, the carriage came to a stop. ¡°Faith, we are at the airship dock.¡±
¡°Mmm¡¡± I nodded and stretched.
We got off the carriage and took the airship back to the lower city. When we arrived, we already had another carriage waiting for us to bring us home. This time I stayed awake, and it was Sophie who fell asleep. I smiled and patted her head while she used myp as a pillow. Even Adel joined into scratch her ears. Sophie¡¯s fluff was very addicting.
When we reached the inn, the first thing we did was take a nice hot bath before going to the sitting area to rx. ¡°So, how was my performance?¡±
Hearing Adel¡¯s question, I could help but chuckle when I remembered her maid¡¯s monotone voice that sounded more like a robot as she spoke than the human that she was. ¡°Well, I can say that you did well. The girls seemed to be quite taken with the pens, so I hope that they will pass the word on.¡±
¡°Miss Dollen did say she would spread the word for you, so no need to worry about that. Believe it or not, she has a lot of sway in the nobledy circles. So I am sure once she shows off the pen, you will begin getting lots of orders.¡± Adel was right. While it may only start off with the young nobledies, the trend would soon spread to their parents, and those who have businesses would definitely spring money to order a huge amount of them. So this was better than any advertisement you would see on TV back on Earth.
¡°Then I will stop by and let Thurul know to make a few hundred of them as soon as possible.¡± I figured I will start off small and wait for the orders toe in. As the orders get bigger and bigger, I will use the money I get from the first orders to buy a small building to make a factory and then begin working on the next venture, which was to make hover carriages! After imprinting the magic equation of the airship into my mind, I figured out that making a hover carriage by adjusting the equations just a bit would allow a hover carriage that could be voice activated. With a steering wheel like a car on Earth, it could be controlled by slightly tilting the magic circles in the direction you want to go in. Although I guess the control would be more simr to that of an airne.
¡°Thank you for tonight, Adel. But I do wonder if the girl I punched will try to retaliate against me.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but purse my lips. I think I might have gone overboard but calling me a maid even though I was dressed the way I was really ticked me off.
I do not know if it was because it implicated Sophie and Adel as well or what. But I do know that As soon as it came out of her mouth, I moved. Just thinking about it made me sigh. Now I made two enemies that are nobles¡.
¡°I wouldn¡¯t worry about it. Why tonight was different than I had expected, especially with how Miss Dollen was acting, I can say one thing about her, she is someone who is good to her word. If that viscount daughter you punched tries to cause a fuss, Miss Dollen will crush her like a bug. She will never be able to leave her house after Miss Dollen is done with her.¡± I could hear the anger in Adel¡¯s voice. I guess she was still not over how the noble girl spoke either.
¡°Speaking of Miss Dollen. Miss Adel, can you exin to me why you and her seemed to be fighting some kind of war at the start then suddenly became best friends towards the end?¡±
Adel would not even look me in the eye after I asked this. Her cheeks began turning bright red. I guess she was embarrassed by her own actions. I mean, they were unbing of a princess after all. But I did truly start to feel sick from being stuffed with pastries. I sat there with an eyebrow raised as I stared at Adel, waiting for her answer.
¡°Ahem¡. I am really tired, so I will sleep first.¡± And with that, she ran away.
Chapter 99 A New Kind Of Carriage?
The next day after saying goodbye to Adel who was heading back to the castle, Sophie and I took a carriage to Thurul¡¯s ce and were once again sitting in his meeting room. ¡°Oh, so many orders already?¡±
Thurul sipped his tea and nodded his head. ¡°Luckily, the process of making the pens is quite simple. But quality checking each pen will be hard without extra hands. After the quality check, they need to be recleaned before they can be sold, which requires more people.¡±
¡°Yeah, I figured as much¡.¡± I was a bit lost on this as well. If we did get a batch of one hundred orders, then it would be hard to quality check all of them in a timely manner.-.
¡°Let¡¯s do this. There is an orphanage not too far from here that has quite a few kids there and very little money going in. If we have some of the older kids doing the quality checks, they cane here and make a few silver. It¡¯s not like it is hardbor, just filling them with a tiny bit of ink then testing them before washing them clean.¡± I frowned slightly, hearing his n, but when I thought about how my maids were also young, I nodded my head. The extra money could go to helping the orphanage, and the kids will also learn that they need to work to earn money.
¡°Let¡¯s do that. I will also hire them on after I get a small factory setup. This way, they can continue to make some money. By then, I can also increase their wages, and it should improve the lives of the children.¡± Since I nned to hire them to work, I might as well keep them on afterward, with a fair wage, of course.
¡°Then I will talk to the head of the orphanageter today and send a message to youter on. Don¡¯t worry about paying them for now. I will keep a tab, and when the pens sell, you can just pay me back.¡± Thurul was very business minded. I was truly impressed. On top of that, he was thinking about the long term on thighs as well. While I had money, I had no idea how long it would be before I would get a ce to set up a factory or how long it would take to prepare the things needed to manufacture the pens. I was hoping to have it all done in the next month or so while keeping order limited to one hundred per month to not wear Thurul out.
¡°Then thank you. Ah! While I am here, what do you think about this¡.¡± Took out a blueprint that I drew up on my way over here. It was nothing special but just my thoughts and ideas on the design of the hover carriage.
Thurul took the design, and his eyes opened wide. ¡°Are you serious!?¡±
¡°Yes, while I could go for a more simplistic design, I decided to not veer off too much on the carriage design as most people are used to it. With the coachman up front steering, it would be no different from before, except they would not need to worry about the horses and could even speed through groups of bandits or run away from them.¡± I exined.
¡°This is really something. Yes, this would work¡. The only problem is storing the magic to make it go for long distances. Are you sure you cane up with a better mana storage inscription?¡±
¡°It is only a matter of adjusting the one I saw inside the airship. The airship uses a total of six sets of runes. Five of which are for flying, while thest is to block the wind during storms. We can get rid of quite a few of those and only need to use four of the same runes for the lift and another for propulsion. We can even add one to the front so they can back up as well. The steering will be done with the casing that the hover runes are inscribed into. The diver can then determine the direction of the carriage by using a modified steering wheel.¡± Airships also had steering wheels, but mine would not be the big round wheel as it will need to be used for both lift andnding. I do not n to make these into flying cars or anything, but they should be able to float a few feet off the ground.
¡°I see. This is truly ingenious. If you were really able to modify the runic inscription and create a carriage that could be easily controlled with them, then you would advance the way people travel by quite a bit. Because you can make these go faster than a scaled horse, right?¡± Thurul asked. I could see the excitement in his eyes.
¡°Yes, with the right amount of mana, you could make them go as fast as you want. But the major issue is mana storage. To use an inscription, a sufficient amount of mana is needed, and to get this mana would be the hurdle I need to ovee.¡± While the idea was feasible, the mana source was my only issue. Unless I created a mana inscription that slowly drew in mana¡.
I let out a sigh. I just answered my own question that I have been thinking about all morning. ¡°I will also work on a runic inscription that will slowly take in the mana in the air. This way, it can be self charging.¡±
¡°You are truly a little genius. To think you cane up with all these ideas. Faith, I will work with you hundred percent. When you are ready to make a mock up let me know I will work day and night on this!¡± Thurul was now all fired up. I am sure he will be bugging me to quicklye up with the proper blueprints. But mass production would still be hard. It was not easy doing inscriptions. I guess this would be one of those made to order type deals with a limited amount ordered per month.
With everything set, I said my goodbyes to Thurul and left his shop. Sophie and I nned to head to the sandwich shop we went to before to try out a different sandwich. But when we arrived, a young man who looked even younger than me yelled out to us. ¡°Hey, you demi¡¯s,e here and clean this young master¡¯s shoes!¡±
Chapter 100 Spanking A Haughty Young Master
Both Sophie and I, who were just about to step through the door of the shop, turned to see a young man that I think I recognized. Blue hair, ice blue eyes¡. Wasn¡¯t this the same kid that tried to capture me when I killed the bandits and saved him? My lips curled up into a sneer as I saw the little brat¡¯s smug expression acting as if he was king of the world.
¡°Clean your shoes? Are you sure?¡± I asked with a bright smile.
I guess he took my answer as me saying I really want to clean your shoes. Because he stuck his foot out with his nose in the air and his arms crossed across his chest. ¡°Yes, use your tongue!¡±
My eyebrow twitched. I gave a faint smile as I walked over to the boy. A lot of people were standing around looking at me with eyes of pity. I knelt down and reached out with my hand, grabbed his ankle, and with a good tug, I pulled him towards me, flipped him around, and put him over my knee while pulling his pants down, so his little white bum was exposed for all to see. With a raise of my hand, it rained down like the mighty hammer of god! Okay, maybe not, but I still spanked him.
At first, it was: ¡°Ow! How dare you hit me! Do you know who I am! I am Viscount Sullivan¡¯s son!¡±
Then it was: ¡°Ouch! Stop already! If you do not stop, I will tell my father!¡±
And finally, it was: ¡°I¡¯m sorry! Please stop! I will never do it again!¡±-.
The strange looks I was getting while I spanked the poor boy quickly turned to ones that seemed amused by the situation. In the end, I even heard a few people chuckling. When I finally let him go, he quickly pulled his pants up and fiercely red at me. To be honest, I have no idea why he was here without his guards. I guess he must have ditched them or something. But seeing his re made me want to tease him more. ¡°Oh? You want me to spank you some more?¡±
As soon as I said that, he instantly grabbed his butt, causingughter to fill the area. His face turned beat red, and he was about to run off when a yell came from not far away: ¡°Young master!¡±
A few guards dressed in metal armor came running over. The boy ran over to them and began cursing at them. ¡°Where were you!? Because of you, I was humiliated by a demi girl! Quickly grab both of them and bring them back to the house! I will show them not to mess with me!¡±
Seeing him try to put on a strong front but not daring to even look in my direction made meugh. I mean, it was quite amusing. What made me chuckle even more was that when the guards looked over at me, I waved at them and their faces went pale. My guess was that some of these guards were the ones who were there when I killed the bandits.
¡°Young master¡. We can not listen to that order. We are under your father¡¯s order to bring you back.¡± Oh? A quick witted one. I guess he did not wish to get into a confrontation with me, but at least I got to teach a haughty young master a lesson. This made my day a bit brighter.
¡°I will go back, but first grab those girls, or I will not go anywhere! Let¡¯s see what happens when I tell my father you did not listen to me!¡± The haughty young master yelled out. If he was rolling and the ground iling his limbs about he would be in a full blown temper tantrum.
But I did feel bad because now the guards were stuck between listening to their young master or getting into a confrontation with me. I thought for a moment before turning to Sophie: ¡°Sophie, go inside and order us something. I will have whatever you order.¡±
¡°Ah? Okay¡¡± Sophie nodded, but her ears dropped. Sorry, Sophie, but you need to not be in the area, plus this will be a good chance for you to practice talking to people without me around.
As I watched Shopie slowly enter the sandwich shop, I turned around and began walking over towards the haughty young master with a smile on my face. My tail swayed with each step as my smile became brighter and brighter.
¡°You! What do you want!? Stay away! Quickly get her!¡± The haughty young master yelled out.
He went to try to hide behind one of the guards, but I swiftly caught him by the scruff of his shirt. I looked over at the guards who were trying to figure out what to do and pointed up at the sky. ¡°Look a flying cloud!¡±
The smart one of the group immediately raised his head and yelled out: ¡°A flying cloud!? I have never seen one before! Everyone, this is an order! Find the flying cloud!¡±
Secondster: ¡°Ahhh! I¡¯m sorry!¡±
A few more secondster: ¡°I am really sorry!¡±
Many more secondster: ¡°Okay, I won¡¯t ask them to capture you anymore! Please stop!¡±
When I finally heard what I wanted to hear, I stopped my hand and put the haughty young master down, who quickly pulled his pants back up once again and ran over to the guards and began kicking them. ¡°Useless! Let¡¯s get out of here!¡±
I watched as the guards stopped looking for the flying cloud, turned, and gave me a thankful look before walking off with the haughty young master. I could hear theughs and chuckles of the people who came to watch the show as they left. I am sure this will spread around the city like wildfire soon. But I do not care. The little brat will hopefully learn from this because he sure isn¡¯t learning anything good at home.
I turned and walked into the sandwich shop to see Sophie still standing at the counter with her head lowered. The shop owner seemed to be a bit distressed. ¡°Look, littledy. I can¡¯t make you anything if you do not order.¡±
I raised an eyebrow as I realized that things would be much harder than I thought to help Sophie with her crowd issues. I walked over and wrapped my arms around her waist, and rested my chin on her shoulder. ¡°Fuwah!¡±
¡°You always make the strangest noises, Sophie. What¡¯s wrong? You couldn¡¯t order?¡± I asked as I stepped back and leaned against the counter.
¡°Sorry, I am just¡.¡± Sophie said softly, causing me to sigh. I guess I will not try to push her so much and take things a bit slower. I just thought after the tea party she would be fine. But since we were already here, I reached out and poked her forehead. ¡°I am by your side, so go ahead and try again.¡±
¡°Mmm¡¡± Sophie slowly raised her head and looked at the menu. She fiddled with her fingers before finally speaking: ¡°Gromlinoi with extra greens, please.¡±
¡°See, you can do it!¡± I said with a smile while putting my arm around her shoulder and looking at the owner. ¡°Make that two!¡±
¡°Alright! Two Gromlinoi with extra greens,ing up!¡± The shop owner yelled out.
To be honest, with how strange the meat names were, I was not sure if these were the true names of the monsters they came from or were like some kind of weird naming sense for which part of the monster they came from. Either way, so far, I have not been disappointed with the food I got from this ce.
After a few minutes, our food was ready, and Sophie and I sat down at a table to begin eating. ¡°We have really had a busy past few days. But just so you know, it will get even busier.¡±
¡°Busier?¡± Sophie looked at me with a confused expression.
¡°Yep! Tomorrow we will be going to the mercenary guild to sign up. I want to take on some missions and get some practice in before I get rusty inbat.¡± That and I really wanted to raise my level some more.
With all the trouble I have been causing, I kinda wanted to keep my level up and also gain more skills points if I could. The mercenary guild seemed like a good ce to also gain some funds for the factory I will need to set up. It¡¯s not like a ton of money will just drop into myp. Sadly no matter which world you live on, money will never grow on trees. But if I do find out that there is a tree that sprouts gold coins, I will be the first to try to grow an orchard of them. I mean, it¡¯s worth a try, right? But to have the green thumb to be able to even do anything like that I would need to stock up on skill points.
Chapter 101 Becoming A Mercenary Part 1
Who would have guessed that the red bottom technique that I received so many times would actuallye in handy? That night when I got home, I slept very soundly after getting a bit of revenge on the brat. The next day we took a carriage down to the mercenary guild. The size and scope of this buildingpared to the one in Hammerlin was like night and day. But this was to be expected. After all, this was the capital.
Sophie clutched onto my arm as we walked through the door. This time though, unlike myst time in a mercenary guild, no one really said anything. I had a few stray eyes on me, but that was about it. It might be because it was mid morning when we arrived, but it did not seem all that busy.
¡°Oh? Faith!¡± A familiar voice rang in my ear as I turned to see Gesel walking up with her partner Fred.
¡°Gesel! I did not think I would see you so soon!¡± I said with a smile. Sophie tried to be transparent as usual.
¡°I see that you got an essory this time around. A cute one at that.¡± Gesel teased. But instead of getting the reaction that she was expecting, Sophie buried her face in my shoulder. Sophie, I do not know how old you are, but burying your face in my shoulder when your head is much bigger than the shoulder itself doesn¡¯t hide you, is what I would like to say, but I do not wish to hurt her feelings.
¡°Sophie is not good with others. It will take time to warm up to you. But yeah, she is my friend.¡± I exined. Gesel only smiled and walked over and hugged the both of us, causing Sophie¡¯s whole body to stiffen.-.
¡°Haha! It¡¯s fine, it¡¯s fine.¡± Yes, I forgot Gesel was not one to care about personal space.
¡°Hi, Fred.¡± I gave Fred a small wave with my free hand while Gesel was still hugging Sophie and I. She has been hugging us for quite a while, though¡ ¡°Gesel?¡±
¡°Ah, sorry¡ I am just d you are okay. I know you were traveling solo to the capital. You must have missed it, but there was a major incident on the way to the capital.¡± Gesel¡¯s voice grew quieter as she spoke.
¡°What happened?¡± As far as I knew, I did not see much out of the ordinary on my way here.
Gesel waved her hand as tears began to form in her eyes, which made me even more concerned. She wiped her eyes and looked over at Fred. ¡°Fred, you tell her.¡±
¡°There was a mass grave found. All girls. No one knows how long they had been there. But they were both human and beastkin. Gesel and I were sent to check it out, and what we found still haunts us even now. While some were skeletons, some were still rotting away. It seemed they aged from around your age, maybe younger, all the way to eighteen, maybe twenty. The mass grave was found by a hunter who was out hunting like he normally did when he stumbled upon it. I do not know if you can call it luck or what, but he found it when he missed his prey and his arrow sunk into the ground. He pulled it up but found it was stuck in a skull.¡± Fred¡¯s expression did not look good as he spoke. I guess just remembering was enough to make him feel sick.
¡°He did not dig up the grave himself. As soon as he found the skull, he came running to the mercenary guild. There had been some missing person reports in Hammerlin as ofte, but not to the scale of the grave there. That grave must have been growing bigger and bigger over time. By the time they finished digging it all up, it had already reached half a mile. Thousands of bodies were found. Gesel here automatically thought of you when she saw the rotting corpses. She swore to herself that if you went missing, she would make it her life mission to find your body.¡±
I waspletely shocked by Fred¡¯s words and, at the same time, felt warm due to Gesel¡¯s care. But to have a half mile long mass grave is just insane. ¡°They have no clue as to why they were killed?¡±
¡°None. That we can tell. Some of the more recent bodies have been sent in to have them examined. We mercs are not able to do such delicate work. That is all up to those who have the knowledge.¡± Fred scratched his head before patting Gesel on the shoulder. ¡°Let¡¯s not talk about what we do not know the answers to and sit down and catch up.¡±
Gesel nodded her head and followed Fred. I pulled Sophie along and went to sit with them. Gesel wiped her eyes again and forced a smile as she asked. ¡°So tell me, how was your trip to the capital and your stay so far.¡±
¡°Not too bad? I met my second friend Sophie here.¡± I went on and began telling Gesel about my trip, only to get yelled at because I didn¡¯t count her as my friend. So now I have friend number three. As I told her my stories of my heroine tales, I made sure to keep things about the spirits out of it.
After telling my stories of my trip, I told her stories of everything that had happened in the capital. Gesel sat back and let out a long sigh. ¡°You have truly gone through a lot. And you, Sophie made the right choice! Screw that count! He was lucky I was not there to, or his head would be shoved up his¡¡±
¡°Gesel! Rx.¡± Fred reached out and grabbed the hand that was about to m down on the table. ¡°Do you want to get a scolding by the guild master again?¡±
Gesel blushed and lowered her head as she shook it. I could only chuckle. Just thinking of anyone yelling at Gesel seemed too out there. ¡°Speaking of Count Freedman, I wonder who released him from my binds¡.¡±
¡°Haha! I bet he had to pay a heavy price. Magic is normally not very easy to undo. And I am sure your magic is even harder to undo. Not that it matters. He got what wasing to him. By the way, Faith, will you be entering the battle tournament this week?¡±
¡°Battle tournament!? How do I sign up!? Is there a prize?¡± I was all for a battle tournament. I mean, who can pass up something like that? I can not let all my skills go to waste!
¡°Hehe. You can sign up here at the guild. And the prize pool this time is one hundred gold! I am a favorite to win!¡± Gesel said proudly.
¡°Then I guess I will be signing up! Which means I will be the one to win.¡± I said with raised eyebrows in a taunting manner. I will never forget our arm wrestling match!
¡°Oh? You think you can best me!? You¡¯re on!¡± Gesel reached out with her hand, and so did I. We pped our hands together, making a promise that we would meet in the tournament.
Fred held his head as he looked at us. ¡°You girl¡¯s do know that if you two were to fight at any point and time before the finals that they will need to reconstruct the ring after each one of your fights.¡±
¡°Fred, you talk too much. What destroyed ring¡¡± Gesel eyes that began to wander here and there caught my interest.
¡°Are you not going to tell them about all the rings you destroyed in the previous years?¡± Fred asked, causing Gesel to seem to fade into another realm. She was whistling and mumbling strange words as Fred¡¯s eyes locked onto her.
¡°Fine! Stop with the stupid staring! Okay, so I destroyed a few rings every time I participated but that was because there was a strong enemy. If I do not go all out, how am I to win?¡± Gesel looked aggrieved. I could tell one thing though Fred was bringing all of this up like this to keep Gesel¡¯s mind off the earlier incident. Ah, true love!
¡°If I destroy it, I will just make another one. They are made of earth, right?¡± I mean, as long as it is not a bunch of materials that are hard to find in this world, I saw no reason not to destroy it if you were going all out. It is a tournament, after all.
¡°Yes, all made of earth. But they are also well fortified with magic. You would need arge spell to break them.¡± Fred answered, while Gesel looked the other way.
I chuckled and said a silent prayer in my mind to the battle stages that were about to break. But I was actually quite excited to join in and test my abilities against others. I wonder just how well I will do.
Chapter 102 Becoming A Mercenary Part 2
¡°Now that I think about it, Faith, did youe to the guild for?¡± Gesel asked. After getting caught up in a conversation with her, I had almost forgotten my original goal ofing here.
¡°Ah, right, I came to sign up to be a mercenary with Sophie. I need to make some side money.¡± I really needed to get some money together. I did not know where I would find a ce to set up my factory. I did, however, think about maybe building one at the edge of the slums. And maybe slowly trying to rebuild the area around it by giving jobs to those who wish to work and maybe bettering the lives of those living there.
¡°Ah, then you will need to undergo the test. What do you say? I will be your examiner.¡± Gesel has this grin on her face that reaches all the way to her ears. To be honest, I wouldn¡¯t mind fighting her a bit to see how strong she truly was.
¡°Alright!¡± I answered excitedly. With that decided, Gesel and I walked up to the counter to fill out the forms, with poor Sophia in tow.
¡°Faith, I do not think I will be of any help¡.¡± I knew Sophie was not someone who was good atbat, but I nned to help her train up a bit before she entered the academy. This was why I was having her be a mercenary.
¡°It¡¯s fine. You will be with me anyways. I will teach you how to fight while we take on missions.¡± I could see her ears and tail dropping lower and lower, but I am sure she knew she would need to grow stronger as well. This may also help with her confidence level.-.
While I was not sure if this would actually be the case, I just hoped it would allow for her to grow stronger. She seems to be shying further and further away from others. But I think this must have a lot to do with what happened with the Count. Just thinking about it makes me wish I killed him. Let¡¯s just hope he is smart enough not to act out of line because if he does, I will no longer hold back.
¡°Then I will sign up¡.¡± Sophie spoke softly, but she seemed to have a bit of determination in her voice. I think she does realize that she needs to grow stronger, and until she is strong enough, I will stand by her side, helping her as much as I can. Giving her the push she needs to grow.
Gesel leaned over and put her arms around both mine and Sophie¡¯s shoulders. ¡°Sophie, you just leave the test to Faith.¡±
¡°Ummm¡ Gesel¡ They can¡¯t fill out the forms if you are hugging them.¡± Thedy behind the counter interrupted Gesel. But it was true what she said. It was a bit difficult to write when she was squeezing the two of us against her. Her muscles were just too big!
¡°Ah! Sorry. Anyway, I will be their examiner so just write me down on the paperwork when they are done. When you girls finish, go to the door over there on the side wall. You will enter a hallway with a bunch of numbers on them. I will be in room nine.¡± Gesel pointed over at the left side wall that had a wooden door with a sign above it that said examine halls.
¡°Okay, we will see you soon.¡± Gesel nodded and walked away while Sophie and I began filling out our forms. Just the normal things. Name, age,bat profession, magic proficiency. All the normal things that one would fill out on any form¡
While I was writing down my skills, I looked over at Sophie¡¯s paper to see she actually had skills in daggers and swords. This kind of surprised me since she had never held a sword since I have known her. But this was also a good sign. If she really has been trained in swords, it would help her a lot in her path. Now that I think about it, the fortune telling she got also showed her wielding both magic and a sword, and her swordsmanship was actually quite good. If this was the case, then I expect Sophie to do amazing at the academy.
With the forms now signed, the reception went over some rules about the mercenary guild. You could take on any job, but if you fail, you will have to pay a penalty fee that is double the amount of the job¡¯s worth. Which was a smart way to go about it, as it would reduce the chance of people trying to take on higher paying jobs just because they pay a lot. This not only reduces the chances of failure but also the chances of someone dying due to overestimating their own abilities. Besides that, there were no other real rules. She did say that if you are reported killing innocents, you will be hunted down by the guild and turned over to the knights.
¡°Oh right, I would also like to sign up for the tournament.¡± I almost walked away without signing up! Gesel would get mad if I forgot to do that. The poor battle rings would suffer!
¡°No problem, I added your name to the list.¡± After giving the receptionist my thanks Sophie and I walked over to the side door and walked down the hall to room number nine.
Now I will say I half expected it, and I will say I tried to prepare myself for it. But as soon as I entered the door, I couldn¡¯t help but squeal in awe. I mean, the room was huge, bigger than the building itself. It was another one of those spaces like the one Adel has in her carriage, but this was just huge.
¡°This is truly impressive.¡± I said as I walked in. Even Sophie was nodding her head while looking around at the huge space.
There was not much to the room. Just arge dirt arena with a rack of weapons leaning against the far wall. Besides that, there was only Gesel standing in the middle, leaning against her sword. It looked like she was rocking back and forth. If I had to guess, she probably fell asleep. She did not seem like one who could stand around for a long period of time without doing something.
I teasing grin appeared on my face as I put my finger to my lips to tell Sophie not to say anything. When I saw her nod, I gently pped my wings and flew over Gesel, who was indeed sleeping, and silentlynded behind her. I reached up and extended my index fingers and poked her under her armpits! ¡°Ahhh! Fred cut the shi¡.¡±
¡°¡¡±
¡°¡.¡±
¡± Faith! You brat!¡± Gesel yelled out after taking a few seconds to process the situation. She was blushing like crazy.
¡°Haha!¡± I let out augh as I dodged Gesel¡¯s hands, that kept trying to grab me. This cat and mouse game onlysted a few minutes before she stopped and red at me.
¡°Humph! I will just beat you up even more. But before that, have Sophie go by the weapons rack and put a protective barrier around her. I will not be able to go all out if I do not know she is safe.¡± I had the same Idea as Gesel. I also did not wish for Sophie to get hurt either.
¡°Alright. Sophie,e on, let¡¯s set you up so you can getfortable.¡± I said with a smile while grabbing Sophie¡¯s hand and pulling her along.
¡°Faith, will you be okay?¡± Sophie asked as we walked to the far side of the arena.
¡°I will be fine. I promise there is not much in this world that can harm me. And if it does, I will just heal myself.¡± I would only actually put myself in harm¡¯s way if I were trying to save a friend or family member. But to fool around, I will never push myself to the point that I might get seriously hurt or even die. That would just be in stupid.
¡°Faith¡ I want to get strong too¡.¡± Sophie said softly as she gripped my hand with hers. I guess she had really been thinking about all of this. Her eyes showed her newfound determination.
¡°Then I will train you as much as I can. How much help I will be, I do not know, but it is always worth a try, right? You will also be trained at the academy as well. As long as you keep striving to grow stronger and push yourself past your limits, I am sure you will make this new wish of yourse true.¡± I watched as a smile appeared on Sophie¡¯s lips as she nodded her head.
¡°Mmm! Thanks, Faith.¡± Seeing Sophie¡¯s tail wagging and her ears perked up made me feel much better about her future. I set up a few barriers around Sophie and took out a table and a chair for her to sit on. Then I took out some sandwiches, pastries and some drinks. So she could snack on them while I fought with Gesel. I have a feeling that this battle will take a while.
Chapter 103 Faith VS Gesel
As I soar through the air, I wonder to myself. Why do I let things like this happen? Why do I not think before I rush in? I am now realizing that no matter how many times I am proven wrong, I still have this notion that I am stronger than the person I am fighting. But here I am after one sh flying through the air like a leaf caught in the wind.
¡ª
Moments earlier¡..
¡°Faith, are you ready?¡± Gesel asked me as she readied her massive sword. She looked very excited to be having this battle with me. And to tell you the truth, I was also very excited right now. I mean, I do not get to fight people as strong as Gesel every day. Just the thought of the two of us shing seemed fun, but at the same time, I could also try to get a grasp of Gesel¡¯s strength before the tournament.
I held my own sword and nodded my head. I could already feel that this was going to be a tough fight. But I was ready for it. ¡°Let¡¯s do this!¡±-.
¡°Then begin!¡¯ Gesel yelled out. As soon as her words finished, I shot forward, and well, this brings me back to my current predicament.
I sighed as I pped my wings and flipped my body around, only to see Gesel once more swinging her huge sword at me. Since I can not block the attack head on, I will need to parry the attack. I flew to the side and ran my de down the side of her giant sword. Sparks flew between our des as I swung towards Gesel¡¯s neck. I knew I was using a killing move, but I had no choice. If I did not act in this fashion, I was sure to lose.
From what I understood about Gesel so far, she was one of those types that would not flinch in a fight no matter what was going on. Even now, as my sword was heading towards her throat, she is still smiling. As my de was just about to arrive at her neck, she bentpletely backward and kicked up with her foot while using her free hand to do a handspring and flipped her body away from me while trying to kick me back to make more room.
Luckily I was already ready for such a move, so I managed to dodge the kick andnded back on the ground gently. But this did not mean I was going to give Gesel any time to rest. My eyes glowed as hundreds of fireballs appeared in the air around me. ¡°Go!¡±
Gesel eyes sparkled with a bit of surprise, but she soon licked her lips and readied herself to defend. ¡°Good! Keep iting! This is what I expected of you!¡±
I could only shake my head. Gesel was a battle maniac. Since she was enjoying the fight, I will just have to make it more entertaining. ¡°Wind Rush! Colossal Strength! eleration!¡±
My body began speeding up at an insane speed as I raced around in a circle of Gesel. My eyes were still lighting up as I used both fireballs and confusion mist. With confusion mist up, I switched my view to detection in case Gesel pulled off anything weird. I could see inside the mist, but Gesel could not see me. My fireballs were firing from all sides, and I could see Gesel frowning as she blocked the attacks with incredible speed.
¡°This is why I hate you damn mages!¡± Gesel yelled out, and without warning, she ignored her defense, raised her huge sword above her and then mmed it tip down into the ground by her feet.
*Boom!*
The ground exploded, and Gesel wasunched skyward. The ground crumbled in all directions as a huge crater formed. I had no choice but to retreat as well or get caught up in the aftermath of the attack. To be honest, seeing the huge crater she formed really was amazing. She was so young, yet she could create such a huge crater with her strength alone. Not that I should talk about age¡
¡°Haha! Where are you looking!?¡± I heard Gesel¡¯s voice from above. I got so caught up in looking at her handy work I forgot about her! I have no idea how she did it, but she adjusted the directions he was going in mid air and was now heading towards me. I could only guess that she knows a magic spell like air walk.
Gesel¡¯s sword was heading right for my head. I quickly bent backward and drew a magic circle with the tip of my boot. ¡°Earth wall!¡±
*Bang!*
¡°Stupid mages!¡± Gesel cursed as she was sent skyward again. I am so d I learned how to draw magic circles with my feet. While I can do this with my eyes as well, I still need to see where the spell will take ce, which is why I used my foot, to get that mental image and feel for the distance, so I can write the point of origin a few inches away from my foot. Only by doing this can I keep myself out of range of my own magic spell. I mean, if I were to use my eyes just then to do the magic spell, the spell would have spawned under me, and I would have been tossed in the air along with Gesel. While I could have used detection, it would have been harder for me to adjust the distance.
With Gesel now airborne once more, I got a better look at how she is adjusting her descent from the sky. And to my amazement, she was actually using a method of airwalk, but I could not see any magic fluctuations. This was very intriguing. I will have to ask her how she was doing that after the battle. I mean, yes, I can use both airwalk, and my wings to fly, but it was different when it did not deal with either of those. This was why I found it so interesting.
But I also had a problem because it looked like she was about to send another huge attack my way. I quickly created multiple fireballs and, like a machine gun, set them off, one after the other. While those were firing away at her, I made some distance and tried to think of my next move.
I was not sure what I could use against her to stop her in her tracks yet not hurt her too badly. I have always only ever used certain spells that could instantly kill people. I looked around at my surroundings and went over everything I had seen so far in the battle, and only one thing came to mind. ¡°Restrain her so she can¡¯t move¡.¡±
My eyes lit up as I floated up into the air. At the same time,rge walls of one hundred foot thick ice shot up from the ground surrounding Gesel on all sides. When the walls of ice reached a certain height, they began moving in on each other, merging into one another. I could see Gesel¡¯s face sink seeing this. I just hoped she did not have anything else up her sleeve. Gesel knew what she was doing. Herbat ability was way above mine, and if I did not take this chance to trap her, she would definitely have a way to deal with me.
Luckily I did not have to worry too much as I heard Gesel let out a sigh and yell out: ¡°You win!¡±
I let out a sigh of relief and waved my hand, getting rid of the ice as I floated back down to the ground. Geselnded and hugged her body as her teeth chattered. ¡°Faith that was just evil! That was cold as can be!¡±
¡°Sorry, I figured ice would be better than dirt. I didn¡¯t want you to get a face full of dirt.¡± I really did think this way. I would have felt bad if she had choked on a bunch of dirt.
¡°Yeah, I guess that is much better. Anyway, you won this time. But do not think you can win against me during the tournament.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle as I saw Gesel pout a little.
For some reason, I do feel that she will have a big surprise waiting for me when we meet in the tournament. I will have to be sure that I do not allow her to pull a fast one on me. Since I am entering, I really do not have any intentions of losing. I will fight with everything I have. Well, within reason. I think I will keep grand fall and heavenly rain out of it. I do not want to destroy the city after all. Unless I can change the spells a bit before the tournament¡ Now that I think about it, I have not really made any new spells as ofte. I guess I will see if I can put anything together before then. If I can, then I can use these massive spells on a smaller scale.
Chapter 104 What The Future Holds
After my battle with Gesel, Sophie and I were finally given our mercenary ID cards. Gesel still seemed a bit down about losing the fight, but that onlysted a little while when I said I would treat her to something good, which she quickly dragged me away from the guild to go to a stall not far away that had pastries. While I liked sweets myself, Gesel was a connoisseur. ¡°Gesel, when is the tournament again?¡±
¡°At the end of the week. So do not miss it. I want revenge for today!¡± Gesel said with a pout.
¡°Don¡¯t worry, I will be there. That means I have some time to get a few things settled.¡± I was nning to take some missions from the guild, but I decided to hold off in case I needed to travel for a few days toplete them. Plus, one hundred gold was quite a bit of money and would also be a good starter fund for my factory. How much I will need in total, I do not know yet, but one hundred gold is enough to feed a family of four for years.
¡°As long as you show and do not lose until the finals!¡± Gesel said while stuffing a pastry in her mouth. I smiled and shook my head. It seemed she would not be happy until we had a rematch.
We chatted for a while before saying our goodbyes. Sophie and I went back to the inn to rest for the rest of the day. I nned to go back towards the east side slums tomorrow and check it out. But before that, I had nned to train with Sophie a little.-.
When we entered the room, Sophie and I were greeted by Annie and the other maids. ¡°Annie, let¡¯s have a small pic out in the garden.¡±
¡°Pic?¡± Annie seemed confused by this word which made me realize that this world probably did not have a word for eating outdoors in the open. ¡°Ummm¡ A pic is when you take a nket andy it down outside and eat sandwiches and drink tea or whatever while chatting and enjoying the sun and fresh air.¡±
¡°I see¡ An outing!¡± Annie smiled and nodded her head in understanding. ¡°I will get something prepared.¡±
¡°Thanks, Annie, and make sure you make enough for everyone. I want you three to join us.¡± Annie and the girls worked hard every day. I wanted them to enjoy some time like this as well. They were my age but worked every day and night, which made me feel bad.
Luckily Annie did not make a fuss saying they couldn¡¯t do such things with the master of the house. It seemed she was getting used to having meals with Sophie and I, which was good because I wanted to be as good to them as I possibly could.
A little whileter, Sophie and I were sitting on a nket with Annie and the other girls. The sun was warm but not so hot that it would make you feel sick. We happily chatted about this and that when one of my most dreaded topics appeared. The topic about love!
It¡¯s not that I really hated the idea of being in love, but I know I should not fall in love. If I fell in love, wouldn¡¯t I just be tormenting myself once my loved ones began to grow older while I still stayed the same? Even now, my body seems to have stalled on the aging process. If my partner begins growing older and older and sees me not aging, will that make them hate me? Would they feel regret for being with me? I had a lot of fears when the word love came into question.
¡°So! Young Miss, have you ever fallen in love?¡± Brooke asked. She was the youngest of the group, so I guess the idea of love was like a fairy tale to her.
¡°No, I do not think the word love mixes well with me.¡± I was telling the truth, but everyone gave me weird gazes. ¡°What!?¡±
Surprisingly the one to answer my question was Sophie. ¡°What about Adel?¡±
¡°What about Adel? We are really good friends.¡± I replied, not seemingly understanding the question.
¡°Faith, ummm¡ I am not sure if I should say this or not, and I do kinda feel bad for her, but it is kind of clear as day that Adel likes you not just as a friend.¡± Hearing Sophie¡¯s words made my eyes go wide. I instantly remembered the scene from the fortune teller that showed me kissing someone with long golden hair like Adels. I couldn¡¯t help but blush just thinking about it. But Me? Kissing a girl? No no¡. Maybe? No..?
I quickly shook my head and waved my hands in front of me. ¡°No! You must be mistaken. Adel just thinks of me as a really good friend or sister. There is no way she is in love with me.¡±
I heard four people sigh in unison as they looked at me with a pitied look, but I felt that maybe that look was not for me but for someone else. ¡°What!?¡¯
¡°Young Miss, we do not know the Princess very well, but with just one look, anyone can tell that she is in love with you. Does she not always go above and beyond for you?¡± Annie asked.
¡°Yes, she does but isn¡¯t that because she is trying to keep me happy so I will not leave the¡.¡±
¡°Faith!¡± Sophie suddenly yelled, causing me to jump and sit straight up. Her voice sounded like my Mothers just now! Scary! ¡°Are you just trying to deny it because you are afraid of love?¡±
¡°I¡. Okay, yes, she does go way overboard when ites to me. But isn¡¯t it because I am her first true friend?¡± The more they press and the more I think about it, I am starting to see those subtle signs. But I do not understand, why me?
¡°Faith, while I myself have never been in love, I have seen my parents and how they act around each other. What about you? What about your family? How do they interact with one another.¡± Sophie¡¯s words were like a bolt of lightning. Adel was kinda like how my brother was with Rachel, always doing things, trying to help her in any way he could.
I slumped down and fell into thought. Was Adel really in love with me like that? If she was, what should I do? I do not wish to hurt her feelings. Have I been leading her on? Right now, my mind was spinning around in circles with so many questions. What happened to me not wanting to fall in love!? I just told myself that love was not something that was really suited for me, so I was not hurting myself or those around me but now¡.
With Adel, it is different¡. If she is truly in love with me, can I still act the same way? I scratched my head in frustration. It was not a fact that she is in love with me. She may be just over affectionate because I am her first true friend. I guess the best thing to do is just let things go for now and see how it turns out. To be honest with myself though, I do not wish to see Adel sad.
I looked at Sophie and smiled. It was best to keep things as is. I will not treat Adel any differently as I did not want such a kind, sweet girl to cry. If one day she does confess to me, then I will wait for that day and give myself time to figure out what I want to do and how I feel at that time. ¡°If she is, she is. But I will not do anything at this time. Adel and I are friends, and I do not wish to ruin that right now. Sophie, you know how kind Adel is. So now, when I myself am unsure about things, it is wise not to mention it to her. She herself may not even realize it either. So let¡¯s keep quiet about this for now.¡±
¡°Mmm¡ You are right¡.¡± Sophie nodded her head. Luckily she agreed with me. I just hope no one gets hurt in the end. But I guess I have to do some of my own thinking now as well.
¡°Alright, no more love talk! Let¡¯s talk about the uing tournament!¡± I decided to change the topic, which caused everyone else to boo me, but I did not wish to stay on this topic anymore. Life is strange with many unexpected events. Maybe one day, things will y out just like the fortune foretold. If that is the case, I hope at least the bad parts can be avoided. If not I hope I can at least over turn what the future holds. I do not wish to go down a bloody path if I can help it.
Chapter 105 Plot Of Land Part 1
Currently, I was standing with two other people. One was Sophie, and the other was Thurul. We were looking at a site at the entrance of the east side slums that Thurul had found out from his friend that his friend wanted to sell. It housed a great deal of shanties and was being sold cheaply at only ten gold.
¡°This is the ce?¡± I asked to confirm that I was looking at the right ce. From what I could see, there were at least one hundred families living on thisnd. Some of them came out and looked at Thurul and I with worried expressions.
¡°Yep. My old friend said he had bought thisnd over thirty years ago but never did anything with it. He said he would sell it to me for cheap, but we have to deal with those who are taking up residence on it.¡± Thurul replied.
¡°Thurul, do me a favor and look after Sophie for a moment.¡± I wanted to take a walk around the shanties to see they of thend and speak with the people there.
¡°Thend ends by the small tree line before heading deeper into the slums. As for the littledy, don¡¯t worry. With me around, no one will dare touch her.¡± Thurul had won Sophie over with his tea and snacks every time we went over to his ce, so she was not averse to being around him. This helped a lot since I did not want to bring her with me while I walked around the slums, but I also needed to ensure her safety just in case that stupid count suddenly popped up like some kind of weed to try and snatch her away again.
¡°Faith, are you going over there?¡± I could tell Sophie was worried, so I ced my hand on her head and scratched her ears.-.
¡°I will be fine. Stay here with Thurul and do not leave his side.¡± I watched as Sophie nodded and moved to stand next to Thurul. I gave Thurul a nod before making my way across the tall grass towards the shanties. I could feel many gazes filled with different emotions. Fear, curiosity, anxiousness, and even hate.
I continued forward until I saw something interesting. In the middle of the shanty town was arge well. It seems the residents here had dug the well by hand and had used the stones from digging to create the well wall. Next to it were a few women and children washing dishes and doingundry. ¡°Excuse me.¡±
One of the women, a middle aged woman, looked up and looked at me. I waited to see her reaction to a demi human, but she did not even sh a hint of fear or disgust. ¡°Can I help you, youngdy? This is not the best ce for girls your age, you know.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t worry. If someone shows up with such intentions, I will send them to the other side of the slums.¡± I guess my words tickled the middle aged woman¡¯s funny bone because she began tough.
¡°Now that I would like to see. I fear for my daughters as they age. There are some really strange ones in this ce. Sadly That is life in the slums. But not everyone is able to get those fancy jobs that allow you to make enough to live in nice areas.¡±
Hearing this, my smile got brighter as I sat down next to the middle aged woman and began to help the middle aged woman with herundry, which caused the middle aged woman to look up at me and smile.
¡°Are you also looking for a decent job?¡± I asked.
¡°Sure am, but I can¡¯t leave my little ones alone. It¡¯s hard to raise the little ones. But I can¡¯t bear to send them away. I do what I can, you know? I do some handicrafts and sell them here and there, which gives enough to get by, but it is nowhere near enough to make sure these kids can eat and stay safe. As you can see the shanties are not the safest ces.¡± I nodded my head at her words. This ce was not the safest ce at all. I sighed and looked around the ce.
The lot was huge, big enough to hold a factory and another building. Just buying the lot would put me in the red. I would also need to stick up arge wall and put in a gate to protect the area as well or I can just set up a barrier¡.
After being lost in thought for a minute, I looked up at the middle aged woman and asked: ¡°How many people up to this tree line are bad?¡±
¡°Bad as in would do anything? Or just in general? The line shanties near the tree line are where the scum of this area live. They will do anything, including taking girls against their will. So many girls have been sullied by them.¡± The middle aged woman said with a bit of emotion. I could see she was truly worried about those kinds of people.
I looked around and saw that most of the people around this area were women. ¡°Mostly women here?¡±
¡°In this area, yes, as it is closer to the knight¡¯s patrol. If something happens, we can run over and get a knight, so many women who were thrown away along with their kids live out here.¡± Middle aged woman exined, which made me nod my head.
¡°My name is Faith. What is yours?¡± I kind of had a n, but I was not sure if it would work. The only issue was money.
¡°My Name? It¡¯s Melinda. May I ask why you have asked so many questions about this ce?¡± I could see Melinda was getting worried. With my clothes, it was obvious I was not from the slums.
¡°Mmm¡ I n to buy this lot b¡¡±
¡°What!? Please do not kick us out!¡± Melinda suddenly cried out. ¡°Please, I beg you, we have no other ce that is at least a tiny bit safe.¡±
¡°Wait! Melinda, I do not n to kick anyone out as long as they are good. In fact, I was just thinking how I could make the ce more secure and, on top of that, build proper housing and give you jobs as well as daycare so you can work.¡± My n was simple. Since this section of the slums was mainly all women. I could have an all female workforce and would give them good jobs. At the same time, any kids of age that can do simple tasks could also earn a bit of money like the orphaned kids. I figured it would be the best way to kill many birds with a single stone.
¡°You want to do what!? Do you really mean it!?¡± Another woman who overheard me walked over with tears in her eyes. ¡°Can you really give me a job!?¡±
¡°I have to n things out first, but if everything is able to progress quickly enough, I will be able to not only build a factory here but also employee housing.¡± I exined with a smile.
¡°Is there anything I can do now? I will work for free if it means progressing things.¡± The woman seemed very desperate for a job. I looked over at Melinda to also see her with eyes full of hope. I sighed and stood up. ¡°Wait here for a moment. I will be right back.¡±
I couldn¡¯t help but have a soft spot for these people. Living their lives never knowing when the next meal will be. Can I feed my kids today? Will my kids get sick and need health care? All these questions were things these mothers who had very little ie had to deal with every day. I pacified the other woman before taking my leave and making my way back to Thurul.
¡°So, how was it?¡± Thurul asked.
¡°I want to buy this ce and buy it today.¡± I said firmly.
Thurul looked at me with wide eyes before scratching his beard. ¡°If you really want it, I will pay the fee for the ce, but why the rush?¡±
¡°I need the property to be under my name, so I can begin a bit of house cleaning and put up a barrier that will protect these women and children here. After that, I will have them work on clearing out the tall grass and rubble. The area will need to be really cleaned up to make room for the housing for the employees and then the factory. These women are starving for a job and in fear of what might harm their kids. If I can give them the security they need, then why not?¡± I truly had not nned to do all of this so soon. I figured maybe I could do missions and then save up the money, but now it seems I need to win the tournament and hire some people to begin construction right away. If I have employees, then I will be able to mass produce my pens quickly as soon as the factory is ready.
Chapter 106 Plot Of Land Part 2
The next day things were looking up. The paperwork was quickly done, and I now officially own the plot ofnd that I had looked at. This meant I could go and begin kicking out those who were bad and using the ce to do as they please. Of course, I was not doing this alone. I had a team of people, including many knights, with me. I brought the nights that Sir Randford left behind to round up all the criminals so they could do their just time for the sins they havemitted. Of course, my team also included Gesel and Fred. Once I told Gesel about it, she said she would help clean things up and help me prep thend as well.
Of course, forced evictions for those who were here to take advantage of the situation would never go smoothly. Many tried to fight only to be manhandled and shoved head first into the ground. When the knights saw my amazing evil person burying technique, they stared at me with wide starry eyes. Okay, well, maybe it was more of a shocked expression. Either way, they were amazed!
But I do have to say this. There were a lot of people and many who had suffered under these bandits¡¯ hands. There were also some women who did the same thing. Sick individuals either way. And it was not just humans either. But also demi humans as well.
It took half a day before we were able to round them all up. And to my surprise, there were over one hundred of them just in this plot ofnd. Luckily the knights hade prepared and had quite a few prison wagons lined up with them all stuffed inside. Men and women were separated. I guess they all go to different prisons here in this world.
I never thought about it before, but I guess there are just as many female knights as there are male knights. I learned this from one of the female knights that came to pick up the female prisoners. This also made me feel a bit better about my future as I work to try to be amander.-.
But now, with everything settled, it was time to set up a barrier around the entire plot ofnd. Since I would be casting the spell, I would need everyone who would be staying here to help. I would need their help in casting it since I would need their magic signature to allow them to pass through the barrier. A barrier to keep others out to keep the residents safe that would allow people out but not in unless they were written into the runic equation.
And with the number of people that would be staying, I would need to write arge magic equation without their magic signature. But with their magic signature, I can just include it into the magic equation to say these magic signatures are allowed to pass through the barrier freely. The issue I would have after that would be to allow the orphans in. This was something I would need to talk to Sei about and see if she could put me in touch with someone who knew how to set up the same kind of system I have at my room at the inn.
About two hourster, I stood in front of arge group of women and children, as well as some men who were doing their best to support their families. I gazed over the crowd and saw Melinda and her children and smiled as I put my hands behind my back and cleared my throat.: ¡°My name is Faith Cyrilia. I now own thisnd. Before any of you begin to worry about your future here, please know that I will not kick any of you out. That is only if you are willing to work and make a fair wage. If you are willing to work for me, I will make sure you are rewarded. While it may take time I n to better each and every one of your lives.
¡°But there is no free ride on this boat. If you wish to have a better life, you must work. I will not hesitate to kick anyone off mynd for those who do not want to work or fake like they do want to work only to ck off in the end.
¡°Life is not easy. As a demi human I know this better than most of you. I have to work harder than everyone else and have to prove myself useful in order to be anything in this world. Some of you here can understand this just as much as I do. While life does have its ups and downs, yesterday, when I came to look at thisnd, I did not see a slum. I saw people working hard with what little they had.
¡°I saw children running around with smiles on their faces. I saw mothers doing what they could for those same children. Father¡¯s who ved away to make a measly amount of copper to feed the mouths of their family.
¡°The rest of the east side slums are even worse than this. I have been there. I saw what life is like there. But I am no god and can only do so much for those around me. So I wish to offer you all jobs. For those who do not wish to work, I ask you to please leave. Because if I am forced to kick you out, it will be no different than how you saw the others get dragged away.
¡°I have a small goal. I do not know how long it will take, but I wish to help not only you all here today but many others in the future as I slowly expand my business and allow more and more of those in the slums decent paying jobs.
¡°While I am creating these businesses to make money, I am also doing it so that people like you can have a fair chance at life. So I ask once more, if you do not wish to work, please leave now. For those who wish to stay, I will need a bit of your magic to register with the magic barrier, I will be¡.¡±
¡°Faith! What are you doing!?¡± I heard a very annoying voice as I turned to see Prince Lance walking over with a group of knights following behind him.
I looked over at the neatly dressed Prince with a frown and asked: ¡°That is the question I should be asking you, is it not Princes Lance?¡±
¡°I heard you were doing something big, so I came to help out. But why are you here in the slums? I have a better lot ofn¡.¡± My anger red as I stared at the stupid Prince in front of me.
¡°What am I doing!? I am doing your job! Look at the life these people are stuck living because you can not even do anything to make these people live better lives! Not everyone in the slums is a criminal! You waltz in here acting high and mighty, but even while standing here, you turn a blind eye and ask me what am I doing here!?¡± I do not understand it. The slums could easily be fixed, but even now, this prince wants to ignore it and give mend elsewhere? What was the point!?
I watched as Prince Lance¡¯s smile froze. He seemed to be at a loss for words. To be honest, I have no idea why he came running over here in the first ce. This had nothing to do with him. Was he still trying to court me!? I already told him no!
¡°I¡. Look, it is not that we wish to have a ce like this in the capital. It is just hard to handle¡.¡± Hearing Prince Lance¡¯s sad excuse of an answer only made my temper re more.
¡°Hard to handle!!? Are you sure you¡¯re fit to be crown prince!?¡± Silence¡. I know I went overboard with my words just now, and even the knights behind the prince had drawn their swords, but I did not care. This stupid prince had no idea what it means to be a ruler who looks after his people. Yes, there might be hundreds of millions of people in this city alone, but so what!? They have a military that numbers in the tens of millions. How can they not have enough men to patrol the city!?
¡°You dare go against the crown!?¡± One of the guards yelled out at me, breaking the silence. My guards quickly got into formation in front of me. This also included Gesel and Fred. The tension in the air was so thick that it could be sliced with a knife.
I guess when the captain of the knights with Prince Lance saw his own members facing off against him, his anger seemed to rise quickly because his whole face turned red in anger. ¡°You are all turning traitor!?¡±
¡°Stand down!¡± A firmmanding voice filled the air. I turned to look at a man with knights wearing pitch ck armor surrounding him, walking over in what looked like royal robes. To my surprise, the people around me suddenly knelt on the ground with only me standing firmly. Of course, I would not kneel anyway, even if someone asked me to. Of course, that is only if it was not my mothermanding me. Her red bottom technique is still better than mine.
¡°We finally get to meet Faith Cyrilia.¡± I already knew who this man was when I first saw him because I mean the crown kind of gives it away.
I bowed my head slightly as I gave a proper curtsey. ¡°It is a pleasure to meet you, Your Majesty.¡±
Chapter 107 Taking Over
¡°No need for the formalities. I was out on a tour of the city because I had heard of some bad things from a very reliable source. And when I came here, I find my son saying some unbelievable things.¡± The man before me who had just finished speaking is King Gravos himself and Adel¡¯s father, as well as the idiot prince¡¯s father.
I did not say anything as the King stared down Prince Lance. It¡¯s not that I couldn¡¯t, but I wanted to see just how the prince would respond. I can say, however, is that the pressure from the knights surrounding the King was beyond anything I could have ever expected. Even I was feeling a bit of cold sweat build up on my back with them around.
¡°Lance, care to exin your words just now? What do you mean by the slums are hard to handle?¡± I also wanted to know the answer to this myself. So hearing the King ask this question, my ears perked up. I wonder how he would answer since he can not just give a half response when the King himself was asking the question.
¡°Your Majesty, it is not that¡.¡± Prince Lance seems to be hard up for words. Seeing him, sweat did make me feel good. And I kind of figured I already knew the answer to the reason why it was ¡®hard¡¯ for him to handle the slums.
I know I shouldn¡¯t be saying anything, but if this continues with the prince trying to stumble over his words, then we will never get anywhere, and I only wish to help the people in need and not suck up to some nobles, so I decided to add my two cents. ¡°Most likely because his supporters need the slums to do their dirty dealings.¡±-.
¡°Oh? Lance, is this true?¡± King Gravos¡¯s eyes narrowed as he looked at Prince Lance. I could even see beads of sweat rolling down the prince¡¯s face. I am sure the King had read the report about how Count Freedman had his own people in the slums. And I am sure he had things investigated thoroughly as well.
I watched as Prince Lance gritted his teeth and clenched his fists before a self defeating smile formed on his lips. ¡°Yes¡.. But they told me they were not doing any serious crimes¡..¡±
¡°Are you an idiot!? Who in their right mind would believe such crap!?¡± I lost it. That answer threw thest bit of my restraint out the window. ¡°Prince Lance, I will give you this. You love this kingdom to a point, but everything else you are an idiot about. Why would you believe the words of a noble without investigating anything!? For you to even know they have dirty dealings in the slums means that you must have talked about trying to fix things for the people here but gave in to the nobles who were trying to use you to hide their dealings, and you are letting them. You are basically doing all the work while they count the money. I am younger than you, and I can tell they are just using honeyed words because you are too naive!¡±
My chest heaved up and down. My cheeks were flushed. I was seriously pissed off right now. ¡°Faith, rx. No need for you to get riled up over this. Lance, you are under house arrest for the time being. Head back to the castle. I will deal with youter.¡±
¡°But father I¡. I will see youter then.¡± Prince Lance looked as if he wanted to say something, but it seemed he knew better not to. Especially with how his father was looking at him at this time.
¡°Faith, I am sorry. My son has caused you many headaches.¡± Seeing King Gravos lower his head towards me made me feel a bit off.
¡°Please do not lower your head. You are the king of this kingdom¡.¡± I quickly stepped forward to help him stand up. The ck knights around him did not stop me. I guess this was a form of eptance? Or trust? It could also be that the King already said not to stop me if I were to approach him. Either way, at least they did not see me as an enemy.
¡°This is to show my sincerity. I asked you to the capital, and you have had to deal with many things. I have heard this is not the first time my son has caused you problems. And this is my own fault for not educating him properly on the ways of the world.¡± King Gravos raised his head to look at me before stretching out his big hand and cing it on the top of my head. ¡°My Daughter sings praises about you every time I see her. I must thank you for opening her heart from being surrounded by people who only wanted to take advantage of her and for showing her what a true friend really is. Seeing her truly smile has made the castle that much more brighter.
¡°I should also thank you as well, Miss Sophie.¡± The King turned to look at Sophie, who was trying to hide like a small animal behind Thurul, but with Thurul being a dwarf, it was kind of hard.
I chuckled and shook my head. ¡°I apologize on her behalf, Your Majesty. Sophie is still not good with strangers. She takes a while to warm up to people.¡±
¡°It¡¯s fine. It is only natural after everything she has gone through. Now that the things that need to be said are out of the way. I must ask you, Faith Cyrilia. What are your ns with slums? I would like to hear your thoughts.¡± I guess the King was poking around longer than I had thought.
¡°Well, as you know, I am building apany to mass produce my pens. And when I came this way to save Sophie a while back, I saw how this ce was and thought maybe I could change it. To be honest, it was Thurul, my business partner, that gave me the idea when he said he would hire some orphans to inspect pens. I figured with the factory since I need employees anyways, it would be easy to find hard workers near the slums. So with employee housing and a decent paying job, they could begin to lead better lives without worrying every day.¡± I really did need to thank Thurul for this idea. If not, I would have been stuck on what to do about a lot of things. I had wanted to help the people here as well so this all worked out well.
¡°I see¡ This is quite a good idea. So you basically n to keep expanding?¡± The King asked.
¡°Well, I will start with the pen factory. I also have a few other ideas as well. And if business is good, I can begin working on building more factories as well. Basically, we can turn the slums into an industrial park that gives its workers¡¯ employee housing. It will push out the scum that wish tomit crimes every day right out of the city, effectively cleaning up the slums. Of course, this will not happen overnight, but it will eventually work out.¡± I had quite a few other ideas as well, but those would need more time and nning. For now, I can just work towards trying to give people jobs.
The King went silent as he began to ponder my words. He looked up and looked at the women and children standing before him with lowered heads. I am d he did not look at them with disgust but pity instead. ¡°I will finance it. The funds that should be going to this section of the city seemed to have been misappropriated. So those funds will now be given to you, Faith. From this day forward, the area known as the East Side Slums will be under yourmand. If you truly make this ce into a ce where people can live better lives by the time you graduate from the academy, then I will reward you well.¡±
¡°And if I fail, Your Majesty?¡± I can see getting a reward, but I do not know what will happen if I fail.
¡°If you fail? You will just need to keep working harder at your goals. My Incentive is only to give you a reward if you can do things in a shorter amount of time, nothing more, nothing less.¡± The King said with a smile, causing me to let out a sigh of relief.
All I know is that this funding will be very useful in the future. But there was one thing I did wish to ask. ¡°Your Majesty, is there a way you can help me find someone who can inscribe runes for barriers? I would like to keep people out of the sections that are being reformed.¡±
¡°I will leave one of my personal guards here. Each one is able to set up such barriers. They will also take care to make sure knights begin patrolling this side of the city once again. I will send someone tomorrow with the paperwork to sign over the east side slums to you. The original owners will have their rights revoked.
¡°Now, let¡¯s find a ce to sit. I would like to hear all your ns and ideas that you have for this ce in more detail.¡±
Chapter 108 The Kings Testing
Surprisingly the King sat down on the ground while one of his knights began setting up a campfire. His other knights all went and got lots of food and drinks and began cooking them over the fire and feeding the people who were all gathered around. King Gravos looked really rxed as he listened to my ideas. ¡°So besides pens, I was thinking about a few other things as well. For my ownpany, I was nning on a different kind of carriage that would not require horses. I will not go into full details since I myself don¡¯t know if it will work yet or not but let¡¯s just say it should reduce the time it takes to get between cities without an airship dock. As for progressing the lives of the people of the slums. I also had a few things I wanted to try to implement.
¡°First, I would need a kind of government official office established with people that understand thews of the kingdom. From there, I would add in a health care clinic with reduced costs. Half the cost would need to be taken from the funds, but at least the people here would not be suffering if something happened. I was also thinking about implementing a school to teach kids how to read, write and do basic math. I am sure you heard from Adel about my idea for academies for the lower ss.¡± I stopped there to see what the King had to say about my current ideas.
¡°Yes, Adel did mention your idea, and I do have people working on it, actually. Your health care clinic seems like it would cost a lot to run, would it not, if you are doing things at a reduced cost?¡± The King made a good point. Health care was not cheap, but there was a thing called healing magic in this world as well.
¡°It depends. If I had a few healers here to heal people, the cost would not be too high. The main cost would be if they needed surgery of some kind or childbirth. If you do not have someone who is able to do such things, it can be a matter of life or death to give birth. These things can be charged at a reduced price.¡± As I spoke, another idea came to mind, which I thought would be much better. ¡°Or they can even pay off their debts by working at the clinic when they are better. And if they do not show up, they will need to pay a fine of the cost of what they owe plus a bit more.¡± I had not thought of it until now. If the people who get reduced health care due to needing surgery or whatnot, they canmit to working at the clinic on a certain day. And if they don¡¯t show, they will be fined.-.
¡°Hmmm¡ This could work. And if the clinic does not need them, they can do other kinds ofmunity service that will help the city as a whole. Of course, it would need to be spread out, so they are not disturbing their daily jobs, but as long as it is done, that will work out well¡.¡± I watched as King Gravos tapped his chin. He seemed to be pondering the idea over. ¡°Let¡¯s do this. If this n of yours works well here in the slums, I will also implement it within the city on a wider scale to see how it works. After a few years, if things are still going smoothly, I will expand the idea throughout the entire kingdom.¡±
¡°Hmmm¡ Then¡ I will be issuing a proof of residence card that will be an ID that will need to be shown before they can use any of these facilities here in the slums. I do not wish for outsiders to suddenly show up and take advantage of these benefits while it is in the testing phase. This ID will be separate and can only be used for medical reasons. The card should have their magic signature imbued into it so no one else can use it as well.¡± I did not want someone ruining the trial phase of the medical clinic pay system just because they wanted toe in and get some reduced health care and not do their part in the end.
¡°Yes, that is a good idea. I will be sure to do that as well when the citywide trial starts. Now you said you were going to open a school for just the basics for children?¡± The King asked.
While I wished I could go a step further and make it so they could learn some trade skills as well, just learning the basics was better than nothing. I do not expect to suddenly run into a bunch of highly qualified teachers to teach a bunch of different subjects, nor would I have the resources for such things. But a small school for the kids to go to to learn how to read, write, and do basic math would at least better their lives a bit. ¡°It might not be the bigger goal I had in mind, but it is still better than nothing.¡±
¡°That is true, and if things go smoothly, they will be able to enter the newer academies once I get things prepared.¡± I nced at the King and smiled. This man was someone who truly cared about his people. I can see it in his eyes as he looks around. How he could give birth to some idiot prince is beyond me. Speaking of the prince¡
¡°Your Majesty, there is something I would like to say. More than likely, Prince Lance will end up having someone try to take his life now that the slums are being taken over. Since they will think it was him, that spilled the beans. Especially if you start going after those nobles with connections to this ce, and as the person who is taking over, they will probably try to pin it on me and probably Sophie as well.¡± I had a strong feeling this was something that would most likely happen. I could not be one hundred percent sure, but nobles will be nobles. Instead of being ratted out, they would rather do a dirtier deed and then push the me on someone else to cover it all up, so they do not lose their standings.
¡°This I am sure of as well. This is why I made sure some of my hidden guards followed him back to the castle. But let me ask you this, Faith. As someone who was able to handle three of the armies from the Norian Kingdom, how would you handle the situation?¡± I could see a gleam of scheming light in the King¡¯s eyes as he asked this question. I could only sigh inwardly.
This King had been testing me from the moment he showed up here. Why he was so set on testing me I do not know. But I also do not mind. If I can get more merits to raise my rank, I will be happy. It will help me in the future as my noble rank rises.
¡°If they were to pin the me on me, then the answer is simple. Hide the prince and have him announced dead. Arrest me and bring me in for a grand trial. Stage fake evidence that starts to point to my innocence and begins to point towards some of the nobles and see who tries to act against me. Have your people watch all the nobles in the trial and see who acts strange. Follow them and try to find out what moves they are making. If someone tries to assassinate me, then let theme. I can always capture them and make them talk myself.¡± My answer was pretty straightforward. Nobles will act hastily if they think they are in trouble which will cause at least a few to slip up. While we may not be able to get all of them, at least those who survived not being caught in the would at least stay low profile for a while and not cause any trouble.
¡°Haha! Interesting. But¡.¡± The Kingughed but quickly turned serious again. ¡°What if they do not try to me you or Sophie? Then what? What if they me someone else, like Adel? Crown sessions are always bloody, you know.¡±
¡°If they tried to frame Adel? I would hunt every noble in the city down and make the talk until someone fesses up and rats everyone out. As for what happens after that, I am sure I would be on trial then.¡± I was really trying to stay calm. But the thought of Adel being med angered me. I already promised Adel I would be on her side no matter what, so even if all evidence pointed to her, I would still stand on her side because I know Adel would never be able to kill her own family member unless she was in danger of being killed herself.
I watched as the King¡¯s expression turned to one of shock. I lowered my head and apologized. ¡°Sorry, just the thought of someone trying to use Adel for such a thing angers me. She is a good girl who cares a lot for those around her, especially this kingdom.¡±
¡°No, it is not that. I just find it amazing because I once asked Adel if you were being brought in for a trial on something, what would she do. And you know what she said?¡± The King asked.
I looked at him and shook my head. ¡°No, what did she say?¡±
¡°She said she would burn every noble house down until you were proven innocent.¡± The King smiled and reached out his big hand and ced it on my head. ¡°You two were truly meant to meet in this life. I am d you appeared in my daughter¡¯s life. To have a friend who would walk through the burning mes of hell for you is not something many people have the pleasure of having. To know you are just as protective of her as she is of you makes me feel at ease.¡±
Chapter 109 The Kings Wisdom
From the way the King was talking, it was almost as if he was about to marry his daughter off to me. To be honest, I would not even know how to answer him if he were to do something like that. It was not that I was trying to ignore the thing about Adel possibly liking me, it was more, that I did not wish to think about it. I mean, when I lived on Earth, I dreamt about the guys in the novels I read about, how they would one day sweep me off my feet and be my knightly prince in shining armor. I never once thought I would have my feet swept out from under me by a princess in shining armor.
Luckily he did not stick to that topic for too long. Instead, he began talking about different things and seeking my opinion on them. Some about taxes and things about reforms with nobles. Stuff I had no clue about. But when he got to talking about the military, he gained my full attention.?
¡°So tell me, from what you saw at the battle against the Norian army, what would you do to secure the borders more?¡± The King asked. I am not sure what he was drinking, but his cheeks were slightly red now. I am starting to think he was getting drunk. As for me, I had fruit juice.?
¡°To secure the borders, huh? Well, even with the forts, the Norian army could still cross our border because there is no wall protecting it but to build a proper wall would require many earth mages who could lift the rocks from below out and fuse them together. But thisst attack seemed more of a probing attack, so if you truly wish to secure the border between the two nations, you should move more troops. I myself have family there, as you know. So I am always worried about that section of the border.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but worry that the Norian Kingdom would send more troops at some point in the future.?-.
¡°Faith, you look down on your father.¡± The King¡¯s words surprised me.
¡°You know my father?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but ask because this was all news to me!
¡°Know him!? He almost stole my wife!¡±The king yelled, causing my jaw to drop to the ground. What was my father doing in the past!??
¡°If not for your mothering and beating him up, he would have had two wives and many more kids than he has now! The two of us even got into a fight, and he beat me good.. Hahahaha! I swear, your family¡¯s bloodline is crazy strong. That is why I took such interest in you once I heard you inherited strength that went beyond his.¡± The king sighed as he looked at me before jumping to another topic. ¡°I need to apologize for one more thing. I am sure you already know since Adel will not hide anything from you, but I did intend to tie you to this kingdom by marriage to one of my sons. Adel yelled at me and got so angry she refused to talk to me for quite a few days. It was as if I was trying to marry off her lover. But now, talking with you and listening to all the goals that you have nned, I can tell you are part of this kingdom and that you would not abandon it.¡±
¡°Your Majesty, as long as demi humans like myself are allowed to live free with the same rights as everyone else in this kingdom. I will always do what I can for this kingdom. I wouldn¡¯t be going to the academy to work my way up through the ranks to be amander if I did not wish to stay here. I see this kingdom as my home and will not abandon it as long as the kingdom does not abandon me.¡±? I answered honestly. These were my true feelings. While the kingdom is not perfect, it still has many things I am d about. It is now my home, and I will defend my homnd with my life if need be. Although, I do not think my life will ever be in trouble with my mana shield and alla€|.
¡°I like your honesty. As I grow older, I worry about this kingdom¡¯s future. The current crown prince is too weak minded, while my other sons seem to have no interest in anything. Only Adel is working hard every day for this kingdom and is more active in the kingdom¡¯s affairs than the crown prince himself. I would make her the next heir if not for the fact that she said she did not want it.¡± The King sighed. I could see he was left in a dilemma.?
¡°Your Majesty, if I may ask a personal question.¡± After hearing him speak just now, I had a question rolling around in my mind.
¡°You are free to speak to me as you wish. As someone who is willing to do a lot for this kingdom without even being asked, you are free to speak freely with me.¡± He was basically cing me on the same level as him. While this would make things easier for me when talking, it still felt strange. I wonder just how drunk he was right now.
¡°Thena€| Your Majesty, if Adel, and this is a big if, one day said she wished to take the throne. Would you let her?¡± I asked. I keep getting this feeling that Prince Lance was not his first choice to be heir to the throne.
¡°Yes. I would.¡± No hesitation in his answer, but after a brief pause, he continued: ¡°But not now. She is still young and has yet to undergo her studies at the academy.¡±
¡°I see. What would you do? Let¡¯s say you gave Prince Lance the throne, but he became a tyrant, and Adel was forced to lead a rebellion?¡± I know this question was far out there, but I wonder what he would do in such a situation. A man who has been ruling his kingdom for years, born and raised to rule, must have some kind of insight in case a situation ever happens.
¡°That is a strange question, but if it were toe down to it, I guess I would try to beg for my son¡¯s life to be at least spared. I may be king, but I am also a father. I love all my children. I would rather see my child spend a life in prison than be killed in cold blood. I know it would be asking a lot, especially if his crimes were so severe that a pardon was out of the question. But I would still ask. Plus, if that were to evere to happen, I already know he would lose since you would be by my daughter¡¯s side.¡± The King paused before staring at me with a serious expression. ¡°Now, what would you do if Adel was the Tyrant?¡±
¡°As she is my first friend and someone I care deeply about, I would stop her with everything I have. If she can not be saved, then my de would need to be stained in her blood. I know this may sound like treason, but for the safety of the kingdom, one must do what is necessary, especially when the one who is causing such crimes is your closest friend. But do not get me wrong, I would not kill her. I would only do what I need to subdue her, then take her away from this kingdom where she can spend her days trying to reflect on the things she has done.¡± I hoped such a thing would never happen. But I would do what I can.
¡°I seea€| You would strike her down without killing hera€|. But then what. Leave the kingdom without a ruler?¡± The King raised his eyebrows as he looked at me and took a sip of her drink.
¡°I am not sure. Depending on the stances of the people, I guess we would elect a new ruler to take over the position of King.¡± I really did not think about the aftermath of what to do if Adel was forcefully removed or if she did be a tyrant. I couldn¡¯t help but scrunch my nose at this as I really did not know how to answer him.
¡°Do not think too hard on it. Wouldn¡¯t the perfect ruler be right under your nose?¡± The King gave me a strange smile. But I still did not understand what he was talking about. He let out augh as he said: ¡°Look into your cup. What do you see?¡±
I absentmindedly looked down and looked at my reflection before it suddenly hit me like a sack of potatoes. I became flustered and quickly shook my head. ¡°No! No! I would not be a good ruler. If anything, I would be a bad choice.¡±
¡°Haha! This is hard to believe. You never know what time will tell. One day your words could be just a story you made up but then the next dayes and it has all be reality. Remember one thing. All things start from a story. An idea that gave birth to actual fact. This is just how life is. Never forget this. And always keep charging forward and always trust your instincts.¡±
Chapter 110 The Real Sei
At the end of the day, the King was taken back after he passed out. While some would say it is not good for a ruler to be seen in such a manner, but after he danced andughed with those people of the slums, he had shown the people here that he was no different from them. He was still a person just like them.
And now it was me sitting with Thurul and Sophie as well as a female night dressed in heavy ck armor. I really do want to know where she gets that strength as her body was very petite. Although I guess I did not need to wait long to find out. ¡°Ahh, that is much better.¡±
The female knight took off her helmet, and to my surprise, the person wearing all that heavy armor was someone I knew very well. ¡°Sei!¡±?
¡°The one and only! Sorry I had to lie to you this entire time, but you know how things are. His Majesty wanted to make sure you were properly protected, so I was working undercover. But now, I have been officially assigned to you as your personal guard. This means I will also be joining you at the academy as well.¡± Sei said with a smile. I mean, yes, she looked young. Actually, she looked much younger than she did when I first saw her!
¡°Wait, Sei¡. May I ask because I am not sure if I was seeing things or not but were you not older than you look now?¡± I feel like I am being really rude here, but I really do think I am going slightly crazy!-.
¡°Hahaha! It¡¯s because of my bloodline. I have the ability to change my appearance from older to younger and back. So I can look as young as you or even younger.¡± Sei replied with a smile while at the same time changing her age to match mine perfectly.
¡°That is quite unique. So does this make you immortal?¡± I was curious. Because if Sei could change her age to be as young as she wanted, couldn¡¯t she continue to do so?
¡°Hmmm, I am not sure, to be honest. I am currently only in my twenties, believe it or not. I was an orphan, so I do not know who my family was. But the researchers in the pce say my bloodline is very special. And is also why I was able to be a ck knight and server at His Majesty¡¯s side.¡± I see, so Sei does not know what her actual bloodline is, but it does seem to be pretty handy.
¡°Then I guess we will be together for quite some time then. And I guess this is why there was a barrier around that room?¡± I asked. Sei really knew how to work the barriers at the royal suite. Even if she was an ¡¯employee¡¯ there, she acted without much caution. Now I know her words were not truthful and that the King said he would leave someone to take care of my barrier issues. My guess was that Sei was said barrier expert.
¡°Ahaha¡. Sorry. Yeah, I did lie quite a bit, but you have to understand this was all because of my job and that I was under orders by his Majesty.¡± Sei scratched her head as she spoke.
I really can¡¯t me her. I mean, after all, she was supposed to be undercover. ¡°It¡¯s fine, don¡¯t worry. But now that you will be sticking to my side do you n to stay with me at the inn?¡±
¡°Actually, your permanent residence has already been taken care of. You can move in at any time. His Majesty was supposed to bring it up, but instead, he got drunk¡. But in a way, this was good for him to let loose. He has been stressed as ofte. But I do expect you to be seeing quite a bit of him. I have never seen His Majesty sit back and talk with someone in such a rxed manner. As he is a king, you know he needs to always be wary of those around him, but with you, he talks as if you were his own daughter.¡± Sei did make a good point about the King. He really was talking to me about things without much care. Did he really have such trust in me?
My own question actually made me wonder why he would trust me so. Unless it is because I have a spirit with me, so I can be considered someone without evil intentions.
¡°Don¡¯t think too hard about it. His Majesty is a person who can see a person¡¯s character for what it is. But what shocked me was what he said in the end. To think he would rmend you to take over the kingdom if everything went south.¡± Sei did not speak her words out loud. Just loud enough for myself, Thurul, and Sophie to answer.
¡°Not that I would want to be something like a ruler.¡± I said with a forced smile.
¡°I do not know,ss. You¡¯re truly capable of moving people. You have a good head and a kind heart that cares for those around you. You have the charisma that draws people to you. These are all qualities of a good leader. Just do not go try staging a coupe any time soon. Ahahaha!¡± Thurul let out a joy filledugh as he took another swig of whatever he was drinking. But I do know he was drunk. With a big smile on his face, he looked at me and said: ¡°But if you do let me know, I will get my kinsman to help¡. Urk¡. I think I might be sick. I will be right back.¡±
Sei giggled as he watched Thurul run to a bush off to the side. ¡°He is an interesting person. All the people around you are quite interesting. So when do you n to move to the new residence?¡±
¡°After the tournament. It will be over a few days before the exams to enter the academy. Just enough time to finish up a few things here and settle into the new ce.¡± I answered. I already nned out things since I knew I would be moving at some point soon. So having the house ready now was a good thing.
¡°Tournament, huh? Maybe I will join.¡± Sei scratched her chin. ¡°It has been a while since I actually faced off against the capital¡¯s best. Gesel should also be there as well.¡±
¡°You know Gesel? She was here earlier but ran off as soon as the King arrived.¡± I was kind of irked about that. She ran off without saying goodbye!
¡°Ahh, yeah, she would. You see, Gesel has never beaten me in a fight, and I always look for her to test how far along she hase, so she likes to avoid me as much as possible. You must know howpetitive she gets.¡± Sei exined, causing me to smile. I did know Gesel disliked losing.
¡°Yes, I do. But now, I am not so sure I can make it to the finals. With Gesel, I may have had a chance to win, but if you are joining and can beat Gesel, then I might be sadly out of luck.¡± I let out a sigh. The tournament is not going to be an easy win.
¡°No, there is one more who will be showing up as well. Derek Tandor. He is an ex-ck knight and just recently retired this year. I heard he wanted to test out the best the kingdom had to offer in the tournament now that he had some free time.¡± Sei¡¯s words gave me a headache. Things were getting harder by the second!
Just the thought of having to face not one but three powerful enemies was going to be a pain. I mean if Sei is on par with Gesel and Gesel is strong enough to fight me equally, then I might be in a bit of trouble. I could use mana shield and breeze through it all, but I am not sure if that is wise at this time. While Sei and Gesel posed a problem, I now had some old man joining that was even more experienced in battle than the others.
¡°Don¡¯t feel too dejected. You may still win. The barriers will be extra strong this year, so you will be able to cast high tier spells.¡± Sei¡¯s words did give me a bit of hope, but I still was feeling slightly unsure about a perfect victory.
¡°I will just have to wait and see. Let¡¯s put the barrier up in the morning. I will cast one now to protect everyone for one night. Sei, I hope you do not mind sleeping outdoors tonight.¡± I did not n to head home, not when it was thiste, and I, for one, was not afraid of being attacked by anyone.
¡°Nope, this is fine. I trust you to secure our defenses.¡± Sei replied while slipping the rest of her armor off. She then pulled an already pre built tent out of her bag and set it up. I am guessing the bag was simr to Adel¡¯s room in her carriage. ¡°Us girls can sleep in here tonight. As for your friend Thurul, well, he will need to fend for himself.¡±
Chapter 111 Setting Up The Barrier Part 1
The next morning I woke up to two people hugging my body as if I was some kind of body pillow. Sophie was on my left, and Sei was on my right. I couldn¡¯t help but blush slightly at this because of everything that has been going on with Adel.
¡°Mufu¡.¡± I watched as Sei shifted and buried her head into my neck, causing me to feel a bit awkward. I raised my hand and brought it down with a fist of fury. No¡.. But I will shake her awake.
¡°Sei, wake up.¡± I shook her shoulder, causing her to groan in annoyance, which resulted in her turning over and facing the other way. All that was left was to peel Sophie off me so I could get up, and I was golden. Luckily with Sophie, she never really held on tight so slipping out of her grip was always easy.
Once I was free, I got up and crawled out of the tent before zipping the door back up. Once I could finally stand, I stretched and took a deep breath of the crisp morning air. ¡°Seems winter is around the corner.¡±
¡°Morning, Faith. Want a cup?¡± Thurul¡¯s voice caught my attention. I turned to see him tending to the fire brewing what looked to be this world¡¯s equivalent to coffee. It was a bit stronger, but it was sweet instead of bitter, which I found appealing.
¡°Sure. where did you get that from?¡± I was confused. I did not see him bringing anything in.-.
¡°Melinda gave me some when she saw me tending to the fire. This stuff is great when you have a hangover.¡± Thurul said with a self defeating smile. I could tell he was feeling it. He did drink a lotst night.
¡°Next time, don¡¯t start drinking contests with the King.¡± I said in a teasing voice, causing him to chuckle.
¡°Well. It is kind of hard to ignore a request from the ruler of the kingdom. But I must say for a human, he is a good man. He understands the meaning of being a ruler.¡± Thurul seemed to be one who did not praise people much, so I guess this was a good thinging from him.
¡°He is indeed a good King. Sadly his son or sons, are not the best. I do not know what will need to be done before they are ready to take over for him. Maybe if we can figure out a way to make the King live forever, then Gravos will always prosper.¡± I said this as a joke, but it made me wonder what I could do for my family. I had thought about trying to share my mana with them, but that would not really give them infinity mana. They would only never use the mana they have. Or whatever was used would be refilled instantly. If mana is what extends life based on your mana capacity, how would I go about extending the lives of others?
¡°Hmmm¡ Us dwarves are already a long lived race, much longer than humans. We can live to be six hundred years old or more. And even then, with all of our technology, we still can not figure out a way to extend the lives of others. Sadly the same goes for the elves who are masters of magic.¡± Thurul exined as he took a sip of his coffee while passing me another cup.
The warm cup in my hands made the morning chill vanish as I blew on the top to watch the steame out of my mouth. ¡°I wonder¡. I had once thought about sharing mana, but that doesn¡¯t solve the underlying issue. It is the max mana one can hold that allows their lives to be extended.¡±
¡°That is the case. Once a person is born their life expectancy will be decided. If you are able to have above average mana as a human, you may live a few hundred years. But it also is based on race as well. I¡¯d say your race is able to live just as long as we dwarves, if not longer. While those pointy ears will live to be a thousand or so years old. But this is because theybine their mana capacity with their race.¡± Thurul let out a sigh. I guess he was jealous of the elves.
¡°I n to research it a bit when I reach the academy. I hope to be able to dive into the library there and find some things that might help.¡± I could only hope that maybe I could find something sooner rather thanter.
¡°Ahhhh!¡± A loud ear piercing scream came from within the tent, and the sound of skin on skin was heard. I watched as a red faced Sophie crawled out of the tent in a hurry and dived into my arms.
¡°Sophie!?¡± It is good that I was paying attention, or my coffee would have gone everywhere!
¡°Sophie, did you need to freak out like that? I mean, you pped me good! It¡¯s not like I meant to hug you like that!¡± Sei came crawling out as well with arge handprint on her face. I guess Sei must have rolled back over and clung on to Sophie, and with Sophie¡¯s inability to handle others well, I can imagine Sophie¡¯s reaction.
¡°Sei, Sophie is not good with others as it is. I mean, I had to roll you over myself this morning because you clung on like I was your pillow.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but sigh. It¡¯s not like Sei knows what she is doing while she is asleep. It is basically impossible to know unless you record yourself sleeping.
¡°Well¡. Sorry¡.¡± Sei pursed her lips and apologized.
¡°See, Sophie, she didn¡¯t mean to.¡± I said while scratching the fox girl¡¯s ears. Sophie turned her head and looked at her, still red in the face. Only after a few more minutes of coaxing did she finally stand up and sit next to me but still kept her distance from Sei.
¡°Here¡¯s you two go. Drink this and calm your nerves.¡± Thurul handed two more cups of coffee out. ¡°I will go back today and finish up some more product. With the cast, I think I can get around another hundred done today. Once you get the field clear and need to get the factory going, let me know. I will work on a really nice forge setup that will allow you to make a few hundred at a time.¡±
¡°I owe you a big one, Thurul. You are doing ny percent of the work right now. We can adjust the contract if you want a bigger cut.¡± I felt bad at this rate, even ten percent was kind of low.
¡°No, it¡¯s fine. Just when you get things set up here, I would like you to take a trip to my kingdom and set up shop there as well. Not so much with the pens but your other idea there.¡± I guess he is talking about the hover carriages. They would make things much easier, especially if they are hauling lots of goods around.
¡°I would need to talk with His Majesty before I make any decisions outside the kingdom itself. Maybe if we signed a trade agreement or some kind of alliance between the two nations.¡± I really did not know how that all worked, so I was just speaking what came to mind.
¡°Hmmm¡ alliance, huh? That may be possible. But we will need to wait until an actual prototype is actually working and call over a delegation to see it themselves. Bah! Politics was never my thing.¡± Thurul downed his cup of coffee in one go and stood up. ¡°I be off. You take care, Lass.¡±
¡°Mmm¡ You too! Make sure youe to the tournament to watch me win!¡± I said with a wide grin.
Thurul smiled back as he said: ¡°You betcha!¡±
¡°Not if I can help it!¡± Sei must have seen my deration as a challenge because she quickly jumped in on my words.
¡°Okay, let¡¯s finish up our coffee and start on that barrier!¡± I really wanted to know the inner workings of these barriers that allowed you to register people to them. This would make things much easierter on.
Thirty minutester, I was standing next to Sei in front of arge stone we had just moved and embedded into the ground in the center of the plot ofnd. This was just arge rock, nothing really special about it, but that was what was toe next. ¡°Okay, to do a barrier correctly, we will use this stone as its core. Now the trick is the inscription. First, cast the barrier you wish to use. I would suggest one that blocks people from leaving or entering. The idea is to make the barrier as strong as possible. The core itself will then be protected by a multiyer barrier making it impossible to break from the inside unless the person is stronger than the caster.¡±
Chapter 112 Setting Up The Barrier Part 2
¡°Oh? Does it need to be done with multiple barriers? What about a barrier that can¡¯t be destroyed unless the caster runs out of mana?¡± I could not do this, or I would be outing myself to be someone with infinity mana, but this did not mean I could not ask the question. I was generally interested in what Sei would say to such a question.
¡°It¡¯s not that it can not be done but who in their right mind would put themselves at risk?¡± Sei countered with her own question. I could only give a dryugh. I mean, I couldn¡¯t run out of mana, but that did not mean others couldn¡¯t.
¡°Okay, anyway, how does this inscription work anyway?¡± I decided to change the subject.
¡°Basically, to inscribe anything, you need the mana capacity for it as it will take up a lot of mana to write out the entire runic equation, unlike casting a spell where you use your mana to create a magic circle that needs to be activated in a short time. Runic inscription only needs you to infuse mana into the runes. Of course, these runes will need to be recharged every so often, but that is nothing major and only takes a few minutes. It is the inscription that takes a while. So watch closely because the process is very delicate.¡± I watched as Sei¡¯s finger lit up with a ball of mana. Not magic but actual pure mana. It was not my first time seeing such a thing, but what I saw next really caught my attention.
She ced her finger onto the stone and pressed it into it, causing her finger to sink into the stone as if it was a hot knife cutting butter. She then began to proceed to write out the runic inscription that tied this stone to my barrier, making it the core of the barrier. Now all someone had to do was inject their mana into the stone to register themselves as a person living here, and they could then pass through the barrier unimpeded like how I could at the inn. Just seeing how it all worked reminded me that I still have a long way to go on my journey of magic.-.
While Sei was actually going quite quickly with the inscription, I could see the beads of sweat forming on her forehead. While it looked simple, the task of inscribing runes into anything was delicate and needed precise mana control. It took her almost an hour toplete the entire inscription, and only then did she let out a sigh of relief: ¡°Done. All that is left is for you to pour in enough mana to allow the barrier and the inscription to stay functional. It will also register you as the main owner of the core.¡±
I nodded and ced my hand on the inscription. I slowly began to inject my mana into the stone, and as I did, the runes grew brighter and brighter as my mana infused into them until Sei¡¯s mana waspletely overwritten, and only my mana remained. I caught the bitter smile on Sei¡¯s lips as I continued to pour my mana into the runes. About ten minutes had passed before I finally removed my hand and created a fiveyer barrier around the stone. ¡°There¡.¡±
¡°You really do amaze me. You just injected enough mana tost a few years¡.¡± Sei¡¯s words made me purse my lips. My understanding of what is too much is something I am not too good at figuring out. What is normal for me is freakish in the eyes of others. But at least now, I do not need to deal with the core for a while. Now it was just registering everyone.
I called a meeting of all of the residents on this plot ofnd to finally figure out who was working and who was not. I stood up on the makeshift stage and looked out over everyone here. ¡°As I said before, I will not be providing any help to those who do not wish to work for it. One must understand that in order to survive, one must work. But I promise that by working, you will be able to live better lives and that you will be making a fair wage and get the benefits that any other person would get. You are not ves but people who are just trying to live your lives.
¡°The barrier to protect this area is now up. Those who will be staying to work for me are wee to register themselves and their families to be able to pass through the barrier freely. No one will be able to endanger your lives anymore. Your safety will be secure while within the bounds of the barrier. This means you can sleep at ease at night from now on.¡± I looked out over the crowd that was looking back at me with eyes full of hope and smiled. This was the first step, the first step in reiming the slums and making them a better ce for those who wish to live good lives.
It took almost the entire day to finish registering all those who were staying. From young to old, as long as they could move, their mana freely was registered. Younger kids who were not old enough would be registered on the day they were old enough. After a while, I will have someone be the leader of this group, and they will be able to register new people as they see fit. Of course, I would deal with those who abused their power as well. Hopefully, it will nevere down to that.
With everything set, I walked home with Sophie and Sei in tow. It was going to be nice sleeping in the same bed. Tomorrow I would have to hand out jobs for everyone, but for tonight I just wanted everyone to rest. The more important things would begin tomorrow.
But now my house has a new resident. Sei was going to be living with me as my personal bodyguard. Not that I need one but to have a ck knight with me in case anything happens actually puts my mind at ease. There were going to be a lot of things happening soon due to me taking over the east side slums and the increased knight presence patrolling the streets. Each aspect of the changes toe will affect many nobles, which means they will either¡
A: Target me.
B: Target someone around me.
C: Or go after the Prince.
While I would preferably like for them to target the prince since it would make things easier but if they target anyone I hold dear, I might end up losing it and will end up flipping the entire capital upside down until I find the one responsible. There is just no way around it. Whatever punishment I am to get, I will deal with after the fact.
As we entered the house, Annie and the other girls were already preparing dinner. The scent of the meal they were making filled the air making my stomach grumble. ¡°Annie, Rina, Brooke, I¡¯m home!¡±
¡°Young Miss! You are okay!¡± Annie called out in a worried voice as she rushed into the room along with the other two girls. I was not able to tell them I was staying outside. So I am sure they were worried.
Scratching my head, I have an apologetic look as I said: ¡°Sorry for worrying you. The King showed up yesterday, and we ended up staying upte, and since I still had things to do at the plot ofnd, we ended up staying the night.¡±
¡°I am just d you are okay, Young Miss. The food is almost ready, so please wait a little while.¡± Annie was always on the move. After she finished speaking, she bowed to me and ran off. Although Brooke seemed more worried about Sophie because she was still checking her out to make sure there was nothing wrong with her. Sophie and Brooke really did get along well. I was d to see it. Even now, Sophie was flustered as to what to do with the little girl, but she still let Brooke hop around her as she did her inspection.
¡°I guess with you here, I will be invisible.¡± Sei said while fake sobbing.
¡°They are just worried because Sophie and I did note home yesterday.¡±
¡°I know, but I am amazed. Besides Annie, the other girls were having trouble being around others, but they seemed to have warmed up to you real quick. I mean, Rina is still inspecting your tail and wings for the tiniest of scratches.¡± As Sei said, Sophie was not the only one getting a full body check. I was too. Rina had been hopping around me this entire time looking for the smallest scratch. I did find it amusing though. I will have to be sure to reward the girlster and take them all out to eat.
Chapter 113 Tournament Starts
As the days passed, I assigned everyone at the plot ofnd with jobs and made sure everyone only worked eight hours max and had at least two breaks and a lunch break during the day. After that, I began settling a few other things while keeping my eyes and ears open for any signs of nobles trying to mess around.
And now, finally, it was the day of the tournament, and I was currently standing with my maids, Sei, Thurul, Sophie, Fred, and a very disgruntled Gesel. ¡°Sei, why are you even here!? And what is with that get up!? Why are you looking like you are Faith¡¯s age!?¡±
¡°Gesel, for someone who is always looking for a fight, why do you alwaysin when I am around? Is it because you can not win against me?¡± Sei asked with a teasing smile on her face causing Gesel to stamp her feet in frustration. I guess she couldn¡¯t retort Sei¡¯s words.
¡°Not that it matters since I will be the one to win today.¡± I decided to throw mes on the fire, which caused both girls to turn to me and yell out: ¡°¡±Not if I can help it!¡±¡± They were perfectly in sync.
¡°There he is.¡± Sei pointed over to an older man with no shirt on with big muscles and many scars all over his body. ¡°That is Sir Derek Tandor, the one who is going to be rated highest to win the tournament.¡±
¡°Is he really that well known?¡± I asked. I mean, I thought the ck knights were like some kind of secret organization, but the more I learn about them, the more I am disappointed in how well known they are. But then again, I should have figured that out quickly after the king arrived with them surrounding him.-.
¡°He is very well known for the war against the Holkindine Kingdom to the southeast. They barely boarded our kingdom, but they forced their way in, taking quite a bit ofnd fifty years back. It was Sir Derek Tandor who pushed back an army of one million with a single group of one hundred soldiers. He is very powerful. And that was before he joined the ck knights.¡±
I frowned upon hearing this. Sir Derek was basically a living legend among legends. But to be able to use only one hundred men to push back an army of over one million. What kind of tactics did he even use? It kind of makes me wonder if I were sane and went out onto the battlefield if I could do the same thing. When I first fought the Norian army near my home, I was sane for a good portion of it, but I did note up with any good ns right away. Now that I think about it, as they were all on the ground, I could have just made a massive pitfall and filled it back up, and then the entire army would have disappeared. But that would only work if I caught them by surprise.
The second time I fought, I was sane, but I was also using it as a learning experience and needed the men under me to also participate. If It was not for that, I might have won the battle much faster. But I guess inexperience will also do that to a person as well.
¡°Oh, he¡¯s walking over here. Looks like Sei is in for it!¡± Gesel teased, causing Sei to purse her lips. I wonder if Sir Derek was mad or not. His facial expression was very hard to read. He looked stern and had a kind of pressure about him when you looked into his eyes, but for some reason, he seemed to be in a good mood. I am not sure why I thought this way, though.
But to everyone¡¯s surprise, including my own, Sir Derek did not walk over to Sei but over to me and ced his calloused hand on top of my head. ¡°Faith Cyrilia, I presume?¡±
¡°Ah yes. It is a pleasure to meet you, Sir Derek.¡± I answered, a bit confused as to why he was rubbing the top of my head.
¡°Haha! To think so young yet was able to send the Norian army packing. Not letting a single one go. You have my gratitude. I hope to see you in the finals.¡± Sir Derek stopped there before turning around and walking away, leaving me with a messy set of hair and a very confused look on my face.
¡°Ummm¡¡± I couldn¡¯t even figure out what to say as Ibed my hair with my fingers.
¡°Don¡¯t even try to think of what is going on inside that old man¡¯s head. But I will say that being praised by him is a good thing.¡± Sei exined while letting out a sigh of relief. ¡°At least he didn¡¯t notice me!¡±
¡°Haha!¡± Gesel let out augh. She seemed to be happy that she found a way to tease Sei back.
¡°Attention, Ladies and Gentlemen!¡± A loud voice came from up on a high stage that overlooked the battle stages below. The voice made me look out over the few hundred dirt mounded stages and only now really grasped just how many people would be entering this tournament. The man on the high stage was an older man with ck hair, but you could tell by the wrinkles around his eyes that he was much older than he looked.
¡°Thepetition will be done in two sections. The first section will be a free for all round. Each stage will continue to fight until there is only one person left per stage. Then the one on one battles will take ce until we hit the semi finals and finals.¡± Hearing the exnation, I kinda got the feeling the person announcing things did not wish to be the announcer. But from what I understood, the free for all was to reduce the numbers until there was a smaller even amount. And he did emphasize the fact that fighting would continue until there was only one person per stage, which meant that fighting could continue for days. I see now why there was such a long time frame for the event.
¡°Get to your stage ording to the number you were given upon entry.¡± The old man yelled out. I looked down at my wooden token that read entry number ten thousand seventy two and stage forty five. Luckily no one in my group had the same stage number.
¡°I guess this is it. I will see you all during the single matches.¡± I said with a smile to Sei and Gesel.
¡°You better make it. Don¡¯t get kicked out in the first round. I want to have our rematch!¡± Gesel seemed to be really pumped and ready to fight.
¡°Yes, see you in the finals!¡± Sei yelled as she ran away. I guess she was really looking forward to this. Gesel left soon after as well, leaving me alone with Thurul and the others.
¡°Thurul, I will leave it up to you to watch after everyone.¡± I hated putting him on the spot like this, but if they were with Thurul, they would be much safer in case any nobles decide to make a move.
¡°Don¡¯t worry. Just kick some butt. I will be rootin for ya. Remember this is to gain funds for yourpany, so don¡¯t go losing now, you hear?¡± Thurul grinned widely as he said this. He was really trying toy on the pressure, I could tell.
¡°I will do my best. I will see you allter!¡± I said before going to run off towards my stage but felt a tug on my shirt, causing me to turn around. Sophie had her head lowered, holding on to me. ¡°Sophie?¡±
¡°Be careful!¡± Sophie said softly before hugging me. I smiled warmly and hugged her back. I guess she was worried I would get hurt.
¡°Don¡¯t worry, I wille back safe and sound. Actually, I have an idea I wanted to try, so let¡¯s hope it works, and I will be back in a jiffy.¡± I said while patting her back. After a few more seconds, she let go and nodded her head before moving to Turul¡¯s side. I gave a wave and headed off myself. I really wonder just how strong the fighters will be on my stage.
I quickly found my stage and jumped up on top of it, and began looking around. I can not deny that I am a bit excited right now. I mean, I would finally get to do the whole tournament arc that I saw in novels. While this is not on a grand scale as some of those. The world is not being held on the line based on the oue of the tournament, but that does not mean I was not any less excited.
But as I looked around at all the prospective strong guys. My eyes fell on a certain young man that I could swear I had seen before¡.. ¡°Is that¡. No, it couldn¡¯t be. No way! Why him of all people! Why is he waving!? Why is heing this way!?¡±
¡°Haha! We meet again! Do you remember me!? I am Charles Doli! The Hero of Gravos!¡±
Chapter 114 Jack In The Box
¡°Do you have my money?¡± The first question to leave my mouth seemed to have frozen Charles in ce as he stared at me in confusion.
¡°Money?¡± Charles¡¯ eyes suddenly went wide, but he quickly shook his head as he replied: ¡°I have no idea what you are talking about.¡±
¡°Oh? So the great Hero of Gravos can¡¯t even remember his debts. You do not remember the ten million gold you owe me!?¡± I know I overshot the actual amount he owed, but he lied just now, so we can say it is just punishment.
¡°What ten million!? It was only like a thousand something before!¡± Charles blurted out before covering his mouth. My lips couldn¡¯t help but twitch. It seems the idiot in him was still there.
A sly grin appeared on my face as I said: ¡°Did you think the amount you owed would note without its interest? It was one hundred percent interest, plus more.¡± Humph! Trying to get out of owing me money. I do not think so!-.
¡°I¡. I will give you the money I get when I win this tournament.¡± Charles lowered his head. I guess he wasing to terms with owing me money, but his words irked me. I mean, he was basically saying he was going to win against me¡.
¡°I guess some idiots just do not learn¡.¡± I mumbled as I shook my head.
¡°Huh? Did you say something?¡± Charles looked at me, causing me to shake my head once more. And that was when I heard the golden words of the day¡.. ¡°Begin!¡±
My eyes lit up magic circles as I smiled brightly at Charles and waved: ¡°Goodbye! Catapult!¡± The entire stage, except for where I was standing suddenly shot up into the sky, leaning towards the right, sending them off to the other side of the stadium. Their screams filled the air as they flew through the air. As for the Hero? No idea. He was the one I made sure got sent flying the furthest. ¡°Uh¡. Stage forty five finished!¡±
An uproar filled the crowd that was watching. Well, I mean, I guess I went kind of overboard. I just turned the entire stage into a catapult and sent the entire group of one thousand some odd contestants, into the sky. I even think somended on other stages. I scratched my head and walked off the stage. I am not sure what happens when contestantsnd on other stages, but I do know that I will now get to watch the other stages and scope out thepetition.
I made my way to the stands, where I found Sophie and the others waiting for me. ¡°Faith, that was amazing!¡± Sophie jumped up and hugged me, her tail wagging and her ears twitching.
¡°Hahahaha! Lass, you did not disappoint! I think that was the fastest anyone had ever won the preliminary matches ever since this tournament first started.¡± Thurul gave me a big smile and a thumbs up.
I did n to do a pitfall, but I did not wish to ruin the stage. At least with a catapult, it will toss the contestants away from the stage while reverting back to its original state without needing to kill anyone. However, I might still use a pitfall on Gesel during our match together if we do face off. I just want to see her reaction when she loses the ground under her feet. I can make her think she has me only to cast pitfall around me, leaving her standing on air. Just thinking about her reaction made me giggle on the inside. But this magic does seem pretty effective. If used in a surprise attack, it will work out well, I think.
I sat down next to Sophie and looked out over the battle stages. I was looking for that old man. He was the one I was mostly concerned about. It was as if Thurul could read my mind because he leaned over and whispered: ¡°If you are looking for the old man, he is on the far right.¡±
I turned to where Thurul was pointing to see the old manughing away as he walked around punching people off the stage. ¡°It looks like he is concealing his true strength.¡±
¡°That he is. He hasn¡¯t used a single move at all. I have been keeping a good eye on him. Sophie is watching that Sei girl for you as well.¡± Thurul exined.
I nodded. Knowing your opponents always helps in the uing battles. Sophie was nice enough to point to Sei¡¯s stage, and surprisingly she was doing a simr thing as the old man. I guess two people who worked together would have a bit of the same strategy. Luckily I only used a single spell to end the entire free for all match. The only thing I regret is not seeing the look on that idiot¡¯s face after he crashed into the ground and realized his deration of winning was nothing more than that, a deration from an idiot.
I scanned the stages and saw quite a few people that stuck out. One girl had a huge fan and was blowing people off stage using wind magic. Another girl with rabbit ears was swinging arge sledge hammer around like a top. Each spin caused more people to fly out in the opposite direction. There was even this one girl who kept making ice spikes and stabbing people in the butt with them. Just the sight of it made me clench my butt cheeks.
I continued to scan the crowd for quite some time. I did find Gesel. She seemed to be having more fun fighting than actually reaching the goal of winning. However, I did find one person who seemed to be a big obstacle. They were wielding magic like it was nothing, casting spell after spell. They wore a ck cloak and seemed to be quite powerful. ¡°I wonder how far they will make it.¡±
I could not see if they were a man or woman, but I did know I wanted to try fighting someone who was good with magic. To think I went from being a bookworm in my past life to someone who would say, I want to try fighting someone. I mean, I never cared for fighting in my past life at all, but I guess the difference in worlds and growing up all over again will change a person¡¯s personality a bit.
The sun began to set, and the battles were still going on. I leaned back in my seat and continued to watch as things unfolded. Sophie was curled up on the seat next to me, using myp as a pillow, sound asleep, while Annie sat on the other side in the middle of two seats, herp also upied by the other two girls who sat on each side of her. I was not sure if she was asleep or not herself because she was leaning back with her eyes closed.
A few of the battle stages had ended already, but none of them were with people I knew. The hooded figure had won their stage just a few hours ago. Most people would not use magic during this stage, I realized. I guess it is because mana was limited for most people. So the fights were not going too well on some stages. They were all stuck in long, drawn out battles.
Yawning, I looked at the people I knew, and they were still horsing around with smiles on their faces. I guess they do not get to have this kind of fun all the time. ¡°Lass, you seem to havepany¡.¡±
¡°Huh?¡± I was a bit confused by Thurul¡¯s words until I looked down the aisle to see the hooded figure from the battle stages walking over to me. They walked right up and stood in front of me, and removed their hood.
Pointy ears, blonde hair, and blue eyes. ¡°My name is Runa. Your name is Faith Cyrilia, correct?¡±
I tilted my head and looked at Runa, a bit confused. ¡°That is what I am called, Miss Runa. But may I know how you know my name or, in fact, how you know who I am altogether?¡±
¡°Your name is not only known by us elves but by many. Two sessive grand fall scale magic spells along with a strange magic that continually casts fireballs. I came to the capital in hopes of meeting you. So I was happy to see that you had joined the tournament.¡± Runa exined, but her words made me frown. How did the elves know so much about me? It kind of made me wary of the girl in front of me. She looked no more than fifteen at most but knowing the elves¡¯ lifespan, she was probably in her fifties or hundreds. But even if she was my age, this did not mean I would let my guard down.
¡°It is kind of rude to be checking up on people without their consent, is it not?¡± I asked. I couldn¡¯t help but sound a little angry. I do not know about others, but I hate when people poke into my privacy.
¡°I do apologize if it seems like that, but for those who wish to know, they can easily find out. After all, information about you is not hard to find out. Rumors will spread after all.¡±
Chapter 115 Birds Of The Same Feather Will Always Flock Together
I still couldn¡¯t help but frown. I really did not wish for people to know about what I was capable of, but I guess at the time, I did not have time to really think about how to deal with the situation. ¡°Miss Runa, you could still have pretended not to have known.¡± I said with pursed lips.
But I guess Runa found my words funny because she chuckled. ¡°That Is true, but I still have to say that your feats truly amaze me. I had to run all the way here just to meet you. It was hard to escape my guards, you know.¡±
Runa¡¯s words made me feel as if maybe this Runa girl was far from being a normal everyday elf. Not that I know what a normal everyday elf is but still. Only idiots like Prince Lance, The hero idiot, and every other person I consider to be an idiot would not realize what Runa was implying. ¡°I see. So you ran all the way here. Well¡. I guess with how you were casting magic, it would be quite safe for you to travel alone. But there are many strong people in the world, so you shouldn¡¯t run off like that.¡±
¡°This is true¡. Well, I did send a message to my father telling him I would be in this kingdom for a while. He only has himself to me, after all, he was the one who told me about you.¡± Runa said with a wide smile. Like an elf princess running away to the neighboring kingdom was no big deal at all.
¡°You do know that a member of any kind of royaltying to a neighboring kingdom unannounced looks bad, right? You should have at least announced your visit to the King of Gravos.¡± This was something I read about Gravosw. Royal members of other countries are supposed to announce their visits. Otherwise, it could mean they were here to spy or form ties with nobles for one reason or another.
¡°Don¡¯t worry. I did stop in and see Uncle Gravos. He then told me stories about you. Although, I did only visit him in secret. I know better than to not show proper etiquette. But I will say from what I heard, he holds you in very high regard. Also, it seems you were able to tell just from a few lines I spoke who I am. Very observant!¡± Runa said with a smile.-.
I could only shake my head at this. Just thinking back to the drunken King when he let himself free speaking with proper etiquette seemed kind of strange to me. Since I now knew Runa was not a threat, I drew a small magic circle with my finger causing a stone chair to suddenly rise up from the stone of the aisle. ¡°Since you wish to talk, it would be best to sit.¡±
¡°Thank you.¡± Runa did not stand on ceremony as she took a seat, crossed her legs, and looked me up and down. ¡°How did you do it? Two grand falls one after the other while shooting out so much magic on top of it all. Just how in the world did you do such a thing? How much mana does your small body hold?¡±
¡°Enough, I guess¡?¡± I really did not know how to answer that. Of course, it was not like I could tell the truth either. ¡°At that time, I was not even thinking I could have killed myself if I was not careful.¡±
¡°This is true. If you did not have enough mana to be able to continue, you would have died. But I am more interested in how you did it so quickly. It was said the spells were almost instantaneous.¡± Runa¡¯s eyes glowed with excitement which reminded me of someone I knew very well¡ who was it again¡. I tapped my chin for a second before it finally came to me¡. Yes, to me¡. I was thinking about my crazy self!
¡°Is she okay?¡± I heard Runa ask Thurul.
¡°Ah, don¡¯t mind her. She does this a lot.¡± Thurul replied while waving the whole question off. But I, for one, wanted to know what I was doing to make such a question even pop up!
¡°Ummm¡ Why did you ask if I was okay?¡± I asked while pursing my lips.
¡°Well¡. You nked out and began tapping your chin while nodding and giggling.¡±
¡°What!? Was I really!?¡± This was news to me. No one had ever mentioned anything like that to me before. I never knew I did such things!
¡°You¡¯re doing it again!¡± Runa said whileughing. But I could only furrow my brow.
¡°Leave me alone¡.¡± I said while pouting. I can¡¯t help it, okay! I get lost in thought, and my mind begins to wander. Clearing my throat, I continued: ¡°Ahem¡. Anyway¡. All spells have to be cast within five seconds, so it is just a matter of practicing, is it not?¡±
¡°Even if that is the case, even our best mages can not cast it as quickly as my father said you can. Can you show me the magic circle?¡± Runa asked. I could see her excitement about to explode out of her body. I wonder if she realizes that when she is excited, her ears twitch.
¡°Sure.¡± I nodded with a smile before extending my hand and twirling my finger once. This was all it took for the magic circle to suddenly appear. The oppressive aura this one magic circle gave showed that it was a true high tier magic spell.
¡°Amazing! I am so d I came. To think I could meet someone who could cast grand fall in such a short amount of time. If you wanted to, you could destroy an entire kingdom by yourself, and yet you are still so young.¡± Runa pped as she gazed at the magic circle.
¡°It is only a matter of concentration and continuous practice. You see.¡± I drew six more in a row, all of which hovered in the air in between Runa and I. I could see the shocked expression on her face. And with a wave of my hand, all of them disappeared. ¡°I am a bit of a magic nut. I like creating spells of my own when I have time.¡±
¡°Really!?¡± Runa shouted, causing Sophie to groan but did not make her wake up. Runa covered her mouth as she whispered an apology.
¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± I stroked Sophie¡¯s hair, causing her to shift slightly, but she continued to sleep peacefully.
¡°You really make your own spells? I mean¡. Just the thought of creating a spell takes a lot of time and practice.¡±
¡°That is true, which is why I only work with lower level spells. Like the catapult spell, I used earlier was one of my own creations using earth wall as a base.¡± I exined. Runa seemed to be hooked onto every one of my words. Just knowing she was a magic nut like myself put her into my good people book, which is where she will stay until she does something that makes me lose trust in her.
¡°I see! To think that you were able to alter the spell so easily. I have tried many times, but for some reason, my magic circles always feel iplete.¡± Runa exined as she lifted her hand and began drawing a magic circle in the air. ¡°This here is me axe. I wanted to try to use me spear as a base to shift and transform it into an actual weapon that only the caster could use.¡±
My eyes opened wide when I saw the magic circle. It was very intricate. She was definitely on to something, though. I gazed at the magic equation, trying to pick it apart. ¡°Hmmm¡ This part here and over here¡.. ¡°
¡°Hey, Runa, why did you inject this into the equation here? Shouldn¡¯t it be this rune, like this?¡±
¡°Huh? Wait, yes, if it is like this¡..¡±
Four hourster, the two of us were sitting there with bright smiles on our faces. I have to say Runa is quite amazing at runes. The process of turning magic into a weapon was not easy at all. Especially if it was one that you can hold in your hand and still get it to act like the weapon you are trying to make. But these four hours were not wasted. Runa stood in front of me with a two handed axe in her hands. The me arched off of it here and there as the tips of the mes rolled around its body.
¡°Faith, thank you so so much. I have been wanting toplete this spell for many years now. And now¡.. I really owe you!¡± Runa¡¯s eyes never left the me axe.
I thought for a moment before drawing another magic circle: ¡°me sword!¡±
¡°What!? You already altered it!?¡± Runa cried out in surprise. This was definitely truly amazing. The me sword in my hand really did not feel like anything, but I was able to wave it around as if it was a normal sword without it losing too much shape.
Chapter 116 Next Stage!
¡°Mmma€| Once you know the equation, it is simple to alter it a bit to fit your needs.¡± I exined with a smile. What I did not say, though, was that I already nned to take this creation a step further and create what I would like to call ¡®Gates of Faithylon¡¯. I know the name is not the best, but I figure it would be cool to transform the spell into something not only deadly but beautiful at the same time. Just imagining thousands of whirlpools of mes appearing in the air to have thousands of me swordse out of those whirlpools makes me shiver in excitement. Of course, this is not an original idea. I once read a novel online that had such things in it. At any rate, it was a neat idea, and now that I have a sword that can burn as well as slice, I am very happy to begin crafting such a spell.
¡°To think you are able to change the spell in such a short time right after it was created.¡± Runa seemed a bit exhausted. I guess I would be the same if the spell I had been working on for so long was easily pulled apart and transformed into a new spell in almost an instant.
¡°Hmmma€| But you can do a lot with this spell, using the same equation and changing the element like so.¡± I waved my hand and created four different magic circles that each created a different elemental sword.?
¡°This is so not fair! Faith, you like to bully people, don¡¯t you?¡± Runa asked with a pout. It was not that I wanted to bully her, but I finally found someone other than my father, who was a magic freak like myself. So I was just kind of showing off.
Runa and I talked into the early morning hours. The fighting on the stages was still going on, so after a long yawn, Runa decided to head back to her inn room to rest up. She did ask me where I was staying but cried about the fact that I was moving after the tournament was over and would be starting school. I think her exact words were: ¡°I will go talk to the king about this!¡±? So I can only guess that she ns to get a form of residence on the floating ind and maybe even enter the academy. This, however, was only an assumption.-.
As for me, I stayed to watch thest of the battles. Sir Derek had won his battle after punching every person off the battle stage. Sei did the same as well, and Gesel threw each person off the stage after toying with them for a while. While the way they went about things was a little off, I had already expected them to win their stages. This now left the tournament with one thousand people in the next round, which was one on one fights. I can only guess this will be a progression match system done on multiple stages.?
I did not have to wait long to find out about this either.? Because as soon as thest battle ended, the announcer appeared and was standing up on the high stage once more. ¡°As all the battle stages have finished, and we have all contestants here in the stadium, we will now disy the one versus one battle chart.¡±
The announcer waved his hand, and a battle chart with the names of each contestant appeared high in the air. But what I did not understand was that he said all contestants were here. Runa left a while ago. ¡°Faith!¡± A whiny voice filled my ear, causing me to turn to my left. I saw Runa, who was covered in dirt, had her hair all standing straight up, walking over to me with a face full of tears.?
I was not really sure if I should ask or not with how Runa looked, but I figured I would ask because I was very curious as to why she looked like she rolled around in the dirt. ¡°Uhhha€| Runaa€|. What happened?¡±?
¡°When I tried to leave, the guards said I couldn¡¯t leave until the round was over as I am a participant. And well, I yelled at them and even threatened to use magic on them, but they wouldn¡¯t budge. So I tried to climb the wall, but who would have thought that it was rigged to electrocute people who tried to climb over it!? I was so tired I ended up passing out there. But then the guard kicked me and told me that I couldn¡¯t sleep there!¡± I truly did not know what to say to this silly elf girl. Who in their right mind would just fall asleep where they fell after getting electrocuted if they were still conscious, to begin with!? Yes, I understand she was tired, but still, this was just too much!?
I mean, she knew I was still in the stands. Why didn¡¯t she juste back and sit by me!? I guess I will just never understand how some people¡¯s brains work. While she was a genius at magic she seems to be an air head when it came to other things. It actually makes me wonder just how she got to the capital in one piece. I find it quite amazing how your perception of someone can be ruined by a single incident. Like, say, a boy who really liked a girl who he thought was kind hearted and sweet. Only to one day hear her swearing and kicking someone while shaking down the person she was stepping on. It was a difference between night and day. While it was not to such an extreme in this case, it was still quite surprising to see the sudden shift in personality after showing me the magic crazy side of her, who was intelligent and knew exactly what she was talking about.
At any rate, I guess the same could be said about me as well. Although, I will deny it to the ends of the world. ¡°Runa, look up at the sky.¡±?
¡°Oh?¡± Runa looked up at the sky and frowned. ¡°I am not going to have to fight now, right? I am really tired!¡±
¡°I am not sure the announcer has not said anything since creating thea€|.¡±
Before I could even finish my words, the announcer once again spoke up. ¡°Battles will be held tomorrow morning! Make sure you are here by first morning bell. Now go and get some rest!¡±
¡°Looks like we can finally leave. To be honest, I expected the first round to take much longer.¡± I did not think the first round of battles would be done in a day and a night, but then again, once people started getting tired, it was only a matter of time, I guess. Fighting for so many hours was bound to make people with lower stamina quickly tap out.
¡°Now we can leave!? Then why did they keep me here in the first ce!? Why did the wall electrocute me!? Why did the guard kick me!?¡± Runa seemed very stressed out.
¡°Well, Runa, I will see you tomorrow. I need to get plenty of rest for my next battles.¡± I shook the still sleeping Sophie to wake her up. She groaned but still raised her head and looked at me while rubbing her eyes. ¡°Is it over?¡±
¡°Just the first round. We are heading home now.¡± I answered as I stood up and stretched. Annie seemed to have already been awake, so she shook the other two maids to wake them before standing up herself.?
¡°Young Miss, should I prepare some breakfast before you go to sleep?¡± Annie asked.
¡°Mmma€| I am sure Sei willin if she has nothing to eat. Or she might have dragged Gesel off already. I am not sure. She never came to see me after she won her stage.¡± I answered. But for some reason, I could feel a set of eyes burning into the side of my head. ¡°Runa, if you have something to say, please say it.¡±
¡°Can Ie over to eat as well!?¡± Runa asked. I sighed and nodded. I mean, there was no reason not to invite her over. Buta€|. ¡°No magic talk. After we eat, I want to sleep.¡±
¡°Yes, mam!!¡± Runa answered as if she was talking to a teacher. I am starting to wonder if Runa was younger than I thought.?
¡°Runa, I know this might sound rude, but how old are you?¡± I decided to give in to my curiosity and ask.
¡°Me? Fourteen this year!¡± Runa answered while putting her hands on her hips and raising her nose in the air.? While I was confused as to why she was so proud of her age, for her to be only fourteen surprised me. I mean with her knowledge in magic at her age truly makes her a genius. While I have a photographic memory due to my stats, the idea of someone without such a thing being able to remember so much truly amazes me. Then again, I do not know much about elves in the first ce. And it is not like I can ask if I can dissect her to try to figure out how she ticks either. Not that I would.
But now that I am thinking about it. I wonder if she thinks the same as me since I am almost a year and a half younger. Or maybe she is just saying she is young but in truth she is two hundred and fourteen!? Well to be honest I have no right to say she is lying nor do I have the right to say she is telling the truth either. I can only go by what facts areid out in front of me.
Chapter 117 Battle Stages Part 1
In the end, I ended up sleeping until the next day. As soon as I ate, I felt so tired that I almost passed out at the table. I think I only woke up one time, and that was when Sophie crawled into bed with me. You would think I would wake right up if I felt someone climbing into my bed out of nowhere, but I could smell Sophie¡¯s scent, so I knew it was okay.
It was now early in the morning. The sun had yet toe up, but my inn room was lit up like a christmas tree. Annie and the other two maids were busy preparing for the long day packing all kinds of food that they had been cooking sincest night, I guess. Thurul hade over an hour ago and was sitting in the living area talking with Runa and Sei, who seemed to have hit it off quite well. Why Runa was even here, though, was beyond me. I guess she must have stayed the night. And with how Sei and Runa were getting along, I guess she stayed in Sei¡¯s room.
And currently, I am eating arge breakfast. There was plenty of meat and eggs to go around. Toast with jam and with what I call this world¡¯s fried sweet potatoes. There were even a few desserts to make sure I had enough sugar in me as well. It might seem like I am overeating, but this was because I would probably not have much time between matches. Gesel had mentioned something before about how they make you wait on your battle stage after winning a match. I guess it was because they needed to keep track of all participants.
After a hearty meal, everyone got everything together and packed the carriage. Sei had gotten us arger carriage this time around because there were so many people. It was kinda like the limousine of carriages. It had side sears instead of the normal front to back seating. With our items ced securely in an overheadpartment, we all headed off to the stadium.-.
It took about an hour to get to the stadium, then another ten minutes to get to the entrance so we could get our things and get off. Many people were doing the same as we were and had many things in their hands as they made their way into the stadium. Because the stadium was between an outer section and an inner section, one could set up tents and camp out duringpetitions like this.
A lot of people who came from out of town, whether they were a contestant or not, would take up a small spot in order to save on costs. There were never any issues about any bad things going on. The guards at the stadium were all very strong and patrolled day and night. The gates were even closed after a certain time at night unless the battles were still going on. So it was one of the safest ces to be for thoseing to the tournament.
As we made our way inside, I had to separate from Thurul, Sophie, and the other girls. I walked with Sei and Runa to the battle stage area. But before we could pass through the doors, we were met by two people. ¡°Gesel! Sir Derek!¡±
¡°Geh! Sei!¡± Gesel wanted to run and hide but was quickly pulled back by Sei.
¡°Gesel, I was looking all over for you yesterday after the matches. I was wondering why you were having so much trouble with your battle stage¡ Let¡¯s have a nice chat before the next portion of the tournament begins, shall we?¡± Gesel turned and looked at me for help, but I just so happened to have seen a spot on the stone ceiling that looked quite interesting. I guess it wasn¡¯t only me who thought this was as well since Sir Derek and even Runa were staring at different spots as well.
I could hear Gesel¡¯s pleas for help echoing down the hall. I felt bad, but I would rather not have to deal with Sei either. I turned and looked at Sit Derek and greeted him. ¡°Good to see you this morning.¡±
¡°Yes, it is. Little girl, I came to give you a warning.¡± Sir Derek leaned over and whispered into my ear. ¡°Some of the nobles have ced fighters in the tournament when they heard you had signed up. They n to make an ident happen.¡±
¡°Oh? Hehe¡¡± Now, this was interesting information. So they decided to start with me before doing anything else. ¡°It looks like I should show a bit more of my abilities during the tournament. Sir Derek, I do thank you for the information, but I thought you retired.¡±
¡°I did but passing some info on to you is a simple matter. It would have gone through Sei, but the timing of it all was not good. Too short of a notice to get someone trustworthy to pass her the news. It was found out earlier this morning. And since I was joining the fun here, the King asked me to ry the news.¡± Sir Derek exined. I guess that would be the best method. I am sure as someone who was one the top of the ck knights, he was really close with the King and had the ability to contact him outside of the normal channels.
I kinda wish I had an easier way to contact Adel. Sei has to make trips back and forth to the floating ind. Well, I am sure I will figure something out in the future. Now that I know how runic inscriptions work, I can maybe make a kind of telephone thing sometime in the future. A portable phone type device.
¡°Well, I still thank you, and I do apologize for you having to go out of your way to give me this information. But rest assured that no idiot in this ce will be able to do much harm to me.¡± I really couldn¡¯t wait to see just what these idiots have in store. Luckily they came for me first. But I know once they fail here, they will begin to do things in a more dirty manner.
¡°It¡¯s no problem. Just remember to meet me in the finals. I want to fight the littledy who can destroy the world.¡± Sir Derek said with a loudugh before turning and walking away.
¡°Why do I feel like my presence waspletely ignored!?¡± Runa whined.
¡°Because you don¡¯t stick out as much with that hood over your head. If you showed him your ears and wiggled them a bit, I am sure he would have seen you. After all, you are very cute.¡± I said in a teasing manner. This resulted in being punched in the shoulder.
With augh, I ran into the battle stage area before she could do another follow up attack. When I reached the battle stages, I stopped short because the fighters were all crowded around the center stage. Up in the air, the battle cements were in full view. I quickly found my name and saw that I was on stage number seven hundred seventy seven. I am not sure if this was supposed to be lucky or not or if this was some kind of bad omen. Either way, I did not n to lose. I turned to Runa and patted her shoulder: ¡°Don¡¯t get ignored by your opponent, or you might end up having to sleep on the battle stage.¡±
¡°You! You better not lose either. I want to fight you!¡± Runa snorted before leaning in close. ¡°Stay safe. I noticed quite a few powerful people here.¡±
I smiled and nodded my head: ¡°You as well. Good luck!¡± I gave her a wave before running off. My stage was on the other side of the stadium, so it took almost five minutes to get here after having to push through the people. They spread everyone out in case of idents, I guess. With all the stages, not many would be used at this time, but now these empty stages served as some kind of boundary between the fights. I guess I could understand this. Most during these one versus one matches, people will be going all out, which meansrger attacks of all kinds.
As for me? I nned to eject as many people out of the stadium as possible. Well, maybe not out of the stadium, but close to it, at least across the battle area itself. I know I could use bigger spells but this spell just tickled my funny bone. I mean, how many people would use catapult magic to send people flying during a match? Not to mention to block it, you would need to negate the ground under your feet as well. or you would be sailing through the skies.
When I arrived at my battle stage, my opponent was already standing on one side. He was a tall man with a long skinny sword attached to his back. To be honest, it looked like it would break if I blew on it. Not that it matters since my sword will not cross paths with his¡. Well, I at least hope so anyway.
Chapter 118 Battle Stages Part 2
¡°Hey, girly, I suggest you quit before the matches start. I do not go easy on women, never mind children.¡± The man in front of me yelled with a sinister smile. Of course, I was not affected by this at all, but I did wonder what made him think he was going to win. But more than wondering about this tantck of intelligence, I was wondering much more about which angle I should eject him to.
Ignoring the fool behind me, I looked around to see if I could knock out anyone else that was close by on another stage. But to do this, it would take the right angle and the right amount of power tounch him just right. If I am lucky, I can knock both fighters from a stage off instantly. There was no rule stating that you could not knock other people off their battle stages as well. And since there are no barriers around these stages, it was the perfect opportunity to do just that.
I couldn¡¯t even keep the mischievous grin off my face as I looked for my targets. I had only one bullet, so I needed to make sure to really make good use of it. If I was lucky and did things just right, I might even knock out two stages. ¡°Hey, you listening to me!? I said, hey, answer me! Are you giving up or not!?¡±
You know, I do wonder why this idiot behind me likes to yell so much. Is he hard of hearing, so he has to scream at the top of his lungs? Or maybe he is so dumb that he doesn¡¯t realize that I am ignoring him. Either way, him getting even more upset is good. This will bring an even more satisfying expression to his face for me to see as he is flying through the air.
I know it sounds sadistic, but what can I say? The idea of catapulting people is very entertaining. Plus, this time, I will get to watch what happens, unlike before, when I forgot to look. At any rate, I just wished things would hurry up! I want to get to sending people flying. I mean, I already got a good line of sight of the groups I want to send flying along with the idiot here.-.
Sadly I still had to wait ten minutes for everyone to actually settle down and get to their battle stages. Only then did the announcer begin to speak again. ¡°The first round of battles will nowmence!¡±
With the sound of horns ring in the air, I heard a war crying from in front of me. I watched as the tall skinny man charged toward me without hesitation with his sword in hand. It looked to me as if he truly wanted to take my life. But sadly for him, I began counting down.
¡°9!¡±
¡°8!¡±
¡°7!¡±
¡°6¡!¡±
¡°1! st off!¡±
¡°Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!¡± I heard a wonderful scream as the spot where the tall skinny man stepped suddenly sprang into action as I stepped to the side. I had already been standing in the perfect direction. I just had to count the tall skinny man¡¯s steps to get the right amount of lift. I shaded my eyes with my hand as I watched him sail overhead towards the other battle stage. He was actually flying quite fast. And the reaction of the two on the other stage as he mmed into him sending both of them flying off of it with him, was just too priceless. I am sure if I were to make those youtube videos back on Earth in my past life doing this every time, I would make a killing.
¡°Battle stage seven hundred seventy seven, contestant number one thousand seventy two, Faith Cyrilia, winner! Battle stage five hundred twenty three. Double out!¡± When I heard the announcer outting the two I hit with my contestant, I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle. It seems with so many contestants having two people kicked out due to outside interference wouldn¡¯t be an issue.
¡°Wait! We were hit by someone else¡¯s contestant!¡± One of the men crawled up from the ground and yelled out.
¡°Rules state that under any circumstances that you exit the battle stage, you will be disqualified. You both left the stage before I could call a winner, which means you are both out. Maybe next time you will keep a better eye on your surroundings, especially you who could see the man flying towards you. Now get out of here before I have you dragged out!¡± The announcer sounded very mad. I guess he didn¡¯t like people talking back to him. But when he turned towards me, the old stern face showed a slight grin as he gave me a secret thumbs up.
I knew people would love my catapult. Send them flying with everything I have, that is my job! Not only do I get entertainment myself, but I also get to entertain others. Luckily my battles end quickly, so not many get to see my schemes.
But now I can only wait. With me being so far out, it is hard for me to see anything from where I am standing. Hmmm, since I am in the stadium, I can fly, right? But using my wings will get tiring, so let¡¯s just use air walk and find a good ce to sit. ¡°Well, I am not allowed to leave my stage, so what if I just make the entire thing lift up high enough so I can see everything.¡±
With this thought in mind, my eyes lit up, and the whole stage suddenly shot up into the air. I walked over to the edge and looked out over the other battle stages. Although I do wish I had some kind of snacks so I could eat while watching them all fight.
Oh? Gesel and Sei, also just finished up. Sir Derek is tormenting his contestant. I mean, standing there with his hands on his hips whileughing at the guy hitting him with a sledgehammer is not very good sportsmanship. Well¡ Maybe I am not the one to be talking about sportsmanship. I mean, I did just send my opponent flying through the air with the intention to take out other contestants. I am not sure where that puts me on the good sportsmanship concept.
Anyway, some of the battles are not bad. There looks to be some fairly strong people. Out of everyone I know who is battling right now though, the one who stands out the most is Runa. she seems to be going kinda crazy over on her battle stage. I wonder why she must fill the entire battle stage up with mes. I kinda feel bad for the person still trying to hang on. I can see them sweating bullets to the point that there is a wet spot under their feet.
While it is fun to watch the matches, it is kind of boring sitting here by myself. There seems to be quite a few battle stages with people who are having fierce battles, but I think that is because they are all close to the same level of ability. I wonder what would happen if I identally catapulted all of them off into the space?
Not that I would do that since I would definitely be reprimanded, disqualified, and arrested. Which none of these three are things are things I wish to happen. I mean, this is one hundred gold on the line. Plus, I made promises to fight everyone. But I do think two people may pose a challenge to the others. The huge fan girl and the bunny girl seemed quite strong. If I were hit by either, I might be sent flying due to my low body weight. But I think if I weld my feet to the battle stage and use mana shield, I can ward off the attacks without turning into a kite. ¡®
My main worries are Runa, Sei, and Sir Derek. I do not know the extent of Sei and Sir Derek¡¯sbat ability, while Runa uses a lot of indirect attacks from what I can see. I just wish the twotter would give me something to work with here. ¡°Oh?¡±
It seems there may be another dark horse as well. Small in stature and has a tail. Also, wearing a cloak like Runa. I am not sure who they are, but they are easily defeating their opponent without much effort but making it seem like they are not good at fighting. I wonder how strong they truly are¡..
I guess I can only wait to find out. Let¡¯s hope I am not going to end up losing to this unknown factor. Because if I did, I might cry. Well, maybe not, but still. I owe Thurul a lot of money right now and wish to pay him back as soon as possible. While he says it¡¯s fine, I still feel bad since he has been funding my venture from the get go. I guess I should cross all my fingers and toes that I will win!
Chapter 119 Battle Stages Part 3
You know there is a saying back on Earth that I heard once. That saying was: ¡°What kind of dog shit luck does a person have to have to be so lucky.¡± While crude, its meaning is that one must be very lucky to step in dog poo. And well, the idiot on my stage for my second battle must have just that much luck. Not only did this idiot actually make it into the second round of the tournament, but he also met me for a second time. And that person is none other than the quack hero with idiot disease so far gone that he needs to be put six feet under.
I mean, I especially remember ejecting him the hardest out of the free for all in the first round. So why is he once again standing in front of me ranting on about how he was going to be a grand hero after beating me. He even called me a demon lord! Is this revenge for me making him pay me back!? ¡°And so Demon Lord, we will now settle this once and for all!¡±
¡°Ummm¡. Mr. Hero, a word please¡.¡± I quickly cut him off by raising my hand in front of me.
¡°Huh? What? Please go ahead.¡± Why is he suddenly all polite? HE just called me a demon lord and was now being polite these mood swings¡
¡°First things first, how did you even get here? I could have sworn I ejected you out of the battle stage in the first round.¡± I mean, I did, right? Or is this some kind of like¡ novel or game thing where the hero has all kinds of plot armor, so he will always make aeback no matter how underhanded it is.
¡°Huh? Well, Inded on another stage and kicked everyone off, so they gave me a pass.¡± Was this tournament really not a ce where rules mattered? Well, I guess after I knocked out two other contestants and got away with it, I can see them not caring even if he was from another battle stage. But how did I not notice him before? I could have sworn I watched all the battle stages.-.
¡°I see¡ So if yound on another stage this time and beat them, you will once again pass, I guess¡.¡± I tapped my chin for a second beforeing up with a n. Since using catapult doesn¡¯t work, I can just take the stage out from under his feet.
¡°Next match, begin!¡± The announcer suddenly shouted. I looked at Mr. Hero Boy and gave him my best smile as my eyes lit up, and with a slight shake, the stage shrank towards me.
¡°Wait! Huh!?¡± Charles stared at me in disbelief as he fell on his but on the freshly revealed ground. He did not understand what had just happened. He looked up at the announcer in hopes this was against the rules but sadly¡.
¡°Battle stage seven hundred seventy seven, contestant number one thousand seventy two, Faith, winner!¡± The announcer yelled out. I watched as Charles, the wonderful hero¡¯s face paled as he went from looking at the announcer to me.
¡°I smiled brightly at him as I bent over with my hands behind my back and said: ¡°Don¡¯t forget my money. All twenty billion of it.¡±
¡°Wait!? Twenty billion!?¡± Charles yelled out. Sweat began to form on his forehead. He looked left then right, and just before he thought he could get away, I waved my hand and made him float in the air.
¡°You are not trying to run out on your debt, right?¡± I asked. I guess now he could really call me a demon lord or demon queen, or whatever.
¡°I¡ I can¡¯t pay that! I only have a few copper to my name. This tournament was supposed to let me live for a while!¡± Charles cried out. Tears began rolling down his cheeks. Now I felt slightly bad like I was bullying some kid. I reached into my pocket, digging around like I was getting something, before pulling my hand out and flicking a gold coin at him.
¡°Make thisst for a while.¡± I said before letting him down. ¡°Just remember you own me.¡±
¡°Yes, thank you! You are such a kind demon lord!¡± Charles yelled out. My eye twitched, and the next thing I heard was a scream as someone flew through the air. ¡°He is such an Idiot!¡±
I returned the stage to its normal size before raising it into the air. The announcer looked at me and gave me a polite nod which I returned in kind. Luckily today¡¯s battles were not dragging on as much. Sei, Runa, Gesel, and Sir Derek all finished their matches not long after me. So did the rabbit girl andrge fan girl. The tailed cloaked figure seemed to be searching for the right time to knock their opponent out.
As I sat there watching the matches, I noticed I could not tell which one of these people was supposed to be after my life. Sir Derek did warn me that I was being targeted. I just did not know by who. This was why I was studying all the matches. Not only to pass the time but to see if any of these people would be the ones to try to assassinate me.
While it may seem like I am messing around, I am still thinking about the things toe. I am watching everyone closely to see who might be suspicious, but the only one I found strange so far was the small cloaked figure with a tail. The way they are fighting is different from everyone else. I do not see the reason to be fully hiding all your abilities.
But then again, I could bepletely wrong, and this is just how the small figured fights in the first ce. But either way, they are currently on my top list of people to look out for. Next up would be fan girl and hammer girl. They may be showing off quite a bit, but they are still both fairly strong. I don¡¯t think the nobles with proper information would send weak people after me.
I mean, the count would not send some low level goons to try to fight me, not after I thrashed his own guards inside his own house. And if I am wrong and he really did send some low level goons, then he is just a pure idiot.
Even though I say all of this, I still wish to have a proper fight. Yes, I could have fought against the hero boy, but I really want nothing to do with him. He is quite annoying. Just something about him that gets on my nerves.
Now that the bracket is getting smaller, I should be able to fight Gesel and the rest soon. But this has reminded me that I should really find some time to level more. I have been so busy with so much since arriving in the capital that I haven¡¯t even had the time to level up any. I also need to find more evolution stones as well. However, it does make me kind of nervous. I still worry about my next evolution turning me into some king six headed freak.
While I love my dragon form, I still can¡¯t use it at all. When I am alone in the bath, I will sometimes transform my hands to make sure I still have the ability to. One day I want to fly through the sky, soaring around and looking at things after everyone I know passes away. While this may seem like a strange dream for the future. It is something that might help me cope with the sands of time. As I am almost thirteen now, I still have a long ways to go. My mother, my father. My brother and his family. My friends. All of them will one day leave this world while I will still be walking around watching as the sands of time continue to fall. But there is one thing I do know. For now¡. I will make the most of my life and protect those I wish to protect. I will live my life now without regrets. What will happen in the years toe, I do not know, nor do I wish to know, not after the gloomy scenes from the fortune teller.
My train of thought was suddenly broken when I heard the announcer yell out: ¡°Prepare for the next and final battle for today!¡±
I stood up and dusted the dirt off me before making the stage fall to the ground. As I did, a figure suddenly appeared in front of me and stood there with a smug grin on her face. ¡°We meet again! Today is the day you shall face your doom!¡±
¡°Errm¡. Runa, are you okay?¡± I asked with a worried expression. I checked her forehead to see if it was hot or not. I even pulled on her pointy ears, which caused her to blush and quickly back away.
¡°Wha-What are you doing!¡± Runa asked while covering her ears.
¡°I was checking to see if you were the real Runa and not some imposter,¡± I answered with a smile.
¡°What imposter!? You¡¯re the imposter!¡±
Chapter 120 Battling Runa Part 1
Runa looked at me as if I had bullied her badly, causing me tough. ¡°Okay, so you are the real Runa. I guess you are my opponent this time around?¡±
¡°Yep! So be prepared to lose!¡± Runa said while sticking her nose in the air once more. Very princessy for once.
But now, knowing that I was going against Runa, I wondered¡. What happens when an elf flies across the sky? I rubbed my chin and wondered if I should use catapult or not. I would feel kind of bad as Runa is my friend, so it would be kind of mean to just suddenly send her flying. But I still couldn¡¯t keep myself from asking¡. ¡°Runa, do you wish to fly?¡±
¡°Huh?¡± Runa seemed taken aback by my question, but as if remembering something, her face paled as she began shaking her head and hands. ¡°No! Don¡¯t! You have to fight me fair and square!¡±
I pursed my lips and sighed. ¡°Fine, but still¡. If an elf could fly, you would make hist¡.¡±-.
¡°I said no!¡± Runa yelled out, stomping her feet. ¡°I didn¡¯t know you were a bully!¡±
¡°I am just joking. I will fight you fairly, I guess. I mean, since you asked so nicely.¡± I said in a teasing voice, causing Runa to stomp her feet even more.
¡°Definitely a bully!¡± Runa yelled. But her pouty expression changed quickly after taking a deep breath. ¡°I hope you are prepared. Because I will being at you with everything, I have. Faith, I want to see just how good you are. So do not hold back.¡±
I stopped joking around and gave Runa a serious look. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. As a friend, I know not to mess around. It would be rude of me not to go all out. But I can not use anyrge scale attacks. I can not endanger people¡¯s lives, so do not me me for not doing so.¡±
¡°That¡¯s fine. I would not want you to do that either. Actually, it makes me slightly relieved because I don¡¯t think my barrier magic is up to a massive grand fall.¡± Runa replied, but it seemed she was a bit dejected about her barrier magic. Maybe I can help herter with it. Although we had only just met, Runa was the first to be a magic freak like me, so I really wanted to spend more time with her and run my ideas against her own. I hoped that I could find more people like that as well at the academy.
¡°Contestants, get ready!¡± The Announcer¡¯s voice filled the sky. It was finally time for me to actually fight someone seriously.
Runa bowed her head to me as she said: ¡°Let the best mage win.¡±
¡°Yes, let the best mage win,¡± I answered back and gave her a bow back to show my respect. This was the least I could do since we were fighting as equals. I nned to take this fight very seriously, well, to an extent. Not only out of respect for Runa but because it will be my first time fighting another mage of Runa¡¯s caliber. I will also be trying to make use of my mana shield and use this as testing against her spells. This will give me a chance to really see how far I can go and learn some of the quirks of the mana shield.
¡°Round three begin!¡± The Announcer yelled out. As soon as he did, my mana shield was up, and ten magic circles formed in the air and fired off at Runa. While I wished to test my mana shield, I also promised not to hold back, well, hold back to the extent of a normal person that had high magic ability. I couldn¡¯t by right suddenly fire off thousands of fireballs at Runa. It would kill her. But it seemed Runa was not holding back at all because an equal number of fireballs came flying at me.
I didn¡¯t budge, though, and allowed the fired balls to hit me. Sure enough, as they hit the mana shield, they all exploded on contact. As I was analyzing everything to see how it hit the mana shield I heard an angry yell from in front of me. ¡°I said to not hold back, Faith! Why are you not using your rapid fire fireball spell!? I know you can do more than just ten fireballs! Don¡¯t look down on me!¡±
I sighed as I looked at Runa. I had forgotten she knew a lot more about me than most. Since that was the case¡. I took a deep breath. ¡°If you really do not want me to hold back, then fine. But Runa. don¡¯t hate me if I have to save you.¡± I warned. I was not trying to act arrogant. I just did not wish for her to be mad at me if I did have to put a barrier around her to keep her alive.
¡°That¡¯s fine. I just wish to experience the power of Faith, the army yer!¡± Runa yelled out, which caused my mouth to open up wide enough for an egg to fit in.
¡°Wait, where did this titlee from!?¡± No, really, where did this titlee from!? This was the first I heard of it.
¡°Hehe¡. That is what the people of the other kingdoms are calling you. The little demon who can destroy tens of thousands of me in an instant. Nowe!¡± Runa yelled. I could see the excitement and anticipation in her eyes. But I was still trying to get over this strange title I suddenly got. To be honest, I think she is lying. She has to be, right?
I scratched my head in annoyance as I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I will now forget I ever heard of such a strange title. ¡°Let¡¯s do this!¡±
My eyes lit up as I waved my hands as tworge magic circles formed in the air. At the same time, over a hundred more magic circles formed around Runa. Since she wanted me to go all out, I was going all out. But I did make sure the speed of these spells was reduced a bit in order to protect her in case something went wrong.
¡°Go!¡± I yelled out. I already saw Runa casting barrier after barrier around herself. These barriers were just the right size to cover her body, so it took a lot less mana to cast. I was quite impressed with thesepact barriers. Sadly they were stationary.
¡°Hahaha! That is more like it!¡± I heard Runaughing out in a crazy manner. I actually never expected her to be so happy about being hit by a bunch of spells. Maybe she is one of those¡. You know it starts with a M ¡. Anyway, Let¡¯s hope that is not the case. I watched carefully as the spells flew towards her. I ignored the iing spells she casted at me. Sadly I could not check how they worked on my shield. It was more important to make sure Runa did not die.
*Boom!*
The whole stage shook. I could hear the crowd screaming out loud. My hand was stretched out already as sweat dripped from my brow. I only saw her fiveyer barrier begin topletely shatter, and that was all it took for me to wrap her up in a few barriers. The battle that should have been something for me to train on ended with Runa kneeling on the ground, her face pale as can be. I really overdid it. ¡°Runa, are you okay!?¡±
Her side of the stage had beenpletely destroyed. Only the spot that was protected by the barriers was perfectly fine. I waved my hand, clearing the fire before jumping over to Runa and dispersing the barriers. I knelt down and checked Runa¡¯s condition, and only when I saw that she was only in a state of shock did I let out a sigh of relief. ¡°Runa¡ It¡¯s good you are okay.¡±
¡°That¡.¡± Only after a few minutes did Runa finally speak as she grabbed my cheeks. I was stunned at first, but when I saw her huge smile form on her face as her eyes stared at me in a reverent manner, I began to feel a little freaked out. ¡°That was absolutely amazing! Faith, you really are amazing! To think you could do so much in a short time. Not only did you cast all those spells, but you also protected me in the same instant! I have decided! I will be your disciple!¡±
¡°Huh!?¡± What is she going on about!? Deciding what now!?
¡°I hate to break you two up, but is everyone okay?¡± A voice came from overhead. I turned to see the Announcer standing on air not too far from us. This made me raise an eyebrow. Besides my father and I, this was the first time I saw anyone else do this. It made me wonder just how powerful this Announcer was. Only those with high control over their magic can do this.
Chapter 121 Battling Runa Part 2
¡°Yeah, we are fine. We can continue the battle.¡± I did not wish for our battle to end like this. This was not a true battle. All I did was overwhelm her when I wanted to have a true battle with her.
¡°Are you sure?¡± The Announcer asked as he looked at Runa with a questioning gaze.
¡°Yes! I want to keep fighting her! You can name her as the winner, but we want to keep going.¡± Runa said excitedly. ¡°Although let¡¯s tone it down a bit¡.¡±
I let out augh. I couldn¡¯t help it. Runa was definitely a magic maniac. The Announcer looked at the two of us and sighed. ¡°Alright, but keep the damage to a minimum. If you blow up the stage, fix it. I am sure you can do that, correct?¡±
The Announcer looked at me, which I answered with a nod of my head. ¡± Easy enough.¡± I mean, it was quite easy to modify the stage as needed. I had been doing it this entire time.
¡°Alright then. Battle stage seven hundred seventy seven, contestant number one thousand seventy two, Faith, winner!¡± The Announcer yelled out my win before hopping back up through the air towards his stage.-.
Once he was gone, I created a magic circle and began fixing the battle stage. After that, I took a deep breath and looked at Runa. ¡°Are you sure you are okay?¡±
¡°Hmm? Yep! Fine and dandy!¡± Runa said cheerfully, which made me let out a sigh of relief.
While she had acted all amazed by what happened, I still worried about whether or not she was okay. ¡°Then shall we continue?¡±
¡°Yep!¡± Runa nodded and was already getting into a defensive position but paused and gave me a serious look. ¡°I know I can not beat you normally, but I want to test my skills against someone of the same level as me. So would you mind matching my strength?¡±
¡°Sure.¡± I nodded and smiled as I jumped back to my side of the stage with a single leap. ¡°You can start!¡±
¡°Then get ready!¡± Runa yelled out. At the same time, ten magic circles appeared, and this time it was not fireballs but streaks of lightning. They charged toward me so fast that I was almost caught off guard. My mana shield went up quickly. But even with it up, as the lightning hit the ground, I could feel the electricity surging through the ground and into my body. I think if it was not for my stats, I might have really been hurt by such an attack. But I made sure to take note of the fact that lighting would travel into the ground and prate my mana shield. Direct attacks like fireball can not do damage like that. While I could feel the heat, the mes would be more around my body and not directly touching me.
¡°It seems barrier might be a better option during times of area effect spells. But what if I changed the shape of the mana shield?¡± I mumbled to myself as many more lightning spells came flying at me. I quickly waved my hand, creating a barrier to block the spell before sending out ten streaks of lightning myself towards Runa. I wanted to see just how she would deal with it.
But to my amazement. Instead of using a normal barrier, she created a dome of water around her which made the lightning spread out over the water and dissipate. ¡°Interesting.¡± I smiled before creating more magic circles. This time it was not lightning, but an earth spell called earth spike. It shapedrge rocks from underground into spears that shot up through the earth. I hate to say it, but I was using Runa to learn properbat with other mages. I just hoped she would not mind.
Normally suchbat would be over in an instant. But since I was gunning to be a magic knight, it would be different. Battles would consist of both magic and sword. But going head to head with a mage that would not want to get close was a hard thing to do if they werepetent. At least, this is my theory. While I may be able to overwhelm them, if I was attacked by surprise, I would need to be able to defend properly. Like mana shield and lightning are a no go. If I had not learned that just now, I would have been in a bad position if I had been ambushed by a few mages who tried to hit me with lightning. My little dragon butt would have been fried.
So this battle with Runa was very educational on many levels. Spell after spell was cast back and forth. I would switch up my attacks to try to fake Runa out, but she always seemed to have a proper method to block my attacks. I really have to say that Runa might just be peerless in her power range. Her knowledge and experience while battling other mages was very deep. I was kind of jealous. But then again, as an elf and a princess at that, she was probably trained in suchbat since she was young. All my experiencees from what little training I had with my family. It was not much, but enough to survive against bandits.
While my current power was high, Icked experience and knowledge. But I am in no hurry to learn it all right away. I will learn it all over time. It was just that right now was the best time to have a mock battle with the stage and all already set up for us.
We continued sending spells back and forth at each other until the Announcer announced that the third round was now over. ¡°All contestants who have won will need to spend the night in the arena. Matches will begin before dawn.¡±
I guess this was also normal for the tournament once the one versus one matches started. Now that I think about it, Annie and the other maids were all preparing a lot of food. Much more than normal, I guess this was the reason why. I scratched my head and looked over at Runa, walking over to me, and asked: ¡°You staying as well?¡±
¡°Yep! I want to see how far you go. The next set of matches will be much shorter now that most of the weaker contestants are out. Looks like you won¡¯t be fighting Sei and the others until the day after though.¡±
I looked up at the sky to see the new brackets. The numbers had already been whittled down to only a hundred people. It seemed there were quite a few double outs and contestants who gave up due to injuries. The name on the list for my first fight was no one I knew. ¡°I guess I will need to wait until tomorrow to see who I will be fighting.¡±
¡°Hmmm? You don¡¯t know? Fanmari is the girl with the big fan. I heard her name earlier due to her being close to my battle stage.¡± Runa exined, which made me frown slightly.
¡°Then tomorrow¡¯s battle might be much harder than I expected.¡± I guess I can only hope to win. I let out a sigh as I looked up at the sky. ¡°Let¡¯s hope you are not one of the assassins.¡±
¡°Hmmm? Assassins?¡± Runa asked with a confused expression.
¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. Let¡¯s go eat. My Annie and the girls made a bunch of food earlier. We should get over there before Sei eats it all.¡± I did not want to go into details about what was going on around me. I did not want Runa to get involved, and all of a sudden, an international incident was happening due to some stupid nobles.
Before we arrived at the stadium, Annie told me to meet her by the entrance after my matches. But as I arrived with Runa, I heard a Sei whining. ¡°Annie, why can¡¯t I just have a sandwich now?¡±
¡°Miss Sei, I have told you many times already that you can not eat before the Young Miss. Only when the Young Miss is here and says you can eat can you eat. There is proper etiquette to everything.¡± Annie¡¯s voice was stern as she scolded Sei, who hung her head in defeat.
Seeing the two going back and forth, I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle. After all, while Sei looked my age at this moment, she was, in fact, much older than both Annie and I. So seeing Annie handle Sei so well made for a funny scene.
¡°Young Miss! Congrattions on continuing to the next round!¡± Annie saw me and perked right up as she walked over and bowed her head to me in greeting.
¡°Yeah, well¡ I kind of went overboard.¡± I said while scratching my head.
¡°No, you didn¡¯t. I am the one to me for what happened. I truly got in over my head. Someone who can cast two high tier magic spells in a row would definitely be able to pull off some crazy things. I was too overconfident.¡± Runa said as she cut in.
¡°Let¡¯s just say it was both our faults. Let¡¯s go eat. I am starving.¡± I could tell if I tried to say it was my fault again, then Runa would try to say it was hers. I did not feel like going back and forth like that, so It was easier to just say it was both our faults. At any rate, I am really starving, and Annie¡¯s cooking is amazing.
¡°Finally, we can eat! Let¡¯s go!¡± Sei yelled out while grabbing my hand and Annie¡¯s hand and pulling us along. Today¡¯s battles ended on a good note but I wonder what tomorrow will bring.
Chapter 122 Talking With Sir Derek
Our group got much bigger when Sir Derek and Gesel also came over to eat with us. Luckily Annie had expected as much, so she had brought more food than one would have expected. So in the end, it was Annie, myself, Rina, Brooke, Sophie, Thurul, Sei, Gesel, Fred, Runa, and Sir Derek sitting here eating around a small campfire.
While we ate, my mind was preupied with tomorrow¡¯s battle with Fanmari. I just hoped she was a normal contestant. If she were to go all out against me, to kill me, then I might have to take her down. To be honest, I really did not wish to kill anyone unless I am forced to, but if she pushes me too far, then I might have no choice but to.
¡°Little Lass, what is on your mind?¡± Sir Derek asked as he moved to sit down next to me, he had a cup of ale in his hand. My guess is that Thurul had brought some of his special brews.
¡°I was just thinking that tomorrow¡¯s opponent might be one of the people who was sent by the nobles. I highly doubt they would send anyone weak. Not with all the information about me circting about.¡± I exined honestly. For some reason, Sir Derek, although muscr and had a strong pressure about him, when he talked to me like this, seemed like a grandpa.-.
¡°Hmmm¡ That may be true. Nobles may act rashly at times, but they know to make sure to do things right. Otherwise, they wouldn¡¯t be able to get away with half the stuff they get away with. Just keep your guard up. If anything happens, I will be there to back you up. Normally I would not tell this to a young girl, but if you have to shed blood, then shed blood. Protect your life over everything else. The King has already tossed his support behind you. Otherwise, you wouldn¡¯t have a ck knight at your side. Only the royal family has ck knights at their side. Whether they are hiding in the shadows or standing directly next to them, they are always there protecting the royal family and the kingdom¡¯s interests.¡± Sir Derek really had a way with words. It was able to make me rx a bit.
If I were to kill someone during an event like this, it would be blown out of proportion. The nobles could use it as a means to try to condemn me and put me in prison while they petition for control back over the east side slums. I know that with me taking over control of the area and more knight patrols has made it hard for them to continue their business, especially with the ck knights giving the orders to those in charge of the knight¡¯s barracks close to the area.
And if you count me slowly reiming the slums back to make it a safer ce for people to live and work, then it is basically stamping out any chance for them to do any dirty dealings in the city. They would need to try to transform another section of the city into a slum. But now that the King is paying much more attention to the city, there will probably be no chance for them to do that. The only thing they could do was set up some kind of outfit outside the capital but close enough to still be able to run back and forth.
I know I will never be able to stamp out corruption by doing what I am doing. But I never set out to do that in the first ce. My only goal in this matter was to better the lives of the people living in the slums so that they could have a chance, a better chance at life.
I let out a long sigh as I sipped my tea. ¡°I will try not to allow it toe down to bloodshed.¡±
¡°That¡¯s the best course of action since it will save a lot of trouble. But just know the option is there and that you will not be held ountable. The King has long since learned of the ns these snake bastards have, so don¡¯t worry about the clean up. To be honest, with how young you are, I would never wish for you to be dealing with such things. But I still admire you.¡± Sir Derek¡¯s words surprised me. I do not see what I have done that would make him admire me.
¡°Admire me?¡± I asked. I felt ttered but still. If anyone should be admired, it should be Sir Derek himself.
¡°Yes. You are so young yet more noble than half the nobles in this kingdom. You care for the people of this kingdom more than let on. No one goes out of their way to help the poor. No one goes out of their way to fight in a war to defend their homnd at your age. Especially not a little girl.¡±
¡°But I only really went off to fight to protect my vige. As for the other battles, that was¡.¡±
¡°Doesn¡¯t matter!¡± Sir Derek interrupted me. ¡°What matters was that you jumped into the fire. Whether it was to gain a little bit of benefits or not, you still jumped in, and not only that, but you turned a losing situation around and gained the trust of the soldiers youmanded. It is not why you did something but what results you give. If you just jumped in and let your men die to win the battle, I would not be talking to you now. You did not do that. You stood firm in your stance of trying to keep as many of your men alive as possible. You were on the front lines and not hiding in some tent. You took a ragtag group of soldiers seen as misfits by our kingdom and made them heroes. Did you im full glory? No, you did not. In my eyes, if that does not deserve admiration, then I do not know what does.
¡°Faith, take the meaning of your name and have more faith in what you do. You are going to go somece in this world. Even though you are a demi human you are already standing higher than half the humans in this kingdom. I heard not only have you befriended the princess to the point that she is willing to steal the royal stamp, but you have even put the silly prince in a ce where he is willing to work hard now. Do you know after his scolding the other day that he has begun hitting the books again? The King did not ask him to, but he said he needed to learn more and be someone who is able to truly run this country. He said he did not wish to let you see him as the idiot prince any longer.
¡°To be honest Little Lass, I think you stole thed¡¯s heart. Haha!¡± Sir Derek let out a loudugh as he took another swig of his ale.
But I couldn¡¯t help but furrow my brow. The prince was handsome, but he had so many faults. If he did fix them, then maybe he would be someone worthy of being the next King. And even a man worthy of someone to marry. But I, for one, do not think that it would ever be me. He would need to do a full one eighty in his personality before that would ever happen. But if he can be a good king, I will support him one hundred percent.
Plus, I can see the sibling rivalry if what the others said was true about Adel. But I would rather just be friends with them all and leave it at that for the time being. Now, why did Sir Derek have to go and remind me about such depressing things?
Once again, I was letting out a sigh. I have been doing that a lot as ofte. If I keep sighing like this, I might end up growing so old that I will look like a granny by the time I reach eighteen. But I just can¡¯t help it. With everything that is happening, I can¡¯t help but feel slightly stressed out. I just want to settle into my new ce and go to the academy and try to forget everything that is going on. Of course, I will need to make trips back and forth between the slums to check on things, to also see the progress of the factory and my new house, but at least I get to ride the airship more, which will be fun. I could always try to create a teleporter since I memorized the way it works, but I kinda feel nervous about using one I made myself. Maybe I could work out a teleportation magic instead that allows me to visit ces I have already been.
At the same time, I wanted to build another ce that would be a good spot for me to test out some of these runic inscriptions. I wonder if I can take a few sses on that when I get to the academy. There are other things besides barrier magic I would like to try using for inscription. And instead of wasting a lot of materials testing things out, it would be more wise to learn what I can and then try to put it to practical use. I have an understanding of the concept and can actually make my own barrier inscriptions, but this is different. Actually, now that I think about it, I wonder if I can make a barrier that could be carried around. It would safeguard those that I care about¡. This is something I should look into after I move¡.
Chapter 123 When The Odds Are Against You Part 1
That night I slept out under the stars. It was not just me but everyone else as well. I had put up a barrier around us to keep any questionable people from being able to get near us so we could sleep peacefully at night. Sophie was very nice and allowed me to cuddle with her fluffy tail, or more like I kinda snuggled into it without asking first. But she didn¡¯t say anything, so I guess all was okay.
Sei and Runa seemed to have passed out drunk. Runa was not much older than me, but she still drank Thurul¡¯s ale like a champ. I never had alcohol myself, but I am not sure I want to drink any either. I feel I might be a different person if I did. No idea why I feel this way, I just do.
When I woke up in the morning, I couldn¡¯t help but shiver at the dreams I was having. Knight¡¯s on white horses saving a damsel in distress. Two, to be more precise. One was Adel, and the other was Prince Lance. It was a terrifying dream where they had a duel to the death, and in the end, no one won. For some reason, an even more terrifying person showed up. An idiot beyond idiots, the hero of Gravos! It was such a nightmare that I woke up feeling sticky from sweat.-.
It was all Sir Derek¡¯s fault for reminding me about all that love stuff. But I wonder why that idiot showed up in my dreams. He is already a walking nightmare during the day when I see him. I do not want to have him in my dreams. And for some reason, he kept yelling: ¡°I have your money!¡± But in his hand was a bunch of rocks that you would find on the side of the road! Anyway, I am now awake and will hopefully never dream of such a dream again.
After some food for breakfast, it was already time to head to my stage. My opponent was already standing there waiting for me when I arrived. Fanmari, although she was cute, I could sense her trying to stare daggers into me. While I should just ignore it, I still couldn¡¯t help but ask: ¡°Are you here for me?¡±
¡°Hmmm?¡± Fanmari looked at me with a raised eyebrow before lowering her head and tapping her chin with her finger. She seemed to have fallen into deep thought. A few secondster, she raised her head at me and smiled. But that smile seemed to tell me a lot since it was filled with blood lust.
I really did not wish to fight this fight since I knew it will be a battle with my life on the line, but¡.. I will have no choice, it seems. While I could just give up here and now, I would look weak in the eyes of those damn nobles if I did that. I will need to show them my strength is not to be taken lightly. So I must apologize to this girl who I was about to fight with everything I had.
I gripped my sword as the announcer¡¯s voice rang through the air. ¡°All contestants, get ready! Begin!¡±
It was then that Fanmari raised her huge fan and swung it at me. A gale of wind shot right at me, and within that wind, I could sense imminent danger. I wrapped my feet with earth using earth magic to keep me from being sted away while putting up both a mana shield and a barrier.
nging sounds were heard as hundreds of metal needles mmed into my barrier and fell to the ground. I could smell a strange stenching from those needles. They were probably poisoned. While frowning, I created multiple magic circles and surrounded Fanmari with earth wall. ¡°We do not need to do this. If you stop now, you can walk out of here.¡±
¡°I get paid for the job. Even we assassins have our own code of honor. We take a job, we finish it, or we die. It¡¯s that simple. One of us will be leaving here alive today. Which one of us it is, is still up in the air! Wind Destruction!¡± Fanmari yelled out, causing my earth walls to st to pieces and fly at me. Luckily I kept a barrier up, so I was able to block all the debris.
I looked at Fanmari who was smiling back at me with a face full of killing intent, and sighed. I turned my gaze skyward before closing my eyes and opening them again. Since I have no choice, I will do what I need to do¡.
I raised my hand, causing the sky to darken overhead. Magic circles lit up in the sky and began to spin around. ¡°Since you are not willing to give up and these damn nobles do not seem to understand who I am, then I guess I will disy a bit of my strength. Meteor shower!¡±
¡°What are you doing!? Are you crazy!?¡± I heard the announcer yell out. I turned to see the old man suddenly charging over at me with a magic circle already active. Seeing the kind of spell it was, I couldn¡¯t help but feel even more depressed. ¡°Even you are in on it?¡±
I got no answer to my question as I formed three barriers around myself along with my mana shield. It seemed the attack was a lightning attack. I guess this old man had been watching me from the very start trying to find out my weaknesses, and I allowed him to!
With another wave of my hand, hundreds of magic circles appeared in the air and surrounded the old man. ¡°Don¡¯t me me for this! Hells Rain!¡±
Fire and lightning began to shoot out from the magic circles toward the old man. But he only snorted and tossed up a few barriers to block the attacks. But luckily, it threw him off his attack route since he had to stop and defend. As for Fanmari, I saw her kneeling down using her fan as a means to block the iing meteors. This was my slimmed down version of grand fall. Small meteors no bigger than my fist flying down from the sky.
Chapter 124 When The Odds Are Against You Part 2
I am not exactly sure what was going on, but suddenly many barriers appeared around Fanmari and the announcer blocking my attacks. And before I could even get a grip on the situation, I was suddenly surrounded by many people. Each one had a sword drawn and were radiating killing intent.
¡°What do you all want!?¡± I yelled in anger. Yes, I was officially mad. I had not done anything that deserved to be targeted like this. I know I was stepping on a few toes but did I really deserve to be treated like I was some kind of huge criminal?
Seeing myself being surrounded on all sides, I extended my wings and intended to fly away up into the air, but before I could, a tenyered barrier suddenly surrounded my stage. Over thirty people of what looked to be highly skilled fighters stood in front of me.
¡°Faith!¡± I heard yelling behind me. It was Runa and Sei. It seemed they had run over. But they were trapped on the outside of the barrier. Unless someone can break the barriers, there was no way this was going to end well.-.
I took a deep breath before letting it out as I watched the people edging toward me cautiously. My eyes lit up as I whispered: ¡°Confusion mist!¡±
A dense fog began to fill the stage. With my actions partially hidden, I took this chance tounch my attack. With my sword drawn, I ran into the fog and quickly found my first target. My sword flew through the air but mmed into something hard, causing my hand to shake due to the vibration. I looked up to see the man smiling at me with a wide grin and a semi transparent barrier surrounding his body. At this moment, I really wanted to curse!
I quickly retreated, but as I did, a shadow formed in the fog, causing me to lean back just in time to see a cold metal de flying over my face. I ended up doing a backflip past the person only to have to quickly stick up another barrier with threeyers as a nging sound was heard. Looked down on the ground to see a bunch of needles lying on the ground surrounding me, causing my brow to furrow even more.
While confusion mist was blocking my eyesight as well, it was at least blocking some of theirs too. I quickly buffed myself with wind rush and colossal strength. I did a few more backflips to make some distance before surrounding myself with ice wall. I have a feeling these people are trying to dry up my mana, but sadly for them, my mana was infinite!
But I also had attacks that did not use mana either. With the ice wall blocking their view of me, I took a deep breath and held back the roar that was about toe out of my mouth as a stream of fire shot forward, instantly melting the ice in front of me and shooting across the battle stage.
This was no ordinary fire but pure dragonic fire breath. I turned my head left and right, filling the stage with my mes. I could hear some screams of agony as my me hit some of the attackers. This was my first time actually using my me breath in battle. But I had no choice. Each one of these attackers was definitely a professional, a step above amon soldier. If I did not turn it up a notch, then I would be dead for sure. One minor slip up means death for me. And I do not wish to die anytime soon.
My fire breath slowly came to an end as I looked across the stage. The fog has begun to dissipate. What was left in front of me were ten burnt corpses and a group of people hiding behind multiyered barriers. I couldn¡¯t help but feel slightly disappointed that my attack was actually blocked. While I did kill a few of them, there were still too many left.
As I was contemting my next move, my thoughts were interrupted when I heard a loud yelling from above. ¡°IIIIIIII ammm Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn!¡±
*Boom!*
The stage was suddenly hit with what looked like a talking sledgehammer with ears. ¡°Owe, my butt!¡±
¡°You idiot, I told you not to try to dive down like that!¡± I heard another voice, this one was male.
As the dust settled, I saw a tall rabbit girl and another beastkin, a young boy with cat ears and two tails. But now that I looked at him, it seems I have seen him before. If I am right he was the beastkin with the hood on that I saw fighting. As I was trying to figure out if these neers were friends or foe, the young cat boy turned and looked at me. ¡°What are you standing around for? Hurry up and get into battle position!¡±
¡°Huh? Oh yes!¡± I yelled out on instinct as I got ready for battle.
¡°To think the Kingdom of Lodina was here.¡± A voice came from above this time, one I knew well. I looked up to see Sir Derek holding Sei and Runa like luggage as he dropped down from the sky. Hended so quietly on the ground that you would not think he had dropped down from up high. He dropped the two in his hands and turned to me with a big grin. ¡°Reinforcements are here. Also, don¡¯t worry about the others. Thurul and Gesel, along with some idiot going on about being a hero, are protecting the others. But to think half the contestants were all assassins. But now the numbers should be even by a little, no?¡±
¡°Old man from the human kingdom, can you shut your trap? We are in the middle of a battle!¡± The young cat boy yelled out as he red at Sir Derek.
¡°Haha! I guess you are right. Now then. Let¡¯s take out the trash, shall we?¡± Sir Derek suddenly pulled a huge sword out of thin air and rested it on his shoulder as he looked at the assassins in front of him. ¡°If you wish to die, step forward. This old man will y with you all.¡±
Chapter 125 Prince Rythilin
Seeing everyone suddenly show up made me purse my lips. I wanted to scream: ¡°I had this, you know!¡± But at the same time, my heart felt fluffy and warm. I had no idea who the beastkin people were, but Sir Derek, Runa, and Sei were all here to help me while Gesel and Thurul were protecting those important to me.
When I lived in the vige with my family at the start, there were only a handful of people who were willing to even look my way. Now that handful has grown so much that now I have so many people who are friendly with me and treat me as a normal person. I truly feel blessed. I feel blessed for everything that has happened and the things that are toe.
The warm gaze that I looked at the backs of the people in front of me with, slowly turned cold as I looked at the group of assassins seemingly trying to assess the situation. I could see the Announcer gritting his teeth. I guess he probably never expected their barrier to be broken into. I guess the rabbit girl and cat boy are both very powerful.
¡°What is going on, are you not making a move now!?¡± The cat boy yelled out.-.
¡°Humph! Just because more people showed up does not mean you will survive. Fanmari!¡± The Announcer yelled to Fanmari before jumping back.
¡°On it!¡± Fanmari grabbed something from her waist before unfolding her fan and raising it into the air.
I did not n to let them finish what they were doing, so because she could finish executing her attack, my eyes glowed as ten magic circles activated all at the same time. Spears of ice shot toward Fanmari but just like before, a barrier suddenly appeared blocking the attack, but that was all I needed. My eyes glowed once more, and another magic circle appeared within the area the barrier protective radius. Not even a fraction of a secondter, a spear of ice shot out of it and pierced into the Fanmari¡¯s chest. Her gaze, which was full of confidence suddenly showed one of shock and surprise. She looked down at her chest to see a shard of ice piercing through it, then looked up at me. Her eyes locked with mine.
I really do not know what to say when I looked at the enemy I had just killed, whose eyes seemed to be full of regret. I was not a cold blooded person, so seeing such a thing really messed with my heart and mind. I am sure I will have nightmares about thister.
¡°Finish them!¡± I heard Sir Derek yell out. Everyone else charged at the enemy. Only Runa stayed behind as she ran over to my side. She was saying something, but I could not hear it. Those eyes were prating into my mind, burning themselves into me.
I felt dizzy. I felt sick. I think my stomach had already emptied a few times. This was much different than killing a soldier on the battlefield. Fanmari was someone close to my age. While she came here to kill me, it still does not change the fact that she was so young and had her life ahead of her. And that look of regret as if she regretteding here. As if she regretted ever making me her enemy. What if I could have disabled her? What if I could have kept her alive so that she could do her time and turn over a new leaf? Why did I only think of killing her instead of just capturing her?
These thoughts gued my mind and made me feel even worse. The world around me was spinning, and my eyes were starting to grow dark¡..
¡ª
I guess I passed out because right now, I was staring at an unfamiliar stone ceiling. My eyes blinked a few times as I looked around. I was lying on a cot, and next to me, with their heads resting on the cot, were Runa and Sophie. ¡°You are awake.¡±
I turned to see a young cat boy with two tails standing there staring at me with eyes that seemed to be judging me. ¡°You are?¡±
¡°My name is Prince Rythilin, and I am the crown prince of the Kingdom of Lodinia.¡± Prince Rythilin gave me a proper noble bow. Even Prince Lance never gave me such a bow before. At least, I do not think he did¡
¡°It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you, Prince Rythilin. My name is Faith Cyrilia. I hope you don¡¯t mind my discourtesy of not getting up.¡± I bowed my head slightly to him. To be honest, I am not sure why he was here.
¡°It¡¯s fine. I am d you are okay. I stopped in because I wanted to be sure nothing was seriously wrong with you. You gave many a fright when you suddenly copsed.¡± I see. Well, this is truly nice of him. Although why do I feel the way he looks now, and from when I first saw him, he seems much older than before? At least around my age.
¡°I thank you for your concern. It was more of mental fatigue than anything I guess you can call it.¡± I said with a forced smile. I really did mess up back there. I let my emotions get to me, and now¡. Luckily my mind seems more firm now. Maybe it was just because of the moment.
¡°I see. It does happen when you are overwhelmed. I am sure eventually you will learn how to deal with such things in the future. Oh, they seem to be waking up. Miss Cyrilia, I do wish to speak with you more. Are you free in the next few days?¡± Prince Rythilin asked.
I looked at him and thought for a moment. I saw no reason to turn him down, so I nodded my head. As long as he was not nning to ask me to do something strange, then I see no reason not to speak with him. ¡°I should have some time before I move to my new ce in the next few days after the tournament is over if it is still on.¡±
Chapter 126 Sly Cat
¡°Oh, right, you wouldn¡¯t know. Due to half the contestants being assassins, the tournament was canceled,¡± Prince Rythilin exined, causing me to frown. I mean, I really wanted to fight the others¡.
¡°Anyway, I should take my leave. It seems both Princess Runa and your friend will pretend to be asleep until I leave. I will be in contact about our date.¡± My mind suddenly went nk as I watched the smirking Prince walk out of the room.
I think I might have been hearing things, but did he just say date? I do not remember agreeing to anything like a date! ¡°Oh? So Faith likes the overly cute ones.¡± I turned towards the voice to see Runa giving me a teasing smile.
¡°Adel will be sad.¡± Sophie¡¯s voice entered my ear from the other side.-.
I was starting to be flustered. ¡°Hold on! I never said anything about a date. He only asked if we could talk more!¡±
¡°In the Kingdom of Lodinia, the way a man asks a girl on a date is by asking if they wish to talk more,¡± Runa exined, causing my expression to turn ck.
¡°How was I supposed to know !?¡± I yelled. ¡°Forget it. Runa, you go.¡±
¡°No, thank you! I do not wish to be hissed at by the Prince of the beast kingdom. His attendant and guard are very powerful. That rabbit girl only used three attacks to break all those barriers.¡± Runa¡¯s words surprised me. Even I have a hard time breaking a barrier. This just goes to show how strong that rabbit girl is.
¡°I will send a message to Adelter¡ If she finds out about this from other sources, I think all hell will break loose.¡± Sophie mumbled under her breath, but I heard every word of it.,
¡°Why would it cause hell to break out!? Sophie, you are over exaggerating things. Anyway, since I said I will go, I will go, but I am not going alone. I never intended for this to be some kind of date, so even if he doesn¡¯t like it, I will bring both of you with me.¡± Thest thing I wanted to do was get involved romantically with any kind of royalty from another kingdom. I would not and can not betray the kingdom I live in by doing so.
I will also not allow myself to be some kind of tool to be used to make ties with another kingdom. I won¡¯t change my current goals for anything. I was born in this kingdom, and I n to at least do what I can for it.
However, what happened today really does still bother me. I mean those eyes¡. Fanmari¡¯s eyes were still burning vividly in my mind, but it was not making me feel anything anymore. I guess my skills have taken over or something. Although, I am not sure if they are or not. But I am d that it did not erase that image. While it will always haunt me, it will be a good reminder that this is what it means to live in this world full of bloodshed.
Sophie looked at me with a strange look before shaking her head and mumbling something else. I couldn¡¯t hear her this time because she spoke in such a low voice. ¡°Anyway, you two areing with me. Maybe Thurul and Sei as well¡. And Gesel and Fred.¡±
I really did not wish to be alone with Prince Rythilin now that he went and called our meeting a date. I would never have agreed if that was the case. I got too much going on to care about such things or time to deal with such headaches either.
¡°Haha! I can¡¯t wait to see how sour his face will be when he realizes that he will not be with you alone.¡± Runa said whileughing.
¡°I guess you know Prince Rythilin?¡± I asked. As royalty, I would think she would know most of the other princes and princesses of other kingdoms.
¡°Mmm¡ Well, more like we got into a fight once. But that was when we were little. My father and mother took me over to their kingdom for a meeting between our nations to form a trade pact. It could have been left up to their subordinates, but my father was very curious about what a beast kingdom looked like at the time.
¡°Well, during the meeting, I was stuck with the Prince with nothing better to do. So I made him show me around the castle. We were in an area near a small man made pond, and the Prince decided to try to touch my ears. And well, I don¡¯t like it when people touch them as only your future spouse is allowed to touch them. So I kinda raised my foot and stuffed it in his face sending him flying into the pond behind him. Luckily it was not too deep, but as he was a catkin and well, he kind of got very angry and hissed at me before attacking me.
¡°Long story short, we both ended up with two ck eyes and fat lips. We got a serious scolding that day.¡± Listening to Runa¡¯s story made meugh. I mean, just picturing the two fighting made for a funny image.
But something curious came to mind. ¡°How old is Prince Rythilin?¡±
¡°I think he turned fourteen this year? His race ages very slowly physically. Which is why he looks so young. He is kinda like you. While he is a catkin, he is from the two tailed race, which is a long lived race while normal catkin has the same lifespan as humans.¡± Runa¡¯s exnation exined it all. I thought it was strange how he seemed to have the demeanor of someone older. I guess this is why he seemed older when speaking to him just now.
¡°Well¡. I give you permission to push him into a pond when we go with me to meet with him. He deserves it after tricking me into this date. Sly cat!¡±
Chapter 127 The Plan Part 1
I ended up spending a day and night in the healing ward of the stadium. The healers wanted to make sure there was nothing wrong with me before letting me leave. While the tournament ended before I could even get to fight Gesel and the rest, at least none of the people I cared about got hurt. I did, however, take a very big lesson from all of this. I should never react without judging the situation first. With my current skills and high intelligence, you would think I would already understand all of this. My analytical abilities were already very high, so I should have been able to judge the situation better ande up with a more appropriate way to deal with Fanmari.
While she may have been an assassin, she may have been able to live a life outside of such a dirty job with the right help after she had done time for her sins. Of course, I do know that such thinking is naive, to say the least, but I am someone who sees a young girl and hopes that maybe they can be saved from the life they were dragged into. I could be just sticking my nose into other people¡¯s business as well. I mean, she could have chosen the life of an assassin, or maybe she was forced into it, I do not know. I did not know her. I only knew the look in her eyes, those eyes that showed so much regret.
Even though she was here to kill me, I still think there could have been a better solution. I just never thought it would have affected me the way that it did. It seemed the difference between a soldier fighting a war and bandits who are doing dirty deedspared to a young girl my age affected me much more than I would have expected. This was a major w and something I will need to work on. Not that I have a way to train it. It¡¯s not like I can run to a vige and start ughtering all the teen girls I see. That would make me the bad guy. And thest thing I want is to be the bad guy.-.
Because I am sure that damn hero idiot would suddenly show up waving his sword yelling: ¡®Die Demon Lord! I will banish you to hell!¡± Only to be pped away by my second form. Then he would have some kind of magical breakthrough that would make my hp bar so low that my third form would kick in, replenishing my health. Well, maybe not, but the idea of it all sounds kind of fun.
But I, for one, do not n to turn into some kind of strange monster that no one knows anything about. Fantasies aside, while things did not end the way I would have wanted them to, I still nned to thank everyone who helped me. And I just so happened to have a certain eventing up that would be perfect for a nice party with everyone. But first, before that, I needed to talk with Sei and Sir Derek.
¡ª
A little whileter, I was sitting in my living room. Annie had served tea and set down snacks. Sophie was sitting at my side while Sei and Sir Derek were sitting across from me. Runa, on the other hand, said she had things to do and ran off. She did, however, tell me she would be back to face off with the sly cat.
¡°So what exactly happened after I passed out?¡± I asked. I never got the chance to talk about this as it seemed to be something that was supposed to be kept hush hush. Even if it did cause an incident, it was not something the kingdom wanted everyone to know about, so the story was mixed up a bit and the assassins were med on the Norian kingdom.
¡°Well¡. We took care of the assassins and had their bodies disposed of. All except the young girl assassin. We made sure she would get an appropriate burial. While the old guys mean nothing to us, we are not as heartless to send a young girl to lie in a nameless grave. Luckily we knew her name.¡± Sei replied. I felt a little relief that she was able to gain a bit of peace after death.
¡°As for the ones behind it, well, it seems your good old friend the count is one of them as well as a few other nobles who all have connections to each other. It seems the assassins guild was given a high price of ten thousand gold for your head.¡± Hearing Sir Derek reply with a chuckle and a look of approval about my current bounty, I am not sure how I feel about it. Ten thousand gold was like gaining a billion dors for amoner. It was no easy task, but for a bunch of nobles, especially those who dealt in dirty deeds, they could easily get that amount of gold.
¡°So I should expect more people toe and assassinate me?¡± I asked.
¡°This I can not be sure of. Sadly there was not enough evidence to single anyone out.¡± Sir Derek gave me an apologetic look.
While I know there was not much I could do about it if they did send more assassins at this time, I was kind of hoping we could put some of them in jail. But I guess without proper evidence, there is no way to arrest a noble. I guess you could call them slippery snakes. I let out a sigh as I sat back with a cup of hot steaming tea in my hand and took a sip. I took a moment to collect my thoughts. ¡°I will be making some barrier pendants for those around me, including my family. Sei, any chance you can get someone to send them over after they are made? One will be made for both Adel and Prince Lance as well.¡±
¡°No problem! With a pendant inscribed with your barrier, nothing wille to harm them. I will show you how to make one that will auto activate when they are in danger.¡± Sei replied with a bright smile. But her words caught my interest. A barrier that auto activates when someone is in danger? I had never even heard of such a thing before.
¡°Ah! You did it now, Sei. Our serious conversation is now ruined because you piqued her interest.¡± Sir Derek said with a chuckle as he sat back and threw his hands up into the air.
I guess it only took one night at the camp fire to realize I will lose myself in magic. But I still pursed my lips and red at him as I said: ¡°We can finish our discussion first¡¡¯
Chapter 128 The Plan Part 2
¡°Well, the gist of it is that we will be casting a.¡± Sir Derek¡¯s tone got very serious, so I knew now was no time to be messing around. Even Sei had sat up and was paying full attention. ¡°The King has asked for my help onest time in dealing a huge blow to the nobles who think they can do as they please. But to do this, we will need not only your help but Adel¡¯s and Prince Lance¡¯s, and they have both agreed. They did so without any hesitation.¡±
¡°Wait! You are not going to tell me you n to use them as some kind of bait now, are you!?¡± What kind of person would put the Prince and Princess of the kingdom into harm¡¯s way!?
¡°It was Adel who came up with the idea. She even nned it out with Prince Lance, who did not wish to sit around ideally.¡±
¡°And the King went along with it!? Is he an idiot!? What would happen if his kids were killed!?¡± I shouted. I know my words were enough to have my head cut off, but I couldn¡¯t help it. Just knowing my best friend was going to be put in harm¡¯s way made me angry. And Prince Lance, for all its worth, idiot or not, is still the Prince of this kingdom. His heart is there, but his mind is justcking.-.
¡°It¡¯s good to know you care about my children. But saying that I am an idiot is kind of harsh, don¡¯t you think?¡± My whole body froze as it turned like a robot that had not been oiled for a few years and looked at the person who was standing there with a smile on his face. I could feel the cold sweat forming on my back. I was so dead.
¡°Haha! Now that is a look I never expected to see on your face!¡± The King of Gravos himself let out a heartyugh at my expense. This old goat! I blushed and turned my head. I wasn¡¯t even going to apologize now. No wonder his son is an idiot! ¡°Now, now don¡¯t pout.¡±
¡°I¡¯m not pouting!¡± I yelled.
¡°Haha! Fine, you are not pouting. But still, can you at least offer me a seat and some tea? I did travel all the way here.¡± The King gave me a kingly smile which made me roll my eyes. This man does realize that I know what he is like when he is drunk, right? Should I spread it around that the King likes thighs? When he was drinking with Thurul, he was shouting about how he loved thighs. Thurul was saying something about the butt. It was a conversation I wished I had never heard.
¡°Please have a seat. I will even pour you some tea and only tea and nothing but tea.¡± I had to make sure he knew there was no alcohol in this house!
¡°Tea is fine. Hmmm? Sei, Derek, why are you looking at me like that?¡± The King asked as he sat down.
¡°Umm, Sire, if I may, are you a fake?¡± Sir Derek asked. I looked up to see Sei holding her head and Sir Derek staring at the King in a strange fashion.
¡°What!? What is that look for!?¡± King Gravos yelled out in a huff.
¡°I am just trying to figure out where the King went. As soon as you came through the door, you started bantering with a child! Where is that imposing aura that you had in court?¡± Sir Derek got up and began pulling on the King¡¯s cheeks which left me and everyone else sitting there stunned, well except Sei, who was not even looking at what was going on¡ ¡°Huh? Not a mask? Well, I guess we should rece you then since this King seems defective.¡±
¡°You old bastard, do you want to fight!?¡± King Gravos swatted Sir Derek¡¯s hands away and yelled out while standing up.
¡°Haha!¡± Sir Derek let out a loudugh as he patted the King¡¯s Shoulder. ¡°You haven¡¯t changed. Even around your daughter, you change into another person. It seems you have taken quite a liking to Little Faith here.¡±
¡°Of course! She is doing so much for my kingdom. How can I not like her? Anway, were we not talking about something serious!? Let¡¯s talk about that.¡± The King seemed a bit flustered. I think I even see a bit of pink in his cheeks. For a moment there, I really thought Sir Derek had never seen this side of the King, but I guess he was just messing with him. Only someone very close to him would be able to do such a thing. But now that I think about it, did I not just do the same thing just on a milder level?
¡°Ahem¡. Faith, the n that my daughter and sonid out revolved around them being targeted next now that nobles¡¯ n to have you assassinated failed. While they will probably keep trying, they will also make other more bolder moves. Like taking those who are close to you who have high value to get you or me to relinquish your hold over the slums.¡± The King exined.
¡°If that is the case, would they not go for my father and the rest of my family instead?¡± If they wished to hold someone hostage, wouldn¡¯t my family make better targets? I mean, they are my blood rted rtives, after all.
¡°It would take too long to try to make it to the border to even take someone from your family hostage. They would need someone close by who they can use as a bargaining chip now and not forter.¡± The King exined.
¡°Do they not realize that by touching anyone close to me that I might identally set fire to each one of their houses while they sleep?¡± I mean, if we can not get any evidence on them. I can always make them live in fear by burning down their house. Wait for them to rebuild it before burning it down again. I will repeat the process until they finally go crazy.
Chapter 129 The Plan Part 3
The King let out a loudugh and patted my head, kind of roughly causing me to frown. It felt like my hair was going to fall out! ¡°Little Faith, if you go burning down noble¡¯s houses, invite me. I am always up for a good lynching of wrongdoers!¡±
My mouth dropped to the floor in shock! Hey Mr. King, man! Why are you talking about lynching your own nobles!? But even if this King is somewhat weird, he is still a good man with the right kind of justice. ¡°Okay, that is beside the point. Now, please tell me. What is going on with this n? How are they going to even begin executing it in the first ce? Are they going to ware signs saying, ¡®hey,e kidnap me¡¯?¡±
¡°Hmmm¡ This is not a bad idea. I can even find out who the stupider noble is¡.¡± I watched as the King rubbed his chin and gave my wise remark a serious thought.-.
¡°Don¡¯t even think about it!¡± Why do I feel like I am doing a one man act with the King!? Your Majesty, please spare me!
¡°Haha! You must like yelling!¡± The King let out another heartyugh while I wished I could kick him a few times to take out the stress that was building up. I could only snort out my anger while the King continued: ¡°But no. They will be moving in with you in the new house.¡±
¡°Wait! Adel is one thing, but why is Prince Lance moving into the house too? There will be no one but girls living there.¡± I have never even held hands with a boy outside my own family. Why would I wish to live with one!? I am starting to think that maybe there was more to this mess than meets the eye. Let¡¯s hope the loveometer stays below the red mark and never ascends into dangerous territory. I mean, I have no choice but to ept this situation. It is not like I own the house in the first ce, so whoever the King wishes to ce there is not something I can control.
¡°It will be fine. While Lance can be an idiot at times and doesn¡¯t know how to properly court a girl, he is not someone who would cross any lines that would cause a misunderstanding.¡± Umm¡. Does the King know that his son is an idiot? No, wait, he does know! He just called him that, so how does he know his son won¡¯t cross that fine line? I guess I will be putting up barriers on all the girls¡¯ doors.
I could only sigh and wave my right hand off handily while I held my head with the other. ¡°Alright, alright, it is not like I can say no. Just please tell him that if he does anything that remotely seems perverted, I will burn his hair off and make him crab walk naked out in the streets of the capital.¡±
¡°Hahaha!¡± Sir Derek let out augh that echoed through the entire room. Sei was buckled over at the side, and even Sophie was giggling away at my words. As for the King¡. Yeah, he was as well. His face was red, and he had tears in his eyes. I am starting to feel bad for Prince Lance.
But I guess it will not be too bad. I mean, I will be at the academy most of the day, so I will not have to deal with everything all day long. Not to mention I will be very busy with everything else I n to do. I will be experimenting with magic, runic inscriptions, more magic, learning how tomand armies, more magic, learning about ancient history, more magic¡. Okay, so lots of magic. I had been thinking of modifying my mana shield so that it can be element based. So like, let¡¯s say someone attacked me with lightning magic, I can make my mana shield be water based, which will disperse the electricity so that it can not be used as non direct damage against me. The same would go for other elements and maybe even be able to negate attacks instead of just absorbing them.
Mana shield has a lot of potential, and only because of how it works no one has ever really looked into it. It can be used for many more purposes other than just a self shield. I n to in the future try to inscribe it into a pedant and see if I can set up a link to it with my mana so that it can always protect my loved ones. It may take a lot of trial and error, but hopefully, one day, I will be able to use this experimentation to expand the lives of others. Besides that, I also want to finally finish my fusion magic so that it is useful.
¡°Haha¡ Ahh! That would be a sight to see. I will be sure to warn him well.¡± The King replied while wiping his tears. Was it really that funny?
At any rate, the King¡¯s idea was not a bad one now that I thought about it. ¡°So you want me to protect both Adel and Prince Lance?¡±
¡°Mmm¡ You understood my meaning well. I know how powerful you are, so to cast the with a big piece of bait, the safest ce for them would be near you. Like your name, I have faith in your abilities. While I know this is dangerous, I want nothing more than to have this all end without anyone getting hurt.¡± The King replied. He was acting serious for once, and the gaze in his eyes showed his trust in me. Even if he did not ask me, I still would have done what he had asked. Adel, for one, is my best friend, while Prince Lance is her brother and my acquaintance.
¡°Then leave it to me. I nned to inscribe a few barriers anyway. As long as we can capture the one who is doing the kidnapping, I can get them to talk and bring the ones behind it to kneel in front of you to do as you see fit.¡± I gave a firm answer. It would not be hard to make someone talk.
¡°Then I will leave it to you.¡±
Chapter 130 A Fun Time For All Except For A Sly Cat
Currently, I was sitting in a tea shop sipping on some very nice and expensive tea. To my left is Sophie, who looked like a small animal as she nibbled on a pastry. On my right was Adel, who showed up a day after receiving a letter from Sophie about today¡¯s date. She seems to have abandoned everything toe here to have tea with me. She is very sweet indeed. On Sophie¡¯s left was Thurul, who was sitting at the end of the long bench seat. While on Adel¡¯s right were Gesel and Fred.
Sitting at the opposite ends of the table were Sei and Runa and on the other side was, for some reason, King Gravos himself and also Sir Derek. Sitting in between these two men, who were both rather well built, was a certain catkin who was currently grinding his teeth and sweating bullets. ¡°Ahem¡. Miss Cyrilia, if I am not mistaken, I could have sworn I had asked if you wish to talk more.¡±
Hearing these easily misunderstood words, I smiled brightly at the sly cat and answered: ¡°But can¡¯t you still do just that? Talk with me? I mean, you did just speak to me. Is this not the definition of ¡®Talk more¡¯?¡±-.
¡°This¡.¡± Seeing the little catkin stumped for words, I couldn¡¯t help but feel a strong sense of victory!
¡°It¡¯s good you were willing to meet up today because I just so happen to want to treat everyone as my way of saying thanks for all the help they have given me as ofte. So please, everyone, order whatever you like.¡± I really did wish to treat everyone to something. A day ago, the organizer of the tournament hade to personally apologize for what happened. He even gave me one hundred gold as a form ofpensation. Not only to me, but every contestant who was not an assassin was paid one hundred gold.
This worked out well, and I was happy to gain so many funds. As Thurul was the one dealing with most of the things going on with building the factory, I handed him all of it but ten gold. I would be busy for the next few days as I prepared for the academy and would also be moving. I would not have time to head to the slums right now, so he would be managing it all for me. Between supplies and paying everyone who was working, a good sum of money was needed.
¡°Haha, Faith is so generous, don¡¯t you think so, Little Rythilin?¡± King Gravos looked at Prince Rythilin with a big smile causing the sly cat¡¯s frown to deepen even more. Maybe next time, he will try not to be so sneaky when he is dealing with me. I do not know what his final objective was by trying to ask me out on a date, but I will say that even if I dide here on my own without knowing any better as to what he truly meant, I would not be following him anywhere that is for sure.
¡°That she is. This tea and these pastries really hit the spot when you¡¯re as old as I am.¡± Every time Sir Derek spoke, he would p Prince Rythilin¡¯s shoulder, and it seemed like he was doing it pretty hard because Prince Rythilin kept flinching with each p.
But now that I was thinking things through with the sly cat, I havee to realize something¡ First, he broke into the barriers andnded in front of me with his rabbitkin guard as if he was some hero saving a beauty. Then he was trying to be sly in how he asked me out on a date, using the traditional way beastkin in his kingdom ask people out. So I think this entire setup was just him trying to take advantage of the situation. So, in other words, he was a sly cat.
What I find funny is that King Gravos offered toe once he heard that I was going on a date. It seems he might not have given up on me marrying into his family just yet. I hate to disappoint him, but that will probably never happen in his lifetime or mine. But he is a good deterrent when ites to dealing with sly cats. It is making for a good show, that is for sure.
And to my side, Adel, who is one hundred percent human, is growling and hissing at the catkin as if she was a catkin herself. But besides that, everyone else seems to be having fun. Gesel and Fred are happily chatting away with one another. Runa and Sei are stuffing their faces. I mean, they have a pile of cakes and pastries in front of them. It¡¯s like they will never get to have such things ever again after they leave this ce.
And Thurul is sneaking some kind of alcohol in his tea every chance he gets. But he seems to be very content with snacking and watching the show with an amused smile. I have a lot to thank him for as he went out on a limb and decided to be partners with me, who was not even half his age. And thanks to Adel and also Grace Dollen pushing the pens onto the noble ss, I already have a huge backlog of orders waiting to be filled once the factory is up and running.
Everyone here besides the sly cat has helped me in many ways, and I owe each and every one of them my utmost gratitude for the kindness they have given me. I hope to stay friends with each one of them except the sly cat and maybe one day repay the kindness they have shown me. While I know, they did not help me to gain things in return. I can not always be the one on the receiving end. I must also return their kindness as well.
Volume Five End!
¨CAN: The fifth volume is now over. I hope everyone has enjoyed the novel up to this point and hope you will continue to enjoy it for the many, many chapters that are still toe. I want to take a moment and thank everyone for supporting Faith on her journey. Academy arcing next!¨C
Chapter 131 A New Home Part 1
A flock of white feather birds is flying through the sky. Their wings pping ever so gently as they used the currents of the wind to stay afloat as they glide amongst the clouds. The temperature today was not so bad. I could still wear a t-shirt even though cooler weather was right around the corner.
As of now, as I watch the clouds from up close while shading my eyes from the sun that was high in the sky, I was feeling a bit excited. In front of me, as I take in the sights around me, is arge metal gate much taller than myself. This would be the gate that I will being and going through from now on. This was the gate to my new home.
¡°Faith, get in the carriage. We still have a few minutes before we reach the front door.¡± Adel yelled out. It was not just me who was moving in today either. There are another three carriages here lined up, one behind the other. One was mine. Another was Adel¡¯s, and the third was Prince Lances.-.
Sophie, Sei, and the maids also all came as well, but since I had my inventory, I just stored all our luggage in there so we could all sit in one carriage. This reduced the need for any more carriages.
I turned and looked at Adel, who seemed to be in a hurry, and sighed. I slowly began walking back to the carriage. ¡°I just wanted to take it all in! You saw how small my home was.¡±
¡°I know, but we have so much to do today.¡± Adel was right. We still had a lot to do. Mainly Sei and I had a lot to do. Because I was in charge of protecting the only princess and the crown prince of this kingdom, I had to ensure the house and the property they lived in was thoroughly protected.
That meant creating many magical defense systems from barriers to other kinds of traps. While I really doubt anyone will be able to break through the barrier I nned to set up since it will be continuously strengthened with my magic as I n to form a link to the core, but one can never be too careful. And I had quite a few traps nned out. Like using illusions to create pitfalls. A riddle maze where people will need to solve the questions in order to continue on.
One of those riddles I nned to put in was taken from a show I watched once back on Earth. I guess the host of the show was some famous chef, but he was quite funny when he got mad at people. The question for one of the riddles would show an image of two slices of bread, followed by the question: ¡°What are you!?¡± I startedughing when I heard the answer
But besides that, I nned to do things like making a wash basin fall on people¡¯s heads. Logs that swing in from out of nowhere and the old trip line that blows everything up in the area when you trip the trap. You know the usual.
As the carriage pulled through the gate, what entered my view was a wide open frontwn or more like a meadow. There was a singlerge tree that sat in the middle of this meadow that had a bench swing hanging from one of its limbs that was big enough to fit five people. While it seemed peaceful, the coup de gra of the whole thing was therge brick and mortar style house that had an Earthling western style feel to it.
What amazed me the most about this ce was that it had four floors, and this was just the above ground area. It made me wonder just how many floors were underground. I was kinda hoping for like two or three underground, so I could have a secretb. You know, like in those fantasy novels where either the heroes or the viins had an underground base of operations to do all their experiments? I wanted something like that so I could train in magic that I did not want others taking notice of or even creating some kind of secret weapon. I was thinking of creating the ultimate idiot smasher. This way, when idiots appear, I can just smash them.
This came to mind when I remembered the rabbit girl that Prince Rythilin had at his side. She had a massive hammer that looked wonderful for smashing idiots. Luckily I did not have to go far to find an idiot to try it out on because Prince Lance was moving in as well. I am sure if I asked nicely, he would allow me to give him a few whacks. Of course, I am joking. If I ever did such a thing, he would be squashed like a bug. So Unless he truly did something that would be considered an idiot move, I will keep the testing to only the idiots that appear before me.
I do wonder, though, if the nobles will try to break into the new house or not. The whole n was to use Adel and Prince Lance as bait which was why they moved in with me. While I still have my misgivings about this, I will do everything in my power to make sure Adel is safe and, if I have time, Prince Lance too. But I will say if something bad happens, I might lose myself to my ancient will if I get too angry. Such emotions as hate and sadness might just break it from its chains and send me spiraling down a path I can not return from. This thought alone scared me greatly to the point that I have been checking for any signs of my ancient will the past few nights since the King brought this all up. I still have the images burned into my mind since the fortune telling. The pain and sorrow I had in my eyes and the menacing smile I had on my face at that time. I do hope none of it will evere true. While my life may be long, I do wish to enjoy the present with the friends I have made and cherish the time I will have with everyone.
Chapter 132 A New Home Part 2
Now I know I should not dwell on the things that I do not know about, but sometimes I just can¡¯t help it. For now, I will just push it all back into the box that can not be fully sealed and enjoy exploring this new ce I will call home from now on.
The carriage pulled up under the stone awning that covered the front entrance. I could tell right away this was definitely a luxury directly pointing towards nobles as they probably did not wish to run to the door when it was raining out. It kind of reminded me of those luxury hotels you could see online back on Earth.
With therge overhang so rain and snow would not get the people entering and leaving wet. But the hotels and stuff that had such hover hangs usually had someone parking the cars of the people arriving who would then get soaked. Makes me feel bad for them because I have no idea how much money they actually made. And now I was one of those people who had an overhang and would get to be dry while the carriage driver would end up getting wet. I guess I should make sure he is getting paid extra.-.
Oh, that was something else as well. The three carriages we arrived in are actually mine now. They were gifted to me by Sir Derek, who said I will need a nice carriage to go to the academy in. I guess he was worried that I would be looked down upon if I arrived at the academy on foot. But truth be told, I would not mind walking as the academy was not very far away. I could easily run there in ten minutes, and it would also be good exercise, but when I mentioned this to Adel, she thoroughly rejected the idea and told me to behave myself. So I gave up on the idea.
But now, I had a huge area to run around in and work out as I please. I can not wait to begin a proper morning routine. Of course, Sophie will be joining me, whether she likes it or not. I promised I would train her, and she will need to stick to a strict schedule. Sadly we have not had time to do much in the way of training as thepany kinda butted into me getting a mission from the mercenary guild.
But everything wille in due time. I will soon be just as busy, so my training will be even slower. I will have to wait until we have our academy outings. From what I understand about these outings is that we venture into small worlds and will look to hunt for treasures which I am all for. I believe that we can keep the treasures we find, but if we hand them over to the academy, they will give us a certain amount of merit points.
I, of course, will hand what I find over as long as it is not shiny. I mean, I haven¡¯t really had a chance to get any new shinies since I left home. It¡¯s not like my big brother will suddenly show up and go here, Faith, I found this for you. Now that I think about it, it has been almost half a year since I left home. A lot has happened since then. I do hope everyone is okay. I hope Mother has not kicked Father out of the house yet. And I hope Big Brother is treating Rachel well. And I really hope that my little nephew Leo is as healthy and fat as when I left him.
I do n to make a trip home the first chance I get. To check in and see how everyone is. Maybe by then, I will have figured out how to make a proper teleportation magic circle. Then I can set up a connection between my house in Cyrilia vige and my home here. I think that would make for an amazing thing. Being able to have my Mother¡¯s home cooking whenever I want would be really nice.
¡°Faith! We can¡¯t get out if you are going to sit there and daydream all day. This is your home, to begin with, we are just guests!¡± Adel woke me up from my thoughts causing my cheeks to blush. I wonder how long I was out this time.
But Adel¡¯s words did sound funny. I do not remember gaining any properties. I was only told I would have a ce prepared for me to live in. ¡°Adel!¡± Prince Lance suddenly yelled out, causing Adel to quickly cover her mouth. Hmmm? Was I not supposed to know something?
Wait¡ As I got off the carriage, an older gentleman was standing there in a ck butler suit and a monocle in his right eye doing a perfect bultlery bow. ¡°Miss Faith Cyrilia, I presume. My name is Jeeves. I was hired to be the head caretaker of your new home.¡±
I pursed my lips as I looked at Jeeves, who looked exactly like the butlers you would see in a movie back on Earth. He even had that prim and proper air about him. ¡°Ummm¡ Thanks¡. But may I ask a certain question. Not to you but to Princess Adel.¡±
I turned and looked at Adel, who quickly averted her eyes. I guess she knew she was in trouble. Even Prince Lance was looking away. ¡°Now, if I may ask. I thought I was only having a home prepared for me and not given to me to keep. So can someone exin to me when I suddenly inherited an estate!?¡± I walked over to Adel, who kept trying to look away from me, and grabbed her chin, forcing her to look at me as I smiled brightly at her: ¡°Adel? ¡°
Adel pouted her lips as she looked like she was ready to cry as she said: ¡°Well, you see, Faith¡ We wanted to give you a gift, and well, we figured¡ Hey! Why not get her a new home so she can do whatever she wants with it?¡±
I turned to look at Prince Lance, who was nodding his head like a newborn chick. But once I made eye contact with him, he froze and began looking everywhere except for at me before suddenly yelling out: ¡°It was Father who decided on this!¡±
Chapter 133 A New Home Part 3
I looked at the two, who were both nodding their heads at me, and sighed. ¡°So this huge estate is now mine?¡±
Both the princess and prince nodded their heads like baby chicks at my question. ¡°So if I were to tear it down and put up tents for everyone to live in, it would be okay?¡±
Once again, their heads nodded up and down. But I could have sworn I saw their eyebrows twitch. Well, not like I am reallyining. It was just unexpected, is all. I let out a sigh as I turned back around and gave Jeeves a slight bow. ¡°I apologize for my rude behavior just now.¡±
¡°Young Miss does not need to worry about this old man. I took no offense. I am sure the ipetence of the princess and prince who did not think to exin things clearly is at fault here.¡± Ouch! Jeeves really pped the two of them in the face. But this did tell me one thing¡.-.
¡°Just so I am clear here but do you by chance know the two of them well?¡± I asked.
¡°I was in charge of their care when they were younger. I have now resigned from the pce once I heard this position was opening up. I wished to work under someone who is so willing to help the people. I have heard many good things about you, Young Miss.¡± It was not that I was ignoring how Jeeves went from calling me Miss Faith Cryilia to Young Miss. I had kind of figured it would happen since that is what Annie and the others call me. But the way he talked to me seemed slightly different, as if I had gained his approval just now.
¡°I see. Then I will be in your care from now on. If you need to, you can spank both of them if they do anything that angers you. They are¡.¡± I paused and turned to look at the prince and prince with a big smile. ¡°Under my care after all¡..¡±
¡°Faith, I don¡¯t like the sounds of your words! Why does it sound like you will treat us horribly!?¡± Adel cried out in a panic while I wasughing on the inside. I was finding this fun since I had never seen Adel like this.
¡°Don¡¯t worry, Princess Adel, we will make sure to take very good care of you. Now, if you can just ce your bags by the tree over there, we will be sure to send out some rope and a sheet so you can make some tents. As for how to prop them up¡. Well, I am sure you will figure it out. Now then, if you will excuse me¡.¡± I turned and walked over to Jeeves, who smiled and led the way into the house, ignoring the prince and princess as if they were not even there. But I only got two steps towards the door when Adel ran up to me and grabbed my arm:
¡°Faith, I¡¯m sorry! I didn¡¯t mean to hide it from you. We were going to surprise you, I swear! Can you please let me off this one time? Can you go back to calling me just Adel?¡± I turned and looked at the eyes that were brimming with tears, and my heart dropped. I forgot Adel was someone who did not have true friends. Only Sophie and I could be considered as such. And here I was treating her as a stranger¡.
I reached up and wiped the tear that was threatening to fall from Adel¡¯s eyes and sighed. ¡°Sorry, my joke went a little too far. Don¡¯t cry, Adel.¡±
¡°Mmm¡..¡± Adel nodded while pouting.
¡°Let¡¯s go in and choose rooms. We can then have lunch before I get to work dealing with the estate¡¯s protection systems.¡± I announced before grabbing Adel¡¯s hand and pulling her along. I know I shouldn¡¯t gab her hand like this as it might make Adel have other thoughts, but I did not wish to treat her any differently than before. Plus, I just almost made her cry which was not nice of me either.
¡°Ummm¡.¡± Another voice sounded out, stopping me once again. I turned to see Prince Lance still standing in the doorway, causing me to chuckle. ¡°You cane in as well. You can choose a room after us girls.¡±
¡°Right! Thanks!¡± Prince Lance put on a silly smile as he walked in and looked around. Sadly I couldn¡¯t help but think his actions just now were kind of cute. But that is it, only cute, nothing more.
The inside of the estate was notvishly decorated, which made me feel at ease. While it still was furnished with high quality furnishings, they were not over the top and very normal. I can only think that Adel had a hand in the decor of the estate. ¡°You decided on this?¡±
¡°Yep! Do you like it?¡± Adel suddenly perked up at my question. I could hear the pride in her voice.
¡°That I do. Not overlyvish, but not in either. It suits my taste very much. Thank you. But this still must have cost a lot though, right?¡± I asked.
¡°Well, the estate was actually one of my father¡¯s old estates from before he became king. It was just sitting here collecting dust, so he decided to award it to you. In truth, this was supposed to be a thank you gift from not only me but my brother, father, and my mother, the queen. Faith, I do not think you understand the aplishments that you have gained so far.
¡°You have many merits already stacked up waiting for you to graduate from the academy. Not to mention that there are many nobles who would fight against you bing a noble yourself at this time. To keep the courts quiet for the time being while we flush out as many of the bad eggs as we can, many things need to be put on hold concerning you.¡± Adel exined.
¡°I see. Well, it is not like I am in a hurry to be a noble. Although it would secure my future and is one of my goals, but I still have a lot to do and a lot to achieve as well. Plus, the things I have been doing are not to gain merits but to help those who I want to help.¡±
Chapter 134 Picking Rooms Part 1
¡°That sounds very Faith like.¡± Prince Lancemented as he finally caught up to us. Although, not even a secondter, I heard a disgruntled snorting from my side. I just hope these two do not get into some kind of brawl while living here. I don¡¯t know how things are at the castle, but I do hope that they can get along while living under my roof. I kinda like that word ¡®My roof¡¯. It has a nice sound to it.
¡°Well, I am me and am not able to be anyone else even if I tried.¡± Well, unless I used my acting skill, but I do not n to be anyone else unless there is a good reason for it.
¡°That is very true.¡± Prince Lance answered, which resulted in another snort. ¡°Adel, are you going to be like this every time I speak?¡±
And now it has started. The brother-sister feud. ¡°I have no idea what you are talking about, dear brother. Maybe you should stop talking and see if I treat you better. While you are at it, you can stop breathing as well.¡±-.
¡°I would die!¡± Prince Lance yelled out.
¡°Tch¡ Not as dumb as I thought he was.¡± Adel muttered in a not so low voice.
¡°I can hear you, you know!¡± I was actually finding this quite entertaining. Does this make me a bad person?
¡°If the two of you can not get along. Then I will have to kick the both of you out of the house and go along with Young Miss¡¯s first idea and toss you some rope and some sheets to make tents. So either get along or sleep outside.¡± Jeeves stern voice filled the air causing the brother and sisterbo to quickly shut up. I guess this is what happens when you take care of the royal children and are the one to always dish out punishment. Maybe this was why Adel panicked so much earlier. Since I had suggested it, she knew Jeeves would carry it out. Maybe this was the real reason why Jeeves came to work for me.
Now that I think about it¡.. Who is paying his sry¡. I was starting to sweat. I had no money! All my money went to thepany. How was I supposed to pay for my staff? This was bad¡. Really bad! ¡°Ummm, Adel¡. About Jeeves¡¯s and everyone else¡¯s sry¡.¡±
¡°Hmmm? Father pays for it. What do you mean?¡± Adel answered, seemingly confused. But I, on the other hand, was internally pumping my fists. I mean, we just walked in, and I already see like thirty people standing here.
¡°Now then!¡± Jeeves pped his hands as we came to a stop in the hall entrance. All the staff members quickly gathered together and stood behind him. And before I could ask what was going on. Jeeves, along with everyone else, bowed to me. ¡°Young Miss, wee home!¡±
Their voices echoed through the estate, causing me to feel a little flustered. This was my first time being treated as if I was royalty. It felt strange, but I am sure I will get used to it. I just hope I do not end up turning into one of those rich snobby girls I saw at the tea party. ¡°Please raise your heads. There is no need to bow to me like that. Just act yourselves, please.¡±
¡°This is something that must be done, Young Miss. It is your first day in your new home. It should be treated as a grand asion. Once you have selected your rooms, a weing party has already been prepared out in the back garden. I do hope you will enjoy it.¡± Jeeves replied with a smile. I was actually quite touched, but I hope they do not bow like this to me every time Ie home. I do not think I will be able to get used to that.
¡°I thank you all for your hard work. I am sure I will enjoy it.¡± I said with a smile.
¡°Then allow me to bring you to your room Young Miss. As for the others, girls on the third floor and boys on the second floor.¡± Jeeves suddenly announced, causing me to be a bit confused. I can see splitting the girls and boys up, but why was I the only one following Jeeves?
I turned and looked at Adel for answers. Adel chuckled at my questioning gaze as she exined: ¡°As the master of the house, you will always have the top floor of the home as your ce of residents. I worked hard on renovating your room, so I hope you do like it. I will take Sophie and Sei to go pick rooms on the third floor. Once we are done, we wille up to see you.¡±
¡°I see..¡± I pursed my lips. While I would have been fine with a room like everyone else¡¯s, I can not let Adel¡¯s hard work go to waste. Plus, I was curious as to what it looks like. ¡°Then I will see you all in a bit.¡±
I waved before turning and nodding my head to Jeeves, who then told me to follow him. The main entrance was huge, and I mean huge. Like you could fit my entire house from the vige in the main entrance alone, well maybe I am exaggerating a little bit it was still very big. It had a set of stairs that led up to the second floor that had red wood railings and stairs with a soft red carpet adorning the steps. The main entrance¡¯s floor was made out of what looked to be marble. But nothing too shy, just a simple ck with light gray swirls. Besides that, there were two doors on each side of the staircase that led to somewhere. I was not quite sure yet. I nned to take a tourter. For now, I was following Jeeves towards the left hallway. I did not get to get a good look myself when we pulled up to the estate, but I am really wondering just how far back the entire house goes.
Chapter 135 Picking Rooms Part 2
I was brought to the fourth floor by a magical elevator that went between the floors. Well, they call it a lift, but to me, it¡¯s just an elevator. When it stopped at the fourth floor, we exited to stand in a small room just big enough for ten people. There was nothing else but four white walls.
¡°Young Miss, please ce your hand on the wall here and inject your magic into it. It is already waiting for you to register with it.¡± Jeeves exined, which made me nod my head. I guess this was what you call a secret mechanism that brought you to the real room.
I walked over to the wall Jeeves told me to and ced my hand on it, and began injecting my mana. All of a sudden runic letters began forming on the wall. They pulsated for a second before suddenly spreading out in all directions, making a unique pattern on the wall before a glowing light began connecting them together. I watched with great interest as they slowly began to form a magic circle that took up almost the entire wall. In the center, I watched as it started to slowly be transparent.-.
And what was revealed was a small garden within a room that had windows on the ceiling and walls. An indoor greenhouse is a good way to describe it, but only part of the rooms was like this, while the rest was more rustic and very familiar in a sense. It reminded me of home¡ I almost began tearing up. Adel really did put her heart and soul into my room. She made it feel like home before I even stepped foot into it.
I slowly walked through the opening in the wall, followed by Jeeves, and began looking around. My eyes shined as I saw the decor. ¡°Adel really outdid herself.¡±
¡°The princess had been here during the entire renovation overseeing every detail to the point that the contractors wanted to kick her out on her head. She was very nit picky if anything did not match the image she had.¡± Jeeves exined. I turned to smile at him but was stunned when I saw him bowing to me.
¡°Jeeves!?¡± I stepped forward to try to help him up, but he seemed locked in ce not willing to raise his head.
¡°Please allow me this bow. I must thank you. Princess Adel and Prince Lance have been like my own children. While the other princes were raised by their caretakers, I was in charge of the only princess of the kingdom and the crown prince. They have been under my care ever since the day they were born. And I know their personalities well. While they can be a bit off the wall, they are both good children. It¡¯s just before you came, Princess Adel seemed to always be down when she walked around the castle, and Prince Lance was always being taken advantage of.
¡°While they both have their good and bad qualities, they both have one thing inmon. They are very kind children who love this kingdom very much. Princess Adel has not stopped talking about you since the day she met you. You have truly brought her out of her gloomy state. While some of her actions and obsessiveness can be over the top, she finds you to be very dear to her heart and would never betray you. So I do hope you will stay friends with her no matter how she acts.
¡°As for Prince Lance. While he is an idiot at times he is still a good young man and worthy of being king once he understands how to deal with people properly. Since meeting you, he seems to have changed and is now working hard to be a king worthy of your approval. This is something that His Majesty and I truly thank you for. So I do hope you will not shun him too much.¡± Jeeves¡¯s love for the two he raised was clear as day. He may be old now, but it seems he really cared for both Adel and Prince Lance and still does to this day.
¡°Jeeves, please raise your head. I would not live under the same roof as someone I did not like. Both Adel and Prince Lance are good people and friends¡.. Well, Prince Lance is a good acquaintance. He still had a bit to go to be friends.¡± Although I would not have been able to say no to His Majesty, I would have at least tried to make it so that only Adel came and not Prince Lance if I did not feel that he was a good person. I do have my own line that I would not want to cross. While I may joke about this and that about him, I don¡¯t hate or despise him.
¡°I thank you.¡± Jeeves raised his head and smiled at me. His old age showing as his face wrinkled up. ¡°I will now return to settle a few things. Please look around. I am sure Princess Adel will be up soon.¡±
¡°Mmmm¡ thank you, Jeeves.¡± After I saw Jeeves off, I started looking around my new room. The mid section was actually arge flower garden. The entire set up was self sustained which was truly impressive. I could see the runic inscriptions that made it so that the flowers would be watered at a certain time every day. I do wonder how long they will live for with such a set up. To the right of the room was a door that led to the rooftop. Even here, a magic barrier was set up to keep the rain and unwanted guests out. The area outside was huge, and I mean huge. You could easily hold a concert out here if one wished to.
Back inside, on the other side of the garden, was another door that led to arge living area that had a few couches and a firece that sat in the middle. All the furnishing kept the rustic decor of the room. Nothing was over exaggerated and was kept very simple. There were a few rooms off to the side of this that led to a library, a small kitchen, and an office with more bookshelves full of books, and within the office was another door that led to what looked like ab of some kind. I think this was a magicb because it was much different and had many runic inscriptions built into the wall for protection.
Andstly was the bedroom, which was overly huge. It had a door that led to a simrlyrge bathroom with a bath big enough to be a swimming pool. But what caught my eye was not the huge bed big enough for like ten people but the thing on the ceiling over the bed. ¡°Why is there a huge picture of Adel on the ceiling!?¡±
Chapter 136 Party In The Garden Part 1
I was currently standing in my new bedroom with my arms crossed in front of my chest while tapping my left foot off the ground, staring at a certain princess who was currently kneeling on the ground with her head lowered. ¡°Care to exin?¡±
¡°Well, I thought that maybe you would like to wake up every morning to see me smiling back at you?¡± Adel answered while raising her head, but I squinted my eyes at her, causing her to quickly lower her head.
I really wished I knew what went on inside Adel¡¯s head, but this was just creepy! Who would want to wake up to a big picture of someone smiling back at them! While the picture was very well done and was at least proper in how it was painted, the problem was that it was huge and hanging over my head! It would give me nightmares! ¡°Take it down!¡±
¡°But!¡± Adel seemed very reluctant about this, but I did not care!
¡°Take it down. Adel, you are a very good friend, my best friend at that, but this is just too much. I do not wish to have nightmares!¡± I¡¯m sorry, Adel, but I had to say it!-.
¡°Nightmares!?¡± Adel looked as if I had just stabbed her in the heart, but what can I say? Even if it was a picture of my own mother, I would find it creepy as can be. Even if I was lovers with someone, I would never allow such a thing.
¡°Adel, you could put anyone up there in the same painting, and I would say the same thing. My mother, brother, or my father. It would all result in the same wordsing out of my mouth. Take it down!¡± I hope, at least by saying this, she wouldn¡¯t be as depressed.
¡°Fine¡.¡± Adel pouted as she stood up and looked at the painting. ¡°That was the best one too¡.¡±
I sighed and looked out to the living area and saw that the walls were quite bare out there. ¡°Have them hang it on the wall in the living area.¡±
¡°Okay!¡± Adel perked up very quickly after hearing my words. Seeing her smile made me feel slightly better. I know I was kind of harsh just now, but I really couldn¡¯t stop myself when something this was done.
Now that rooms were set, it was now time for lunch. As I walked out to the back yard, I noticed Sophie had her head lowered this entire time. ¡°Sophie? Is something wrong?¡±
¡°Ahhh¡ No.¡± Sophie shook her head as she raised it to look at me. ¡°I was just thinking. This entire time I had been sleeping in the same bed as you and thought it would be strange to sleep alone again. That and I was wondering if it was okay for me to ept your kindness like this. I mean, my room is big enough for a princess¡.. As amoner, I could stay in a small room made for servants. I do not think¡.¡±
¡°Enough of that, Sophie. I do not want to hear any more words aboutmoners. Don¡¯t forget I am one as well. We are cut from the same cloth. I am just a bit special because I seem to be overpowered. But nheless, you will be going to the same school as Adel and me. You will be walking the hallways with us, so you must never lower your head and give the snotty noble kids a chance to look down on you. We will show the nobles that even usemoners are amazing people who will do amazing things. And if they try to bother you, then punch them in the face like I did that one girl.¡±
¡°Yes! Listen to Faith. You have the kingdom¡¯s only princess as your backer, so punch anyone you want except me, Faith, or the king and queen.¡± Adel added with a proud look on her face.
¡°Wait, what about me and our brothers!?¡± I chuckled at Prince Lance¡¯s outburst.
¡°Huh? Why would I include you stinky brothers?¡± Adel asked with a look that said are you stupid? You are nothing. Go away.
¡°Alright, be nice. Sophie, only punch Prince Lance if he tries to hit on you. Or looks at you in the wrong way. Tries to touch any part of your body. Or even appears in front of you.¡± I said in a teasing voice.
¡°Am I supposed to never leave my room!?¡± Prince Lance yelled out once more.
¡°¡±That sounds perfect!¡±¡± Adel and I both said at the same time. We looked at each other and beganughing. Even Sophie smiled at this.
¡°You two! Don¡¯t gang up on me!¡± Prince Land huffed as he walked over to the table that was filled with food and sat down. He then grabbed a pastry from the table and shoved it in his mouth.
He was definitely an interesting character. Easily bullied by the girls around him. At least it will make for fine entertainment at home as long as things do not go too far. ¡°Ummmmm. Can you all not forget about me? I am here too, you know!¡±
I turned to see Sei walking all alone as if she had no friends causing me to chuckle. ¡°You were so quiet I forgot you were even here.¡±
¡°That¡¯s because I couldn¡¯t say a word with how you all have known each other for so long!¡± Sei replied.
¡°That is true, but you have known Adel for quite a while, have you not?¡± I asked. I mean, she would always send messages back and forth and would go to talk with Adel personally, so I figured they were very well acquainted by now.
¡°Yes, but only at a professional level, not as friends¡ Every time we have spoken to each other, it was either about you or something important that rted to the kingdom. Never anything personal.¡± I see, so it seems Sei wanted to be friends with Adel as well but can¡¯t because of her status. I guess rank and duty does make things like that impossible sometimes.
¡°Well, forget about your duty from now on. You are now I, Adel Gravos¡¯s friend!¡±
Chapter 137 Party In The Garden Part 2
I watched as Sei¡¯s smile brightened, hearing Adel¡¯s words. It felt nice that everyone was able to speak on equal terms without needing to worry about status, especially since we were all going to be living under the same roof.
We sat down and began chatting while we ate the food that was prepared for us. I looked over at Prince Lance, who seemed out of ce as he ate his food by himself. In a way, I felt bad for him because he was the only boy here. ¡°Prince Lance, I heard that you are really buckling down as ofte.¡±
¡°Hmm?¡± I watched as Prince Lance¡¯s cheeks turned slightly red as he exined: ¡°Well¡ I have you to thank for that. The incident at the slums was an eye opener for me. I realized I was just skirting through life while people were walking all over me. I did not wish to be a king who was nothing more than a puppet. So in truth, I am very grateful to you and the fact that you are so outspoken. If not for that, I would still be a frog in a well. Only seeing a small patch of sky and never the world around me. Also¡. Faith, if you want, you can just call me Lance from now on¡.¡±
I looked over at Prince Lance¡. Or should I just say Lance and smiled at him. He truly has changed for the better, which is a good thing. ¡°Then¡. Prince Lance.¡± But I still couldn¡¯t stop myself from teasing him. When I said these words, the look of anticipation turned to one of gloom, causing me to chuckle. ¡°Sorry, I couldn¡¯t resist. From now on, I will call you Lance.¡±-.
¡°Humph!¡± A perfectly timed loud snort by Adel seemed to try to mask out my saying his name. I looked over at her, only for her to quickly look up at the sky while eating a piece of meat as if she had done nothing at all.
I smiled and shook my head. Adel will always be Adel, it seems. When I turned and looked back at Lance, he had a silly grin on his face that was too funny not tough. But now that I pulled him into talking with us, he no longer seemed out of ce.
We were all having a good time when Jeeves suddenly announced a neer: ¡°Young Miss Dollen has arrived!¡±
Adel, who was stuffing her face with a pastry face suddenly turned sour. I looked over towards the garden entrance to see Grace walking over with a big smile on her face. Behind her, two maids were walking a few steps behind with tworge boxes in their hands. ¡°Faith! I¡¯m here!¡±
I smiled and stood up to greet her. ¡°Grace, it has been a while.¡±
¡°That it has! I only got to meet with you once, but I did enjoy our time together. I do hope you forgive me for my unannounced visit. But when I heard you moved to the ind, I had toe see you and give you a housewarming present.¡± With that her two maids stepped forward with the huge boxes in their hands.
¡°This is?¡± I pursed my lips and looked at the boxes that were half as tall as I was. Her maids must be very strong!
¡°Allow me, Young Miss.¡± Jeeves walked over and picked up the first box, knelt down to my height, and held it out in front of him. We had no room on the table, and it would be rude to ce the boxes on the ground. All these noble etiquettes were taught to me by Adel. I did, however, feel excited to see what was inside. The first box was blue with a white ribbon holding the lid on. I reached up and pulled one on the ribbon so that it would untie before reaching up and pulling the lid off.
What I saw inside made my eyes glow with excitement. To some, it would just be a box of old papers, but to me, this was like a national treasure. The paper on top already told me what to expect in this deep box of papers. To be honest, I really wished to jump for joy. I did my best topose myself as I asked: ¡°Is this what I think it is!?¡±
¡°That it is. It is theplete set of runic equations for the airship. I went out of my way and made my father use one of his favors with the king to allow me to get a copy of the runic equations. There are several types of equations, from the mostmonly used to the experimental runic equations that never saw the light of day. I do not know why but when my father said it was so that I could give them as a gift to you, The king happily sent all the documentation the same day. And that was just yesterday. ¡± Grace exined. I really couldn¡¯t help but feel giddy. I mean, these were all runic equations that allowed things to fly through the skies. While I had the runes engraved in my mind, the problem was that I may not have been able to see all of them. There may have been some hidden.
¡°Thank you very much, Grace! I love it!¡± I said with a bright smile.
¡°And in this box, while not as extravagant as the first, I do hope you like it.¡± This time Grace herself took the box from her maid and held it out to me. This box was much bigger, but from the way she lifted it, I guess it was pretty light. It had the same color ribbon, but the box itself was red.
I did the same as before and pulled on the ribbon to untie it. But this time, Grace set the box on the ground and lifted the top off herself. Inside was a huge stuffed animal. It was this world¡¯s version of a teddy bear, but the bear like creatures of this world had horns. I reached into the box and lifted it out, and hugged it tightly. It was very soft and warm. ¡°Hehe¡ Thank you!¡±
I felt like a small child once more as I pushed my face into therge teddy bear. It was definitely a good present.
Chapter 138 A Visitor In The Night
The party did not end untilte due to Grace showing up. Jeeves had the house staff grill up all kinds of different things. It was quite fun. Something I haven¡¯t done in so long. Back when Cyrilia Vige was established, Father used to have cookouts in the backyard. He would invite all the people who did not hate me, and we would have a fun time talking and eating grilled monsters. Some that tasted like ham and chicken, while others had tastes that were something I could notpare with earth standards. Although I guess using earth standards is something I should not be doing in the first ce. I mean new world, new life, everything had its own name for each taste. But those were indeed good times.
Iy in my bed with my new giant teddy bear at my side, hugging it as I thought about the past. I guess this new home reminded me too much of my house back in the vige¡ Well, I guess this is my home now, so I should just get used to it. I will definitely make sure to make a teleport though that will connect to the vige. I do wish to see my family more often.
I will need to do proper defenses on the house tomorrow and then get myself ready for the academy test. I can¡¯t help but feel slightly nervous. I have met so many kind people so far, but I have also made many enemies, so I am expecting quite a bit of trouble.
¡°Let¡¯s just hope I have a future that is filled with happiness¡.¡±
¡ª-.
The scent of blood fills the air. I am surrounded by people dying on all sides of me. The sh of magic and sword. Knights in armor are charging forward, killing the opposing side. Large monsters hover in the sky and send downrge scale attacks on the ground below. Human versus human. Demi human versus demi human. War cries on all sides.
And I am standing in the midst of all of it. With a sword dripping in blood and blood sttered silver armor. ¡°Faith, are you okay!?¡±
I turn my head to see a familiar face. Although she had blood smudged on her face, her beauty could not be hidden. The only difference was she looked much older. ¡°Sophie?¡±
¡°Faith, what¡¯s wrong!? Is your ancient will taking over again!?¡± Sophie¡¯s words startled me as I looked at her as if she had three heads. I do not remember ever telling Sophie about my ancient will. How did she¡.
I looked down at my hands once more and realized they were much bigger than they should be. Even my chest was something to talk about. I was only now realizing all of this. ¡°What¡ what is going on¡.¡±
¡°Faith¡. Iing!¡± Sophie yelled out as she stood in front of me with her arms open wide. I looked up to see Sophie forming a massive thirtyyered barrier. But even then, eachyer began shattering one after the other as if they were nothing but ss. On instinct, I raised my hand and cast a barrier in front of Sophie but to my surprise, even with all my magic power, the barrier shattered as well, and the next thing I knew¡ ¡°Sophie! No!!!!¡±
¡ª
¡°Hah! Sophie!¡± The images in front of me were now gone. I looked around to find that I was back in my new room. I guess I had a nightmare. One that was a little too realistic. Watching Sophie being prated by magic, punching holes into her body as he tried to protect me, was clear as day in my head. That was a Sophie I did not know. That was also a me I did not know. I looked down at my pathetic excuse of a chest and let out a sigh of relief. At least it was only a dream.
It was still early, so Iid back in my bed and looked up at the ceiling. Such a nightmare was something I had never had before. But it did remind me of the fortune that I got with Sophie. Let¡¯s just hope that things never turn out that way, or else I might end up destroying an entire country in anger. ¡°Hmmm?¡±
I suddenly felt someone attack the barrier I put up around the house. It was a powerful strike at that. I got up and covered myself in a robe as I went to the window and opened it. I put my foot on the window sill and jumped out into the air, and looked around. A sh of light caught my attention at the peak of the barrier, causing my lips to twitch. ¡°Did someone really have to show up on the first night? Could they not let me have at least a single night off?¡±
My body disappeared from where I stood, only to appear once more in the air above the intruders. When I saw the figures in the air, my lips twitched even more. ¡°You damn idiot, do it quieter!¡±
¡°Your Highness, if I don¡¯t try my best, I will never break this barrier. Whoever cast it is insanely powerful!¡± A female with long ears whined as she raised herrge sledge hammer again. The smaller figure who held on to her back, two tails, twitched back and forth as if he was angry.
¡°Strong or not, if you wake up, Faith, I will make sure you lose a month¡¯s sry!¡±The smaller figure yelled out in a hushed voice.
¡°You have to be kidding me!¡± The long eared figure replied once more. I could hear her anguish. I guess that means this would not be the first time she lost a month¡¯s sry.
I smiled slyly as I silently floated down and stood at their side. ¡°Your Highness, here I go again!¡±
¡°Just be quieter!¡±
¡°Do you need some help?¡± I asked out of kindness.
¡°That would be very much appreciated¡.¡±
¡°¡.¡±
¡°¡.¡±
¡°Hi!¡± I smiled brightly and gave the two standing there with their mouths wide open. I gave them a weing wave before putting my hands behind my back and saying: ¡°Fancy meeting you two here.¡±
Chapter 139 Beating Up A Stupid Cat
*Crack!*
¡°Ummm¡. Miss Cyrilia, why are you cracking your knuckles?¡± Seeing the stupid cat slowly backing away from me with each step I took towards him made me smile brightly from ear to ear.
¡°Miss Cyrilia, your smile is scary! We can talk about this rig¡ OOOff!¡± Oh? Maybe I should have let him finish his words?
¡°Your Highness!¡± The rabbit girl looked to be in a panic. She was holding her hammer, looking at me, and then looking at Prince Rythilin, unsure of what she should do.-.
I sniffed the air and smelt something that smelt off. ¡°I wonder¡.¡± I floated down andnded on the barrier where the stupid cat was on his knees, holding his face. Blood dripped from his nose.
I reached down and grabbed him by his tail, causing him to yelp. ¡°Nya! My tails! Miss Cyrilia, please let go! You¡¯re going to tear them off!¡±
¡°I wonder, why do you have a sleeping agent on you? What exactly were you nning!?¡± I was mad. And I mean was really mad. This stupid cat had not only tried to trick me into dating him, but now hees to my house with a sleeping agent!? I know of this sleeping agent due to my Father making sure I was prepared for the open road. So he had asked a merchant to pick up a few different kinds of questionable drugs and their antidotes that were legal but could be used for sinister acts. Between poisons and sleeping agents to aphrodisiacs. I had an understanding of what they smelled like. And with my dragon senses being sharper than a dog¡¯s, I could easily pick up on the slight scent. This specific sleeping agent would knock a person out to the point that they would not wake up for ten hours no matter what was happening to them. This alone was enough to disgust me. Never mind the fact he was trying to break into my house in the middle of the night.
¡°Miss Cyrilia, it¡¯s not what you think! I use this myself!¡± The stupid cat cried out without me needing to even get any evidence.
¡°Uhh! Miss Cyrilia, his highness, does use a sleeping agent to sleep.¡± The rabbit girl behind tried to cut in and exin, but I was not having any of it.
¡°You are telling me youe to my house, trying to break the barrier I set up to sneak into my house with a sleeping agent that you use for sleep in your pocket!? Do you take me for a damn idiot!?¡± I swung the stupid cat by the tail before mming him down onto the barrier. ¡°Do you really think I will not kill you!?¡±
¡°Wait!¡± The rabbit girl suddenly appeared in front of the stupid cat with her arms stretched out to her sides. ¡°Miss Cyrilia, if you continue, I will have no choice but to fight you.¡±
¡°Oh? You wish to fight me!?¡± My lips curled up into a small smile as I stepped forward and appeared behind the rabbit girl and grabbed the stupid cat by his tails once more, and flung him into the air! ¡°If I wish to deal with this stupid cat, I will deal with him. He has crossed a line that I will never forgive!¡±
¡°Miss Cyrilia!¡± The rabbit girl disappeared and caught the stupid cat before he flew into the sky any higher. My lips twitched as I looked at her. She seemed to be much more powerful than I thought. The rabbit girl looked at me as she stuck the stupid cat on her back and readied her hammer. ¡°I beg you to let this end here and now.¡±
¡°Let me ask you something. If you set up a barrier so you could protect your home from intrusion and someonees and begins smashing it with a huge hammer with bad intentions, what would you do in a situation as this?¡± I asked. I truly wished to know how she would answer.
¡°I would probably smash them into oblivion so they could never return to try again.¡± I chuckled at the rabbit girl¡¯s honest answer.
¡°I see¡. Since you were following orders, I really can¡¯t me you, so how about you hand over the culprit, and I let you go?¡± I asked with a smile.
¡°Ah! Right, okay¡.¡± The rabbit girl went to fly down towards me, but the stupid cat on her back suddenly came alive and smashed her on top of her head.
¡°You stupid rabbit, she was trying to get you to hand me over!¡± The stupid cat yelled out.
¡°But Your Highness, she made a solid point. Now that I think about it, we should never have done this. But as your servant, I can only follow orders. Just like how you always make me take a bat wit¡. Mufo!¡± Right now, I was unsure what to say to this strangeedy routine. But it seems the stupid cat has officially stepped into the realm of perverted cat.
¡°Miss Cyrilia, it¡¯s not what you think! I only asked her once as a joke!¡± The stupid cat yelled out as if I cared.
¡°Why would I care about what you do with your rabbit girlfriend? What I care about is what you were nning to do after you broke my barrier? I will give you three seconds to exin. If I do not get an answer within three seconds, I will hit you for every second you do not tell me the truth.¡± I actually meant this. While the rabbit girl was fast, I can say for sure that I could easily beat her in speed. But it did amaze me that she was using footholds to stay standing in the air. She is the second person outside my family who can use such magic. She must have very good mana control and lots of it since she has been standing here for a while now unless it is some kind of magic tool.
¡°What three seconds!? How am I supposed to do¡. Ooff!¡±
¡°3!¡±
Chapter 140 Sometimes Even Kings Can Roar
I hit him again. His whole body flung backward, causing him to fall right off the rabbit¡¯s back and towards the ground. Did I feel bad for this? Nope! I was already holding back, and every time I hit him, I felt much better. I think after maybe thirty more punches, I will let him off.
¡°Your Highness!¡± The rabbit girl once more chased after her prince. What is strange is I can see that the rabbit girl liked the prince much more than just as her master. What kind of like, I am not sure. ¡°Miss Cyrilia, You have gone too far!¡±
I looked down at the bloodied face of the stupid cat and tilted my head. ¡°But he only has a broken nose and a ck eye? Nothing serious¡.¡±
¡°You have repeatedly hit the crown prince of the Kingdom of Lodinia! I can no longer sit by and do nothing!¡± The rabbit girl shouted while getting into a battle stance. I personally did not care about any other kingdom. I was not born or raised there. I only know the kingdom I am living in now. And if the crown prince is this piece of work in front of me, then the kingdom, even if it is a beastkin kingdom, must not be ruled well.
¡°You touch Faith, and my Gravos Kingdom will end all trade with Lodinia!¡± I heard a yelling from below me. I look down to see both Adel and Sophie standing there in their robes outside on thewn, staring up at the sky. With them was Lance, as well as Sei and Jeeves.-.
¡°Prince Rythilin. My sister and I have heard everything from your conversation. It seems you havee to our kingdom tomit an act of war. Do you realize what this means!?¡± Lance yelled out in anger. To be honest, it was my first time seeing him so angry. And for once, he seems to have a proper air of royalty.
¡°For once, I agree with my brother. Prince Rythilin. You may be an esteemed guest of our kingdom, but this does not mean you can do as you please. Now let us hear your exnation of why you are here.¡± Adel turned on her royal mode and was even more overbearing than Lance, but I think it was probably because she seemed ready to attack at any moment. Sophie seemed to be restraining her.
¡°This¡ Fine¡.¡± The stupid cat reluctantly agreed.
I waved my hand and opened a hole in the barrier before disappearing and reappearing behind the stupid cat and kicking him straight through the hole towards the ground. ¡°Ahhhh! Your Highness!¡± And the rabbit quickly followed after.
I know I probably just caused an international incident by beating up another kingdom¡¯s prince but look what he was trying to do? Am I supposed to let him off easy? I don¡¯t think so. I slowly floated down from the sky, passing through the barrier before sealing it back up. By the time Inded, the stupid cat was already on the ground kneeling in front of Adel.
¡°I have already sent a message to Father. He will be here soon.¡± Lance came up to me and exined. ¡°While I do not wish to bother Father thiste, this is an incident of great importance.¡±
¡°Stay away!¡± A small voice came from my hair. Bell seems to still dislike Lance.
¡°It¡¯s fine, Bell. Lance knows better than to touch me without permission now.¡± I said softly.
¡°If Faith says so¡. But if he tries¡..¡± Bell did note out, she stayed hidden, and her voice was only loud enough for Lance and I to hear. But I must say that for a small spirit like Bell, whose voice sounds cute, her words were scary. Even Lance was starting to sweat at her words.
¡°No destroying the kingdom¡.¡± I said in an amused tone.
¡°If you say so¡.¡± Bell seemed very disappointed, but what can I do? I did not wish for Bell to go around destroying kingdoms over me. She was too cute for that. She should not be doing such things.
¡°So why are you here in the middle of the night!?¡± I heard Adel yell out, causing me to turn back to what was going on.
¡°Ouch! Princess Adel, please stop kicking me!¡± The noble princess facade that Adel had on was no longer there as she viciously kicked the stupid cat. Sophie stood behind her, trying to pull her back, but it seemed to be a lost cause.
¡°Huh? Kicking you!? Who saw me kick you!?¡±
¡°Ouch! Stop it!¡±
¡°Stop what!?¡±
¡°Adel, cut it out!¡± Lance yelled out, causing Adel to snort and step back. He then turned back to me and pointed toward the sky. ¡°Faith, can you make an opening for my Father? He is here.¡±
I turned to see what seemed to be arge flying bird hovering over the house. ¡°A Fogmal!? I thought they were extremely hard to tame!¡±
ording to the books I read about monsters. There were a few kinds of monsters that people would tame to use as a form of transportation. Fogmal¡¯s were one of such monsters. But they were very hard to tame, ording to the books.
¡°It cost father a lot of money to get that fogmal.¡± Lance whispered as I was making a hole in the barrier.
A majestic bird about the size of a small ne pped its white feathered wings and lowered itself down towards the ground. It lowered its head to allow its passenger to get off. The King fixed his kingly robes and patted the fogmal on the head before walking over to us. ¡°Lance, what is the emergency that you called me out here thiste at night?¡±
¡°Royal Father, it¡¯s like this¡.¡± Lance began telling the King what had happened while I added in what I knew. The King¡¯s brow furrowed as he looked over at the stupid cat and took a deep breath before letting out a mighty roar! ¡°Are you trying to start an international incident!?¡±
Chapter 141 Punishment
Currently, we were all in a receiving room within the estate where one would receive guests. And besides myself, Sei, Sophie, Adel, Lance, Jeeves, and King Gravos, there were about ten knights of the Magic Knight division and the stupid cat and his guard, the rabbit girl whose name seems to be Sally. The Knights surrounded the two beastkin due to them being held under arrest at the present moment.
I watched as the King crossed his arms across his chest and stared at the stupid cat. ¡°Now¡. Prince Rythilin, exin to me. Why did you try to break into Faith¡¯s new home and, on top of that, bring with you a sleeping sedative that would knock anyone out for ten hours?¡±
¡°I said this before Your Majesty, but the sleeping sedative is mine. I use it a lot since I have a hard tim¡.¡±-.
*Bam!*
¡°Do you take me for a damn fool!? Do you think I do not know the movements of other kingdoms!? Do you not remember that you already failed to trick poor Faith into dating you!? Word travels fast! Word of Faith¡¯s prowess has spread far and wide. Many want to throw a damn cor around her neck and control her like a puppet. While others wish to marry her to their kin. I myself am also guilty of this! But I will never force Faith to do something she doesn¡¯t want. You tried to break into her house and were ready to put her to sleep so you can do what? Cook the rice and take her back as your wife!?¡± I blushed, hearing the King¡¯s words. I mean, while it was not a saying known around the world back on Earth unless you were from an asian country, the saying cook the rice was something one would learn from reading certain novels as it meant to take someone¡¯s virginity.
¡°That¡.¡± The stupid cat tried to speak up for himself but quickly slumped his head low. I really wished to hit him again. Just seeing his actions now was the same as saying he was guilty. Since he was caught red handed, I guess he had no way of saving himself. My disgust for this stupid cat has grown so much that I really wish to just kill him. While the rules of adulthood were different on this world and age varied between kingdoms, the fact of the matter was that he nned to do something so sinister in the first ce. I feel like I am going to puke¡.
¡°You will be held prisoner until your fatheres here personally to pick you up. Your attendant will also be arrested, and the two of you will be separated for the time being.¡± The King gave his final order. ¡°You better hope that your father is willing to take the time out of his busy schedule toe here. Otherwise, you will be stuck in prison until the day you die. I will say this now. Faith is like a daughter to me now, and I will not allow anyone to do anything that would cause her harm.
¡°While your n failed, the fact of the matter is that you still attempted to do something so sickening! Faith is still a few years away from being of age, not to mention she looked younger than she is, but yet you¡..¡± The King¡¯s face turned red as she clenched his fist, ¡°Take this little bastard away before I beat him myself! Make sure his attendant is put in another prison for those with strong powers. She and him are not tomunicate at all, so make sure you strip the little bastard and check him for any magicmunication tools.¡±
I was truly touched by the King¡¯s words just now. Whether he said it on the spur of the moment or not, either way his words touched me. I wonder, if I called him papa, would he suddenly freak out? I better not. I could lose my head if I joked at a time like this.
¡°Royal Father, I would like to kick the trash over there at least one more time before he is tossed in a cell.¡± Ah, Adel, the face you are making, and the royal way of speaking do not match. Please stop trying to kill the stupid cat with your eyes. You use a knife, the knights all seem to be carrying one. Okay, no, I would never tell her such things, but a girl can dream, right?
¡°Make it quick.¡± I almost choked. Umm, Your Majesty, I know you are mad but wouldn¡¯t this make things harder when the stupid cat¡¯s father shows up? Not that I was one to talk now that I am thinking about it. I mean, I am the reason his nose is broken and probably why he is holding his sides. But I still held back my strength enough to not make his head explode! I am quite proud of myself.
¡°Ouch! Wait, you only said once!¡± The stupid cat yelled out. Well, I guess being punched in the stomach does not count as a kick, so she is safe!
¡°Humph! You make demi humans look bad. I hope you are stuck in prison until your hair turns gray!¡± Adel yelled in anger. Lance stood up and pulled her away. But he did not say anything, only red daggers at the stupid cat while trying to calm Adel down.
The entire time Sally kept her head low, her ears flopped down, not daring to say anything. She shook like a leaf, though. Now that I think about it¡. ¡°Your Majesty, what will happen to Sally?¡±
¡°Her? She will probably be deported back to her kingdom to deal with. Although I can not count on her not being punished.¡± The King replied. His answer made me frown.
¡°Then¡. Can she make a magical contract with me and be my guard instead? Someone as talented as her should not be tossed away. In the first ce, she was only following orders, right? If she is forced to do something even if she does not wish to, I think it could stand to say that she is an innocent bystander who was forced into the sinister plot of the stupid cat.¡± I was having trouble trying to exin myself, but I do know that for a talent like Sally, it would be best to keep her and put her to work where she can make use of her talents.
Chapter 142 Deal
¡°While it is true she was following orders. It is also the attendant¡¯s job to stop their master from doing anything stupid. She failed at this. But¡. you make a good point that she does have talent, from what I hear. Alright. Sally, was it?¡± The King looked at Sally, causing her to lift her head.
¡°Y-Yes, Your Majesty,¡± Sally replied, her voice shaking. I know she thinks that she will be killed. After all, an attendant isn¡¯t really safe under thews of another kingdom.
¡°Then Sally, while you were following orders, it is still wrong of you to not stop your master. But this time, I will let it slide because Faith is asking me to let you go, but you will need to sign a magic contract with Faith and will be her protector. If you do not wish to abandon that little bastard, then you can live out your days in jail and hope your King will also try to take you back as well.¡± I am not sure if I should say his words are evil or what but that was basically forcing Sally into doing the magical contract. He was using her fear against her. I am not sure if I agree with this or not. But at the same time, I could just be very naive about how the world works. Although, I do know that if we can pull Sally to our kingdom¡¯s side, then the kingdom would have another powerful soldier.-.
Sally looked at the King and then at me with a confused expression on her face. ¡°Does¡. Does this mean I will not be k-killed?¡±
¡°Hmmm? As long as you sign a magic contract with Faith and serve her faithfully. I will also arrange for you to join the Royal Magic Academy with Faith as well.¡± The King was really thinking ahead. Just by having Sally take the test to enter, he can get a full understanding of Sally¡¯s strengths and what she is good at. To be honest, I never would have thought of that.
¡°Magic Royal Academy!?¡± Sally¡¯s eyes opened wide. I guess she never expected something like this. Her mouth hung open, and it seemed she had stopped breathing altogether.
¡°Sally, I think it will be well worth it. At least you wouldn¡¯t be forced to do things you did not want to do.¡± I know I saw how she might have feelings for her master, but the fact of the matter is any girl who was being forced to do something like she was would not hold those feelings for long. Unless she was so used to it that it was normal to her. If that was the case, then there would be nothing I could say or do for her.
¡°As Faith said, it would be very worth it. I can promise you that no repercussions will befall you if you enter the contract. The Beast King will also not seek to punish you either.¡± The King followed up on my words.
¡°I¡. Will I really not lose my head? I won¡¯t be forced to do things I do not wish to do? I won¡¯t have to harm innocents!?¡± Sally suddenly lifted her head with tears in her eyes. Just seeing her like this made me wonder just what she had to go through as the stupid cat¡¯s attendant.
¡°I can swear upon my name and my family that I will never make you do anything that will go against your conscience.¡± I did not mind making this promise as I would never want her tomit any acts that would make her do something that I myself would not do.
¡°Then¡. I will ept¡.¡± Sally answered with slight hesitation before bowing her head towards me. ¡°From this day forth, you will be my Master¡.¡±
¡°Let¡¯s not use the word, Master, please. Just call me Faith. It makes me feel strange being called master. If you must call me with some form of formality, then Young Miss also works as I am used to it now.¡± I still get shivers when people call me Master or anything of that nature. It just doesn¡¯t sit right with me.
¡°Then, Young Miss.¡± Sally finally formed a smile. But not even a secondter, she was kneeling on the ground. ¡°Young Miss, I still must apologize for what I did. I should have used my strength to stop Prince Rythilin, but I did not in fear of losing my head.¡±
¡°Sally, raise your head. There is no need to apologize when you were just following orders. Plus, I feel that if the stupid cat did try to use that sleeping agent, you would have stopped him, no?¡± I asked this because of her reaction when Iid the situation out to her. She, without hesitation, wanted to hand the stupid cat over to me.
¡°I would have probably knocked him out and then would have med it on one of the guards after I took him away¡.¡± Sally replied. ¡°It is true that Prince Rythilin uses the sleeping agent to sleep at night. He has always had nightmares since he was young, and only the sleeping agent allows him to sleep through them all. But he would never take it with him. Once he reached his destination. He would leave it in the ce he was staying as he knew it would cause misunderstandings otherwise. So even I was surprised to know that he had such a thing on him.¡±
¡°That¡¯s what I thought. I figured you did not know because the look on your face when I pointed it out was that of surprise, although the look onlysted for a second, and when I asked what you would do in my shoes, you immediately wanted to hand him over. But I must ask because I am not quite sure. You were not in love with Prince Rythilin, were you?¡±
¡°I¡. I thought he was my world¡. Since young, I have been the one to guard him while going through training. I have been by his side, but after tonight, after he basically confessed those feelings that were starting to rise within me are now gone¡. Luckily I never¡.¡± Sally bit her lip as she clenched her fists. She did not need to finish her words for me or the King to understand what she meant. It seemed she was indeed a lucky rabbit.
Chapter 143 Setting Up Defensive Systems Part 1
I got up and sat next to Sally and hugged her. I could see the tears that were about to flood out, and as soon as she felt me embrace her, she burst into tears. Adel also got up and came over, trying tofort her. ¡°As the princess of the Gravos Kingdom, I swear on my name that I will not allow that bast¡. Ermmm idiot, to do any harm to you. In a way, you are lucky. You met Faith, who has the ability to help those around her more than she thinks.¡±
I chuckled slightly, hearing Adel¡¯s fumble with words there. ¡°And if for some reason that stupid cat does somehow get to you¡. I will just destroy the beast kingdom¡.¡±
¡°Oi!, Faith, your words are a little much there!¡± King Gravos yelled out. I turned and stuck my tongue out at him. ¡°I was just kidding.¡±
¡°It didn¡¯t sound like you were joking!¡± Hearing his retort, I let out augh. I would never go as far as to destroy the beast kingdom, but to pull the tail off a cat and hang him from the tallest point on his castle, that is easy enough.-.
¡°I do not know about destroying kingdoms, but I will also stand at your side as well.¡± Lance stood up and announced. I wonder if he took a liking to the rabbit¡. Is it because she has big boobs? This may just be the case. I will be sure to double the protective barrier on her room in the house.
¡°Ahem¡. Anyway, we will need to set up the magic contract. Faith, I will need you toe to the castle tomorrow, and until then, Sally, I will need you to be patient as we will be having you ced under house arrest for the time being at the castle. It will only be for one night, and then you will be following Faith from tomorrow on.¡± King Gravos exined.
¡°By your will, Your Majesty.¡± Sally wiped her tears as she got up and bowed to King Gravos. Her way of speaking was very knightly.
I had said my goodbyes to Sally, who I would see the next day, and headed back to my room. With everything settled, and after almost two hours of lost sleep, I finally got to go back to sleep. Although this time, I had two people sleeping on each side of me.
I woke up four hourster. I had already agreed to go to the castle around mid morning. Sophie said she would be staying as she did not feelfortable going to the castle. So she would be staying at the house with Sei. Lance and Adel would being with me since it would be a kind of formal event. And also so I would not get lost in the castle¡.
And as for the reason why I woke up so early, well¡. I nned to set up all my traps. I only have today to do it as I will be heading to the academy the next day to take the entrance test.
I was excited and nervous at the same time. But I do hope I can make some more friends. I couldn¡¯t even think what my life would have been like if I lived in a kingdom that enved demi humans. But I do wonder what my life would be like if the Norain army never invaded.
I wonder if I would still be able to meet the people I have met or even have a chance to make my way into the Royal Magic Academy. Would I have met Adel or Sophie? Gesel and Sei? Would their lives be much different than they are now?
As I was lost in my thoughts, I barged into Sei¡¯s room and dragged her out of bed. ¡°Wait, no! Five more minutes! Faith! You demon!¡±
¡°We don¡¯t have time! I have to go to the castle in a few hours, and then I really need to get ready for tomorrow. And so do you!¡± I do feel bad for dragging her out of bed, but if I do not act in such a forceful manner, she will never actually make it out of bed. She will try to keep sleeping for many more hours if I do not drag her out of the bed like I am. I mean, water magic chilled with ice is not the best way to wake up.
Shivering, Sei gives me a dirty look while putting on some clothes. ¡°One of these days, I will get even!¡±
¡°You would need to wake up earlier than me.¡± I said while casting a drying spell on her. ¡°I just wish you would learn this is not the first time I dragged you out of bed before.¡±
¡°You only did it two times, including this time!¡± Sei yelled back as she buttoned her pants. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go. I want to get more sleep after you leave.¡±
I smiled and followed her out of the room and down to the first floor. We had to create the core of the barrier and trap system first so that everyone in the house could get registered to the core before I left. This was the reason why I needed Sei here. I wanted to make sure it was done right because thest thing I wanted was for me to mess up something and someone getting hurt.
¡°Okay, like before, we will inscribe the runic equation telling the core what it will be doing. But this time, you will be doing the inscribing. You have more mana than me. One thing to remember while inscribing the equation is that you have to go into fine detail on every aspect of what you are trying to do. If a single detail is off, it will cause the whole system to malfunction.
¡°Like say you want to put up a barrier that repels attacks but also allows you to attack from the inside. And during the equation, you forget to designate which side of the barrier the attacks should be repelled on. You would end up having both sides repel the attacks causing you to attack yourself even if you set it up to have your attacks go through the barrier.¡± Sei exined. It is for this reason that I have her here. Because I will have her read my equation after I finish it to make sure I did not mess anything up. In a situation where you only wish to harm those with ill intentions having two minds is better than one.
Chapter 144 Setting Up Defensive Systems Part 2
The process of inscribing a core was much more difficult than I had imagined. Each stroke of a runic letter had to hold the same amount of mana as thest. And each runic letter had to be absolutely perfect without any defects, or it could cause the core¡¯s effects to weaken. I guess this was the reason Sei went into a state of concentration when she inscribed the core at the slums. It is indeed a delicate job. Just to write all the information and instructions about the magic circles, I was going to be connecting to the core took almost an hour and a half.
I wiped the sweat from my brow, and I looked at my inscription with a satisfied nod. ¡°Very well done, but¡. Faith, why a metal washbasin? Why pitfalls? Why a tree trunk that swings in and hits people!? What is this banana peel thing!? And seriously, what is a Truck-kun!?¡±
¡°Hmmm? Well, besides having explosive magic runes and the riddle maze, I was thinking of adding in a few extras. Also, do not look down on Truck-kun!¡± Yes, please do not look down on him, he can send people to other worlds. I have personally experienced it!
¡°I do not even know what a Truck-kun is!¡± Sei yelled out. She looked exhausted. I don¡¯t know why, though. At any rate, the Truck-kun thing was just a joke as it is impossible for me to make a truck appear out of thin air that is real.-.
Basically, I have the core set up to do two major things. The first is setting a barrier around the entire house that is basically an addedyer to it. The people living here will be able to move around freely in and out of it without hindrance. I did not make a huge barrier as I did before because I wanted those nobles to try to sneak their way in. It would be counterproductive to have the entire property covered in a barrier because then no one could get in and actually allow us to catch them. Also, they would not be able to take on the second major thing.
The Riddle Maze! They will be ced into an infinite maze when they enter the property. Not only will they need to make it through the maze and answer riddles that they will never understand, but they will also need to deal with explosive traps, tree trunks, banana peels, pitfalls, and walls that will close in on them. Even the wonderful washbasin. The entire thing will be a real life illusion. In order to make everything a surprise so that things can just appear out of nowhere, I will use spatial magic and have all the objects randomly pop out and do their job.
Well, the banana peel will be an illusion since this world does not have such a fruit, and I have yet to see any recement for it. So I will be doing a little trick. While the illusion will show a banana peel, I will use some slippery slime goo to make the ground slippery under their foot. Now that my brain is turning, I can actually make the truck kun thing works as well, but I will hide a giant boulder in the illusion of the truck¡.
¡°Faith, you have this strange smile on your face, and it is scary.¡± Sei snapped me out of my thoughts, causing me to purse my lips.
¡°Since you will be home all day, I want you to go out and get me everything I need for the traps.¡± Humph! Call my face scary. I will put you to work!
¡°What!? No, I wanted to sleep most of the day since I will not get a chance to anymore!¡± Sei immediatelyined, which I knew she would.
¡°You will go get the items I need¡.¡±
¡°Faith, I wanted to sleep in¡.¡±
¡°You will go get the items I need¡.¡±
¡°I¡¡±
¡°You will go get the items I need¡.¡±
¡°Fine, I will go get them! Stop repeating yourself. It is annoying!¡± Sei stomped her feet and gave me an aggrieved expression. I chuckled and patted her shoulder.
¡°I will go make a list now and also grab a few gold coins to pay for everything. Also, bring Sophie with you since she can use spatial magic. It will make things easier. But please protect her.¡± I know that Sei would not let her guard down, but I still had to remind her to protect Sophie as Sophie could be a target for kidnapping as well.
¡°If I let anything happen to Sophie, I am willing to take any punishment you see fit.¡± Sei replied with a knightly bow. Sometimes I forget she is a knight.
¡°I thank you. I will also give you an extra gold so you can get some food while you¡¯re out and keep whatever is left over for the trouble. Hopefully, by the time I get back, you two will have returned then I can quickly finish the defense system.¡± Thest part, now that the runic equation was already written, was to fill my spatial space with the items. Everything was connected to me, including the barrier. I was providing it with a small stream of mana. This little function I mixed into the equation so that it wouldn¡¯t be easily found. Otherwise, I am sure Sei would have picked up on it.
Now that the core was set up, I called everyone in the hose over to inject their mana into it. Only then would they be able to move around freely. This took another half hour to do because Adel was taking too long to get up, even with Sophie trying to drag her out of bed by her ankles. When everyone was finished registering with the core, we had breakfast and then got ready to leave. I was now off set up a magic contract with Sally so she could be my guard. I just hope she will find her new life fulfilling and will not regret her decision.
Chapter 145 Assassin
The carriage rolled down the road at a very slow pace. Surprisingly enough, the area around the castle was always very busy, it seems. At least, this was what Adel told me when I asked about it. Lance also added in that during the lunar year festival that was held in the capital at the start of each new year, that the streets were so packed that driving a carriage was impossible. It was only during the week of the festival that all nobles would walk to the castle.
The lunar festival was the same thing as the new year celebrations you would have back on Earth. Only this was a new festival that the King came up with recently and had only been around for five years now. While it was popr with the nobles and others within the capital, it had yet to spread to the rest of the kingdom. Mainly because it would cost the nobles money to have their territories fund such events. Kind of a hypocritical way of doing things. While the King foots the bill for the capital and the nobles go to the castle with fanfare to enjoy the festivities, They ignore their own domains all because they¡¯re too cheap to spend money.
It took an hour to get to the castle gates. Luckily we did not need to wait in line as both Adel and Lance were in the carriage with me. I could see many carriages lined up, all fancy with different crests on each one.
From the castle gates to the entrance that was set aside for royalty only took another half hour. So in total, it was an hour and a half ride just to get here, and this was not counting the next fifteen minute walk I was about to undergo.-.
As the carriage came to a stop, the knight at the second gate walked forward and opened the door to the carriage. He then ced a stepping stool for everyone to use when they got off before stepping to the side and bowing. ¡°His Highness Prince Lance, and Her Highness Princess Adellia, It is good that you had a safe journey.¡±
I watched as Lance got off first. He did not even say a word to the knight. He just gave him an indifferent nod before turning around and reaching out with his hand. Adel was next as she took Lance¡¯s hand and lifted her skirt just enough to allow her feet to be free so she could step out of the carriage. Seeing these fluid noble movements of the two made me realize that they were indeed a Prince and a Princess. Sometimes I forget this fact because of how close I am to the two. We talk and joke around like we have been friends since birth, so it feels slightly strange when I see them acting this way.
¡°This way, please, Your Hingesses.¡± The Guard bowed and went to lead the two away, but after taking a few steps, he stopped and turned around. ¡°Your Highnesses?¡±
¡°We are not two but three,¡± Lance said curtly. He seemed angry about something.
I went to make my way off the carriage when I heard the knight suddenly say: ¡°Your Highnesses do not need to worry. I will take the demi servant to the servant quarters so they can get regis¡..¡±
*p!*
I was at the door of the carriage staring at Adel¡¯s stretched out hand when we both turned to look at Lance standing in front of the knight with his hand in the air. ¡°Say that one more time!¡±
¡°Your highness!? What did I do wrong!?¡± The knight was confused and quickly dropped to his knees and bowed his head. But I could see a bit of reluctance in his expression as he did so. It felt like something was off.
¡°Lance, get back here this instant!¡± I yelled out as I jumped forward while at the same time casting a barrier around Adel. I instantly arrived in front of Lance just in time for a dagger to lunge at me. I really had no time to think. I didn¡¯t even get to input up any form of barrier or mana shield. I only heard a cracking sound as the dagger suddenly shattered into pieces and fell to the ground. The knight was standing in front of me, still in the same pose he was in as he tried to stab forward with a shocked expression on his face. I guess he couldn¡¯tprehend what had just happened.
¡°¡±Faith!¡±¡± I heard two yells from behind me. Lance, who was directly behind me, drew his sword and chopped the knight¡¯s arm off that was still stretched out. Everything happened so fast that not even the other knights on duty had time to react. But now, they had run over and were pinning the bleeding man to the ground.
¡°Faith, are you okay!?¡± Lance asked. His eyes were full of worry.
¡°I am fine. Luckily I have a sturdy body.¡± I said with a wry smile. I looked down to see a small nick on my skin. Luckily no blood was drawn. But the skirt I was wearing now had a big stab wound on it. I actually liked this dress too. It was a sky blue color with white frills at the bottom. It was not overly extravagant but simple yet good enough to wear in front of royalty.
But to think there would be an assassin here at the castle. Maybe it was a good thing that Lance and Adel were at my house. I looked down at the young girl who was currently giving my body a full inspection and sighed. ¡°Adel, I am fine. I am a dragon kin, a simple knife will not do me any harm.¡±
¡°I know but still¡. Faith¡. Thank you¡.¡± Adel said as she hugged me. ¡°I may not show it but Lance is still my brother. I do not wish for him to die.¡±
¡°Yes please allow me to thank you, Faith. You saved me just now.¡± Lance bowed his head to me.
Chapter 146 Something Off Part 1
¡°Lance, raise your head. You and I are friends first and foremost, so I would save you no matter what. Second, your father has also entrusted me with your safety, so even if I hated you, I still would have saved you. But for assassins to be able to get into the castle so easily¡. We need to hurry to the King.¡± I was worried for the King¡¯s safety. While I know he has many strong people around him, but by the fact that an assassin was able to make their way to the entrance where only royalty was able to enter through goes to show that this was definitely an inside job.
¡°You are right. Faith, can I ask you to help this man¡¯s arm and.¡¡±
¡°Your Highness, he has already passed¡.¡± The knight that was holding the assassin on the ground frothed at the mouth, and his eyes had rolled up into his head.
¡°Damn!¡± Lance cursed. Something he does not do very often. ¡°Bring him with us. I want his body searched for any clues as to what organization he works for or who may have hired him. Also, lock down the castle! No one is allowed in or to leave.¡±-.
¡°By your word, Your Highness!¡± The night replied before turning and giving out orders to the other knights.
¡°Faith, how did you know he was going to harm Brother?¡± Adel asked.
¡°The way he looked as he bowed when being yelled at by Lance. When he knelt down, he showed signs of reluctance, and instead of admitting to his wrongs as a normal knight would, he went to question Lance instead and even raised his head. That was why I reacted as I did. But Adel¡. I will say this once.¡± I reached out, balled up my fist, and bonked Adel on the head with it. ¡°If you ever leave a barrier I set up around you again, I will force you to eat all the green habbagins in the capital.¡±
¡°What, no! Not those! They are sour and disgusting! Faith, I¡¯m sorry! I just¡. When I saw you get stabbed, I panicked and wanted to race to your side.¡± Adel had tears in her eyes as she spoke, which made me feel slightly bad, but I had to stay firm on this. Whether she was worried about me or not, that barrier was there to protect her. If there was more than one assassin, she could have died.
¡°Even so!¡± I turned and looked her seriously in the eye. ¡°Even if you were worried about me, never leave the barrier! That was a foolish thing. What if there were more assassins and the first was just a decoy? What then!? What if you got killed while I was saving Lance!? Do you really wish for me to live with that!?¡±
I know my words are harsh, but I have no choice. This is something that must be said. She had to understand that she has a whole kingdom on her shoulder. She is a princess who is very well loved by her people. Lance is also the next King who upholds the ideals of his father when ites to demi humans. Even if I was seriously hurt just now, it would have been fine because I am a dragon. With my current stats, even a stab to the heart wouldn¡¯t kill me.
¡°I¡¯m sorry¡.¡± Adel lowered her head, tears rolling down her cheeks.
¡°Faith, That¡¯s enough. I think she understands.¡± Lance spoke up, stopping me from continuing.
I took a deep breath and ced my hand on Adel¡¯s head. ¡°As you worry for me, I worry for you. In a world where my kind is disliked, I have made friends with an incredible person who befriended me without discriminating against me. I do not wish to see you get hurt. Sorry for yelling at you.¡±
¡°Noo¡. It¡¯s me who should say sorry. ¡± Adel shook her head as she wiped her tears. ¡°You do not need to apologize. I was at fault. I should have more faith in my bestfriend.¡±
¡°We were both wrong. Because I know you care about my safety as well. I should have been easier with my words.¡± Life is hard sometimes. When you want to protect someone, and at the same time, they wish to protect you. I, for one, should have been more vignt. But I was not.
¡°Let¡¯s go see father.¡± Lance spoke up, cutting the silence that had filled the air. Both Adel and I nodded and made our way to King Gravos.
¡ª
¡°I see¡. I will have my people look into it. It seems it hase time to really do some house cleaning. If nobles think they can do as they please within my kingdom, then they have another thinging to them.¡± I could tell King Gravos was doing his best to keep calm. We were currently in the throne room with a few nobles along with the Prime Minister, whose name was Pholin Segri. To be honest, he was someone who did not give off good vibes.
¡°Your Majesty, I will make sure this incident has been thoroughly looked into. So please leave the investigation to me.¡± The Prime Minister stepped forward.
¡°Pholin? Alright, you can do the investigati¡.¡± I for some reason could not stop myself as I stepped forward and said: ¡°I object!¡±
Just call it a hunch but the feeling this prime minister gave me did not sit well with me. It was as if he did not want anyone to touch the case. But I guess my interjection was not weed because I soon heard the prime minister yell out: ¡°Insolence! Who gave you the right to speak when the King is speaking!?¡±
¡°Who?¡± I tilted my head to the side and whispered: ¡°Bell¡.¡±
¡°Faith you called!?¡± A little figure suddenly flew out of my hair and hovered in front of me with a sweet smile on her face. She looked very cute but at the same time the prime minister seemed to be sweating.
Chapter 147 Something Off Part 2
¡°Why? Why is there a spirit here!?¡± The Prime Minister stumbled backwards with a look of fear on his face.
¡°Ahem¡.¡± King Gravos shook his head at me, causing me to purse my lips. ¡°Pholin, you of all people should know that Little Faith here is not only my honored guest but also someone that I see as family. Why are you making a scene?¡±
¡°Faith?¡± Bell looked confused as she floated over and poked me in the cheek.
¡°Sorry, Bell, it seems it was a false rm. Did I wake you from your nap?¡± I asked while petting her head. Bell was definitely cute.-.
¡°Mmm¡ But it¡¯s okay since it was Faith who called me.¡± Bell said sweetly, causing me to smile. Even some of the nobles who were standing at the side smiled at her words.
¡°Sorry about that. Go ahead and get some more sleep. I will find you something good to tryter.¡± I felt kind of bad. I mean, I just used her as a means to shut up the Prime Minister. Sorry, Bell!
¡°Okay! I will be waiting!¡± Bell happily spun around before turning into a ray of light and entering my body.
¡°Ahem¡. I apologize, Miss Cryilia¡.¡± The Prime Minister seemed to haveposed himself and stepped forward and bowed. But as he raised his head before I could even say anything, he continued: ¡°But what do you object about?¡±
¡°What do I object about? Well¡. This situation should not be overseen by anyone but His Majesty and his most trusted people who specialize in investigation. But do not get me wrong, I am not saying you are not to be trusted, but I, for one, do not know you. The only ones in this room that I know and trust with my life are Princess Adellia, Prince Lance, and His Majesty himself. And because it involves the lives of not only royalty but people I care for, I would not trust anyone I do not know with any kind of investigation.¡± I tried to exin in a roundabout way of saying I do not trust you through a hole in the wall. This involved an assassination, for one thing, so this was not something that should just be handed off.
King Gravos looked at me with a grateful expression. While it onlysted a second, I still caught it. But it seemed the Prime Minister was not very convinced with my exnation. ¡°While I can understand your distrust in me, but I should mention I have been the Prime Minister for a very long time. His Majesty has trusted me this entire time, so would it not be beneficial for me to handle the affairs that should be passed on to someone else?¡±
¡°So you¡¯re saying that an assassination attempt on the crown prince of this kingdom is the same as pushing a file full of papers that deal with the budget!? That doesn¡¯t sound like someone I would trust. If you can not see the urgency in the situation, then I think you are not cut out for your job. Why sit and argue about such a thing when it is as simple as letting His Majesty handle the situation that involves his kids?
¡°While he is King and needs to draw a line on when he can favor his child, this is not one of those times. This is one of the times when the King should stand up to the injustice that was cast on the royal family and lead the investigation that deals with his own kin. Not pass it on. By passing it on to someone else, it shows he does not care for the Crown Prince and could sow discord in the court. Or is this what you were attempting to do?¡± Thank the gods for my addiction to reading!
I smiled as I saw the Prime Minister¡¯s face turn sour. I mean, what can he say? My y on words pushed the fact that if he tried to continue to take the lead on this case, he would be the one trying to sow discord in the courts which would cause the factions on each side to begin fighting. In fighting makes for an easier time if you are nning something. To be honest, I think some of my military tactics and acting skills kicked in there as well. I never really know since they are passives.
¡°Haha! Faith is always thinking about her friends and this kingdom. I will do as Faith says and handle this myself. Pholin, I appreciate your concern, but this is something I should do as King, just like Little Faith here said.¡± I breathed a sigh of relief as I heard the King agreeing to handle things himself.
¡°As Your Majesty wishes.¡± Pholin gave a noble bow which I almost snorted at.
¡°Pass down my order. Everyone in the castle is to undergo questioning under the ck knights.¡± King Gravos did not hesitate to use his own personal guard as the ones doing the investigation. This was good because from what I know about the ck knights was that they were extremely loyal only to the King himself and would not take orders from anyone else. ¡°Also¡ Faith Cyrilia!¡±
Hearing my name called out, I instinctively knelt down as a knight should do in this situation and bowed my head. All though I was not a knight, but still, I can act it out in times like this, no? ¡°Yes, Your Majesty?¡±
¡°Please raise your head.¡± At his words, I raised my head and looked the King straight in the eye. But seeing that mischievous smirk hidden within those eyes, I have a feeling he is about to do something that will not make many people happy in the slightest. But it¡¯s things like this that make me kind of excited. So I can only wait in anticipation to see what he will pull out of his hat.
¨CAN: Hello everyone, it is your wonderful, amazing Author Invayne! Okay yeah, cringe but still¡ I have a new novel court called: I Became A Hero In Another World. (You will need to search for it by title as it is not approved by webnovel yet.)
It is my Webbnovel Spirity Awards entry. If you have the time, please give it a read and let me know what you think¡ Also, the MC may also be a dragon girl¡ Anyway, thank you all for your support!¡ª
Chapter 148 Contracts And Titles
I watched as the King stood up and pulled a sword from his side, and walked over to me. ¡°On my name, William Gravos, King of the Kingdom of Gravos, I dub Faith Cyrilia as a Provisional Knight. And is granted the title of Baron!¡±
Wait a minute! Why am I suddenly getting titles!? Yes, I did want to work my way up to such a thing, but why now all of a sudden? I thought I would need to wait until I graduated! ¡°Faith, you need to ept¡.¡±
My thoughts were broken by the King¡¯s words causing me to blush lightly. ¡°By your will, Your Majesty. I swear upon my name Faith Cyrilia, to be my King¡¯s sword and protect the Kingdom of Gravos and the royal family from any harm.¡±
¡°Mmm! Well said!¡± The King said with a smile. But I was actually quite nervous as I only knew these lines because Adel had told me them before when preparing me for anything that had to deal with the castle and nobles.-.
I tilted my head to the side because I thought I heard an extra word in there. Now that I am thinking about it, Provisional Knight? What was that? I looked up at the King for more exnation, but he did not seem to be wanting to exin himself. Instead, after he sat down, he continued: ¡°Baroness Cyrilia, from this moment on, you will be in charge of the safety of Princess Adellia and Prince Lance.¡±
¡°By your Majesty¡¯smand.¡± I said while bowing my head once again. I had a lot of questions, but I guess they would need to wait until after everything ispleted.
¡°Good! Now that this is over, it is now time to form the contract between Faith Cyrilia and And Sally.¡± As the King¡¯s words fell, the doors to the throne room opened, and Sally was led in by two guards with her hands cuffed. When I saw her walking in like that, I frowned, but she gave me a small wave when she saw me, so I guess she is fine. I didn¡¯t see anything wrong with her, at least. I guess the King gave her special treatment.
¡°Sally, while I have asked you this yesterday, I will ask this again. Do you wish to defect to the Kingdom of Gravos and serve Baroness Cyrilia, or do you wish to undergo trial for the crime of trying to break into a residence that held two members of the royal family?¡± The King asked. I wonder how annoying it must be to have to ask all these questions even though he already knew the answer.
Sally seemed to be surprised at my new title. I mean, even I was surprised by it. But she quicklyposed herself as she answered: ¡°Your Majesty, if I am still allowed to serve Baroness Cryilia. Then I would like to offer up my life to her.¡±
¡°Well said! Now, Baroness Cyrilia, Are you willing to take in Sally, who once tried to break into your house?¡± The King turned to me and asked.
¡°Yes, Your Majesty. Her talents will be very useful to the kingdom. I would be a fool to reject such a talented person.¡± I answered in my best noble voice. Yay, acting skills!
¡°Very well! From this day forth, Sally, you will be under Baroness Cyrilia¡¯s family name and will take on the Cyrilia name. Both of you step forward and drip a drop of blood onto this magical contract that is imbued with your Mana. This contract will only activate if Sally Cyrilia tries to betray Baroness Cyrilia in any shape or form. The punishment for such betrayal is death.¡± I was a little surprised at the conditions of the magic contract, but I guess this was to be one hundred percent sure that I will never be betrayed. As she has already betrayed her previous master, there is no way to tell if she would do it again or not.
As our blood fell onto the magic contract that was brought over to use by one of the court mages, the magic contract that was inscribed on some kind of special parchment began to glow with a bright light and split into two small balls of light. One flew into Sally¡¯s body, while the other flew into mine. I felt nothing as it entered my body, but I could feel a slight connection to Sally, which I guess meant that the contract was a sess.
¡ª
¡°Hah!¡± I let out a long sigh as I rested my head on the back of the chair in Adel¡¯s lounge room that was off to the side of her bedroom. Sitting next to me was Adel on my left and Sally on my right. Across from us was Lance. ¡°That was nerve racking.¡±
¡°I have to say you did very well, Faith. Especially your vow when you were knighted.¡± Lance praised.
¡°Thanks, but what I am confused about is what is a provisional knight?¡± I asked as I sat forward.
¡°A provisional knight is someone with a temporary knight title. It is given to exceptional individuals who have yet to graduate from the academy. In truth, you would not have gotten any titles if not for the fact that you saved Lance.¡± Adel exined. ¡°Father had to reward you no matter what, as saving a member of the royal family could not be overlooked. And now that those nobles have started to move behind the scenes with the assassination attempt today, Father seems to not want to hold back any longer.¡±
¡°I just wished he gave me a heads up! I was so nervous! I mean,e on! Why would he suddenly do that without warning? I thought I was going to bite my tongue.¡± I said with a pout. I really wish I knew ahead of time before things like this were going to happen. At least then I could be prepared.
¡°Don¡¯tin. Having the title of baroness is a good thing. Not only for you, but Sophie as well.¡±
Chapter 149 Arriving At The Academy Part 1
¡°A good thing?¡± I asked. I was not understanding why having a title now made much of a difference.
¡°Because you are now an official noble of your own house. You¡¯re Baroness Cyrilia, a noble with two people in your noble family. Sally and Sophie. Sophie is under your care. Father had given you guardianship rights over her. This basically makes her an adopted daughter. While I know this is not the case but it is how it will be looked at by other nobles.¡± Adel exined. But her exnation did make a little sense. This would make Sophie a daughter of a low ranking noble which was much better than amoner. I actually did not know how I felt about this. Would Sophie need to call me Mother now? No. No! NO! No, no! Okay, that thought is out of mind, out of sight.
Anyway, I can see this being good for us. And since Sally is my guard, she is under myst name as well. ¡°I see¡ I guess this is a good thing. ¡°
¡°Mmm¡ Also, you have the ranking of provisional knight. Which gives you a bit more standing as those of knight families with a noble title are more respected than a normal knight. I actually think you will be very popr with both boys and girls once you enter the academy. Which means I will have my work cut out for me.¡± Hearing Adel¡¯sst words made me purse my lips. I wonder if she is going to turn into a cat again and attack everyone around her.
¡°Adel, no bullying people just because they talk to me.¡± I had to make this clear now.-.
¡°But¡.¡± Adel gave me an aggrieved look.
¡°No! Bad Adel!¡± I was joking as I said this, but I made sure I said it in a serious tone.
¡°I¡¯m not a dog!¡± Adel yelled out with her cheeks puffed out.
¡°No, you are a cat.¡±
¡°You two really do get along like sisters.¡± Lance said with a smile.
¡°No one asked you to talk, Lance. Go jump out the window and p your arms. I wanna see if you can fly.¡±
¡°Adel, we are ten stories up in the castle tower! I would die! Unlike Faith, I can¡¯t fly!¡± Lance yelled out.
¡°You won¡¯t know until you try, so shoo, shoo!¡± Adel really cracked me up when she teased Lance. They may not seem it, but they really do get along well.
In the end, the castle lockdown ended around evening, and we were finally able to go home. When I arrived, Sei reported that everything went smoothly and no one tried to harm Sophie in any way. This made me feel relieved.
After storing the items she brought me in my spatial storage for use with the defensive systems, I finally could rx. Tomorrow was the day that would be my start at the academy. In six months time, so many things have happened it has been quite insane. I never thought I would end up experiencing so many different things.
In my past life, I grew up in my family, spent my days reading and studying while talking while spending my days in schoolining to my best friend Jen about not having enough time to read. I had loving parents and a really good life, but it all ended when I was hit by that truck.
In this new life, I was reborn and was given a very loving family who cared for me no matter how I looked. I fought in a war andmanded an army of thousands. I killed so many people as if it was nothing. I met the leaders of the spirits for the Gravos Kingdom and made friends with little Bell. I met Adel, Sophie, Gesel, and many more. And now, six monthster, here I am on the brink of entering the academy living in a fancy house with a new fancy title added to my name. I really wonder what the next six months will bring¡.
¡ª
The next morning I wore my leather armor and fastened my sword to my side. Sophie was next to me in her own armor along with Adel and Sally. Lance and Sei were also getting ready as well. All five of us were about to climb aboard the carriage and make our way to the Royal Magic Academy.
In books of my past life, the Academy arc was like the rtionship arc. Like the otome games. There would be many more romance targets. Let¡¯s just hope none of them rear their ugly heads.
We all got into the same carriage. This was an actual royal carriage. Lance said we would be using it from this day forth. It was to help show that the kingdom was fully behind me and those who were under me. While I do not like the saying it as such as if Sophie and Sally were lower than me, but as I was the head of the household, this was how society saw it.
It took an hour to get to the academy. The towering gates soon came into view which already had a line of carriages waiting in line. Because the academy was a ce where status did not matter, even Adel and Lance will be forced to wait in line along with me.
Luckily instead of taking the test alone like I thought I would many months ago, I would now have four others by my side. This eased my nerves a little, but I was still not sure what was toe. What the test will be on this year was beyond me. I just hoped it would not be too hard.
As our carriage came to a stop near the gate, all eyes turned on us. While I had expected this, I still felt a little ufortable being stared at by so many, being judged left and right. Sadly I felt more gazes filled with malice than I did anything else. What that malice was for I did not know. But I think it had a lot to do with the idiot prince at my side. Like why is he standing so close to me? Shoo! Shoo! Your fans want to kill me!
Chapter 150 Arriving At The Academy Part 2
Ignoring the possible fan girls who wish to kill me, I know not all these hateful gazes were about the prince. But I could care less if they hated me. Let them. They can hate all they want. As long as they do not try to do anything stupid, everything will be fine. But once they do something that will harm those around me, I will need to take action.
¡°Faith!¡± A yell came from the right. I turned to see Grace running over with a smile on her face. I forgot Grace was of age as well to enter the academy.
¡°Hi, Grace!¡± Why is it that I have only said two words, and the stares have be even more intense?
¡°Hehe, I am d I ran into you all. I was nervous about taking the test all on my own.¡± Grace said as she pushed by Adel as if she was air and reached out her hand. ¡°Let me congratte you on your noble title.¡±-.
¡°Ah yes¡ Thank you.¡± I took her hand and shook it. But that onlysted a split second before someone chopped both of our hands, breaking them apart.
¡°Grace, what is the meaning of ignoring me!?¡± Adel yelled out.
¡°Oh my!? I am sorry, Princess Adellia, I didn¡¯t see you there. Ho ho ho¡.. Anyway, Faith, or should I say Baroness Cyrilia, you are one of the youngest nobles here who is the head of their house. That is quite the achievement.¡± Uhhh¡ Grace, Adel seems to be preparing some kind of magic spell. I would pay attention to what is happening at your side. I do not know why these two always fight when they are together, even though they can get along quite well at times.
¡°Both of you cut it out¡.¡± I said in a hushed tone. Adel, who was writing a spell in the air, stopped her actions while Grace folded her fan and bowed to Adel. ¡°It is good to see you again, Princess Adellia.¡±
This time Grace gave Adel a proper greeting befitting a noble. Adel only snorted in response, though. At least she was not getting ready to attack.
¡°Oh!¡± Grace suddenly turned back to me: ¡°Faith, be careful. I have heard from my sources that there are quite a few noble families out to get you. I have taken care of a few that were of lower status, but there are too many. I am not sure what is going on, but there are enough noble houses wanting to tear you down than I can keep count of. And this all came to be since yesterday.¡±
¡°I kind of figured this would happen but not so quickly.¡± I sighed. It was probably the Prime Minister who I forced to concede in front of so many. If my thoughts are correct, he is the mastermind before everything that has been going on with the assassinations. I do not know exactly what he is nning, but at least for the time being, the King knows to keep an eye on him. He is a smart man, so I am sure he understood the underlying meaning of my words.
¡°You knew this would happen?¡± Grace asked, her voice full of curiosity.
¡°Let¡¯s just say I had a hunch. Anyway, any word on what the test will be?¡± I asked, changing the subject. Grace raised an eyebrow but did not try to push the issue.
¡°I could get nothing, and I tried every channel I could. But the Academy always keeps these things tightly sealed.¡± Grace answered.
¡°Yeah, even Father would say anything when I asked.¡± Lance added.
¡°I tried as well and even asked in a cute manner, but he only told me to wait until the next day.¡± Adel said while pursing her lips. She seemed upset that her cute daughter act didn¡¯t make the old man budge.
¡°Not like it matters. Let¡¯s just do our best and try to get the sses we want.¡± We would not all be in the same ss, which would stink, but there was nothing we could do about it. We all had different interests. And we wereing here to learn our trades that we wished to follow upon graduation.
Like I will be taking every course I can in military and working my way up to bing a magic knight. This was the goal I set for myself, and I n to keep it. I also wanted to read every book in the library. Or, more like I want to skim through them so I can steal the contents and imprint them into my mind. One thing I love about photographic memory is that I will always remember it all.
¡°The gates are opening.¡± Sophie whispered from the side. I looked up to see the colossal gates to the academy opening up. They had two carvings of knights holding swords carved into the double doors that stood so tall that I would have to crane my neck to look at them if I was standing much closer. Luckily I was standing further away at this time, so I could easily see what they looked like.
After the gates fully opened, a group of people who were walking on air appeared and passed through the entrance and stood up over all the examinees who were here to try to enter the academy. There was one old man in the front with ten others standing behind him, each varying in age.
Adel leaned over and whispered to me: ¡°That is Aford Golorham. He is one of the strongest mages in the kingdom.¡±
Strongest mage¡ I wonder just how powerful he truly is. I kind of wish to fight him. I wonder if this makes me weird¡. Is it wrong to want to test your skills against the most powerful mage in the kingdom to see where you stand? I think it is actually a good way to rate just how strong a person is. But I know I will not be able to do such a thing any time soon.
Chapter 151 Academy Tests Begin!
I watched as the strongest mage in the kingdom put his hands behind his back and began his speech. ¡°To everyone here, I thank you foring to take the test of the Royal Magic Academy. It is my pleasure to be able to see so many aspiring mages and knights wanting to make a name for themselves and serve their kingdom. You make me proud to be the Dean of this academy.
¡°While I wish that all of you could pass, I know this is not the case. For those who fail today, you will still have a chance next time as long as you have not passed the age of eighteen. You must understand that being someone who is to be a leader of this kingdom or their respective kingdoms, you must have the necessary skills from the start. We do not wish to see young ones lose their lives chasing dreams they are not deemed to see to fruition.¡± I have to say this man had a way with words. He is not beating around the bush, yet he is not degrading the people who may fail either. He gave a good reason on why they do not ept everyone.
¡°While I know those who fail will be heartbroken, I do hope that in the future, you will find another path in life. Never give up hope and always look for the next best thing.¡± The Dean paused for a moment before continuing.
¡°Now then. Let me exin to you what the tests will be this time around. The first part of the test will test your physicalbat abilities to see if you are able to join any of the knight courses. The second part will consist of testing your magical abilities to see if you can join any of the mage courses. Those who pass both may freely choose courses from both sides, that is, if you are able to pass thest part of the test, which will be to venture into a newly discovered dungeon¡.¡± Now, this was new¡. I heard about small worlds but not anything about any dungeons¡.-.
¡°I can see some of you are confused as to what I mean. As ofte strange areas have begun to pop up around our kingdom and other kingdoms as well. These areas are now called dungeons and have new kinds of monsters inside. Some of which are humanoid in nature. Even if cleared out, unless you destroy the dungeon core at the end of the dungeon, the monsters inside will always reappear and will also never leave the dungeon itself. The dungeon you will be going to has many different monsters but mainly a new species we call goblins. They are humanoid and can use weapons and magic. But they are very weak.
¡°As you all know, to join our academy, you must sign a waiver in case of death. Starting this year, the waiver must be signed before you join in case you die during the test. We will begin with registration first, and then you will be led to a waiting area where you will be tested. Please make note that this may take a few days as we will be dealing with one examinee at a time, and once you enter, you may not leave until the end of the tests.¡± The Dean exined. I was happy that I always had sleeping gear in my inventory. At times like this, it was very helpful. Speaking of sleeping gear.
I looked over at Lance and asked: ¡°Did you bring a tent?¡±
¡°Ah!¡.¡± Lance lowered his head, his cheeks turning red.
¡°He can just sleep outside!¡± Adel said with a snort.
¡°No, he can¡¯t. But¡. I do have a big enough tent for all of us so we can just share. Lance will just have to sleep on the far side of the tent.¡± We already lived under the same roof, so sharing a tent with him wouldn¡¯t be much different. It¡¯s not like we would be taking our clothes off or anything.
¡°Faith, I don¡¯t think that is¡..¡± Lance tried to reject my offer, but I raised my hand, stopping him from speaking.
¡°Lance, what is my job?¡± I asked.
¡°To protect Adel and I¡.¡± Lance replied.
¡°Exactly. If I made you sleep outside during the tests, I would not be doing my job correctly. I was already stabbed once to save you. I do not wish for you to lose your life any time soon. As long as you do not get any funny ideas about Sally while we are all asleep, there will be no issue.¡± I exined while still tossing in a jab at him, causing Adel and Sophie to giggle and Sally to give me a confused look.
¡°What!? What does Miss Sally have to do with this!¡± Lance yelled out in a cracked voice.
¡°Oh? I was only joking. Why are you suddenly getting all flustered? Did you fall in love with Sally at first sight?¡± I asked in a teasing manner, causing Lance¡¯s cheeks to turn red. Now, this was really entertaining. I nudged Adel, who gave me a nod and a knowing look and smiled. ¡°Sally, what do you think of Prince Lance?¡±
Sally still seemed confused about the situation as she looked over at Lance, who was smiling at her with the same stupid grin on his face that he always had. Only this time, his cheeks were red, and his eyes held a bit of expectation. ¡°He has a creepy smile, so I think he is a creep?¡±
¡°Pfft!¡± Adle spat out as she heard Sally¡¯s answer. She looked up at her brother and shook her head while trying to stifle herughter. As for Lance, he lowered his head once more. The smile on his face also disappeared.
¡°I told you so!¡± I said teasingly. ¡°Maybe if you get rid of that smile, maybe she will start to like you.¡±
¡°Faith, did I anger you at all?¡± Lance asked with a pitiful look on his face. I sighed as I shook my head. ¡°No, I was just making a point. Sally can not go against mymands, so if I ask her a question, she will speak the truth. Although I did not expect you to like Sally, I was only joking there.¡±
Chapter 152 Incident At Registration
¡°No, that¡¯s not it, I just¡.¡± I watched Lance be even more flustered, making me smile inside. This little brat likes to love and forget. I wonder if he will fall for some girl in the academy next.
¡°We need to go. They are forming a line. I, for one, do not wish to wait all day!¡± I said before taking Sophie and Adel¡¯s hands and pulling them along with me, leaving Lance behind.
One thing that was really starting to get annoying was the stares. I just wished people would stop being so concerned about us, but I guess there is not much I can do about it since I was with the prince and princess of the kingdom. However, I think most of these stares are not because of that but more because I have a big target on my back but whatever.
If theye, theye. I am already expecting it, so it is not like I will be surprised. But I guess this means that even if someone tries to be friendly with me now while I am at the academy, I will need to keep my guard up. It sucks, but it is a reality that I will need to ept. I sighed as I looked out over the line of people. Well, I guess I will have to see what the future holds. I was kinda starting to feel depressed. I mean, I did¡ I did wish to make more friends.-.
The long line continued until high noon. The sun was hot, so I was d I brought a lot of water and ice cubes. I was quite excited about all of this, so I had Annie help me prepare everything that I might need. Annie went out of her way to make a lot of food and snacks.
Adel went ahead of me. She didn¡¯t even need to show any kind of proof of who she was. They let her go right through after she signed the waivers. Even royalty had to sign these waivers. This was a rule passed down tens of years ago, I guess. Adel told me that many years ago, a prince from another kingdom who was going to the magic academy had died in a small world, and they wanted to cause a fuss about it but were quickly shut down.
When it was my turn, I walked forward and handed the middle aged man my letter of rmendation. If I did not have this, I would need to pay the fee just to take the test. So the letter of rmendation was a free meal ticket, I guess you could call it.
¡°Oh?¡± The middle aged man took my letter and looked it over before looking at me as if I had done something wrong.
¡°Is there a problem?¡± I asked. I guess it was not just noble kids who were going to be giving me a hard time this year¡.
¡°Baroness Cyrilia¡.¡± The middle aged man began in a loud voice so that everyone around could hear him. ¡°What is the meaning of you giving me a fake letter of rmendation?¡±
¡°Heh¡.¡± I couldn¡¯t help butugh. I mean, really? Are you really saying my letter of rmendation was fake? How much of a fool can this man be?
¡°What¡¯s so funny? Do you know what happens to those who try to fake their way in? They get stripped of all their titles and imprisoned for life in the ve mines.¡± The middle aged man spoke with all the righteousness one would need. I could hear the murmuring behind me, but I did not care. My hand moved faster than he could see and took the letter back before he could do anything to it.
I looked at the letter in my hand and then looked at him. ¡°So a letter signed by King Gravos himself is a fake letter. Then who does my letter need to be signed by, God?¡±
¡°You! Give that back right this instant!¡± The middle aged man stood up and reached out, but instead of grabbing my letter, he got my boot to his face knocking him back into his seat and onto the ground.
¡°You seem to really want my letter. Is it because you do not want the proof that you are lying to be shown to others?¡± I asked with a mocking smile on my face. The man had stumbled backward and fell over his seat, so he was not looking all too good at this time.
¡°Faith, what happened!?¡± Lance ran over, followed by Sophie, Sei, and Sally.
¡°What happened? This idiot is saying the letter His Majesty gave me is fake. Lance, tell me, is your father really the king of this kingdom?¡± I asked with a smile on my face. But my eyes were burning with fire. I wanted nothing more than to shove this man¡¯s head up his butt.
¡°That is ridiculous! I was there when my father wrote and signed all the letters of rmendation this year! Who are you!? Who told you to do this!?¡± Lance asked as he walked over and grabbed the middle aged man by the scruff of his neck.
¡°What is going on here!?¡± A voice came from overhead. I looked up to see the Dean of the school walking down from the sky until he stood on the t ground.
¡°I guess this man is a teacher at the academy, correct?¡± I asked. I know I should show a bit more respect, but sadly I am angry right now.
¡°That is correct? What has happened? Prince Lance, why are you holding him like that?¡± The Dean asked.
¡°Your teacher says letters I personally witnessed my father write and sign for rmendation are not real. That they are fake. Let me ask you, Dean, are your teachers not screened to see if they are working for others outside the academy? If I am not wrong, the academy is supposed to be neutral territory.¡± Oh? I have to say, when Lance acts like this, he seems kind of handsome although I still wouldn¡¯t date him¡ Since I know the true Lance. But he does seem more Princey this way. So I will give him two thumbs up in my heart.
Chapter 153 First Test: Battling Teachers Part 1
¡°Oh?¡± The Deans¡¯s eyes glowed as he looked at the teacher with cold eyes. ¡°You dare help out outsiders!?¡±
A great pressure suddenly fell on the man as magic circle after magic circle began to form in the air around him. Seeing this, I couldn¡¯t help but be shocked. It was my first time seeing so many magic circles formed in an instant without a single one being written by hand, besides the ones I have created. I was truly impressed and kinda wished to sit down and talk with this old man about magic.
¡°Do you know the punishment for conspiring with outsiders!?¡± The Dean yelled out. I watched as the teacher was pressed against the ground. Blood began to trickle out of his nose, eyes, ears, and mouth.
¡°Dean! You shouldn¡¯t kill him! We need to investigate who he was working for.¡± A young woman flew over and ced her hand on the Dean¡¯s shoulder.
The Dean¡¯s brow twitched, but the magic circles all disappeared, along with the pressure in the area. ¡°Take him away. I want to know who is behind this by the end of the day. Once he is no longer needed, you know what to do.¡±-.
¡°Yes.¡± The woman bowed her head. She looked over at the man with a bit of disdain in her eyes. She then looked over at me and smiled warmly, which made me tilt my head in confusion. I wonder if she knows me or something¡.
¡°Continue with registration. Littledy and the three behind you with letters, please hand them to me.¡± The Dean walked over and sat down behind the registration table.
¡°This is my letter of rmendation. And thank you.¡± I handed the letter over and gave my thanks. It was the least I could do. After all, I wanted to be friends with this old man! And he did just help me. I am d he was not someone who was also on the side of those who wanted to take me down.
¡°All is in order, Baroness Cyrilia. I do apologize for theck of training of my staff. I do hope you will not hold it against the academy.¡± The Dean¡¯s words surprised me. I did not expect an apology. It was not like he could control everyone here.
¡°No, it¡¯s fine. I did not n to let the people who are trying to scheme against me get away with it easily. That was why I caused a fuss. I should also apologize for my rudeness earlier as well.¡± I was quite rude. Hopefully, he will not take my rudeness to heart.
¡°It¡¯s fine you were angry. I would have snapped too. Once we figure out who is behind it all, I will call for you and let you know.¡± The Dean waved the whole thing off, which made me let out a relieved sigh. ¡°Just sign this, and you will be all set.¡±
I signed the papers and said goodbye to the Dean before walking through the gates to the first testing area. I quickly found Adel, who was surrounded by quite a few guys. She had a look on her face that showed she was not happy one bit, but the people around her kept trying to suck up to her. I guess this is what it means to be royalty. People will always try to earn your favor.
I sighed and walked over and pushed the group of boys out of the way. ¡°Who the hell just pushed me!?¡±
One boy yelled out. I turned to look at the boy with a mocking smile. ¡°You! You¡¯re the new upstart! Do you know who I am?¡±
¡°A boy who yells a lot?¡± I answered in a matter of fact kind of way, causing the boy¡¯s face to turn red and the finger that was pointing at me to freeze. The other boys beganughing at him, causing his face to grow a deeper shade of red.
¡°Faith!¡± Adel yelled out as she walked over and took my hand. ¡°I must go now. I need to wait for my other friends.¡±
I said nothing more as I let Adel lead me away but stopped short when I heard someone speak under their breath. ¡°Tch¡. This bitch rather hanging out with upstarts. Let¡¯s see how well she will react when things happenter on.¡±
¡°Adel, wait here¡¡± The boy¡¯s voice was low, but I could not allow what was said to pass. I let go of Adel¡¯s hand and disappeared from where I stood, and reappeared in front of the boy with my fist already drawn back. ¡°How dare you speak about my friend in such a manner!¡±
*Bam!*
I punched him directly in the face. While I was not using my full strength, he still flew quite a few feet end over end until he fell to the ground in a heap. My face was heating up. My anger was starting to take over as I stomped my way over to the boy. When I arrived in front of him, he looked up at me with fear filled eyes. But I did not care. I reached down and grabbed him by the neck. ¡°What do you mean you have ns for herter on? What did you n to do to Adel!? She is not only the Princess of this kingdom but also my best friend! Tell me now! Or else I will snap your neck!¡±
¡°Faith!¡± Adle ran over and hugged me from behind. ¡°Faith, let him go. Or you will be kicked out of the academy.¡±
¡°Adel, this jerk wanted to do something to you!¡± I yelled out, my gripping tightening on the kid¡¯s neck. He was wing at my hand as his face turned purple.
¡°What happened now!?¡± The Dean¡¯s voice filled the air. I looked up to see the Deannding behind the young man. He did not move to make me release him, he just looked at me with questioning eyes. ¡°Baroness Cyrilia, what happened?¡±
¡°He spoke about nning something against Adel. I have no idea what it is but I heard him speak of it as we were walking away. My hearing is quite good after all.¡± I answered honestly.
Chapter 154 First Test: Battling Teachers Part 2
¡°I see¡ But we can not do things about words only. So please let him go. As it is a crime to plot against the crown even inside the academy, we will investigate what he nned to do. He will then be punished by the academy rules. Is that fine?¡± The Dean asked. His voice was calm. It seemed he was used to such situations.
¡°Yes¡.¡± I tossed the boy in my hand to the ground like tossing out a piece of trash. I then looked at the Dean and bowed my head. ¡°I apologize for causing a fuss.¡±
¡°It¡¯s fine. But I do hope you will not resort to violence right away each time.¡± The Dean said sternly. I could only bow my head in apology. I kinda lost myself there when I heard the kid talking about Adel.-.
After the Dean left, I met up with Sophie and the others. We sat and chatted while waiting for the registration process to finish. Hundreds of examinees were being registered, so it took quite a long time before we were able to finally hear how the first test would proceed.
¡°Now that you are all registered, the first part of the test will now begin. In order to keep things flowing, tests will start now and continue non stop until each one of you has been tested. On this stage over here, you will alle up one at a time and fight against one of our instructors. Do not worry. You do not need to win to pass this test. It is just to see if you have what it takes to take the knight courses or not. You may also abstain from taking this test if you wish to wait to take the second test. I have said what is needed to say, so let¡¯s begin!¡± The Dean fished his words and flew off. I guess he needed to go deal with some things.
The first battle was a young man who looked around seventeen years of age. I can only guess he was a noble because his clothing looked pretty fancy. Well, fancy to me. I, for one, would never wear something like that to an entrance exam. To me, it did not make sense, but when I thought about all those who pay their way in, I figured this was probably the reason why. Even I and the others all have free passes and are only taking the exam for show. But even still, at leaste looking like you were going to try¡.
Obviously enough, the young man didn¡¯tst long. And the next person up was another young man. But he was much different than thest. He had a serious look on his face. It seems he was not someone who could pay their way in. The instructor allowed the young man to charge at him. It was a swift charge, and he seemed to have a lot of power in his swing. He began attacking at an incredible speed as well. But sadly, the instructor stood there with a smile on his lips and one hand behind his back. Just seeing this made me want to make him use his other hand.
But I could tell one thing about this instructor. He was watching each and every one of the young man¡¯s moves, and even during the fight, he was giving advice on the young man¡¯s movements. He was someone who knew how to teach.
One after the other, I watched as people climbed onto the stage and either forfeited, pretended to fight, or fought with everything they had. Surprisingly the number of people paying to get in was quite few and most worked hard to try to fight as best as they could against the instructor. Some were even strong enough for the instructor to try to counterattack. As the day passed, at least one hundred people had already finished their test. Currently, I am surrounded by sleeping people. Adel and Sophie were using myp as a pillow while Grace leaned against my back. Lance sat on my right side while Sei was on the left side. As for Sally, she leaned against her hammer, but she was wide awake, just like the other two.
¡°You guys can sleep, you know.¡± I said to the three who were still up.
¡°Not a chance. Right now, we need to stay on guard after what happened this afternoon.¡± Sei replied. She stretched her arms and looked up at the starry sky above. ¡°Plus, I am used to staying awake for weeks on end. A few nights won¡¯t make a difference.¡±
¡°I have also gone through some of the ck knight training, and staying awake was one of the things I was well versed in.¡± Lance stated proudly. Why he was proud about being able to stay awake, I do not know.
I turned and looked at Sally, who was nodding off, and smiled. ¡°Sally, just take a rest.¡±
¡°Must¡. protect¡. Young Miss¡.¡± Sally said in between dozing off. I waved my hand and cast a sleep spell on her causing her to fall fast asleep. With a bit of wind magic, I was able to gentlyy her head down so she would not fall over and hurt herself.
¡°I will set up a barrier around us so we can all take a nap. We will probably be going up tomorrow with how fast these matches are going.¡± I also wanted to rest, so the barrier I put up did three things. One was to protect us all together so no one could get near us. The second thing was that if someone attacked it, it would repel the attack back at the attacker with triple the force. Andstly it would wake us all up if someone did attack it.
The only reason I was willing to sleep was because there were still about two hundred people ahead of us. They were following the order of registration.
Chapter 155 First Test: Battling Teachers Part 3
I was woken by Sei earlier in the morning. My turn was next after the girl on stage was finished. She onlysted a few rounds with the instructor before being knocked down. The look of disappointment on her face shows just how much she must have trained. She was not half bad from how I saw it. She was just too over eager to try to score a hit on the instructor and was not watching his reactions.
¡°Next! Faith Cyrilia!¡± I heard my name called. I stood up and turned to the two girls who were still yawning and half asleep. ¡°I am off!¡±
¡°Mmmm¡ good luck¡.¡± Adel¡¯s voice sounded as if she was talking in her sleep.
¡°Good luck!¡± Sophie said softly in a louder than usual voice.-.
While I know I do not need to try hard during these tests, I want the academy to know that just because I have a rmendation letter, that I am not here just for a free ride. That I came to this school to work hard and learn everything I can while I am here.
I have so much I wished to aplish here that I did not want to y around. So even as I walked up to the stage, I already had my sword drawn and was ready to fight. I stood in front of the instructor waiting for him to begin the match.
¡°Oh? Now, this is interesting. It seems you have been in a real fight or two.¡± The Instructor said with a smile. His eyes seemed to changepared to how he looked at the other examinees.
¡°You can say I have been in a fight or two. I guess you haven¡¯t heard the rumors about me.¡± I replied with a slight smile. I am not sure if he is ying dumb or just didn¡¯t hear about the war.
¡°Wait¡. Faith Cryilia¡. Ah! It¡¯s you! Hahaha! What a pleasure! I get to go one on one with the girl who wiped out an entire army, The Demon of the East, Faith Cryilia. The fairy who dances in the blood of her enemies.¡± I think I just heard another really embarrassing nickname just now. I will ignore it. I do not want to hear all these strange names that people are pinning on me. ¡°I hope you will give me a good fight. Please, you can go all out while fighting me but remember, no attack magic spells, only body enhancements.¡±
¡°Alright. But I should ask. Can I put up a barrier just in case?¡± I did not wish for our fight to hurt anyone around us, so I figured at least a barrier should be put up.
¡°Yes, you are right. Can I ask you to do the honors?¡± The Instructor asked.
¡°Sure.¡± I answered before writing a quick magic circle in the air. ¡°Fiveyer barrier¡.¡±
Barrier fiveyers thick formed around the battle stage. I could hear the voices from below all cry out. Which is to be expected. I mean, none of the other matches needed a barrier, yet now one was being deployed and by the one taking the test. But this made things safer for everyone as I would not go easy on the instructor after he had asked me to go all out.
¡°Haha! Really good! I see you will also pass the magic ability test without issue. Before we start, let me give you my name, Demon of the East. You can call me Bill Reliks. It is a pleasure to have a match with the rising star of the Gravos Kingdom.¡± It was nice that he introduced himself but did he need to call me the Demon of the East during his introduction?
¡°It is a pleasure.¡± I answered back with a small pout. I really do hate this name.
¡°Then let¡¯s begin, shall we?¡± Bill smiled before charging forward. Since he started taking the test, he had not once moved from where he stood, but now he was charging forward to take the initiative to attack.
I smiled. My blood was starting to heat up. I had not had a real battle since fighting Gesel. I was getting very excited. I watched as he buffed himself up with speed and strength enhancements. I went ahead and did the same. As his sword swung down towards me, I swung mine towards his.
As the two swords made contact, it was as if no sound was heard for almost a whole second when a loud thunderous boom was heard, and a shock wave spread out in all directions. Our swords moved so fast that they broke the sound barrier, causing a sonic boom. The ground under our feet shattered and a huge crater formed in the middle of the stage. The entire stage began to crumble and fall apart.
But this did not stop us from continuously swinging our swords, meeting attack with attack. This was only pure swordsmanship, no attack magic whatsoever. With each sh, another sonic boom was heard, and the ground began to break up more. I had no idea what our battle looked like to those outside the stage, but my guess is that they were shocked at what they were seeing.
¡°Hahahahahaha! This is so much fun! Demon of the East, you really live up to your name!¡± Please stop with the name already! I wanted to cry. This damn name sucks!
But I could stop my lips from curling up and smiling as I continued my attack. My instincts were telling me to continue for as long as I could that this was where I belonged. Swinging my sword in the midst of battle. I have no idea if this was my dragon instincts or my demonic instinct or maybe a merger of the two that makes up my dragonic bloodline. I am not quite sure, but all I know is that I am having so much fun! ¡°Hahaha! Come! Fight me with everything you have!¡±
The two of us were both smiling andughing like maniacs as we attacked each other. We were just about to sh again for the umpteenth time when a voice rang overhead, and both our bodies were frozen in ce. ¡°What the hell are you two doing!?¡±
Chapter 156 Mighty Sophie!
I shrunk back, hearing the voice up over my head. I have heard this yell many times. I didn¡¯t even need to look up to know that it was the Dean. Sure enough, the Deannded in between us and looked at the destroyed stage and then back at us. ¡°What is the point of destroying the entire stage!? This is a test, not some battle to the death!¡±
¡°Ummm¡ Dean, Instructor Bill told me to go all out.¡± I quickly threw the instructor under the bus. I mean, he really did! I wasn¡¯t lying!
¡°Oi! What happened to buddies in arms!?¡± Bill yelled out. I just turned and looked away. Sorry Bill, but I have already caused a scene a few times now. If I get yelled at anymore, the Dean might kick me out!
¡°It doesn¡¯t matter who started it! This is just too much! Baroness Cryilia! Please keep things in moderation! Fix the stage and go wait for the next test!¡± After giving me my orders, he turned and looked at Bill. ¡°And you! You are an instructor! What is with youughing like a maniac while fighting someone who is taking the exam? People are waiting for their turn!¡±-.
¡°Dean, I just¡. Sorry¡.¡± Bill lowered his head. He dared not argue anymore.
¡°Alright, get down and let Baroness Cyrilia fix the stage.¡± I wonder if the Dean knows that there are two more people here who will be smashing the stage up as well. Awe well, not my problem¡.
I waited for everyone to leave the stage before putting it back together and getting down. After a ten minute break, it was finally Sophie¡¯s turn. I ced my hand on her head and smiled at her as I said: ¡°Just do your best.¡±
¡°Mmm¡¡± I think Sophie wished she was Adel or Lance. The two did not even need to take the tests. Not even standing on stage. This was the reason why Sei woke me up when the girl before me went on since she was before Adel. And Adel¡¯s name would not be called. Although Adel did say she nned to go up on stage for the mage test.
Sophie, on the other hand, was different. She had a rmendation letter so she could give up, but I talked her into at least trying. She had learned a bit of sword during our time together. How well she could use it is another story. I do know she practices a lot now.
Sophie pulled her sword from its sheath and got into her fighting stance. She closed her eyes, and when she opened them, the Sophie whose eyes were always gentle and lowered, not wanting to make eye contact turned sharp. She looked at Bill, who was standing back in his normal spot as if he was the demon king and she was the hero who had to y him.
When Bill said begin, Sophie charged forward with some speed magic and struck out while at the same time tilting to the side and thrusting out another sword with her free hand. Seeing this fighting style, I was kind of confused because I do not remember her learning this. ¡°This¡.¡±
¡°I taught her it. She came to me and asked me for a few pointers as she wished not to slow you down. She has been working hard in secret since we met.¡± Sei¡¯s exnation left me stunned. I never thought that Sophie was secretly training! This sly little fox! Just you wait and see! I will fluff you so much you will die from fluff! Not really, but seriously I am very surprised. ¡°To be honest, I was not expecting much with how docile Sophie is, but once she starts her dance, she is a machine.¡±
I looked up at Sophie, who really did look like she was dancing as she attacked from different angles. Her body bent in unnatural ways as she kept Bill on his toes. He was even moving backward due to Sophie¡¯s onught of attacks. ¡°Sei, did she really learn all this in such a short time?¡±
¡°Frankly speaking, she is a monster. A natural when ites to dual swordsmanship. I do not know why but it seems all the monsters of the kingdom of the younger generation are all found at your side. You have Adel, Prince Lance, Sophie, Sally¡.. And m¡ oooffff! Why did you hit me!?¡±
¡°Because you tried to call yourself young!¡± I said while sticking my tongue out. But her words confused me. ¡°What do you mean Adel and Lance are monsters?¡±
Sally, I could understand, but Adel and Lance¡. I have never seen them use much magic or fight at all, now that I think about it.
¡°You will see. Lance is good at sword and magic. While Adel went strictly magic. Let¡¯s just say that Adel¡¯s magic is also a little weird. She has a strange affinity with cosmic magic.¡± Sei answered. But I think I just heard a new kind of magic.
¡°Sei, what is cosmic magic?¡± I really have never heard of it before.
¡°It is a new kind of magic and named after the only person to acquire it. And that person is Adel herself. Although looking at her as she is now, you wouldn¡¯t think she was so capable. Nor a princess¡.¡± I looked over to see Adel with drool running down her chin as she used Sally¡¯s big melons as a pillow. The weird smirk on her face doesn¡¯t help her image much either.
¡°I guess I will need to wait and see then.¡± I was now really looking forward to Adel¡¯s match during the second test. ¡°But wait¡. If it is magic, can¡¯t anyone use it?¡± It just dawned on me after thinking about it for a minute.
¡°That is what is weird. This magic seems to be only usable by those with the affinity for it. So there is no way to copy the magic. You can write the magic circle all day but you will never be able to activate it.¡±
Chapter 157 The Cyrilia Monsters
A magic that can not be cast like normal¡. I never thought it was possible. But I wonder if it can not be cast by anyone without affinity for it, and Adel was the first person to have such affinity, how did she know how to cast it? How did she discover it? How do they know it is actually magic? I looked over at the girl sleeping on Sally¡¯s chest with a glint in my eyes. I mean, I kinda want to have her help me experiment with her magic. But if I was able to figure out how the spells work and how one can cast them without affinity, that would make Adel less special, and that would not be good. I guess, sadly, I will be skipping over this special magic.
¡°Why do you look so dejected?¡± Sei asked as she looked at me with a strange look.
¡°It¡¯s nothing. Let¡¯s cheer Sophie on! Goo! Sophie! Go!¡± The best way to forget about things I can not do anything about is to not think about them and move on. Plus, Sophie needs someone cheering for her.
The more I watch Sophie fight, the more I realize that she will be very powerful in the future, and now she was showing everyone what she was capable of. This was good. Less people will try to start with her if they know she is strong.
Another few minutes went by when Bill called the fight. He had a big smile on his face as he looked at Sophie: ¡°Very good! Another diamond in the ruff. I can see why you gained your rmendation. Go rest. You will be taking the second exam soon.¡±-.
Sophie climbed down the stage and ran over to me. Her smile was bright as her tail wagged back and forth with her ears twitching. And a very excited Sophie acted out of character as she excitedly said: ¡°Faith! I think I did well! Ow! My cheeks!¡±
¡°Yes, you did. You really surprised me. To think you were getting secret training all this time!¡± I said with pursed lips. But still, I was happy for Sophie. It seems she had found her path.
¡°I wanted to surprise you,¡± Sophie said while rubbing her now red cheeks. I pinched them pretty good.
¡°It was definitely a surprise.¡± I said with augh.
¡°Sally Cyrilia!¡± Bill¡¯s voice fell over the crowd. I have heard some murmurs here and there about the Cryilia name seemingly being a hot topic at this moment. Namely because of my show of strength, and now Sophie disyed her swordsmanship. Next, it was Sally¡¯s turn. All three of us were carrying the Cyrilia name. I wonder if Father would be proud of me.
Seeing Sally walking up to the stage, a thought came to mind. ¡°Sally, don¡¯t destroy the stage or crush the Instructor! Hold back!¡±
¡°Yes, Young Miss!¡± Sally yelled back, causing another wave of rumors to begin spreading. I saw Bill looking at me with a smirk. I then saw him say something to Sally with a mocking smile. But that smile quickly turned to shook after he yelled begin and Sally arrived in front of him in an instant with her hammer already barreling down on him. Wait¡. ¡°Ah¡. Too much!¡±
*Boom!*
I felt a sharp jolt in my arm as I stood between the Instructor and Sally. The stage itself caved in from the impact. As the dust settled, I looked at Sally, who was looking back at me with tears in her eyes. ¡°Young Miss! Sorry! He whispered something mean about you, and I kinda just¡. Are¡. Are you alright!?¡±
¡°I¡¯m fine Sally, rx.¡± It was true, I was perfectly fine. I only felt a sting in my arm from her attack. I turned and looked at Bill, who was looking up into the sky, whistling with his hands behind his back. ¡°Why did you instigate her!? Are you trying to get me yelled at again!?¡±
¡°I wanted to see how strong she was! You told her to hold back! I couldn¡¯t resist!¡± Bill tried to exin, causing me to snort.
¡°She passes, right?¡± I asked sternly.
¡°Yeah¡ Everyone at your side is a damn monster. I want to fight with themter on.¡± Bill said with a big grin. I could only let a long, drawn out sigh. He was an instructor, right!? Right!?
¡°Alright, then I will be going back down. Ah, right! I wouldn¡¯t try anything with Sei. She may just kill you¡.¡± I gave a fair warning. I did not know if Sei could hold her anger back or not. Thest thing I want to do is try to exin that mess. Because for some reason, I feel the Dean will hold me ountable!
¡°Ahahaha¡. Wait¡. Sei¡. That Sei!? What is she doing here!? Isn¡¯t she way too ol¡. Hah! Peh! Peh! Damnit, what are you doing!? ¡± I quickly kicked a ball of dirt into his big mouth.
¡°Shutting up, idiot.¡± I said with a snort before pulling Sally off stage.
¡°Sally, don¡¯t let others anger you like that from now on. It will be bad if you do something you shouldn¡¯t do to the wrong person, that is only if your life is not threatened. But you can beat them up a little, just not full force.¡± I was not saying to hold her anger in but dumb it down enough to only beat them mildly.
¡°Mmm¡ Sorry, Young Miss.¡± Sally lowered her head. I turned and reached out and rubbed her head. ¡°Thank you for getting mad for me.¡±
¡°Mmm¡.¡± Sally smiled softly and nodded her head.
Sei was up next, and it ended before it started. It seems Sei¡¯s hearing was very good. She shot forward, and in an instant, she had already pinned Bill to the ground, asking what he was going to say earlier. It happened so fast that no one understood what had happened. But I guess this just goes to show what experience can do. I went back and forth against Bill but was unable tond any decisive attacks. But Sei, who has less power than me, was able to pin him to the ground with experience and technique. Maybe I should have her train me as well¡.
Sei came back and stretched her arms as she sat down next to Adel, who seemed to be still dozing in and out. It made me wonder just how bad of a morning person she was. It was now Lance¡¯s turn to go up. He walked up on to the stage with his sword still in its sheath. His aura hadpletely changed once he got on stage.
¡ªAn: Check out my second WSA entry: RE: My Dragon Girlfriend In The Dragonic Apocalypse. for the time being you will need to search for it by name until AllNovelFull approves it. Thanks for reading!¡ª
Chapter 158 The Show Off Prince
¡°Are you surprised?¡± Adel came up and sleepily asked.
¡°Mmm¡ His weird smile is gone.¡± I answered lightly. Well, it was true. His stupid grin was reced with a serious expression that was not something you often saw on him. But what was annoying me was all the fangirls screaming his name. Like, does it help if you scream his name? Do you win an award for being the one to scream his name the loudest?
I will never understand it. Why do girls get all giddy over a boy or any kind of lover for that matter? Although I am a girl myself, I still do not understand it. I shook my head as I turned my attention back to Lance on stage. He was staring at Bill with a small smile on his lips. Once Bill gave the go ahead, Bill charged at Lance which was a surprise to me. This was the second time he had charged at someone. The first being me. Lance only slightly moved as he brought his sword to his side and stepped forward, and struck out.
Bill sidestepped and swung his sword to block. But¡. ¡°Wait! What the hell are you doing!? Why did you fake like you were off bnce!? Instructor Bill, don¡¯t be trying to throw the fight! Smash him hard! Knock him down a few times! Make him cry!¡±-.
I watched as Lance stumbled over his own feet and loudughter came from my side. I turned to see Adel, Grace, Sei, Sally, and even Sophie allughing really hard. Was what I said really that funny? I tilted my head to the side, trying to think of what I said, but nothing seemed funny to me¡. I mean, well¡ Okay thest part about making him cry, but I was just trying to get my point across.
But now, I am also getting a lot of death res. But as I scanned the crowd, everyone quickly turned and looked away. But once my eyes left them, they red at me again! At least do it openly! Feeling a bit annoyed, I released some of my magic on the crowd to make them stop staring. I already get stared at enough that I do not need some giddy girls ring at me too.
At least the fight on stage was now proper. The two were exchanging blows properly instead of Bill trying to throw the match all because his opponent was the prince. For one, I doubt Lance would want such a thing. Especially with how he is smiling. Ugh¡ I just realized that the two of us have something inmon. We love to fight! Maybe I should take up flower arrangement and knitting¡.
After almost fifteen minutes, the two finally came to a stop. Bill seems to realize he was already taking up too much time. Luckily if anyone got yelled at this time, it would not be my fault¡. I hope¡.
Grace forfeited her match since she was not going to try out for the knight course. But now that I was thinking about it¡. Did Lance need to take the exams? ¡°Lance¡.¡±
¡°Yes, Faith? Were you impressed?¡± Lance asked with his usual stupid smile.
¡°Ah¡ No, in fact, I was a little disappointed¡. Anyway¡. Ummm, are you not already in the academy? I could have sworn that you were¡..¡± I asked¡ I was not sure that maybe I was hearing things, but I think I did recall him saying he was in the academy before.
¡°Hmmm? I just wanted to fight an instructor and show you my good side.¡± Lance replied with a smile.
¡°I see¡.¡± I only said these words before turning and walking towards the next testing area, not wanting to speak any more to Mr. Showoff. I heard a chuckle at my side, and as usual, Adel wasughing it up at Lance¡¯s expense. I can understand where she ising from because I used to tease my big brother too.
The reason I was going to the next testing area now was because I did not wish to watch any more of the matches.I already saw everyone else fighting. I just can¡¯t believe that Lance went through all this trouble because he wanted to show off to me.
Testing for the second test began in the early evening. Standing up on a muchrge stage that had much more room forbat and many barriers surrounding it was a young woman who looked to be in her early twenties. I did not need to ask who she was as Adel leaned over and whispered in my ear. ¡°She is the Dean¡¯s niece, Jasmine. And is the top mage of her generation.¡±
I nodded and was about to ask what kind of magic she was good at, but Jasmine began speaking. ¡°Wee to the second test. This will test your abilities as mages. Those who pass this test will be one step closer to joining the mage course. If you pass all the tests, you can take up both courses and work hard to be a magic knight. But remember, very few ever achieve this.
¡°Let me exin how this all works. Just like the knight course test, you wille up one at a time and battle me. You can use all your strongest attacks. Well, except for one person. Baroness Cyrilia! You have to hold back!¡±
I choked on air being called out like that. Did the Dean say something!? It¡¯s not like I nned to use grand fall on her or something like that. I just nned to bombard her with a bunch of attacks. I pursed my lips as I locked eyes with the girl on stage. She only gave me a sly smile that said: I am watching you! Maybe I should just fling her out off the stage? My catapult magic would work well.
Would the Dean get mad if I sent his niece flying through the air like a bird? Well, now that I think about it, she can probably step on air as well. I guess I shoulde up with something else¡. Maybe a catapult into a tornado? Is that too much? I will just need to see what everyone else does and go with that, I guess. I guess I can find an excuse to use it on Lanceter, then me it on Bell. Who would argue with Bell?
¡°Faith, you have this creepy smile on your face.¡± Adel¡¯s voice broke my thoughts, causing me to idently blurt out: ¡°I was thinking of catapulting Lanceter¡.¡±
¡°Oi!¡±
Chapter 159 Ranting About Their Low Quality Magic
As I watched the fights one after the other, I couldn¡¯t help but be a little disappointed in the abilities they were showing as they fought with Instructor Jasmine. Basic fireballs and their equivalents with the other elements. Only a few used some higher forms of magic. Like barriers and magic spear type attacks.
Other than that, there was not much else worth to speak of. I could even tell that Jasmine was a little disappointed in the magic aptitude of those applying for the mage course. The face she was making and how her eyebrow kept twitching when people kept using the same spells over and over was eating at her. At least, I think anyway. She may just have an eye twitch problem. I can¡¯t really be one to judge.
Night fell once more, and my little group and I camped out together. The matches were much slower this time because there were more people trying out for the mage course than the knight course. The knight course was mainly for those whocked magic abilities, but that did not mean all of them were bad at magic. Many applied for both courses to try to be a magic knight, the most prestigious kind of knight one can be. This was also my goal. If youbine it with a nobility title, it will help quite a bit when doing the things I wish to do. Right now, whether I liked it or not, the status of nobility was a major plus for me, as Adel said before.
The next morning when I woke up, it was the same thing all the way until noon time: more people slinging fireballs and taking almost the full five seconds to cast the spell. One thing I did not understand was why most of these testees were all proud of their magic aplishments. It seemed strange to me, but maybe I should not be basing what is normal on my own abilities? But still, to be proud for casting multiple fireballs in a row at an instructor who is yawning at you and thinking you did amazing seems a little off.-.
¡°Faith, if you keep furrowing your brow like that, it will freeze in ce, and then you will look that much uglier.¡± Adel¡¯s voice came from my side. I turned to look at the princess with the teasing smile stered on her face and pursed my lips.
¡°It¡¯s not my fault. Look at this! How are they so proud for casting a single fireball!?¡± I guess my words were a bit too loud because I got quite a few stares after I said this.
¡°Faith, you can¡¯tpare your abilities to normal people.¡± Adel replied with a chuckle.
¡°But even my sister inw Rachel could cast a fireball at five years old. And she is amoner! These kids are nobles, yet they are so proud of a simple fireball. Did they even train beforeing here!?¡± I know I should keep my mouth shut, but when ites to magic, I can¡¯t help but get angry. The current me is like the anime finatics who would fight tooth and nail when it came to their favorite waifu.
Once I start, I can¡¯t stop until I make my pointpletely. I remember a few times when I was talking to Jen about novels in my past life. I would be so into what I was saying that I would not even realize that Jen had walked away and end up standing there by myself talking to the ghost in front of me while people walked by looking at me strangely. At times like that, I couldn¡¯t help but pout.
This was why when I met Runa, I thought I met a kindred spirit. She was a magic freak just like me, and this really made the two of us click. Sadly Jen was never into reading much. Only once and a great while would shee to find a book that would keep her attention. But that was it.
Other than that, she was more interested in socializing and boys. Now that I think about it, why was she even friends with a weirdo like me? Sigh¡ I still miss those days¡.
¡°Next! Princess Adellia!¡± Instructor Jasmine yelled out. I looked up to see her now smiling. I guess she was looking forward to this fight. I was also looking forward to it, to see this cosmic magic for myself.
¡°Good luck Adel!¡± I said with a smile. I hoped that she would do well.
¡°Mmm¡ I will do my best. So watch me, Faith!¡± Adel said with a fist pump before walking forward. The look of determination on her face showed how serious she was about this test.
Adel stood on the stage. Her white dress armor fluttered in the wind. To be honest, she struck a gant image as she stood there with her back as straight as a board and her hands resting in front of her in a nobledy like manner.
¡°Princess¡ I have been wanting to see your specialty magic for a long time. Sadly I could only ever hear about it through people who were allowed to enter the pce. So please do put on a good disy for me.¡± Instructor Jasmine had a small smile on her face and a glint of excitement in her eyes. I guess I was right about her being happy about facing Adel.
¡°Instructor Jasmine, I will do my best to satisfy your curiosity. But I also have a small vendetta with you. I mean¡. You called out my Faith like she was some kind of monster. This is a no no.¡± Ummm¡ Adel¡ you have a crazy smile on your face and a mean look in your eye. Please do not try to kill anyone!
¡°Oh, are you talking about my warning to Baroness Cyrilia.? Well, it was because my father told me too. Otherwise, I would love to see what she is capable of. Please do not take offense to it as I did not mean harm by it.¡± I guess Instructor Jasmine is not such a bad person. She seems more humble than I had originally thought. Even her apology held sencerty to it. Although even after she apologized, Adel still looks angry.
Oh well whatever happens between those two has nothing to do with me¡. I hope¡.
Chapter 160 Cosmic Magic
Adel did not reply to instructor Jasmine¡¯s apology. She only bowed her head as she said: ¡°When you are ready.¡±
¡°I am ready anytime.¡± Instructor Jasmine replied. She did not seem to be bothered by Adel¡¯s tant disregard of her apology.
But now was the time I had been waiting for. I watched Adel without even blinking, hoping not to miss a second of her cosmic magic. Adel lifted her hand and delicately tapped the air. As she did, mana began to flow out of her fingertip without her having to do anything and began to form runic symbols in the air.
Each symbol quickly formed, and in less than half a second, what looked like aplex yet fully crafted magic circle was formed. In a way, how she was able to gracefully create a magic circle like that makes me a bit jealous. When I do not use my eyes to cast spells, I always have to rush writing my magic circles while she can just tap the air to create them. But I guess everyone has their own way of doing things to speed up their casting. ¡°Stop¡.¡±-.
Adel¡¯s voice sounded out. And Instructor Jasmine, who had just opened her mouth to say her activation word, suddenly stopped moving altogether. She looked frozen in time. But was this cosmic magic or time magic? Did Adel name it cosmic magic because it sounded cooler? I tilted my head as I thought about it. I guess I could see Adel doing something like that. But if she can stop time, doesn¡¯t that mean she could reverse time or fast forward time as well? And was there a difference between cosmic magic and spatial magic?
From what I understood, spatial magic could also stop time. Maybe it is different as spatial magic is a separate space while Adel was using it in our world. I guess the two were from the same school of magic where Adel¡¯s cosmic magic is the highest form? Umm¡ What is Adel doing? Why is she walking over to Instructor Jasmine? Why is she raising her hand? Wait, no, she wouldn¡¯t, would she!?
*p!*
She did¡. And now, she has turned and looked at me with a proud smile as if she is asking me to praise her? Why did she p the instructor!? She did nothing wrong! Adel, please don¡¯t hold grudges! Well, I guess I can¡¯t say anything about that after I almost snapped someone¡¯s neck the day I passed the first test.
¡°Rewind¡.¡± Adel cast another spell. And now, my eyes almost popped out of my head. Adel¡¯s power was really insane. The red mark on Instructor Jasmine¡¯s face disappeared, and all her movements to cast a spell had also reversed the magic circle she had formed now disappeared. Adel smiled as she turned around and began to walk off stage but just before stepping off it, she said: ¡°Resume¡.¡±
And like it never happened, Instructor Jasmine began to move again. She had a very confused look on her face. I wonder if her memories also rewound? ¡°So, what did you think?¡± Adel asked happily as she bounced over to me like a bunny rabbit.
¡°To be honest, your magic is scary but also amazing. I do not think I ever want to fight you or anyone with such magic. But isn¡¯t this more time magic than cosmic magic?¡± I asked.
¡°Ahh, about that¡.¡± Adel rubbed her nose as she exined: ¡°When I was small, I got to name my magic, and although everyone suggested calling it time magic, but I thought that name was boring and called it cosmic magic instead. Cosmic magic is not something anyone can use. You could say I am basically the only one in this kingdom who can use it, thanks to my affinity with it. They reached out to other kingdoms as well, looking for anyone who could use my magic, but the results were always the same. To this day, it seems I am the first person in history who can use cosmic magic, and it is quite peculiar because I can not use it on myself and only on one target at a time at the moment. Otherwise, the magic will not work even if I tried to rewrite the spells I have figured out so far.¡±
¡°But still, if you were to fight a strong foe who was millions of times stronger than you, you would only need to stop time for them, right?¡± I asked.
¡°Well, I am not sure. I have realized that the effects don¡¯tst forever, and there is a chance of the magic not being able topletely stop someone. It¡¯s strange, and there is a lot I still do not know about this power. But rewind, stop, and resume are the ones I have learned to master so far.¡± Adel exined.
¡°I see. But for now, I am d I never made you an enemy. To think that with a single word, you can walk up to me and p me.¡± Yeah, I was not going to miss this chance to tease her. I mean, who could resist such a chance!?
¡°She shouldn¡¯t have been rude to you!¡± Adel said while pouting. I reached up and rubbed her head. ¡°Well, you still did an amazing job.¡±
¡°Ummm¡.¡± A personnded next to us. ¡°Princess¡ I am a bit confused. I could have sworn we started our battle¡.¡±
¡°Yes, we did, and itsted a whole three minutes before I decided to end it.¡± Adel replied. She did not seem like she nned to go into any details of what had happened. I feel kind of bad. If I was in instructor Jasmine¡¯s shoes, I would be kind of annoyed since I would have wanted to witness Adel¡¯s magic for myself!
While I could exin it to Instructor Jasmine. It was not up for me to decide as it was Adel¡¯s magic not my own. Instructor Jasmine¡¯s expression turned to one of disappointment before turning around and walking back to the stage. She stood up on it and then yelled out: ¡± Next! Baroness Cyrilia!¡±
Chapter 161 Spin! Spin!
As I stepped up on the stage, I could see that instructor Jasmine was not in a good mood. I guess missing out on seeing Adel¡¯s magic really did not sit well with her. So I guess now she will take it out on me.
¡°Baroness Cyrillia. I know your magic is on a grand scale and you are probably already one of the best mages in the kingdom, so I will not battle you normally. If you can withstand my attacks for a whole ten minutes of time, I will consider it that you passed.¡± Wait, she calls me one of the best mages in the kingdom yet says I can only pass if I withstand her attacks? How is this fair?
I sighed and nodded my head. ¡°Alright.¡± Not like I had a choice, she seems dead set on wanting to vent her rage on me, and I could also use this kind of training. But for some reason, she keeps looking behind me. I turned and looked behind me to see Adel standing there with clenched fists and a murderous look on her face. Ahhh! Now I see¡ I forgot that Instructor Jasmine does not remember being pped by Adel.
Aw, well¡ Anyway¡ I turned back around and bowed my head slightly: ¡°Ready when you are.¡±-.
¡°Then I will start. Put up your defenses!¡± Instructor Jasmine suddenly summoned ten magic circles almost instantly. Umm¡ This is a test, right!? Right!? I quickly wave my hand, making a fiveyered barrier. I am d I did not hesitate and that I was actually paying attention. But I soon frowned when I saw that her spells were all hitting the same exact point one after the other, causing the first barrier to crack and shatter.
¡°Hmm¡. Strong barriers, I guess I will need to step it up a notch.¡± I heard Instructor Jasmine say as she waved her hand, creating twenty more magic circles in an instant. Her speed of casting was on par with my own. And what was more was she was experienced. She was experienced in fighting mages. Her attacks were all precise. As this second barrage came down, she destroyed three of my barriers.
¡°This is not going to work. She keeps hitting the same spot¡..¡± An idea came to mind. It was a long shot, but it may just work. Since she wanted to continuously attack the same point, why not make it so she can¡¯t keep hitting it? A sly smile formed on my lips as I cast only a single barrier this time. My actions seemed to cause Instructor Jasmine to react in surprise. She waved her hand once more, this time sending out thirty fireballs, each one of equal power at me single barrier. But this time, before they could hit the barrier, it began to spin. Yes, I made it so that the barrier was not stationary. The strength was not reduced in the slightest. And on top of that, I made it so that it could draw mana from me and repair itself.
Barrier repair took time and was not instant, so even if I had used it before, the barrier would have still shattered from so many hits in a row. As the barrier spun, Instructor Jasmine¡¯s fireballsnded in the same area as they normally would but on different spots on the barrier, causing the cracks that formed to be healed by the time they came around again. It was just enough time and speed of the spin to keep any cracks from growing too big. I looked up at Instructor Jasmine, who stared at me in shock. Only after a few seconds did she suddenly shake her head and smile. ¡°I should have guessed the Demon of the East would have a trick up her sleeve.¡±
¡°Why this nickname again!?¡± I yelled out. Why do they keep calling me that!?
¡°Hahaha! Well, It¡¯s my loss. If you are able to withstand the damage no matter what, there is no point in continuing. Also¡.¡± Instructor Jasmine walked over and leaned in close as she whispered into my ear: ¡°Can you tell the Princess not to send me death res? It is very scary.¡±
¡°Pfft!¡± I let out augh. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I will get her to stop.¡± I answered with a smile.
¡°Thanks!¡± Instructor Jasmine replied, letting out a sigh of relief. I guess it must not be fun being stared at like that by the Princess of the kingdom.
As I stepped off the stage, I heard Instructor Jasmine calling Sophie next. I did not know what kind of magic Sophie could use besides spatial magic, so I was quite interested in this test. I wondered if she was hiding something more from me.
¡°Faith! What did that bi-¡ Ahem¡ what did the instructor say to you?¡± Adel asked. But I could have sworn she was about to call the instructor a nasty word. Adel¡¯s jealous meter was off the charts. I reached up, balled up my fist, and whacked the angry Princess on the head.
¡°Ouch! Faith!? What was that for?¡± Adel cried out and asked with an aggrieved look on her face. This, of course, gained more stares of hatred, but I no longer care about them.
¡°You need to stop getting mad over every little thing. I am happy you get angry for me, but there is no need to act like people have run away with your wife. So don¡¯t umm¡ bite everyone.¡± I was actually unsure of what to say. But I was trying to not make it sound like I was mad at her either.
¡°Fine¡¡± Adel pouted her bottom lip, causing me to sigh. I reached up and rubbed her head. ¡°But really, thank you.¡± Only after hearing me say this did she finally smile again.
Now that Adel was settled, I turned and looked at Sei. ¡°Sei, what secret training did Sophie do when I was not looking?¡±
¡°You knew about her magic training!?¡± Sei asked in surprise.
¡°If I knew, I wouldn¡¯t be asking!¡±
Chapter 162 Overpowered Magic
¡°Well, to be honest, I really do not know how to exin it. I think it is best to just watch.¡± Sei answered.
I nodded and turned to look on stage. Sophie stood there waiting for the instructor to tell her it was fine to start. Once it did, I only saw Sophie point to herself and a light shine on her chest and then. She became see through¡. ¡°What is that!?¡±
¡°I don¡¯t know. It¡¯s like she is there but not. The strange thing is, is that she can still attack while none of your attacks can even hit her. They just phase right through her. I have never seen anything like it before. She asked me to fight with her so she could train her magic, and no matter how much I tried, I could notnd a single hit on her, but she could st me with magic or swing her sword at me all she wanted. Although I do think she needs to manage her mana because I think this spell actually requires a lot.¡±
¡°Either way, it is a spell that, once cast, she can go all out with her sword and not need to worry about taking damage or using more mana. In fact¡.. Why are all the girls around me scary!?¡± I mean, really! Why is Adel¡¯s magic overly overpowered? Why is Sophie a being in another realm that you can even hurt no matter how much you try. Like right now, she just walked up to Instructor Jasmine and cast a fireball at her from point nk range! What is this!? And I thought I was the overpowered one with my amazing system! But no, these two just showed me up! No fair, I want to go home.
¡°Faith, your pouting.¡± Adel snapped me out of my thoughts. I looked over at her and shook my head. ¡°Not pouting¡. Justmenting on life. Like when did I be a frog in a well. When did the life of a flea be so great?¡±-.
¡°Don¡¯t let it get to you, Faith. These schools of magic are very rare and hard to control.¡± grace tried tofort me, but then that was when a thought came to mind. I reached up and ced my hand on my chest. ¡°Phase¡.¡±
A minuteter¡.
¡°And so I can do it too¡.¡± I said with a smile. I forgot I could use spatial magic too. And I also umm did something that made Adel draw circles on the ground¡.¡±Adel, please stop doing that! You are making me feel bad! I didn¡¯t know I could do it either!¡±
¡°But, but, it was my one thing I could be proud of and show you with pride!¡± Adel said while still pouting.
So it seems I can use Adel¡¯s cosmic magic as well. I nned not to try it, but I kind of got caught up in trying the new spells I saw after being able to use Sophie¡¯s phase spell. Although I do not know what she named it but I call it phase since it phases you out of reality. After that, I kinda went and cast cosmic magic afterward and made Sei freeze in ce.
And now Adel is upset. Sighing, I crouched next to Adel and asked: ¡°What can I do to make you feel better? I will do anything within my ability.¡±
¡°Anything?¡± Adel asked. Her eyes seemed to light up a bit. Hopefully, she won¡¯t ask me to do anything too weird or that I am not ready for.
¡°Umm¡ Ahem¡. Yes, as long as it is reasonable.¡± I replied.
¡°Then a hug¡.¡±Adel said softly. I chuckled and gave her a hug. It onlysted about half a minute before I let her go, but she had a bright smile on her face after.
¡°Better?¡± I asked.
¡°Mmmm! All is well!¡± Adel said happily, back to her normal self.
Sophie had alsoe down stage and walked back over to us. I walked over and gave her a hug. ¡°Sorry¡¡±
¡°Pfft! Hahahaha! Faith, you are hrious!¡± Sei burst outughing.
¡°Ummm, Faith? What are you apologizing for?¡± Sophie asked with a very confused expression.
¡°I kinda um cast your spell¡.¡± I answered while scratching my head.
¡°Oh? Well, isn¡¯t that normal? You can already cast spatial magic, so there is no reason for you not to be able to cast transition.¡± So Sophie had already figured I would be able to cast it. I guess I was overreacting.
¡°So you call it transition? I called it phase when I casted it.¡± transition is not a bad name either, but phase sounds cooler.
¡°Then let¡¯s switch the name to phase. It kind of makes more sense in a way. I never gave the name much thought. But phase does sound much better.¡± Sophie seemed to like the name too. I guess that settles it but to think I would have three new over powered spells at my disposal. If I were to alter them in some way, I wonder just how much more powerful I can make them. And I seeded. I can give Sophie and Adel the new magic circles. However, I should put a safety on any spells I n to pass down in case it uses too much mana. After all¡. I do not need to worry about mana consumption.
¡°Then phase it is. Make sure to register the spell under your name, though. After all, you are the creator of it.¡± I said. All new spells can be registered under the name of the creator which gives mages a bit of prestige in themunity.
¡± I will¡ I will also need to make sure nothing like it exists. It does take up ny percent of my mana to cast and onlysts about ten minutes.¡± That is true it does use a lot of mana so I guess I should alter that first. After all, less mana consumption would help Sophie out more than anything.
Chapter 163 Second Test End!
Next up was Sally. She walked up on stage and looked at Instructor Jasmine with a small, confident smile. I have never seen Sally use attack magic, so I have no idea how good she is at it. I guess I can only watch and see for myself.
Once instructor Jasmine gave the okay, Sally suddenly hopped into the air and swung her huge hammer down in front of her causing arge magic circle to suddenly appear. As soon as it did, a rain of fireballs began showering down onto the stage, causing Instructor Jasmine to have to dodge and throw up a few barriers. As soon as the magic ended, she hurriedly yelled out: ¡°Okay enough! You pass!¡±
That was definitely a quick fight. But I can see why. I knew Sally had some kind of magic ability due to her being able to stand on air but just did not know anything beyond that. Now seeing it with my own eyes, I can tell she is very powerful, beyond just her strength.-.
Sally walked off stage, and it was now Sei¡¯s turn. She looked very uninterested as she made her way on stage. But before the match could even start, Instructor Jasmine suddenly yelled out: ¡°You pass!¡±
¡°Thank the gods! I did not want to deal with you either¡.¡± Sei turned right back around and walked off stage. When she walked over, I gave her a questioning gaze. ¡°We went to this same academy together. She knows not to fight me since we would end up battling until one of us passes out from mana exhaustion.¡±
¡°I see¡. I guess it¡¯s good that you didn¡¯t then. I want t get this over with already.¡± I was actually looking forward to the third test, although the idea of goblins was not something I really wanted to deal with. I mean if they match the kind of goblins I have read about in my past life, then it would definitely be bad.
I have already signed a waiver, not that I am afraid of dying now. But the whole fact of the matter is that goblins from Earth were known for being monsters who used other races to breed. They would capture women and girls of all ages and bring them back to their dens to be breeding horses. Not the best of things in stories, that¡¯s for sure, but it did make for some dramatic scenes in some of those novels.
I will do what I can to protect those close to me. As for the others¡. I could care less. Most hate me anyways. But although I say that if I can help, I probably would. I still can¡¯t watch a girl get dragged off to be a breeder. No girl deserves that.
Grace was up next, and she only used the bare minimum of spells to pass. I don¡¯t know why but it seemed to me that she was not really trying. But I guess it does make sense. She might not want to stand out. I can¡¯t really say, though. It would be kind of rude to ask, so I would prefer not to walk into any awkward situations.
¡ª
It was midday the next day when thest of the tests finished up and we were ushered into arge building within the academy grounds. This building had many tforms with runic equations inscribed into them. Standing on one of the tforms was the Dean once again. ¡°Everyone here will be taking the final tests. If you did poorly on the first two tests, you might still have a chance to enter if you do well on the second test. The instructors at my side will be going with you. While they will not interfere, even if you are about to die, they will be there to judge you and your actions.
¡°Always remember there are two sides of a gold, silver, or even a copper coin. The same goes for whether you join the knight course or the mage course. While one must be powerful to be someone the kingdom can rely on, there is another aspect of this that you should never overlook. And that is your heart. If you do not have the will to save your teammates or stick with them to the very end, then there is no need for you to be at this academy. Righteousness and chivalry are aspects that one must have whening here as a student. Never forget who you are and why you are training to be more powerful. With power will alwayse greater responsibility. I just hope you do not turn your back on those around you.
¡°Alright! This old man will no longer ramble. From this moment,e up when your instructor calls you.¡± The Dean then vanished into thin air. I guess he is indeed a busy man. But sadly, although the words he said were good and meant to try to put people on the right path, sadly, a lot of these people will never act in the manner he hopes for.
But now there is a bigger issue. I did not know if I would be on the same team as the others. I am sure they will not allow a bunch of strong people in the same team.
¡°Faith Cryilia! Adellia Gavos!¡± I heard my name called and looked over at the tall, Slender man in leather armor. I guess they want me in the same team as Adel, thankfully. But from how he called Adel, I guess this means all special treatment was over with. It was not time to be regr students.
¡°Faith, let¡¯s go!¡± Grabbed my hand and began to pull me, but I stopped short and turned to the others: ¡°Sophie, Sally, Sei, Grace, If any of you are in danger, run away leave everyone behind. Even if it means giving up your ce at the academy.¡±
I was saying this because I did not wish for anyone I am close to to be dragged off by goblins. I might really lose myself if that happens.
Chapter 164 Team
We ended up in a group of ten. There were quite a few groups. I could see that Sophie and Sei ended up in a team together, which was good. Sally ended up by herself, which worries me. And the same goes for Grace. And as for Prince Lance, I lost track of him a while ago. I think he was dragged away by an instructor.
My team consisted of four girls and six guys. The six guys were Brad, Tom, Steven, ke, Leo, and Rick. And the other two girls were Hailey and Amanda. Surprisingly none of them seemed to be bothered by my presence. However, this might be because Adel was clinging on to my arm, guarding me like some kind of guard cat.
As for the instructor, his name was Telive. He was an elf. ¡°Okay. I will be the one observing your test. As the Dean said, I will not interfere no matter what. So if you die, you die. There is nothing I can do about that. Although I do not think any of you will be dying today with two very talented girls in your team. You will have ten minutes. So decide on a leader of your team.¡±
¡°I will do it!¡± Brad suddenly yelled out. Raising his hand high.
¡°Are you an idiot?¡± Steven said while shaking his head and pointing at me. ¡°We have the Demon of the East in our team. She led an army to fight against the Norian Army during the invasion.¡±-.
¡°Ummm¡ Can you please not call me that¡?¡± Such a nickname was just. It made my teeth hurt hearing it.
¡°Haha! Sorry.¡± Steven said while blushing. He seems kind of easy to talk to, but¡.. I will not trust people so easily¡. I have to keep an eye on those around me, sadly¡.
Steven continued: ¡°Anyway, like I was saying, Faith should be the leader. She has the most experience.¡±
¡°I agree!¡± Adel raised her hand. I did not mind being the leader, but I wish someone would ask if I wanted to be the leader¡ And now, with Adel endorsing me, it seems the others now have no choice.
¡°Okay, so I am the leader. The second inmand goes to Adel, while the third goes to Steve? Is that okay with everyone?¡± I asked. I chose Steve because he was someone who was willing to stand up and have someone with experience lead. I am not trying to be conceited, but I do not think anyone here besides me has led troops in a war.
¡°I agree with Faith.¡± Hailey said while nodding her head. Amanda also nodded her head. This was followed by the rest of the guys as well.
Since we still have time, I wanted to understand what everyone¡¯s specialties were. I figured this would be the best way of going about learning everyone¡¯s strong points and would allow me to properly ce people. ¡°We still have time, so please tell me your specialties and what your best magic spells are.¡±
¡°Mine is water magic. Or water slicer, to be more precise.¡± Amanda was the first to speak. Water slicer was actually a de of water that was highlypressed and could cut through anything if it waspressed enough.
¡°I am more of a sword user but can cast self buffs on my body to make me stronger and faster.¡± Steve answered next.
¡°I can cast fireballs¡..¡± Hailey lowered her head as she spoke. I guess she was embarrassed about it.
¡°Fireballs and sword.¡± ke announced.
¡°Rock sikes and rock walls are my specialties!¡± Leo seemed very proud of his skills.
¡°Spears and lightning attacks.¡± Brad was tall and muscr, so I guess his skills matched him.
¡°Mine is daggers.¡± Rick spoke softly. It was hard to hear him
¡°I am good at the bow and wind magic.¡± Tom seemed to be a half elf. But I could be wrong.
I was quite surprised at the wide variety of people skills. While most were mage users, this worked out perfectly because I do like to be up front. The only sad thing is that it seemed only I could use healing magic. But at the very least, I knew where to have everyone go while inbat.
¡°Time¡¯s up! Everyone, gather together. We will be using the teleport to bring you a mile out from the dungeon.¡± At the instructor¡¯s direction, we all began to gather in the middle of the teleporter. And in under a second, we are standing deep in a forest.
Instructor Telive walked over and stood in front of us as we got used to our new surroundings. ¡°From this moment on, you will be on your own. I can only tell you that the dungeon is to the north. Happy hunting. I hope you all can make it back.¡±
After finishing his words, the instructor disappeared, leaving everyone here on their own. I looked up at the blue skies overhead and nodded my head in satisfaction. I guess it was now my turn to give a small speech as well. I walked to the front of the group. ¡°While I know we should be just fine, I still wanted to say something¡.. Don¡¯t die. No matter what, your life is important. I will be on the front line, and I will do my best to keep you all alive. So please listen to me duringbat. I will do my best to give precise directions as we fight. Let¡¯s get moving!¡±
There were no cheers. There was no prize. Nor did I want any. I just wanted everyone to know that life was very important and that they should do everything in their power to stay alive. Life is precious, and since the nine other members of my team were under mymand, I will do everything I can to bring them all back safe and sound. I can only hope nothing strange will happen. Thest thing I want is any surprises, but then again, this was a dungeon. Who knows? Maybe there is a hard mode?
Chapter 165 Traveling To The Dungeon
¡°Are you sure this is the way?¡± Leo asked. He was on the chunkier side, so I guess he was not the best at traveling. He was already covered in sweat, more so that the others.
¡°Yes. The instructor said it was north, so it is north. Plus, while it may not look like it with how high the grass is but this is actually a path that has been used by humans before.¡± I exined. The path in front of us is narrow, but I have already spotted a few cuts in the low lying branches that hung down off the trees that looked like sword marks. ¡°But even if it has been used by humans you should always stay alert. While it is said that the monsters inside the dungeons can note out. That does not mean that there are no monsters in the forest itself. So be alert. If you get attacked, call out. Let everyone know so we can get into formation. I don¡¯t even care if you are attacked by a slime, just let us know.¡±
This was also part of the test. Getting from the drop off point to the dungeon was just as tricky for everyone. While there was a small trail here, it should have only been recently created. And not many had traveled down it. I noticed that the magic circle for the teleporter had a kind of randomness value in the runic equation. While I did not get to read the entire thing, I can at least assume that everyone will be transported to different positions, and each position has a trail of its own. We will probably end up running into other parties at the entrance.
Although I do have to admit it was very hot. It was not just Leo who was sweating but everyone else as well. While we did have a bit of shade here and there with the other hanging branches higher up, it seems someone deliberately cut the branches to make the sun shine down onto this trail.-.
I looked around and spotted a good spot to cool off. There was no point in continuing nonstop when we were probably still a bit away. ¡°Everyone stop! We will take a rest. Those with swords help me cut a path over to that area over there where there is dense shade. Everyone else, keep a close eye on our surroundings. ¡°
¡°Yes!¡± Everyone answered in unison. Which made me tilt my head slightly because I was not expecting such a united response. But I guess when you say break, everyone is willing to pitch in to help. Even Leo was moving around much faster.
After ten minutes, we were all sitting down in the dark shade of a group of trees. The area under the trees was not as covered in foliage due to theck of sunlight that reached this spot. While it was sticky and hot, the air was much cooler under the trees, relieving some of the heat.
¡°Faith, How much longer do you think it will take to get to the dungeon?¡± This time it was Steven who asked.
¡°Mmm¡ Not sure. But if we follow the same path, it will take us there, that much I know. When we reach the dungeon entrance, we will take another break and cool off before entering. We need our energy in case something happens. Always remember to keep on guard. And guys¡. protect Haily and Amanda with everything you have.¡± Myst words were said with the utmost urgency.
¡°Huh, why?¡± Brad asked. I guess he felt confused by my words.
¡°Just do as I say.¡± I said without exining further. I mean, how can I give a proper answer? I can¡¯t go: due to the novels I read in my past life, goblins are known to make girls breeders! They would all think I was some kind of nut job. I just started the academy. I do not want people saying I am some crazy girl.
After a twenty minute break, we began our journey under the hot sun once more. This time we kept moving forward until we finally reached our destination. And when one says dungeon, they truly mean dungeon. This thing even hadrge metal doors with strange carvings all over it. But why such a thing exists is still being looked into. But I do wonder. Will there be treasure chests? If so, will there be loot that has a ranking to it? To me, dungeons were always things of video games or the system type novels that were based in video game worlds.
While yes, I do have a system myself, and yes, I can level up. This world, as far as I know, is not some video game world. Unless it is slowly bing one due to some god finding it interesting.
Even if it is, I would not care. If people could level up and expand their mana pools to extend their lives, then I would be all for it.
¡°Alright, everyone, gather up!¡± I stood up. We had just taken a long break and cooled ourselves off. I even handed out some snacks I had in my inventory. I still had lots of food thanks to Annie always making stuff and then having me store it in those just in case situations.
There were already quite a few parties here at the entrance. The gate to go inside did not actually open. I had watched a few teams already enter, and they just ced their hands on the door, and they were teleported inside.
With everyone¡¯s attention on me, I decided to go over our ns once more before entering. ¡°When we enter the dungeon, we will probably not have many enemies to fight as other people have already entered. And I know I keep repeating myself, but please do not let your guard down. We only have three people who can cast healing magic. While I can cast a better heal, Adel and Amanda are able to cast a minor heal spell. I will also be doing my best to cast barriers on others. But I want to make a few things clear. If anyone gets hurt we will retreat. If anyone gets taken we will charge ahead and bring them back no matter what. Otherwise we will keep going until we clear the dungeon.¡±
¡°What do you mean by being dragged away?¡±
Chapter 166 Drama Inside The Dungeon Entrance
I looked over at Adel, who seemed to have a worried expression on her face, and smiled: ¡°Just in case. We do not know what to expect after all.¡±
¡°Mmm¡¡± Seeing Adel¡¯s worried expression grow deeper, I couldn¡¯t help but clench my fists. I did not wish to keep her out of the loop, but it was hard to exin.
I took a deep breath and pped my hands. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go!¡±
We grouped together and stood on the spot that was marked on the ground before I touched the door. It seemed the area marked was the radius of the teleport area. Our views changed, and we found ourselves inside arge stone room. No cave or anything like that but a stone room. It was made of gray bricks that were half the size of me. The ceiling always went up so high that I could not see it. It was blocked by pure darkness. There were even stone pirs made of curved blocks that also rose up into the darkness above. As for the smell, well¡. It was a little stale and had a strange scent.-.
But other than that, where we stood was clearly marked by arge magic circle which was the teleport to leave the dungeon. ¡°Yes! It¡¯s cool in here!¡± Lero yelled out as he tossed his chubby hands in the air.
It was indeed cooler in here. If I knew the entrance was some sort of safe zone, I would havee in here, to begin with. I only knew this was a safe zone due to the barrier on the only exit besides the door behind me. When I looked around the room, there were more groups in here as well. But one person caught my eye. ¡°Why is Sally by herself?¡±
¡°Hmmm? Faith?¡± Adel turned and called out to me.
¡°Look over there. Sally is by herself. It¡¯s like her team is¡..¡± As I was speaking, I saw one of the kids who was supposed to be in her group pick up a rock from the floor and throw it at Sally. My body pretty much moved on its own as I appeared in front of Sally and caught the rock. ¡°Do you mind exining what you are doing to a member of my family?¡±
¡°Young Miss!¡± Sally cried out as she looked at me.
¡°Sally, you wille with me. I am afraid if you stay in a team like this, they might leave you to die.¡± I said with a snort before tossing the rock back at the young man who threw it. It was just that my little toss caused the rock to catch on fire as it flew past the young man¡¯s face, burning it slightly.
No one said a word as I grabbed Sally¡¯s hand and walked away. They are lucky that this was a test, or else I would have punched the idiot. But I am sure the Dean would call me to have another talk. ¡°Young Miss, is this allowed?¡±
¡°Who cares. I do not want you to be in a team with people who will attack you. If there is any trouble, just me it on Instructor Telive.¡± Instructor Telive may not know it, but I can smell him and know he was not far away. Since he did not wish to step out to stop the situation, then she would just me him if someone said anything.
¡°Ah! Hell yeah! We got your guard too!?¡± Brad yelled out. ¡°Haha! We will definitely be alright now.¡±
¡°Yeah, with three of the top students taking the tests on our team, I know for a fact that we will do good!¡± Steven said excitedly.
This was how a team should be. Inviting and willing to party with others. There was no need for people to shun others. Whether it was because Sally was a beastkin or because she was part of my family, I did not know, but I did know that I was d that I was here to catch it before anything bad happened.
We had all moved off to the side so we would not block the entrance. We had decided to cool off before heading into the dungeon. I was just about to stand up when I heard a voice behind me. Faith! Adel!¡±
I got up and turned to see Sei walking up with not only Sophie but Grace as well. But something did not seem right. ¡°What happened!?¡± I looked at Grace and saw she had a ck eye and a fat lip. Even part of her hair was burnt. Her leather armor was also a mess.
¡°Ahh¡ You see, her team and our team met up outside. We thought things were fine, but the two teams started yelling at us and bad mouthing you. Grace got into it with them, and before we could react, five girls of equal status began beating her up. Sophie and I quickly stepped in and dealt with half of them before the rest ran away. It was pretty bad. Ah, speak of the devils¡.. Huh? Faith!?¡± After hearing Sei¡¯s words, I found myself standing in front of a group of seventeen young men and women. Some had their clothes ruffled up, but besides that, they seemed to have been healed.
I scanned each one of them and, in a low voice, asked: ¡°Who was it?¡±
¡°Huh? What do you want?¡± I watched as one boy flinched when he asked me this.
¡°I said which of you girls hit Grace? Push them forward now!¡± I was mad. And my anger was really starting to be hard to control. It seems my ancient will triggers when people closer to me get hurt or are threatened.
¡°What right do you have to tell us what to do!?¡± A girl yelled out as she stepped forward, she gave me a smug look as she said: ¡°I am also a daughter of a marquess. If I wish to hit someone I can hit them.¡±
¡°Oh really?¡± My eyes went wide as I tilted my head to the side and smiled. ¡°I happen to be the daughter of my mother. If I wish to beat bitches I will beat them.¡±
Chapter 167 Ancient Will Rises Its Head Once More
¡°You! Yo-You are nothing but a baroness!¡± The girl shouted while pointing her finger at me. I sneered and took a step forward while waving my hand. A barrier suddenly formed around me and the group of youths in front of me.
As I spoke, I took another step forward, making the bitch in front of me take a step back. ¡°It is true that I am only a baroness, but I am also a provisional knight. And on top of that, my titles are mine and mine alone, not like you, who is only the daughter of a marquess. You have no actual title of your own. You can only cry to your parents when you get in trouble or get bullied. I bet you do not even have money that you can call your own. Do you know¡. I own my ownpany already? That I have been put in charge of a certain area of the capital under the king¡¯s orders? I am sure you do. Otherwise, why else would you bad mouth me and target those close to me?¡±
The girl gritted her teeth as she looked at those around her. ¡°What are you all doing!? Get her!¡±-.
¡°Yeah, get her! She is nothing but a lowly demi hu¡.¡±
*Boom!*
¡°Oops, my hand slipped,¡± I said with a smile while tilting my head. My blood lust was starting to rise. The more I was dealing with these nobles who were out to target me and those close to me, the more I just wanted to make them disappear. Rip them limb from limb until their blood covers the ground. No! I can¡¯t!
I could feel my ability to think starting to slip. I looked at the crater I had just made with a simple fireball and frowned slightly. ¡°No more talking. Each one of you will be beaten up here and now. If I wait any longer, then I might¡ Just¡. Hehehe¡. Hahahaha!¡±
¡°What the hell is the matter with her!? Has she gone crazy¡ Ooooffff!¡± My fist delightfully smashed into the bitches face. My knee identally ended up in her stomach. And with a swift kick to the head, she went flying into the barrier, which was spinning around to make it so no one could break in or out. It was quite funny to watch the girl get taken by the barrier and flung through the air.
¡°Hahaha!¡± I can¡¯t stop. I am already restraining myself as much as I can. My body feels like it is moving on its own as Iugh every time I smash my fists into one of their faces. One, two, three at a time. My tail wraps around one kid¡¯s neck and smashes him to the ground.
¡°See¡. Hahahaha! What¡. Hehe¡. You¡. Hahaha! Made¡ Hehe.. me.. hehe¡. Do¡.¡± It only took a matter of seconds to take them all down. My fists and armor were covered in the blood that sttered all over it. I did not wish to go this far. I did not wish to end up this way. But¡. It seems I was unable to control it. Even now, as I walk toward the first girl I knocked away, I just want to rip her head off. Maybe¡ snack on her heart¡ ¡°Hehehehe!¡±
¡°¡±¡±¡±¡±Faith!¡±¡±¡±¡±¡± Five voices came from behind me, causing me to freeze. My senses were slowlying back. I turned to see Adel, Sophie, Sei, Sally, and Grace all standing there outside my barrier with expressions not of fear but concern and worry? They had tears in their eyes. Why? Why were they crying? I was getting rid of those who were trying to bully them¡.
I turned and looked at the seventeen people lying on the ground covered in blood staring at me in fear as they tried to move away from me. Not a single one was dead, but I am sure they were hurt beyond belief. ¡°Ah¡..¡±
I see¡. They were worried because of my actions¡. They were worried because I suddenly began acting strange. I guess I can forget about making more friends at this academy¡. Clenching my fists, I turned around with my head lowered as I slowly walked over to the barrier and undid it. I did not dare look the girls in the face. I mean, I just went nuts. I went crazy in front of them¡. How could I look them in the eye? But I have to be grateful to them as well¡. Because of them, I was able to pull myself back before I went too far. But my thoughts this time scared me. They scared me more thanst time. I actually thought of eating someone¡¯s heart¡ Is this what is going to happen to me if I lose my mindpletely? Just the thought of it was making me feel sick.
¡°Faith!¡± I felt someone embrace me. Her face was buried in my chest. Her golden hair brushed against my nose.
¡°Adel¡ I¡¯m dirty¡¡± I was covered in stters of blood. Adel shouldn¡¯t be dirtied by such a thing.
¡°I don¡¯t care! Faith¡. Just now, you scared me. I felt like I was going to lose the Faith that I knew. The Faith thatughs and smiles and is kind to everyone. Who cares about the people she is close to. I felt like that Faith was being swallowed by some kind of darkness.¡± Adel¡¯s voice trembled. Her shoulders were shaking. I could tell she was crying. But I did not know how to answer her. How was I supposed to exin something that no one else would even understand?
¡°Adel it¡¯s fine¡ I will exin things. But not now¡¡± I guess I should not hide things any longer, at least not from those who were close to me. It would be better for them to know about who I am than to have them think I am some kind of monster. I fear what might have happened if I was on my own with no one on my side.
Chapter 168 This Should Not Be A Test Part 1
We walked back to my team with Adel hugging one arm, and at some point, Sophie had taken the other arm. Neither her nor Sei or Sally said a word. Grace walked behind us with her head lowered, seemingly lost in thought. When we reached the group, I slipped out of the two girls¡¯ embrace and bowed my head. ¡°I apologize. I lost my head.¡±
¡°Hey! Faith, don¡¯t bow to us!¡± Steven suddenly stepped forward and helped me up. I looked up at the faces in front of me in confusion. Were they not scared just now? Didn¡¯t they think what I did was crazy?
¡°What is with that look? Did you think we would be affected by you beating the crap out of some ignorant people? You think too low of us, leader!¡± Leo said with a chuckle which made me lower my head once more. I could feel the tears rolling down my cheeks. I had expected them to shun me, but they were all still smiling and being friendly to me. Does this mean I will be able to have more friends even after my outburst just now?-.
¡°Yeah, Faith, while you may have gone a bit overboard and a little crazy, we all know you did it for a friend. There is no need to think we would think less of you. Actually, we think that what you did was quite cool.¡± Hailey said as she walked up and jokingly elbowed me.
¡°Yes, to be honest, when I saw Grace like that, I wanted to go over myself and beat them up. I mean, Grace can be a little bitchy at times, but she is actually quite nice once you look under that front she puts on.¡± Amanda said teasingly as she stuck her tongue out.
¡°I am standing right here, you know! Amanda!¡± Grace suddenly yelled out. I guess these two knew each other. ¡°Faith, don¡¯t listen to her! I am very kind hearted! And¡.¡± Grace lowered her head once more before stepping forward and hugging me. ¡°Thank you. Thank you for getting mad on my behalf.¡±
¡°Hey, you have been hugging my Faith for more than a few seconds. Let go, thieving cat!¡± Adel yelled out while grabbing Grace by the waist, but Grace seemed to not want to let go at all. Seeing these two acting as usual, I couldn¡¯t help butugh. I am truly blessed. I think with this group of friends, I can finallye clean about myself and who I truly am.
After a while of resting and me calming down, it was finally time for us to move out. Although things have happened, it did not change the fact that we were still taking a test. However, I am not sure how my score is at this moment. I probably failed after what I did. But it doesn¡¯t matter. After all, I was already epted in the academy, and this was just for show. Whether they will kick me out after is another story.
¡°Alright. Now that we have more teammates, we have more coverage. So I will change our team formation. Sei, Sally, and I will be upfront. Adel, Sophie, and ke will take up the rear. Steven will be on the right side with Brad. Leo and Rick will be on the left. Casters and ranged will be in the middle. Any questions!?¡± I asked as I looked at the group. No one stepped up to say anything, so I nodded my head and pped my hands.
¡°Alright, let¡¯s go! Remember what I said before. One person gets hurt, we retreat. One person gets taken, we chase until we get them back. Otherwise, we push forward and clear this ce.¡± I said these words once more. Because if goblins were like they were in the stories I read, then they will definitely go for the girls first. This was why I arranged the team the way I did. Three girls up front to draw their attention, boys to the side, and one boy in the back. I am hoping they will avoid the boys at all costs and go for the girls, although this is only spection. I mean, they could be goblins who like men¡.
As we stood in front of the barrier, I took a look back to see both of those teams healing each other in one of the corners. Some were even looking at me. I sneered as an idea came to mind. ¡°Since you are all healed, you can just have a pic at the entrance.¡± Right as I stepped through the barrier leading inside the dungeon, I cast a spinning barrier around the group of kids.
¡°Hey! You bitch! Let us out!¡± I heard a voice yell out from behind me, but I ignored them as I continued forward.
The other side of the barrier really smelled bad. I was not sure what that smell was, but it made my nose want to run away. Everyone else did not seem too bothered by it, but my nose was extra sensitive.
Luckily after a few minutes of walking down the narrow dungeon passage, the smell began to grow on me. Although It still stank. ¡°Keep your eye out for side passages. We do not want to be ambushed.¡± I reminded. There were dark corners everywhere in this dungeon, and thest thing I want is to be surrounded.
It was pretty quiet where we were. I did not smell anything different from when we first entered. And I could see quite well even in the dark, so I did have some decent advantages. ¡°Hmmm? I hear fighting up ahead. Let¡¯s go!¡±
I could hear the sound of a battle further into the dungeon. We picked up our pace while still keeping our eyes peeled around us. But as we made our way towards the area where the battle was taking ce we heard a girl yell out: ¡°Stacy no! Let her go!¡±
What I walked into made all my worriese true¡.
Chapter 169 This Should Not Be A Test Part 2
¡°What!? What is this!?¡± Amanda cried out. Her body began to tremble. I can see why. At least a hundred students dead, and many girls were being used as¡.. I don¡¯t even want to look at the scene in front of me.
I looked in the direction of my so called teacher and reached out with my hand. A magic circle appeared behind him and shot him towards me using a strong burst of wind magic. I knew his location because I could sell his scent since I met him. ¡°You!¡±
¡°You, what!? You dare stand by when young kids, not even fully adults, are being dragged off!? And having such things done to them!? Is this a game to you!?¡± I shouted at the elf that suddenly appeared. He was Instructor Telive
¡°I was given specific orders to never get involved!¡± Telive shouted back at me.-.
¡°What kind of crap instructor doesn¡¯t see the situation and does not think something is wrong!? Do you not have a conscious!?¡± I was mad. My chest was heaving up and down. I was having a hard time controlling my anger once more.
¡°Faith! Those things areing!¡± Adel cried out. I guess she had never witnessed such things before. The only reason I was calm was that I kind of expected this.
¡°Everyone, get in formation. All casters to the middle. Adel, you as well.¡± I shouted and then looked at Telive. ¡°Are you going to be a teacher or not!? If so, then do your damn job. Otherwise, I will make sure you and every teacher hiding right now will die.¡±
I was not joking. I did not see this being some kind of test anymore. It would be fine if this was not a test. If these people came here on their own ord, but this was a test. No girls or the boys that died trying to save them should have to go through all of this so soon when half of them barely had enoughbat experience to kill a horned rabbit.
¡°Fine!¡± Telive answered through gritted teeth and began attacking the goblins. There were only a few, and they would die quickly but still. ¡°You better help me exin this to the dean!¡±
¡°Don¡¯t worry. Just do your job as an instructor!¡± Even though I say this, I am not sure what to do about a few of these girls. Even after I sliced up the few goblins that attacked us, I still could not figure out how to deal with them. ¡°Those already in the process¡.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t worry. I will erase their memories of this event,¡± Telive answered. His face was not looking so good. I guess he was affected by the scene in front of him after all.
¡°I will thank you then.¡± I said this before sending out a few fireballs at the instructor¡¯s hiding along the walls. I made sure that the spells would not exactly hit the, but¡.
¡°My hair!¡± One instructor yelled out. As soon as she became visible, a goblin suddenly jumped at her forcing her to have to attack. The other two instructors were male and were basically ignored. But what I didn¡¯t get with this many dead, where are the other instructors?
¡°Why did you make mee out!? Do you know they are dragging people off!?¡± The female instructor yelled out.
¡°Why are you hiding instead of not stopping students from getting this far!? You people make no sense!¡± I didn¡¯t get it. Why was this happening? They were just sitting there as if they were watching the show.
¡°It¡¯s because¡.¡±
¡°GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!¡±
A loud shout came from arge opening in the back wall. A huge hand suddenly gripped the side of the broken stones of therge hole, and from within the darkness of the hole, arge head emerged. ¡°An orc!?¡± It was a pig headed monstrosity. It had a pig face withrge tusks sticking out from the bottom of its mouth. In its free hand was the body of an older woman wearing torn Academy rows. Now I understand. They hid because if they came out, that thing would appear.
¡°Dammit, it¡¯s here again. We will be trapped!¡± The female instructor yelled out. Her words struck me as odd as I looked around, and that was when I saw it. A barrier blocking anyone from escaping. Was this like the dungeons in video games? Was this some kind of low level boss? While I understood why they hid, I still don¡¯t see the reasoning on why they did not try to help the ones they were overseeing for the tests. Ten groups¡. ¡°I see¡ Instructor Telive. And I call you instructor lightly. And the same goes for the three of you as well. Make up for your inaction by killing the goblins. Bring back those girls and erase their memories. As for the big guy¡. I will handle him myself.¡±
¡°Wait, no, Faith, you can¡¯t!¡± Adel grabbed my arm and shook her head. I smiled and looked up at Sally, who stepped forward and pulled Adel away. ¡°Princess Adel, excuse me.¡±
¡°Sally, let go of me! I will not let Faith alone!¡±
¡°Adel! Enough! Protect the others with Sei, Sally, and Sophie. Don¡¯t forget I can use both of your specialized magics.¡± I yelled out. I used a stricter tone than usual. I could see Adel¡¯s unwillingness, but there was nothing I could do about it. I have already decided to deal with this on my own. As I see it, this dungeon should not exist, and as someone who hase from a world where stories of goblins are well known, I knew what to watch out for. I just had to make sure they did not catch me, is all. ¡°Instructor Telive, move after I draw its attention.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t worry. I promise to bring back as many as I can. The little green things are no match for us.¡± Getting instructor Telive¡¯s promise, gripped my sword and shot toward therge orc that had just emerged. To be honest, this thing was about four times my size tall and many times that wide. But that did not matter. I could see its level was only level 26. Although strong for most of the people around me, it was not a threat for me. I picked up my pace and buffed my speed with multiple spells because jumping in the air and kicking out with my foot at the orcs face¡..
Chapter 170 Locked In
¡°Graaaah!¡± The orc cried out as my footnded on its face knocking it back into the hole.
The only thing I did not expect was that this hole was not just some other room but arge hole in the floor that dropped down into the deep dark abyss below! I couldn¡¯t help but panic a little bit as I went to turn and fly back into the sky. I felt arge hand grab my leg, and without being able to do a thing, the stupid orc threw me down into the abyss!
I was currently cursing myself for holding back! My one weakness was my own body weight! But since it was dark, I can fix that as well! I smiled as my arm grew into a huge w and grabbed the orc above me. He fit perfectly within the palm of my ws as I pulled down and swung him back underneath me. But this time, I used all my strength.
*Boom!*
A sonic boom ord as its body flew out. I gathered my bearings and began pping my wings to grain my descent before making a foothold in the air. When I heard a loud st sound below, I knew it had died but what bothered me was this deep hole.
[+300xp]
¡°Oh? High experience for a monster half my level¡..¡± I was quite surprised. Normally for a monster who was much lower level than myself, it would be hard to gain even a tiny bit of experience, and even then, it would take me thousands of them to level up, maybe millions based on the amount of experience.-.
But to see experience points after so long, I was a bit happy. I mean, it feels like it has been forever since I gained any experience. But more importantly, I need to figure out what is going on down here. I can sense something strange down in the deepest part of this abyss.
My eyes glowed, and thirty fireballs all formed around me that I made float out in all directions. The area around me was quite wide. I was wondering why I could sense the walls near me or see them. Although it was pitch ck seconds ago, I can still see somewhat in darkness. But only so far. And now I know why. Once you were low enough, the whole area seemed to open up quite a bit. It makes me wonder how the floor above was able to stay in position.
But as I looked down, my eyes grew wide in shock. ¡°What the hell is that!?¡±
¡°That¡¯s rude little girl¡.¡± A voice came from therge creature below me. It had a set of horns on its head and a thin scaly tail. It was still far away from me, but even from where I was, I could see that it was veryrge. It was red and had a humanoid shape. If I had to put a creature to it, it looked more like arge imp more than anything.
¡°Who are you?¡± Since it could talk, I wished to know just what this thing was.
¡°Who am I? I guess you can say that I am the boss of this dungeon. The dungeon master, at least that is what the voice tells me. What I am, I do not know¡. I only know how to create more of these green little things and the pinkish bigger things. But they die so easily when I crush them for entertainment. But recently, I have seen quite a few new things simr to you being dragged down here. The little things keep doing strange things to them. But I guess it doesn¡¯t matter because I will crush them anyway. Hahaha hahaha! But you¡. You are different. You smell different from the other things. What are you?¡± I was not expecting this thing to be a chatterbox, but it seemed to just be sitting there.
It said it was the boss and that a voice kept telling it so. I guess this thing could be considered thest boss of the dungeon? I looked around and saw a ck orb sitting on a pedestal that looked like arge skeleton hand. I have no idea if it was¡. ¡°Appraisal ¡°
[Dungeon Core]
[Goblin Dungeon Number: XRTDS72651]
[First Boss: Orc Bruiser]: Defeated
[Second Boss: Goblin Shaman]: N/A
[Third Boss: Goblin Chief] N/A
[Final Boss: Goblin Ancient] N/A
¡°Hmm?¡± As I looked at the information, I couldn¡¯t help but feel slightly confused. If this was a Goblin dungeon, why was there an orc as the first boss? But I finally had an idea of what This ce was. I turned and looked at what I can only guess is the Goblin Ancient and used appraisal on it as well.
[Goblin Ancient]
[Level]: ????
[HP]: ????/????
[MP]: ????/????
[Attack Power]: ????
[Magic Power]: ?????
[Strength]: ????
[Vitality]: ????
[Intelligence]: ????
[Mind]: ????
[Agility]: ????
As soon as I saw the question marks, all danger sounds began to ring out in my head as I quickly flew off. I was not going to stick around that thing any longer. I only know what the Academy said was a damn lie! I want to know which idiot said this dungeon was safe. Whoever it was, lied through their teeth.
As I arrived back topside, I saw the goblins all dead and the girls who were being used all lined up against a wall with nkets covering them, and Adel and the other standing guard around them. ¡°Faith, you are back!¡±
Instructor Telive came running over to me. He seemed d that I came back alive. ¡°How was it? Did you kill it?¡±
¡°Yes¡. And¡. We all need to leave now. This test should be canceled. I need to report what I found to the Dean right away. Whoever checked this dungeon did not check the whole thing at all. Either the Academy lied, or someone lied to the Academy.¡± I replied. I was trying to calm myself down. I have never seen a monster with nothing but question marks or have all my senses telling me to leave as quickly as possible.
¡°It would be good if we could leave but look..¡± Instructor Telive pointed to the barrier that was still up. Just seeing it made my heart drop.
¡°So it has to be like that, huh? Trapped in a dungeon until we clear the whole thing¡. Instructor, do you have a way tomunicate with the Dean?¡± I asked. If they did, that would be for the best as the runic markings on the barrier only seem to block physical forms like our bodies from passing through it.
¡°Yes I do¡.¡±
Chapter 171 Mighty Mr. Blobs!
¡°Send him a message. Tell him that we are currently trapped in the dungeon and that many students are locked out of the inner part of it. Tell him to bring them back, all except the ones trapped in my barrier. They can go to hell¡.¡±
¡°Wait, what is hell?¡± Telive asked after cutting me off. He had a very confused expression on his face.
¡°It¡¯s the ce bad people go when they die. Anyway, tell him to find the person who told him about this dungeon and hold them all at the academy. When we clear the dungeon and return, I want answers on why the hell they would send young boys and girls into a massive goblin den when they did not know the characteristics of the monster themselves. Also, tell them what you saw with your own eyes.¡± I then leaned over and added: ¡°Also, report the other instructors about their crime of not defending students. I will tell him you were the only one to help.¡±
Telive looked at me with a shocked expression before nodding his head. Although he was forced toe out, I can¡¯t not hold him ountable for what the other instructors did. I watched as he pulled out a sheet of paper that looked like a talisman and spoke into it. After that, it floated up into the air and disappeared. Seeing how everything was set, I decided it was time to set things in motion. ¡°Instructor Telive, I want you and the other instructors to stay here and protect the girls and injured boys. I will set up a barrier for you to stay in, but just in case something breaks it down, it will be up to you to protect them. The barrier that is used for blocking people from leaving also blocks others from entering. There is also a reflection spell on it for those who try to forcefully open it. Not to mention some parts I can not understand¡.¡±-.
I had taken a good look at the inscriptions of the barrier with my appraisal skill, and there were many things I could not read due to not being this world¡¯snguage or an ancient script that I have yet to learn. I can probably get a lingual type skill, but I do not have many skill points, and if it is not enough to decipher the runes, then I would have wasted them. Plus, I can use this time to level up some as well. I am sure I can keep my team safe.
¡°Wait, who gave you the right to tell us what to do!?¡± One of the male teachers yelled out at me. He seemed quite angry at me.
¡°You found it no issue when I went and took care of the orc! But you want to make a fuss now!? How about I toss your ipetent butt down the hole over there, and you can see for yourself just what is down there! This test is long over. The third test will be voided as many people have died for no reason. And you¡¡± I narrowed my eyes. ¡°You let those poor girls experience something they should never have ever had the ability to experience. Don¡¯t think that you can get away with it just because you are an instructor and were told not to do anything.¡±
As I said all this, I flipped my hand, causing a blue round blob to suddenly appear in my hand. These teachers were not even close to being able to deal with my Mr. Blobs! Or his mighty friends! ¡°Mr. Blobs, I want you to keep an eye on the girls over there. If any of these teachers get any funny ideas¡.. Eat them!¡±
¡°Spluurgie!¡± Mr. Bobs¡¯ bouncy cute body bounced up and down as he answered me back. At least, I think he was answering me back.
¡°What is this!? A slime!?¡± The female instructor cried out. I just ignored her and waved my hand.
What appeared before them all was a field of blue. They were all lined up in an orderly fashion as I began pacing back and forth with my hands behind my back. ¡°Listen up! Listen to your leader. If he says not to eat someone, do not eat them. If he says to eat someone, eat them! Your job this time is to protect the girls and injured boys leaning against the wall over there. If any green guys like the ones on the battlefield you are standing on appear, attack without restraint! Do I make myself self clear, soldiers!?¡±
¡°Spluurgie!!!!!!!!!¡± A mighty roar of slimes filled the room, causing me to smile. ¡°Alright, clean up the battlefield up of any green guys. Let the instructors clean up the humans and demi humans! Get to work!¡±
¡°Spluurgie!!!!!!!!!¡± Another roar filled the room. I turned to see everyone¡¯s eyes, besides those in the know, so wide that their eyeballs might fall out. ¡°Ahem¡.¡± I walked over and patted Telive on the shoulder. ¡°I leave it to you. My guys will be on double watch.¡±
¡°Huh? Ah¡ yeah¡. Umm¡ Faith¡.¡± Telive called out to me in a questioning tone.
¡°Yes?¡±
¡°Is it just me, or do I see a sea of slimes? And they are working in a militaristic fashion¡.¡± I turned and looked at my cute little babies to see the leader slimes who were in charge of their own slime units giving out orders. Everything was being done in a neat and tidy fashion. It was one hundred percent Faith approved!
¡°Hmmm? Isn¡¯t it normal for slimes to work in orderly fashions?¡± I asked while tilting my head to the side. I mean it was normal for me¡.
¡°Not at all!¡± Telive yelled out.
¡°Instructor Telive, it is best not to underestimate the idea of normal when ites to Faith. She is after all a girl who basically repelled the Norian invasion on her own¡.¡± Adel came over to speak up on my behalf but I think I might be getting made fun of here.
¡°But this is beyond normal! Since when were slimes so smart! Look, they are even marching in groups patrolling the room!¡± Telive yelled out.
Chapter 172 Boss!
¡°What the hell is this!?¡± The instructor who questioned me before suddenly yelled out. I turned to see him near the girls that were currently passed out. In front of him were Mr. Blobs and three other slimes, all guarding the girls. What was he trying to do when so many were around? Was he taking advantage of the situation when no one was looking?
¡°More like I should be asking you what are you doing!?¡± I yelled out as I appeared in front of him.
¡°You! I was just checking on the kids to make sure they were okay!¡± The instructor yelled.
¡°What can you do for them? You can only use some basic spells and are mostly a sword user. Let me warn you now, just a single one of my slimes can easily kill you. Do not look down on my friends.¡± I said coldly. I had just used appraisal on him, and he was rather weak to even be an instructor. I raised my hand and tapped the air. A magic circle formed as I spoke softly: ¡°Stop¡. Duration, two years¡..¡±-.
This was my own little version of Adel¡¯s spell. I noticed in the runic equation that you could actually add a time on to the spell. And well¡. Now it can be used for a set amount of time instead of a short duration. Kind of like in coding when making a timer. You want to use the current time and match it to a number that you can set. A lot of times, this will have a default value, but if you wish to set the length to be longer, you only need to change the variable. In this case, I added the variable to rece the default value. But now, with him frozen there, he was in the way.
¡°Mr. Blobs have some of your soldiers move him to a corner somece.¡± I ordered before turning around. Once again, I was being stared at with dumbfounded expressions. ¡°What?¡±
¡°Boss is so cool!¡±Leo suddenly yelled out.
¡°Yes, Boss is the coolest!¡± Steven joined in. This was followed by many head nods.
But I did not understand one thing. ¡°Why are all of you suddenly calling me boss?¡±
¡°You took out that huge orc and are inmand of a massive slime army! If you are not a boss, then we do not know who could be considered one.¡± Brad replied, and once more, everyone nodded in agreement.
¡°I-I see¡.¡± I replied. I could feel my cheeks heating up. I don¡¯t know why but when people my own age look up to me like this, it makes me feel kind of embarrassed.
¡°Ah! Boss is blushing!¡±
¡°Yeah, a blushing Boss is very cute.¡±
¡°Boss, do you have a boyfriend?¡±
Now my face was getting hotter and hotter. Before I could tell them to stop, I heard an angry shout: ¡°Who asked if she has a boyfriend? Step out right now!¡±
I suddenly felt a headacheing on. I walked over and raised my hand, and chopped down on a certain golden haired girl. ¡°Adel, bad!¡±
¡°Faith. Don¡¯t treat me like a pet! One of these bastards asked if you had a boyfriend!¡± Adel cried out with an aggrieved expression as she rubbed the top of her head.
¡°What does it matter? Whether I do or I don¡¯t, it doesn¡¯t matter. You can¡¯t just go yelling at people!¡± I scolded, causing Adel to lower her head. She looked so pitiful, but I had to stay strong and hold my ground. Adel really needs to calm down.
¡°Fine¡¡± Adel relented but still red at everyone once more before walking over to Sophie to probablyin about me. I can¡¯t do much about it. Adel only listens to me right now, so if I did not stop her, no one would be able to.
Now that things were a bit calmer, I cleared my throat. ¡°Ahem! I will say this now. In order to leave this ce, we will probably need to clear the dungeon. It will be very dangerous, and I do not know how many will be able to survive. I will do my best to protect everyone, but I am not a god. But, I myself do not wish to be stuck in the dungeon. So I will be diving deeper into the dungeon whether it is dangerous or not. But I will not force anyone toe with me. If you wish to stay, I will put you under the protection of a barrier. I will not be angry. This is a choice for you to make. But I will also not sit around and wait for you to make a decision either. We have people here who need major healing that minor heals can not deal with. We can only prolong their life, but they are in great pain.
¡°So I will ask once. Who is staying and who is going. If you want to stay, stand behind me. Otherwise, go to where the others are.¡± I could easily heal all of them with a high heal, but I refuse. This was also why I did not do more to help the girls either. They were all people who looked at me with scorn and probably would have plotted against me sooner orter. I may sound like some uncaring person, but I do not care. They should be d that I went as far as to save them in the first ce.
¡°Boss¡. You have to be joking, right?¡± Steven stepped forward as he spoke. ¡°We all already decided to follow you from the start. We are not going to run away now. Since you need us, we will follow you into the unknown. If we lose our lives, that is because we were not good enough.¡±
¡°Yeah, Boss, you should listen to Steven. We will fight with you. Even if I can not offer much, I can still cast fireballs with all I have!¡± Hailey, the weakest of the group, said as she walked to stand behind me. This was followed by everyone else. Just knowing people are willing to follow behind me on their own free will, makes me happy.
Chapter 173 Dungeon Dive Part 1
A dark craggy tunnel was whatid in wait for us as we passed through the only exit we could pass through except for the hole in the wall. We were currently in a tight formation as this was a bad area to be in for goblins. Amanda held her nose as sheined: ¡°It stinks¡.¡±
¡°It¡¯s also very humid¡.¡± Leo cried out.
¡°How do you think Sophie and I feel? We have much keener senses than you guys.¡± Iined as I wrinkled my nose. The stench was really too much. Even poor Sophie¡¯s eyes were watering up due to the stink.
¡°But Boss, you don¡¯t look like you are affected at all.¡± Steven said as he walked up to my side. For someone whoes across as a kid who would be a smart-aleck and cause trouble, he has been very reliable and very nice. While I should still keep my guard up, I do not mind dropping it for those who are willing to dive headlong into the abyss, even though it could mean we will all die. Plus, he was quite handsome as well. So a bit of eye candy is not bad once and a while. While I am surrounded by beautiful girls, I have no guys at my side, so this was not actually all that bad.-.
¡°I have no choice but to keep pushing forward. From what I know, the way down to the bottom floor where the boss is will take a long time. And we will always need to be on guard. I don¡¯t have time to reallyin much. I want everyone here to leave this ce alive and untainted.¡± I exined. But I guess my words hit everyone hard because they all went quiet. But that was only a thought thatsted a second.
¡°Boss! You care so much about us!¡± Steven cried out and hugged me, causing me to stop moving and push the idiot off. But I couldn¡¯t help but smile. I mean to have so many people who were willing to be friends with me, I really feel blessed.
¡°Stop being clingy! It¡¯s hot!¡± I said as I pushed him away. But as I did, I heard something not too far away.
¡°Ah, no fun¡.¡± I ced my finger on Steven¡¯s mouth, stopping him from talking.
¡°Shhh!¡± I said as I scanned the area. I then turned to everyone and whispered: ¡°Get ready forbat.¡±
Everyone quickly got serious. Even Adel reigned in her anger that was about to explode when Steven hugged me. I could tell because she had that look in her eye. ¡°Grace lighting.¡±
¡°On it!¡± Grace replied as she waved her hand and quickly wrote six magic circles: ¡°Lighting!¡±
Six balls of light spread out in all directions lighting up the area we were in. I had been trying to use my detection magic this entire time, but I could not seem to detect any of the monsters in this dungeon no matter how hard I tried. I had to rely on my own natural instincts. While it was less efficient, I could still smell the goblinsing toward us and knew the direction they wereing in.
¡°Caster¡¯s get ready! Iing from our front. And the left side!¡± I yelled out.
¡°Boss, there¡¯s only rock on the left side!¡± Bard yelled back.
¡°Look at the dark areas on the left! They should be some kind of side passages. Keep your eyes peeled! Begin forming a half moon circle and move towards the right side wall! Melee in the front, Casters behind!¡± I yelled back. My n was simply to make sure everyone had the most amount of coverage and to consolidate our area, and keep our blind spots minimal. By moving towards the side back wall where there were no hiding spots, we could easily keep our backs from being attacked.
With a barrier blocking all those outside of it, we could easily attack at will without taking any damage. While I could do the same if we all stood together, I did not dare to do it in a dungeon with such monsters that I couldn¡¯t even see their levels. While only the boss monster was the only one I hade across so far, I did not want to risk any sudden surprises.
¡°Steven, ke, up front!¡± I yelled out. Steven and ke quickly took their positions with swords in hand. As soon as we were in position, I put up a barrier around us. Not more than a few secondster, a bunch of short green men came out of the darkness beyond the lighting spell that Grace cast. Some wore tattered rags around their waists, while others had nothing at all.
In total, there were about twenty of them, which made me frown. Goblins always hunted in some kind of pack in novels as well but never this many at a time. I guess I should notin because my novel loving self from my past life had knowledge that was very useful in situations like this.
¡°Get ready! Opening a hole to let some in! Take this time to practice! Melee, kill the goblins on the inside! Ranged aim for the goblins on the outside of the barrier!¡± This was something else that I decided on, that we would take time to practice against the weaker monsters as much as we could to gain the experience needed for fighting goblins or any kind of monster. Everyone here besides a few has no realbat experience. This was the perfect time for that.
¡°Boss, leave it to us!¡± Steven yelled out with a big smile on his face. I do not know why but he was very excited about fighting these things.
¡°Grahhh! Grahh!¡± One of the goblins banged on the barrier. I sneered and opened the barrier up just as it was about to use its shoulder to bash into it, making it stumble and fall over on its face. But it was quickly followed by five other goblins.
I gripped my sword and yelled out: ¡°Attack!¡±
Chapter 174 Dungeon Dive Part 2
Steven ran forward and cried out a battle cry as he attacked the goblin that fell. Blue blood sttered through the air as his sword cut through the goblin¡¯s neck. Grace, Amanda, Hailey, and Tom all began their volley on the outside of the barrier while everyone else, Adel included, began fighting the ones I let in. Well, everyone except me. Everyone was so gung-ho that I didn¡¯t even get a chance to move after I gave out orders.
I could only keep opening the barrier to let more goblins in, but there was something bothering me. I originally only counted twenty goblins, but between those killed inside and those killed outside, the number did not seem to go down. I wanted to go inspect what was going on since detection was not working, but I dared not leave.
I stood there watching Adel casually standing there with a sword in her hand, casting stop on any goblin that pounced at her. Sei and Sophie were at her side, protecting her from any extras that might sneak up on them. Steven and the boys were rampaging around on the battlefield while Sally¡. ¡°Hmm, where is Sally?¡±
¡°I am here, Young Miss. My job is to protect you, Young Miss.¡± Sally replied from behind me, causing me to almost jump out of my skin. I turned around to see her there with her back straight, her hammer resting on the ground as she held the handle with the other.-.
Ah! I almost forgot that Sally was my personal guard. I was still not used to that. Well, I guess it was okay since Sally did not seem like someone who neededbat experience in the first ce. From what I have seen, the rabbit was an amazing fighter as it was.
¡°Alright, but please! Please tell me if you are going to stand behind me!¡± I really did not know how she does it, but she is like a ghost who could appear anywhere at will silently.
¡°As you wish, Young Miss.¡± Sally replied while bowing her head. I really wished she would loosen up some. But I guess after years of working for that stupid cat, she would not be able to change her habits easily.
The battle kept going and going, and I could tell some of them were getting tired. Hailey was already sitting on the ground, her mana must be almost depleted while the others were slowing down their movements. Seeing this, I decided it was my time to move. ¡°Everyone fall back and rest! I will handle the rest.¡±
¡°Thanks, Boss!¡± Steven yelled out. His hair was soaked in sweat, which was to be expected after he ran around like a crazy man.
But I had to thank the goblins for doing a wonderful job ofing here and giving everyone some practice time. To be honest, I was very impressed with how well everyone was fighting. While some got a few wounds here and there, it was nothing we could not easily heal.
I walked over to the barrier and stood at the very edge, causing the goblins to frantically m against the barrier with their bodies. I could see the crazed frenzy in their eyes. It was as if they were starving, but these guys only had one thing in mind, which could be easily seen if you looked below their waist.
I reached up with my hand and ced it against the barrier. My eyes began to glow with magic circles as I softly spoke: ¡°me Pir!¡±
A medium area of effect spell. It caused many pirs of fire to shoot up from the ground and burn everything that they touched to ash. One of which shot up right in front of me on the other side of the barrier. Once it died down and I saw that the goblins had dispersed, my eyes glowed once more: ¡°me wall!¡± two rows of mes stretched out before me, blocking the left and right sides of a small opening in front of me. I then stepped outside the barrier.
¡°Boss!¡± ¡°Faith!¡±
¡°Are you crazy? Come back here!¡± I heard Adel yell out. But before she could run out and give chase, I set up another barrier around the original, blocking anyone from exiting. I just couldn¡¯t shake the idea that something was seriously wrong with this ce.
With my mana shield up, I walked forward into the darkness, looking for any signs of something that might be causing these goblins to appear. I felt that maybe since the dungeon core could create monsters that made, there was something else that might create them as well. But even as I killed globins that jumped at me left and right, I found myself not making any progress. Because they just kepting at me in masses. I would have jumped in the air to escape them, but the rocky ceiling was too low.
¡°Ahhh! So annoying! Where the hell is that Gobyer man when I need him!¡± I shouted in annoyance. Gobyer man was a light novel series I read back on Earth when I was reading a lot of fantasy novels. It was about an old man who went around ying goblins. This was where I learned mostly all my knowledge about goblins.
My eyes lit up once more as I stomped my foot, causing the entire area in front of me to suddenly turn into a field of ice: ¡°Ice Field!¡±
Every goblin in arge area around me turned into a gobsicle. I then sent out a bunch of light balls to figure out what was going on. And that was when I spotted it. A ckish purple portal swirled around at the entrance to the next room. And what wasing out of it was goblin after goblin. I really do not see how this was fair unless we set off some kind of trap that we do not know about, but whatever the reason, it was a bit over the top. If anything, this could be considered hard mode. Or some kind of time trial where you kill a million goblins. But now I at least know what is going on but the only issue is that there are so many goblins, I can¡¯t get a clear read on the portal itself to use appraisal since it is so dark. ¡°I guess I can only get closer¡. So annoying¡.¡±
Chapter 175 Dream Part 1
To not have any annoyances attacking me left and right, I created an elongated barrier that stretched out in front of me and also rotated as well. So this way, any goblins attacking it would be thrown away instead of just bashing on it and somehow breaking it. I walked straight down the path I made and got up close to the portal. ¡°Appraisal!¡±
[Dark Portal]
[A portal that will summon Monsters of a given type.]
[Monster Type: Goblins]
[Spawn Rate: 10 goblins per second]-.
¡°What kind of crap is this!? Why would it spawn so many so fast!?¡± I sighed as my eyes lit up. ¡°Since you want to spawn more goblins and there doesn¡¯t seem to be a way to stop you from doing so, then I can only create a barrier around you, and then you can spawn as many as you want.¡±
I set up a tenyer barrier around the portal along with it all being connected to my mana. The main thing about this barrier is that they all rotate in different directions. While the outside barriers are just a precaution, the first two barriers have a certain purpose. With the high speed rotation, the goblins squashed against it will begin spinning at a high speed grinding up against other goblins, effectively creating a goblin blender. While this might sound disgusting, and it is very disgusting, I do believe this will also give me a fair bit of experience points as well. At least, I hope anyway.
But now, with the portal taken care of, I can do something about this mass of goblins. ¡°Absolute Zero! Fire Pir!¡±
I dual casted two different spells. First, I instantly froze all the goblins around me and then used fire pir to make thembust.
*Boom!*
Well¡ I guess such a move is not the best inside a dungeon¡. Luckily it was just a steam explosion and only sent out a shock wave, but I am not sure how that would affect someone not covered in a barrier.
But now, with the goblins taken care of, everything is set. I made my way back to the ce where everyone was waiting for me and stepped through the barrier only to be pped in the face. I held my cheek and stared at Adel with a shocked expression. I mean, I was shocked, Adel actually hit me! ¡°You¡. You! Idiot Faith! Why did you run off on your own!? Why!? Why do you always try to do things by yourself!? Just because you are powerful!? You didn¡¯t even exin anything. You just ran off!¡±
Adel gripped my armor as tears rolled down her cheeks. I see¡. I must have worried them all. As I looked up, I could see that worry as clear as day. Although I wished she didn¡¯t p me, now her hand is all red. I took her hand in mine and cast a healing spell to restore it back to new before hugging her. ¡°Sorry.¡±
¡°Just exin yourself better next time!¡± Adel cried out.
¡°Young Miss, please at least take me with you next time. As your bodyguard, it would not be good if you keep leaving me behind.¡± Ugh, even Sally was reprimanding me.
I let Adel go and bowed my head to everyone there. A true full bow as I said: ¡°I am sorry for worrying you all.¡±
¡°Boss, you can rely on us more. We do not mind even if we have to push ourselves past our limits. In fact, we want to push past our limits so we can grow stronger.¡± Steven stepped forward and said.
¡°Alright¡ But this dungeon won¡¯t be easy, and as you know, it is especially dangerous for girls. So we need to be extra careful. The thing that was causing so many goblins to appear is already taken care of. And all the extra goblins are also dead. If we had continued as we were, we would have been stuck here forever. But still, I am sorry.¡± I bowed once more.
We all took a long rest. I took out some food and made a campfire. nkets and pillows were all passed out. Annie really had a thing about pushing so many things on me for just in case situations. And I should really give her a raise. She is like the secret guardian angel who always seems to know what will happen in the future.
Iid down with Adel and Sophie snuggling up next to me. Something we were pretty much used to doing. We were doing shifts on keeping watch. Sally and Sei took the first shift, so I took this time to catch some sleep myself.
¡ª
¡°Faith! We need back up!¡± A voice screamed out. I turned to see Steven shouting from the side, but this was an older version of Steven I did not know. Once again, I was seeing an image of a battlefield. I do not know why I keep seeing such dreams. But they always seem so realistic.
¡°Faith!¡± Steven screamed once more.
¡°Okay!¡± I yelled out. Unlike before, I did not dare sit idly. I did not want to see my friends dying in front of me. But what I couldn¡¯t understand was why were we fighting? Why were we stuck on this battlefield?
I went to fly up into the air to get a better grasp on the battlefield but was quickly pulled down. ¡°Are you crazy!? Flying is death! The monsters they summoned rule the skies. We can¡¯t even get an aerial advantage. You should know this! You were the one who almost died trying to take them out!¡±
I stared at Steven in shock. They summoned monsters? What kind of monsters? I looked up at the smoke covered sky and couldn¡¯t see anything. The dense clouds overhead blocked my view.
I sighed and began marching on. The enemies were both humans and demi humans. But for some reason, I feel there is something off about them. They all had a strange purple pattern on their bodies. I am not sure what was wrong with them, but they were indeed very powerful. I had cast a fireball at one casually while they were fighting someone else, and it smashed into them, but they did not even react.
¡°Faith! What are you doing!? This is not time to be clowning around. We need arge area of effect spell off in the distance or we will be overrun!¡±
Chapter 176 Dream Part 2
I frowned and quickly used detection magic to see where the enemy was. But what I saw was horrific. A battle field that stretched thousands of miles. A massive army was marching right towards us. I took a deep breath and tried to remind myself that this was a dream. As I let it out and opened my eyes, hundreds of millions of magic circles formed in the air. ¡°Armageddon¡.¡±
This was a spell I had thought up a while ago. With my mana being infinity, I had no reason why I couldn¡¯t pull off such a spell but to think I was actually able to pull it off. With a wave of my other hand, I created a massive barrier around the impact point. To protect our own people and also to contain the damage to the surroundings. Although I do hope I never have to do something like this in real life.
¡°Every time I see it, it still amazes me¡.¡± I heard Steven say as he killed another enemy.
¡°I have done this before?¡± I asked in confusion.
¡°Huh? Are you losing your memory? If not for your Armageddon spell, we would have long lost this war. The enemy is just too powerful. Those damn bastards actually created something like that and then began summoning monsters. It¡¯s all the fault of those damn dungeons too!¡± Steven yelled in anger.
¡°Faith!¡± I heard another cry from behind me. Adel rushed over to me. She was much older looking and was even more beautiful. Her body really filled out in the right ces. She wore metal ted leather armor like myself and had a sword at her side. ¡°Faith, we need you on the west side. Sally just sent out an SOS.¡±
¡°Alright, let¡¯s go! Steven, I leave things to you here!¡± I yelled out as I rushed off with Adel. As I was leaving, I heard Steven yell back at me: ¡°You got it, Boss!¡±-.
I was happy to see Adel alive in this dream. But I did wonder how Sophie was. ¡°Adel, how¡¯s Sophie doing?¡± I asked, but even after waiting for a while, Adel still did not answer me. ¡°Adel?¡±
¡°Faith¡. Let¡¯s not talk about that¡. We can¡¯t have you having another episode.¡± Adel finally replied, but her reply confused me even more.
¡°Huh? Episode?¡± I asked. I really did not understand what she meant.
¡°Your dragonic bloodline¡..¡±Adel said before pausing for a moment before continuing: ¡°We need to hurry.¡±
I kinda had an idea of why she did not want to talk about it. After myst dream, I can only think of one thing. But why was this dream and myst seemingly connected? Was my dreamscape inside my mind ying a continuation of my previous dream? But starting at ater time?
I had a lot of questions, but I could only think of one that could be answered right away. ¡°Adel, this may sound strange, but when did this war start?¡±
¡°When did it start?¡± Adel looked at me strangely. But still opened her mouth to answer me. ¡°I think it¡¯s been seventy years¡.¡±
I stared at Adel, who still looked in her twenties, and couldn¡¯t help but smile. I wonder if I was the one who figured out a way to extend everyone¡¯s life. Well, I guess it doesn¡¯t matter, whoever did it, I owe them my sincerest thanks.
As I continued to run, My eyes began to slowly darken. The next thing I knew, I felt someone shaking me. ¡°Faith, wake up! It¡¯s our turn to keep watch.¡±
I slowly opened my sleepy eyes to see the young version of Adel in front of me. I smiled softly and slowly nodded my head. At least this time, no one in my dream died. But¡.. Sophie¡. I looked over at the fluffy tailed girl to see her standing there with a sword in her hand, looking out into the darkness. If things evere to be like they are in my dreams, I will have to remember to protect Sophie. I will need to work on some better defensive inscriptions, plus a mana shield inscription.
¡°Faith, are you okay?¡± Adel asked. I turned to see her worried expression.
I nodded and smiled at her. ¡°Mmm¡ Just a strange dream is all. How was the first watch anything?¡±
¡°Everything was fine, nothing to report.¡± Adel answered. I nodded and sat down with my sword next to me. I looked into the darkness and did not see a single goblin, so I guess everything was fine. I guess I drew all the goblins to me when I left to check where the goblins wereing from.
But I do wonder if I leveled up at all¡ I mean, I did create a big goblin blender. With this thought in mind, I opened my menu to check my stats.
[Humanoid Form]
[Name]: Faith Cyrilia
[Age] 12
[Level] 55
[Race] Dragonic
[HP] 20100/20100
[MP] ¡Þ
[Attack Power] 19700
[Magic Power] 19700
[Status Points] 555
[Strength] 1970
[Vitality] 2010
[Intelligence] 1970
[Mind] ¡Þ
[Agility] 1970
[Skill Points] 14
[Skills]
[Appraisal (LVL 10(MAX))] [Military Command (LVL 10(MAX))] [Military Tactics (LVL 10(MAX))] [Business Tycoon (LVL 10(MAX))] [Acting (LVL 1(MAX))]
Nine levels!? I am shocked. I already leveled nine times off those stupid goblins. I am actually quite happy! My stats could once more begin rising using the mana trickle. I even had quite a bit of status points to use as well. I am really not sure what I want to level up. I guess I will wait until I really need them and then boost all my stats as high as I can. I might need them to kill thest boss of this ce, if we can kill it, that is. The stats all read question marks which really worried me. I just hope it was a level thing.
If I were to really need to add points, it would probably be in strength and agility. This, of course all depends on how many levels I will get as we descend lower into the dungeon. But if I have more I will up my intelligence as well to make my magic much more potent.
Chapter 177 I Was Bullied!
As we continued to dive deeper into the dungeon, we came up to anotherrge room on the third floor, where we stopped just at the entrance to look inside. So far, we have had to do this at everyrge room to check to see what was waiting for us. Each floor seemed to have such a room. The second floor had a room filled with armored goblins. It took a bit to clear, but we were able to manage it easily. Each floor so far also had a portal spawning monsters as well. And it seemed the portal and the goblins for that floor were based on the goblins you fought in therge room on the previous floor. Luckily this just meant more goblin blenders for me to use to gain free experience.
¡°Grace, do your thing,¡± I said in a low voice. Grace nodded and sent out a cluster of light balls to fill the room. What I saw inside made me frown. There wererge green goblins inside, about twice as tall as me, withrge muscles. ¡°Appraisal!¡±
[Elite Hobgoblin]
[Level 32]
[Health: 2000./2000]
[Mana: 300/300]
[Elite Hobgoblin]
[Level 37]-.
[Health: 2300./2300]
[Mana: 400/400]
[Elite Hobgoblin Champion]
[Level 54]
[Health: 4500./4500]
[Mana: 800/800]
Seeing the levels and names, I couldn¡¯t help but frown. There were like twenty of these hobgoblins inside. Seventeen of them were regr elite hobgoblins, while three were elite hobgoblin champions. I motioned with my hand for everyone to back up. We retreated back to a smaller open area in the tunnel and took a small break after I put up a barrier. Hailey was the first to speak: ¡°What the hell were those things!?¡±
¡°Hobgoblins, elite ones at that, and they are strong. I replied.¡± Over the past few days, I have been slowly letting them in on some of my own personal abilities. Such as Appraisal. I did this because the more battles we fought together, the more I realized that it would not be easy to hide certain things. So I have to give a reason as to why I knew what I knew. So I exined that Appraisal allowed me to see certain things about monsters.
¡°What!? Can we beat them?¡± Rick asked. He had a worried expression on his face.
¡°We should be fine. Remember fighting from inside a barrier is our best means of clearing this dungeon without getting hurt. We can let one in at a time. We will work in one group to take it out.¡± I exined slowly. While I was sure, I could probably fight them fine by myself with my current level being above all above theirs¡
[Humanoid Form]
[Name]: Faith Cyrilia
[Age] 12
[Level] 70
[Race] Dragonic
[HP] 27200/27200
[MP] ¡Þ
[Attack Power] 26800
[Magic Power] 26800
[Status Points] 630
[Strength] 2680
[Vitality] 2720
[Intelligence] 2680
[Mind] ¡Þ
[Agility] 2680
[Skill Points] 29
[Skills]
[Appraisal (LVL 10(MAX))] [Military Command (LVL 10(MAX))] [Military Tactics (LVL 10(MAX))] [Business Tycoon (LVL 10(MAX))] [Acting (LVL 1(MAX))]
I still wished to allow my team to gain the experience they need to fight such monsterster on in life. This was a perfect training ground for them, and they could train within the safety of the barrier.
¡°Boss, if you were to fight them alone, you could do it?¡± Steven asked. I could tell he was worried about fighting such arge monster as well.
I smiled and nodded my head. ¡°In a single hit.¡± It was true. I could easily take one of their heads off if I truly had to in a single blow. But I was not going to.
¡°Then we should be able to do it too if we team up. Boss, let us fight them on our own, don¡¯t step in.¡± Amanda said with a look of determination.
¡°Okay, then Sally and I will sit this one out. I will only worry about shielding those who look to be in trouble. Just remember to fight safely and fight smart. Do not rush in or get anxious. If you feel you can¡¯t win, retreat right away.¡± I feel like a broken record as I keep saying the same things, but I truly meant it, and I was trying to drill this into their heads. The only time one should fight recklessly is if you have something you are trying to protect or are trying to save someone. Only then is such a thing allowed. While I know this might not be a good train of thought, but I would rather fight with everything I have to save those I care about than to let them die ore to serious harm.
¡°Don¡¯t worry Boss. We won¡¯t do anything that will cause you to have to worry about us.¡± Steven replied with a smile. There were six boys in my team, and each one was normal. With all the men I have met in this world besides my father and brother, I had been wondering if they were all messed in the head. Well, not all but those that are much closer to my age range. Like Lance and the idiot hero. Well, I guess the Lance is getting better. But now, after speaking with Steven and the rest, I realize I was just unlucky with the men I have met up until now. Just knowing this world was not all full of weirdos made me breathe a sigh of relief.
¡°Alright, let¡¯s rest an hour, then we can all go in and try to fight those hobgoblins. But let me warn you, the next floor after this will probably only have hobgoblins on it, which will make it much harder to move forward. So until then, we will work hard and keep refining our skills until everything is as easy as spending money in the market.¡± After I finished speaking, I noticed Steven giving me a strange look. ¡°What!?¡±
¡°Boss, you really are a girl. You rte everything to shopping.¡± Steven replied with a look of astonishment.
I couldn¡¯t help but stare nkly at him for a moment before yelling out: ¡°What is that supposed to mean!?¡± And throwing a few rocks at him. I mean, I am a girl! Was he thinking of me as a boy this entire time!?
And for some reason, Adel is patting me on the back, giving me a pitied look! Humph, everyone is bullying me!
¡ªAn: Check out my second WSA entry: RE: My Dragon Girlfriend In The Dragonic Apocalypse. for the time being, you will need to search for it by name until AllNovelFull approves it. Thanks for reading!¡ª
Chapter 178 Battling Hobgoblins
¡°Steven, hold it off for a few more minutes!¡± Sophie yelled out as she blocked another attack from the hobgoblin in front of her.
¡°On it!¡± Steven yelled back. He was currently holding off the extra hobgoblin that had entered the barrier.
¡°Ranged focus fire!¡± Sophie yelled out once more. I had to admit Sophie seems to change once she is in battle. Each one of her orders is on point. She is a natural leader. It¡¯s just that it is a huge contradictionpared to when she is not in a fight. Since she is so quiet and barely talks to anyone.-.
¡°Young Miss Sophie is truly amazing,¡± Sally said with a sigh.
¡°You can just call her Sophie, you know. I know you will not call me by my name but at least call Sophie by hers. We are all family now with the same surname.¡± These past few days, I have been trying to get Sally to call me by my name, but she refuses. The best I can get is Young Miss.
¡°Then I will call her Sophie,¡± Sally replied, causing me to purse my lips. I mean,e on! I want to be called by my name as well!
I sighed as I said: ¡°Well, it is true. Sophie is a fast learner. She is a natural at everything she does. But this is not just something she gains overnight. She actually puts a lot of work into training. It¡¯s because of her dedication that everyone else has been training during rest periods. Our team is really bing a strong force.¡±
¡°That it is. Each one of them is improving by the day. Even Hailey, whose magic is weak, has grown a lot. Her sixe spell casts have now grown to almost thirty in a short time, and her fireballs have strengthened quite a bit. She can even cast two at a time now thanks to Young Miss¡¯s guidance.¡± Sally seems to have been watching everyone closely. I guess this is an upational disease for those who are guards. Always watching those around you and analyzing them. Not that this was a bad thing.
¡°They all have improved a lot. I can say that before, Steven couldn¡¯t fight one of these hobgoblins on his own, but now he is able to fight one to a standstill. They have all grown so much.¡± Mainly because they are gaining levels in this dungeon, I noticed. I went against my normal morals and used Appraisal on Steven when I saw his quick improvements. And when I first checked him, he was level 22, but now he was level 30. That was a huge gain. I also checked Hailey, and she went from level 10 to level 20. This was all within one floor. I am not sure how this works, but it was a good thing.
¡°Let¡¯s hope we can clear the dungeon and finally leave this ce. My nose may not be as sensitive as yours or Sophie¡¯s, but I still have a higher sense of smell than humans. And each floor, the smell gets worse and burns.¡± I looked over at Sally, whose nose was wrinkled, and reached up and scratched her rabbit ears. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. We will leave this ce even if I have to use my final trump card to finish off the boss monster of this ce.¡±
Sally¡¯s ears twitched as she nodded her head. She seemed to really like her ears scratched because her lips curled up into a small smile and her head leaned more towards me. Whether she noticed this or not, I do not know, but it was fine with me. Her hair and ears were soft and fuzzy.
¡°Although Sei does look bored,¡± I said as I looked at the girl who was standing there yawning. She was standing next to Adel while Adel tried to gain more battle experience. It was just her magic seemed to be less effective against monsters of a higher level. Her stop would onlyst a few seconds before she would need to redraw another magic circle and cast it again.
¡°She needs something else besides just using stop. While it is useful, the usability of it is not all that practical if you are facing more than one enemy that is resistant to magic. I will have to work with her on creating a new spell that can do more than just three things.¡± I really wanted to create a time spell that worked in a different way. I have no idea how to do it, but the fact that it could only be used on one target at a time was not very useful. Even if we could make a multiple target version that had a shorter duration would be better than nothing.
¡°It would be good if she could spread out a field that slowed time.¡± I heard Sally¡¯s words, and my eyes lit up. It would be like a barrier, but it would affect everyone inside it with time magic. This could be used not just to slow but to stop as well. And since it is a kind of domain¡. The hamster wheels in my brain were spinning. I quickly began drawing on the ground, trying toe up with a proper magic circle that even Adel could use that would not consume too much mana.
The problem with time magic, or as it is called by Adel cosmic magic, is that it is very ruled based. As if the magic was being restricted by some unknown force. It could only have onemand andsted for a certain duration. While the duration could be expanded, this also depended on the level of the person you are casting the spell on and their resistance to magic. Hence why I could easily cast it on the idiot instructor. But for Adel, who has lower stats than me, she was restricted to the rules and the duration when it came to higher level beings like the hobgoblins. If she were to be able to use it as a domain, it would allow her to keep the same rule but have it auto apply when it wore off because they were in her domain. This would have the same kind of effect as telling someone to be stop for a year or forever as long Adel kept the domain up.
Chapter 179 First Real Boss Fight Part 1
Seven floorster and 35 more levels, my group and I have finally made it to what seems to be the shaman goblin boss.
[Humanoid Form]
[Name]: Faith Cyrilia
[Age] 12
[Level] 105
[Race] Dragonic
[HP] 37250/37250-.
[MP] ¡Þ
[Attack Power] 36850
[Magic Power] 36850
[Status Points] 805
[Strength] 3685
[Vitality] 3725
[Intelligence] 3685
[Mind] ¡Þ
[Agility] 3685
[Skill Points] 64
[Skills]
[Appraisal (LVL 10(MAX))] [Military Command (LVL 10(MAX))] [Military Tactics (LVL 10(MAX))] [Business Tycoon (LVL 10(MAX))] [Acting (LVL 1(MAX))]
I have to admit that I never expected to level up so much. I mean, the goblin blenders were leveling me up so fast that my status points are almost at one thousand. Not that I amining but still I never expected to level so fast.
But my problem right now was the Goblin Shaman. Its level was kind of crazy high.
[Boss Goblin Shaman]
[Level: 125]
[Health: 1000000/1000000]
[Mana: 900000/900000]
These stats should be illegal, right? Right!? I mean, I only have 37250 health! And I am level 105. So this is just nuts. ¡°Let¡¯s retreat for now.¡±
We could not go into this without a proper n. While we should be able to get by by using the barrier trick that we have been using this entire time. The fact that this is a boss and the level is like many times that of the first boss is bothering me. ¡°Boss, is something wrong?¡±
I looked over at Steven, who had asked me the question just now, and sighed. ¡°Major issue! That Goblin Shaman who is surrounded by all those hobgoblins is the second boss of this dungeon. But unlike the first boss, it is about a hundred times stronger, maybe even more. While we may be able to win if we keep doing what we are doing, I have a feeling that we might have to deal with some unexpected attacks. Things that may or may not be able to get through my barriers.¡±
¡°That bad?¡± Steven frowned. He seemed to not like what I had just said. But what am I supposed to do? I was not going to lie to them.
¡°Faith, even with you fighting with us, there will be an issue?¡± Sophie asked as she sat down next to me.
¡°It¡¯s more that the issue is the fact that I might not be able to do much damage to a shaman if it can use a barrier as well. If the barrier is stronger than any spells I can cast within the dungeon, then it will be hard for me to do much of anything. I can only try to use the trick that Instructor Jasmine used against me and strike the same spot over and over and hope to break through the barrier. But this is only if it works.¡± I tried to exin. A mage of such a high level is probably on par with the dean himself. Such power is not something one can easily defeat. Or at least I have never fought such a powerful foe.
Of course, I should probably start using appraisal on everyone I meet to get a better idea of the power ranges in this world. Although I do not like this since it goes against my morals of peeking, the information wille in handy. And since appraisal is not really a spell and a skill from my system, it should not be detected. At least Steven and the others have not been able to detect it even though I have been checking up on their progress. Although it has slowed some, they are still in the level seventies.
¡°What if we move our strongest fighters to the front line? You, Sally, and Sei?¡± Sophie asked. What Sophie suggested makes sense. But the problem is, is that all three are close ranged fighters, myself included. And one of us needs to protect Adel.
¡°Sophie¡. Youe to the front lines as you can phase in and out. Sei needs to protect Adel. We can not leave her alone.¡± Sophie was the best choice. With Sally being highly skilled in many ways, Sophie¡¯s phase can allow for attacks to pass right through her and attack at the same time.
¡°Alright. I will do my best.¡± Sophie¡¯s eyes were filled with determination. I just hope no one will get hurt.
¡°Everyone gather up!¡± I yelled out. I wanted to go over a full fleshed out n. And try to reduce any chances of injuries. As everyone crowded around in a circle and sat down, I stood up and stood in the middle. ¡°The next fight will be unlike any of the others. This is a boss monster, and a powerful one at that. As the name implies, it is able to cast magic, so we will have a harder time trying to deal with them. We can also suspect that the next floors will also have many spell casters on them as well. The team who will be fighting the boss head on, will be myself, Sally, and Sophie. Sei will be on protection duty to make sure Adel is not overwhelmed. But she will also be fighting, helping you guys against the hobgoblins.
¡°Our main priority is to reduce the chances of gaining any injuries. Stay on your toes and use everything you have learned during this time. I do not want to see anyone get seriously injured or die during this fight. We still have many more floors and another boss to fight before we reach the final boss. Only by beating it will we actually be able to escape this dungeon.
¡°Steven, you will be the team leader for the right side. Adel, you will be the team leader for the left side, with Sei assisting you. Split up the teams evenly as best as possible and have one healer on each side. Any questions?¡± I looked around to see Grace raising her hand. ¡°Grace?¡±
¡°I umm¡. I lied before¡ I have the ability to use high heal. So¡. If anyone gets seriously injured, I can handle it¡ I was not supposed to say anything but this is too important. I do not wish to see any of you get seriously injured and sit around doing nothing.¡± Grace answered with a lowered head.
I smiled and nodded my head. ¡°Good! If anyone gets a single scratch on them go see Grace she will patch you up!¡±
Chapter 180 First Real Boss Fight Part 2
¡°Faith, are you trying to drain me of my mana!?¡± Grace yelled out at me while pouting. I chuckled and gave her a teasing smile before pping my hands.
¡°Okay! Let¡¯s get going!¡± I said as I turned around and jumped over everyone and began walking towards the entrance to the boss¡¯s room. I could hear everyone scrambling behind me. Sophie and Sally were the fastest and quickly stood at my side. Adel and Sei were a little slower and stood a little ways back as they followed behind. Adel and I had a talk during these few weeks that we were stuck down here. She seemed very depressed about not being able to be of much help.
I took my time and began exining to her the idea Sally had given me about creating a time spell that uses domains. After talking it through with her and exining the idea out fully, she perked up a bit and began working on her own rendition. She said she wished to create it on her own and that she woulde to me if she had any issues. I also told her to start casting other spells as well. She had the mana pool to really cast a lot of spells, so there was no reason to ignore the basics either.-.
It seemed she had been so single mindedly concentrating on her own special kind of magic she had been neglecting the other elements. Since then, her damage output has skyrocketed. And her mood has risen by a lot. But she also knows to be careful as well. She knows that if she gets overwhelmed and gets hurt or dies that we would be held responsible. Not only that, but this kingdom needs Adel. The people love her, and if she really were to get hurt under my care, not only would I but everyone in this team would end up being abandoned by the people and the kingdom.
While I do hate to think of things like this, it was a sad truth, which was why I always had Sei at Adel¡¯s side, even if Sei would be more useful elsewhere. Adel also knows this and even apologized to everyone for it. Luckily our team has grown close to the point that we are like brothers and sisters now. We can joke around and poke fun at each other without issue and also help ease each other¡¯s worries. No matter how I look at it, this team was lucky because we all got to meet each other. We were the ones who got stuck together and were now fighting on the front lines to gain freedom. But mostly, I did not wish to see Adel get hurt or anyone I cared about for that matter. Because I know that if she did get seriously hurt, I would probably lose my mind.
With everyone gathered at the boss room entrance, I decided to reiterate our n. ¡°We will be going in without a barrier and finding a secure location. Once we get a good spot, we will begin clearing out the hobgoblins. Once we clear them out, we will begin fighting the boss. I will put up a spell to try to keep the boss busy and hopefully force it to lose as much mana as possible while we work on the hobgoblins. Only when they are dead can we go all out on the boss! Is everything clear!?¡±
¡°Boss, you can count on us. We will roast those green bastards with no problems!¡± Steven shouted, causing everyone else to react and yell out. I nodded my head and turned towards the boss room.
¡°Then let¡¯s do this!¡± I shouted and stepped into the room. The walls lit up with blue mes as the hobgoblins that were standing there with their heads lowered suddenly all woke up. Thirty adds in total, plus a boss with a crap ton of health. This was not going to be an easy fight.
¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±Graaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!!!!¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±
As soon as we moved into the room, our entire group ran for the far wall away from the hobgoblins protecting the boss. But they still all instantly aggroed even though we were out of range. I guess not everything will go ording to the novels I have read. With no other choice but to quickly move, I cast an ice wall to block their advance but as soon as I turned to tell everyone to run faster when I suddenly heard a loud explosion behind me.
¡°Faith, we need a barrier now!¡± Sophie yelled out. I quickly did as she said, casting a barrier around us. I watched as magic circle after magic circle appeared in the air all around my barrier, causing me to frown. ¡°Spin! Twentyyers!¡± I added more and more barriers, all spinning in opposite directions as the entire room lit up with magic attacks. I never expected the Shaman Goblin to be so quick to react.
¡°Any idea how we can fight like this!?¡± Steven yelled out. With the current rate of magic circles appearing and how many there were, it was hard to even see what was going on outside the barrier, never mind being able to check the mana consumption of the goblin shaman. The hobgoblins also surrounded us but stayed just out of range of the barrier, far enough not to get caught up in the spell cast by the boss.
¡°The only way is to get the boss¡¯s attention.¡± I really did not see any other option than this. ¡°For now¡. Let¡¯s do this¡.¡±
Thousands of magic circles suddenly appeared in the air above my barrier, each one spinning with zing fire. ¡°Gates of Faithylon!¡± Since the shaman wants to fight fire with fire, let¡¯s see how it deals with a piercing magic attack! I really couldn¡¯t see where I was attacking, so I could only attack in a wide range and hope to disrupt the boss¡¯s attack enough for us to move to a safer location where we were not surrounded.
¡°It¡¯s working!¡± I yelled out when I saw the attacks on my barrier weakening. ¡°Ice wall! Everyone move now!¡± Using an ice wall to block the hobgoblins to the front and sides, I formed a barrier on the other side to create a tunnel towards the back wall. Only when we can get in a decent formation without needing to worry about being attacked from all sides will we be able to start our counterattack.
Chapter 181 First Real Boss Fight Part 3
¡°Get in formation!¡± I yelled out. We were able to get into position finally. My Gates of Faithylon were keeping the boss limited on its movements which will allow us time to begin clearing out the trash. ¡°We got a lot of adds so I will be letting ten in at the same time. We need to wipe them out fast before the boss decides to use some kind of magic that we do not know of yet.¡±
I was a bit worried. This was a dungeon, after all. I do not know how things will turn out. Things could change at any time, which could change our current situation into something worse. So instead of fighting only a few hobgoblins at a time, with me joining in, we can fight multiple with ease. ¡°Everyone ready?¡±
I kind of feel like I am in one of the MMORPG raid things, only in real life. I guess if they ever made proper deep dive virtual reality games, they would definitely be something like this. ¡°Ready, Boss!¡± I heard calls from everyone. I asked once more to make sure everyone was good before finally opening the barrier. Eleven hobgoblins charged in as soon as I opened the barrier. One more than I had wanted, but this was fine as well since I was joining the fight this time with Sally. ¡°Kill!¡±-.
I charged forward as a volley of magic spells and arrows flew over my head and stopped the hobgoblins¡¯ advance. The barrier was plenty big enough for all of us to move around freely. And tall enough for the hobgoblins to still have a few feet of room above their heads. These hobgoblins all wore metal armor and held huge swords and axes in their hands as they swung them around trying to hit the members of my team.
¡°Steven, get the two on the far right!¡± I heard Sophie yell out. They were all fighting with everything they had, and after weeks of battles, they were all now refined warriors who deserved respect. They could easily fight head on against some of the kingdom¡¯s finest.
I wonder if the Dean would ever expect that the kids he sent out to take the final test were now veterans in battle far surpassing anyone at the academy. Even Hailey, the weakest of our team, had learned how to use the gatling fireball attack I created. And she had mastered it so well that she could now keep three of them up at the same time.
As I got near my target, My body twisted as I leaped forward and swung my sword, cutting off the arm with the weapon beforending on my feet and leaping forward once more and stabbing my sword in the hobgoblin¡¯s neck. With a bit of force, I swung my sword out, causing the head to fall and dangle to one side as the body of the huge hobgoblin fell to the ground.
It might seem like a gruesome attack, but I did not have time to care about finesse or clean cutting. I already started moving to my next target. Five minutes was all it took before all eleven hobgoblins were dead, and more were let in. We repeated our moves once more, but just as thest hobgoblin of the second batch was killed, I suddenly sensed extreme dangering from below us. ¡°Watch your feet!¡± I yelled out as orange circles began to appear on the ground. ¡°Get out of the circles now!¡±
As soon as I said this, not even a secondter, pirs of mes shot up towards the ceiling and broke my barrier from within. I had not made the barriers to withstand any attacks from inside, so they shattered into nothing. And it was lucky that I didn¡¯t because if I did, those mes would have filled the entire barrier area and roasted everyone alive. ¡°Everyone okay!?¡±
¡°Faith, we don¡¯t have time to worry about injuries! Look up!¡± I heard Sei yell out. I looked up at the ceiling to see thousands of magic circles overhead. My head immediately shot towards the boss, who was giving us a creepy smile and then mmed his staff onto the ground. ¡°No!¡±
Without even thinking about what to do next, my arm expanded and grewrge, casting a shadow over everyone but myself. The ice magic rained down from thematic circles, piercing into my arm and body, causing me to clench my teeth. ¡°Ah!¡± The pain was too much. I couldn¡¯t help but cry out. Everything was just too fast. No time to think, could only react on instinct. And in doing so, I revealed one of my biggest secrets.
Blood dripped down my back and arm as my hand returned to normal size. The ice attack seemed to be only a one time deal. But that did not change the fact that I was heavily injured just now, and to be honest, it hurt, it hurt a lot. ¡°Faith!¡± ¡°Boss!¡±
¡°Grace quickly,e, heal Faith!¡± I heard Sophie yell out. But I shook my head. ¡°What are you doing! We are in battle. Get your asses back into formation!¡±
I yelled out as I clutched my arm and stood up as I whispered: ¡°High heal!¡± My body glowed with a golden light as the wounds on my body began to heal up. I turned and looked at everyone who was looking at me in shock and yelled out: ¡°What are you doing!?¡±
¡°Sorry, Boss!¡± Steven was the first to react, and luckily so because a hobgoblin was already swinging his sword at him. The battle was far from over. We still had the boss and ten hobgoblins left to deal with.
¡°Young Miss just now?¡± Sally came to my side and asked.
¡°I will exinter, but for now, we need to deal with the issue at hand. Keep on your toes and look for any orange spots on the ground.¡± I let out a sigh of relief. At least I reacted fast enough. If my body was not as durable as it is, I would have suffered greatly from that attack. My health even dropped by half just now. That was how powerful of an attack that was. I have a feeling I will need full dragon mode for thest boss. So I will need toe clean about everything sooner thanter.
Chapter 182 First Real Boss Fight Part 4
No one had time to even care about my partial transformation. While Sally was curious, she did not push the issue anymore. After thest hobgoblin was killed, the boss was all that was left, and to be honest, I am still unsure if we can beat this thing. ¡°Barriers are useless against this thing as it is able to cast its area of attack inside of it. We will all need to be on guard. ¡°
¡°Faith leave barriers to me. I will protect those who can¡¯t move in time.¡± Sei yelled over to me. Sei was a barrier expert so having her deal with them was perfect since she couldn¡¯t leave Adel¡¯s side.
¡°Alright! Sei, you are on barriers, Grace, you are on heals. Only heal those seriously injured. Everyone else, focus on the boss!¡± I gave out my final order before buffing my body and shooting forward. I nned to be the main tank. As soon as the boss saw meing, it instantly surrounded me with magic circles.
I had no choice but to dodge out of the way as ice spears sted the location I was just in. My eyes lit up, creating many magic circles around me. Ice spears formed and shot back at the boss.-.
But the boss¡¯s barrier seemed to block everything. It was quite annoying. With a wave of my hand, the me swords from my Gates of Faithylon all turned and began targeting the same spot on the barrier of the boss. I watched in anticipation, but the barrier did not seem to want to break at all. With no choice, I jumped into the air and formed foot holds under me as Iunched myself at the area my me swords were targeting. My arm grew huge once more as I smashed down on the barrier, causing it to suddenly shatter into sparkles of light. ¡°It¡¯s down! Full on attack!¡±
Stepping on air one more, I shot forward towards the boss, who was now defenseless and swung my hand down at it with my ws gleaming under the blue light. But I guess I was celebrating a bit too soon¡
*Boom!*
The room shook as the area where the boss was standing sunk down. My ws were stuck in some kind of barrier that halted my advance. I saw the boss look up at me with an eerie grin and wave its staff. ¡°Mana shield!¡± I quickly covered my body in a mana shield, only to be sent flying up towards the ceiling as arge spike of ice shot up from the ground and mmed into my mana shield.
Feeling my body mming into the hard rocky surface caused me to spit up a mouth full of blood. I never thought this stupid boss would be so hard. Having so many shields was just nuts. ¡°What are you doing to my Young Miss!?¡± I heard Sally suddenly yell out and a loud bang sound. I looked down to see Sally pushing down hard on her hammer that seemed to have rockets firing out of the back end of it as she tried to break the second barrier.
Melting therge ice spike that had embedded me into the wall, I let my body fall straight down as both my arms turned into huge dragon ws. The early incident made me realize that I could actually make my ws grow asrge as I wanted. Before, I never really thought about it, but now I noticed that I seem to be able to change my size at will. Whether this worked in my dragon form or not is another story. But in a partial transformation, I can.
*Boom!*
Once more, Inded hard on the barrier protecting the boss, trying to give it everything I had. Sally had already had to move to avoid another ice spike. At this time, the boss seemed to be just ying around as it had not attacked anyone else since the first barrier was broken.
I had no idea what the others thought of me at this time. Nor did I care. If they stop talking to me once they find out that I am a full fledged dragon, then so be it. But I will make sure before I leave this ce that everyone signs a magic contract forbidding them from releasing details about me. Because if others find out, I will never get to leave a normal life again.
*Crack!*
Hearing the cracking sounding from the barrier made my eyes light up. A small hole as big as my head finally appeared in the barrier, but it was rapidly repairing itself. Not wanting to miss this chance, I sucked in a deep breath and let out a stream of dragon fire into the barrier filling the barrier up with my dragon mes.
¡°GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!¡±
For the first time since the start of the battle, the boss finally took some damage! ¡°Boss, hurt it! Keep hitting the barrier! Break it down!¡± I heard Adel yell out.
I gripped the barrier with my ws as I stopped my dragon mes and pulled hard on the barrier. More cracking was heard and then.
*Boom!*
The whole barrier shattered. Secondster, a volley of attacks begannding on the boss, causing it to scream out in pain. It turned its head at me with a sinister gaze and waved its staff. It seemed to think I was the biggest threat. But before it could even cast a spell, Sally was right there to bash it in the face with her hammer.
¡°Keep attacking. We now have the advantage!¡± I shouted as I turned my Gates of Faithylon to strike the boss all over from head to toe. Our onught continued for almost five minutes when suddenly the boss mmed its staff on the ground and let out a blood curdling scream. The whole room suddenly turned red, followed by an ear piercing sound.
¡°SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!¡±
Everyone was forced to stop attacking and cover their ears. But what we saw next caused all of our faces to pale. Arge ck ming monster slowly rose up from the ground¡.
Chapter 183 First Real Boss Fight End
Arge ck ming bird stood over us and spread its wings out while giving off an ear piercing screech. ¡°Appraisal!¡±
[Lower ck me Phoenix (Summon)]
[Level: 90]
[Health: 500000/500000]
[Mana: 100000/100000]
Seeing the stats caused me to frown. It was already hard enough to fight the boss, but now we had basically a mini boss to fight as well. ¡°Faith, leave the bird to me!¡± I heard Sophie yell out. I turned and looked at the fox girl who was standing there with her sword in hand, staring at the summoned creature.
The look of determination in her eyes filled me with confidence. I let out a long breath as I yelled out: ¡°Everyone, listen up! We will fight the boss. Sophie is in charge of the bird. Grace, you are in charge of keeping Sophie alive! Sei, you are still on barriers! Don¡¯t falter, and keep aware! Watch where you are standing in case of area of effect spells. And most importantly¡. Kill this bastard!¡±-.
¡°Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!¡±
I heard the fighting spirit of my team and smiled. Everyone once again regained theirposure and began our third assault on this stupid boss. I charged forward with Sally at my side. We both jumped through the air to get in position over the boss. But before attacking, I waved my hand and created another Gates of Faithylon, but this time, it was an ice version that was pointing at the summoned phoenix. I wanted to give Sophie as much cover as I could.
Once it was set, I turned my attention back to the boss, who looked up at me with blood shot eyes. It was definitely enraged. My guess is that it half expected to be able to rest. I am sure it never thought that we would leave one person to fight the monstrosity by themselves. But Sophie could easily use phase. No matter what that bird threw at her, she woulde out unscathed.
But this did make my job slightly harder because I was acting as a healer for those fighting the boss.
As time ticked by each of our attacks were mming into the boss, keeping it from being able to do much of anything. ¡°Appraisal!¡±
[Boss Goblin Shaman]
[Level: 125]
[Health: 900000/1000000]
[Mana: 1000/900000]
It wasn¡¯t much, but we were getting somewhere. The only good thing was that it seemed that summoning the phoenix had drained its mana to almost nothing. This meant that the boss was basically cing all its bets on the summon. ¡°Go all out! The boss has barely any mana left!¡±
As I yelled this out, I createdrge spikes of ice and stone in the air and mmed them down onto the Boss.
¡°GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!¡±
[Status: Bleeding]
[Boss Goblin Shaman]
[Level: 125]
[Health: 500000/1000000]
[Mana: 1000/900000]
One attack like that was enough to drop its health by four hundred thousand. It seems as long as you get rid of its barriers, the boss is weak to all attacks. Everyone was attacking left and right. I watched as the attacks were quickly draining the boss¡¯s life. The boss was iling about swinging its staff, trying to hit the melee, but luckily the boss was unable to hit anyone. Its aim was bad, and its movements were bing sluggish.
[Health: 100000/1000000]
[Health: 60000/1000000]
¡°Take this! Mega Hammer!¡± Sally suddenly yelled out, causing me to look up. The rabbit girl was soaring through the air with a hammer ten times the size of the boss.
*Booom!*
[Gained 100000 XP]
A notification suddenly popped up in front of me. Seeing this, I let out a sigh of relief. But I did not lower my guard down yet. I turned to see how Sophie was doing but what I saw was a fox girl lying on her back, her chest moving up and down. Her hair was soaked in sweat all the way down to the tips of her tail with no signs at all of the summoned phoenix. ¡°We¡.¡±
¡°We did it!¡± Steven shouted, causing cheers to fill the boss¡¯s room. We really did do it. I stood in the air, looking down at the half squashed boss and then at everyone else, and smiled. We defeated the odds. We survived what should have killed us. This sense of victory felt¡. Amazing!
Thest thing I would have ever expected was to be tossed into an even more fantasy style setting. Dungeons and bosses. The feeling of victory when you take down the boss you spent so much energy fighting. But here we are, each one of us alive and well. While some had minor injuries, it was nothingpared to the thought of what could have happened.
Inded on the ground and walked over to the boss, that began to turn into balls of light and froze. My eyes lit up¡. ¡°Shiny!¡± I don¡¯t know what came over me, but as soon as I saw the glittering gem lying on the ground, my body moved on its own as I reached out and grabbed the shiny object and hugged it as if protecting my most precious. It was a blue gem, unlike anything I had ever seen before. ¡°Appraisal¡±
[System Stone]
[Consumable]
[Gives one person a system.]
[Systems allow one to gain new skills by using skill points. It also allows one to gain status points upon leveling up and unlocks hidden potential.]
Seeing the information, I quickly stored the stone and took out a stone from my inventory that looked just like it. I hate to say it, but I was unsure of what to think about this stone. Luckily my attraction to shiny objects allowed me to pick it up first.
In a way, it was like the evolution stone, which I have not seen since that day. It made me worry that the wrong people would gain such systems and throw the current world power bnce out of whack. I looked down to make sure there were no other stones, but other than some armor and weapons there was nothing else.
¡°Faith?¡± Adel came running up to me with a worried look. I pursed my lips and held the stone in my hand a bit tighter. ¡°I am not going to take it away, I was just checking to see if you were okay. You have been firing off magic left and right this entire time, not to mention your arm¡.¡±
Chapter 184 System
Hearing Adel¡¯s words and seeing how much she was worried, I stored my stone away and walked over to her, took her hand, and walked away from everyone else. Adel was my first true friend in this world, and I did not want to hide anything from her any longer. I sat her down and set up a barrier around us to iste us from everyone else. ¡°As you have seen¡. I am not a normal demi human.¡±
¡°I kind of figured that out a long ago.¡± Adel said with a teasing smile. I just rolled my eyes as I continued.
¡°Adel, what I am about to tell you is something that is one of my greatest secrets. I am telling you first out of everyone else because you were my first friend and are also my best friend. I do n to tell Sophie soon, and I will be forcing the others to sign a magic contract to seal their mouths about my transformation. But¡.¡± I went to tell Adel everything, but she reached out and ced a finger on my mouth.
Adel smiled at me as she pulled her finger back. ¡°First off, you do not need to worry so much. I will protect you with everything I have. While magic contracts are good, with the right skills, they can also be broken. You will need to set up a blood seal contract with those who you do not trust. I will show you how it is der. But this is a secret. Not many know that magic contracts are breakable if you find someone powerful enough to nullify it.¡±-.
I smiled and nodded. ¡°Then I will leave it to you to help me with that. But to let you know, I am what is called a Dragonic. I am half dragon, half demon. Although I was never originally like this. I once had the blood of my family running through me. But now, I am of a different bloodline that has not been seen since ancient times.
¡°What you saw earlier was only a partial transformation. I can actually transform into a full pledged dragon. And I will probably have to on the next two bosses, which was why I decided to have everyone else sign a contract. I do not wish word of me being dragon to get out as it will cause many people to chase after me.¡± I did not wish to cause the people around me toe under attack because people were trying to get to me.
¡°I see¡ Well, you can be sure that I will do whatever I can to make sure that no one finds out. To prove it, I will also sign a blood seal contract with you as well.¡± Adel replied with a smile. I couldn¡¯t help but let out a sigh. Adel was always willing to go to such great lengths for me.
I lowered my head and fell into deep thought. I do not know if I should do this or not, as I don¡¯t know what it will do to her, but if the system stone works and Adel could begin leveling up and raise her mana, she may be able to live a long, long life as long as she increases her mana pool. I also know I can not keep this system stone a secret as others will also probably find them or already have found them. After all, dungeons are popping up everywhere now.
¡°Adel¡..¡± I reached into my inventory and pulled out the system stone, and handed it to her. ¡°This is what is called a system stone. It is able to give one a system that allows them to grow stronger by killing monsters. As you level up, you will gain status points that you can then allocate as you wish. This means you can even raise your mana pool¡. Umm¡ I am not sure of the risks. I am not sure if you will be harmed if you use it. But I do know that if people find these and begin raiding dungeons to gain more power, then the world as we know it will begin to change and change quickly. I¡. I was born with a system, so I know how they work¡.¡±
I was not going to tell her about my infinity mana or anything like that or how I came from another world since even if that is the case, I was still born on this world, making me a legitimate resident of this world. But letting her know that I do have a system will at least allow her to understand that I am not lying to her about this. However, it is hard to prove it.
¡°A system stone, huh?¡± Adel reached out and took the stone from my hand. As soon as she did, a blue screen suddenly popped out of the stone. ¡°Ah!?¡±
I quickly moved to sit in front of it so no one else could see it. The screen had a simple sentence with yes or no buttons. It read: ¡°Use Item?¡±
¡°This didn¡¯t happen when you touched it?¡± Adel asked as she looked up at me.
¡°I think it is because I have a system of my own. So I guess I wouldn¡¯t be able to use it.¡± This was the only solution I could think of as to why it did not ask me if I wanted to use it.
¡°I see¡ well¡ Since others will probably find such things themselves, I do not wish to be left behind if the world as we know it will change so¡.¡±
¡°Wait!¡± I yelled out as I went to try to stop this stupid, impulsive princess, but I was toote. Her finger had already hit the Yes button, and the stone glowed before turning into a stream of blue light and entering Adel¡¯s body. Her body glowed blue for a brief second before returning to normal. ¡°Adle! Adel!¡±
¡°I¡. I see many numbers in front of me¡. A thing called HP and MP¡.. Words such as strength and vitality and a bunch more things¡. Is this the system thing!?¡± Adel asked in a somewhat excited voice. But as for me, I felt like my heart was about to jump out of my chest! I mean, yes, I gave her the stone in case she wanted to use it, but I figure she would test the thing out first on someone else before actually using it! I do not know if Adel is crazy or what, but really¡.
¡°Faith, are you okay?¡± Adel asked in a concerned voice. I looked up at her and shook my head as I yelled! ¡°Not with you giving me a heart attack!¡±
Chapter 185 Teaming Function
Adel pursed her lips and reached over, flicking me on the forehead. ¡°Now, do you understand the things I go through when you do things that make me worry to the point that I feel like I might die?¡±
I really couldn¡¯t argue with her when she puts it like that. I mean, I did cause her a lot of issues these past few weeks. But still for her to go ahead and hit yes without even much less than a second worth of thought. It just did not seem like her. ¡°Adel, even if that is the case, why did you hit yes without even considering what may have happened to you?¡±
¡°Hmm? Well, as I see it, it was either me or some poor soul who would be killed after. I would rather test it out on myself than on some citizen. Plus, what if these things are rare? If you have a system and are able to really gain such great power, then I want to be able to do the same. Other kingdoms will probably be doing such things as well. Except they will test it from the start and see if it is hazardous to the royal families. But if I can get a head start and use my time in this dungeon to really grow more powerful, then the Gravos Kingdom will have a head start. And I will be the one to lead it in this new era.¡± Adel¡¯s words made sense, but I still did not like how she used the stone without hesitation.
¡°Well, tell me if you feel off or anything. If you start having strange thoughts or do not feel like you are in control of your body. I will stop time for you until we figure out a way to cure you. Or I could even reverse time to when you did not have it.¡± I could only do so much. If Adel really had an issue with this new system where it tried to control her or something, the only way to keep her from destroying herself or others would be to stop time for her or try to reverse time for her until the point where she did not have a system.-.
¡°This is the reason why I did not hesitate to use it. With you here, what could go wrong?¡± Adel said with a smile. ¡°Faith, this menu thing says I am level 89 and have 440 status points. What should I put my status points in?¡±
¡°Hmmm, you are mainly more of a support mage type, so I would think intelligence and mind should both have 150 points. Thest 140 should be vitality 70 and agility 70. This vitality and agility will allow you to take more hits and also make you faster. In the future, put two points into intelligence and mind and then alternate your other point between agility and vitality.¡± I figured for a support type character this was the best way to grow stronger. She did not need strength since she did not use a sword. But now that she could raise mind this meant she could live a lot longer. At least, I think anyway. As long as her mana pool increases, her lifespan will also increase.
I hate to say it because it sounds like I am using Adel as a test subject, but if this works out, I will probably try to farm dungeons to get more system stones for my family¡
While this brings more risks as they will need to fight monsters, if it allows them to live longer, I think some of the risks are worth it, especially with how strong my Mother and Father are. That is, if they do wish to expand their lives. I would not force this upon them. It would be up to them to use it or not.
¡°Okay, done!¡± Adel said with a smile as she stood up and hopped up and down a few times. ¡°I do surprisingly feel lighter.¡±
¡°How much mana do you have now?¡± I was curious to just how much her stats were raised.
¡°Mmm, it says 3400. And my health is 2300,¡± Adel answered. I pursed my lips since I do not know how good the mana part was. But I do think her health might be slightly too low. I guess this just means I will need to keep a closer eye on her. ¡°If there was a teaming system like in games¡.¡± I mumbled, but as soon as the words left my mouth, a window appeared in front of me.
[System Notification: Team Window Unlocked!]
[You can now form teams and share XP between team members.]
I face palmed as I looked at this, but it was definitely a good thing. I just never thought it would actually have such a function, but this does make me wonder just how connected this system thing is to the system I was born with. Were the dungeons and other things also rted to the system as well?
I do know one thing, and that was that everyone was gaining passive levels while gradually gaining boosts to their stats without a system. Once they get a system, they will also gain all the status points they would have gotten for each level they gained while in this dungeon, just like how Adel did. At least, I think anyway.
Since there is no way of knowing, for now, I guess I should test out this team function now that I have it. I sighed and softly spoke: ¡°Team Adel.¡±
¡°What!?¡± Adel cried out in shock as another window popped up in front of her. ¡°Faith, what is this team thing?¡±
¡°It allows us to team together and share experience. In other words, you can grow stronger without having to do much of anything. What other things it may do, I don¡¯t know yet. Just hit yes for now, and we can find out.¡±
Adel nodded and hit the yes button. I got a notification that she had joined my team and saw a new set of HP and MP bars appear at the top left of my peripheral vision. ¡°What is this crazy health!? 37250!?¡±
I heard Adel cry out. I guess she could see my stat numbers for health and MP¡ which means¡ ¡°And what is this weird sign where it says, Mana?¡±
Adel looked up at me with a questioning gaze, causing me to sigh once more. ¡°Le¡¯ts just say that I don¡¯t ever have to worry about mana¡.¡±
Chapter 186 Blood Seal Contract
Adel pursed her lips. ¡°No wonder you can cast so much all the time. With your health and all the mana you have, you are basically a walking fortress¡.¡±
¡°I actually can¡¯t deny that, but as you saw earlier, I am not immune to harm.¡± Earlier, I was hurt pretty bad. If myself or Grace did not have high heal, I would have been in a lot of trouble, I could also have died. But to save the lives of those near me, I was willing to take the risk.
¡°That is true. I thought my heart was going to stop earlier.¡± Adel said with a bitter smile before changing the subject.-.
¡°We should not announce this system thing just yet. If we get more, we should give them to Sally and Sophie. They are the closest to you besides me.¡± Adel once again was thinking more on my behalf than anything else.
¡°If we get more, even if it is only one, we should give it to your fa¡.¡± Adel quickly interrupted me.
¡°No. He is unable to move freely as King. How would he have time to level up? If you wish to give one to the kingdom, it should go to Lance. Although I do hate saying it, and he will probably take the idea of you giving him anything even if it was a nerdal poop as you showing your love to him, he is set to be the next King. And he has been doing quite well on learning things.¡± What Adel said did make sense. The King really could not move around as he wished since he was the ruler of the kingdom. If he went into a dungeon and spies from a hostile kingdom found out, they would use the chance to kill him and me it on a dungeon. But if I gave it to Lance, who was set to be the next King, then while he was still free of the role, he could level up and gain enough strength to fend for himself. However, he would probably need to run a lot of dungeons.
¡°That does make sense. Alright, if we find another, it will be saved for Lance. Do you mind giving it to him to save the hassle it will bring if I give it to him?¡± I know I was pushing my troubles onto Adel, but I really did not want to give Lance the wrong idea.
¡°Yeah, I think it is best that I give it to him too.¡± Adel readily agreed.
¡°We should go and exin things to everyone else and get the contracts done. I do not know when I will need to use my full dragon form just yet.¡± I did not like the idea of having to do these contracts, but I wanted to be safe rather than sorry. A lot of things seemed to be set in motion, and I am not sure what the future will bring, so it was best not to add more trouble to myself.
I removed the barrier around us, and Adel and I walked over to everyone else who were standing around a big pile of items. It was all the items that spawned after the boss died. ¡°Anything good?¡±
¡°Boss, we are not sure. They seem strong, but I am not sure who should get what.¡± Steven replied. ¡°Sophie said we should wait for you so that you can decide.¡±
¡°For now, we will just leave them and distribute them after I finish speaking.¡± I took a deep breath and let it out slowly before continuing. ¡°As many of you have seen, I am not a normal demi human. In fact, I am a dragon.¡± I decided to keep the demon part a secret for now since I do not know exactly how demons were looked upon in society. I only told Adel because of how close we are. ¡°But because of this fact, I must ask everyone here to please sign a contract with me to never speak about this to anyone.¡±
¡°Yes, Faith already has enough issues, and as the Princess of this kingdom, I am not allowing anyone to say no. The contract will be a blood seal contract. It means you will die if you ever reveal anything about Faith. I myself will also be signing this, so you are not the only ones. If any of you refuse to sign a contract, well¡. I am sure losing your life in a dungeon is amon urrence.¡± While I did not agree with openly threatening everyone, I guess there was no other way around it.
¡°Princess Adel, I think you think too lightly of us. Each and every one of us owes Boss a life debt now. She really saved us at the expense of her own safety. We could have all died right then and there, but she risked revealing who she was and even risked her life for us. How could we say no?¡± Leo¡¯s words made everyone around him nod. I was d to know that everyone was agreeing with him. I really did not wish anyone toe to harm just because I was trying to keep my identity a secret.
¡°Then even better. For those who do not know, a blood seal is actually quite simple.¡±Adel looked over at me and grabbed my hand. ¡°Faith, cut your thumb to draw blood and draw a magic circle with the runic inscription that states what you are forbidding them from doing, using your blood. and in the core of the equation add the following runes¡.¡±
I nodded and bit my finger before doing as I was told. It was actually a simple thing. I just wanted them not to tell anyone about my secrets. If I generalize it like this, it will cover every aspect. I finished writing the magic circle and then showed Adel: ¡°Is this good?¡±
¡°Yes, this will work and covers a broad range, so yeah, this will work well. Okay, the rest is simple. Faith will infuse the bloody magic circle with her mana, and then everyone will then drip a drop of mana infused blood onto it. It will then bind you to the contract.¡± I was quite surprised at how simple the process was. But now I understand why blood seal contracts and magic contracts differ. Magic contracts can be written by anyone, and as long as find someone strong enough, you can break the seal that enters your body. But the blood seal is different and is infused into a single magic circle drawn from the blood of the one owning the contract. It is basically a special magic spell that will send out a signal if someone tries to betray you. That signal would then kill the person instantly since they were linked to the seal directly by blood.
Chapter 187 Forced Underlings
I watched as everyone walked up and dripped a drop of blood onto the blood seal. Each time it would glow slightly before dimming once more. Once everyone had finished, Adel continued: ¡°Okay, now say activation word, and it will start the end of the binding process. But everyone should know that it is slightly painful.¡±
I looked at Adel with a look that said couldn¡¯t you have said that earlier!? But I guess if she did, someone might have chickened out. I sighed and looked at everyone, and asked: ¡°Are you ready?¡±
¡°Boss, do it! We can take it! This pain will be nothingpared to what you had to take when you saved us.¡± Steven spoke up first. He was already gritting his teeth, waiting for the pain. It was so obvious how tense he was even before he felt anything making his expression kind of funny to the point that I almostughed.
¡°Yes, Boss, Steven is right. We can take this.¡± Even Hailey was saying the same thing. I closed my eyes and as I said: ¡°Seal!¡±
¡°¡±¡±¡±¡±Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±-.
I watched as everyone fell to the ground in pain. Even Adel was curled up on the ground, her brow full of sweat. Only Sally was still standing there, but she was barely holding on. Sophie and Sei were also in bad condition as well. But I think out of everyone, Grace was suffering the most, her whole body seemed to be drenched in sweat.
The magic circle on my hand, as soon as I said the activate word, had risen into the air and began spinning. It glowed brightly before shooting a beam of bloody light at everyone. It was only after the beam of bloody light hit them did I notice that their brows eased up, and their cries of pain had stopped. The magic circle then slowly lowered back down to my hand before merging into my skin and disappearing without a trace.
¡°Is it over?¡± I whispered as I looked at everyone.
¡°That was worse than I thought.¡± I heard Adel mumble as she slowly and unsteadily crawled up from the ground. ¡°To think the blood seal would be that painful. My father made it sound like it was not that bad.¡±
¡°Wait, so you have never seen it performed before?¡± I asked, feeling slightly shocked. Just how willing was this girl to throw herself into these things!?
¡°I have not witnessed it. My father always made me leave the throne room when a blood seal was about to take ce.¡± Adel, oh Adel. Please realize that your father was just trying to keep you from seeing such a scene! I mean, seeing people curled up crying out in pain is not something a girl her age should be seeing in the first ce. Just watching it from the side was painful!
¡°So this means we are now Boss¡¯s underlings?¡± Steven asked with a wide grin.
¡°Huh? No! You are not ves!¡± I yelled out. Why did it seem like he wanted to be my ve!?
¡°But we are now bound by the seal, never to betray you in this lifetime! That means we are now your underlings! The Dragon squa¡ Ouch! Damnit, Amanda, why did you hit me!?¡± Steven yelled out while holding his head. Thank you, Amanda! He was saying embarrassing things just now!
¡°You are bothering Boss. We can decide on a nameter on once Boss gets used to it.¡± Wait, you too, Amanda!?
I hung my head. Why are people deciding things on their own without asking me first? ¡°Not bad! You already have your own mini army.¡± Adel came over and hugged my arm. I could only shake my head. I am wondering if this was something she had nned from the start or not. Because for them to suddenly start talking about this seems to be a premeditated event.
I sighed and sat down on the ground. They could do as they pleased. They all seemed happy. ¡°Anyway, we need to make ns for the uing floors below. If there are weaker versions of the shaman goblin on the floors toe, we will end up having a harder time, unlike before.¡±
¡°Boss, what if we made a two strike n for them? If they use barriers like the boss just now, we can have you and Sally destroy the barriers while we take them out.¡± Leo suggested.
I thought about it for a moment and nodded my head. ¡°This might work only if they have much lower health. Our next boss is probably going to have many min bosses around it. If I remember correctly, it was called the Goblin Chief. After that is the big monstrosity that is protecting the core of this dungeon, it is called a Goblin Ancient and has the ability to speak. And well¡ It seems not all there in the head.¡±
¡°Faith, will you use your full dragon form on these two bosses?¡± Sophie asked.
I nodded my head as I answered: ¡°More than likely. My dragon form is much more powerful than my current self. Although, I am not sure how well I will be able to fight in it as I have never used it for fighting before. I only tested a few things out since I have been able to transform.¡±
I hated to say it, but I really was not sure how good my fighting ability would be when fighting in my dragon form. I kind of wish I had more practice with it than having to just throw caution to the wind and use it. But if I can make use of it and overpower the bosses, then it should work out fine. At least, I hope.
¡°Either way, I am sure as long as we work together, we can ovee all odds.¡± Sei spoke up while pumping her fists. She was the oldest here so she had been calm this entire time but now she looked more fired up than ever.
I shook my head and nced at everyone. But as my eyes passed by everyone I noticed something wrong. ¡°Grace are you okay!?¡±
Chapter 188 Grace Under Fire Part 1
I ran to Grace¡¯s side. She was curled up like a caterpir, holding her knees. Her entire body was soaked in sweat, and her skin seemed overly hot. Just touching her skin caused my hands to burn. ¡°Grace! What¡¯s wrong!?¡±
¡°So hot¡. So hot¡.¡± Grace mumbled out weakly. I turned and looked at Adel, who was staring at me in confusion. I have no idea what was going on, but she was fine seconds ago but now¡.
¡°The blood seal!¡± This is what came to mind. Grace was perfectly fine all the way until this point. But now, she seemed to be burning up from the inside out. I quickly turned to Sei, who was a ck knight. If anything, she would know about this more than anyone. ¡°Sei!¡±
Sei frowned slightly but still walked over and began looking at Grace. ¡°Faith, use ice magic to cool her body. It seems that the blood seal has started Grace¡¯s bloodline awakening.¡±-.
I did not need any more words as my eyes lit up, and I spoke the activation words. ¡°Ice Coffin!¡± A spell I basically created on the spot using the ice spear runic equation. It is a simple spell that encases the target in ice instead of striking through them. But I made sure to leave a section of it open around her face so she could still breathe. After that was done, I looked at Sei for more answers.
¡°She needs to keep her body as cool as possible. The issue is that a blood seal transfers a small amount of your blood into the person¡¯s body. This blood then merges into their bloodstream and flows down to their heart. Once they go against the blood seal, the blood will expand and destroy their heart, effectively killing them. But there are times when the blood seal will have an effect on a person. Like in this case, Faith, your blood triggered something in Grace¡¯s blood, and I believe now she will awaken to her bloodline.¡± Sei exined, but her expression was not good.
¡°What are you not telling me?¡± I asked. With how much pain grace was in, it seemed something was wrong.
¡°Your blood is in conflict with her bloodline. This is causing her body to heat up due to the battle that is going on inside her. If she is able to ovee this, she will definitely get stronger, but¡.¡± Sei stopped talking as if she did not wish to continue.
¡°But what!?¡± I kind of already know the answer, but I needed to be sure.
¡°If she is consumed, she will die.¡± Sei finished while letting out a long breath. Sei looked pretty worried about this. ¡°Right now, she is showing signs of losing the battle.¡±
¡°Is there anything I can do that will help with this? If I am the cause, then I will do what I can to help her. I do not want Grace to die because of me.¡± I was staying as calm as possible but inside, my mind was a mess. If she dies because of me, what will I do? Grace is one of my friends. She had stuck up for me even when she did not need to. I don¡¯t want her to be harmed in any way. But now¡. But now, because of me, she is going through all this suffering.
¡°There is a way, but it may put a strain on your body. You will need to keep injecting her with mana to allow her to gain the strength needed in her blood to finish awakening and push your bloodline back for the time being. Once she fully awakens, she will be able to merge with your blood andpletely finish the blood seal.¡± Sei exined. I needed no more words to know what I needed to do.
I sat down behind Grace with my legs on each side over her ice covered body and opened a spot big enough for my hands in the ice block. As soon as I did, the part of her clothing that was exposed to the air suddenly burnt to a crisp, revealing her now red back. I took a deep breath and ced my hands on her bare skin, ignoring the burning sensation I was feeling, and began injecting my mana into her body.
If it was mana that she needed, I could give her as much as she wanted. I have plenty to spare, after all. I slowly streamed my mana into her body,cing it with a bit of ice element. I was hoping the cooling sensation would be able to help relieve some of the pain she was going through. It was not much, just a trace but did not wish for Grace to suffer.
¡°Faith, you will need to do this until she fully awakens¡. If you use up all your mana¡.¡± Sei had a worried look on her face. I understand that she is worried, but even if I did not have infinity mana, I would still do what I could to help.
¡°Sei, you don¡¯t need to worry about Faith,¡± Adel spoke up for me. Which I was grateful for as I could not lose my concentration. It was not easy trying to spread my mana throughout Grace¡¯s body without harming her. ¡°If anyone is able tost until grace awakens her bloodline, it is Faith.¡±
¡°It¡¯s not that I do not believe you, but this could take days. No matter how many people we have, it would never be enough. We won¡¯t be able to ¡.¡± Sei was cut off by Adel.
¡°Sei! You have been serving my father since you were young and have done many missions that allowed you to see a lot of the world. But remember one thing. In this life, there are things that can not be exined. Faith is someone you just have to believe in, no matter how outrageous or impossible things may seem. I mean, have we, not all survived to this point down in this deep dungeon with powerful monsters that could easily kill any one of us? Faith has the power to deal with everything on her own, yet she has not onceined about how slow we were moving. Not to mention she has helped not only me but you as well grow stronger, has she not? With everything that she has shown, why are you second guessing her actions now?¡±
Chapter 189 Grace Under Fire Part 2
¡°Grace, hold on! Please fight! Don¡¯t give up!¡± This was all I could say. I could not do anything else but keep injecting a steady flow of my mana into her body. I could only hope that Grace could make it through this. Otherwise, I will need to deep freeze her body until I figure out a way to help her.
As the hours passed, I stayed steady and firm as I continued injecting Grace with mana. No matter how tired I felt, I forced myself to stay awake, knowing that if I faltered even once, she might just die. Sophie, Sei, Adel, and Sally all stayed at my side, not leaving me once. Everyone else would keep checking in on me to make sure I was okay while scouting the surrounding area. They were afraid of any monsters appearing out of nowhere. Even with the barrier up, they wanted to keep watch just in case. It had been ingrained in their daily habits to check their surroundings, which made sense since we have been doing it for a while, day in and day out.
¡°Faith, it¡¯s been three days. Are you okay?¡± Sei asked in a worried tone. I could see she was worried about my well being. While my eyes were droopy due tock of sleep, there was nothing else wrong with me. ¡°I am fine. It¡¯s thanks to you that I can still eat and drink, so I am okay. Just tired is all.¡±-.
Sei smiled softly at me as she put her hand on my head and rubbed it. ¡°As long as you are feeling okay. If you need a break, let me know. I will take over. I may not look it, but I do have quite a bit of mana.¡±
¡°Mmm¡ Thanks, Sei.¡± Sei is like an older sister. She worries about me and is even willing to suffer along with me. Out of everyone, she is the only one who has stayed awake this entire time. While the others slept, she would talk with me quietly. That is not to say that the others did not try to stay up as well. Adel and Sophie made it a day and a half, while Sally made it two days. Only Sei has stayed up this entire time. I am not sure if she feels partly responsible for what has happened since she knew more than Adel about blood seals or what, but it did not matter, what happened still happened. No one knew that Grace had a bloodline in her that would sh with my own.
So no one can be med for this, really. All except for me, who wanted this contract in the first ce. But even if I did not have anything to do with this, I would still help Grace no matter what to save a friend who I hold dear.
Two more days passed when Grace¡¯s temperature finally lowered. I quickly removed the ice that was encasing her body, causing her to fall back into my embrace. Her eyes were closed, but she seemed to be sleeping peacefully. Sei walked over and checked her pulse, and let out a sigh of relief. ¡°She will be fine. Whether or not her bloodline was awakened or not is another story. We won¡¯t know until she wakes up. So for now, you sh¡.¡±
I didn¡¯t get to hear the rest of Sei¡¯s words before I passed out¡.
¡°Hmmm?¡± I looked around to find myself in an unfamiliar bedroom. ¡°This ce is?¡±
¡°Your Majesty, are you awake?¡± A voice rang out at my side. I turned to see Grace standing there. ¡°Grace?¡±
¡°Is there something this humble servant can do for you?¡± Grace asked with a smile. But I was very confused. Why was she acting this way? I, for one, know I am not the kind of person to go and enve my friends. So why was she acting in such a manner? ¡°Grace, why are you calling yourself a servant?¡±
¡°If I am not a servant, then what am I? Your Majesty, are you not awake yet? What will the citizens think if they see their Queen half asleep and mumbling crazy things?¡± Grace sighed as if she was exhausted from my actions. But I was now even more confused because she was calling me Queen and saying something about citizens. But now that I am taking a good look at her, while she is definitely the Grace that I know appearance wise, just about five years or so older, she also has two sets of horns and a small white halo on her head.
I looked across the room and saw my reflection in therge mirror that covered a good chunk of the wall. I was kind of shocked to see that I looked much older. Even my proportions had grown, which kind of made me happy. I have been worried quite a bit about the size of a certain area on my chest. Although this was definitely a dream, and this could just be me imagining the perfect me, I had to say I was quite cute.
¡°Your Majesty?¡± Grace called out to me once more. I still did not understand why I was dreaming about being some kind of Queen, but, well, I will just y along for the time being.
¡°Sorry, I was still half asleep.¡± I slowly crawled out of the bigfy bed and stood up. I went to stretch only to find myself suddenly standing there naked and Grace holding the nightgown and underwear I was wearing in her hands. I blushed and quickly jumped back onto the bed and wrapped myself in the nkets. ¡°Wha!? What are you doing!?¡±
¡°What else would I be doing but changing you, Your Majesty? Why are you acting like this is two hundred years ago? Your Majesty, you must really be asleep still.¡± Grace chuckled as she ced some clothes on the bed. And then walked over to me and pulled on the nkets, ripping them right off of me. ¡°Now, please allow me to do my job!¡±
And within a matter of minutes, I was wearing a white dress with a red cloak with a fur cor wrapped around my shoulders. Grace then pulled me to the mirror and began brushing my hair, getting all the bed headedness out of it. Within thirty minutes, I waspletely redone, and to be honest, I have no idea who the person is in the mirror staring back at me.
Chapter 190 Another Strange Dream
After having my makeup and hair done, Grace ced a beautiful silver crown on my head. It was not overly extravagant, but it was still very pretty. ¡°Grace, you said two hundred years just now. What year is it exactly?¡±
¡°Your Majesty, are you okay? You have been acting weird all morning¡.¡± Grace gave me a worried look causing me to sigh. I mean, what can I say? Right now, everything felt too real to be a dream, but it still felt like a dream. It made me wonder if this was a secret wish I had deep in the deepest parts of my heart. Did I wish to be a ruler of some kind?
At Grace¡¯s question, I could only let out a dryugh and scratch the back of my head: ¡°Maybe I am getting old and forgot?¡±
Grace shook her head as she said: ¡°Your Majesty, who are you kidding? You have infinite mana. The only ones getting old are those who are not connected to you, which reminds me. You have a meeting with the Council Of Elders today.¡±-.
¡°The Council Of Elders?¡± I was even more confused than I was before. I knew nothing of what was going on, but now I had to meet a council of some kind. I sighed and looked out the window of the balcony. Only then did my eyes grow wide in surprise. Tall skyscrapers, flying carriages, and floating shops filled the sky. Arge dome barrier covered the entire city that seemed to span for many, many miles.
¡°What!?¡± I ran to the window and looked outside. The city was so futuristic looking that I waspletely surprised. It was nothing like the world I have lived in the past twelve years but more of a mix of Earth and this world¡¯s technology.
¡°What are you so surprised about? You built this city from the ground up after the great war. Your Majesty, please have breakfast. You have a full schedule today!¡± I turned to see Grace looking at me with a bit of helplessness. I could only nod as I seemed to be causing her to have a hard time. I followed her out of the room and out into a red carpeted hallway.
While the hall had many things that looked expensive, it did not seem overly decorated. Things were kept very simple. Pretty much how I would go about it if I were to decorate things. On the wall were many pictures, some people I recognized while others I did not. It made me wonder just who these other people were.
When I arrived in what Grace called the dining hall, I was met with a small table with some already prepared food set out for me. It was nothing too fancy. It was basically something Annie would make for me every morning. Simple yet nutritious. It made me wonder what had happened to Annie. But when I thought that this seemed to be two hundred years in the future, I can only guess that she had long passed away.
But seeing only one te of food made me realize something. ¡°Grace, are you not going to eat with me?¡±
¡°Your Majesty, we go through this every morning. Please realize you are no longer a normal person. You are the ruler of the Cyrilia Empire. If you do not act as you should for a person of your position, then what will everyone else think?¡± Grace scolded once more. I could only sigh as I ate my food. I had to say it was quite tasty. But as I ate, I looked up at Grace, who stood at the side and waited patiently.
¡°Umm¡ does anyone else live here?¡± I asked while pursing my lips. I mean, two hundred years in the future, I kinda wanted to know how I turned out.
¡°Your Majesty, I will cancel the first part of your schedule today so you can see a doctor. It is not good for you to be so forgetful. You have rejected every advance from every suitor since you were young, so why would anyone but servants be living here?¡± Grace¡¯s reply made me purse my lips. Sorry for not knowing about the past two hundred years when I have yet to live that long! But Did I really go two hundred years without falling in love once?
While I know I always say that this is the way to go, I was kind of surprised. But I guess when your only suitors are your best friend and people you find to be idiots, I guess this is also possible. But in a way, I still feel depressed. Did no one find me attractive enough to try to push ahead and try to win my heart? Was I really that out of everyone¡¯s line of sight when it came to love?
Sighing, I put down the fruit drink in front of me and stood up. But as I did, the world around me began to spin as things grew dark. I heard Grace yelling out to me, but soon my eyes slowly opened to see the familiar sight of the dungeon I had been in for a few weeks. ¡°What a strange drea¡¡±
In front of my eyes was a familiar figure but, this time, much younger. This was the Grace I remember but on her head was a set of horns and a white halo. I was actually second guessing myself as I reached out and grabbed one of the horns. ¡°Its realm¡.. But how!?¡±
¡°Master¡.¡± Grace knelt down and suddenly bowed her head to the ground, causing not only me but everyone else around me to stare at Grace in surprise. I looked at Sei, the only one I knew that might understand what was going on, but she only shook her head and shrugged her shoulders. She did not seem to understand what was going on either.
¡°Umm, Grace, why are you calling me Master?¡± I asked in confusion.
¡°Because you are my Master, why else would I call you Master?¡± Grace¡¯s head tilted to the side as she stared at me with a look that said: ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious?¡± But I really had no idea what was going on!
Chapter 191 Angelic Race
I immediately looked at everyone else because I really had no idea what was going on. Yes, I know I just dreamt about Grace being my maid, but this and that are two different things. Not to mention I really did not wish for my friends to be my servants! ¡°Can someone tell me what is going on!?¡±
¡°We don¡¯t know either. You have been asleep only for a few hours, but¡ An hour after you fell asleep, Grace suddenly sat up, and out of thin air, both the horns and halo appeared on her head. She has been sitting in front of you ever since. This is actually the first time she has spoken since she woke up. She only sat there by your side, ignoring everyone else.¡± Adel exined. I could tell she was worried. Everyone was. This was to be expected with how Grace was acting.
I held my head and looked at Grace. ¡°Grace, do you remember anything before you woke up?¡±
¡°Hmmmm? Of course.¡± Grace answered with no hesitation.
¡°Then why are you calling me Master all of a sudden? You never called me this before.¡± I asked. I just hope she won¡¯t give me the same answer again.-?(0)???.
¡°Hmmm¡. I think it is because my blood is linked to yours?¡± Grace answered. I could tell she herself was also not sure.
¡°Faith, if I may, and this is just a hypothesis, but I think the reason for her bodily changes is because your blood was more dominant. I think her bloodline has something to do with the ancient Angelic race. From what I read, they were a race of servants who served an ancient unknown race. But this race also had horns.
¡°This is all just a thought, but I believe that your blood has traces of this race, and that is why she has be subservient. Your blood dominated over her blood during the awakening, and this is why things havee down to this. This would also exin Grace¡¯s ability to use high heal and has such powerful light magic. The Angelic race was a race of people who were all master light element users.¡± Sei exined, causing me to frown. If this was the case wouldn¡¯t that mean Grace was forced to be my servant due to my blood?
¡°Is there a way to break such a bond?¡± I asked. But as soon as those words left my mouth, I regretted it. ?(O)???
¡°Master! You do not want me anymore!?¡± Grace¡¯s eyes became filled with tears as she once more pressed her head against the ground. ¡°If Master thinks I am of no use, then this servant will extinguish this useless life.¡±
¡°Grace, wait!¡± Not only did I yell out, but so did many of the others. Grace was already wielding a dagger she pulled out of god knows where and was ready to gut herself. Luckily she stopped at mymand.
¡°Ma-Master?¡± Grace looked up at me with tears rolling down her cheeks, causing me to let out a long sigh.
I forced a smile as I said: ¡°Who said you were useless? I was just asking a question. I do not want to throw you away or anything close to it.¡±
¡°Master!¡± Grace cried out as she lunged at me, hugging me. I could only pat her back. I was feeling exhausted. For now, I will just leave things as they are. When we leave this dungeon, I will go to the library first thing and try to research how to break this stupid servant thing. But if that dream was actually real, then¡. I sighed once more, just thinking about it.
¡°Faith¡¡± Adel walked over, tears were brimming in her eyes. I watched as she knelt down next to me and lowered her head. ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡. If I knew any of this, I would not have suggested the ¡.¡±
I reached out and ced my hand on her head. ¡°It¡¯s not your fault. I was the one who wanted a contract to keep my secrets safe. Everyone here is arade, and we fought many battles together, living through life and death situations, but I still¡.¡±
¡°Boss¡.¡± Steve suddenly spoke up. ¡°I may not be able to speak for everyone, but I can say this for sure, whether you are a dragon, a human, or even a monster, I, for one, do not regret signing the blood seal contract as it means we are now connected even more than before. It means that I have be part of arger family of people. With the way you have protected us and helped us during this time so far, risking it all to allow us to escape this ce, I have no issues with signing the blood contract even if I were to end up like Grace.¡±
¡°I agree!¡± Leo shouted after. ¡°You have helped us so much that even our own prowess that was once rather weak has jumped leaps and bonds. You also used your own body to shield us. If you are not someone who is worthy of following, then I do not know who is.¡±
Hailey also stepped forward as she said: ¡°Faith, you have allowed me, who was useless altogether with no actual ability to join the academy, to have an actual chance to do so. The way I see it is as if you have given me a new lease on life.¡±
This was followed by everyone else. Although it was not the best way to cheer me up, it did help a bit. ¡°Well, if anyone feels like they are growing horns and halos, let me know¡.¡±
?(O)??? ¡°Hehe¡.¡± I heardughtering from my stomach and shook my head. Was this girl not just crying before? I shook my head and looked at everyone. ¡°While things took a strange turn, how has it been? Did any monsters show up while I was asleep?¡±
¡°No, we kept watch, and not a single monster has appeared here,¡± Adel answered.
¡°Alright, then let¡¯s get the drops situated. Front line tanks and healers will get the first pick, excluding me. I do not need any armor.¡± I wanted the front line to be properly equipped before we continued. As well as anything that might help Grace in boosting her healing.
¡°That is what we thought as well, but we do not know what is what¡.¡±
Chapter 192 Items
I pondered for a moment before going to get up. Luckily Grace let go of me and sat up with a face full of smiles as I moved. But as I walked over to the pile of items, I noticed she stayed three steps behind me with her hands folded in front of her. It was a very strange feeling. Even Annie never acted like this, and she was always stiff about her job. But I did not dare say anything about her actions in case she tried to take her own life again.
I looked at the first item, which was a leather chest piece: ¡°Appraisal.¡±
[Shaman¡¯s Chest Guard]
[Rarity]: Rare
[Defense]: 200
[Vitality]: 50-?(0)???.
Seeing the information, I suddenly felt that this whole dungeon was messing with me! I mean, really? Why do the items have stats!?
[Shaman¡¯s Belt]
[Rarity]: Rare
[Defense]: 40
[Intelligence]: 20 ?(O)???
Each one had some form of defense and bonus stats to it. And this was just the armor that wasid out. There was a huge axe lying in the pile as well!
[Shaman¡¯s Protective Axe]
[Rarity]: Rare
[Attack Power]: 600
[Strength]: 60
[Vitality]: 35
I rubbed my head, seeing these items. But in a way, this was also good as well. Since only Adel and I had systems at this time, no one had any way of really powering themselves up except for self buffs, so this would help our progress a lot. With this thought in mind, I began giving out the items to those I thought would benefit from them the most at this time. As for the Axe¡. It took four people to carry it, and I seemed to be the only one able to lift it with one hand. So it was decided that I would take it. To be honest, I am not sure how helpful this will be, but I guess there is nothing stopping me from using a different weapon. It¡¯s not like my swordsmanship is anything decent. And I could swing the axe just as well as my sword.
I did not n to take anything, but there was no reason to waste something that would give me bonuses. My sword was basically a trash itempared to this axe. But there was one thing that was off about this axe¡.. It was almost half as tall as I am!
Luckily with it nted to the side, it will stay just above the ground, allowing me to walk around normally. The other thing that kind of amazed me was that the items, no matter how big they were, instantly fitted to the person wearing them, even if it was too small or too big.
¡°Alright, everyone, rest up. We will have a hard time ahead of us.¡± I also needed to rest. I have not slept for many days besides the few hours I got after Grace was safe. I did not wait for anyone to answer as my eyes began to grow heavy. I walked over to the side of the boss room and leaned up against the wall. As soon as I closed my eyes, I could feel my consciousness slipping away.
¡°What are you doing!? Let her sleep on myp!¡± Adel¡¯s voice woke me up as I felt my head being pulled in some direction.
¡°Master only needs her servant, me, to allow her to rest properly. Unnecessary and unrted people can just go die.¡± Grace, you just told the princess of the kingdom to go die¡. While I did wish to say something, I felt my head being tugged in another direction once more.
I am starting to think these two are doing it on purpose. Their little spat continued for a good couple of minutes before I finally became too annoyed: ¡°Can you both cut it out!?¡±
¡°Ah! Master, I am sorry!¡± Grace cried out while suddenly kneeling to the ground once more. Adel, on the other hand, only snorted and looked the other way.
¡°Grace, please stop bowing at everything little thing. And Adel, I keep telling you not to fight with Grace! You two get along just fine but fight over the weirdest things! You both almost ripped my head off just now!¡± My neck was really sore! I don¡¯t understand why they fight so much. And every time they do fight, it has something to do with me, which makes it even more confusing.
?(O)??? ¡°But she¡¡± Adel wanted to argue, but I cut her off and shook my finger at her. ¡°No means no!¡±
¡°I¡¯m not a pet!¡± Adel yelled out while pouting.
I chuckled and reached out to scratch her chin, causing Adel to swat my hand away and turn away from me. When she acted like this, she was quite cute. ¡°Anyway, how long have I been asleep?¡±
¡°A full day. But that is to be expected with how many days you have been awake.¡± Sei answered as she handed me a drink.
¡°How is everyone else¡¯s condition?¡± As long as everyone else was fine, we could begin diving deeper into the dungeon and hopefully finish this up quickly. Although I know it will not be that easy, I can still hope for the best.
¡°Everyone is in top shape and can move out at any time,¡± Sophie answered.
¡°Then let¡¯s gather.¡± I stood up and stretched my arms. I then picked the axe up and strapped it to my back.
When everyone was gathered, I stood in front of them and began giving a bit of a moral speech. ¡°We are about to dive deeper. The road ahead may be harder than thest, but I promise to do my best to protect you all. I can not say for sure if we will all live to reach and defeat thest boss, we may even get wiped out as soon as we climb down those stairs. But I do want you all to do your best to stay alive. If you get hurt, announce it. Let everyone know so we can try to cover for you. We are in this together and we will do our best to survive and return together.¡±
Chapter 193 Diving Once Again
Looking down the long set of stairs in front of me makes me kind of nervous about what to expect after such a hard boss encounter. With my new and amazing axe in hand, I slowly climbed down the stairs with everyone else following behind me.
¡°Ah!¡± Sophie suddenly screamed out causing me and everyone else to turn around. What I saw made me frown.
¡°Is everyone here?¡± I called out to do a head check.
¡°Yeah, Boss, everyone is here. It seemed to wait for all of us to enter the stairs before sealing us off.¡± Steven answered..
The entrance to the boss room was sealed off with the same exact barrier as the one in the boss room on the first floor. This meant only one thing. ¡°Looks like this will happen each time we kill a boss. But this is also good. We do not need to worry about our backs being attacked at this moment. Just keep an eye out.¡±
With that said, I turned and continued down the stairs. The stairs were not just a straight path. They spiraled down for quite a while before finallying to a stop in front of the entrance of another long dark tunnel. ¡°Grace, send lights down the tunnel¡±.
¡°Yes, Master!¡± Grace shouted happily. Secondster, ten balls of light shot down the tunnel, eaching to a stop at a certain point in the tunnel. To be honest, this was a huge improvement from before. It seemed Grace¡¯s awakening helped her gain more control over her magic. Even the lights were brighter than before.
¡°Okay, same formation as always. But be extra careful with this tight tunnel.¡± I shouted before gripping my axe and stepping into the tunnel. The floor here was a bit more uneven and slippery. Like the floor was covered in moss. We had to move much slower in order to keep our footing.
As we made our way down the tunnel keeping our eyes peeled for anything out of the ordinary. But the walls, while rocky, there were no deep crevices that I could see, and with how bright it was, there were no hidden ces either. This made traveling down them less nerve-racking.
When we finally came to the end, Grace once more sent out an array of balls of lights that filled therge room, lighting every inch of it. What was revealed was a nest of hobgoblins and three goblin shamans, which made all of us grow silent. Strangely though was that they did not turn towards us or even seem to care about the new light that was filling the room.
¡°Boss, how should we do this? They are pretty clustered together.¡± Leo asked as he looked into the room.
¡°How else but the same way we always do things. We already know the shaman¡¯s abilities, so we can test the waters a bit. But this time we will be doing it in this hall. I will set up a barrier that will cover the outside of the door and the wall around it. From the looks of it, there are around twenty hobgoblins and three shamans. I will pull and then tunnel them in one at a time. This will also give our tight quartersbat a bit of practice as well.¡± It was actually not a bad idea to use this as practice for when we have no choice but to be elbow to elbow.
My eyes lit up as I waved my hand, causing a barrier to form at the entrance of the tunnel. ¡°Alright, I will now go pull, be ready!¡±
¡°Yes!¡± Everyone answered at the same time. I chuckled and passed through the barrier. Gripping my axe with one hand, I raised the other and pointed a finger at the hobgoblins. I then fired off a small fireball at the closest hobgoblin.
¡°Graaaaahhh!!!¡± The goblin yelled out and looked around. As soon as it saw me, it cried out once more, causing the other goblins to turn and look at me before the whole mass of green flesh began moving towards me. I backpedaled through the barrier and waited on the other side for our prey to make its way over. ¡°Remember norge scale attacks and only attack if it is possible. You do not want to hurt your teammates by ident.¡±
The first hobgoblin made its way into the barrier, and on my signal, attacks began to rain down on it. It died so fast that I was quite surprised at the amount of damage being outputted. ¡°Ummm¡¡± I stared at the now hobgoblin corpse that took less than a minute to kill in awe. ¡°Alright, I will let three in. Do the same as before.¡±
Once again, the damage output was insane. Just a few items, and everyone was doing much more damage. I was quite happy to see this. In a matter of minutes, we cleared out all twenty hobgoblins and began moving on to the shamans. The only difference was that the shamans would not move through the barrier. They were much smarter than hobgoblins. This meant we had to fight in a more open manner.
¡°Boss, what will we do now?¡± Amanda asked as I stood there and looked at the three shaman goblins that were standing outside the barrier looking back at us. I couldn¡¯t help but think that they were just waiting for us to drop the barrier so they could bombard us with spells.
¡°Sally, Sophie!¡± I called out. With the way things were and with how easily we are doing damage now, I do believe we will not need as many barriers as we fight. I think if we continue as we are and can get a better understanding of our skills we will be able to move forward much faster. This is why I think I will teach range magic users some area of effect spells to quicken our progress through the dungeon.
¡°¡±Yes!¡±¡± Both immediately came to my side. I am sure they already know what I have nned. ¡°Sophie you are on the right, Sally on the left. I will take the middle. Sei, you are on barriers. Only use it if there is magic flying towards the back line. Everyone else will start with Sally¡¯s target! Let¡¯s do this!¡±
¡°¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±Yeah!!!!¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±
Chapter 194 Mimic
I decided not to lower the barrier but instead just had everyone charge right through it since it did not prevent people from leaving, just from entering. I only decided to do it this way so that the shamans would have as much time to react. And as soon as we exited, the shamans began casting spells, but they were much slower than the boss, which made me relieved. All three of us, Sally, myself, and Sophie, all reached our targets before they could finish casting their spells and attacked them. Our attacksnded on their barriers, but they shattered upon impact, allowing our attacks to follow through. And in the same instant that it all started, it was over.
¡°Uhhh¡. Is it just me, or did we just one shot them?¡± I turned and looked at Sally and then at Sophie. Each one of us had instantly killed our targets.
¡°They were hundreds of times weaker than the boss.¡± Sally replied with a bit of disappointment in her voice.
¡°Well, so much for getting all hyped up!¡± Steven yelled out beforeughing. This was followed by everyone else bursting out intoughter as well.
After a few minutes, we calmed down when Rick suddenly yelled out: ¡°Boss! Two chests!¡±
I turned and looked in the direction Rick was pointing and sure enough, in the middle of the room where the small goblin camp was were two chests. I pursed my lips as I signaled for everyone to stay put as I walked towards the chest. ¡°Appraisal!¡±
[Bronze Chest].
[A Dungeon chest that will contain random bronze ranked items]
I then casted appraisal on the second chest as well¡
[Elite Mimic]
[Level]: 90
[HP]: 500000/500000
[MP]: 100000/100000
Seeing the name of the second chest, I couldn¡¯t help but frown. ¡°Mimic¡.¡± I began digging through my memories to see if I remember anything that had to do with mimics, and the only info I coulde up with was that they are monsters that can pretend to be other things. Such as treasure chests, walls, and even humans or other beings for that matter. They lure people in and then eat them using theirrge tongue or tentacles and huge mouth withrge sharp teeth to pull them in
I quickly backed away and returned to everyone else. ¡°One is a treasure chest while the other is a new monster called a mimic, and it has half the health as the previous boss.¡±
¡°Are we going to fight it? If it is a treasure chest, it shouldn¡¯t be able to walk, right?¡± Adel asked.
¡°We don¡¯t know for sure. Mimics can turn into anything, that includes you or I. If we try to pass, it might use its ability to pretend to be one of us. Then we will all be in danger.¡± I replied. We had no choice but to fight the mimic. I couldn¡¯t risk everyone¡¯s lives over such things.
¡°Then how do we fight it?¡± This time it was Sei who asked the question.
¡°I will go in solo to start. I have the biggest chance to survive. Wait one minute, then ranged can begin attacking it afterward. All melee will sit this out for the time being and just watch how I fight it. ¡± I couldn¡¯t think of any other ns, and I had the highest health and defense, so it was better that I tried tanking it while the others watched and learned. Although I guess I would be learning how to fight it as well but even so, I was still the best person for the job.
I moved forward and edged my way near the mimic. I did not dare just casually throw a magic spell at it in case it did something unexpected like some mass area of effect spell that could wipe us all out. I would prefer for it to focus on me. I already had mana shieldyered on my body, so it was not as visible.
Sweat trickled down my cheek as I got closer and closer. My eyes never left the mimic for even a second. But if my memories are right, in this one novel I read, mimics waited until adventurers actually began to open them before springing its trap. If this is the case, it might be a simple minded monster.
I finally stood right in front of the mimic and slowly raised my ax. I was not stupid enough to go and try to open it. I would rather hopefully deal a fatal blow from the start. I took a deep breath before letting both my arms transform into dragon arms, keeping them much smaller and slender so I could swing the axe easier and brought it down like a hammer of justice!
*Boom!*
¡°Chreeeekaaaa!¡±
The mimic cried out in pain, or at least I think this was it crying out in pain. Revealing its big mouth and rows of razor sharp teeth. I quickly jumped back and cast appraisal once more to check its health.
[Elite Mimic]
[Level]: 90
[HP]: 26700/500000
[MP]: 100000/100000
Seeing how much damage I had just dealt, shocked me. But I had no time to think as the mimic shot out many tentacles out of its mouth right at me! I quickly dodged them and chopped the ones that were about to capture me. But I only had to do this for a few seconds before a rain of attacknded on the mimic, instantly finishing it off. ¡°That was much easier than I thought, but that would definitely be more dangerous to others as I had the chance to back away. If I was close, I could have easily been run through by those tentacles.¡±
The mimic¡¯s tentacles looked quite sharp and were very fast. With mana shield I may have been easily able to block them, but there is no telling at this point. I could feel something different about those tentacles. And to be honest, I do not wish to test my mana shield against them any time soon. I would be crazy to do so.
I walked over to the mimicying slipped over on the ground, and poked it with my axe a few times even though I knew it was already dead. I then went to the bronze chest and popped it open. Inside I saw many pieces of armor and a few weapons and also a familiar stone. I picked it up and used appraisal on it.
[System Stone]
[Consumable]
[Gives one person a system.]
[Systems allow one to gain new skills by using skill points. Allows one to gain status points upon leveling up and unlocks hidden potential.]
Chapter 195 Explaining The System Part 1
Seeing the system stone, I couldn¡¯t help but be a little surprised that such a thing was found in a treasure chest. I figured it would only appear as a boss drop like the first one. But this was also okay because now I could give it to Adel to give to Lance, and hopefully, this would benefit the kingdom that had been so good to me. I put the stone aside and grabbed the other items. There were more pieces of armor, all of which gave stats like vitality, strength, and intelligence. I quickly organized them by type and called for Steven ¡°Steven!¡±
¡°Yes, Boss!?¡± Steven ran over to me. I turned and pointed to the items I had organized. ¡°Everyone who did not get somethingst time should get something this time. Do it based on what their specialty is. The pile to the left is for melee fighters, while the pile on the right is for casters. These two pieces here should be good for Tom.¡± I had made sure to keep the two agility items separate from the rest because if things were going ording to the novels I read, then agility was best for bow users.
Right now, I do not care about myself as much as I do for everyone else. Just the few items that were handed out earlier have boosted everyone¡¯sbat ability. So the more damage they can do, the better. As Steven was passing out items, I pulled Adel to the side once more and shoved the system stone into her hands. ¡°For your brother.¡±.
Adel looked at the small stone and then back at me before pushing the stone back into my hands. ¡°Right now, it is more important to give it to those you trust. But if I may make a suggestion, I think Sally should get the next one. She is normally on the main front line with you.¡±
Adel¡¯s words dide as a surprise. I did not expect her to tell me to give it to Sally. But thinking about it, Sally was indeed on the front line the most due to herbat abilities and high natural defense. Not to mention she was now under a double contract with me. The only other people I could actually trust fully would be Sei, Grace, and Sophie. With this in mind, I nodded my head and said: ¡°After this, it will be Sophie and Sei. If we can find more system stones than that, the next one will be Grace, who is our main healer, then Lance. Steven and then Leo¡.¡±
I was trying to make sure those close to me all had a system so they could grow faster. But I had to prioritize who got what. Lance was getting a system stone before Steven only because I do not know how many I will be able to find while in this dungeon. If I can get even one more, I would be happy.
The thing about this ce is that we do not know much about dungeons yet or how they work. But I do wonder why no one has mentioned system stones yet since I am sure many have dived into some dungeons here and there. Unless the leaders of each country are keeping things under wraps, if that was the case, then it would make sense.
¡°Sally,e here for a moment,¡± I called Sally over.
¡°Young Miss?¡± Sally came to my side. And like a ma, as if she would lose her position, Grace suddenly appeared right behind me, standing there about five feet away with her arms folded in front of her. I chuckled and motioned for her toe closer. But after giving it some thought, I also called over Sei and Sophie.
With a wave of my hand, I created a small barrier to iste us and had everyone sit with Sally sitting next to me. I am sure the others are wondering what is going on, but I do n to exin things soon. ¡°Faith, why all the secrecy?¡± Sei asked.
¡°It¡¯s this here.¡± I held out the stone that glimmered in the light of the room. ¡°This here is called a system stone. And it allows one to grow stronger by leveling up by killing monsters. At each level up, you will gain five status points which you can use to boost your strength more. I am exining this to you now, so you understand why I am so quick to take these stones. It has nothing to do with me liking shiny things or anything like that¡. ¡°
Okay, so I might be very unconvincing on thest part there, but so what! I am a dragon, after all! Although everyone did give me weird stares. I have once¡. A few times, jumped at a few shiny objects in the presence of everyone here.
¡°Anyway¡.¡± I scratched my nose as I continued: ¡°Adel has already gotten her system. And as you can see, she is doing perfectly fine and even raised her stats quite a bit. This stone I n to give to Sally as she is one of the main tanks. If we find more, I n to give them out in this order. Sophie, Sei, then Grace. If we get more than three, I will be keeping one for Lance and then handing them out to the others.¡±
¡°Wait! Faith, what do you mean by system?¡± Sei asked in confusion. She seemed to be having a hard time taking in what I was saying. Although it did not help that I was not really exining it well. It was just that the whole thing was hard to exin without having a visual way of showing them. Or maybe I do have a way to show them?
¡°Ummm¡ Well¡. Adel, can you open your menu?¡± Adel nodded at my request, and a blue holographic screen appeared in front of her. This was one thing that was different from my system and the one you get from the system stone. Mine was invisible to everyone else. But Adel¡¯s, on the other hand, was clearly visible to me at least.
¡°What!?¡± Sei cried out as she looked at the blue holographic screen in front of Adel.
¡°Sei, I will exin how it all works after Sally gets hers. It will be easier to exin that way.¡±
This chapter is a preview, if you want to see a faster and more up-to-date chapter, please visit . for more content.
Chapter 196 Explaining The System Part 2
I watched as Sally took the stone, and just as it did for Adel, a small window appeared before her. ¡°Do I just hit yes?¡± Sally asked.
¡°Yes,¡± I replied while nodding. Secondster, Sally had a window just like Adel¡¯s floating in front of her. Her brow furrowed as she looked at it. I guess she was trying to understand it all. ¡°Alright, first thing is first. Sally, do you use anyrge scale magic attacks or anything that would require you to need a boost to magic?¡±
This was important while I believe she would not need much other than strength, vitality, and a mix of agility and mind. I do not know exactly where she gets all her power from. For all I know, she could be using some kind of special body enhancing spell that requires a decent amount of mana. While this is highly doubtful, I do not know for sure.
¡°No. I am a bit different from other rabbitkin. I have a very strong physic and high strength. My race is normally weak and fluffy.¡± Sally replied honestly.
¡°How many status points do you have then?¡±.
¡°Ummm, 1230 in total.¡± I nodded my head at her answer. I had expected her to have many more points as Sally seemed to have gotten out more than others. I bet Sei has even more.
¡°Alright, then do 500 vitality which is your health, and 500 strength. Then 115 in both agility to boost your speed and 115 in mind to increase your mana pool. Then every level up, stick two points in vitality and strength while alternating yourst point between mind and agility.¡± I think this would be a decent allocation as it would boost her all around. And just like I told Adel that alternating points was definitely needed.
Sally did as I told her, but she paused before putting points into mind. ¡°Faith, why mind?¡±
¡°Well, you know how everyone is basically born with a set amount of mana?¡± I asked while looking at everyone. When I saw them all nod to my words, I continued: ¡°Well, by adding points into mind, you are raising your limit, which means you are extending your life.¡±
¡°Wait, if that is true, then if we keep leveling up and keep adding points to mind, we can effectively live for hundreds if not thousands of years?¡± Sei asked.
¡°As far as I know, that should be the case. I can not say for sure. But it would not be wise to just put all your points into mind either. You would want to spread things out into main and sub main. Which you saw me do just now. Sub main are just added stats that will boost other aspects of your body. While the two main ones are based on your fighting style. Like Adel is intelligence and mind for main and then vitality and agility sub main. Sei would be more strength, vitality main and intelligence, and mind sub main because you are a magic knight. Grace would be the same as Adel. And I am well a bit different from you all.¡± I exined.
¡°Wait, You have a system too?¡± Sei asked. Which I kinda figured she would. After all, we have only run into two of these stones. Although the first was snatched up by me without many paying attention.
I sighed and decided toe clean with everyone. ¡°I have had a system since I was born. You can say I am an anomaly.¡±
¡°Well, you have been strange since I have met you.¡± Sei teased, causing me to stick my tongue out at her.
¡°Well, between my current abilities and everything else, you can say it is all thanks to my system.¡± I won¡¯t go into details, but this should at least give them an understanding of how powerful a system can be.
¡°Then I can not wait to get mine.¡± Sei¡¯s voice was filled with excitement. She then nudged Sophie and said: ¡°Hurry up and get yours already so I can have my turn.¡±
I chuckled and shook my head. ¡°Let¡¯s just hope we can find more. Any more questions?¡±
¡°I do not think I understand things enough to really ask more questions.¡± Sei replied.
¡°Does the system have other capabilities besides raising these stats?¡± Sophie asked.
¡°I am not sure yet. Adel has been ying around with it, but we still have not really had a chance to dive deep into it.¡± I answered before standing up and stretching. I then looked at Grace, who was still doing Grace things, and asked: ¡°What about you?¡±
¡°As long as I am by Master¡¯s side, nothing else matters.¡± Grace replied. I was still not used to this whole master servant thing.
¡°After Sei, you are next. I just want those close to me to get the system first. I might sound selfish, but if this world is really going to change, I want all of you to have an advantage.¡± I may be being selfish, but I can¡¯t help but want to protect those who are closest to me. I also n to hopefully get systems for my family as well. Even if I can¡¯t or say they refuse, I will protect them with everything I have.
Grace smiled and bowed her head. ¡°Then I am grateful for Master¡¯s concern.¡±
¡°Alright. We have been sitting here long enough. Let¡¯s continue!¡± This little meeting hadsted a lot longer than I had expected. Although I am nervous about the future, I am kind of happy that I can allow those close to me to extend their lifespan, even if it is only by a few years or so. If they can get a few hundred even, then I would be happy. What wille, I do not know, but I do know for sure that whatever it is, I will do my best to be ready. If the things in my dreams are or wille true one day. I will need to stay on guard for any signs of what is toe.
I twirled the axe in my hand and let my lips curled up as I looked at the group of people in front of me waiting for me. ¡°Let¡¯s finish this!¡±
¡°Yeah!!!!¡±
Chapter 197 Explaining The System Part 3
We once again began our dive, floor after floor, killing goblins and even more mimics. It seemed that the floors were made for gathering the gear needed for the bosses because we had found many items from weapons to armor and, of course, more system stones. Right now, Sophie, Sei, and Grace all have their systems as well. Adel had one put away for Lance, and I still have three more on hand.
This was why I was currently standing in front of everyone after just clearing a monster nest. ¡°I am sure most of you have probably wondered why I keep having small meetings with Adel and the others. The reason is this.¡±
I held up the stone in my hand. ¡°This here is called a system stone. It enables a person to gain a system and allows them to grow stronger. This system stone is what Adel, Sophie, Sally, Sei, and Grace have already used. I am sure you have seen the changes in their abilities. Currently, I only have three more on hand, but they seem to drop quite frequently since we have been making our way to the next boss room. I will be handing them out to those I feel will benefit from them the most first.¡±
¡°Boss, what exactly are system stones?¡± Steven asked.
¡°They are a means of growing more powerful as you level up. You may have noticed it already, but even without the system, you have also been growing stronger. This is because this dungeon is affecting your growth. Hailey, you have begun casting magic that you would never have been able to cast before this. This is all because of how this dungeon seems to work. It is to allow people to grow stronger through life and death trials.¡± While I did not know if this was true or not, this was the conclusion I havee to for now.
¡°The system has five stats that are the makeup of your body. Strength for power, vitality which will determine how long you can survive for, intelligence for how strong your magic is, mind will raise your max mana capacity allowing you to live longer lives and finally, agility for speed and reflexes..
¡°All of these can be raised with each level you gain. Each level gives five status points to allow you to distribute them how you see fit. My suggestion is to split your points up into two sets.
¡°Your main stats and your sub stats. Sub stats, unless you are a caster, who should always have mind in their main stat. If you have questions and wonder what you should concentrate on for stats, let me know, and I will try to help you. Oh, one final note. When you get a system, all your status points for all your levels you have gained without it will be there for you to spend as well. Think of it as a nice reward for all your efforts.¡± I exined. I actually think I am getting better at this. But now, it was time to hand out the stones.
¡°Steven, Leo, Hailey. You three will get thest of the system stones I have. Please do not think I am ying favorites either when I hand out the stones. I am doing this based on two factors. Team role and how much they really need it. Steven and Leo are in main roles of the team, while Hailey is the one in most need of a system. I want everyone to finally acquire one. So please just be patient.¡± I did not want them to think I was being biased when giving out stones. While I was at first, but at the same time, everyone who got one so far is in major roles of the team or in need of the stones.
¡°Boss, don¡¯t think so lowly of us. I could care less if I amst as long as we can all be stronger. You said we are leveling up anyways as we progress without the system, right? Then that is just as well. This means we can save up more points and spend them all at once when we finally get a system.¡± Amanda said with a big smile. ¡°So let me gost! I want to see just how much I can save up.¡±
I looked at Amanda and chuckled. ¡°Then I will make youst.¡± She grinned at me and pushed Hailey to the front. I then proceeded to hand out the three stones.
After everything was set, we continued to clear the floors, and I have to say that once Steven got to spend his points, he was now instantly killing hobgoblins and shamans. What was once a hard battle for him was now easy as can be. Slowly but surely, we gained more stones, and they got passed out. Brad, Tom, ke, Rick, and Amanda all now had systems as well.
What surprised me was that the stones had now started to drop from monsters as well as other items as well. We began to get things like potions, which I used appraisal on and was able to find out their effects. From healing to mana recovery and even stamina. Antidotes and timed buffs. Many different kinds of potions. Everyone was also now almost fully decked out in dungeon armor as well. This included myself.
With the teaming function of my system, I was able to invite everyone into team, and well, I got yells of surprise due to my health and mana, but luckily I was able to wave it all off. But what really surprised me was how fast we were leveling up after we all teamed up. Because the monster count was getting higher and higher as we continued on, everyone began taking on monsters solo to help clear the area faster. And this mean a flood of experience.
Currently i am at :
[Humanoid Form]
[Name]: Faith Cyrilia
[Age] 12
[Level] 170
[Race] Dragonic
[HP] 56750/56750
[MP] ¡Þ
[Attack Power] 56350
[Magic Power] 56350
[Status Points] 1130
[Strength] 5635
[Vitality] 5675
[Intelligence] 5635
[Mind] ¡Þ
[Agility] 5635
[Skill Points] 129
[Skills]
[Appraisal (LVL 10(MAX))] [Military Command (LVL 10(MAX))] [Military Tactics (LVL 10(MAX))] [Business Tycoon (LVL 10(MAX))] [Acting (LVL 1(MAX))]
Chapter 198 New Spells For Everyone
¡°Everyone stop!¡± I yelled out as we came to a set ofrge metal doors. They had two grim reaper looking things engraved on each side with a horned skull on the seam of the middle of the door where the doors woulde together.
¡°This must be the boss room.¡± Adel came to stand by my side. I nodded my head, agreeing with her. ¡°We will need to be very careful. This is supposed to be the Goblin Chief.¡±
I turned and looked at everyone. They were all now seasoned fighters. They could easily take on five hobgoblins each, even Adel. ¡°I guess it is about time.¡±
¡°About time?¡± Adel looked at me with a confused expression..
¡°I think it is time that I teach everyone new magic that will help them in the uing fights. Everyone should have enough mana by now.¡± I had been nning to help everyone learn new spells appropriate to their own abilities. And now that everyone was well over level one hundred and able to cast many spells with ease, it was time to really make them powerful.
¡°Everyone, listen up!¡± I called out as I jumped into the air. ¡°From this moment on, we will be doing magic training. I will be teaching you all new spells. Also, if you have ideas for spells, you can let me know as well. I will do what I can to create a magic circle for it.¡±
¡°What!? Boss, you can make magic spells as well!?¡± Leo yelled out in surprise.
¡°Leo, you should know by now that Boss is a goddess. She can do anything!¡± Amanda yelled as she kicked Leo.
¡°Amanda, why did you kick me!?¡± Leo, during this time, had lost a lot of weight and was much more muscr than before. It turned out that under his pudgy face and body, he was actually quite handsome. I have noticed Amanda taking a liking to him. A love that had bloomed during the dive in a dungeon. Is it wrong for love to bloom in a dungeon?
All I can say is that the two would make a cute couple. And it was in as day to see that Amanda did like him. I think a lot of it had to do when we came to an area with hobgoblins who could use bows, and Leo protected her by shielding her with his body. A hero saving a beauty kind of moment. The boys will tease Leo about it, and Amanda would stand next to him, blushing, making the teasing even worse for Leo. ¡°Why did I kick you? Because you are questioning Faith¡¯s abilities!¡±
¡°Alright enough!¡± I yelled out with augh. ¡°To answer your question, I can, for the most part. Whether you will be able to use them or not is another story. For now, I will be going by everyone¡¯s current main element for a higher tier spell. ke, Hailey, You two are first since you are both fire users.¡±
For these two, I nned to teach them fire pir. For Hailey, it would be a good area of effect attack to use when there are too many monsters, and for ke, the same as Hailey, but he can also use the pirs as a means to stage a sneak attack by using the pirs of mes as a means to closing in on someone and as cover.
I spent an hour with them going over each rune and drawing the magic circle in the air many times so that they could study it. With the both of them increasing their intelligence, it did not take much time for them to learn them.
After ke and Hailey worked with Amanda on a mass water slicer spell. It took concepts of my Faithylon and reworked it to make a water slicer spell that could spawn around a group of targets and basically dice them all up.
For Leo, I worked with I¡¯m on a spell that used his two specialties. Rock wall and rock spikes. Ibined them into a spell I called Stone Maiden. He could create arge stone statue that opened up to reveal thousands of spikes. When it closed, it would pierce through all the targets captured inside. Funnily enough, the image he used for the statue was Amanda, and he ended up getting beaten up for it.
For Brad, we worked together toe up with a spell called chained lightning. It was basically something I stole from a game back on Earth. He could shoot a bolt of lightning out of his hand as he charged forward with his spear. It was a two pronged attack that dealt damage to the target but also paralyzed them as well. The best part was that it did not stop at just one target but arched out and hit the next target that was within fifty feet of it.
Rick and Steven were both tricky as they did not really have a main element. I ended up teaching them some wind magic that would spin around their bodies and attack their enemies with des of wind.
With Tom, I came up with the idea ofbining his wind element with arrows that he could fire from his bow. He could fire off as many arrows as he wanted at the same time into the air, and the wind would keep them together. Once it reached a certain point designated by his magic circle, the wind would then begin to rain the arrows down at incredible speeds.
¡°Master. Ummm¡ I have an idea for a spell.¡± Grace came walking up to me as I was deciding who was next.
¡°Oh? Exin it to me and I will see if I can make it possible.¡± This was a first. No one else had any ideas for their own spells until now.
Grace¡¯s eyes lit up as she hopped over to me and began exining it to me.¡±My Idea is like this¡.¡±
Chapter 199 Legendary Grade Spells Part 1
¡°Oh? Hmmm¡¡± What Grace exined was no simple task. She wanted a spell that could heal and shield at the same time. I originally nned to have her doing a different kind of spell, but maybe it would be best to have two area of effect heals. She had a great deal of mana, after all.
¡°So you want to mix barrier and healing as an area of effect heal¡.¡± I mumbled once more as I fell into thought. Such a spell would indeed beplex. With high heal, she can heal a single target, but this would require her to always keep on her toes. It could also be nerve racking as well. The stress builds up if you are even a secondte on a heal while trying to save someone. One mistake could cost a life, so having multiple heals and barriers that can also heal is a really good idea. To be honest, I am slightly jealous that I did not think of this idea.
But besides my tiny bit of jealousy, this idea was very amazing. The idea of a barrier healing someone was not something that I have dealt with before, so I was thinking that it could be abination of two spells, not fusion but two spells in one. Basically, my thought on this is that Grace can set the targets in a radius that she deems friendly and cast a barrier with a second cast of a high heal that appears above the head of the person in the barrier.
I sat down and began doodling on the ground with a rock. I could feel the presence of others around me, but I did not pay attention to them. This kind of magic circle was indeedplex, but for some reason, I feel like it was easier than I thought it would be. I am not sure if this is because my intelligence has skyrocketed the past few days or what, but I can say thank god for whatever is allowing me toplete this quickly..
Not even an hour went by, and I was already drawing the magic circle in the air. ¡°Holy Shield!¡±
As soon as the activation words left my mouth, barriers began to appear around everyone, and a magic circle of high heal began casting heal onto them. I was so happy I jumped up and down in a circle. This kind of spell will change the way people can do dungeons or even fight in wars.
¡°Leave it to Boss to create something so amazing.¡± I heard Amanda say in a hushed tone. She was not the only one, everyone else was whispering as well.
¡°Faith, I think you just created a spell that will go down in the history books as a legendary spell.¡± Adel said while shaking her head. ¡°This healing spell is on the same level as grand fall¡.¡±
¡°I think you are overexaggerating. This spell may seemplex, but once you figure out the inner workings¡.¡±
¡°Stop!¡± Adel cut me off while pushing her finger on my lips. ¡°You are the only person in the entire kingdom who could so easily put together a spell that requires so many intricate runes and make it work on the first try. Let me ask this how much mana does this use?¡± Adel asked as she raised an eyebrow at me.
I pursed my lips and looked in the opposite direction as I said softly: ¡°Just a mere 1500¡.¡±
¡°Yeah, I thought so! Only you and Grace can cast something like that multiple times!¡± Adel yelled out. It was true Grace now has over 35000 mana since her bloodline awakening and the system.
¡°Well, as long as Grace can cast it multiple times, it should be fine, right?¡± I replied in a semi whiny tone. I mean,e on! I was tailoring the spell for Grace, and I already reduced the amount of mana needed for it by its max amount!
¡°Alright, I will give you that, but what was the other spell?¡± I guess Adel noticed my second doodle.
¡°It is a pure area of effect heal with the power of high heal. This one is only 1000 mana¡.¡± I replied while looking away once more. The whole area became silent.
¡°Leave it to Boss¡.¡± Steven said, breaking the silence.
¡°Boss is really a boss¡.¡± Leo crossed his arms in front of his chest and said while nodding his head.
¡°Alright enough! I still have more spells to make. Grace, go practice the magic circle until you are able to cast it.¡± I now had to work on Sophie, Sally, Sei, and Adel¡¯s spells. I was thinking of doing Adel¡¯s first.
¡°Yes, Master!¡± Grace happily ran off to go practice her new spell. Seeing her so happy made me smile. At least someone was appreciative of my hard work!
¡°Adel, you are next,¡± I said while rubbing the scratches off the stone floor with some earth magic and sitting down. ¡°Do you have any ideas for a spell? I know I mentioned the domain thing before, but I figured you might have some ideas by now.¡±
¡°I do have a few. While I have stop, rewind, and resume, I need something that will actually kill my enemies, and I was thinking of making a spell called fast forward.¡± Adel said as she sat down. ¡°I was thinking that with my new abilities, I should be able to break some of the rules set with my cosmic magic.¡±
¡°Hmmm¡ One that speeds up time¡ Well, let¡¯s see. Rewind works like this.¡± I drew a magic circle in the air but did not activate it so I could study it more. I tapped my chin and looked it over and over until I finally spotted something that kind of stuck out to me. It was well hidden within the runic equation and seemed to be essential to the runic equation, but in fact, it was not. It was a limiter and something that, if removed would make cosmic magic a really deadly magic.
Chapter 200 Legendary Grade Spells Part 2
Basically, the concept of time is targeting a person or thing and adjusting the time element around them. This is basically the basis of cosmic magic. And only those who have an affinity to it are able to use it, me being the exception. But that is mainly because of my amazing op system. But from what I am looking at, now that I am really picking this magic circle apart. The runic equation can be changed in many ways. Like, let¡¯s say you want to cast haste on someone to make them quicker only speed wise. You can do it without aging the person. If you want to slow a target to a crawl, you can do the same thing. And if you wish to kill someone, you can easily attack their age and fast forward it to the point that they die.
With this said, none of this would be possible if the limiter was still there. Only by removing the limiter can you do much more with this element. But what makes me curious is why such a limiter was pressed into the magic circle in the first ce. Adel said he just knew how to cast it as if it came to her. If that is the case, then there might be another reason for it that we do not know, like maybe some form of a higher power. If this was Earth, I wouldugh at such an idea, but this is a world of magic where everything is possible.
I once again rewrote the magic circle, this time without the limiter, and as I finished the spell, the entire thing turned golden in color. ¡°Oh? Now, this is quite interesting¡.¡±
¡°Huh? Why is it gold!?¡± Adel asked as she looked at the magic circle in front of me in awe..
¡°Your time element is much more than we thought. After I removed the limiter, it returned back to its true form.¡± Even I was surprised at what I was looking at. Without the limiter, the mana consumption is also reduced to like nothing. ¡°One hundred mana per use. You can even rece a few things in the magic circle to allow them to do other things. Like buffing people to make them faster. Or as you asked. Kill someone by aging them.¡±
¡°This¡.¡± I could tell by the look on Adel¡¯s face that she was finding it all hard to believe but in front of her was a carbon copy of her normal spell but unrestricted and seemed even omnipotent.
¡°Adel, see this here.¡± I pointed to a section in the runic equation. Adel got close and nodded her head. ¡°This is the key to deciding what you want to do with the spell. This is also up to your imagination as long as it has to do with time. Like, let¡¯s say I did this.¡± I stood up and drew another magic circle, this time, I did n to use it, but only one me. ¡°Haste!¡±
As soon as I said that, I felt like every part of my body began to speed up. I took a step forward, and it was as if I had teleported because I ended up half away across the room in a single step. I then turned around and took another step forward, returning to where I stood before. I canceled the spell and sat back down. ¡°As you can see, haste speeds up the actions of the body, nothing more. But you can do many things with it now. Just do not cast anything that will kill anyone. There will be plenty of goblins for that.¡±
¡°Ri-Right¡¡± Adel seemed still in a daze. I still want to make a time domain where she can freely control time within a certain distance around her, but I figured this was enough for the time being.
¡°Practice with haste for now and keep the output low. Once you get used to it, raise the output a bit.¡± I figured it would be best for Adel to start slow since I do not know the adverse effects of this kind of spell. I feel fine now, but I am not sure Adel¡¯s body could take such speed.
¡°Mmm¡¡± Adel nodded and stood up. She had already memorized the magic circle due to her now very high intelligence. I watched as she walked over to the side and sat down. She then proceeded to slowly draw the magic circle out.
I cleaned up the floor once more and sat there looking forward. Everyone was currently practicing their new magic, which was a good thing. ¡°Sei and Sophie¡.¡±
These two I did not know what to make for them. Sophie already had a very op spell which allows her to phase in and out of reality. While Sei was already very strong. ¡°I guess with Sophie, maybe a spell that will allow her to do more damage with her sword¡.¡±
¡°Mmm¡ A way to increase my attack ability would be nice.¡±
¡°AhHH!¡± I yelled out. I was so lost in thought I never noticed Sophie sitting next to me, so when she spoke, it scared the crap out of me! I held my chest and blushed from ear to ear. Everyone had looked over and was giggling at me. I pouted my bottom lip and looked at Sophie with an aggrieved expression. But instead of her trying to make me feel better, she giggled along with everyone else. It must be pick on the dragon day, right?
Clearing my throat, I decided to ignore everyone else as I thought long and hard. A spell that could increase Sophie¡¯s abilities was not something that was easy to create. She was already using many body enhancing buffs. ¡°Maybe a way to quicken her attack speed while enhancing her strength?¡±
Colossal strength, wind rush, and eleration were all highly effective body buffs that most swordsmen used. But they could only do so much¡. What if I configured eleration to do more than just make someone run faster? What if I can make it apply to other parts of the body¡.
I was starting to get an idea of what would work. Whether or not it will or not is another story. The spell eleration was supposed to be a movement speed spell but it is not exactly stated in the runic equation on what it affects. If i can create a spell that stacks with eleration it would make herbat prowess soar.
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Chapter 201 Legendary Grade Spells Part 3
This spell took only a half hour to make but in the end, what I ended up creating was a whole new spell that took concepts from the current body buffing spells that I knew of. I even added a little something extra as a safety precaution. ¡°Here you go. I call it Divine Tempest.¡±
¡°You are not going to try it out yourself?¡± Sophie asked as he looked at me. I chuckled and shook my head. ¡°Nope, you should test this one out yourself. Also, before you cast it, cut your hand.¡±
¡°Huh?¡±Sophie looked at me with a confused expression, but I just motioned for her to do as I said. She reluctantly nodded, sliced her hand, and began casting the spell. The spell itself was actually quite simple, but it took a toll on the body, and only those used to speed would be able to handle it. ¡°Divine Tempest!¡±
Sophie¡¯s body glowed with golden light, and at the same time, the cut on her hand instantly healed. Shocked as she was, she struck out with her sword in less than a second, she had already struck out over a thousand times. ¡°This!?¡±.
¡°Hehe¡ It is tough on the body, but it should be perfect for when you need to deal a lot of damage quickly. The healing effect is nothing more than minor heal that keeps recasting. I used minor heal to keep mana cost low. It should take some of the burned off the body and allow for longer stretches of use. The speed is the thing you will really need to get used to. Also¡. And this is the most important part. It can stack with all the other spells increasing your damage output to an insane amount.¡± I exined. When I first started creating the spell, I ran into an issue that caused too much strain on the body when using the eleration portion of the spell on the arms only, which was why I added in the minor heal that would keep healing the body to reduce the strain.
¡°Yeah, I can feel a bit of strain, but it is nothing to worry about. This¡. This is just simply amazing. Faith, thank you so much!¡± Sophie uncharacteristically threw her arms around me and hugged me tightly. I smiled and hugged her back. She is so fluffy. However, I could feel a set of eyes staring daggers at me. I did not even need to look up to see who it was.
Now I just had Sally and Sei left to deal with. I already had a good idea of what to do for Sally. Basically a rewrite of the spell I made for Sophie, but this one would be more focused on strength and movement speed, with strength taking up the main portion of the spell. As for Sei¡ ¡°Sei, any ideas?¡±
¡°To be honest, I am not sure. I have always worked on the skills taught to me in the ck knights. So I have never really thought about using other spells.¡± Sei replied. Sei was a magic knight who was both good at sword and magic. Her specialty is barrier magic which is hard to work with in a sense.
I scratched my head and thought of the spell I made of Grace and figured if it was just a barrier, then maybe it woulde in helpful, but arger barrier works just as good. ¡°Hmm¡ What if we used your skills with barriers to wrap your sword in one that is very thin and rotates? It should be able to slice through pretty much everything.¡±
¡°A spell that is imbued on my sword¡.¡± I watched as Sei fell into thought. ¡°If it rotates in a manner at the very edge of the de, then if we were to make the barrier slightly jagged¡.. It should really cut through a lot¡. Yes, let¡¯s do that!¡±
¡°Alright.¡± I went right to work. As the spell was, in fact, quite simple, I was done in a short time. The only hard part was writing the equation for the barrier¡¯s shape to be more like saw de teeth. But I found that because it was small and paper-thin, I was able to make the barrier even stronger by allowing a denser infusion of mana.
After I was done with Sei, I worked on Sally¡¯s spell, which was basically just restructuring the one from Sophie to fit her. I also made it so she could increase or decrease the strength amount as much as she wanted. I just told her to test it out so she would not go over her own limit.
With that all said and done, not only did I gain a lot of new spells, but so did everyone else. But I still needed to make one more spell that was something that only I could use. ¡°What are you making now?¡± Steven came up to me and asked.
¡°A spell that only I can use.¡± I replied while scratching on the stone ground with a rock. I was in full concentration mode. The spell I had in mind would allow the team to never have to worry about mana while we venture deeper into the dungeon. It will be very helpful for boss fights. Once I got a decent looking runic equation written, I stood up and walked over to Grace. ¡°Grace, I want you to keep casting spells on me.¡±
¡°Huh? Okay, Master.¡± Grace looked at me confused but began casting high heal on me. My eyes glowed as I spoke out: ¡°Mana Tethering!¡±
As I watched as Grace¡¯s mana bar kept going down and then back up with each cast. I couldn¡¯t help but smile. ¡°Alright, start casting the new spell I made for you. Just keep casting it.¡±
¡°Okay!¡¯ Grace seemed to be startled that her mana was not being drained at all. Fifty minutester, she looked at me in shock. ¡°Master, this is!?¡±
¡°I call it mana tethering. I basically connect a line of mana to you and replenish your mana with my own.¡± I exined. ¡°I can connect as many people as I want to the tether effectively giving everyone unlimited mana.¡±
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Chapter 202 Boss! Goblin Chief Part 1
¡°But Master, wouldn¡¯t that mean you would run out of mana quicker?¡± Grace asked. I could tell she was concerned about my mana reserves.
¡°It¡¯s fine. You can say as a dragon I have no worries about mana.¡± I replied with a smile. ¡°Alright, You keep practicing. I am going to go rest. I used my brain too much today.¡±
I walked over to the wall on the far side of the room and leaned against it. After opening my menu, I went to the follower section and tapped on Mr. Blobs. A small window appeared with a few slots next to it. This was how you fed slimes in the system. But this was also how I have been transferring supplies to the ones trapped on the first floor. I split it in two amounts, just enough for the teachers to survive and enough to keep the students¡¯ stomachs filled, especially the girls who went through hell.
Because of how the pet system worked, I could easily push my will onto Mr. Blobs even if he was nowhere around. He would then take the food in his food slots and spit it out. I knew it worked because of the signals I would get from Mr. Blobs. Luckily this can be done mentally, too, or they would have starved when I was helping Grace.
At first, I never thought about their food supply until two days into the dungeon dive. I was a bit panicky, so I went through all my menus trying to find a solution, and then I finally found one. I was skeptical that it would even work, but luckily it did. I do wonder, though. If Mr. Blobs spits out food, would it be covered in slime? Well.. if they are hungry, they will eat it.
I leaned against the wall and closed my eyes. I was actually quite tired. As my eyes grew heavy, I could only hope I would not have any strange dreams.
¡°Faith¡¡± A voice entered my ears, disturbing my slumber. I woke up to see Adel poking me. ¡°Hmmm? What¡¯s wrong?¡±.
¡°You have been sleeping for almost an entire day. Are you okay?¡± Adel asked.
¡°Yeah, probably just exhausted,¡± I replied as I yawned and rubbed my eyes. Luckily this was not a dream. ¡°Has everyone gotten the hang of their new spells?¡±
¡°Yeah, pretty much everyone can cast them without issue. I made up a few spells of my own now that I understand the concept of them using the universal magic spell you gave me.¡± Adel said with a proud smile.
¡°Mmm¡ I know you could. Don¡¯t worry about mana either for the time being. I will be using my new mana tethering spell to supply you all with mana.¡± I replied as I stood up with Adel¡¯s help. I looked at everyone who were checking their equipment and getting ready.
I walked over to therge doors and stood in front of it before turning around to look at everyone present. ¡°We will be taking on the second tost boss. Keep on your toes and watch for anything strange. We won¡¯t know how to deal with it until we get inside. I do not want to mess up likest time. So we will stay on the defensive until we understand the boss¡¯s abilities. So do not rush in. And¡. Stay alive.¡±
¡°¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±Yeah!!!¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±
¡°Alright, I will open it!¡± I said as I turned around. My arms transformed into huge dragon arms as I pushed against the huge door. Dust fell from the top of it as it slowly creaked open as if it had not been opened in many many years. Darkness filled my eyes as I peered through the cracks. But this darkness onlysted a second before Grace, without me asking, created ten balls of light and sent them into the room. What was revealed was a sea of skeletons. Not human ones but goblins. Some big, some small. There were thousands of them. I pushed the door open wide enough for us to walk through and took my first step into the room. As I did and I looked around, I finally spotted someone on the other side of the room. Arge bone house, and in front of it, sitting down chewing on something, was arge hobgoblin almost as big as the main boss I had seen before. He had huge muscles and was covered in many different kinds of bone jewelry.
Next to him, simr in size, were three other goblins, all warrior looking type goblins. There were at least one hundred other normal hobgoblins and some shamans roaming around the bone hut that looked to be two floors high.
I stepped to the side of the door to let everyone else through. I was not going to rush in like we did on the shaman. Once everyone gathered, I waved everyone together and looked around the room a bit more. ¡°Alright, we will stick to this left wall. Expect the door to close behind us as soon as we get far enough away from it. We will need to keep an eye out for anything. There are mountains of bones here, so there is no telling what will be under them either.¡±
¡°Boss, how should we y out this fight?¡± Steven asked.
¡°I am not sure. I may just go full dragon mode at the start and take them all on at once. There are too many adds for us to really work out a decent n. So I will be tanking therge guys. You all will deal with ads. Don¡¯t worry. My dragon form is much more powerful than my humanoid form. ¡± I could see the worried looks in their eyes. But it was true.
[Dragon Form]
[Name]: Faith Cyrilia
[Age] 12
[Level] 176
[Race] Dragonic
[HP] 600000/600000
[MP] ¡Þ
[Attack Power] 581500
[Magic Power] 581500
[Status Points] 1160
[Strength] 58150
[Vitality] 60000
[Intelligence] 58150
[Mind] ¡Þ
[Agility] 58150
[Skill Points] 135
[Skills]
[Appraisal (LVL 10(MAX))] [Military Command (LVL 10(MAX))] [Military Tactics (LVL 10(MAX))] [Business Tycoon (LVL 10(MAX))] [Acting (LVL 1(MAX))]
Chapter 203 Boss! Goblin Chief Part 2
¡°Alright, Sophie, Sally, Sei, Steven, you four will be on the front line against the adds. I want Leo on the back side of the line. You are to make sure no goblins grab any of the girls. You have seen what they will do. I will hold off the boss type mobs. Grace is on heals. Andstly¡. Do not worry about mana. I have you all covered. So go all out from the start and do not let up for any reason. Protect each other. And do your best not to die.¡± I gave myst instructions as I casted mana tethering connecting everyone to my mana supply.
¡°Wait, boss¡ You will supply us with mana?¡± Steve was confused.
¡°Don¡¯t question her just do as you are told.¡± Adel yelled out, covering for me. I looked at her with a grateful gaze before saying: ¡°Everyone, stay back from me. Otherwise, you might get stepped on.¡±
After saying this, I ran forward. My body slowly started changing, my line of sight growing higher. Within a matter of seconds, I was fully in my dragon form. I took a deep breath and let out my mightiest roar!
*RooooooooooooooooooAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!*
¡°Grahhh!¡± My roar seemed to be the key to gaining the boss¡¯s attention. It quickly stood up and looked at me along with the other monsters.
That¡¯s right, look at me and only me! I wanted the boss to be fully focused on me. ¡°Appraisal!¡±.
[Boss Goblin Chief]
[Level: 275]
[Health: 5000000/5000000]
[Mana: 3789000/3789000]
[Sub Boss Goblin Champion]
[Level: 250]
[Health: 2000000/2000000]
[Mana: 69000/69000]
[Sub Boss Goblin Champion]
[Level: 250]
[Health: 2000000/2000000]
[Mana: 69000/69000]
[Sub Boss Goblin Champion]
[Level: 250]
[Health: 2000000/2000000]
[Mana: 69000/69000]
Seeing the health of the boss and these sub bosses made my heart sink. But even so, since they had already noticed me, there was no going back now. I took a deep breath and let out a stream of dragon breath sprayed forth towards the bosses. It was hard to tell what I was looking at with the mes spread out in front of me, But I do not think my me breath was even hitting them. There were no sounds of pain or the like. It was quite as if they were just waiting for the mes to end.
As I continued forward, I finally saw that I was indeed not hitting any of them. One of the goblin champions had set up a barrier. The four bosses within were all staring at me with beady eyes and mocking smiles on their faces. Just seeing their gazes of contempt as if I could do nothing to them made me want to smack them with my ws!
I released my breath and raised my w up high before mming it down onto the barrier. When I did, and the cracks began to appear, I finally saw the changes in their expressions. I grinned my toothy dragon grin and pushed harder on the barrier. What followed was the sound of shattering as the barrier copsed. It seems my strength was much stronger than their flimsy barrier!
¡°Roar!¡± I yelled out in intimidation, but this only caused the goblin bosses to yell back and draw their weapons made of bones. The three sub bosses charged at me while the chief stayed back and watched. I was not going to allow him to sit idly back there either. ¡°Gates of Faithylon!¡±
My magic was much more powerful in this form. Thousands of fiery circles appeared around the goblin chief. Each one with a ming sword sticking out of it. ¡°Go!¡±
¡°Graaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!¡± The Goblin Chief yelled out as he suddenly stomped the ground hard. As he did, a very familiar figure suddenly popped climbed up from underground.
¡°What!? But how!?¡± I looked at the figure that should be dead and did not know what to make of this.
[Undead Boss Goblin Shaman]
[Level: 125]
[Health: 1000000/1000000]
[Mana: 900000/900000]
It was dead¡ but this was just too much! Now I was not only facing four bosses but also a boss who could use strong barriers and magic! I watched as a multiyer barrier formed around the boss while the three goblin champions shed down at me. I quickly spun my body around and mmed my tail into them, sending them flying back towards the barrier the undead shaman created.
¡°Roar!¡± I yelled out in anger. At least my bombardment on the barrier was keeping the undead shaman busy, but this was still out of my scope of understanding unless the goblin chief was a necromancer. If that was the case¡.. I began having a bad feeling. Without even trying to guess whether I was correct or not in my assumption, I yelled out: ¡°Watch out for the skeletons! They mighte alive!¡±
I sent my detection magic out around me to keep an eye on the situation. Currently, the rest were being encircled by goblins. It was actually a tough battle because the shamans mixed in were shielding the other goblins while showering the team with magic attacks. Their fight was probably no easier than my own.
¡°I just need to kill these three, but I will need to make sure there is nothing left of them. But what I do not understand is how did he get the body?¡± Gritting my dragon teeth, I once more set out a me of magic toward the goblin champions, but this time I was able to connect.
¡°Gaarrrararaaaaaaa!!¡± Screams of pain came from the three goblin champions. This onlysted a few seconds before the one who could finally put up a barrier.
¡°They are smarter than they look!¡± I thought for a moment, trying to figure out the best course of action, and that was when I remembered something about the goblin shaman. It could easily attack you from the ground. And if I recall, correctly, there was a powerful spell on the same bar as grand fall that was called hell¡¯s gate.
Chapter 204 Boss! Goblin Chief Part 3
¡°Hells Gate!¡± I watched as the ground under the goblins began to turn a bright red. The stone that made up the room¡¯s floor began to bubble likeva. The goblins began to cry out in pain. The goblin chief quickly had the shaman remove the barrier so that it could escape, but this only resulted in it being bombarded by my Gates of Faithylon. I quickly reacted as well and formed a barrier around the goblin bosses to keep them locked into the zone of damage. I could see their health slowly dropping down. But even without the barriers, their defenses were really high.
The goblin chief turned and looked at me with murderous eyes. I guess it was no longer taking me as some insignificant dragon. It was now taking me seriously, at least I think. If my internal voice that was monologuing the goblin chief¡¯s inner thoughts were correct, that is¡.
I watched as it raised its hand, causing a huge bone staff to appear out of nowhere. A bone armor suddenly appeared on its body. I can only guess that this is the goblin chief¡¯s second form. It raised its staff and mmed it down onto the ground. As soon as it hit the ground, the huge bone piles that filled the room exploded in all directions. I wasted no time and created a barrier around the others to block the sudden attack. I even cut off many of the goblins who ended up being instantly killed..
The bones didn¡¯t do any damage to me. They hit my scales and fell to the ground. I have a hard body, after all! But as I watched the area around me, I saw the bones begin to stack together and form intorge bony goblins. One after the other, they began to form and stood in formation like some big bone army. But a few did stick out to me. They were human bones, some shorter than the others. I can only guess that these were the students and teachers from the first floor because there was no way anyone had made it this far down. It would require many lives to make it this far if they did not have someone with infinite mana to keep things going.
I ignored the raging gaze from the boss and turned towards the huge undead army. My dragon eyes lit up, and thousands of magic circles appeared in the air. Fireballs began to rain down from them. I was using the gatling effect to keep a continuous flow of fireballs attacking the undead. I had to keep them down, so I did not need to worry about them attacking the others or myself while I tried to deal with the boss.
¡°Garaahhh!!!!¡± The goblin chief stomped the ground in anger and pain. Its feet were starting to burn, which was a good sign. As for the goblin shaman, it had already turned to ash. It had no defense after all, and as an undead, it was already weak against fire. The goblin chief could not keep spawning it after it turned to ash.
I expanded the barrier that was blocking the other boss goblins from escaping hells gate so that it now locked me inside as well. I also expanded hells gate so that it would epass the entire resized barrier. I then took a deep breath and sent a stream of pure dragon fire out of my mouth, filling the entire area with my mes.
The goblin champions lit on fire and began running around like crazy. Their health quickly dropped as they turned to ash. All that was left now was the goblin chief. Its health has dropped by half, but I do have to say that I am very impressed with its durability.
¡°Grahhhh!¡± The goblin chief yelled out in anger and pain, and once more, it waved its staff, causing arge ck fog to begin to fill the area. I frowned seeing this because I felt dangering from this fog. Luckily my fire breath was currently keeping it at bay. So now this was a fight between my fire breath and the goblin chiefs mana pool which was steadily dropping. I am not sure if this was itsst desperate attack or if it was just betting everything on this attack, but it did not seem to want to give up easily.
I have no idea how long my fire breath wouldst for but I did not feel anything off as I continued to spray it towards the goblin chief. Almost five minutes passed since the start of our standoff, and the goblin chiefs mana was now only at twenty five percent, but it still kept trying to break through my mes. I can only guess the different attacks from the air, its sides, and below its feet were just too much for it to handle. But I can say that I want this battle to end quickly.
As I continued to release my dragon breath, my eyes glowed, and six spears of ice the size of one of my dragon arms appeared. They began to rotate around at an incredible speed, and with the wave of my w, I sent it flying forward.
I watched as the spears of ice flew straight through my mes and through the ck fog and pierced through the goblin chief in different ces. The goblin chief¡¯s staff fell to the ground stopping the ck fog and allowing my mes to pass through and engulf the goblin chief. As the goblin chief¡¯s heath finally reached zero, I canceled all my spells.
I turned to look to see everyone else copsed on the ground under the protection of my barrier, breathing heavily but with big smiles on their faces. It was only now that I realized that I just soloed five bosses all by myself. Dragons are really OP! I quickly transformed back into my humanoid form and began walking over to where the bosses died. There was a pile of loot and quite a few shiny objects, two of which I seemed to remember seeing before.
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Chapter 205 Random Skills Part 1
Besides system stones, there were two stones that I had only seen once and have used once. They were evolution stones. While I wanted to covet them, I was actually quite curious about how they would work if I handed one to someone else. For this reason, I called Adel over to me and handed her the stone.
¡°This is?¡± Adel looked at the stone in her hand curiously. She flipped it over a few times, but it seemed nothing had happened.
¡°You see nothing strange about this stone? Your system is not reacting to it?¡± I asked. I was curious as to why. But I guess that is an answer I will never get.
¡°No, this looks like a normal stone. Faith, remember, just because it is shiny doesn¡¯t mean it is worth something.¡± Adel said with a teasing grin, making me purse my lips. Did she really have to go after my shiny obsession!? I reached out and snatched the stone back, and put it into my inventory. Humph! My shinies!
¡°Haha, you never change! But this is a lot of items¡.¡± Adel looked at the pile of items in front of us and sighed in amazement.
¡°Yes, it is. Wait, what is this ¡.¡± I walked over and picked up an item that was not an evolution stone nor a system stone. As soon as I picked it up, a window popped up..
[Skill Randomizer]
[Consumable]
[Will grant one skill upon consumption.]
[Would you like to consume?]
¡°Oh? Now, this is interesting.¡± I said as I read the information that popped up.
¡°Faith, there are five more here.¡± Adel said as she picked up five more simr objects that were hidden under some items.
¡°I will try it first, just to be safe. Adel, get ready to rewind me back if something happens.¡± Just to be safe, it was better for me to try it to see what it did. With Adel at my side, I had no worries if something went wrong.
¡°Right. Don¡¯t worry, I will watch over you.¡± Adel replied. Her aura changed as if she was about to go into battle, which made me chuckle slightly. I looked at the menu before taking a deep breath and hitting the yes button.
[Acquired New Skill: Summon Demon]
¡°Err¡.¡± I looked at the new skill that I just got and wanted to facepalm. Was it because of my demon blood?
¡°Did it work? Did you get a skill?¡± Adel asked, her eyes shining with interest. How was I supposed to tell her I suddenly got the ability to summon demons? But really, I am quite interested in said demon.
¡°I am now able to summon demons¡.¡± I said slowly.
¡°Summon demons?¡± Adel tilted her head to the side.
¡°I am not sure I will not know until I try it out. For now, let¡¯s collect all the items and separate them based on type. Systems stone will go to you. But I want two of them for Gesel and Fred. I have a feeling they will dive into dungeons at some point.¡± I wanted to repay Gesel for her kindness, and as she is someone who would definitely hunt in a dungeon, I wanted to make sure she was prepared to do so.
¡°Here are two then. Faith, can I use one of these skill stones?¡± Adel asked. I could tell she really wanted to get a new skill. I helplessly nodded my head. She quickly hit the yes button, and not even a secondter, she yelled out: ¡°Ah! I can now control nature!¡±
¡°Nature?¡± I was curious if this was the same thing as what the spirit race could do.
¡°It just says I can now control nts and other nature rted things.¡± Adel exined. It was probably another one of those skills that needed to be used to really know how it works.
¡°Alright. I will let you hand out the rest. You can decide who you think should get it or not. After I finish separating items, I will test out this summoning thing. But I will do it in a contained space.¡± I really wanted to test this out.
¡°Well, there are four left, and I n to give Sei, Grace, Sophie, and Sally one as they will always be around you. Don¡¯t worry, I will exin things to the others, so they do not think you are being biased.¡± Adel said with a smile after she picked up all the stones.
¡°Then I will leave it to you.¡± I replied as I began inspecting things. There was so much stuff that it almost took me an hour to make two piles. All the items here were the same as before but with higher stats.
?[0)??? When I was done, I walked back over to the ground to see a very strange sight. An army of skeletons stood behind Grace in an orderly fashion. ¡°This is? Necromancy?¡±
¡°Mmm¡ It was the skill I received.¡± Grace replied while her upper lip kept twitching.
But to be honest, it was not a bad skill to have. Such a skill coulde in handy during a war. While it maybe frowned upon to use the lives of the dead, any power that may be able to turn the tides that is not sacrificing the living coulde in handy. But of course, this should only be used on the enemy soldiers and not your fallen allies. It still may sound bad but¡. In this world that I live in now, some morals must be overlooked if the odds are against you. But it is actually a perfect spell for a dungeon like this. ¡°Grace, this wille in handy, so do not look so down.¡±
While I said that to cheer Grace up, she still looked quite down about it. She only nodded her head and sulked. I could only reach out and pat her head. I looked at the others with a curious gaze, and for some reason, Sei turned her head away when my eyes fell on her while blushing. Just seeing her reaction made me very curious as to what skill she got.
Chapter 206 Random Skills Part 2
¡°Sei¡. What was the skill you got?¡± I asked with a wide smile as I walked over to her with my hands behind my back.
¡°Not telling!¡± Sei yelled out, her face growing redder. This only made me that much more curious.
With every step I took, Sei took a step back until finally she turned and ran! I, of course, would not let her escape, so I quickly buffed my body and appeared in front of her, and caught her hand. ¡°Ahhh! Leave me alone. I don¡¯t want such a shameful skill!¡±
¡°Shameful?¡± My lips curled. ¡°Sei, dear, what was your skill?¡±
Sei looked at me with a pleading look, but I only smiled back at her. ¡°Fine! Just stop smiling! I will show you, but don¡¯t let anyone know!¡±.
I nodded. This much I can do. I just wanted to know since my curiosity was taking over. I watched as Sei opened her screen and showed me the skill she had under her status, and then even I couldn¡¯t help but blush.
¡°Ahem¡ I see¡ It¡¯s good that you didn¡¯t tell anyone.¡± I said, coughing lightly. I never thought such a skill would exist. It is a good thing that Sei got it since it is definitely something that would only be useful in a r-18 scene. ¡°I do hope when you do use it, you will use it wisely. Remember to cherish your b¡.¡±
¡°Enough! I don¡¯t even want to think about it!¡± Sei yelled out. I chuckled and let her go. She ran over to Adel and beganining about me.
I also returned to the group and was about to ask Sophie what her skill was when Amanda suddenly jumped on me. ¡°Boss! What are you walking around for like you didn¡¯t do something amazing just now!?¡±
¡°Hmmm?¡± I looked at Amanda with a confused expression, with my head tilted to the side. I knew what she was talking about, but I was not really too concerned about it. I was just happy that we all survived.
¡°What, hmm!? You soloed the bosses all by yourself! Not to mention your dragon form! Quickly turn me into a dragon!¡± Amanda was starting to scare me. The look in her eyes was almost fanatical.
¡°Enough!¡± Grace yelled out while a bunch of skeleton soldiers suddenly came over and grabbed Amanda.
¡°No, wait! Make me a dragon girl!¡± Amanda yelled out while kicking her legs up and down as she was dragged away.
¡°What was that all about?¡± I asked while looking at Grace.
¡°Amanda has always had a thing for dragons from stories she read. While she didn¡¯t act this way before your transformation, it is because she is used to seeing images of dragons in their dragon form. So when she saw your true dragon form, she kinda went nuts.¡± Grace replied. ¡°But Master, you were quite amazing. Multicasting so many spells while fighting multiple bosses. You are basically a goddess to us.¡±
I pursed my lips and rubbed my nose. It was slightly embarrassing to hear such things. ¡°It¡¯s just because I had no choice. My dragon form is much stronger than my current form by a lot. You saw how powerful the boss was. And he was a necromancer. Your necromancy skill can be just as powerful. But only use it against the enemy forces ¡.¡±
¡°I know, Master. Even now, I feel ufortable with using it, but with the next floor ahead plus the final boss, I figured it would be best to get used to it.¡± Grace replied.
?[0)??? ¡°Mm¡ I just do not want you to somehow be corrupt or be seen as an enemy.¡± I did not want people to look down on Grace because of a simple skill.
¡°Even if the whole world hated me, it would be fine as long as Master still needs me at your side.¡± Grace¡¯s eyes were firm. I guess that is true. Even if the world hated her or scorned her, I would not push Grace away because I know who she is and what she is like.
¡°Don¡¯t worry. You are my friend, and I will not let you be alone.¡± I said with a smile while patting Grace¡¯s head. Maybe this is why in my dream Grace was the only one at my side¡.
Grace seemed to be feeling better after getting her head pat. I went over to Sally and Sophie, who were both standing together talking. ¡°Faith.¡± ¡°Young Miss.¡±
¡°Did you two get anything good?¡± I asked with a questioning gaze.
¡°I have gained the ability to use lightning at will.¡± Sally replied as she held out her hand to show me streaks of lightning flowing over her arm like snakes. That is quite the skill to have for someone who was a front liner. She could easily stun and add extra damage to her enemies with each attack.
¡°I got control over shadows¡.¡± Sophie replied as she stepped into Sally¡¯s shadow and disappeared. For some reason, I feel this skill really suited her.
¡°Speaking of skills, Young Miss, what skill did you get?¡± Sally asked.
¡°Ah, right. Well, mine might be a bit special, so I will need to use it far away from everyone.¡± I replied. I mean, if I were to summon a demon in the middle of everyone here, there is no telling if the demon would instantly kill everyone or not. I do not want to risk such a thing, so I figured it would be best to summon it away from everyone.
¡°A bit special?¡± Sophie asked. She seemed confused by why I would say such a thing.
¡°Well, it¡¯s more of the skill I have is called summon demon, which makes me unsure if it is safe to allow others to be around while summoning it. I do not want someone to get hurt because of my skill. Anyway, I nned to do it before we moved on. I was just curious about everyone else¡¯s skills. Hopefully we can get everyone else some skills as well before we leave the dungeon.¡±
Chapter 207 Demon Summoning
Since I knew everyone wanted to see what I was about to do, I made sure everyone stood back while I covered them in a fiveyered barrier just in case. I walked to the far side of the boss room to get as far away as possible before taking a deep breath and opening my skill menu.
[Summon Demon(LVL 1)]
¡°Hmm? So it¡¯s not maxed out?¡± I pondered for a moment and looked at the upgrade requirements. ¡°Ten points per¡. Currently, I have 135 Skill Points¡. I wonder if the level of the summon rtes to how strong the demon is?¡±
If I were to think of it like this. If I were to summon a demon now, it would probably be some kind of small imp with a frail body. But if I were to max it out, would I be able to handle what came? This was a bit of a problem. I did not wish to end up summoning something I could not handle. But¡. ¡°Appraisal¡.¡± I decided to try to use appraisal on the skill to see if it would give me more information.
[Summon Demon: Skill Level 1]
[When summoning a demon, one must have the proper supply of mana avable. While mana is important, the level of a demon summoned will be locked based on skill level.]
[Skill Level 1: demon level 1-10].
[Skill Level 2: demon level 10-30]
[Skill Level 3: demon level 30-70]
[Skill Level 4: demon level 70-120]
[Skill Level 5: demon level 120-250]
[Skill Level 6: demon level 250-470]
[Skill Level 7: demon level 470-780]
[Skill Level 8: demon level 780-1500]
[Skill Level 9: demon level 1500-6000]
[Skill Level 10: demon level 6000-???????]
My eyes almost popped out of my head. What the hell are the levels!? Level 10 even had a bunch of question marks! I knew for sure it would be bad to summon such a demon. So I decided to only up my skill to level 5. It was basically the same level range as me. At least, I hope¡.
Taking a deep breath, I stood with my hand stretched out and said: ¡°Summon Demon!¡± Arge purple magic circle formed in front of me. Small bands of light rose up off of it. I stood there and waited for the demon to appear. And waited¡. And waited¡.
[Mana Disturbance Detected¡]
[Skill Summon Demon: Forcefully upgraded to Level 10]
?[0)??? [Restriction countermeasures implemented¡.]
[Skill: Summon Demon, forcefully changed to Skill: Enve Demon.]
[No matter the level of demon to appear, it will now be enved by host¡.]
The purple magic circle that was now summoning a demon beyond anything I could ever imagine suddenly began to pulsate, and long purple chains shot forward as a cloud of ck smoke formed in the center of the magic circle. ¡°Haha! I am finally fre¡. Wait! What the hell is this!? Get off me!? Damnit!¡±
A voice came from within the ck smoke. It slowly began to dissipate before finally revealing a young man that looked around twenty years of age. He had short ck hair cut neatly, wearing a ck suit. He had two horns growing out of the top of his head and a long thin ck pointy tailing out of his backside. A set of the ck bat like wings sprouted from his back.
But the look on his face said one thing. And that was that he was not a happy demon. He turned his red eyes towards me with a sullen face before slowly bowing his head towards me. ¡°Master¡.¡±
¡°Umm¡¡± I scratched my head. ¡°I have to ask, but did you try to force your way through the summoning?¡±
The demon in front of me¡¯s body stiffened as he nodded his head. ¡°I felt a source of mana that was irresistible and followed it¡. But now¡. I did not really think Master would be so strong.¡±
¡°I see¡ Then can I at least know your name? Mine is Faith Cyrilia.¡± I asked as I introduced myself.
¡°I am Diablo. One of the seven kings of hell, The First King of Hell.¡± Diablo replied as he bowed. ¡°It is an honor to serve such a powerful master¡.¡±
¡°Ummm¡¡± I bit my lip. He would figure it out sooner rather thanter, but I figure it would be best to justy it out there. ¡°I am not as strong as you.¡±
¡°What? Nonsense!? How else would you¡. No, you are right but¡. This is impossible!¡± Diablo¡¯s eyes went wide with shock as he looked at me. He walked out of the magic circle and began looking me over while holding his chin. ¡°You¡ I see¡. I see¡ Hahahahah! How lucky can I be! While it is strange that you were able to enve me, I do find you quite interesting. Not a single drip of mana that I am consuming seems to affect you at all. Hahahaha! I have found a very interesting Master! I have decided!¡±
I watched as Diablo suddenly knelt down on one knee before me with one hand on the ground and the other on his chest as he bowed to me. ¡°I, Diablo, one of the Seven Kings of Hell from this day forth, will bind myself to Master, Faith Cyrilia and will listen to her orders unconditionally.¡±
As soon as Diablo finished saying these words, arge magic circle spread out under the both of us.
[Servant System Now Unlocked]
[Diablo has be your loyal servant.]
I stared at the message in front of me. With a nk expression, I mean,e on! Why is everything being forced!? I sighed as I looked up at Diablo. ¡°Why are you doing this?¡±
¡°Why? Because to us demons, mana is our food and source of power. You have an unlimited supply. While weak, you are worth following in order to grow stronger. Do not worry. With the master servant contract, I can not disobey your words or risk being erased from existence, and I do not wish for that to happen. The envement you put upon me before still allowed me to go against some of yourmands but now¡. Now I am one hundred percent under yourmand.¡±
Chapter 208 Diablo
I frowned. I mean, I already did not like the idea of servants and whatnot, but it seems I keep getting them, and they are steadily growing more insane watch time. I say this because just looking at Diablo¡¯s stats was making me sweat.
[Servant]: Diablo
[Level]: 67028
[Title]: First King of Hell
?[0)??? [Loyalty]: 200%.
[Command]: Total Submission
[Health]: 100000000000/100000000000
[Mana]: ¡Þ (Mana linked to Master¡¯s mana source)
These stats are just¡. I wanted to faint. But the only thing that made me feel safe was the loyalty andmand section. And this made me feel like I was a walking contradiction¡ I let out a sigh as Diablo stayed kneeling while observing me. ¡°First, please stand up. I don¡¯t like formalities like this. Second, since you want my mana and are going this far to get it, my guess is that you do not wish to be sent back. Am I correct in my assumption?¡±
¡°Yes, Master, I do not wish to return to hell now that I have a chance to grow stronger once again. But I must say, Master, you are very observant to understand this without me telling you.¡± Diablo praised. But I was not at all happy about this praise. I mean, it was basically written on his face!
¡°Then let¡¯s do this. I do not mind you if you want to stay in this world, but you have to follow a few rules of mine. If you can agree with this, then I will not send you back.¡± I could actually justmand him, but I do not like this idea too much. So while this was a roundabout way of doing things, I wanted him to know I do not like the idea of very.
¡°Whatever youmand, I will follow, Master.¡± Diablo replied with a respectful bow. To be honest, he reminded me of a butler. Even his current attire resembles that of a butler.
¡°Then, first, no killing anyone without my orders. Second, no harming anyone without my orders. Third, if anything were to happen in the near future, I want you to head to my hometown and protect my family.¡± Thest order was the main thing I wished for the most. If war broke out and I was sent to the frontlines, I would not feel right if I did not know my family was safe.
¡°Master¡¯s orders are easy to follow.¡± Diablo replied respectfully. I had no idea what this demon was thinking, but I do know now that I had an ace up my sleeve, and we could now actually finish this dungeon without loss of life. The only problem was that¡ Diablo was very good looking. A bit too eye catching. I am sure I will get many more haters now.
¡°Then the two of us will be working together from now on.¡± I said while holding my hand out. Diablo stared at it, unsure of what to do. I chuckled and reached out and grabbed his hand and shook it. ¡°This is called a handshake. It is a means of greeting or sealing a deal.¡±
¡°I see.¡± Diablo looked at our hands that were now sped together and shook it. I smiled and pulled him along, causing him to almost trip over himself. I am not sure if he was used to this kind of treatment, but the bewildered expression on his face was definitely amusing.
I walked back over to the group, where everyone stared at me in disbelief once again. ¡°This here is Diablo. He is ummm¡. A demon, and he will be helping us finish the dungeon.¡±
Diablo bowed politely as he said: ¡°Master was gracious enough to allow me toe to this mortal world. I will do my best to assist you all inpleting your task.¡±¡®
¡°Ahem¡. Well, I think I speak for all of us that anyone that is willing to Help Faith is a friend of ours. Wee to the team Diablo.¡± Adel was the first to speak up, causing Diablo to look up at her with a shocked expression. I guess this was not the reaction he was expecting. I could understand this. After all, not everyone would probably be willing to be nice to a demon in such a manner. Or at least this is what I think anyway. I am not sure since I have not heard about demons other than myself. So I guess in a way, the two of us would be rted?
At any rate, as long as things stay as they are and Diablo does not act up, I will not desummon him. This is the least I can do after he willingly became my servant. But I also would not limit his actions to venture out into the world either, as long as he did not break my three rules. ¡°Alright. Steven, hand out items to everyone. They are much more powerful than the items we have gained so far. Remember to prioritize tanks over dps first but be fair.¡±
¡°You got it, boss! Those are the words we have been waiting for!¡± Steven yelled out as he charged forward, only to smack his face on the barrier I had set up.
¡°Ah! Oops¡. Hehe¡¡± I rubbed my nose while canceling the barrier. Steven looked at me with an aggrieved expression causing me to turn my head and whistle. This resulted in everyone elseughing at him.
¡°You have an interesting group of people surrounding you, Master.¡± Diablomented.
I turned to him and smiled as I said: ¡°Out of the people I know in this world besides my family and a few others, they do not discriminate against me. By the way, Diablo, I am sure you have noticed, but I would like to ask you some questionster about demons. ¡°
Diablo looked at me and nodded his head. ¡°Although I am not one hundred percent certain about your race, but I will try my best to answer what I can.¡±
¡°That is more than enough. Thank you.¡± I finally could get some understanding of demons thanks to Diablo. I wonder if this is a blessing in disguise.
Chapter 209 Power Leveling
While it might seem strange for me to think that summoning a demon was a blessing in disguise, it was a fact that I was also part demon myself, and I now might have a chance to maybe figure out a way to keep my ancient will under control.
¡°Master¡.¡± A voice came from my side, making me turn my head to see Grace standing there fiddling with her fingers as if she was nervous about something.
¡°What¡¯s wrong, Grace?¡± I asked while tilting my head to the side.
¡°Am¡. Am I not needed anymore?¡± Grace asked as she looked from me to Diablo.
I chuckled and reached out to pat her head. ¡°Why are you asking silly questions? Didn¡¯t I already say earlier that I would never abandon you?¡±
¡°Ah? Mmm¡.¡± Grace¡¯s lips curled up into a soft smile as she closed her eyes, enjoying the head pat I was giving her.
¡°Oh? Now, this is a strangebination. Angel blood mixed with demon blood. No, wait¡. Your Angel blood is not pure enough to call you a proper angel. I guess it¡¯s a cross between human and angel.¡± Diablo said while looking Grace up and down in great interest.
¡°She is part of the angelic race, and her hornse from me due to a mishap when doing a blood seal contract. Or at least we think anyway. ¡± I exined.
¡°I see¡ Hmmm¡ This is interesting. I would like to learn more about this world¡¯s history.¡± I guess Diabloes from a realm not connected to this world, or at least this is what I assume. I guess only by asking himter when we have more time to sit and talk normally about things would be best.
¡°Umm¡ Boss¡.¡± Amanda called out as she walked up to me with her head lowered. I almost took a step back in case she jumped at me like a crazy fan girl again, but I noticed she didn¡¯t seem as crazed as she was before. ¡°I apologize for my actions earlier. I have always loved real dragons, and when I saw you transform, I kind of lost it.¡±
¡°It¡¯s fine. Everyone has a thing that they are crazy about.¡± I won¡¯t say what I am crazy about that causes my instincts to take over. That is something I will keep a secret forever!.
With everyone rested, well equipped, and ready to go. We began our dungeon dive once more. This time the experience was much higher. And just like before when the system stones dropped. So did the skill stones. Although they were much rarer, we ended up with enough for the whole team as well as two extra, which I decided to save. I did ask if everyone wanted to roll on them, but they just told me to take them. Sei ended up getting a second skill stone due to her first one being very questionable.
In the end, she got the ability to use earth magic at will. Mostly everyone got different elemental skills which allowed full maniption over the elements. In a way, it was much better than magic because it had a small mana consumption based on what you were trying to do without the need of writing out the magic circle, so in a sense, it was instant casting. A magic circle would still appear, but it was all done mentally on what you were trying to achieve.
I have a feeling these kinds of spells will eventually end up being the new norm for this world. It kind of scared me in a way. But other than that, Diablo was absolutely amazing. With a wave of his hand, he could kill hordes of monsters. And because I was teamed with everyone, we were all able to gain the experience from his attacks, so in a way, we were being power leveled. I did try to give Diablo a system stone, but it would not work, nor would the skill stones. He felt a little depressed about not being able to gain anything for his hard work, but I told him once we leave this ce, he could have some snacks that seemed to make him perk right up. Diablo turned out to be quite the foody. While he did not need to eat, once he tried some of Annie¡¯s cooking, he fell in love with it instantly and now joined everyone for our daily meals.
But currently, we were now standing in front of another set of doors. These ones were made of gold with less than appealing carvings engraved into them. It looked like thousands of souls reaching out, trying to escape. It was a bit disturbing. But luckily, now I was level 258.
[Humanoid Form]
[Name]: Faith Cyrilia
[Age] 12
[Level] 258
[Race] Dragonic
[HP] 85800/85800
[MP] ¡Þ
[Attack Power] 83950
[Magic Power] 83950
[Status Points] 1570
[Strength] 8395
[Vitality] 8580
[Intelligence] 8395
[Mind] ¡Þ
[Agility] 8395
[Skill Points] 171
[Skills]
[Appraisal (LVL 10(MAX))] [Military Command (LVL 10(MAX))] [Military Tactics (LVL 10(MAX))] [Business Tycoon (LVL 10(MAX))] [Acting (LVL 1(MAX))] [Enve Demon (LVL 10)]
The number of levels I got was quite a lot. And now, my normal health was almost at the one hundred thousand mark. I also had 1570 status points which I nned to use now to finally break that barrier.
[Humanoid Form]
[Name]: Faith Cyrilia
?[0)??? [Age] 12
[Level] 258
[Race] Dragonic
[HP] 101500/101500
[MP] ¡Þ
[Attack Power] 83950
[Magic Power] 83950
[Status Points] 0
[Strength] 8395
[Vitality] 10150
[Intelligence] 8395
[Mind] ¡Þ
[Agility] 8395
[Skill Points] 171
[Skills]
[Appraisal (LVL 10(MAX))] [Military Command (LVL 10(MAX))] [Military Tactics (LVL 10(MAX))] [Business Tycoon (LVL 10(MAX))] [Acting (LVL 1(MAX))] [Enve Demon (LVL 10)]
With this, my health has now broken the one hundred thousand mark. I noticed that my passive status points also are almost instant now. As soon as I level up, I get like fitten in ten minutes. So it only takes twenty minutes per level to actually gain an extra thirty status points in my attributes. All in all, I think with Diablo around, my team and I could run many dungeons in a few days and be able to level up quite quickly.
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Golden ticket: For each month we stay in the top 10, I will do 5 bonus chapters per month.
Chapter 210 The Boss Who Met A Real Boss
¡°Diablo, we are ready when you are.¡± I was ready to see this boss once more. I was originally unsure of what would happen if we came down here as this room was full of monsters, but now with Diablo, I know we will all leave this ce. This team is now more like a small knitted family. We can act ourselves without worrying about status or race. If only the rest of the world could act the same.
¡°Then let¡¯s get this show on the road. I really wish to meet this Annie person¡.¡± Diablo was more interested in food than anything, it seems.
I chuckled as I watched Diablo push the door open to the boss room with little effort, as if he was opening a normal sized door. He pushed so hard that the door banged on the sides of the stone wall, causing a loud echo to reverberate throughout the dungeon. This instantly caught the attention of the thousands of monsters sitting inside the boss room along with the boss itself.
¡°Another visitor?¡± The boss turned and looked at Diablo with squinted eyes. ¡°You small and squishy too¡. I let the other small and squishy ones deal with¡.¡±
The boss had no chance to even finish its words as Diablo waved his hand and killed them all. I could only stand behind him, feeling useless. At the same time, I was d Diablo was on our side!.
?[0)??? ¡°Squishies turned into bloody mess¡. Maybe you canst longer than one pinch.¡± The boss was not angered at all by the fact that Diablo killed all its minions. But then again, when I remembered that he had been killing them as they spawned, I guess it was only natural.
¡°Last more than one pinch? I should be saying the same about you. Can you evenst a single flick of my fingers?¡± I watched as Diablo¡¯s lips curled up into a smile. He then raised his hand and flicked his finger.
¡°AhhH! You! You hurt me! You must die!¡± The boss yelled out. I couldn¡¯t help but wonder just how bad this boss¡¯s intelligence was. While it could speak, unlike the other goblins, this one seemed to be a bit special in more ways than one. ¡°Appraisal¡±
[Goblin Ancient]
[Level]: 350
[HP]: 3450000/80000000
[MP]: 4000000040000000
Ah yes, so this was why I could not see his stats before. But still, this much health was a bit unfair. Was anyone normal supposed to be able to kill this thing? I mean, if we hade down here without Diablo, there would be no way to kill this guy alone with all these ads. Especially if I did not have infinity mana, they were just asking for people to die in the boss room.
¡°Master, I will finish him off. He talks too much.¡± Diablo said while flicking his finger. The boss, who was charging at Diablo, head exploded while its body moved forward a few more steps before falling to the ground.
[Goblin Ancient Corpse]
¡°It seems to be dead¡. Two hits from you, and it was killed instantly. I feel¡ weak¡.¡± I really did feel weak. I know I would have struggled for a long time, and even then, I might not have been able to live long enough to kill the boss, never mind those around me. I sighed as I went to walk past Diablo to check out the loot. But Diablo quickly grabbed my arm and pulled me back. ¡°It¡¯s not over yet.¡±
¡°Huh?¡± I looked up at Diablo with a confused expression. I had just used appraisal on the body, and it said it was a corpse.
¡°Keke¡.¡± A sickeningughter was heard echoing throughout the room. ¡°To think someone was able to truly beat that big brute¡..¡±
Everyone¡¯s eyes, including my own, turned towards the sound of the voice. There was a man standing there by the dungeon core in a ck cloak with purple lines all over his face. The hood made it hard to see anything but his face, but besides the purple lines, he also had purple eyes. He looked human, but for some reason, I do not think he was human at all. You could just say it was a six sense that was telling me this. But those lines¡. I think I remember seeing them in my dream.
¡°It is quite interesting to see someonee this far so soon. Although this dungeon is quite special, as I wanted to get a few test subjects so I made it so that as soon as the first boss dies, the entire dungeon would be blocked off until the dungeon was cleared. But it seems I will not be able to this time around. Very good beings of this torn. My name is Azengrade. I hope you will give me more entertainment in the future.¡± Azengrade bowed slightly before disappearing. Both I and Diablo stared at the spot he disappeared in withplex expressions. I didn¡¯t even get to use appraisal on him.
¡°Diablo, that man¡¯s strength?¡± I asked, hoping he could fill me in.
¡°Equal or above my own. Master, it seems this world is more interesting than I thought. But If I am to protect you and your family, then I will need to grow stronger. Much stronger.¡± Hearing Diablo, who was already insanely powerful, say that that man was just as powerful or more powerful than him caused me to feel a bit of dread. But I agreed with one thing that Diablo said: ¡°I also need to get stronger¡.¡±
¡°I will do everything in my power to support you and your friends. This kind of threat is not something we can handle at this time. He also did not make a move. It is more like he wants you to grow stronger. People like him are people you should fear the most and work hard to take down.¡± Diablo slowly let out a long breath as he spoke. I think he was masking it, but I think he also felt fear from that man.
¡°For now, let¡¯s gather the items and everything else.¡± I said as I walked over to the pile of loot. As soon as I walked over there I saw another shiny object this one was much bigger and red. I quickly picked it up and used Aprrasial on it.
[Limit Breaker]
[Consumable]
[Will grant one Limit Break Ability upon consumption.]
[Would you like to consume?]
Chapter 211 Limit Break
¡°Limit Break?¡± I looked at the stone in my hand for a few seconds before looking around to see if I could find more, but this seemed to be the only one.
¡°Faith that is?¡± Adel walked up to me. She always seemed to be first after me when it came to treasure. Maybe she had a shiny obsession too?
¡°It is a Limit Break Stone. There only seems to be one, so to be on the safe side, I will use it first. Then we can report to the others. I am not sure if this is a rare drop or not but we will see what happens.¡± I was kinda being selfish, but with everything that happened, I needed as much strength as possible. While I had Diablo, this was only when he was around. What if something big happens like in my dreams? If war really does break out and it has something to do with that man. Then The enemy will definitely be very strong. I not only want to protect my family but everyone else around me.
¡°Don¡¯t worry, if anything happens, I will be here.¡± Adel said as she once again got into battle mode. I chuckled and closed my eyes, and took a deep breath. I then hit the yes button.
[Limit Breaks Slots Avable 3/3].
[By consuming this Limit Break Stone you will take up one Limit Break Slot.]
[Limit Break: Total Domination]
[Would you like to consume?]
As soon as I hit the yes button, another notification suddenly popped up in front of me.
[Limit Break Abilities are now avable and can be seen in the status window.]
Sure enough, as soon as I opened my status window, I had a new section above my skills. ¡°Let¡¯s see¡. Appraisal!¡±
¡°I see¡.¡± I pursed my lips while reading the description.
¡°So?¡± Adel spoke up while giving me a questioning gaze.
¡°I got a limit break called: Total Domination. Basically, it is an instant movement skill that raises my attack power by one thousand times its original value. For each strike I make on my opponent, it will build up the final attack, which is supposed to be an overhead strike. This strike is basically every attack I make on the target built up into a single attack that is infused with gravity. The only downside is that it puts a huge burden on the body, making it a skill you only want to use when you absolutely have to. I have no real way of testing it out unless I go and fight a strong monster somece.¡± I guess this was kind of a final trump card that should only be used when necessary. But I still wished to test it, not now, but at ater time. ¡°Ah, also, It seems we can only have three of them at any given time. I am not sure what happens when you reach your max amount of limit breaks.¡±
¡°Well, when we get back, we will try to test it out on a dummy or something that can withstand such attacks. We will need to make sure it is in a secure environment where you will note under attack from outside sources in case something goes wrong.¡± Adel¡¯s words made sense. It would be bad to just run out and fight some random monster to test the skill out without knowing its ins and outs.
¡°Alright, let¡¯s do that. For now, let¡¯s gather all the stones here. There seems to be plenty of system and skill stones. Save them and give them to your father. I am sure he will use them wisely.¡± I already had enough for my family, so I was not worried about skill stones and such. And while I could get more skills, I would rather beef up the kingdom¡¯s forces first.
¡°Boss! This one is yours! We can¡¯t lift it.¡± I turned to see a sword sticking in the ground. Steven was pulling it to the point that his face was turning red. It was not a big sword by any means. It was a normal sword like the one I was used to using. It had a ck hilt with a ck de, only the guard was a dark shade of red. I walked over and looked it over. ¡°Appraisal!¡±
[Athena¡¯s Promise]
[Rarity: Legendary]
[Sword Spirit Athena]
[Attack Power: 30000]
[Defense: 10000]
[Growth Item]
¡°Hmmm¡¡± I reached out and gripped the handle. As I did, I felt a warmthing from the sword that made it seem like I had wielded it forever. I pulled on it, and the sword pulled out of the ground effortlessly. [You have been deemed worthy. I ept you as my Master¡.] ¡°Huh?¡±
I was confused when I heard the voice in my head. ¡°Is this the sword spirit?¡± I pursed my lips and held the sword up. It reflected the dim lighting of the room well. But after a few swings and trying to say hello to it in my mind, I got no reply.
¡°How is it?¡± Sophie asked as she stared at the sword with a hint of jealousy in her eyes.
¡°It¡¯s a good sword.¡± I replied. It truly is a good sword. It felt like an extension of my own body. I was not sure what a Growth Item was, but I guess I will figure it out in time. Other than that, this was a pretty amazing sword.
¡°You are so lucky. I tried picking it up too, but it wouldn¡¯t budge!¡± Sophie whined. During this trip, she has opened up a lot more. She was still quiet, but she let her true feelings out naturally now. It was a good sign for her.
¡°Hehe¡ There are a lot of good weapons here. Let¡¯s see if we can find you something suitable.¡± With this, I helped begin dishing out items. Thest boss dropped a lot of items, and when I say a lot, I mean it. There are a ton of items here. Complete sets of armor, weapons, potions, even I got a full set of leather armor. I did not like metal armor, so I went with something lighter as it was easier to move in. But the boys dived right into the te armor. All leftovers were stashed in my inventory to give to the kingdom. The only thing left now was to destroy the dungeon core.
Chapter 212 Returning Home
After getting changed in a makeshift dressing room, one for boys and one for the girls, I walked over to the dungeon core and looked at it. ¡°Appraisal!¡±
[Dungeon Core]
[Goblin Dungeon Number: XRTDS72651]
[First Boss: Orc Bruiser]: Defeated
[Second Boss: Goblin Shaman]: Defeated
[Third Boss: Goblin Chief] Defeated.
[Final Boss: Goblin Ancient] Defeated
[Break core to clear dungeon¡.]
Seeing the instructions, I raised my hand that had transformed into a dragon¡¯s w and thrust it down onto the core.
*Bang!*
*Crack!*
I watched as the core began to break intorge and small shards. I was not going to just leave them around either. I quickly gathered them up. ¡°Boss a magic circle!¡±
I turned to see Hailey pointing to the center of the room. I quickly stored away all the shards and walked over to the magic circle, and sighed in relief when I saw it was a normal teleport circle. ¡°It will teleport us to the first floor. We can finally go home!¡±
¡°We are going home, everyone!!¡± Steven yelled out. This was followed by more cheers. I lost track of time a long time ago. I have forgotten how many days we have been down here, a month, maybe more. But I can say this. It was definitely worth it.
We all gathered into the magic circle, and after applying a bit of magic to it, our surroundings changed, and we found ourselves back at the main entrance and surrounded by knights. ¡°Who goes there!?¡±
¡°Hold it!¡± A familiar voice rang out. ¡°Adel! Faith! You are all safe!¡±
I watched as Lance pushed his way through the knights with tears in his eyes. ¡°You are safe¡.¡±
¡°We have returned, Brother,¡± Adel replied with a smile as she stepped forward and hugged Lance. They may bicker and fight every now and then, but they were still brother and sister and cared about each other.
¡°Spluurgie!¡± A small blue object suddenly mmed into my chest. I looked at the familiar blue blob and smiled while hugging it. ¡°Good work Mr. Blobs. Go and have a rest with yourpanions.¡± I recalled all my slimes, including Mr. Blobs, to allow him to have a rest.
¡°It is good you are all safe¡.¡± Instructor Telive made his way over. He was slightly skinnier than before. But he was alive and well.
¡°It¡¯s good that you are still safe. I hope I gave you all enough food.¡± I said with a smile.
¡°Yes. The girls and boys you saved are also doing well. You have my thanks. It is only because of you sending food to us through Honorable Mr. Blobs did we have a chance of survival. The instructor you stopped time for has already been arrested along with the female instructor who hid.¡± Telive reported. I nodded my head. I could understand. Neglecting your duties and hiding instead of trying to protect the examinees and making the right call during a crisis deserved some form of punishment. These things should have been done without an examinee stepping in to fill in their roles.
¡°As long as things are okay now.¡± I replied with a smile. But then Lance cut in with a serious expression.
¡°The students you trapped in the barrier all died. They were all from higher nobles, and now their families are looking for an exnation. Father has held them off, but we do not know how long we can hold them off for.¡± Lance exined.
¡°Huh? What does it matter if they died or not!? Those bastards were here to harass my friends and me, those I find important to me. They beat up Grace for no reason! Plus, it¡¯s not like I meant for them to die in there. I have no idea how long I have been down in that dungeon, but I originally only wanted them to fail the test. But since we got locked in, I couldn¡¯t release the barrier spell. Circumstances did not allow it. If they wish to cause trouble, let them try. I will destroy everything they hold dear!¡± I did feel bad for them dying. But at the same time, they were following in their parents¡¯ footsteps and bing nobles who thought they could do whatever they wanted because of their status. I may be only a lowly Barron, but that did not matter to me. What mattered was the fact that I only cared about the people close to me and the kingdom itself. Not the people who sit upon their throne looking down on the lower ss because of a so called title.
¡°I suddenly want to go get lost in a dungeon again,¡± I said with a long sigh. I had forgotten about the stupid politics and the crap I was dealing with before I dove into the dungeon.
¡°Boss, we will go with you!¡± Steven held up his sword and shouted with confidence. I chuckled and shook my head. ¡°More than anything right now, I wish to have a nice hot bath and sink into a soft bed.¡± I turned my gaze back to Lance and said: ¡°So for now, tell His Majesty that I will report to him tomorrow with Adel. Let us have a day¡¯s rest first¡.¡± I then yawned as my eyes became heavy. My body began to teeter left and right. I could feel myself about to fall over, but I soon found myself in a warm embrace. I looked up to see Diablo standing behind me, holding my shoulders.
¡°Master. Rest well. I will follow Lady Adel to your home while carrying you.¡± Diablo¡¯s voice was soft and soothing. I nodded weakly and let the voice of slumber consume me.
When I opened my eyes next, I found myself in a hot, warm bath. And to be honest, I was a bit confused as to how I ended up here. I only remember falling asleep in Diablo¡¯s arms, and now I woke up in a hot bath. ¡°Master, are you awake?¡± I turned to see Grace standing there in a maid outfit with a towel in her hand.
¡°Did you bring me here?¡± I asked in confusion.
¡°Yes. I washed and scrubbed you from head to toe before cing you in the bath. You are now squeaky clean, Master!¡±
Chapter 213 Seven Sins Part 1
I could feel my face heating up. I mean, who wouldn¡¯t? Thest time someone else washed me was when I was small, and my mother washed me. But when I looked at the nonchnt face that Grace had on, I began to wonder if I was just overthinking things. But I can say that this was my first time waking up in a bath, and it felt kinda nice.
After washing up and drying off, I was subjected to Grace¡¯s forceful dressing. I kinda feel like I have gone through this before. Ah! That¡¯s right, in my dream, Grace also dressed me. I guess I should probably get used to this kind of thing from now on since It does not seem like she will relent anytime soon.
After getting dressed, I walked to my room with Grace slowly following behind me. Once I entered my room, Grace also followed behind. She prepared a ss of water and shut the curtains. Once she was done, she turned to me and bowed respectfully as she said: ¡°Have a good night, Master. Oh right! Before I forget. The Dean at the academy has asked you to go see him tomorrow after you speak with the King. It seems everyone has passed the test and will be attending the academy from now on, starting the day after tomorrow. But tomorrow, he just wants a detailed ount of our dungeon experiences.¡±
¡°Mmm¡ I will be sure to go. Have a good night, Grace, and thank you¡.¡± While I had just slept for who knows how long, I was still quite tired. Not as tired as I was before but close to it. I reflected back on everything that happened and knew I would need to go to the academy tomorrow top get some answers.
¡°It was my pleasure to be of assistance to Master.¡± Grace replied back before turning on her heel and leaving the room..
It felt strange in a way. The dreams that I have been having are starting toe true. The lives of those around me were slowly starting to fall into ce. I have never had such dreams before. And they all started when I went to the fortune teller with Sophie. I wonder if that was some kind of trigger for an inborn power that I did not know I had. Whatever the case, from this moment on, I will need to be more careful. If Sophie truly dies or gets seriously hurt because of my ignorance, then I will have to be sure to make sure that that never happens.
But I wonder¡. Does this kingdom fall? Is that why I built a kingdom of my own? And were the two wars the same? If I recall correctly, they seemed to be slightly different¡ Whatever the case, maybe I will need to try to make the best of it all and avoid any bad endings.
When I woke up next, I was greeted by Grace doing the same things she did in my dream. ¡°Grace, you know you do not need to do all of this¡.¡±
¡°Master speaks strange things. As your servant, I must see to my Master¡¯s daily life. Now Master, please get up so I can wash your face and dress you. We need to get going to see the King.¡± Grace set a bowl of water next to the bed and then sat on the edge next to me with a cloth in her hand. Seeing her determined face, I wondered if I should really just get used to this already. I sighed and just let her do her thing.
After I was ready, I went downstairs to eat breakfast to see Sophie digging into the food on the table and a sulking Adel, who was pouting for some reason. ¡°Good morning. I hope everyone slept well.¡±
¡°Goof mofuing.¡± Sophie tried to talk through her stuffed cheeks, causing me to chuckle. Adel, on the other hand, seemed to still be sulking. I walked over to her and poked her cheek.
¡°What is wrong?¡± I asked.
¡°Ask her!¡± Adel said with a pout as she pointed to Grace. I turned and looked at Grace with a questioning gaze.
¡°Master, she is just mad because I refused to let her take advantage of you while you slept in the bath.¡± Grace answered honestly, making me turn my head towards Adel with a raised eyebrow.
Adel quickly averted her eyes as she replied: ¡°I had no such intentions. I just wanted to watch your sleeping face.¡±
¡°I see¡. Well¡ Anyway!¡± I will just pretend nothing happened. ¡°Let¡¯s eat. We need to head to the castle and then to the academy afterward.¡±
¡°Fine¡.¡± Adel pursed her lips and began eating.
I chuckled and looked at Sophie, whose cheeks were still puffed out. ¡°Sophie, slow down¡.¡±
¡°Cough! Gulp! Ahh! Faith, I do not know why but I am really hungry this morning.¡± Sophie replied with a wry smile.
¡°Hmmm? Sophie, I am going to use appraisal on you, okay?¡± I was not going to just use it without saying anything so let her know first. But I had to use it now because I felt something was off.
¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± Sophie replied with a nod. ¡°Appraisal.¡±
¡°Let¡¯s see¡. Hmmm? What is this?¡± I was confused because Sophie seemed to have a curse ced on her that was not there before. ¡°Curse of the Seven Sins. Gluttony¡.¡±
¡°Yeah, I have no idea how it came to be. I woke up like this.¡± Sophie replied. Her smile turning into a frown. ¡°Since I woke up, I can¡¯t help but want to eat everything I see..¡±
¡°Follow us today. We will ask the King and the Dean to see if we can figure something out.¡± I have never heard of curses being used before. So I was unsure of what exactly they were or how to get rid of them. I looked at Adel, who seemed to know a lot, but she only shrugged, which means we can only look and ask those with more knowledge. ¡°Wait, where is Sei? I don¡¯t see her.¡±
Chapter 214 Seven Sins Part 2
¡°Master Sei has yet to wake up,¡± Grace replied, causing me to be a bit worried. By the time I finished my breakfast, Sei still had note down from her room. Feeling even more worried, I decided to go check on her.
When I arrived at her room, I heard nothing from inside. I knocked softly only to hear a grunt in return. Puzzled as to what was going on, I knocked once more. ¡°Stop knocking. Let me sleep!¡±
¡°Sei, we need to head to the castle,¡± I replied while opening the door. When I walked in, the room was still pitch ck. Only the faint light of the sun that found its way around the edges of the curtain illuminated the room. I walked over to therge bed that was in total disarray to see Sei sprawled out in her nightgown. Her eyes closed, and her breathing steady.
¡°Sei?¡± I softly called out, only for Sei¡¯s brow to furrow as she turned over and ignored me. Thinking about what has happened to Sophie, I decided to check Sei¡¯s status as well. ¡°Sei, I am going to use appraisal on you. Appraisal!¡± I used it without waiting for her to answer. And sure enough, Sei also had a curse simr to Sophie¡¯s..
[Curse Of The Seven Sins: Sloth]
I frowned, seeing the status effect. That was when a thought came to mind. ¡°Diablo?¡±
¡°You called Master?¡± In a puff of ck smoke, Diablo appeared next to me with his hand on his chest, bowing slightly.
¡°Have you ever heard of curses before? Ummm, the Curse of the Seven Sins?¡± I asked. As Diablo was a demon, who was long lived, I figured if I was going to ask anyone about it, it would be Diablo.
¡°Curse, hmmm? Curses are pretty tricky to deal with and need a dispel magic that is tuned to the type of curse that the person has. As this is the curse of the seven sins, it would be even harder to get rid of as it would need a lot of mana to remove¡. Haha. I guess I shouldn¡¯t worry about such a thing with Master here. Master, I can teach you how to dispel it, but as the name suggests, the curse of the seven sins means there are seven types of sin. Sloth, Wrath, Pride, Greed, Envy. Gluttony, andstly Lust.¡± Diablo exined before asking: ¡°Is Lady Sei the only one with this curse?¡±
¡°No, Sophie has the sin of gluttony. These two are nothingpared to some of the others.¡± I pondered for a moment before turning to Grace. ¡°Grace, go out and gather the others from our dungeon team here. Even if they were in the middle of explicit things, drag them here. Hopefully, I am not toote.¡±
Grace quickly left to do as I said. I went downstairs and had Annie send a message to the King that I would bete due to an incident and that I would exin it to himter. Now I am currently listening to Diablo¡¯s lecture on curse dispelling magic. It was unlike a normal dispel. It had to be written to target that specific curse. This means I would need seven different magic circles for each type of the seven sins.
It also costs an absurd amount of mana to cast just a single spell. It was definitely not something that one could cast easily. One cast cost almost two thousand mana. After spending an hour learning the ins and outs of targeted dispel magic, Diablo and I came up with a magic circle for each sin and were now about to test it out. Sophie sat in front of us with a pastry in her hand and stuffed cheeks.
¡°Here I go. Dispel Gluttony.¡± I called out the activation word. Sophie¡¯s body glowed with a golden light before ck smoke began to rise off her body and turn into balls of golden light. Secondster, Sophie suddenly hunched over and held her stomach. ¡°I will be right back!¡±
With these words, Sophie ran off towards the bathroom. I quickly cast appraisal on her to see that she was no longer cursed. I let out a sigh of relief before standing up and stretching. ¡°Seems like it worked. Thank you, Diablo.¡±
¡°It was a pleasure to teach a genius like Master.¡± Diablo responded, making me scratch my nose in embarrassment. I headed upstairs and cast the dispel for Sloth on Sei, who still refused to get out of bed even though she was no longer cursed. So I had Annie do what she normally did to wake Sei up.
¡°Ahhh! Annie, stop pouring water on me every morning!¡± Sei yelled out. She now looked like a drenched cat. I chuckled and gave Annie a thumbs up. Annie gave me a wide smile. It seemed she enjoyed dumping water on Sei.
A few hourster, Grace came back with everyone in tow. Although a few were hog tied and flopping around on the floor. And Amanda seemed to be kept quiet with Leo¡¯s finger in her mouth. I quickly checked her first to see if she was the one who got stuck with lust. And sadly for her, she was. I didn¡¯t waste any time removing her curse.
Steven ended up with Wrath. Hailey had Pride. ke was Envy, andstly, Rick had Greed. After removing each of their curses, they all had embarrassed faces. But just getting rid of the curses was not enough. We still needed to figure out what caused all of this. ¡°Everyone should stay here for today. I will be back after going to the castle and the academy. Try to think of how you all ended up with these curses.¡±
¡°Umm¡ Boss I think I speak for all of us when I say this but thank you for acting so quickly.¡± Steven spoke up first while everyone who was cursed bowed to me.
¡°It¡¯s nothing, I just figured it had something to do with the dungeon. We still do not know alot about the dungeons or what can happen while in the dungeon. So we need to be more careful from now on. I will be back soon. Make yourselves at home.¡±
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Chapter 215 Meeting With The King Part 1
Currently, I was standing in front of the king, King Gravos. He had aplicated look on his face as he stared at me. ¡°I understand what happened and that there is also a danger to this kingdom that we do not know how to deal with yet, but I am still stuck in a rough spot. You have killed the heirs of quite a few noble ns, some of which rank as high as marquess. Whether it was by ident or not, it was still you who had trapped them within the barrier.¡±
¡°And?¡± I asked. I could care less about this now. While I do feel bad for what happened, things at the time were out of my control. ¡°You want me to apologize to people who were targeting not only me but my friends? While it is unfortunate that they have died, circumstances also have to be taken into ount. If you wish to imprison me, then fine, I will do my time as I am the cause of their deaths, but once I leave the dungeon, I will leave this kingdom altogether. ¡°
¡°No! I won¡¯t allow it!¡± Adel yelled out as she suddenly ran and stood in front of me. ¡°Father, I owe Faith my life. She saved the lives of many more nobles than those who had died. If you n to imprison her, then I will denounce my status and join her in prison.¡±.
I watched as King Gravos held his head and raised his other hand. ¡°Stop! Who said I was going to imprison anyone!? Stop jumping to conclusions! While what happened is truly unfortunate, it was, in the end, an ident that could not be avoided. Not to mention Faith saved many more lives than what was lost. Sometimes the situation needs some sacrifices in order to be able to save many. While they may not have been in harm¡¯s way, it is also the ipetence of those around who could not break Faith¡¯s barrier.
¡°But the fact still lies with Faith being the one who killed them, which makes this situation tricky. I called you here not only to get a report about what had happened but also to ask if you have any ideas to handle the nobles.¡± King Gravos exined slowly.
¡°I see. I do apologize I overreacted.¡± I had indeed overreacted. I thought he was nning to punish me for what had happened. While I do think I deserve some form of punishment, if I was imprisoned for a certain amount of time, I would have left the kingdom. Well, more of I would have hidden somewhere and watched over everyone from afar.
¡°It¡¯s fine. I did not exin it clearly at first. So do you have any ideas?¡± King Gravos asked.
¡°Since it is not good to just wipe them all out without them doing anything wrong, why don¡¯t we hold a trial? You can ce me under house arrest with only the ability to visit the academy during the trial. We have plenty of witnesses that can stand by my side. This might also be able to find out who was behind the instigation of attacking me and those close to me.¡± Luckily this meeting today was just between Adel, myself, and the king. The Prime Minister was not here, at least I think¡
¡°Hmmm¡ You do make a good point. And if you are proven innocent, then things will look better on your behalf while making the nobles who wish to make a fuss lose some credibility. This means I can even lower some of the higher status houses down a notch. ¡± I could see that King Gravos¡¯s brain was turning.
After a few moments, he began to speak again. ¡°If we do this, you will be confined to your estate and the academy only. You will be escorted by knights to make sure you do not run off.¡±
¡°That is fine. As you now know, I do have a few people I can send out to handle my business affairs for me.¡± I was speaking mainly about Annie. She knew Thurul well and also understood what I was trying to do.
¡°Speaking about people¡ Grace Dollen seems to be acting as your servant now?¡± King Gravos asked while raising an eyebrow. I have not yet exined this part to him since I did keep some things from him.
¡°That is something I can not talk about as it has to do with Grace¡¯s personal matters. If her parents would like to speak to me, please have theme to my house. But more importantly, Your Majesty, We need to talk about this man named Azengrade and the dungeons. Along with the person who okayed a bunch of kids to enter the one we entered.¡± I tried to change the subject. There were more important things than digging into Grace and my rtions at this time.
¡°Hmmm¡ The man you say is more powerful than anyone you have ever met?¡± At King Gravos¡¯s question, I nodded my head. ¡°He is someone who seems to be able to alter dungeons. This was why we were locked in. He even said so himself.¡±
¡°I am not sure about this Azengrade since I have never heard of him or a race with the markings you described. I will have my own people look into it. As for the person who reported to the academy that the dungeon was a safe enough for young kids to train, they seem to have disappeared. Myself and also the Dean have sent people to investigate. The Dean will speak about this matter when you meet himter on. Also¡. I must tell you that the dungeon, even after you destroyed its core, has seemed to heal itself and has turned into a goblin dungeon again.
¡°Of course, we now have signs posted warning those who wish to enter that they should not be females. It gives a pretty graphic description of goblins outside of the entrance, so hopefully, it will stop unfortunate incidents from happening again. I have also decided to use it as a means to train the kingdom knights as it is the second closest dungeon to the capital.¡± Hmmm, so destroying the core did not destroy the dungeon.
After thinking for a moment, I reached into my inventory and pulled out a shard from the dungeon core. ¡°Your Majesty, can you have someone look into this shard for me? It is a shard of the core I destroyed.¡±
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Chapter 216 Meeting With The King Part 2
¡°A shard from the dungeon core? Sure I can have people look into it.¡± King Gravos replied while nodding his head. I was actually thankful for this help. While I did n to give some to Thurul to see if he could craft it into something. Giving some to the kingdom would allow them to test it and see if it could be of any use in the future.
¡°Now then, Your Majesty, since the main topics have been discussed, may I approach you?¡± I asked. I now wished to give him a system stone. While I know he will not be able to level up due to his status, he could at least use the umted status points to extend his life and raise his health.
¡°Haha! I hate this stiff stuff!¡± King Gravos let out a loudugh. Adel, on the other hand, looked back and forth between them. She seemed very confused.
¡°Adel, everything that was said earlier was for the ears that were listening in,¡± I exined lightly as I went to walk over to King Gravos.
¡°What!? So earlier when you said all those things¡..¡± Adel cried out, unsure of what to make of the situation..
¡°If I was really imprisoned. I would have left the kingdom on the surface. But I would have just hidden myself to keep those I care about safe..¡± I replied with a smile as I turned to look at her.
¡°Adel, what Faith said is right. If she were to stick around after being imprisoned, it would have caused more of a mess. Her choice in saying all that and her thoughts are actually quite smart. While you might not get to talk with her much, she could still visit you ever so often.¡± King Gravos added, but Adel began to sulk.
¡°No!¡± Adel suddenly shouted. ¡°Even if it is all a ruse, I do not agree! Faith did nothing wrong. Those people were horrible and beat up Grace when she stood up for Sophie and Sei. Their actions were not right! Plus, it¡¯s not like Faith wanted them to die. She beat them up and locked them in the barrier because we all believed that we would be done soon.¡±
¡°Adel¡.¡± King Gravos let out a sigh. He could see the tears welling up in his daughter¡¯s eyes.
I walked over and hugged her. ¡°Adel, I know you care about me. You are my best friend and the first friend I have ever made outside my family. But you also have to put personal feelings aside for the kingdom with your status as a princess. You have people who rely on you. Plus, it was not like I was going to disappear, and I don¡¯t n to either. What was said was said because of those who were listening in on our conversation.¡± And I think it was a certain Prime Minister who was trying to listen in as well.
¡°But¡.¡± Adel looked up at me with teary eyes. I swear, with how pretty she is, it was a crime for her to look at me like that.
¡°No buts. Let¡¯s not talk about this anymore. For now, you need to be a witness in case your father turns into a monster after he takes the blue pill.¡± I said jokingly. But I heard a dry cough from behind me. I turned to see the King looking at me with a suspicious gaze. I smiled and stuck my tongue out at him. With a faint nod from Adel, I walked over to King Gravos and presented him with a system stone.
¡°Your Majesty, this here is called a system stone. Adel and everyone else in my team who dived deep into the dungeon were able to gain a system. Systems allow people to level up and use their status points to raise their strength. While I know you will not be able to level up like others, I figure it would still be useful for you to have a system stone to gain the extra stats.¡± I exined.
¡°A system¡.¡± King Gravos looked at the rock in my hand, then at Adel, who nodded her head before taking it. Just like the others, a menu popped up in front of him. ¡°Oh! This¡. Do I just hit the yes button?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± I answered with a smile and nod.
I watched as he hit the yes button. As he did, his body glowed with a golden light that enveloped his body. ¡°Oh ho! Now, this is quite interesting. Is this my current status?¡±
¡°Yes. Let¡¯s see¡. You have 630 status points. As Your Majesty will not be able to go out and level much. May I suggest that you split your points between Vitality and Mind? Vitality will raise your health while Mind will increase your mana pool and lifespan.¡± I wanted Adel¡¯s father to live as long as possible. He was a good man and loved his kingdom.
¡°Mm¡ This is a good idea. I will do that.¡± King Gavos replied with a nod.
¡°Also.¡± I sent out a team request to him.
¡°This is?¡± King Gravos cried out in surprise when a new menu popped up.
¡°This is a team request. I am not sure if it will work or not, but I do n to level up more than I already am. If you are in my team, you may gain experience. But I am not sure about this yet. I would need to kill a monster to test it.¡± I was unsure if this would work at all, but if it does, then that means King Gravos can level up possibly by being teamed with me. I can only hope that it will work.
¡°Hmmm¡ we can have a monster brought to the training grounds in an hour. We will test it then.¡± King Gravos was quick toe up with a way of testing things. But then again, I was unsure if normal monsters would even work for dungeons systems.
¡°I am not sure if a monster outside the dungeon will work, but we can test it. If anything, I can just head back to the dungeon and kill a few goblins since you said it reset.¡± We needed to test it either way so going to the first room to kill a goblin was not out of the question.
¡°Mm¡ We will do that before we announce your house arrest.¡± King Gravos readily agreed.
With that settled, I finally presented him with another stone.
Chapter 217 The Silly King
King Gravos looked at my hand with great interest. I couldn¡¯t help but want to tease him when I saw his expression. I quickly retracted my hand and held it to my chest as I said: ¡°Your Majesty, I know I have beautiful hands, but if you look at me like that¡. I am still so young¡.¡±
¡°What!? Father, are you hitting on my Faith!?¡± Adel suddenly screamed at the top of her lungs.
¡°Huh!? What!? What is going on!?¡± King Gravos was flustered. His cheeks turned red. I couldn¡¯t hold it anymore as I burst outughing. ¡°You! You naughty girl! Are you trying to get me killed!?¡±
¡°Hahaha! I am sorry, I just couldn¡¯t¡. Hahaha!¡± I wasughing so hard I was even snorting, which caused everyone else tough along with me..
Wiping away the tears I just spilled, I finally presented the ability stone to King Gravos. This time Adel was standing at my side, hugging my arm while ring at her father. I guess Adel will never change. As time goes on, she will probably grow out of this as she interacts with more and more people. But for now, I guess it is fine to indulge her once and a while as long as it does not cross the line too much.
The more I think about myst dream where I was alone in such a huge mansion with only a few servants going about their daily tasks, I wonder if I will truly lead such a lonely life. But I guess I should really not worry so much about such things as my life has only just started. I am still young, and I can only wait to see what the future holds. But still¡. As my dreams seem to being true, I can¡¯t help but worry just a little.
¡°This is called an ability or skill stone. It will give you an ability outside the normal magic we use. It¡¯s kind of hard to exin, so it is best to just use it and find out for yourself.¡± I said as I ced the stone in King Gravos¡¯s hand. Another menu popped up in front of him, and he quickly pressed the yes button. ¡°Hmm? Aegis Return?¡±
My ears perked up. ¡°Oh? What does it say?¡± I asked.
¡°Hmm, it says that it is a passive skill. It will activate anytime a hostile action is taken against me and reflect the damage back at the attacker.¡± King Gravos exined. I couldn¡¯t help but purse my lips. That was better than my mana shield! ¡°There doesn¡¯t seem to be a mana cost either¡.¡±
¡°Well, it seems Your Majesty will live a long, long life. But we should test it.¡± I said with a bright smile. I wanted to see the magic circle as it forms!
¡°Test it? How are you goin¡..! Ahhh! Faith, are you trying to rebel!?¡± King Gravos yelled out as he quickly dodged my fireball.
¡°Tch!¡± I clicked my tongue and shot a few more at him. Adel, who was next to me, was dying fromughter. She was actually rolling around on the ground, holding her stomach. But sure enough, one of the attacks really did hit King Gravos, and a magic circle with a sci fi looking barrier suddenly appeared instantly. I imprinted the magic circle into my mind. It was veryplex, but I know I can recreate it. The fireball that came flying back at me, which I waved off with a water ball, canceling it out.
It was just that. I was currently being red at by a certain king whose clothes were now in disarray. ¡°Faith, do you know what you did is a crime against the crown?¡±
¡°No, I was testing your new defensive passive. I was helping the crown. Would you rather wait for an assassin toe to kill you and at that time only hope your passive will work? With myself or Adel here, we can at least rewind your damage from a simple fireball. So please do not put this and that into the same category. Also, tell your shadow guards to stop ring at me.¡± I could feel their eyes on me, but they did not dare make a move. They couldn¡¯t. After all, I have the best backing in the entire kingdom! My little and wonderfully amazing Bell!
King Gravos stood there staring at me in disbelief. What did he expect from a magic freak!? When a new spell was right in front of my eyes, I had to see it! Anyway¡. ¡°Aegis!¡±
A blue shield appeared around me that looked just like the one that formed around King Gravos seconds ago. ¡°Oh? Quite a bit of mana needed to maintain such a barrier.¡±
¡°Hah, Fireball!¡± King Gravos suddenly yelled out.
¡°Wait, don¡¯t!¡± Ah, it was already toote. I was unable to react in time, and his spell hit the barrier.
¡°Ahhh!¡± King Gravos yelled out once more. This time he was patting his robes which caught on fire. He turned and looked at me with an aggrieved expression. The King, who normally had an oppressive air about him, now looked like a vagabond. But I must say this was kind of a childish move on his part. Was he trying to get revenge against me?
¡°I copied the spell exactly so it, of course, would have the reflection portion of the runic equation as well¡.¡± I exined. Adel was currently hugging my leg dry heaving fromughing so hard. I really did not know what to make of this situation.
¡°You could have said something earlier!¡± King Gravos said while pouting as he sat back in his seat.
¡°You didn¡¯t even give me time! You just cast the fireball before I even had a chance to realize what was going on!¡± It was true. I was still studying my new spell when he suddenly cast a fireball at me. How was I supposed to react in time?
Chapter 218 Getting Down To Business
¡°Ahem¡ Anyway, do you have any more topics you wish to talk about?¡± King Gravos asked.
¡°I do, but may I stick a barrier up beforehand? Although the person who was listening in is now gone, I still wish to ask you about a few things. That should not be heard by others.¡± I wanted to talk to him about the Prime Minister. The things that happened before diving deep into the dungeon were not something that could easily be instigated without pressure from the outside.
¡°You can.¡± King Gravos replied while waving his hand. Five people in ck suddenly appeared in a puff of smoke. ¡°All of you wait outside.¡±
¡°But your Majesty¡.¡± One of the shadow guards seemed reluctant to let him be alone with me and Adel..
¡°Are you not going to listen to my order? Adel is also here, so why are you worried about such nonsense? Faith is like my daughter as well. While she is naughty, she would never truly hurt me. Plus, if she wanted to, she could easily take over this kingdom. You all are underestimating this little girl.¡± King Gravos¡¯s words made me purse my lips. I did have a lot of power, but to be honest, at this moment and time, I do not have any wish to rule some country. I just want to be me and do what I had nned from the start.
Politics are not my cup of tea, nor do I wish to get involved in what goes on in politics as well. While I know I am currently being dragged into it, I still do not wish for any of it either. But Adel, Lance, and even the silly King in front of me have be important people in my life. Not to mention this kingdom that has so many good people in it. I can not and will not allow this ce to disappear.
¡°I understand, Your Majesty¡.¡± I could swear the shadow guard red at me from under his mask. I do not understand why he is so hostile toward me. It makes me wonder. Is he truly loyal to the king?
Once the shadow guards left, I put up a threeyered istion barrier. It would even block detection from entering the room. ¡°There¡.¡± I said while letting out a sigh.
¡°Was it wise?¡± King Gravos asked while looking at me. Adel was currently rewinding his clothes, so they were back to normal now.
¡°The information we gave should keep them busy for a while. The system stones and ability stones are not easy toe by. After all, they didn¡¯t drop until after the second boss, as for the ns with the trail. It works out better for us if they do cause more of a ruckus. I actually hope they do because it will only shine more light on the nobles who are not on the royal family¡¯s side. I hate to say it. But, this kingdom has be split between two factions.¡± It was easy to see. It seemed that two sides were forming, and the more time that passed, the more the sides would split and eventually¡
¡°A civil war wille if things continue as they are. I understand this.¡± King Gravos said as if reading my mind. ¡°My problem is that if I make a move against any of them, it will cause a stir, and it might set things in motion before we can even do anything about it. The people of the kingdom are innocent and should not be pulled into a war within the government. I have been working on trying to stop all of this, but it is not an easy task. It was thanks to you that I investigated deeper into things, and I now know the Prime Minister is the head of this faction. And because of your help, some of his ns have been ruined. But it is hard to keep track of his movements¡ He has his own guards that follow him everywhere, so my people can not get close to him.¡±
¡°I may have a solution to this.¡± After thinking for a moment. I couldn¡¯t help but wonder if many Diablo would have some kind of low level demons who could hide in the shadows to keep watch over him.
¡°Oh? Let¡¯s hear it. Anything that can give me solid evidence will allow me to finally make a move.¡± King Gravos was looking at me like I was some kind of ray of hope for him. But sadly, it was all up to if Diablo was able to do what I was thinking.
¡°Diablo,¡± I called out, and not even a secondter, a puff of ck smoke appeared behind me. A great pressure also fell over the hall. ¡°Release your pressure. There are no enemies here.¡±
¡°Yes, Master.¡± The pressure suddenly lifted. I looked up at King Gravos, who was staring at Diablo with a hint of fear in his eyes.
¡°This is Diablo. He is a summoned demon and also someone who has made a vow to follow me. Diablo, this is the King Gravos of the Gravos Kingdom. Someone who has taken very good care of me as if I was his own daughter.¡± I introduced the two.
Diablo smiled and bowed toward King Gravos. ¡°It is a pleasure to meet the human king of the homnd of my master. I am d to hear you treat her kindly.¡± Oi! Diablo, did you just sneak in some kind of threat in there? Or am I just reading between the lines a little too much?
¡°It¡¯s a pleasure. A summoned demon, huh?¡± King Gravos¡¯s expression was a tad tense. I think he was still nervous.
¡°Yes, it was one of the skills I got from the dungeon. Anyway, to get on topic as to why I called you here, Diablo. Do you have the ability to send some kind of demon that is able to hide in the shadows to watch and report back what they see and hear about a certain individual?¡± I looked up at him with expectant eyes. I could only hope that he would.
¡°I can send a few shadow demons to watch over him. Can you give me an image of the person and his current location?¡± Diablo asked as he waved his hand. Three summon circles formed and from them, three shadowy figures suddenly appeared.
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Chapter 219 Do You Want To Take My Position?
I used detection magic and illusion magic to give Diablo the details he needed. He then ryed that information to the shadow demons, who then disappeared into the shadows. ¡°They are now hiding in his shadow,¡± Diablo announced.
¡°Thank you, Diablo. Sorry for calling you out of the blue like this.¡± I felt kind of bad. I hope one day I do not end up calling him while he is in the middle of a bath. While it might be good for eye candy, I am sure Diablo will not like it.
¡°It is my pleasure to be of assistance to Master. If there is nothing else, I will take my leave. I still have many things to finish at the estate. I am currently setting up new defenses to go with Master¡¯s current defense system.¡± I smiled at Diablo and nodded. He then bowed and disappeared.
¡°That man¡.¡± King Gravos finally spoke after being silent all this time..
¡°He is a very powerful demon. And don¡¯t worry, he is bound to me by two different contracts. He will not hurt those I deem friendly.¡± I answered without needing for him to fully ask his question.
¡°I see¡¡± King Gravos tapped his chin before giving me a deep look. ¡°Faith, do you want to take my position? I could really use a vacation. I am sure with all your abilities, not a single person would dare try anything funny.¡±
I held my head. It was not just me, even Adel held her head. However, she didn¡¯t seem to mind her father trying to abdicate the throne to me. ¡°Your Majesty, I just want to study magic and be a knight¡..¡±
¡°I see¡ That is too bad¡. If you ever decide you want the throne, please let me know. I will be happy¡.¡±
¡°Stop!¡± I yelled out, interrupting him. ¡°Your role as king is very safe for many more generations toe. So please do a good job.¡±
¡°Tch!¡± Why did he click his tongue!? Shouldn¡¯t he be happy that I have no willingness to be the ruler of this kingdom!?
¡°Father, stop teasing Faith,¡± Adel spoke up, causing King Gravos to shrug his shoulders as if what he had said never happened.
¡°Anyway. If we can get solid evidence that the Prime Minister is up to something, we can now use it against him to quell any kind of rebellion. And if there is still a rebellion. I will stand on the front lines to protect this kingdom because people like the Prime Minister should not rule. This kingdom would end up no different than the others, and people like me will be ousted or enved due to being a demi human.¡± I did not want this to happen. While I was pretty sure no one could enve me at this point, this did not mean I would want other demi humans to suffer.
¡°With you around, I can sleep soundly at night, knowing the kingdom will not fall. Faith before you arrived and showed just how powerful you truly are, this kingdom would have turned into a mess. I fear that even my son and Adel would have died during that assassination attempt. You have be this kingdom¡¯s guardian. I thank you for everything.¡± King Gravos bowed his head to me.
¡°Please don¡¯t bow to me, you are the king, and I do the things I do because I want to. Adel and Lance are my friends. I will protect them no matter what. This kingdom has done a lot for me, so I will also make sure it does not fall. But do not treat me like some kind of guardian. I just want to be me. A young girl who is almost thirteen who still has a lot of years ahead of her.¡± I do not want to be seen as some guardian. I just want to live my current life the way I want.
¡°Mmm¡ This sounds just like you.¡± King Gravos nodded his head in approval. ¡°I will work on the things we talked about. I think you should head to the academy and speak with the Dean.¡±
¡°Then I will take my leave. Your Majesty, please do take care, especially around that one shadow guard just now.¡± I wanted to give him a fair warning. That shadow guard¡¯s actions earlier seemed out of ce.
¡°I know.¡± King Gravos answered while waving me off. I turned and got rid of the barrier before leaving the throne room with Adel at my side. Whether or not the times toe will stay as peaceful as they have been or if war will break out, I can only hope that whatever happens in the end, that those I care about stay safe.
¡°Faith¡.¡± Adel¡¯s voice came from my side. Her eyes seemed to be filled with a tinge of worry. I turned and looked at her. ¡°Hmmm? What¡¯s wrong, Adel?¡±
¡°Faith, if something happens to my father and my brother¡. Can you take the throne?¡± Adel kept her voice low so no one could hear her but me, but her question caused me to look at her in surprise. I do not understand why she would ask me to take the throne when she was also an heir to the throne.
¡°Wouldn¡¯t the person to be taking the throne be you if that did happen? Although I do not think a single person can harm your father now. That skill he got was perfect.¡± I replied afterposing myself.
¡°But¡. Just as a big if. If something does happen like that, would you please? I do not think I am really able to rule¡.¡± Adel lowered her head. But I see now, she is unsure of herself. She is unsure how good of a ruler she could actually be, which I can understand. She is still young. She has not really learned much about the ways of a ruler and I was really no different from her.
I guess she doesn¡¯t realize that she herself has what it takes to be a good ruler. She ispassionate and dedicated. She just needs to learn the ins and outs of everything else.
Chapter 220 Trouble At The Gates Of The Academy
¡°Adel, if things really did turn out badly. And you were the only one able to inherit the throne. I will stand by your side and assist you in any way possible. You can then slowly learn the kind of ruler you wish to be and do the things you need to do to get the kingdom back on track.¡± I said softly. Adel lowered her head and then hugged my arm. She seemed to be very emotional right now. I guess all this talk about civil war was getting to her.
¡°No¡¡± After a few minutes, I heard Adel softly speak. ¡°If things do go in a bad way and we somehow do push back the enemy. I want you to take my ce. You can do this job much better than me.¡±
Hearing Adel¡¯s words, I could only sigh. For now, I will just take it as her being over emotional. But I will also not give her a proper answer either. To be honest, I really hate all this political stuff. I hate it so much I just want to blow up all the nobles I think are taking part in this conspiracy, including the Prime Minister. I want to just clean house now instead of dealing with all the troubles. But I guess this also makes me more of a tyrant than anything..
Ruling with an iron fist is not a good thing. Especially if you suppress the people, but at the same time, ruling in a too lenient manner will also cause problems too. You need to find a mix of the two that will give citizens the freedom to do as they please but at the same time keepw and order strict so no one tries to stir up trouble.
I am not sure if there is any way such a thing is possible. Even back on Earth, no matter the country you lived in, there were always problems. People were never happy, and greed ran rampant. This world was no different. It seems to be ingrained in all living beings, whether they are beast or man.
The two of us walked in silence. I am sure Adel had a lot to think over. But her question bothered me a lot as I remember back to my fortune telling and the dreams I have been having. I myself couldn¡¯t help but feel a tad worried.
I do not know what exactly the Prime Minister is up to. I can only hope that with Diablo¡¯s help, I will be able to get the information needed to make ns for the future to prevent anything serious from happening.
An hourter, I was standing outside the gates of the academy. Two guards were standing in front of me. Both were students of the academy, upperssmen, I guess. ¡°What is a demi human doing here? The Royal Magic Academy does not ept demi humans. Turn around now and leave.¡±
¡°Since when does the academy not let in demi humans!? From what I understand, my father and the Dean have long said that as long as they are qualified to enter, they can enter. Do you really wish to go against the royal family and the Dean? Faith is one hundred percent a student of this academy. If you want to stop her from entering, then I will make sure you and your family lose all your status.¡± Adel was very angry. But these young men did not seem to care for a single word she said.
¡°Princess Adel, you may be the princess of this kingdom, but our Royal Magic Academy does not let dirty demi¡¯s into it. We have been told that no demi humans are allowed to enter at any time by our head instructor.¡± One of the young men replied.
¡°Oh, so your instructor is now in a higher position than the Dean?¡± I asked in a mocking tone. I crossed my hands in front of my chest and tapped my foot off the ground as I continued. ¡°You do know that I was called here by the Dean himself. I am sure you know that Faith Cyrilia is to be allowed in. And Adel is right, I am a member of this academy. I just finished my test the other day. But if you insist on not allowing me in, I do not mind showing you my qualifications.¡±
I didn¡¯t wait for them to answer before my eyes lit up, and they found themselves stuffed in the ground up to their necks with only their heads above ground. I knelt down in front of them and gave them a sweet smile. ¡°Who is the instructor that told you to block all demi¡¯s from entering?¡±
¡°You! Do you think you can get away with this!? Ouch!¡± One of the young men yelled out but ended up getting kicked in the face by Adel.
¡°She can get away with it. Even if she killed you now it would be no problem since I will say I did it. What can you do about it!? I mean, I am standing right here with her, and yet you want to go against the royal family. Since that is the case, you and your families will have to suffer the consequences,¡± Adel sneered as she turned to me with a smile and asked: ¡°Do you have any more of those pastries with the fillings in them?¡±
I looked at her a bit confused, but with that smile that did not seem to reach her eyes, I understood that whatever she was about to do, it was not going to be good for them. I took out a few pastries and watched as Adel squeezed out the filling on her hands before kneeling down and smearing it all over their two young men¡¯s faces. Once they were both coated well, she stood back up and held her handouts to me. I chuckled and used water magic to clean them. ¡°Thank you!¡±
Adel spun around and looked back at the two young men and, with a bright smile, said: ¡°Enjoy having your face covered with red pepper ants. This area is filled with them, and they like toy their eggs in human flesh. It is a strange thing if you ask me because they never do it to demi humans, only humans, and they really like sugar. That filling has a lot of sugar in it which makes your faces the perfect breeding ground.¡±
Ah¡ Adel is a devil. It has been confirmed. Even I am not that evil! But I like it! Adel really knew how to dish out punishment.
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Chapter 221 Talking With The Dean Part 1
¡°Wait! I will talk!¡± One of the young men yelled out. Adel had an angelic like smile on her face as she knelt back down and looked at the young man.
¡°Then tell me which instructor told you that demi humans were not allowed to enter the academy?¡± Adel asked. But I swear that I can see horns on her head and a pointy tailing off her backside. Her smile seemed beautiful, but it also seemed quite evil. At least to the two young men, that is.
¡°Instructor Freedman! He is Count Freedman¡¯s younger brother.¡± The young man yelled out.
¡°Hey! You traitor! Ahhh!¡± The other young man yelled out. My tail identally smacked him in the face. I swear it was an ident. A really big giant ident. ¡°Ouch! Stop hitting me with your tail, you dirty demi! Do you know who I am!? I am David Sullivan!¡±
¡°You talk big for a head sticking out of the ground. If I want to hit you, I will. What can you do to me? You couldn¡¯t even resist when I stuffed you into the ground. Even if I were to walk a scaled horse over here to use you as a bathroom, there is nothing you can do about it. Wait¡. Sullivan¡ Are you Viscount Sullivan¡¯s son? Do you have a brother named Harold?¡± I asked. If it is who I think it is, then he deserves a punch as well.
¡°Yes, I am. Why scared now!? Now let me out and kneel before me, and maybe I will¡. Ooofff!¡± Ahh, that feels so much better..
I looked over to see Adel giving me a thumbs up, causing me to grin as I dusted my hands off. ¡°Now then. So It seems Count Freedman and Viscount Sullivan need me to visit them. But first, we need to talk with the Dean. I also wish to meet with this Instructor Freedman as well.¡±
¡°Faith, you don¡¯t n to beat him up, do you?¡± Adel asked. I could tell she was expecting a big fat yes from me.
¡°You think the Dean will get mad?¡± I do wonder, if I am taking out the trash, if he would be angry about me beating and dragging the instructor to Count Freedman¡¯s house.
¡°I am not sure. He might want to settle things internally.¡± Adel answered, causing me to feel a bit dispirited. Well, I guess it doesn¡¯t matter. I only have this one day to really run around for a while because I will be put under house arrest here soon. So I do not think anyone will mind if I bend the rules just a tiny bit.
¡°Doesn¡¯t matter. I will just politely invite Instructor Freedman to his brother¡¯s house.¡± I said with a big smile. Adel looked at me andughed. With a shrug, I pushed the gates of the academy open and entered.
The Dean¡¯s building was deep in the academy, so it took almost thirty minutes to reach there by foot. The tall buildings that we passed were all of gothic style construction, with many different monsters carved here and there on the outer parts of the building. It was not exactly what I was expecting, but to be honest, it was very well made. The intricate sculpting of the monsters made them almost seem life like. If they were painted and not a faded white stone color, they would have looked very much alive.
When we walked into the Dean¡¯s building, the door to his office was guarded by an old man standing outside. ¡°You are Faith Cyrilia and Princess Adel, correct?¡±
¡°Yes, we are,¡± I replied with a slight bow. I was showing this man respect because his eyes did not show any signs of hostility or discrimination. He looked at me with the same eyes as he did toward Adel.
¡°Then please enter. The Dean is expecting you.¡± The old man said with a nod as he smiled at me.
As I walked by him, I paused and looked at him. ¡°Oh, by the way. The front gates to the academy needs two more guards. I can¡¯t exin in detail, but I do not think the academy should go unguarded.¡±
¡°Hmm?¡± The old man looked at me with a questioning gaze before nodding his head. ¡°I will send someone to deal with it but make sure you exin everything to the Dean.¡±
¡°I will,¡± I replied with a bow before entering the Dean¡¯s office.
¡°You are here.¡± The Dean looked at me with a meaningful look. ¡°So, what did you do at the gates?¡±
¡°I shoved two idiots into the ground so that only their heads were showing,¡± I answered honestly.
¡°Haha! I figured as much. I knew that they could not stop you.¡± The Dean answered with a smile.
¡°So you knew they were going to stop me, huh? Did you also know who ordered them to do such a thing?¡± I asked.
¡°Yes. And don¡¯t worry. I already have him waiting in the side room. With everything that has been going on, I am sure you wish to deal with this little issue yourself. But for now, I have two things I wish to talk to you about. First is what happened in the dungeon, and second I want to know if you are willing to be an instructor as well as a student.¡± The Dean paused and raised his hand at me. ¡°Before you answer. I have my reasons for asking this, and the students who will be under your care have all been carefully selected.
¡°As you know, this kingdom is about to undergo a great change. I have been watching the flow of changes here and there between the two sides. So in order to prepare, I n to make a small group of people who will be put personally under yourmand. Of course, I will also pay you for your troubles.¡±
¨CAN: Hello all, I would like to announce that I have started a new Female Lead novel called: Reborn With A Demon or Goddess System. If you like this novel, I am sure you will like the new novel I am writing. . Please give it a read and leave ament letting me know what you think.
Synopsis:
A girl who lived two lives before being reborn¡
She was called both a Saintess and a Demoness in her previous lives¡
A chess piece to be used by the gods and demons¡
Be, reborn for the third time, must understand the so-called Demon or Goddess system and uncover its mysteries while dealing with the political strife that is happening within her kingdom. All while trying to grasp the split personalities caused by the system.
Will she be able to win this game of chess against the gods and demons and take control of her own life?
¡ª
Chapter 222 Talking with The Dean Part 2
¡°Why do you want me tomand a small group of people? Just so you know, I am on King Gravos¡¯s side. He is a good ruler and has taken good care of me. I will not side with anyone else.¡± I replied in a t tone. I did not know where this old man was going with his train of thought.
¡°Don¡¯t worry. I am not asking you to go against the king. In fact, I am also on the king¡¯s side, which is why I am making this small group. You led your fellow teammates into a dungeon and destroyed its core on top of supplying hurt students with food and water who were trapped on the first floor. You have shown that you have the proper leadership skills to lead a group of specially trained students. I want you to train a group that will be able to jump into action outside the influence of either side. Each student will sign a blood seal contract with you making it so that they will only ever follow your orders.
¡°You can think of this as a way to gain the title of Magic Knight upon graduation. Only the most exceptional students will ever gain this title and gain the rights to a higher noble title. Faith, I am offering you this chance here and now. If you do not take it now, you will only be a normal student.¡± Ah¡ this old man is crude. He is hanging a juicy steak in front of me and giving me no time to think about it.
¡°I will ept under one condition. The team I went into the dungeon with, each and every member, has already signed a blood seal contract with me. I want them all in this new team. We have fought countless battles together and are in sync with one another. I have been wanting to actually train them to be stronger, so this will give me the chance to do so.¡± If I were to have a team of my own, I want them to all be in it. Our time together has made us a single family, and I would hate it if they were pushed aside for no reason when they are all excellent warriors..
¡°I agree with this. But I have a few I will be adding. Come in!¡± The Dean yelled out. A door to the side opened up, and Instructor Telive walked out along with four other people, two girls and two boys.
¡°It¡¯s good to see you again, Faith.¡± Instructor Telive said as he bowed his head to me slightly.
¡°It has only been a day. You don¡¯t need to act like it has been years.¡± I said with a chuckle, making Telive smile.
¡°When I heard you were called to the castle, I was a bit nervous. I am d you were not detained for what happened.¡± I see he was worried about me being imprisoned for killing the students.
¡°Ahhh¡ I will be put on trial and will be under house arrest soon.¡± I replied. I mean, there was no hiding it as it would soon be announced.
¡°I see. At least you are only on house arrest.¡± Instructor Telive let out a relieved sigh. I don¡¯t know why he was so worried. Or maybe he was just grateful that I was able to send them food during the time they were locked up. Either way, he was a good person.
¡°Instructor Telive will be your cover aid. He will also be under yourmand as well and will be training under you. If you need anything just ask him. As for the other four, they are the kids you rescued. They wished to lend you their aid and swear allegiance to you under the blood seal contract.¡± The Dean cut in. I turned and looked at the others and remembered that they were indeed some of the people I saved on the first floor. The two girls were even¡.
I smiled and walked forward and looked all four of them in the eye. They all seemed to be very nervous but did not seem to have any kind of malice. ¡°Names?¡±
¡°Frank!¡± ¡°Jessica!¡± ¡°Becky!¡± ¡°Johan!¡±
They all answered in unison. I nodded as I said: ¡°I will be using appraisal on you all now. I am just checking your current status.¡±
They all looked at me in confusion, but I did not exin further as I cast appraisal on all of them. They were rather weak, but they seemed to have decent abilities in both sword and magic. It seems they did train at least a little.
¡°Well?¡± The Dean asked.
¡°They will need to move into my estate after they sign a blood seal contract with me. They will be trained in the mornings before sses at the academy and then after sses. They will first be undergoing basic physical training to get their bodies up to par.
¡± Then I will begin training them in magic and swordsmanship. The others had juste out of a long dive into a dungeon, so while these five train, it will give them a small break. In one month¡¯s time, we will begin proper training.¡± I turned and looked at the five people. I was including instructor Telive as well. ¡°You will all begin a training cycle of waking up at six am and training until eight am. You will go to sses and then back to training from as soon as you return to the estate up until the third bell. It will not be easy, so be prepared.¡±
I really didn¡¯t have time to just train them easily. Even giving them a month is a bit too long since anything could happen between now and then. I just wanted to be able to get them prepared for what was toe even if it was only by a little.
¡°We are willing to endure!¡± Frank yelled out and saluted me. ¡°You saved us. We felt hopeless. We thought we would die in that dungeon. But you came to our aide, healed us, fed us, and even freed us. We arepletely in your debt. A life debt that we can never repay.¡±
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Chapter 223 Talking with The Dean Part 3
¡°Alright, go back to the room. There we will do the blood seal contract after I finish talking with the Dean.¡± I still had things to do, so I had to move things along.
Instructor Telive brought the other four back into the side room, leaving Adel, myself, and the Dean to be the only ones left in the room. I then cast a soundproofing barrier around us since what we were going to talk about next should not be heard. I turned and looked at the Dean, my expression much more serious this time around. ¡°Tell me, who told you that the dungeon was safe? Those two girls you saw, although they do not remember now, were put through experiences no girl should suffer through. Some monsters like orcs and goblins are not the kind of monsters you can let young girls, who had no idea how to properly fight, go up against.¡±
The Dean looked at me and folded his hands in front of him on top of his desk, and leaned forward. ¡°It was one of the Prime Minister¡¯s people. I never thought he would go so far, but he sees you as a rock that is blocking his path and wants to get rid of you. My people were able to dig up this much, but there is no direct evidence that the Prime Minister was the one to order the man to lie. He is also in the next room over. He was abandoned just like how Count Freedman abandoned his brother to cause trouble for you.¡±.
¡°Hmmm¡ I want you to do me a favor. You should be powerful enough to do this. Change that bastard who lied into a young girl and toss him into that dungeon.¡± My eyes were cold. Magic that can make someone a girl or boy did exist. It was called morphing magic, a type of illusion magic, but it cost a lot of mana to use, so there were very few who could use it.
¡°I will make sure it is done. I had nned to do so myself.¡± I watched as the Dean¡¯s aura changed. At least he knew how to be angry about the situation.
¡°Leaving the Prime Minister aside, I will be dealing with Count Freedman myself. I think it is time he lost his title.¡± I paused and looked at Adel. ¡°Adel, I will need you to y along with this one as well.¡±
¡°Whatever Faith needs me to do, I will do,¡± Adel answered back without any hesitation. I was not going to make her do anything she could not do. I was just nning on making it seem like the Count had kidnapped the kingdom¡¯s princess. Just enough to get rid of the Count once and for all. It might seem scheming and whatnot, but I am sick of it all. The people of this kingdom do not need people like the Count being in the upper echelon of the kingdom. And I know if he was just stripped of his title, he would only try toe back and attack me even more. So to get rid of him once and for all to make sure that no one I love is harmed, I will need to harden my heart and finish him off for good. But for this, I will need Adel¡¯s help.
¡°Ahem¡. What you do is what you do. As of now, we need to discuss a more important matter. What was it that you found in the dungeon.¡± The Dean asked. I guess we were the first to ever make it to the end of a dungeon.
I did not hold anything back and exined everything that had happened. I went through all the aspects of the dungeon I knew about and exined things as best I could. After hearing my exnation, the Dean sat back in his seat and let out a sigh. ¡°This Azengrade person concerns me. If he is powerful enough to tamper with dungeons which some of the greatest mages of this kingdom can not, then he is in a league of his own. We will need to be more cautious. But I have a question for you, Baroness Cyrilia.¡±
Calling me by my title made me a little nervous about what he was about to ask. ¡°Tell me, how do you know so much about the monsters in the dungeons?¡±
I frowned. I knew this was going toe up at some point. But I also knew I had no obligation to answer his questions. ¡°That is something I can not answer.¡±
¡°Hmmm¡.¡± The Dean looked me up and down, but I did not waver in the slightest as our eyes met. I hate to tell this old man, but he is no longer on the same level as me anymore. Before I dived into the dungeon, maybe I would have been forced to tell him, but now I no longer need to worry about anything.
¡°Dean, Faith¡¯s secrets are not something that will jeopardize our kingdom. She is someone who loves this kingdom more than anything. So I would appreciate it if you stopped and let things be.¡± I heard Adel suddenly speak up. As soon as she did, the Dean lowered his eyes. ¡°Then I will leave it at that. But I expect if I need information on certain monsters that appear in dungeons from now on, that you will assist me in letting us know what their habits might be so we can avoid such situations as this.¡±
I smiled and bowed my head: ¡°I will be happy to assist at any time.¡±
¡°Good. Let¡¯s get your blood seal contracts finished. Then I will take care of the Prime Ministers man while you deal with count Freedman.¡± The Dean finally said as he stood up.
In no time at all, I was finished with the blood seal contracts and sent Telive and the others to my estate to wait there for me while I finished up things with the Count. Looking at the Dean, I bowed my head once more as I said: ¡°I thank you for your assistance. I will be here tomorrow for the opening ceremony.¡±
¡°Yes, I expect a lot from you in the years ahead.¡± The Dean replied while seeing us off. Adel and I walked to the gates with a certain Instructor being dragged behind us. This did gain a lot of attention from those around us but I did not care.
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Chapter 224 Setting Up Count Freedman
After we exited the gates of the Academy, Adel and I took a carriage to a certain Count¡¯s estate. Of course, we did not stop right outside his gates as we had to make preparations. ¡°So Faith, what did you need me to do?¡±
I smiled and walked over to Adel. I reached down and grabbed the hem of her dress, causing her to blush and¡ with a bit of strength.
*Tear!*
¡°Faith! We are still too young.¡± Adel cried out, causing my eyebrow to twitch as I flicked her forehead..
¡°What is going on in that head of yours? We need to make it seem like you were captured and imprisoned. So I am tearing parts of your dress. But only enough to make it look like you put up a fight and not to make people think something else happened. We still have to keep your reputation intact after all.¡± I replied as I watched Adel¡¯s eyes water up as she held her forehead.
She looked up at me with rosy cheeks and said: ¡°I knew that!¡±
¡°Okay, the tears are done now. We just need some dirt. One second.¡± I said as I jumped out of the carriage and scooped up some dirt. I then re-entered the carriage and began smearing it all over Adel¡¯s dress. She could only sit there and pout. But she did as I asked, even as I asked her to stand up so I could get her backside as well. After smearing her arms and legs as well as her face, we were ready to go after I ruffled her hair with some dirt as well. ¡°Now you look like someone who has been stuck in a dungeon for a while.¡±
¡°I wish you had told me this all beforehand.¡± Adel was still pouting.
¡°Ah yeah, I guess I should have¡.¡± I really should have. But her reactions were quite amusing, so I didn¡¯t. ¡°So what I n to do is phase you through the wall to the room that Sophie was locked up in. I n to put piles of dirt around you to make it look like the Count was abusing you by throwing dirt all over you. Adel, I will also need you to turn on the waterworks as well.¡±
¡°I can do that.¡± Adel nodded her head. While she still seemed pretty upset with being suddenly turned into a ragged person, she still seemed more than willing to help.
The two of us flew out from the carriage, and using the trees as a means to hide our presence, I carried Adel in my arms, which seemed to have made her happy once more, and flew to the side of the building where the room Sophie was kept in was located. After using detection magic, I was able to make sure the room was clear. After wrapping Adel in my phase spell, we moved through the wall, where we began to ce dirt all over the room, throwing it against the walls and floor to make it look like the Count had been going to town on the ce.
Only after it looked sufficient enough to match Adel¡¯s current appearance did I tie her up with some rope by her hands and feet and cast a locking spell on the door to keep it from being opened. I, of course, did not want anything to happen to Adel in the process of all of this. But just to be sure, I had Mr. Blobs hide in Adel¡¯s hair to protect her just in case anything happened.
After everything was set, I phased back through the wall and went back to the carriage to grab my gift for the Count. Instructor Freedman was bound by both hands and feet and had a blindfold on as well as a gag in his mouth.
From there, I walked right up to the entrance of the estate, where two guards were standing guard. ¡°Halt! What is the meaning of this!?¡±
¡°Meaning? I am just here to return the Count¡¯s brother to him. Move or get hurt, you pick.¡± I replied while ignoring their presence.
¡°Stop right there!¡± One of the guards pointed their spear at me. I looked at it, reached out, and grabbed its tip, and with a squeeze, a crunching sound was heard as the metal spear tip crushed under my grip, leaving an imprint on my hand.
¡°I think I said to move or get hurt. Last warning, what will you do?¡± These words and my cold frosty expression were all it took for the two guards to drop their weapons and run away. This was to be expected as these people were just normal folk. Their pay was not enough to risk their lives.
I walked right through the gates and made my way towards the main house. The estate was big, and the road was slightly bumpy, so a lot of noise came from behind me as I dragged the Count¡¯s brother by a rope that was attached to his foot.
It took me almost thirty minutes to reach the main house, which I kindly let myself in by kicking the door down. This quickly caught everyone¡¯s attention. ¡°Who are you!? Do you know whose house this is!?¡±
Always the same lines. You would think the Count would have told people to be on the lookout for me. Luckily the Count was quick to see what was going on and when he saw me, his face paled. ¡°Faith Cyrilia! What do you think you are doing!?¡±
¡°What am I doing? Returning some trash to you.¡± I said as I threw his brother at him. A grunt was heard as the body hit the floor. Count Freedman looked at the man on the floor and frowned as he turned to look back at me. ¡°What is the meaning of this? What has my brother done wrong to be treated in such a way? You better give me a good answer or¡.¡±
¡°Help! Someone save me!¡±
Chapter 225 David Part 1
I was having a hard time notughing. I mean, Adel¡¯s timing was perfect. The sound of desperation in her voice and the way she screamed out made it all seem too real. And Count Freedman¡¯s face was perfect as well. The shocked, confused expression that said: ¡°I have no idea what is going on!¡± Made it hard not tough.
Of course, I know that Adel is perfectly fine. Mr. Blobs is keeping me up to date on things. But I must say those two work well together. There was no barrier to their understanding of each other¡¯s intentions. ¡°Someone save me!¡±
I guess it was now my turn to act as well. I raised an eyebrow and looked at Count Freedman with cold eyes. ¡°Why do I hear Adel¡¯s voice? Count Freedman, what have you done to this kingdom¡¯s Princess!?¡±
¡°What!? No! I have no idea what is going on! I haven¡¯t kidnapped anyone since that damn fox demi!¡± Count Freedman yelled out. I sneered and waved my hand as my eyes lit up, using wind magic to blow all the guards away. ¡°You! What are you doing!?¡±.
¡°Rescuing the Princess from the hands of the evil mastermind!¡± With that, a giant magic circle formed on the floor, and arge pir of me shot up through the ceiling of the estate. I had to make a big show out of it after all since I needed the guards to show up.
¡°You! Stop this instant!¡± Count Freedman began writing a magic circle in front of him, which I kindly waited for him to do since I needed to make it seem like he was trying to stop me from saving Adel. If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that this was real life, I would have to say that Count Freedman¡¯s acting ability of being a stupid noble was Grade A. No, wait, he is just a stupid noble.
¡°Halt! What is going on here!?¡± I heard a loud yell from behind me. A bunch of knights rushed right into the manor, one of which, is on a monster I have never seen before. It was like a lion but not. It was very fluffy and pretty with its white fur coat and long droopy ears. I suddenly want to have one. ¡°What is going on he¡.¡±
¡°Someone, please! Anyone! Save me!¡± Adel¡¯s plea for help was right on cue!
¡°Sir knight, Princess Adel is being held captive by Count Freedman!¡± I yelled out, causing the knight¡¯s eyes to grow wide. He raised his hand and yelled out: ¡°Capture the Count and everyone else in the estate! And you!¡± The Knight looked at me with a suspicious gaze as he said: ¡°Youe with me.¡±
I nodded and watched as the knight climbed off the fluff and walked past me. He had an aura about him that made it hard to say no to his orders. It made me wonder which knight order he was from.
I followed behind him as we made our way to the room Adel was held in. I quickly undid my barrier as the knight shed the door to pieces with his sword, revealing a dirt covered room and Adel, who was in disarray. When Adel saw me, tears streamed from her eyes as she yelled out: ¡°Faith!¡±
¡°Adel!¡± I called back and rushed past the knight. I ran over and hugged Adel. ¡°Are you okay!? Did he do anything weird to you!? I am sorry I waste.¡±
¡°I¡¯m fine. He just kept throwing dirt at me. I do not know why. But he kept screaming: You filthy royal, this is where you belong in the dirt. When my forces are big enough, I will take you all down.¡± Adel cried out as she sobbed. I quickly undid her ropes and began wiping her face clean while sneakily de-summoning Mr. Blobs. The Knight behind me had been quiet this entire time. So I was unsure of what he was thinking.
¡°But still, you have been put through such a horrible event. I will be sure to ask His Majesty to give the Count the harshest punishment possible. No one is allowed to touch my best friend.¡± I said coldly while wiping Adel¡¯s tears.
¡°Ahem¡¡± The knight behind me coughed, causing me to turn my head. ¡°We will need you both toe to the Knights station and make a statement. But I will escort you back first to allow Her Highness to get changed and cleaned up..¡±
I nodded my head at the Knight. Now that I was looking at him, he was quite handsome. Dirty blond hair, deep blue eyes with a chiseled jawline. I guess she would make many girls swoon. ¡°Thank you. With you around, we will feel much safer.¡±
I could hear the screams and yelling downstairs as Count Freedman and his family were being dragged out. But when I saw kids also being dragged away, I looked over at Adel for her to only shake her head at me, telling me not to say anything. I just hoped nothing bad would happen to them. They were still young, after all¡
The knights had already gotten a carriage from the estate for us to use. I helped Adel onto the carriage and sat down next to her. But just when I thought we would not get a chance to be alone to talk about what had just happened, the Knight from before also boarded with us. He looked at us and asked: ¡°So care to exin?¡±
Adel pursed her lips and turned her head away, not wanting to answer his question. Her reaction kind of made me confused as Adel was acting strangely in front of this knight. I looked between the two with a confused expression, only to receive a chuckle from the knight.
¡°You have every right to be confused as my existence is a secret. In the public¡¯s eye, I am the leader of the Royal White Knights, but in truth, I am Adel¡¯s Uncle. My name is David now with nost name.¡± David exined, causing me to widen my eyes. I still did notpletely understand what was going on, but it seemed that there was much more to all of this than I should know. So I do not understand why he was telling me of all people.
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Chapter 226 David Part 2
¡°I am not understanding. So why are you telling me all of this if this is all supposed to be a secret?¡± I asked while holding my head. I could feel the headache forming.
¡°You are Adel¡¯s friend. And before she moved in with you, you were all she talked about, Faith this Faith that. Even her secret room has nothing but¡ Ooooff!¡± I sat there stunned as I watched Adel do a beautiful punch to David¡¯s stomach. I mean, it was so quick and powerful that it even dented his armor! I guess this is proof of Adel¡¯s level rising.
¡°You have grown stronger, I see¡.¡± David¡¯s brow twitched as he tried topose himself.
¡°Don¡¯t say unnecessary things, Uncle,¡± Adel said with a snort..
¡°Ahem¡ Anyway¡ Now tell me what that was all about. I know for a fact that no one can kidnap you, so why are you suddenly like this?¡± David asked.
¡°Ahh, that was my idea. I was taking down Count Freedman. He has messed with me so much that I finally had to deal with him. Plus, he is part of a faction that I can not forgive.¡± I replied.
¡°Hmmm? Well, you sure did make it so that he will never be able to talk himself out of this one.¡± David replied with a sigh. ¡°But now what do you n to do? His whole family will be executed along with him.¡±
¡°About that. Can you do something about the children?¡± I asked. I did not wish to see kids die for no reason. ¡°Like erase their memories or something?¡±
¡°If that is what you wish, I can do that. But they will be the only ones able to get a pardon like that. They will be able to live lives asmoners, but they will be orphans.¡± David answered.
¡°Well, about that. They can do odd jobs around my factory to better their lives, and there are quite a few single childless women who work for me that I might be able to have them take a few of them in. This way, they can grow up to have a loving family.¡± I just did not want to see the young kids who were younger than me end up in a worse situation. Yes, I know this is my fault that they will end up like this, but at the same time, I had to deal with Count Freedman. I just never thought about what would happen after, so before they are sent to die with their family, I wanted to do what I could to keep them alive and help them out if possible.
¡°Alright, we will contact you once they have been processed. Should I send them to your estate afterward?¡± David asked.
¡°Yes, please. I will contact Thurul and see if he can set them up at the factory. The older ones can make a living, and I will see what I can do for the younger kids who can not work.¡± I was not sure if everything would pan out, but I could try. I could even add a few incentives to those willing to take in some of the kids, like higher pay. There were not many, just six kids. Two of which were very young.
¡°Okay, I will do that then. To be honest, it also did not sit well with me to have the kids killed with the rest of the family.¡± David replied as he let out a sigh of relief.
The carriage came to a stop at the front door of my estate¡¯s manor. With Adel in tow, I walked through the doors where Annie was waiting for me. ¡°Young Miss, you have many people waiting for you out in the garden.¡±
¡°I know. Please offer them some snacks and drinks while they wait. I still have a few things to finish up.¡± I answered as I motioned to Annie to look behind me. When she saw Adel and then the knight, she bowed her head and went to do what I asked. She didn¡¯t even flinch at seeing Adel covered in dirt with a torn dress. ¡°Adel, go get changed. I will talk with Sir David.¡±
¡°Okay¡. But¡.¡± She turned to David and narrowed her eyes: ¡°Say anything you shouldn¡¯t, and I will¡.¡± She shook her fist at him before turning around and walking upstairs.
Watching her leave, I chuckled and looked back at David: ¡°So you are her uncle, huh?¡±
¡°Yeah, it may be hard to believe, but most think I am dead. Luckily I was not seen by many in my younger days.¡± David replied.
¡°So the Prime Minister?¡±
¡°He has no idea who I am. In fact, he still tries to order me around to this day. Not long ago, he even tried to pull me to his side. But sadly for him, I have never had an interest in power. My duty and my only love in life is my lifestyle as a knight. So you can feel reassured that I will not be doing anything that will go against my brother. I wouldn¡¯t dare do so, or my cute niece and nephew might get angry with me.¡± I can see that David was the type to hold family bonds close. I just never thought that I would be told a secret like this, to begin with. I mean, why me of all people?
¡°You do not need to feel confused as to why I am telling you all of this. My brother has asked me if anything were to happen that I support you at all costs. I am actually here to be your guard to make sure you do not run away during your house arrest as well.¡± David replied, causing me to hold my head. Was this king still trying to stick me with the role of an heir to the throne!? I could only sigh. From the moment I met him he kept mentioning things about me taking the throne.
¡°That man is just¡¡± I let out another long sigh.
¡°Haha! He is just like that. He sees talent and wants to nurture them. But from what I have heard and seen, you do have what it takes.¡±
Chapter 227 Knights Barracks And The Mustache Part 1
I puffed out my cheeks and crossed my arms across my chest. ¡°Either way, I don¡¯t want it. I do not mind helping out Adel or Lance when they need it, but they can keep the crown. I want nothing to do with it.¡±
¡°Oh? So you are willing to help either or, huh?¡± David¡¯s lips curled up into a wide grin. I think he might be misunderstanding something, but I can not put my finger on what he was misunderstanding. I could be wrong, but my senses towards these kinds of things are pretty good¡ I think¡ maybe¡
¡°I¡¯m back!¡± Adel yelled out. I turned to see her running over with her face red and sweat forming on her brow. It made me wonder just how fast she had to move to work up such a sweat.
¡°Eh? What¡¯s this? Were you afraid I would say a bunch of embarrassing things about you? Like how you used to shout: I¡¯m marrying brother Lance when I grow up!¡± David said in a teasing tone..
¡°Uncle!¡± Adel yelled out, her cheeks puffed out and her fist balling up. I am sure if he said one more thing, he was going to get punched again.
¡°Alright. Since we are all ready, let¡¯s go make our statements and thene back. I am supposed to be under house arrest after all.¡± I said, trying to stop anything from happening before it happened.
¡°Okay, let¡¯s do that then.¡± With that, we were led back out into the carriage and taken to the white knights¡¯ barracks, where we had our statements taken. Adel recounted her ¡®horrifying experience¡¯ of being tormented by Count Freedman. Count Freedman kept yelling: ¡°She¡¯s lying!¡± But no one would think the girl full of snot and tears was lying, especially when it was the kingdom¡¯s most favored princess. As he was dragged out of the room, I could have sworn I saw a few knights getting in some sneaky pop shots at him.
Even though we had finished here, I was not about to let this visit just be all about making a statement either. ¡°Sir David, can I look around?¡±
¡°Hmmm? You want to look at this stinky ce?¡± David asked. He seemed to be confused as to why a girl my age would want to look around a knight¡¯s barracks.
¡°Faith is an aspiring knight. She wants to work her way up through the ranks andmand her own troops.¡± Adel answered for me. I sometimes feel Adel knows all my secrets.
¡°Ahh! Then look away. Take this pass here. It will let you see the ends and outs of the entire facility.¡± David handed me a wooden token with magic imbued in it. I guess it was sort of a pass to walk around restricted areas, or at least some of them anyway.
I thanked David and walked out of the office, and made my way over to the training area that I spotted earlier. I wanted to see just how the knights here trained. What surprised me was the number of female knights that were actually running around. They ran around in high ponytails that bobbed up and down. Their swords nged against the rest of their armor. The male knights paid them no mind either, which was far from what I was expecting. I figured there would be some jeering from the male knights, but they all took things very seriously. But now that I think about it, Sei was also a knight.
When I got to the training ground, the scent of blood and sweat filled my nose. I walked in to see knights in different areas all battling one another honing their kills. I was very surprised at how violent they were. There were even a few covered in blood. But as I looked around, I saw quite a few mages nearby healing some of the other knights. It seemed they were not afraid of dying when battling since they had people to heal them close by.
While it may seem like a bunch of barbarians trying to kill each other, I noticed they never aimed for vitals. But even if they were not aiming for them, that did not mean they could not. So this training was indeed very good as it hardened people against taking damage as well as honed their senses when fighting. I highly doubt you could find this training anywhere else outside facilities like this.
But¡. ¡°I want to try¡.¡± I said, pursing my lips. I really wanted to test myself against knights who were battling it out with everything they had.
¡°You want to fight them?¡± Adel asked. I nodded my head as I clenched my fist. This was, after all, one of my goals, to be a full pledged knight. While I was a provisional knight now, I still wanted to be a full fledged knight in the future, and my highest goal was magic knight. Adel grabbed my arm and pulled me off towards a group of knights not far from us. ¡°Sir Tomas, can my friend here join for a round?¡±
¡°Hmmm? Oh, if it isn¡¯t little Adel! Long time no see!¡± A man with a curly mustache called out excitedly. He looked around his mid thirties and was handsome in his own right but that mustache¡. First of all, how do you even get it to curl like that? It was like two loops, and then it came to sharp points aiming at his eyes. And why? Why would you even grow a mustache like that!? I mean, it ruined his good looks and made him look like a weirdo. If I saw him on the street, I would definitely call the police on him! That is just how much it made him look like some pervert. What¡¯s more, is that he even reached up and stroked it! He pulled on it, and it sprang back in ce!
I couldn¡¯t take it. I had to avert my eyes. I might just end upughing too hard and end up causing him to be angry at me. ¡°Captain, you¡¯re making the littledy over there break down. I keep telling you that your mustache looks foolish.¡± One of the knights next to him teased. But at least I now know I was not the only one who thought this way!
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Chapter 228 Knights Barracks And The Mustache Part 2
¡°What the hell do you mean my mustache is causing her to break down!? My mustache breathes elegance!¡± Sir Tomas snapped back. He even pulled on it again. Oh god, this was getting to be too much. I could see that Adel had already turned around and was giggling away.
¡°Captain, look, even the princess can¡¯t hold it in anymore. Just shave it off already!¡± The knight shot back. He had a huge grin on his face causing Sir Tomas to snort in dissatisfaction.
¡°You are just jealous! They are just shaking in reverence of my handsome stature. My Muna is a symbol of pride and my elegance as a knight that will always save ady in need.¡± Sit Tomas retorted while once again making his mustache spring back into ce.
¡°Pfft¡. I can¡¯t! It¡¯s too much!¡± I couldn¡¯t help it! He had actually named it! I burst outughing right there on the spot. Adel had leaned into me, holding her stomach. She was already in tears.
¡°See, I told you!¡± The knight beganughing as well, causing Sir Tomas to snort in anger. ¡°None of you understand!¡±.
A few minutester¡.
¡°So you wish to spar against one of my knights? You know this is no game, right? While we do have healers, you can still be run through or even have a limb chopped off.¡± Sir Tomas exined. But I still nodded my head. I wasn¡¯t really worried about being hurt.
¡°If you wish to, then I do not mind. But you will need to sign a waiver. I do not want to be held responsible for whatever happens after.¡± Sir Tomas said as he waved his hand at one of the mages. They quickly presented a scroll that had words engraved with magic on it.
I read it through, and it only stated that any injuries that could not be healed through magic would not be the fault of the white knights and that my little life was my own, yaddi yadda, etc etc, h h¡. In other words, I signed it without hesitation.
That was how I found myself standing in front of a big burly knight with arge sword in his hand. ¡°Missy, are you sure you want to do this?¡± The big burly knight named Stan asked.
¡°Yep! I want to see just how strong a knight is. I won¡¯t be using any magic either. I will only be using my natural strength.¡± Although I say this, my strength was a bit off the charts. I am more worried about me hurting him than him hurting me.
¡°If that is what you want¡.¡± Sir Stan looked very conflicted about fighting me. But this just means I need to make it so he can¡¯t feel conflicted at all.
Adel was at the side and looked at the two of us before shouting out: ¡°Begin!¡±
As soon as those words were said, I shot forth and swung my sword at Sir Stan¡¯s side. He was quick to go for the block, but I was putting my all into this attack, so as soon as our swords collided, I heard a yelp from in front of me, and arge body suddenly went flying off into the distance¡. A loud crashing sound was heard, and screamsing from the other knights soon followed after. ¡°Stan!¡±
I froze in ce, and as if my neck was mechanical, it slowly turned to look at the figure now embedded into the wall. I then turned to look at Adel, who only shrugged at me. Then I looked at Sir Tomas, who was pulling on his mustache. Really!? In a time like this, does he really need to be doing the springy dance!?
¡°He¡¯s okay!¡± I heard a knight yell out. But I still felt kind of nervous as I have just damaged a wall at the knights¡¯ barracks. I mean, I swung with quite a bit of strength because he looked strong!
¡°That¡¯s good.¡± Sir Tomas replied while pping his hands. He then turned to me and asked: ¡± I would like for you to train my knights?¡±
¡°Wait! Why are you asking me to train your knights?¡± I asked in confusion. All I did was swing my sword and wack one of his men into a wall. I was not anywhere close to being as good with a sword as these knights.
¡°Because we don¡¯t have anyone who can spar with your strength. With your strength, we can be taught how to deal with suddenly being smashed across the battlefield like a rag doll. We need to be able to train ourselves to be able to control our bnce even in such situations as this.¡± Now I understand but still.
¡°I would love to help, but I will be under house arrest soon and will be training my academy team as well before and after my sses,¡± I exined.
¡°No problem, give us your address, and we wille to you.¡± Sir Tomas replied before turning to everyone and shouting: ¡°Everyone, listen up, get in line so you can get smashed like Stan did. I will not hear no for an answer. If you do not get smashed today, I will make sure you lose a month¡¯s pay!¡±
Wait!? What!? What is he doing!? Oi! Why are you all lining up with big smiles on your faces!? Is this really a knights¡¯ barracks and not some kind of masochist farm!? I was starting to have my doubts about knights. I am starting to think they were all big Ms who loved to be punished more than anything. But I, of course, kept this thought to myself since this was also a good chance for me as well. ¡°I do not mind, but I want one of your best swordsmen to train my team and me as well! Give and take, right?¡±
¡°Ah! Right! Give and take.¡± Hey Sir Tomas, the way your brow is twitching is not really making your words seem sincere. Did he expect me to do this all for free?
¡°Tomas, Faith is not making such a heavy demand. You were not just thinking of just taking advantage of her since she was little, right? I would suggest that you do not do that because you might die.¡± I heard David¡¯s voiceing from behind us. I turned to see him walking over with a stern look on his face. His gaze slowly moved to Adel, who was somehow now standing behind Sir Tomas with her foot brought back. Is she secretly a ninja!? She was right next to me moments ago! My mouth went into an O shape as I watched her bring it straight up between Sir Tomas¡¯s legs. And then David¡¯s voice filled the air before a loud high, pitched scream was heard. ¡°Ah¡ I was toote¡.¡±
¡°HiyaaahhhIii!¡±
Chapter 229 Knowledge Is Also Power
¡°Humph! How dare you try to take advantage of my Faith!¡± Adel snorted with a satisfied look on her face as she watched Sir Tomas holding a certain area on his body as hey on the ground frothing from the mouth.
¡°Well, I guess we can call him Tammy from now on¡.¡± David joked as he let out a long sigh. ¡°Adel, can you not incapacitate my men with your jealous rage?¡±
¡°What jealous rage!? He was trying to make use of his status to push things on to Faith! Who does he think he is!?¡± Adel yelled out in anger.
¡°Adel, it¡¯s fine. All it is is whacking people. ¡± I cut in, trying to calm her down. But Adel still seemed unconvinced..
¡°No! If he is not willing to even offer to pay upfront, then he is just trying to take advantage of you. There is no free ride in this world. If he wants your help, he has to pay you at least ten gold per lesson!¡± Adel shot back, causing me to chuckle. I wonder if she realizes that even her uncle probably can¡¯t offer ten gold per lesson to someone.
¡°Adel¡ Ten gold is a little.¡± David¡¯s voice quivered slightly at Adel¡¯s words. See, I was right! He can¡¯t!
¡°What!? Is my Faith not worth ten gold? Is she not worth that much money just because she is young and a demihuman? Is my Faith not young, pretty, and amazing!? I mean, she is so perfect that¡.¡± Adel somehow went into a rant, causing me to wave my hand to put a mute spell on her. She was still iling her arms about as her mouth opened and closed. She was pointing and furrowing her brow at David as if she was scolding him. In fact, I think she was scolding him.
I walked over to her and ced my finger on her lips as I removed the mute spell from her. ¡°Enough.¡±
¡°Mmm¡¡± Adel nodded obediently as she lowered her head.
¡°I will help because I want to. I do not care about money, but the way he went about it was a bit forceful. But I think he was thinking only about the benefit of the knights¡¯ order, so I will let it slide. I think one of your kicks was enough punishment for the time being.¡± I said softly. Adel nodded her head in agreement, to which I smiled and turned back around. ¡°So for now, just have your people go to my house early mornings and in the evenings. I will do what I can to help.¡±
¡°Huh? Ah¡. yes¡ I will do that.¡± David seemed to be confused as to what was going on, but I did not care to rify things.
¡°Now then, let¡¯s head back home. I am under house arrest from this day forward. At least until my trial is over.¡± I said as I took Adel by the hand and began walking out of the training area. David quickly came out of his stupor and followed after us. He was, after all, in charge of watching over me.
Luckily everything was settled quite easily. I know Count Freedman¡¯s punishment will soon cause a stir amongst the other nobles, and the Prime Minister might even try to intervene, but sadly for him, the target this time was not someone he could just sweep under the rug. After all, the one he ¡®kidnapped¡¯ was the only princess of the kingdom. He would not be able to cover up for the Count and would probably have to throw his chess piece away.
As for Count Freedman trying to get himself out of this on his own, that was basically impossible unless he took his own life or had someone break him out of the dungeon. There would be no way of him getting out of this without dying. And I do not think someone like him can live out on themb. He was too used to his rich lifestyle. But then again, anyone who wished to keep their life would be able to adjust and suffer if it meant keeping their lives. So I guess we can only wait and see.
When we got home, I finally got to stand in front of everyone. With the new additions to the team, I also passed out some system stones and ability stones I had set aside for just in case situations. A lot dropped after all, and luckily I did, or else I would have to make another trip to the castle to get some. ¡°Alright, I am sure everyone has be acquainted since I have been gone. So I will get straight to the point. You five are to be up at first light tomorrow. No one is to bete, or you will have to do double the routine at night.¡±
¡°Boss, you are a demon!¡± Steven, of all people, was the first to yell out in protest. I guess he wasn¡¯t a morning person.
¡°I wasn¡¯t talking about you unless you want to join them. This was only for Frank, Jessica, Becky and Johan, and Instructor Telive.¡± I said with a small smirk causing Steven to blush.
¡°Everyone else gets a month¡¯s break. You all suffered greatly during our dungeon dive and worked very hard, so rest up. We will be doing it again in the future. But in one month more training will be held. I will also be having a knight from the white knightse and train us all in swordsmanship. I will try to get some other trainers as well for the other schools of weaponry.¡±
¡°Boss, what is our goal now?¡± Amanda asked.
¡°To grow as strong as possible. So make sure you take sses seriously. If you have issues in a subject that you are taking, ask for help. Remember, we will not only be training our bodies but our minds as well. Knowledge is also another form of power.¡± I replied with a smile. While it may not sound like power at all but knowledge was a key thing to have when doing anything, from daily tasks to battle.
Chapter 230 First Day At The Academy
Morning songbirds filled the air as I looked up at the clear blue skies with a few white puffy clouds overhead. I was getting stared at left and right, but that is to be expected with the six knights standing behind me and the metal shackles on my wrist. Not to mention I was surrounded by arge group of students as well.
I could hear the murmurs of those we passed, trying to figure out who I was. I could only shed a silent tear since my school life now seemed to be over. But this was all for the greater good, and I already had arge group of friends. More than I could ever ask for. Luckily David stationed himself outside the academy gates with no intention of entering the grounds. He took my cuffs off, allowing me to walk unimpeded into the academy as a free girl.
¡°Boss, was all this fanfare really necessary?¡± Hailey asked. She did not seem to understand why I was inflicting this self punishment on myself. But it was all necessary to show that I was truly under house arrest, with going to the academy as the only exception..
¡°Yes, it is. If I wish to keep those nobles at bay, they will need to believe that I am under house arrest. This should also give me some peace during this time. So I n to make the best of the situation. After my sses, I will head straight to the library!¡± The time had finallye to get back to my roots and lose myself in the wonderful world of books. I have been waiting for this day for a long time now.
¡°Well, if you say so. But I am surprised that they held off on the opening ceremony until now.¡± Hailey was right, they did hold off on it, but that was only because of the incident in the dungeon. Otherwise, it would have been a few days ago.
¡°Ummm!¡± A nervous cry came out from the side, causing me to turn to see a young man with blushing cheeks standing there.
¡°Yes?¡± I have no idea why he was so nervous. It¡¯s not like I did anything to him.
But to my surprise, he suddenly bowed his head to me deeply as he yelled out: ¡°Thank you for saving my baby sister!¡±
¡°Umm, your wee?¡± I was unsure of how to answer, so I answered in more of a question than anything. I can only guess that his sister was amongst the girls who had suffered greatly in the dungeon. Luckily they will never know the truth as they have had those memories washed away and their bodies returned to new. They only know that they barely escaped death.
¡°You may not think much of it, and I respect you for this but truly thank you.¡± The young man bowed once more before turning around and leaving. I guess I am not seen as bad as I thought I would be. Although I could still feel a few hostile gazes on me, but I do not care. They were probably all the Prime Minister¡¯s people.
We all gathered in an auditorium, where we sat and waited for the Dean to finish his long boring speech. Something about making sure we take our time here seriously and make sure we do everything we can for the kingdom. In other words, pure brainwashing. It wouldn¡¯t be so bad if it was not for the fact that it had been going on and on for twenty minutes now, and my eyelids were starting to go heavy.
¡°I will now call our entrance exam¡¯s top student up here to say a few words. Faith Cyrilia, pleasee up!¡± I could have sworn I heard my name called as I slowly opened my eyes and yawned. I looked around to see many eyes on me. ¡°Hmm?¡±
¡°Faith, you are being called up,¡± Adel said while nudging me from the side.
¡°Oh?¡± I stood up and stretchedzily as I made my way to the stage. I had no idea why I was being called up, so when I got up on stage, I stood there staring at the Dean to tell me what was going on. But a few seconds passed, and the Dean had not said anything. ¡°Ummm¡. You called me up here?¡±
I could hear some chuckling from down below. I didn¡¯t even need to turn to see who it was. It was definitely Steven. The Dean suddenly let out a drawn out sigh as he said: ¡°Say a few words. You are the top student in this year¡¯s entrance exam.¡±
¡°Oh!¡± I suddenly realized what was going on. I wondered why he stepped aside. I guess falling asleep during someone¡¯s boring speech is not always the best of ideas. I could feel my cheeks heat up as I turned and looked out at the students down below. ¡°Well¡ I had no idea I was supposed to give some sort of speech, so I will just say this. Life is hard. No matter what your birth is or your status, life will always be hard but remember this, it is precious, and this is why you should make good use of your time and better yourselves. Dealing with things that do not allow you to reach the goals you set for yourself are just useless distractions that might stop you on your path. So before you act and do something that might ruin your future, always make sure you ask yourself. Is this the right course of action to reach my goals? Where do I see myself in the near future if I do this or that? Never give up on the dreams you have had since you were young. Work hard and make use of this time to reach those goals. Besides that, never forget those who helped you achieve those goals.¡±
With my small speech over, I turned and bowed to the Dean before leaving the stage. I once more stretched. I had no idea what I just spat out, but it sounded good. Maybe it will make those who the prime minister is using as a puppet think twice before acting out of line. But all in all, life truly was precious. I knew that more than anyone. Yet I still keep throwing myself into dangerous situations. Me, someone who used to be nothing more than a simple high school student, has turned into a strange being that was nowhere near her old self. Well, in some aspects. But for the first time in my two lives, I will finish my schooling and make something of myself and meet the goals I have set since young.
Chapter 231 The Royal Academy Library
After the opening ceremony, it was now time to choose sses. It was just that I had a group of people standing behind me while I looked at my registration form. ¡°Ummm¡ Why are you all not picking your sses?¡±
¡°Boss, you are joking, right? Why would we just pick random sses? We will pick the sses you are in so we can stand by your side and protect you from all evil!¡± Steven spat out some embarrassing lines like it was nothing causing everyone else to turn and giggle.
¡°Steven, are you hitting on me?¡± I asked in a teasing manner. My words instantly made Steven¡¯s face go red as he started to panic..
¡°What!? No! While you are definitely as pretty as a goddess, I am just a mere mortal. How could I ever be someone who ispatible with you? I can only gaze upon you from afar and worship¡.¡±
¡°Stop!¡± I was starting to get embarrassed by his words. I mean, what the hell? Who the hell spits out such cringy lines!? But it seemed that everyone else found it very funny¡. Even Adel, who would normally get mad about such things, wasughing. ¡°Anyways¡.. All of you can not take the same sses as me. I am taking both mage and knight sses. Some of you only passed the magic exam, and some of you only passed the knights exam. So you can only take some of the same sses as me. But you might find them boring as I am taking a lot of military-rted sses.¡±
¡°It¡¯s fine. We will take turns watching over you!¡± Amanda chimed in. I do not understand why everyone needs to watch over me but well, whatever. Having some friends around was also not so bad.
I mainly took sses that would allow me to learn more aboutmanding. After all, that is also one of my goals. The dungeon dive also confirmed my new love formanding. The process of analyzing and trying to figure out your enemy¡¯s strategies is really fun to me. While I know that the dungeon was not the best of ces for that, but having a group of people steadily grow stronger under your watch really made me want tomand arge group of soldiers on my own.
In the end, I took magic theory, magic practice, magic creation, battle practice, battlefield theory, and knight particle. These six sses were each an hour and a half long. This left a few hours for my library time, and then I could go home to train everyone. While it may look like I am doing nothing but work, in fact, the library time is my free time. I just wanted to do the one thing I loved most in my past life, and that was read!
I do not know what kinds of books I will find in the library, but I can say that I will try to read them all before I graduate. Or at least attempt to. I have no idea how big the library is. But one of the things I wanted to research was a way to fullyplete my fusion magic. While currently, I could fuse magic together, it was a long process and took forever to cast. It was not even close to being battle ready.
I am sure when it is fully finished, I will be able to do many different things with it. Like, let¡¯s say fusing my Gates of Faithylon with Grand Fall. Of course, I will change the element on Gates of Faithylon so that the fusion could get its maximum effect. However, I think such a spell might be more of a world ender and would then be considered forbidden magic. But I will still create it!
With my sses now set, it was time for me to head to the library, which everyone tried to follow, but I quickly shooed them away. Right now, I only have Adel, Sally, Sei, Grace, and Sophie with me. I couldn¡¯t escape them. Not that I was really trying to in the first ce. But I can say that I was very excited. I had an entire day to sink into the wonderful smell of books and read as much as I wanted.
The library was on the left side of the academy grounds. It was a veryrge building. At least three floors from the outside. I do not know who designed the buildings or not, but for some reason, they decided that the doors must be two floors tall and extremely wide. But as I got to the doors, I noticed that there were two smaller doors built into the tworger ones, which made me even more confused as to why it was designed this way. Was this supposed to be some kind of gateway of knowledge? Either way, it just looked strange to me, but it did make finding the library easier.
But I was not truly surprised until I walked into the library itself. It was a building that had space magic imprinted into the inside, making the inside a whole world of its own. It was truly majestic. Floating inds withrge bookcases on them, a waterfall that rained down into the endless cloudy abyss below. And currently, I was standing on a small ss tform that jutted out over this abyss. If I were scared of heights, this would be hell. Even the stairs connecting to the closest floating ind had no railings and were made of ss as well. It was really testing people¡¯s limits.
¡°This ce is kind of crazy,¡± I muttered as I looked around. It was truly surprising and nowhere near what I was expecting.
¡°I heard stories about the grand library of the academy, but this is my first time seeing it, and it seems that all those stories that stated that it was a fantastical world filled with books were true.¡± Adel whispered. We could not speak too loudly or would be kicked out. There was evena sign on my right that said if you talked loudly you would be instantly kicked out and banned for a week. Which I thought was fair, I mean this was a library after all.
Chapter 232 The Girl Behind The Desk
I walked up to the only desk with what looked to be a middle aged woman with thick rimmed sses and blonde hair draped over her face, reading a book sitting behind it. Even as we stood there in front of her desk, the woman did not look up once from her book. In a way, she reminded me of myself back on Earth. Jen used to stand at my side yelling my name, but I would not even so much as flinch or raise my head until she pinched my side.
I stood there with the others as time ticked by, and the woman only turned page after page. I was starting to get impatient as the sign said I had to check in first before I could even start to read any books. ¡°Umm, excuse me!¡± Adel seemed to have gotten tired of waiting and began trying to get her attention.
But even as Adel raised her voice, the woman only turned another page. This was very much like my old self. But this only seemed to annoy Adel even more as she mmed her hands off the woman¡¯s desk but still got no response. I can now see how annoying I must have been to Jen all those years that she knew me. I sighed and walked around to the other side of the desk. I looked for the part just above her hip bone that had the most amount of fat and gave it a good pinch..
¡°Oyio!¡± The woman yelled out in a strange voice as she looked up at me, teary eyed and with an aggrieved expression as she rubbed her side. ¡°That was mean!¡± When I saw her upturned eyes, I realized under the hair that was hanging down over her face this woman was not middle aged at all but in her early twenties. It was hard to tell with her hair over her face, but she was actually quite pretty. It was so surprising that I couldn¡¯t help but stare.
¡°Umm¡. Did you need something?¡± The young woman asked as she stared at me nervously. I don¡¯t know why but I felt close to this woman. She had long blonde hair and big blue eyes. But what made me feel close to her was she reminded me of my time with Jen.
¡°Sorry, we wanted to register so we could look at the books.¡± I smiled and gave an apology. I mean, I felt bad. I did just pinch her.
¡°Huh? Oh! I am so sorry! When I get caught up in a book, I lose track of everything around me.¡± The young woman replied in a panic as she began trying to find the right papers. I could hear her mumble under her breath: ¡°Oh no, I will get yelled at again.¡±
¡°No, you won¡¯t because we won¡¯t tell anyone,¡± I replied with a smile. The young woman¡¯s actions froze as she turned and looked at me. ¡°Are you an angel?¡±
I chuckled and shook my head: ¡°Far from it. I just do not see a reason toin about someone being lost in a book when I do such things myself. Books are a window to another world. It allows you to lose yourself and be the characters of that book. You can feel anger, sadness, and joy at the same time as the main character, all because the book will draw a reader in and allow them to experience such emotions. I know this all too well.¡±
I smiled warmly at the young woman. Her cheeks went flush as she lowered her head and mumbled something. She then quickly took out a ledger andid it in front of us. ¡°P-Please sign here. On your way out, you must sign it again. No books are allowed to be brought out of the library. Even if you do try to sneak them out, they will just teleport back, and your name will turn red in the ledger. If it turns red, you will be punished by the academy.¡±
Oh? Now, this was very interesting. To think such a system would be put into ce. I did as I was told and signed the ledger, and when I did, a symbol appeared on the back of my hand. It looked like a crown with the letter S in the middle of it. ¡°This is?¡±
¡°Oh, that is like a pass that allows you to roam around the library to certain areas. But I am quite surprised to think you would have full ess¡. Only a select few have such ess. I feel kind of jealous now¡.¡± The young woman pouted as she looked at my hand with a bit of yearning. I felt bad, but I do not think I can bring anyone with me to these secret areas. But I wonder why I was given full ess? Was this the Deans doing?
After I registered, only I was allowed full ess. Even Adel could not gain full ess to the library. She looked at her hand and frowned, and muttered something about needing to teach the Dean a lesson. I pretended that I did not hear anything. But mainly right now since today was going to be a full rest day for me. I decided I wanted to read a normal story like the ones I used to read back on Earth. And since there was a story fanatic right in front of me, I decided to ask her what would be a good choice. ¡°Excuse me. Can you rmend any good books?¡±
As soon as I asked this, I realized I might have made a mistake. Because the young woman¡¯s eyes lit up, and she nodded her head like a little chick as she answered: ¡°A good book, right? Well, it depends on the genre you are going for, but I would suggest Abby Smith¡¯s collection of tales of a Knight and his Princess. The forbidden love of the two is so romantic. Oh, and then there is Darrely Fentrens collection of fantasy tales of a world without magic that uses machines to do everything. Even flying through the sky inrge metal boats with wings! It is truly one of the best fantasy stories!¡±
Why is she talking about Earth!?
Chapter 233 Transmigration: I Will Rule This World! Part 1
¡°Flying metal boats without magic!? That¡¯s crazy!¡± And here, Adel was eating it up. Although I must admit, I am curious as to see how they envision how things would be on Earth. It has piqued my curiosity.
¡°Now then, which one interests you the most? If you want a mix of romance and fantasy, I rmend this one novel about a fluffy beastkin and a Domineering CEO. Although¡.¡± The young woman¡¯s cheeks flushed red as she leaned over and whispered into my ear. ¡°It might be a bit too much for girls your age.¡±
My cheeks began heating up. Why was she suggesting such a book!? ¡°We don¡¯t need that kind of book!¡± I yelled out.
The young woman pursed her lips as she looked at me. ¡°But it¡¯s a good¡.¡±.
¡°We are too young!¡± I interrupted her. ¡°Let¡¯s go with the PURE fantasy novels for now.¡± I made sure I emphasized the word pure. I mean, I do not need Adel reading some skankily written book about adult things right now. I might wake up to something I am not ready for.
¡°Okay! Okay¡ But if you are interested, just let me know.¡± The young woman replied with a strange smile. I just shook my head and looked up at Adel and the others, who all had confused faces on their faces.
¡°Umm, Faith, what were¡¡± Adel seemed to want to ask what I was just told, but I quickly began speaking again, ignoring the question she was about to ask so that she would hopefully forget about it. ¡°Where can we find the fantasy section?¡±
¡°Take the left staircase. It will bring you to the floors with only fantasy books.¡± The young woman replied with a smile.
¡°Thank you.¡± I gave a slight bow before taking the lead and walking up the stairs. I figured I would be interacting with her a lot from now on. Although I did forget to get her name, but that cer.
The stairs leading to the floating ind were really strange. While they seemed skinny at first before you stepped on them, when you did, they seemed to expand left and right to kind of give you the security that you will not fall off if you take the wrong step, which was nice because I was slightly nervous as to what would happen if I did fall off. I mean, the area below was just a thick, denseyer of clouds, after all, with no way of finding out whaty beneath them.
It took a few minutes to reach the ind. When I looked around, I saw many different kinds of flora and fauna growing out of the stone ground amongst the tall wooden bookcases. Now to me, this was truly fantasy like. It was a very pretty sight and gave off a nice calming feeling.
There was even a small stream trickling by that flowed into a small pond that had a pavilion on it for people to sit and read in peace. It was definitely a serene ce, and to be honest, I really liked it. ¡°Let¡¯s split up and find something to read.¡±
¡°You seem excited,¡± Sei whispered.
¡°Of course, I love books. Reading is something I do not have much time to do, but it is one of my favorite things to do.¡± I replied in a hushed tone.
¡°Then we shouldn¡¯t keep you from doing it,¡± Adel said while pushing me from behind. I smiled and ran off. I really wanted to read the stories of this world. I wonder if they could meet my expectations.
There was row upon row of books all lined up on their shelves neatly. There was no dust to be seen, as if someone took very good care of the books here. For some reason, I could envision the young woman downstairs diligently cleaning the books here every day. I do not know why I think this, but I just get the feeling that she was just that kind of person.
I scanned the books and read the titles, and to be honest, many of them reminded me of the Japanese novels with the unnecessarily long names back on Earth. It made me chuckle because I used to read such novels myself. I really loved those days when I would sit back on my bed and read a novel until I was dragged out of my room by my mother. I used to long for the fantasy worlds where I could use magic and fight monsters. It was just a fantasy lover¡¯s dream, but now here I am in such a world. I wonder if some god decided to give me what I longed for? At any rate, I do wonder how the fantasy novels of this world read.
After scanning the books for a while, I finally found one that seemed interesting. I, of course, was one of those who read the novel title before even looking at the synopsis. If the novel title is bad, I won¡¯t even try to read the rest. ¡°Transmigration, I will rule this world!¡±
I really wondered just how they were going to rule a like Earth. I mean, it is a world of machines with no magic whatsoever. Unless theye up with a way for them to use magic, at any rate, I will give it a read.
I took the book and walked back to the pavilion with my tail wagging back and forth. I was really in a good mood. I sat down and opened the book, and began reading the synopsis. ¡®My name is Telnos. I was once a magic knight who worked day in and day out. I once had a dream of rising through the ranks and making a name for myself to gain my ownnd and rule over it like a king. But sadly, to rise in the ranks takes a long time. But one day, that all changed. While on a mission, one day, I was transported to another world. A world where no magic could be found.
¡®Just looking around at the awe inspiring buildings, I couldn¡¯t help but have one thing sh across my mind. And that was¡.. I will rule this world!¡¯
Chapter 234 Transmigration: I Will Rule This World! Part 2
I chuckled to myself after reading the synopsis. I really wondered where this person got the idea for such a stupid novel. But nevertheless, I still began reading it.
¡®I lived a life of hardships of training every day, wanting to better myself and make a name for myself. I wanted to live a life of luxury and have many wives at my side. But the hardships of reality were different from what I expected. No matter how hard I worked, to gain the merit points needed to rise through the ranks was not easy. I was not even close to bing a baron just yet.
¡®But all that changed on that fated day¡. I woke up in a dark ce with a small window where I could see hooded people. They were screaming something about how it worked. But what shocked me the most was that I seemed to be in some kind of container. A loud mechanical sound was heard as the container I was in suddenly split in half, and the part with the window lifted up. I was in a bit of a daze because I felt no magicing from the device.
¡®As I slowly stepped, the men in cloaks began to tremble under my god like presence¡.¡¯.
¡°Pfft! Hahahahahahaha! What is this!?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but burst outughing. It was so stupid that I couldn¡¯t help myself, but at the same time, I still wanted to read more!
¡®It was then and there that I realized. If they were trembling from my presence like this, couldn¡¯t I easily take this world over!? My eyes shined with this thought. And right then and there, I decided I would be the ruler of this world. To hell with lording over a small plot ofnd when I can have an entire world!
¡® I ignored the men in cloaks and made my way outside. Each person I passed dropped to their knees in reverence¡..¡¯
¡°Hahahaha! I can¡¯t! This book is too much.¡± I wiped the tears from my eyes. This was just¡. I could tell the person was male who wrote this. Furthermore, they seemed to have some hidden passion for wanting to rule the world. But since they are weak and without merit, they can only write about it in a fantasy story. But still¡ this kind of book.
¡°Ahem¡. You looked like you were having fun¡.¡± Adel¡¯s voice entered my ears as I raised my head and looked at the five girls that were looking back at me with big grins on their faces causing me to blush. Trying to hide my embarrassment, I asked: ¡°What!? ¡.¡±
¡°Nothing. It is just the first time I saw you act in such a way on something other than magic. It makes my Faith look very cute.¡± Adel replied teasingly. I couldn¡¯t help but purse my lips and close the book in my hands. I stood up and walked off while hugging the book. I could hear gigglinging from behind me. ¡°Such bullies!¡±
I went back and put the novel back on its shelf. I then grabbed another book. This one was titled: ¡°The beauty and the robot.¡± My brow suddenly wrinkled. What kind of name is that!? Did this persone from Earth? Sighing, I began reading the synopsis but soon blushed and put the book back on the shelf. ¡°Naughty¡.¡±
I scanned the books and found a few that seemed interesting. I brought them back under the watchful eyes of mypanions. I am unsure if they were having more fun watching me or reading the books that looked to still be closed in their hands. In the end, I just ignored them and giggled andughed as I read these supposed fantasy novels.
To tell the truth, only one of them was quite good. It was more of a science fiction style novel than anything and portrayed a more advanced civilization from Earth. It was only that book that I really got into and began reading quietly.
I had no idea how many hours passed, but I slowly closed the book in my hands, feeling refreshed. How long has it been since I read a good book? I don¡¯t know, but I do know now that this book was very enjoyable. I hope I can find more of them as time passes. Because I am determined to read everything here, or at least try to read them.
¡°Done?¡± Sophie asked. I looked up at her and gave her a satisfied smile as I nodded my head. ¡°Mmm¡ Let¡¯s go.¡±
We all walked back down the stairs and to the desk where the young woman was still sitting there reading. I did not wish to disturb her, so I reached over and grabbed the ledger from her so that we could all sign out. After signing my name, I waved goodbye to her and turned, and walked out of the library.
When we reached the academy gates, David was waiting for the other knights. I held out my hands to him, and he put them in cuffs once more. ¡°You were in there longer than I expected,¡± David spoke up as we climbed into the carriage.
¡°I got caught up in reading a book. I do apologize. I will be sure to let you know these things from now on.¡± I felt bad because he had to stand outside the academy and wait for me.
¡°It¡¯s fine. Grace came out and kept me updated.¡± David replied, causing me to look at Grace.
¡°It is my duty to help you without being asked. I would not be able to call myself your servant if I was unable to do such a simple task.¡± Grace exined. Although grateful, I couldn¡¯t help but frown slightly at her words. She was so adamant about this servant-master thing.
I sighed and smiled at her as I said: ¡°Thank you. When I read books I lose myself within the story and lose track of time.¡±
Chapter 235 Talking With Diablo Part 1
In the end, since I was all mellowed out from my book, I let everyone have the night off and called Diablo to talk with me about demons. ¡°You called, Master?¡±
¡°Yes, Diablo, please sit.¡± In the living area of my room, I had Annie prepare some tea and snacks. Grace was also here since Adel screamed all kinds of things about me being alone with a man, a demon at that, in my room. Grace had part of my demonic blood in her now as well, which caused her to look partially the way she does, so although Adel wanted to be here, I told her to go rest. But I must say her puppy dog eyes when she tried to plead with me to let her stay was almost hard to resist.
¡°So the reason I called you here is to find out more about demons. As you know, I also have demon blood in me. To be exact, my bloodline is a mix of dragon and demon called the dragonic. I have an ancient will deep inside me that wille out every so often and makes me go kind of crazy. I will not hesitate to kill anyone. It hase out multiple times, and to be honest, it scares me as it feels like my body is being taken over. It mostlyes out when something happens or threatens those close to me.¡± I exined. While it did note out during the times that I was in the dungeon and fighting the goblins, but I think this was the same as when I wasmanding the soldiers during the Norian invasion. Because my mind was preupied, it suppressed my ancient will enough to keep it froming out..
¡°Hmmm¡ I am not sure about this world¡¯s demons. But there are also many different kinds of demons as well. Demonse in all shapes and sizes, just like you humans and demi humans do. To actually put it simply, to us demons humans and demi humans are one and the same, just different features. Although, Master seems to fall under a whole different category.
¡°As a dragon, you are of a breed of your own. You are not a demi human nor a human. You are a dragon, which sets you apart from the rest. As for demons, as I said, wee in different varieties, just like humans. We have ones that are more civil and those who are very violent and want to destroy everything. There is even a single demon king who is like this. But he is kept in check by the others. While it might seem strange to you, the demon world is not much different from this world.
¡°We have our cities and our ownw systems along with kingdoms, and as you may have guessed, there are seven altogether. While there are some kingdoms that seem morewless, there is actually a kind of bnce in the demon world. Demons, by instinct, seek destruction and chaos. We were born from it, to begin with. We can be said to be a byproduct of the humans¡¯ hate and desires. The same goes for the angel race. They were born from humans¡¯ love and care. Lady Grace falls under the category of a mix of both. My guess is that at some point in this world, a human and an angel mated, giving birth to a half breed that then, over the years, passed on to each new generation.
¡°And in your case. A dragon and a demon mated, giving birth to the dragonic. It is just that this demon seems to be part of the violent faction and may very well be King Hades himself. He did not have a tendency to spread his seed long ago.¡± Diablo paused as he took a sip of his tea. But his words left me thinking. What exactly are demons and angels to begin with? To be honest, Diablo¡¯s exnation had many loopholes as well.
¡°I know what you are thinking.¡± Diablo interrupted my train of thought. ¡°What I just said is based on the demon realm I am from. I do not know if more exist. This world could very well have had demons and angels living on it at some point. Your blood is familiar to me. The scent thates from it. And I mean from the both of you. But I could be wrong. It coulde from another race altogether simr to my kind.¡±
¡°No, I know for a fact that the blood of a dragonic is a mix of demon and dragon blood. My system is different from others. I have the ability to evolve using something called an evolution stone. Well, the first evolution was a single evolution stone, while my next one requires six more.¡± The final boss also dropped a few evolution stones, bringing me that much closer to my next evolution.
¡°I see¡ Evolution¡. Do you know what your next evolution will bring?¡± Diablo asked.
¡°I am not sure. I only know its name, Dragonic Princess. I will not know more until after I evolve, sadly. At least I hope¡.¡± It was kind of annoying how the information for the next tier was blocked. I could only hope that it would give more information after my evolution. While I was kind of nervous about evolving, I still nned to do it anyway. The stronger I can get, the better with how this world seems to be slowly moving towards war.
¡°Hmm¡ Dragonic Princess. I wonder¡ Are you sure this is a race from this world?¡± Diablo asked. And he had good reason to. I even had my doubts as well but then the thing with Grace happened.
¡°I thought this as well but then Grace¡.¡± I looked over at Grace causing Diablo to nod.
¡°Yes, this does throw that idea out the window.¡± Diablo contemted for a few moments before leaning back in his seat. ¡°If the dragonic of this world indeed descended from my demon world then I think we would need to speak with Hades.¡±
Chapter 236 Talking With Diablo Part 2
¡°Do you think that is wise? You did say he was violent, after all. If we brought him here¡.¡± I was hesitant to call any demon that might cause harm to those around me.
¡°Yes, I know. That is why I will do the summoning. But we will only leave that as ast resort, and even then, it might note to any kind of new information. For all I know, this world could have had more ancient demons than myself at some point and time.
¡°Master, you must understand that in this universe, nothing is absolute. Everything can change on a whim. The rise and fall of civilizations can be decided with the flip of a coin. One wrong mistake can wipe everyone out. This is just how things work. Even we demons are no exception which is why we keep a kind of bnce in the demon world, or war would break out at any time. We do not cross our boundaries, and everyone has an equal share ofnd. This is to keep ourselves from destroying one another.¡± Diablo¡¯s words made a lot of sense. But I still did not understand how this had anything to do with my ancient will.
¡°To put it inly, this dragonic race of yours may very well be a real race of this world, but the will itself originates from somece else entirely. Like I said, nothing is absolute. Your system, which is different from everyone else¡¯s, may even be something from an even higher power. After all, your world did not have dungeons until just recently, right?¡± Diablo asked, causing me to nod my head..
¡°If that is the case, then why did dungeons suddenly start showing up now? The man we met with the strange lines on his body, where did hee from? This world may be under some kind of new rule, and you did not even know because to them, you are nothing more than ignorant ants that don¡¯t deserve their attention. The man we saw could even be the weakest of the weakpared to the ones above him.¡± Diablo¡¯s words made sense. Everything may be different when dealing with the system. And not to mention Azengrade and his power to be able to control parts of the dungeons themselves.
It was a lot to take in, but one thing¡¯s for sure, I got nowhere in finding out about my ancient will. All this conversation did was bring more questions to the table than we had answers for. But I am d I had it because these questions were things that needed to be asked to begin with.
¡°Thank you for your time Diablo.¡± I finally said after being lost in thought for a while. I had much more to think about than I had expected to.
¡°Master, you do not need to thank me. You are my Master and can ask anything of me. This is what the contracts we have with each are for.¡± Diablo stated as he stood up. But I did not feel that way.
¡°Even if we have a contract, Diablo. You are still your own person. While it may seem strange because I may ask things of you knowing that you can not say no, I am not doing it to order you around but asking you as a friend. It would be no different from asking the same thing of Adel or even Steven.¡± I said with a smile. I did not think of Diablo as a tool. While I may contradict myself in some of my actions, I still felt Diablo was someone I could rely on as a friend and not a servant.
¡°This is why I am willing to serve you loyally. You have a pure heart, Master. While strong, you care for those around you and wish to help who you can. In the short while that I have known you, I have seen these things clearly with my own eyes. You give off a feeling that I can not find in the demon world.¡± Diablo¡¯s words made me chuckle.
¡°Diablo, wasn;t it my mana what made you want to serve me?¡± I asked teasingly. Heughed and nodded his head. ¡°This I can not deny! Haha!¡±
¡°Well, at any rate, I am d to have you on my side.¡± I was truly grateful to have someone as strong as Diablo next to me at this time. Because of him, I have room to breathe. And I think he was the reason why we were able to leave the dungeon alive anyways. Even if we did beat the dungeon boss on our own, that man¡. He might have killed us all.
¡°And I am the same as you. But Master, before I dare call Hades here, you will need to grow much stronger. So when the timees, you will need to have the strength to fend off any attacks he might throw at you. You will need to be able to protect yourself.¡± Diablo added before bowing and leaving the room.
I sat back in my seat and looked up at the ceiling. It was then that a handnded on my head and stroked it gently. ¡°Grace?¡±
¡°Master looked as if you had a headache, so I was trying to help soothe it.¡± Grace answered, causing me to close my eyes. She was right, I did have one. ¡°Thanks Grace.¡±
¡°It is my duty.¡± Grace mumbled but I decided to ignore it.
¡°Grace, have you spoken to your family?¡± I asked. We still had to deal with her family. After all, the daughter of a marquess bing a servant of a demi human was unheard of. It could make both the person involved and the family name lose all face.
I opened my eyes to see Grace making a strange face which was obviously a no. ¡°I think we should invite your parents over. What you do is up to you. I will follow your decision. But you should at least talk with them.¡±
¡°Then I will do as Master says¡.¡±
Chapter 237 Early Morning Trouble
The next morning Grace did send a message to her parents. I was unsure of how this meeting was going to go, but it was necessary. Only when we meet will we know how it goes.
Currently I was out in the garden, which had now changed into a training ground. Well, for running anyways. I was having Frank, Jessica, Becky, Johan, and even Instructor Telive run a fewmps to begin really working on their stamina. I wanted to make sure everyone was at a standard stamina level before doing much of anything else. I, of course, was running alongside them as I needed to exercise as well. After running, I did some basic exercises before letting them go clean up and eat. We still had to go to the academy after all.
I was once again escorted to the academy in cuffs which brought a lot of attention to me. Not that I cared because this was all for show anyway. So the murmurs of those around me did not bother me in the slightest.
After entering the academy, I was to head off to my knight sses. ¡°Alright, I will see you allter.¡±
¡°Faith¡.¡± Adel called out to me. I turned to look at her. She had the most pitiful face on. ¡°Don¡¯t forget about me¡.¡±
¡°Adel, go to ss!¡± I yelled before turning around and walking off. That silly girl, why is she being so dramatic!? She was acting as if we would never see each other again.
As I walked alongside Sei, Sophie, and Sally, I heard another set of footsteps behind me. I turned to see Grace standing there with her hands folded in front of her. ¡°Grace?¡±
. ¡°Yes, Master?¡± Grace answered per her usual response.
¡°Why are you following me?¡± I asked.
¡°Because I am Master¡¯s servant?¡± She replied while tilting her head to the side as if what I had just asked was a silly question.
¡°You are in the mage courses, though! Grace, you need to stay by Adel¡¯s side in case something happens to her! We talked about it earlier!¡± I held my head. I had already told Grace this early this morning. She repeatedly nodded her head. But it seemed my words went in one ear and out the other!
¡°Oh! You were talking to me about that! I thought you were talking to Sei.¡± Grace immediately ced the me on someone else, causing me to sigh.
¡°Just go to the mage sses. We will see each otherter. I will be there for the afternoon sses.¡± I really had to hand it to her to lie with such a straight face. Sei was still sleeping when I talked to her this morning! This girl¡.
¡°As youmand Master. But¡.¡± Grace turned to look at Sei, Sophie, and Sally. ¡°If Masteres under any harm while under your watchful eyes, I will destroy this kingdom and everything in it.¡±
¡°Oi! Stop saying such things and get out of here!¡± I yelled. Grace bowed her head to me before giving the other three a meaningful nce and walking away. ¡°She can just be¡.¡±
¡°Grace is as over the top as usual,¡± Sei said with a chuckle.
¡°I don¡¯t think she was joking, though.¡± Sally shook her head as she added.
¡°Then we will just have to keep our Queen Faith from getting even the tiniest of scratches on her!¡± Sophie teased as she poked me in the side. I pursed my lips and walked forward faster. I heard all three of them giggling away as I hurried along. They all know about what happened with the King because Adel thought it was an amusing story and bbed about it to everyone. So now they have been calling me queen here and there to tease me.
¡°Boss! You are here!¡± I heard a familiar voice. Steven came running up along with a few of the others from my team. But I also felt many hateful gazes piercing into me as well, which was quite annoying. I brushed Steven aside and walked to the front of the ssroom. ¡°Boss? What are you?¡±
The instructor had not shown up yet, so I figured I would take this time to deal with the issues at hand. I can not learn in a hostile environment, especially if people are going to be staring at me in such a way.
I cleared my throat and looked everyone over. ¡°I will say this now. I do not care which noble family youe from. I do not care what your noble rank is. If any one of you keeps staring at me with killing intent or malicious thoughts, I do not mind dealing with you. But I know most of you are egged on by your families as they are inturned egged on by a certain individual. Whether you hate me or not, I do not care but keep it to yourselves and stop staring at me, or I will punch each one of you until you learn how to be respectful of those around you.¡±
¡°You! You dare!?¡± A young woman yelled out. I do wonder why these young noble girls, who have never seen the world, feel like they have to act all high and mighty. It makes no sense to me. But since she asked me if I dared¡. I took a step forward only to have Sei pull me back. I turned and looked at her to see her shaking her head. ¡°Leave that to me. I am not of your house, so if I beat them up and they can¡¯t do anything about it. Plus, my standing as a ck night is higher than theirs.
¡°You are also currently under house arrest, so if you do beat them up, it will work against you at your trial. You need to watch how you act for the time being. So all the dirty work can fall to my hands or Adel¡¯s. We will be more than happy to take out such trash.¡± Sei¡¯s words made a lot of sense. If I did make a move at this time, it would be causing me more bad than good, even if the fact of beating up these rich noble kids who wish to cause me trouble would feel good. I could only step back and motioned for Sei to take the floor.
Chapter 238 Sei’s Red Bottom Technique
Sei smiled and stepped forward as she cracked her knuckles and looked at the young noble girl. ¡°Now then¡ Do you want an over the clothes spanking or a bare bottom spanking? I have recently learned a technique called Red Bottom. It is quite good at putting naughty children in their ce.¡±
I tilted my head to the side. I could swear I had heard that name before¡. Wait¡ She won¡¯t, will she? She really won¡¯t do it, would she!? A few nights ago, in the dungeon, we were all talking about our pasts before the academy and embarrassing things. I had spoken about my mother¡¯s red bottom technique. I never thought Sei would actually remember it.
¡°A red what!? Do you know who I am!?¡± The girl yelled out one of the most cliche lines any rich noble kid could yell. But I guess with their pride as a noble, they would use their noble names to scare the person in front of them so that they would not have to fight but sadly¡ I watched as Sei grinned and then disappeared¡..
Not even a secondter, a scream was heard, and a fresh white butt was exposed to the air for all to see. The girl had been draped over Sei¡¯s knee before most could even blink. Sei raised her hand and, with an evil grin, mmed it down onto the white cheeks of the poor girl. ¡°Ouch! What are yo¡. Ouch! Stop it! Ouch!¡±
I held my head. Why does it seem that I was seeing a shadow of my mother in Sei¡¯s image? This was just too much¡.
¡°Uhhhh¡.. Did Ie at a bad time?¡± A male voice came from behind me. I turned around to see a familiar person standing there with a strange expression on his face.
¡°Good morning, Instructor Reliks,¡± I said respectfully as I bowed my head.
¡°Yes, good morning, Faith, now please exin to me why I see a white¡ well, a now red butt being spanked in the middle of my ssroom?¡± Instructor Reliks, full name Bill Reliks, the battle manic instructor who I fought during the entrance exam. His expression said a lot as he looked at the scene before him.
I must say the red bottom technique that Sei was using was quite good. Makes me wonder if she had practiced it. This kind of punishment also seemed to be effective because the other boys and girls that had been giving me hostile gazes earlier all had gazes of fear at this point. After all, such a punishment was unheard of to a normal noble. They would probably never be hit their entire lives. But to have your pants or dress pulled down to expose your white bum and then spanked on top of that was a huge blow to one¡¯s pride and reputation.
¡°Ah, Sei is just teaching kids that respecting your fellow ssmates is the way to go no matter what their parents have told them,¡± I replied with a smile. It seemed Bill was not aplete idiot as he nodded his head to my exnation.
¡°I see¡ but how long is this going tost?¡± Bill asked. He did not seem to care to stop it at all. Not like he could stop Sei anyway.
¡°Ah¡¡± I looked up to see that Sei seemed to have a bright smile on her face as if she was having fun. I do wonder if a new window to a certain kind of world that starts with a capital S has opened for Sei.
¡°Sei!¡± I yelled out. Sei looked up at me with her hand frozen mid air. Her face quickly turned red as she lowered her hand and pulled the skirt back up on the girl. ¡°Ahem¡ Now you know to behave yourself¡.¡±
The noble girl¡¯s face was full of tears and snot. Now that she was released from Sei¡¯s grasp, she quickly hurried out of the ssroom. Of course, she made sure to re at me as if I was the one who hit her but whatever. Since the show was over, I made my way to an empty seat and sat down. The room was designed with a podium at the front of the ss and then stadium seating. There were long rows of wooden tables in front of the bench seating set up on four different levels and split into three sections.
Sei walked over and sat down next to me on my left while Sophie sat on my right and Sally to Sophie¡¯s right. The other seats quickly filled with the rest of my teammates. Bill, who was still in a daze as to what he had walked into, took a moment to snap out of it. He seemed to want to forget about what had happened.
¡°Ahem¡ To start off, I would like to congratte you all on bing students of the Royal Magic Academy. Being a knight is not all about fighting. It is also not all about training physically either. A knight must have the correct knowledge to go about their daily tasks. This includesw.¡± Bill is the instructor for the knight practical ss. And what he just said is one of the reasons I took this ss. Knight practical allowed me to learn thew of this kingdom¡¯sw, and right now, I needed as much information as possible on the subject ofw for my uing trial. It never hurts to be ready for anything.
¡°Thews of the kingdom are to be upheld by the civilians, including nobles. And a knight¡¯s job is to enforce thesews. Being caught being corrupt while being a knight can result in many different punishments. First, you could lose your position as a knight. Second, if you are a noble, you could lose your noble title. Third, and the worst punishment of them all, is death. Not for only you but your entire family. So think carefully before you act.¡±
Chapter 239 [Weekly Bonus chapter]Two Sets Of Laws
¡°Let me make this clear. In my ssroom, leave your grudges and political family crap at home. I do not care what you do outside my ssroom, but if I even sense that you are not listening to my teachings and are plotting something else instead, I will be the one to initiate the red bottom technique¡± Hearing Bill¡¯s words caused me to lower my head. So he WAS listening in on what was going on! He is even looking at me, grinning. I really feel like punching him in the face¡.
It was fine for Sei to do it because she was a girl, but if he did it, he would just look like some pervert. But I guess in a sense, this will really drive home the whole keep it out of the ssroom rule he just told everyone. I sighed and decided to forget what had just been said.
Bill looked around the room before nodding. ¡°Alright. Since I now got everyone¡¯s attention, let¡¯s go over the basics ofw.
¡°What most do not know is that there are two differentw systems. One formoners, those without status, and one for nobles, those with status. Thews themselves are fundamentally the same with additions on both sides, but the punishments are different.¡± Bill eyed everyone there. I looked around myself and saw that there were a few crumpled faces. This was the first I had heard of two sets ofw systems.
¡°First is the normal system which is for your everyday person amoner. They are the fruit of any kingdom, and no kingdom could survive if not for amoner.¡± Bill was really trying to drive this home. I actually respected that he was doing this with all these nobles here. Of course, many scoffed at his words, but they were one hundred percent true. A kingdom could not be made up of nobles and royalty only. Themon folk were what drove a kingdom¡¯s economy and allowed them to survive and grow as a single entity.
¡°You may think I am just saying this to make you be nicer tomoners, but I am not! I am saying this because it is the truth. If you think a kingdom is able to flourish withoutmoners, then you are just a in idiot and should leave this academy now!¡± Bill nced at everyone before asking: ¡°So which one of you think this is not true? Raise your hand! I will write up your expulsion papers now.¡±
Bill¡¯s face held a mocking smirk. All the nobles in the room that thought they were better than everyone else lowered their heads. I could even see a few gritting their teeth and clenching their fists. This just showed that no matter how much they hated it, they hated that they had to agree with what Bill was saying. It was a nasty little trick he used, but it was a good one. ¡°I see¡ So you are all nobles who love themoners good, good.
¡°Now then, to get back on topic. Commoners have a set ofws that they must follow, and thesews include respecting nobles. Any disrespect can put them in jail. But it also includes crimes such as theft, murder, abuse, kidnapping, human trafficking, and many others that I won¡¯t name as they are not suited for children your age. It is something you will learn when you reach the higher levels.¡± The higher levels he was talking about were basically like grades back on Earth. It started off at level 0 when I was at now and then went up from there. After each year in the academy, you would rise a level. While you would not be held back, the points you gain per year added up and what job opportunities and merits you will gain in the end are all based on your performance throughout the years.
¡°Now then¡ As for nobles, you all have basically the samews. But you have a few more that are supposed to be followed strictly, or it will cause you to lose your noble title, and the main one is that you must never discriminate againstmoners. Nobles of high status gain taxes from the people. They live off the taxes of those who work hard every day. Thisw is not really remembered because nobles will always do as they please, but it is aw that if amoner knew about it, they could take you and your family to court.¡± Bill¡¯s words cause a few snickers here and there, but sadly I can not say anything about it because even if amoner took a noble to court, the court would side with the noble. Hence such aw would never be enforced no matter what. It was a sad reality that while thew was supposed to be there to protect themoners from nobles who held power, one word from a noble, a single kickback of a pouch of gold, could make the courts side with that noble in an instant.
But I did have a question, so I raised my hand. ¡°Yes, Faith?¡±
¡°I was wondering. If amoner is able to take a noble to court and has substantial evidence against the noble, but the court still sides with the noble, what can amoner do then? They would be basically tortured by the nobles who knew they could get away with it. I mean, I see it all the time. Nobles abusing themoners around them, but no one stops them, not even the knights. So tell me, what good are thesews if the knights of the kingdom are unwilling to enforce them? What can amoner do then?¡± My question would anger many, but I do not care. This question was something I truly wanted to know. The kingdom as is, is already corrupt to the point thatws do not seem to matter to nobles.
¡°That is a good question. And the answer is simple. If all else fails, kill the noble.¡±
Chapter 240 Classes Part 1
¡°That is sphemy! ¡± A noble yelled out, causing me to smile. This idiot was just wanting to leap out there and call out Bill, who was already a person who could care less for noble status.
¡°Oh? So are you saying amoner should just sit there and be harassed by nobles!?¡± Bill yelled back, causing the young man who had yelled out to slowly sit down.
The young man cleared his throat as he replied: ¡°I am just saying. Why should amoner have the right to kill a noble?¡±
¡°Hmmm. Let¡¯s have Faith answer your question. Faith, why would amoner want to kill a noble?¡± I do not know why this man was trying to involve me, but I personally did not care.
I stood up and turned to the young man. ¡°It¡¯s simple. From what I have seen from the perspective of someone who used to be amoner, nobles do as they please. They see amoner girl, and they will force them to their bed, use them and then toss them away. Sometimes even kill them to keep them silent. Now before you go and start yelling, that is not true¡.¡± I paused as I saw the young man¡¯s face grow red with anger. I smiled and then continued: ¡°Not every noble is as such. There are actually quite a few good nobles out there who adhere to their duties as nobles and try to assist themoners. I will not deny this. But¡. A good portion of nobles have it in their heads thatmoners are just tools of amusement.
¡°Let me ask you this, and please give an honest answer.¡± I cut the young man off before he could rebuke me. ¡°If let¡¯s say A noble of higher standing came into your house and ripped your sister out of her bedroom or came to your home and began taking your things. Your wealth, your money, everything, and then when you tried to take them to court, and the courts sided with them even though you have so much evidence, what do you think would happen after?¡±
¡°This¡.¡± The young man was at a loss for words. I could see it in his eyes that he never thought of imagining it while in the other¡¯s shoes. ¡°The noble would probably cause issues for the person who took them to court¡.¡± He was reluctant to answer, but it seemed he was a person who was honest.
¡°Exactly. And since the court was unwilling to do anything on your behalf and now that you are being harassed non stop what would be your only option left? You have already lost everything. You have nothing else to lose, so what would be your final option? Because even if you tried to move, you would need to move out of the kingdom itself to find peace, but what then? The sister who was taken is now suffering in your ce. The family members who might have been jailed for no reason out of the noble¡¯s revenge are rotting away being abused in jail. But you ran to escape it all. What else do you have now?
¡°If you can still live with the guilt of leaving everyone behind, then that is fine, but most people would not. They would stay and try to help their loved ones, but when all else fails, what option would you have left when the whole world is against you?¡± I asked, my eyes staring at the young man. His eyes fixated on me, and after a few moments of us staring at each other, he slouched his shoulders and bowed his head. ¡°Instructor Bill, I apologize for my outburst.¡±
¡°Haha! No worries, but now I am wondering if I should even be teaching.¡± Bill turned and looked at me. I pursed my lips and looked the other way. I heard him chuckle before he continued: ¡°At any rate, what Faith said is correct. While what I said is wrong, and I hope it neveres to that, the fact of the matter remains. In such situations where it is noble ormoner, it is all the same. Because I know of some nobles, who have suffered as well in the same manner.¡±
¡°Alright, let¡¯s continue.¡± Bill then began going over what it means to be a knight. He talked about chivalry and how a knight does not work for the kingdom but for the people within the kingdom and other things of this manner.
After Bill¡¯s ss, there was a thirty minute break. I split from the others, and only Sally, Sei, and Sophie were at my side. I walked out to the yard next to the building I was in to take a seat under the still mild suns. But just as I closed my eyes to rx, a voice came from my side. ¡°Ummm¡.¡±
I opened my eyes to see the young man I was one sidedly debating with earlier standing there with red cheeks. ¡°Yes?¡± I asked while tilting my head to the side.
¡°I umm¡ I want to apologize.¡± The young man suddenly bowed his head. ¡°Earlier, when you walked into the ssroom, I was gazing at you the same way as the other nobles. My father had instructed me to give you a hard time, but I can not do that now that I have had my eyes opened up a little. The things you said earlier, I could not denounce a single thing. Everything you said is right, and when I thought about my own behavior up until this point, I began to feel ashamed of my own actions because I was acting just like you said myself. While I have yet to cross the line as to do anything drastic as described, I have treatedmoners in a way that made me look down on them as if they were bugs. But now I have seen that I was acting more like a viin than anything else.¡±
¡°I see. Well, I am d you understand it is wrong now. So in the future, just treat others the way you wish to be treated.¡± I answered with a smile. But for some reason, the young man blushed even more. I tilted my head in confusion, not understanding his reaction.
¡°Mmm, I will do as you say. I need to go now. I do hope we can talk again soon!¡± The young man said before leaving but stopped when he only got a couple of feet. ¡°Oh yeah, my name is Riley, Riley Thromson.¡±
Chapter 241 Classes Part 2
¡°Huh? Yes, have a good day¡.¡± I tilted my head in the other direction. For some reason, I felt something was off with how he smiled and waved at me.
¡°Ahhh¡ Faith is now sinking her teeth into the male poption.¡± Sophie¡¯s voice came from my side.
¡°That she is. To think she can sway both men and women to be by her side. Then again, Steven is also a lost cause as well.¡± Sei replied to Sophie.
¡°What are you talking about?¡± I could not follow their conversation. But when I asked my question, they both just shook their heads and sighed. Well, whatever. I think I get the gist of what they are talking about, but I will just ignore it as I do not really care too much.
I went to my next ss, which was battlefield theory. It was all about tactics on the battlefield and how to implement them. I do not think I even blinked during ss as I tried to soak up all the information I could. The thing I liked about this ss was that it seemed that no one was looking at me in hostile ways. While some did take a peek at me, it was only a peek. It seemed everyone in this ss was here to learn, which made things go smoothly, which was good because in this ss, it was just me. Sei and Sophie went to one of the other knight courses to learn more techniques.
It was only in my third knight ss, battle practice, that I met up with the others. The instructor of this ss was Sir Olbert. He was an older gentleman with a stern expression and an oppressive aura about him. Just standing near him makes a person shrink back. Even when he smiled, it was kind of scary. ¡°I am d to see so many youthful people here willing to take this ss.¡±
¡°To start things off, I need to know everyone¡¯s abilities. There are quite a few of you here, so we will have you all pair up, and we will see just how good you are. There will be no magic. This is physical strength and sword only. And do not think just because I am old that I will not detect any magic. I can detect even the faintest of magicing from someone. So if anyone uses magic, I will not allow you to attend my ss again, and I am sure you understand what happens if one is kicked from a ss here in the academy.¡± Sir Olbert was truly strict. He did not look down on anyone either. He was just blunt and upfront. And by saying he would kick you from the ss, it was the same as saying you would be expelled. Because any student kicked from a ss in the academy would instantly be expelled.
¡°Alright, quickly team up. If you do not find your partners in ten minutes, I will decide for you!¡± Sir Olbert yelled out.
Now, this was a bit of a predicament because I had quite a few sets of eyes staring at me. ¡°Umm¡ Sally will be my opponent!¡± I decided instantly on Sally because she was strong enough to take my hits. Her innate strength only doubled after leveling up a lot which makes her perfect to be my opponent. While I do wish to fight Sophie, that is only when she is able to use her phase skill. Otherwise, even with her amazing swordsmanship, I would still overpower her. Although this sounds conceited, we have already tested it. My strength and natural defenses will always prevail.
The ss was nothing but sparing from start to finish. In the end, because Sir Olbert wanted to see our weak points as well as our strengths, he made us switch up partners every ten minutes. This meant I went against quite a few people and also seemed to have gained a few admirers, which I found strange.
But now it was time for me to take my mage courses. Adel managed to work her schedule so that we would attend the same sses while she attended the other mage course sses in the morning. In all, each division had six sses you could take that were not exactly fully rted to the course you were taking, like runic inscription, alchemy, and mana maniption. These were the three other sses you can take for mage courses, while the knight side had weapon specializations and formation practice.
¡¢ And since I took my knight courses in the morning since that was when I would be the most awake to do physical activity, Adel decided to follow my schedule so we could meet up since I was not taking any of the other three mage courses.
¡°Faith!¡± Adel came running over and tackle hugged me. She then began rubbing her cheek against mine. ¡°I need my Faith recharged!¡±
I sighed and put my hand between our faces. ¡°Okay, enough.¡±
Adel smiled cheekily as she looked as if she had been fully refreshed. ¡°So, how were the morning sses?¡± I asked.
¡°Not bad. I did learn the benefits of magic in alchemy. I never thought just infusing a potion with magic would really do so much.¡± Adel answered. ¡°What about you? How was it?¡±
¡°She almost killed all the nobles.¡± Sei chimed in before I could answer.
¡°Who was it that spanked the noble girl with a brilliant smile on her face!?¡± I asked while giving Sei a teasing grin. She blushed and lowered her head. ¡°I just kind of lost myself in the moment!¡±
¡°Seems like you had an eventful morning.¡± Adel said as she pursed her lips. I guess she felt like she was left out.
¡°Now, now, don¡¯t be sad, we¡¯ll be spending the next three sses together. I am sure something fun will happen.¡± I said, trying to make Adel feel better. I guess it worked because she soon smiled and hooked her arm with mine. ¡°Then let¡¯s go! Let¡¯s see what we can stir up!¡±
Chapter 242 Classes Part 3
The first ss for my mage courses was magic theory. The teacher from this ss was much older than any of the other teachers so far, but I can say one thing. No one made a peep in the ss. The instructor had a strict, stern expression on her face the entire time. Something you would see in the old schoolmarms back on Earth. She even had a rod in her hand as she taught. And for some reason kept pping the palm of her hand with it.
But I must say magic theory was quite boring. It didn¡¯t really dive deep into anything. It was just the basics of magic and nothing more. Maybe it would get better as you rise in levels in school, but that didn¡¯t matter. What mattered was I could have taken a more useful ss. But I still sat there and listened like a good girl. Just in case there was something worth listening to.
My next ss was very interesting, though. Magic creation. A ss based solely on creating new kinds of magic. And the one in charge of this ss was Instructor Jasmine. As soon as I walked into the ssroom, Instructor Jasmine called out to me. ¡°Ah, good. I did pick the right ss to teach. It is good that you are here.¡±
¡°Oh? Is there something you need of me, Instructor Jasmine?¡± I asked. I was feeling a bit confused as to why she was happy I was here.
¡°Yes, after all, it is worth teaching someone magic creation if they have already created their own spells, miss spinning barrier. No matter how much I tried, I could not alter the spell at all to make it possible to spin the way you did!¡± Instructor Jasmine looked quite upset. I do not think she was mad at me but more upset that she could not alter the spell.
¡°Hmmm, it was quite simple though, look.¡± I raised my hand and drew out the magic circle. Instructor Jasmine stared at the magic circle with a feverish gaze.
She stood there and studied the magic circle for a few minutes before throwing her hands up into the air. ¡°It was that simple!? You just added in a rotational value to the runic equation like it was nothing! What the hell!?¡±
¡°It¡¯s not about trying to adjust anything in the spell but justyering an extramand over the top of it. If you add the spin to the target point you are casting it at, then you can make it spin around the target point. So all you are doing is adding in the rotational value to the runic equation.¡± I exined.
¡°This is just¡ Fine, you teach ss today!¡± Instructor Jasmine yelled out. I could only stare at her in disbelief. I mean, I came to this ss to learn, not to teach! ¡°What is that stupid look on your face for? I am being serious! You are much better at crafting spells than I am!¡±
¡°Faith, she has a point. I mean, you made a bunch of spells for everyone in the dungeon¡.¡± Adel, who was standing at my side, added. I, of course, pursed my lips.
¡°Let me make it worth your time. You will gain extra merits for teaching. Also, I will add in my referral to the dean if you are able to help these kids win the inter academypetition in a year¡¯s time.¡± Instructor Jasmine¡¯s words of extra merits were not too bad but I did not understand what she meant by inter academypetition.
¡°Inter academypetition?¡± I asked.
¡°Were you not listening during the opening cer¡ never mind, you didn¡¯t even pay attention when you were called up to the stage. Alright, I will exin. The first year students will have apetition between the sses. Each ss will face its counterparts. As each ss is held by different teachers at different times. So I hope you can make this ss lead the way in the magic creation part of thepetition.¡± Instructor Jasmine exined.
Hearing all of this, I thought for a moment and nodded my head. ¡°I do not mind. If it is just teaching people how to create spells, that is fine, but the problem lies with how to responsibly do such a thing. If I teach and they make a spell that will kill us all, I do not want to be held responsible for it.¡±
¡°I am not asking you to teach them how to create some of the crazy spells, you know, just some basic stuff.¡± Instructor Jasmine flicked my forehead as she sighed at me.
¡°Alright then, let¡¯s get to it then¡.¡± I really don¡¯t care. I mean, if someone did try to do such a thing, I could just use dispel at some point as long as their magic power is not higher than mine.
And so now I was standing in front of the ss while Instructor Jasmine sat in my seat. I guess she also wanted to learn from me. And right away was I getting hostile stares from all the noble kids. Which I figured would happen when they saw that they were going to be taught by me of all people.
¡°What is this!? Why is this demi standing at the podium!? Instructor Jasmine, I came here to learn not to listen to some demi human!¡±
¡°Yeah! Why is she even up there!? Does she even know how to create any spells!? I thought the academy was a ce of learning, not messing around!¡±
Instructor Jasmine slowly got up and turned around, and looked at the few students who had yelled out just now. ¡°Are you questioning my decisions!? I will tell you this now if anyone is more qualified to teach this ss, it is her. She can change and create spells in a matter of minutes. But you say she is not qualified? And what do you mean by demi human? Let me remind you that there is no difference between humans and demi humans in this academy. If I hear you call someone a demi human or anything derogatory towards any beastkin I will expel you immediately!¡±
Chapter 243 Classes Part 4
I watched as the nobles once more lowered their heads. I have to give it to this academy. They really did keep to their ideals and rules. Well, most of the instructors did anyways. I looked up at everyone in front of me. They still had a bit of a hostile gaze, but I could care less. I cleared my throat and began.
¡°Magic creation is not asplicated as it might seem. One only needs a high understanding of how runic equations work. For instance¡.¡± I made a basic fireball magic circle that was big enough for everyone there to see the runes within it. I then made another one at my side so I could use it to point out the sections I was talking about.
¡°If you look here in this equation, the fireball is formed and given shape in this portion here of the equation. The shape is determined here in this portion. Now let¡¯s say we wished for our fireball to take the shape of an arrow. We would just elongate the shape so that it can take on the same aspects as the spell fire arrow. And if we upped the mana consumption here, we can turn up the amount of damage it can do by a lot. So, in essence, we just rewrote the fire arrow spell using a fireball magic circle.¡± I looked up to see everyone staring at me strangely. I tilted my head to the side and asked: ¡°What?¡±
¡°You¡. You just simplified the fire arrow spell in an instant¡.¡± Someone muttered. But I felt confused, although the runic equation was different and maybe a bit shorter, fire arrow itself was a beginner¡¯s spell.
¡°Hmm? No one has figured this out before?¡± I asked. All I got was a whole ss shaking their heads. Only Adel looked at me with a bit of pride in her expression, as if she was the one who did it. Even Instructor Jasmine was shaking her head. But this did not seem right. I mean, it was all right there¡. ¡°Are you all telling me no one has ever changed the fundamental aspects of a beginner spell to make them easier and more mana efficient?¡±
In reply to my question, I was met with more heads shaking back and forth. ¡°Ummm!¡± A girl, well, one of the nobles who had yelled out in discontent earlier, raised her hand. ¡°Yes?¡±
¡°I want to apologize for my earlier outburst. You are more than qualified to teach us, so please, teach us how to create magic like you.¡± The noble girl bowed her head to me. This was a surprise with how haughty she was acting earlier. The difference in attitude was like night and day.
¡°It¡¯s fine. I do not hold any discontent towards you. In fact, I think you have every right to speak out when you see a student standing where the teacher should be. I just did not say anything back as it would have caused more of an argument.¡± I replied with a smile.
¡°I would also like to apologize!¡± The young man next to the noble girl spoke up after. He was the other one who had spoken out. ¡°Anyone who can simply alter a spell and turn it into another spell so easily is worthy of teaching us all.¡±
¡°As I said before, it is fine,¡± I replied with a smile. The young noble boy blushed and sat down. Why do all the boys I talk totely seem to blush when I do? Why is Adel ring at him as if she wants to kill him? I can only sigh. I just want this ss to end smoothly.
¡°Alright, we will do things like this for the time being. Taking a normal waterball magic circle, I want you all to adjust it to make it look like, and have the same power output as water arrow.¡± I decided it would be best to have them try it themselves as it was not an easy thing to do at the start.
Everyone quickly got excited as they began drawing magic circles in the air. I chose waterball because if something happened, it would not be lethal and could easily be healed. It actually did not matter which spell someone cast as the principles would all be the same. I was just keeping it to low level magic as it was easier to understand for beginners and would allow people to get a better grasp on altering current spells. As they learned how to alter spells, they would slowly be able to write new spells of their own.
¡°Miss Cyrilia!¡± Someone called out, making me almost trip over my tail with how they called me. I turned to see the noble boy from earlier raising his hand. ¡°Yes?¡± I asked as I walked over to him.
¡°This portion here. I am not sure if I did it correctly.¡± The noble boy asked. I leaned over and began reading the equation. While it was a bit choppy in certain parts, as he seemed to have lost track of how the spell was supposed to be written, it was still functional in a sense.
¡°Here, here and here, need to be rewritten. This portion here was moved to the wrong area. You need to keep the same structure as waterball. While this spell may work, it is still unable to do much of anything except maybe water your nts. But for a first try of trying to reorganize the spell, it is not bad as it will still cast like this but never try to reinvent the wheel. The basic structure is already there, so there is no need to rewrite it unless you are trying to create a brand new spell altogether.¡± I exined. When I turned to look at him to see if he was paying attention, his whole face was bright red. ¡°You okay?¡±
¡°Ah!? Yeah¡ Sorry!¡± The noble boy¡¯s voice squeaked. I do wonder if something is wrong with him because he won¡¯t even look me in the eye.
¡°Miss Cyrilia, it¡¯s because you are so pretty.¡± The noble girl from earlier said with a chuckle. But this made me understand why he was acting this way. I guess I leaned in too close. ¡°I see¡¡±
¡°Anyway, make sure you do not try to rewrite what does not need to be rewritten, we are just altering the spells, not creating a brand new one from scratch!¡±
Chapter 244 Classes Part 5
¡°Seems like time is up. That will be all for today.¡± I said as the bell rang outside. While the ss was much different from what I had imagined it to be since I was talked into teaching it. All in all, it went quite smoothly.
¡°Um!¡± A voice came from my side. ¡°Todd, is something the matter?¡± I asked. Todd is the boy who was acting strange any time I got near him to answer his questions.
¡°Ummm! I still do not understand a part that you went over, so c-c-c-c-c-c-c-could we talk about it over a cup of teaAA!?¡± Todd¡¯s spectacr stutter and screech, made me almostugh out loud. In a way, he was cute. But sadly¡ ¡°Sorry, I do not have time after sses. I am doing many other things as soon as I leave here.¡±
On top of sses and training, I only had a few hours to spare, and to be honest, I kinda wish to spend them alone and in a quiet ce. And the best ce for that is none other than the library itself. I felt bad turning him down. That sad puppy dog eyes that looked as if the world hade crashing down were enough to make any girl squeal. He was indeed good looking, but I am not someone he should be chasing after.
As I watched him walk away, Instructor Jasmine walked up to me and ced her hand on my head. ¡°He is a marquess¡¯ son, you know.¡±
¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. I never came to this academy to fall in love with someone or find a man with a higher status. I came here to learn and better myself. While I may be good in some aspects, Ick in others which is why I am taking knight courses. I am aiming to be a magic knight, but I would also settle with working from the ground up until I reach my goal of having my own men and women under mymand.¡± I exined.
¡°You are a peculiar one, that is for sure. But I guess that makes sense with how you do things. You are someone who doesn¡¯t work just for others but for yourself as well. Anyway, I will leave these kids to you this term. I am also learning a lot, so I will also be in your care. My pay for this ss will be split with you as well to show my thanks. I have things to prepare for my next ss, so I will see you tomorrow.¡± Instructor Jasmine patted my head once more before walking away.
¡°Sooooo~ Miss Cyrilia, how was your first day of teaching?¡± I looked up to see Adel giving me a cheeky grin.
I smiled back at her as I answered: ¡°Miss Gravos, I hate to tell you, but due to yourck of performance this year, you will fail.¡±
¡°Humph! Like I could fail!¡± Adel replied with a snort. We looked at each other for a few seconds before we both burst outughing. I have no idea why it was so funny but it was.
pA?,??.?0m ¡°We still have one more ss for today. After that, I will be heading to the library for a few hours.¡± I announced. I wanted to have some me time after this.
¡°I will be heading back to the house. I want a bath and take a nap.¡± Adel said with a yawn. I guess sses were draining for her.
¡°Then I will leave your safety to Sophie, Sei, and Sally,¡± I replied. I knew even if I asked Grace to go with them, she would still follow me.
¡°Alright then,¡± Adel said as she turned to look at Grace. ¡°Make sure you protect Faith no matter what.¡±
¡°I would have done so even without your meddling. After all, I am Master¡¯s servant. It is only right for me to stand in front of her and shield her from everything.¡± Grace¡¯s words seemed to hit some kind of cord within Adel because she looked like she was about to explode.
I pped my hands, getting the two to look at me. ¡°We need to head to the next ss, so let¡¯s leave that stuff forter.¡±
The next ss was magic practice which I was excited about until I got part way through the ss and realized that my level for this ss was a bit too high¡. I should have expected this after watching the entrance tests, but the skills of those around my age were much lower than I thought. In the end, it was an uneventful ss as I was not allowed to do anything except cast a basic fireball all ss.
I stretched my arms and let out a yawn as the ss came to an end. ¡°Adel, I am off to the library. Make sure to meet up with the others.¡±
¡°I will. Have fun!¡± Adel waved goodbye to me as I walked towards the library.
I walked to the library with Grace in tow. She was silent the entire way, which I was still getting used to. She seemed to be a whole different person now, but I will still not treat her any differently.
When I walked in, the young woman from before was sitting there reading her book. But this time, she actually looked up at me when she saw me. ¡°Oh, you are back?¡±
¡°Mmm.. this is the best ce to rx quietly,¡± I answered with a smile.
¡°You are right.¡± The young woman replied with a nod. ¡°By the way, I never got a chance to introduce myself. My name is Jennifer Rineferd. I am nothing more than a baron¡¯s daughter, so no need to think of me as some big nobility. So just call me Jen.¡±
I was quite surprised to hear her first name. It reminded me of my past life¡¯s best friend. Jen was what you could call my one and only true friend in that life. ¡°Pleasure to officially meet you. My name is Faith Cyrilia.¡±
Chapter 245 The Girl In The Library
¡°Is something the matter?¡± I asked when I saw her stunned face.
¡°Huh? Ah no, sorry, I was just thinking about something.¡± Jen¡¯s eyes shed with a strange light as she shook her head back and forth.
¡°I will only be here for a few hours today,¡± I said as I signed the ledger. Grace quickly followed up after me.
¡°I see¡ Umm¡.¡± Jen paused her words before shaking her head. ¡°Never mind.¡±
I tilted my head in confusion. I could tell she wanted to ask me something, but since she did not continue, I was not going to push her either.
My daily life continued like this, much at ease. My sses went off without a hitch, and many of the nobles in the ss began to throw out their ideas of being hostile toward me. There were still a few but nothing for me to really worry about. After sses, I went to the library. There I would speak with Jen, who seemed happy to talk with me. She was getting more and more chatty with each visit, but this was only when I was at the desk to sign in or sign out.
Today I was by myself. Grace was preparing for the weekend as her parents would be stopping by to discuss their daughter¡¯s current situation. So I was alone today, which was kind of nice in a way.
I walked up to the desk, where Jen immediately put her book down and smiled at me. ¡°Alone today?¡±
¡°Mmm¡ Grace had a few things to do today. So I came to rx by myself.¡± I replied with a smile. The more I got to know Jen, the morefortable I felt around her. She gave off a familiar feeling.
¡°Mind if I join you today?¡± Jen asked, which was surprising since she had never left her desk before.
¡°Sure.¡± I saw no reason to reject her, so I signed the book, and the two of us walked up the stairs to the fantasy section. I was normally readingw books the past few days, but since I figured I would end up chatting with Jen more than actually reading, I figured I would go with fantasy.
¡°It¡¯s been a while since I have done something like this,¡± Jen muttered.
¡°Oh? You don¡¯t talk with the other visitors?¡± I asked.
¡°No, I am normally held up at home or here in the library, and even then, I would not speak to others so much. But you are different. You remind me of an old friend from a long time ago. So I kinda felt a small connection with you.¡± Jen exined.
¡°Yeah, I get that same feeling,¡± I replied with a smile. I was telling the truth. I was not sure if it was the name or just how we interacted, but it all felt simr to my time with my friend Jen in my past life. However, the Jen of my past life was not a bookworm.
We walked to the midsection of the fantasy area, where we sat quietly by a fountain. We did not get books. We just sat there in silence for a while before Jen finally spoke up. ¡°You ever wonder if it¡¯s possible to go to different worlds? This library is filled with stories of other worlds, but I wonder, is that even possible? Like we have many where people die and are transported to another world.¡±
¡°There has to be some truth to every story, no? Whether it is the way things are interpreted or the reason on how they got there. Some truths cane from the imagination.¡± I replied. Well, it was true after all. I was a living example!
¡°I guess so¡ I guess I can only believe that to be true.¡± Jen seemed to be depressed about something. I am not sure why but something must be eating at her.
¡°Well, we will never know what actually happens until we die. But we shouldn¡¯t talk about such gloomy things. We should think happy thoughts and enjoy what life we have left.¡± I was trying to change the mood. Luckily it seemed to work as Jen smiled and nodded at me. But to my surprise, she leaned over and rested her head on my shoulder. I was stunned not because of her actions but because this was something Jen used to do all the time. When she was feeling depressed about something or just tired, she would always use my shoulder as her pillow.
This all had to be a coincidence, right? I looked down at the girl who now had her eyes closed and realized she had dark shadows under her eyes. She even fell asleep. I couldn¡¯t help but stare at her as she slept because I was seeing images of Jen from my past life ovepping with the Jen of this life. And it made me think. It was a crazy idea, but it was not totally out of the question. But if it was true, wouldn¡¯t this be a kind of fate?
I couldn¡¯t even stop the hand that went to fix her hair as I leaned my head against hers. If this was truly what I was thinking, then I would need to confirm it when the time is right. But the atmosphere was a bit too rxing with the fountain behind us. My eyes slowly grew heavy.
I do not think I slept long, but I was awoken by the sounds of sobbing. I looked down at Jen, who was still leaning against me, to see tears rolling down her cheek and her brow furrowed. I do not know what she was dreaming about, but it seemed to be very sad. I reached up and wiped away her tears before holding her hand and petting her head. She seemed to have calmed down a bit after that.
¡¢ About twenty minutes passed when Jen finally woke up she seemed quite embarrassed because she jerked up with red cheeks. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry.¡±
I shook my head and smiled. ¡°It¡¯s fine. You must have been very tired.¡±
Chapter 246 Jen Part 1
¡°I¡ I do not know why but you remind me of someone I cherished from my past.¡± Jen replied softly.
Hearing these words, I couldn¡¯t take it anymore. Although I might end up sounding crazy, I still have to know what has been eating me this entire time. There were just too many simrities between this Jen and the Jen of my past life.
I took a deep breath as I suddenly shouted: ¡°Jennifer Parker, your panties are showing, and they have a cute teddy bear on them!¡±
¡°Faith, you damn perv¡..¡± Jen¡¯s eyes grew big while my eyes began to water up with tears. I used to tease Jen all the time about her cute underwear. It was one of the things I knew most would be different from this world. Something that she would react to instantly, just as she always has. The wide eyes she had slowly began to tear up as she tossed her arms around me and hugged me tightly. ¡°You! You! I had a feeling, but¡.¡±
Jen sobbed into my chest as I hugged her back as tightly as I could. We both had been reborn. And funnily enough, we were brought back together due to books. The one thing I loved in my past and the one thing that Jen seemed to treasure now.
I have no idea how long we cried for, but when we finally parted, Jen¡¯s lips curled up into a blooming smile. ¡°To think we could meet again.¡±
¡°Mmm¡ I would never have thought you would turn into me.¡± I said with a slight chuckle. But Jen¡¯s face showed a sad expression.
¡°After you died, I fell into depression. My life from then was not something I could really deal with. I even thought about dying just to make amends for your death. I kept thinking it should have been me. I should have been the one to die. But¡. It was then that I saw one of your books lying on my desk. I picked it up and wondered to myself why you loved these stupid things so much, and that was when I fell into a trance. I basically became you. Or maybe I was just trying to rece you. I still went to school. I did what I needed to do to graduate, but my day was nothing but just that. School and then reading at home. Shut off from the world.
¡°Faith, you were like a shining light in my world whether you believe it or not. I mean, I was an outgoing person, but you were always doing what you loved most without a care. You never even cared about what other people thought about you. You talked about what interested you and ignored those who thought you were a weirdo. I looked up to you and thought maybe if I tried to work a bit harder, I could one day reach my goals.
¡°But that day changed everything. You risked your entire being to save me. I promised myself if I ever got to see you again, I would do everything I could to make sure you could reach your dreams. But now, after twenty two years, the best friend I thought I would never see again is now sitting in front of me. Although much cuter than before.¡±
¡°Hey!¡± I fake punched Jen on the shoulder as we bothughed. She had tears in her eyes, and so did I, but I knew one thing, Jen, my best friend, was here in front of me. ¡°So? How did you end up in the library of all ces?¡±
¡°I am under watch. My magic is different from others. I have what is called curse magic. It is the only thing I can cast. The king did not wish to kill me, so he stuck me in the academy to watch over me. As long as I yed the good girl and stayed here watching over the library, they would not see me as a threat. You see¡. Curse magic can not be blocked. It is a form of dark magic, but only very few people can actually cast it. Plus, being here reminds me of you. Books have be my only sce. I owe them for keeping me from taking my own life on that day. They kept me moving forward as they reminded me of the times you whined about going to school due to it taking away your reading time, yet you still did your best in school. It made me feel like if I could only grasp a portion of that kind of thinking, I could at least stay somewhat sane.
¡°But sadly, my life still ended short. I do not know what I died from, but I only remember falling asleep one night when I was twenty five. And then I woke up in this world, and in this body when it was only two years old. Although I was in an orphanage at the time.¡± Jen exined.
I had no words. I mean, Jen¡¯s life was aplete mess. I have no idea how I should even respond or say to any of this. I could only hug her and rub her back gently. But all I got back in return was a chuckle.
¡°It¡¯s fine. I did not tell you all that to make you feel bad. I just wanted to let you know that It was you who kept me alive even after your death.¡± Jen said softly, while hugging me back. I had my questions, but I knew this was not the ce to talk. That was when I came to a decision.
¡°I will speak with the Dean and King! You wille live with me from now on!¡± I stated firmly as I stood up and grabbed Jen¡¯s hand.
¡°What!? Huh? There is no way they will¡.¡± Jen had a look of helplessness in her eyes, but I only smiled back at her as I said: ¡°I am much more dangerous to this kingdom than you are.¡±
Chapter 247 Jen Part 2
¡°Wait, what are you talking about!?¡± Jen asked. I guess she did not pay much attention to the outside world.
I smiled as I pulled her along and answered: ¡°While you may be able to curse a person or two, I can destroy the entire kingdom in one go if I so wish. So in words to best exin it, I could be the demon queen of this world if I wanted to.¡±
¡°You can what!?¡± Jen still seemed quite confused. I walked straight to the sign out book and signed out in order to not cause Jen any trouble before walking to the door when Jen suddenly pulled hard on my arm.
I turned to look at her in confusion, but Jen stepped back. ¡°I can¡¯t leave. There is a barrier ced on this door to keep me in¡.¡±
¡°Hmmm?¡± I turned and looked at the door before waving my hand. ¡°There, it¡¯s gone,¡± I said with a smile before grabbing the dumbfounded friend of mine¡¯s hand and pulling her right through the door.
¡°What how!?¡± Jen waspletely stunned. She looked at me in disbelief as she passed through the door with ease.
¡°Faith Cyrilia! You better exin yourself!¡± A roar came from the sky. I looked up to see the Dean standing in the sky with a furrowed brow.
¡°What? I am taking a new member into my team. Any questions?¡± I asked coldly.
¡°Faith, don¡¯t do this! I will just stay here. Why get yourself in trouble!?¡± Jen was still trying to pull away from me, but I held her wrist tightly.
¡°You will no longer be alone!¡± I shouted. I then turned back to the Dean and said: ¡°Jen will now be a Cyrilia and be under my name. Have her sign a blood seal contract with me. Plus, if anyone should have been locked up, it should have been me, right? But look at me. I am free and walking around even though I could destroy this entire kingdom. Just because she has curse magic means nothing. Curses can be removed. I know since I have removed them myself. But I will say this now, and I will even say it to the king himself. If you wish to keep Jen locked up as you have been, then I will break her out and leave this kingdom behind.¡±
I was not joking. Jen had suffered because of me. I would not let her suffer anymore. She was my best friend in my past life and still will be in this life. Although I would feel bad for Adel and the others, but Jen was someone I spent my childhood all the way to the day I died with in my past life. I could never abandon her. This world revolved around power. I had the power to defy those in high positions whether they liked it or not.
¡°I can not make that decision.¡± The Dean seemed to be put into a tight spot.
¡°Then we will go to the castle then. All three of us.¡± I said as I grabbed Jen by her waist and pped my wings. ¡°I don¡¯t have time to walk, so let¡¯s fly there.¡±
¡°No, we can just use the teleporter. Come follow me.¡± The Dean replied. I nodded and followed after him.
Jen, who was in my arms, was in a daze. I can understand why. Things were happening quickly, but this was just who I was. We arrived at the Dean¡¯s office, where we were led to a secret room behind a bookcase. Inside was a teleporter. But this one could only be activated if you had the same mana signature as the one who created it. In seconds we were inside the pce.
Jen looked around in awe as I pulled her along. The Dean kept sighing with each step he took. When we walked into the throne room, a meeting was going on. ¡°Why are you¡.¡± The King looked at me, then at Jen, who had her head lowered and let out a long sigh before rubbing the spot between his eyes. ¡°Meeting postponed for an hour. Everyone should leave.¡±
The room quickly cleared out, and King Gravos¡¯s eyes fell onto me. ¡°I can guess why you are here.¡± After saying this, he looked at the Dean, who nodded his head before looking back at me. ¡°I can not allow¡.¡±
¡°I object!¡± I cut him off. Causing Jen¡¯s mouth to drop and The Dean to look the other way. ¡°Your Majesty, who is more dangerous, her or me?¡±
¡°Ahem¡. I guess¡ That would be you.¡± The king replied. Well, he couldn¡¯t really say otherwise.
¡°Then it¡¯s settled, Jen wille live with me, and we can be dangerous together. Any questions? Good. I will go back to being under house arrest. Dean, can you send me back to the academy?¡± I said as I went to turn around and walk away.
¡°Faith! You brat! You are worse than my daughter! I don¡¯t mind if she is under your care, but she must sign a blood seal contract! I can¡¯t have her being controlled by another kingdom. You are a different story as you have high magic power and can¡¯t be controlled. But she doesn¡¯t have such a thing. She is unable to resist mind control effects. We have tested her many times.¡± The king exined. I turned to Jen, who nodded her head. I now understood why they kept her locked up. Not just to keep her from harming others but to keep her safe as well.
¡°Then why did you not do it before?¡± I asked.
¡¢ ¡°I refused¡. I would have rather have stayed in the library anyway. It was the only ce I felt at ease. I had no reason to leave but now¡. I will sign whatever contract I need. I now have a reason to leave the library and maybe see a new side of life.¡± Jen held my hand. I could tell she wanted to go back to the old times when we spent so much time together talking about this and that.
¡°Ummm¡ Just to ask¡. Are you two lovers?¡± The King had a bit of a troubled face on as he asked this.
¡°Huh? Jen is my best friend. I can¡¯t exin it in a way that you would understand, but, we are just friends. You can say we are childhood friends.¡± I could tell by the confused expression on both the King¡¯s and Dean¡¯s faces that they still did not understand but I did not care. I did not feel like exining anything more.
Chapter 248 My Past
¨CAN: Another chapter will being outter today. I had some things going on this morning which took up more time than expected. I apologize for thete release of the second chapter.¨C
¡°Childhood friends? I am sorry to tell you, Faith, but that excuse will not work for me. I need a clear exnation.¡± King Gravos¡¯s words made me sigh because I knew that he saw through my words. Although it made me seem like I was lying, I had to at least try. I mean, I did not want to go exining things because it does sound crazy, but there was not much I could say or do about it at this point. And now, even after I told myself that I wouldn¡¯t go exining things, I had no choice but to exin.
¡°Can we change rooms? It will take a long time to exin, I think.¡± I answered as I looked King Gravos in the eye. He nodded and stood up. ¡°Follow me.¡±
I nodded back and took the bewildered Jen by the hand, and pulled her along with me. When we entered the room, King Gravos and the Dean both sat down on a blue velvet couch while Jen and I sat across from them on a simr couch. In between, us was a small wooden coffee table. There was no tea or snacks, just the four of us in this room. ¡°Now, please exin yourself. If I did not know your full history, Faith, and hers, I would have bought the whole childhood friend thing. But sadly, I knew you both too well. No friends at all during your childhood!¡±
Guh! He had to hit a sore point on my life. Yes, I had no friends, so what!? ¡°Well, when I say Jen is my childhood friend, I mean it. Just not in this life¡.¡±
¡°What do you mean not in this life?¡± The Dean asked.
¡°Let me put it in a different perspective. And this might seem far fetched, but we both have memories of our past life. And we can remember them vividly. We lived on a called Earth. It was a ce where technology ran rampant, and there were no monsters or anything like magic. There I was only sixteen when I died. But I was just a normal girl. I woke up, went to school, hung out with Jen, and went home and got lost in reading novels and books.
¡°I was nothing special. My one and only friend in that world was Jen, and she was as close to me as any sister. In fact, the reason I died was saving her, and even now, I do not regret it. Although it had a great impact on her life.¡± I paused when Jen gripped my hand. I could feel her trembling. I guess just thinking about it caused her great pain. I patted her hand and continued.
¡°Jen, from that point on, was no longer the same. She had be closer to how I was than her original self. And she lived her life like that until she died at the age of twenty five. How she died, I do not know, nor does she. But she woke up in this world in someone else¡¯s body. The body of a two year old orphan.¡± I paused to see theplex looks on the faces of the king and the dean.
¡°I know this all might seem fantasy like to you all, but the stories people write that can be found in the library are not too far off. Even my world had stories as such, but those stories talked about a world of magic instead. I know this very well as I have read many of those books myself. How you take it from here is another story. But I did not lie.
¡°Jen is one hundred percent, my childhood friend, just from another life, time, and ce.¡± I could only watch as the two men in front of me wrinkled their brows. I have no ideas how things will turn out from here, but hopefully, they will just take things at face value.
¡°I see¡.¡± The king said as he leaned forward. ¡°How many know of this?¡±
¡°As of now, the four of us. But I would probably need to exin it to Adel.¡± I answered. I could already see Adel¡¯s reaction, and I did not wish to hide things from her as she was one of my best friends. I did not want to keep her in the dark forever.
¡°Don¡¯t tell anyone else, not even Adel.¡± King Gravos¡¯s tone was stern, which startled me a little. This was the first time I had ever seen him like this.
¡°I am confused. Why can I not even tell Adel?¡± I did not understand why I would need to keep something like this from Adel. It made no sense.
¡°Because you two are not the first. And there seems to be more and more people crossing over into this world from another.¡± King Gravos replied. ¡°People with powers greater than our own. Ever since the appearance of the dungeons, we have been hearing reports of people who were on their deathbeds, have suddenly regained consciousness, and are feeling perfectly fine but acting strangely. Not in this kingdom but in others. These are reports from our spies. Some are even said to wield amazing powers and are heavily cared for by their kingdoms. We seem to be entering a new age, and that new age might be something we can not handle easily.¡±
While I was surprised by the sudden information of a lot of people suddenly appearing in this world from another, I couldn¡¯t help but worry. It made me wonder if the dungeons had something to do with this as well or if that man had something to do with all of this. ¡°I understand now¡.¡± I now understood why he wanted me to keep it a secret. After all, if word got out, we might be targeted by other kingdoms¡¯ spies and assassins.
¡°So please, do not let anyone know of this truth. It will never leave these walls. And don¡¯t worry, this room is specialpared to the others as it has a twentyyer sound barrier on it.¡± King Gravos was someone who thought ahead it seemed.
¡°We won¡¯t. I will just make something up.¡± I replied. I do not know what I will say but I will try toe up with some kind of excuse to pacify Adel. Because I know she will freak out when she sees how Jen and I interact.
Chapter 249 When The Old And The New Meet
¨CAN: It¡¯ste but here you go!¨C
After signing the blood contract, Jen was now allowed to move in with me. She had been staying at the library in a room that was hidden from others¡¯ view. We packed her things which surprisingly were no more than a few pairs of clothes and a pile of books. I had to apologize to Sir David once more since he had been waiting for me this entire time.
But now it was time for the truly difficult task I had to deal with. I just know Adel will freak out when she sees how close me and Jen are. While I know I shouldn¡¯t let it affect me personally, I still understand that she has some feelings for me that are more than just being friends. I also did not wish to hurt her feelings either, so I hope she will get used to Jen being around.
When we arrived at my home, Jen stared at the huge gates in disbelief. ¡°This is where you live!? Are you some kind of noble?¡±
¡°Ah? Now that I think about it, I am. I was granted the title of baroness.¡± I replied. I had forgotten that I had been given a title.
¡°Now that you think about it!? Did you really forget!?¡± Jen gave me a strange look. I just shrugged. Not like I cared for the title to anything.
The carriage pulled up to the house, and as I got off, I turned and held out my hand. Jen chuckled as she said: ¡°You are like a knight helping his princess.¡±
¡°Then, Princess, if you will¡.¡± I said teasingly. Jen smiled and took my hand. In my past life, Jen and I held hands a lot, so I did not think much of it as I walked through the door hand and hand with her to see Adel standing there frozen solid with a cookie in her hand raised to her lips. She stared at me, then at my hands, and then at Jen.
¡°Who¡. Who is this!?¡± Adel yelled out. She tossed the cookie in her hand down and marched right over to us, grabbed my hand, and pulled me to the side. ¡°You! You are the library girl, right!? What are you doing ho-ho-ho-holding hands with my Faith for!? No, wait, what are you even doing here!?¡±
¡°Adel, stop!¡± I yelled, flicking her forehead, causing her to turn and look at me while pouting and holding her forehead.
¡°But¡.¡± She whined. But I just tapped her head. ¡°Adel, Jen is my friend, so do not treat her badly. I can not exin it to you just yet because I was told not to by two certain people, but just know that Jen is actually my childhood friend. She is as dear to me as you are. Okay?¡±
¡°I¡.¡± Adel looked at me as if she wanted to cry and then at Jen and lowered her head. I felt bad because I could see her emotions running wild. I reached up and patted her head, causing her to rx slightly. ¡°Fine¡ but no hand holding!¡±
¡°That might still happen,¡± I replied. ¡°It¡¯s a habit from before.¡±
¡°But¡ Ah! Fine!¡± Adel cried out, then hugged my arm and lifted her chin as she looked at Jen. ¡°Just so you know, Faith is mine!¡±
¡°I belong to no one!¡± I said while flicking her forehead once more, causing her to push her face into my shoulder. I let out a long sigh. ¡°As you can see, Adel is kind of attached to me.¡±
¡°I can see that.¡± Jen looked as if she did not know what to make of the situation. I can¡¯t me her since I do not know what to make of it either. ¡°Anyway. My name is Jen. I hope we can get along, Your Highness.¡±
Adel finally raised her head to look at Jen and let go of my arm. ¡°Just Adel is fine. In this house, the one with the highest status is Faith. Not I think the one with the highest status in the kingdom is Faith.¡±
¡°Pardon?¡± Jen asked, seemingly confused.
¡°Adel, your father, is the king,¡± I reminded, causing Adel to shake her head.
¡°Faith, in this kingdom or any kingdom, those with the strongest power have the highest authority. It is already proven that with Diablo alone, you are the strongest person in this kingdom.¡± Adel exined, which I did understand but still.
¡°No matter how strong I am, it is your father who is king and always will be as long as I can help it.¡± I did not wish to be a leader. I would only exert my power position if it came to those I cared about, like how I did with Jen.
¡°I know! I am just saying but still. Jen is your friend, so formalities would just be stupid since I will always be around. Anyway, let me make one thing clear. Faith is my mi¡. Ouch! Faith!¡± I once again flicked her forehead.
¡°You keep saying I am yours to everyone who talks to me in the slightest. Do you even know what that means?¡± I asked.
Adel looked at me in confusion as she thought about it but still did not seem to understand as she raised her head and answered: ¡°We are best friends?¡± She even tilted her head to the side as she looked at me with a puzzled look.
I could only sigh. I guess she still has a long way to go. ¡°As she said, just call her Adel. She may act like this, but Adel is a very good person. She cares deeply for all her friends. You can say I am a special case as I was her first true friend.¡±
Jen nodded to my exnation as she reached her hand out this time to Adel and said: ¡°Then let¡¯s be friends as well from now on.¡±
¡°Ah? Yes¡. Same to you.¡± Adel reached out and shook Jen¡¯s hand and shook it and then watched as Jen walked over and hugged my other arm and smiled at her as she said: ¡°But just so you know, I am also Faith¡¯s best friend as well and have known her much longer!¡±
¡°You!¡±
Chapter 250 Telling Her Anyway
¡°You, what? Faith is my oldest and bestest friend. No one can say anything against that! So me hugging her arm is only natural.¡± Jen¡¯s smile was very pretty, but the look in her eyes was not inviting.
¡°I am also Faith¡¯s best friend, so I can hug her arm as well!¡± Adel shot back while staring daggers at Jen. But I wonder¡. Do these two not realize that they have yet to ask me my opinion on this? I do feel that even if I did, I would just be yelled at.
Jen smiled, seemingly ignoring Adel¡¯s retort, and looked at me as she said: ¡°We should probably continue our conversation from earlier. I still have a lot to tell you.¡±
I knew this would probably cause a scene, but I had many things to ask Jen about as well. ¡°Mm¡ Adel, I got something I need to speak with Jen about.¡±
¡°What?¡± Adel looked at Jen and then at me. When she saw me nod my head, she understood my meaning as she lowered hers and let go of my arm. She seemed sad, which made me feel bad, but what could I do? The king told me not to let her know that I was reborn. But to be honest, this was leaving a sour taste in my mouth. As Adel began walking around with her shoulders slumped down, I grabbed her hand and pulled her back. She turned and looked up at me with a confused expression.
¡°I may have been told not to tell you anything, but that doesn¡¯t mean I will be able to hide it from you much longer. Come with us, I will exin everything, but you have to keep what I tell you a secret and act as if I have never said a word to you about it, okay?¡± I said this, looking directly into her eyes to show her how serious of a matter it was. I just did not wish her to take things in the wrong way or think I hade to hate her. Adel may not seem it, but she is a delicate person. Her emotions sway in many different ways, and I do not want her to think she was losing me as her friend.
¡°I swear never to speak a word,¡± Adel replied.
¡°Thene on. Let¡¯s go to my room.¡± I said as I walked forward.
A few minutester, we are all sitting in the sitting area with some tea and snacks. Adel sat across from me as I exined many things to her. Her expression changed many times from sad to shocked to sad again and then repeated over and over until I was done. ¡°The reason your father asked me not to tell you is that he does not want the information to spread, and knowing will ultimately make you a target. So never speak a word of any of this to anyone.¡±
Adel nodded her head as if she was a baby chick. ¡°I won¡¯t speak a word of it. But now things make more sense. Seeing you so close with Jen so quickly had made me confused, but now I understand.¡± Adel took a deep breath and looked at Jen while bowing her head. ¡°I apologize for my rudeness. I thought you were just trying to get close to Faith. She is like an angel and will treat everyone she meets with kindness.¡±
Jen chuckled and nced at me before looking back at Adel. ¡°It¡¯s fine. Faith has always been this way ever since she was a young kid. I will tell you some storiester about her childhood.¡±
¡°Hey! I can hear you!¡± I knew Jen would talk about all kinds of embarrassing things. But to be honest, I really don¡¯t care.
¡°I would like that very much!¡± Adel replied with a smile before adding. ¡°But she is still mine.¡±
I held my head. Did she really need to add thest part? ¡°Anyway. Jen, I want to know how my family fared after I passed¡..¡±
It was time for some doom and gloom on my part. I wanted to know if my family fared well and kept living their lives. I was nervous. I have no idea if I was even ready for any of this, but I had to know. I had to know how they lived after my passing. I took a few deep breaths and prepared myself for what I was about to learn.
¡°Your parents were devastated when you died. They hated me. I guess they kind of med me for your death. Like if not for her, my Faith would not have died. So I stayed away from them. But even though I could not ask them directly or go see them on my own, I still inquired about them. Your father and mother continued their lives. Going to work and then going home. Thest I heard was that they moved from the house they lived in, and from there, I lost track of them. Sorry I do not have much more information than that.¡±
¡°I see¡ As long as they were able to continue their lives¡.¡± Truth be told, I did not know how I felt about all of this. I am sure my parents hurt a lot inside. Death, to me, is a scary thing. While I may have been reborn this time, what about next time or the time after that? When would eternal darkness finally take me over? These kinds of thoughts have spurred up from time to time, not just in this life but in my past one as well.
It is one of those things no one really wants to think about but have to. The reminder of death is always sitting there in front of our faces. Everywhere you turn, there is death. Whether it is human or demi human, dragon or demon, even the bugs that crawl on the ground, death is everywhere.
Before I knew it, as I was lost in my thoughts, I was embraced on both sides. I guess my mood must have been felt by these two. I smiled and patted both their arms as I said: ¡°I¡¯m fine thank you.¡±
Chapter 251 Trial Part 1
That night, both Adel and Jen stayed in my room. I am not sure what happened, but at some point after dinner, the two walked off to talk on their own. And when they came back, they were much friendlier with each other. Not that I amining. I would prefer them to be best of friends more than anything else.
I did not try to ask what they talked about. I did not wish to be too nosy. Although I guess I can not say I am not curious as to what they spoke about, but I will just leave it at that. My days continued as they were. Most of the hostile gazes I was getting in the academy have disappeared. I have even been confessed to quite a few times now. However, I do wonder what they see in someone who still looks like a child, basically.
Well, I guess I should say I have grown a bit. A quarter of an inch, to be exact! But most importantly, I will be turning thirteen soon. I will officially be a teenager! Anyway, currently, I am getting dressed up. Today was the day of my trial, and I must say that I am a bit nervous. I already have plenty of evidence that shows that things were an ident, but my main concern was not my conviction but the nobles we were trying to bait. All of the nobles who speak out today would fall under suspicion and allow the king to investigate them fully.
Up until now, even Diablo shadow has not reported anything back that can be used against the Prime Minister, so hopefully, after losing many nobles who are at his side, he will begin to move once more. I have no idea if he is just lying low after the dungeon incident or not, but we need him to make only one mistake to close the around him.
I walked out of the house and into the carriage surrounded by guards. Jen, Adel, and the rest would be attending the trial on their own. As I am the one on trial, I need to show up in the proper manner. Although I am not sure if showing up in a fancy carriage surrounded by guards is something a supposed criminal should be doing, but since I was only confined to my home and the academy, so I guess it is okay.
The court was situated inside the pce grounds but far away from the pce itself. When I arrived, many nobles were slowly making their way in. I, of course, garnered many curious gazes as well as ones filled with malice. I do wonder if they know that my senses are much more heightened than their own.
I was not brought through the main entrance but around back to the entrance to the dungeon below the court. I would have to spend my time in a cell for the first time in my two lives, waiting for when it was my turn to enter the court. Sir David took it upon himself to stand guard at my cell as it was needed since I was not in a cell that restricted magic.
Surprisinglypared to the dungeon entrance and dampness of the hall outside my cell, the cell itself was quite dry. I couldn¡¯t detect any kind of magic circle, so I wonder if it is something to do with the construction of the dungeon itself. Although it still smelled musty but I could get over that.
¡°So, are you ready for this?¡± Sir David asked. It has been an hour since I have arrived. In the dungeon now.
¡°To face all the nobles? I am sure most want me hung right now.¡± I replied with a chuckle.
¡°The entire court is packed. I never thought a trial of a young girl would gain so much attention, but every seat in the court, which can hold three thousand, is now filled, and some are even standing. It¡¯s not just noble house heads but even students and others as well. You may not hear it, but there is even a huge crowd outside waiting for the verdict.¡± Sir David replied.
¡°Hmmm¡. Did someone publicize the trial? How could so many peoplee into the pce grounds?¡± I asked. I thought it would be hard to enter the pce.
¡°His Majesty made sure to allow anyone who wished to enter to enter after spreading word in the lower city that you were being charged for a crime. Faith, you may not know it, but yourpany has blossomed and changed the lives of many. A Chunk of the slums in a month¡¯s time has turned into a normal city. Thurul has been spreading your name like wildfire too. Your poprity has really grown.¡± Sir David exined.
My guess is manymoners who are fed up with some of the nobles are also within the group and just looking for a reason to voice theirints. But it was nice to know things are going smoothly with thepany. Annie and Thurul have been doing most of the work since I have been so busy. ¡°As long as no one tries to stir up trouble, it is fine.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t worry, this is the pce grounds. They are all ushered to a certain point. No one is allowed to pass the line of guards.¡± Sir David answered. It seemed the king had things well thought out.
¡°Then let¡¯s just hope everything works out how we nned,¡± I said with a sigh. I have no idea how things will end, but I do hope it will work out in the end.
I leaned back against the wall and closed my eyes. The court session should soon start, and when it does, it will finally be show time. I guess my acting skill wille in handy today. I have done everything I can to prepare for this moment, even reading those boringw books. So hopefully, it will all work out.
Chapter 252 Trial Part 2
¡°It¡¯s time.¡± Sir David¡¯s voice caused me to open my eyes.
I stood up, stretched my arms, and let out a yawn as I said: ¡°Already? And I was just gettingfortable too. This ce is not half bad. Dry floors, quiet, and songbirds that sing beyond the barred windows. If you can get used to the smell, it is not such a bad ce to be.¡±
¡°What are you going on about?¡± Sir David asked as he gave me a strange look.
I shrugged and said: ¡°Just giving you my review on the court¡¯s dungeons. Maybe next time, I will give you one on the castle dungeons.¡±
¡°Stop fooling around. You need to get into your role and put these bastards in their ce!¡± Sir David let out an exhausted sigh. It looked to me that he was more worried about the oue of the trial than I was.
Even if the courts decided I was guilty, I was not going to go to jail. King Gravos and I had alreadye to an agreementst night, thanks to Diablo doing me a favor and sending a shadow to the castle with a message. The king gave his reply and agreed to my idea if things went south.
I walked handcuffed up the stairs to the courtroom that was connected to the dungeon I was locked up in. These handcuffs were not made for people like me, so if I really wanted to, I could easily break out of them at any time.
When I reached the top of the stairs, I was met with arge hall. I did not realize it on my way here, but the royal court was huge, and I mean huge. But this was also the ce where nobles or high ranking officials from other countries were put on trial for their crimes in the kingdom. I guess it was a source of entertainment for some nobles.
But I can say this about this ce. It was split. Two different factions. It was easy to tell. One side was staring daggers into me while the other did not. Even the four judges seemed to be split. No, maybe it was a three to one ratio. Three of them seemed to be on friendly terms, and the other sat there with his eyes closed. But of the three, one was looking at me as if he was going to eat me.
I was brought to the center of the room onto a tform where my handcuffs were removed and reced with metal shackles on my ankles and wrists. Chains attached to these new shackles were anchored to the tform, making it hard for me to take even five steps forward. But even as I stood there with the shackles, I kept smiling away as if this whole thing had nothing to do with me.
A great many conversations could be heard throughout the hall, making it quite noisy. So as soon as I was chained up, one of the judges finally yelled out: ¡°Order! Order! Order in the court!¡±
The hall went silent. The judge, who seemed to be taking the lead, looked around before looking at me as he began speaking: ¡°Today¡¯s court is on the murder of many noble children within a dungeon. Faith Cyrilia, how do you plead?¡±
¡°Not guilty,¡± I answered firmly.
¡°Not guilty!? You killed my son!¡±
¡°What about my daughter!? She is dead now because of you! You are nothing but a demi human. Lay down and ept your fate!¡±
I raised an eyebrow and looked up at ady that was very much overweight staring at me with bloodshot eyes. I smiled as I looked at her and said: ¡°Are you sure you want to allow your hate for demi humans to affect your judgment?¡±
¡°You! You killed my daughter! Of course, I will dislike demi humans!¡± The woman yelled back. I just shrugged as I looked at the judges who were letting this go on.
¡°Is this how you handle court? You let others talk out of line?¡± I asked, my smile never disappearing. I was not here for the trial but to rile these people up and make them act out. The angrier they get, the more likely they will slip up, just like the woman just now.
¡°Silence! You have no right to tell us how to handle our courtrooms!¡± The judge on the left yelled out. It was the judge that sat next to him who was in charge, yet he still yelled out. Mistake number two. His actions alone proved he was condoning the actions of the nobles.
¡°Then do your job, please. I do not have all day. After this, I need to check on a few things in the academy library. I also need to clip my toenails as well.¡± I spat out, causing the judge¡¯s face to grow red with anger.
¡°Order!¡± The judge in the lead finally yelled out. ¡°Enough! The court is already in session. Everyone should stay quiet unless spoken to by the judges or be kicked from the courtroom.¡±
The whole room finally quieted down, but I only yawned at the horrible acting this man had. If he was really bothered by the fact that they were yelling, he would have stopped it before things had gotten this far. ¡°Faith Cyrilia, you say you plead not guilty is this correct?¡±
¡°Yes, it is.¡± I nodded. I could still hear people grumbling from the audience.
¡°Then the intiff can begin his questioning.¡± The lead judge said, finally getting the trial underway. A man with slick back blonde hair wearing a fancy suit with many golden rings on his fingers stepped forward and bowed to the judges before turning to me.
¡°Faith Cyrilia, you pleaded not guilty, but there are many witnesses who saw you put a barrier up around the nobles¡¯ sons and daughters, keeping them from being able to receive any food or even be rescued while you dived deep into the dungeon. Are you saying that you did not do this? Do you even know the meaning behind the words ¡®not guilty?¡±
Chapter 253 Trial Part 3
¡°I am not saying I did not do that. What I am saying is that you need to look at the circumstances at hand. As you well know, not only were there a great number of noble children killed by dungeon monsters but even the ones I was able to save were trapped along with me until I cleared the dungeon alongside other noble children. Did you even ask why I trapped them in the barrier beforehand? When I say I am not guilty, I mean it. I am not guilty of the crime of idental death. But I think that them dying was much better for this kingdom than keeping them alive as they were tyrants following after their parents.¡± I stated loudly and clearly.
¡°You! My Little Momo was an angel! How dare you call her a tyrant!¡± A noble woman yelled out as she stood up, looking as if she was about to attack me, before being pulled back into her seat by her husband.
¡°An angel? An angel would go and beat up a marquess¡¯s daughter!? Would she target innocent people under your orders? Your Little Momo sure was an angel, using her fists instead of words when people told her she was wrong or stood in her way of bullying. You call this being an angel? I am sorry I guess I must misunderstand the meaning of an angel¡. Woe is me. It seems I must have misunderstood that the bruises she left on my friend¡¯s face and body were just angelic love taps.¡± I made an expression as if I had really misunderstood the situation. But made sure that my words dug deep into that woman¡¯s heart.
¡°You dare sully my daughter¡¯s name!? She is already dead!¡± The woman yelled out.
¡°She died because of her own actions. I had to protect myself and my team. I put them under a barrier with the idea that we would be in and out of the dungeon on the same day. Who the hell would have thought that some person would go and say a dungeon is safe for kids to enter, only for it to be a nightmare for many where many had died? At least your daughter died an easier death than those poor souls who were tormented until theirst dying breath. And You know what I am talking about.¡± My eyes turned cold as I stared at thedy. My words must have struck a cord because she instantly quieted down.
¡°I saved more lives than those that I identally killed. I did my best to keep those who survived the monster attack and were still locked in on the first floor alive. Many of whiche from the side of your noblemunity that doesn¡¯t like me. So do not give me your shit about how good your daughter was because at least she wasn¡¯t toyed with by those disgusting beasts.
¡°To be honest, I would have rather died starving and thirsty than die as many of the others had. You sit in your fancy houses and feed off themon people taking in their tax money to make that stomach of yours as fat as it is today. And to top it off, you act all high and mighty, thinking you are better than everyone else. But if it wasn¡¯t for your status, could you have that fancy dress? Could you have that shiny jewelry? Could you have that greasy, oily skin that oozes with the fat that is trying to escape your body!?
¡°You people think you are so great. But ny percent of you are inherited nobles. Meaning you did not earn your titles!¡± I yelled out as I looked around the hall. ¡°You are inheritors of the hard work, the sweat, and blood of your ancestors. But now you walk around as if you own the ce when you have no glory of your own!¡±
¡°Order!¡± The lead judge finally yelled out. His expression was not good. But I could care less. ¡°Enough outburst! The next one to interrupt the trial will be hauled off to the dungeons!¡±
The room quickly fell quiet. I just shrugged and turned back to the man that was asking me questions. ¡°Did my answer satisfy your question?¡±
¡°You! So you admit that you did kill them?¡± The man asked as he tried topose himself.
¡°Their death was due to my barrier, yes, but as I said, unforeseen circumstances made it so that I could not remove the barrier. The dungeon, as you know, is not something we fully understand yet. When the first boss was defeated, and we tried to leave the dungeon, the entrance was sealed, and no magic could get in or out, so my link to my spell was cut off. As you know, barrier magic is an activation type spell. Once it is activated the caster has to cancel it or it has to be broken for it to go away. With my link cut I was unable to remove the spell which I did try to do when I found out that we were sealed in. so idental death is the right word for this situation as the circumstances did not allow me to remove my barrier.¡± I exined.
¡°But it alles down to you casting the barrier int he first ce!¡± The man yelled out trying to drive home is point.
¡°I casted it to keep those with bad thoughts from causing harm to my team. Let me ask you something. Would a noble daughter of high standing be standing here if she did the same thing? Would they be put on trial for their crimes?¡± I asked while tilting my head.
¡°Of course they would be!¡± The man yelled. But I could only chuckle in response.
¡°So you are saying the Little Momo as her mother called her should have been put on trial for the deaths of manymoner girls just because they were prettier than her?¡± I asked this question causing even the judges to knit their brow. ¡°You speak righteously but why did she not get convicted of murder when such things were brought to this very courts attention when the evidence was against this Little Momo? You talk big but your honeyed words are just that honeyed words to make yourselves look as if you are in the right about every action you do!¡±
Chapter 254 [Weekly bonus chapter] Trial Part 4
¡°Lies!¡±Little Momo¡¯s mother yelled out as she stood up. ¡°My daughter never did such things!¡±
I turned and looked up at her and sneered: ¡°She never did!? Why try to cover it up? I have more witnesses and people you threatened to back up my im than you have as alibis. You wish to cover up everything, but you forget the paper trails, and the lips of those around you are easily pried open with a bit of coin. I may be young, but I am actually quite wealthy. All I needed was to give a bit of money for testimony and promise the safety of them and their family. Which I can do.¡±
¡°You! What can words from so long ago prove!? As long as the verdict has already passed, nothing can be done about it!¡± The woman was so flustered that she had already spilled the beans. I sighed at her stupidity as I watched her husband stand up and p her. ¡°Stupid woman!¡±
¡°You hit me!? You actually hit me!?¡± The woman yelled out, only to be pped once more.
I sneered and turned back to the judge and asked: ¡°So what now? She has already basically confessed that the daughter she calls Little Momo had killed others. What does it matter if she also died now? Isn¡¯t this Karma?¡±
¡°We can not take your words as truth! So it will not be added to your defense. The fact of the matter is that you have already confessed to killing the noble children, so you have no defense left.¡± The lead judge spat out.
¡°Oh? Is that so? Then let¡¯s do this. Since you are going to convict me anyway with that indifference of yours and inability to care about what actual justice is. Why don¡¯t I take justice into my own hands? You will not listen to a word I have to say and will always side with those you have made dealing with.¡± I said with a smile, but before I could do anything, the lead judge¡¯s face went red with anger.
¡°You dare sully my name now!? This is the court ofw! Everything we say and do is just!¡± The lead judge yelled out.
I ignored him, grabbed the metal chains binding me, and ripped the metal cuffs off my wrist and ankles, to everyone¡¯s surprise. I stood there and rubbed my wrists as I looked up at the judges. His expression showed just how surprised he truly was. I guess he never believed I was strong enough to do this. But I could care less about his thoughts at this moment: ¡°Diablo, seal the room!¡±
¡°Yes, master!¡± Diablo¡¯s voice echoed in the hall before he even appeared.
A heavy pressure suddenly fell over the court. At the same time, Bell used my call as her cue toe out of her space and sit on top of my head with her chin raised high. ¡°In this world, the stronger you are, the more say you have in the world. In This courtroom right now, I am the strongest here. So let me ask you something. How corrupt are you?¡±
As I asked this question, I used a new technique I learned from Diablo that it seems only dragons can do. It¡¯s called Dragon Speak. Basically, I infuse mana into my voice, and it sends a suggestive signal to the target, and it will cause them to answer or do anything I say to them. To be honest, it was quite overpowered. But I was able to make Lance dress and dance like a girl out in the garden while I was practicing it. But now, for some reason, he refuses to speak with me.
The judge¡¯s expression went nk. His eyes lost all life as he stared at me. ¡°I have convicted over three thousand one hundred innocent people for crimes they nevermitted after receiving payments from high ranking nobles. I have snatched girls of age from their homes and made them give birth to many children. I have protected nobles for the same reasons as well as covered up other various crimes such as murder and human trafficking.¡±
The judge kept saying all his crimes out loud for all to hear, causing people¡¯s eyes to open wide. He was even naming the people he was involved with, causing them to stand up and shout out that he was lying and saying he was trying to take them down with him. While this was going on, the other two judges next to the lead judge kept trying to stop him, but there was nothing they could do. He was under the effects of my dragon speak. The only judge not caring about what was going on sat at the end with his eyes closed as if none of this had anything to do with him. He went on for almost thirty minutes before he finally went quiet.
¡°I see! I see!¡± I suddenly yelled out. The lead judge¡¯s eyes soon gained their life back, and he stared at me in horror. I looked at him with my lips curled up as I said: ¡°A corrupted judges panel is not something this kingdom needs. All the people you named today are nobles this kingdom does not need. As of this moment, every noble named by him is now no longer a noble. Your house, yournd will be reimed by this kingdom.¡±
¡°You! What right do you have!?¡± A marquess yelled out as I turned and looked up at him while narrowing my eyes. ¡°What, right? My right is the fact that I have the power. Do you not see the man standing next to me, making you sweat under his pressure? Do you not see my cute Little Bell on top of my head? As of this moment, my words arew. And soon, you will also spit out all your dirty deeds. Diablo, each noble on that list, make them say out their name and then secure them.¡±
¡°Yes, Master!¡± I could see Diablo¡¯s lips curl up into a devilish grin.It seemed he was happy to finally get to do something demon like for once.
¡°To all in the audience right now, let me tell you that this trial was a lie. Even if I was convicted of a crime, it would never even do anything to me because there is no one in this kingdom who can keep me here. But I do not wish to leave this kingdom because I love it. I was born here and raised here. And I will be damned if I will allow anyone here to ruin such a great kingdom.¡±
¡°Well said!¡±
Chapter 255 For The Love Of My Kingdom
I gave a faint smile as I and everyone else turned to look at the man who had just spoken out. It was the judge who had been sitting idle this entire time with his eyes closed. He got up out of his seat and walked over to me, putting his hand on my shoulder. It was now his turn to take the stage. ¡°What Baroness Cyrilia said just now is what a noble of this kingdom should be saying in such a situation. Hiding behind your titles, doing nothing to contribute to this kingdom. What use are you if you are not even going tomit to your duties and follow thews of this kingdom!?¡±
¡°Who are you to speak aboutws!? You have the same status as us judges!¡± The lead judge yelled out.
¡°Because I am thew!¡± The old man¡¯s body suddenly began to flicker as if he was a broken tv set. In an instant, the whole court went silent. What stood before them was the king himself under the influence of my illusion magic. King Gravos, the king of this kingdom, turned his eyes on the judges. ¡°You three have been doing as you pleased while taking kickbacks from the nobles. You are no longer fit for your duties and are no longer fit to be a noble. Your noble titles are hereby revoked, and you will be imprisoned to work the mines from this moment on until the day you die! This same punishment goes for every noble in his courtroom who has ties to dirty dealings!¡±
¡°You dare!? You are nothing without us! We nobles are the backbone of this kingdom! Right now, we outnumber you! What good is a king who is unable to see past his own ideals!? You want to abandon us? Haha! Do you even have the ability to!? Now is the time to stand up and reform this kingdom to the ideals we nobles have so longed for! Brothers and sisters, take up arms!¡± The lead judge suddenly yelled out. I watched as half the hall stood up, ready to fight, and chuckled.
¡°Hehe¡. Hahahahahahaha!¡± Myughter overpowered the yells of revolution that was about to ur. They all looked at me in confusion. I could understand. They were probably expecting me to quiver in fear. But these nobles¡. They were just so stupid¡..
¡°What¡¯s so funny!?¡± The lead judge finally asked.
¡°What is funny? You dare threaten the people I care about? You want to usurp the throne? That means killing those I care about, does it not?¡± I asked with a crazed smile on my face. It was happening again. No matter how much I tried to suppress it, it was still rising its ugly head. My ancient will. The will that was chanting for me to kill every noble here that dares to harm what I cherish.
¡°For change, those who hold the top must topple!¡± The lead judge replied without hesitation.
¡°Hehe¡. Haha¡. Then so be it. Those who stand up will no longer have a head.¡± My eyes lit up, and a sword made of mes appeared in my hand. I took a step forward, unable to contain my bloodlust. ¡°Wind Rush, eleration¡.¡±
The lead judge had no chance to even react before his head flew through the air. I turned and looked at the other two judges, my eyes bloodshot as I swung my sword once more. ¡°Hahahaha! This day! This kingdom! Will soon be reformed under His Majesty¡¯s rule! Diablo! Every noble here who has stood up is an enemy. Kill without restraint!¡±
¡°Faith, wait!¡± I heard King Gravos yell out as I turned and looked at him. My expression, I am sure, was in a crazed state. But his yell caused both me and Diablo to stop and look at him. ¡°There is no need to kill everyone. We can just sentence them to do hardbor for the rest of their lives.¡±
¡°Why?¡± I asked while tilting my head to the side, my eyes wide. ¡°Why would you even let such scum take up more of the people¡¯s taxes? Their meals alle from the taxpayers, the same people they have been abusing this entire time. This doesn¡¯t seem like a good solution. If I kill them¡ they will all be sent to hell where they can be tortured for all eternity.¡±
¡°But if you kill them, you are no better than them, are you not?¡± King Gravos replied to me in a calm voice, but I still did not understand.
¡°These people wish to kill you, but you want to show them mercy? They wish to harm those I care about, but you want to let them live? Your Majesty, there are times when people should be kind, and there are times when people should be a demon. I will be the demon this time. I will make sure this kingdom no longer has to worry about an uprising again! For the love of my kingdom, I will turn into a demon.¡± I truly loved this kingdom. But it was filled with filth. We now had the chance to fully clean this filth out. I may be in a crazed state, but I still had some of my rationale.
King Gravos looked at me and was about to say something when multiple figures suddenly arrived in front of him. They all knelt not to him but to me. ¡°We will assist you.¡± This was Sally, Sophie, Grace, and everyone else in my team. Even Sei was kneeling to me and not him.
¡°Adel you!?¡± King Gravos called out as he looked at his daughter down on one knee.
¡°Father¡.¡± Adel called out without raising her head. ¡°We shall clean this kingdom up in your stead so you can give the people of this nation a brighter future. You may not realize it because it is not clearly seen, but many are suffering. The reforms that should be passed are blocked at every turn by corrupt nobles who wish to keep the status quo and line their pockets with the taxes they take from the people they should be helping. I can no longer allow this to happen. We now have a chance we can not pass up. Because we never know what will happen in the future. They could easily break out of the confinement camps and take up arms. This I can not allow.¡±
Chapter 256 The Great Change
Adel rose to her feet and turned to look at thest judge with cold eyes, and pointed her finger at him. ¡°Fast forward.¡±
¡°Ahh!? What are you doing to me!?¡± The old judge¡¯s body began to shrivel up, and in a matter of seconds, his body turned into a pile of dust on the floor.
Adel¡¯s cold eyes softened when she turned back and looked at her father. ¡°Father, I will carry part of your burden so you can still be considered a good king.¡±
¡°You! Adel this¡¡± King Gravos¡¯s words got caught in his throat. Secondster, another figure suddenlynded in front of him and stood at his side.
¡°Father, we shall sit this out.¡± Lance ced his hand on his father¡¯s shoulder and spoke in a soft voice. King Gravos looked at his son and then at his daughter.
¡°I never wanted it to end like this. But what was said just now is right. These nobles have amassed their own people under them. But I can not allow my daughter to shoulder the burden of this massacre alone¡.¡± King Gravos took a deep breath as he waved his hand, causing a golden magic circle to appear in the air. ¡°By my name King William Gravos, I hereby dere all nobles appearing before you as traitors to this king and hereby announce that they and their families will be purged from this kingdom! No survivors!¡±
King Gravos¡¯s voice echoed through the hall, causing every noble there that had decided to stand up and revolt faces to pale. I don¡¯t know what the magic circle was for, but I can only guess the king had some secret force besides the ck and white knights.
With these words, the purge began. On the day of my thirteen birthday, the streets of the capital of the Kingdom of Gravos flowed with blood. I wonder if this would have happened if they had not threatened those close to me. But they had to try to start an uprising. With Diablo¡¯s help, each noble that was corrupt was in. No innocent noble or their families were hurt during this purge.
This day would be known as The Great Change. A day when the kingdom of Gravos officially became a kingdom that worked for its people¡.
¡ª
Six months have passed since that day. During this time, I did not stop going to the academy. After all, I was still very green when it came to many things. So I was trying to learn everything possible from my sses and the books in the library. But on this particr day, I had been summoned to the castle. ¡°Faith, are you ready?¡± A voice called out to me as the door to my room opened.
¡°That dress looks good on you!¡± Adel¡¯s cheerful voice filled my ear. But I couldn¡¯t help but frown. Dresses were just so airy!
¡°I still prefer my armor¡.¡± I couldn¡¯t hide the difort in my voice.
¡°Just put up with it for now. You are to be honored today for your part in the fall of the corrupt nobles.¡± Adel said as she hugged my arm. She really does not change. I still wonder what choice I would have made if my ancient will had not taken over. But I guess even though the meaning of purge still leaves a sour taste in my mouth, the oue seems to have allowed the kingdom to be a much better ce. Luckily when the purge happened, anyone who was under the age of twenty that had notmitted crimes had their memories erased and were allowed to live. They had to have their memories erased in order to keep them from taking revenge. When I found this out, I immediately offered mypany to take them in. So that they could live a reformed and new life. Now, some of the mothers who worked for me were acting as teachers to help them relearn everything.
¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±
I was not the only one going to the castle today. Everyone in my team was going. They all stood out and were willing to stain their hands in blood in order to make this kingdom a ce people could all live happily. While I am sure down the road, more people would end up bing corrupt, the number of people allowed to be nobles has dropped, and they are not allowed to handle the finances of the kingdom. It is all done by a heavily guarded new government office. To be a noble, even if your father has a noble title, you now had to work hard to have enough merits to take over the title. If you did not have the merits and your father passed away, you would be automatically demoted tomoner.
This new system was put into ce in order to keep the younger generation from turning corrupt due to thinking they were better than others because they could inherit their titles. They now had to work hard just like everyone else.
From what I know, the school reform is also being put into ce. Schools were now being built all over the kingdom, and nobles who had minor offenses but confessed to their crimes after the purge were now going to be used as teachers as punishment. From what I understand, each month, an investigator would also arrive and test all the students to make sure that the noble was doing their job. These investigators were also going to be under a strict blood seal contract that made it impossible to be bought out.
When we arrived at the castle, I stepped out of the carriage. My white dress swayed in the breeze. It was a formal dress for asions like this that Adel had specially made for me. Pure white with a dash of light blue on the trim. The dress at least stopped at my ankles, allowing me to still walk. However, dress shoes are still hard to walk in.
With Adel hanging from my arm I walked forward one step at a time towards the throne room of the castle.
Chapter 257 Reward
As I entered the throne room, all the nobles that were standing in the room lowered their heads, not daring to make eye contact with me. I do not know if this was out of fear or respect. All I know is that this was much better than them staring daggers into my back.
When I stood before the King, Adel let go of my arm and walked to her father¡¯s side. She now had to take on the role of a princess of the kingdom. King Gravos smiled at me warmly as he gazed upon me. Only one person in this room was having a hard time keeping his emotions in check. And that was the Prime Minister. I could see the anger in his eyes which made me inwardly chuckle. Sadly we have yet to find any kind of evidence against him, so we can not do anything to him directly just yet.
A few secondster, I was joined by everyone in my team, minus Adel, who was standing with the King. Her role in everything was to be expected as she was the princess. But I am sure she will also have a reward of some kinding to her.
¡°Baroness Cyrilia!¡± The king¡¯s voice brought me back from my inner thoughts. I looked at him as he gazed back at me. ¡°On this day, myself and this entire kingdom must thank you and the people who follow you for your role in wiping out those who wished to rebel. Your actions have been able to bring a new change to this kingdom. A change that will benefit the kingdom as a whole. Not just the nobility but themoners who are the backbone of our nation.
¡°Because you were willing to stain your hands in the blood of those who wished evil upon this kingdom, I will say now from the bottom of my heart thank you.¡± At this, not only did King Gravos bow but Adel and every noble in the room did as well.
When he lifted his head once more, he closed his eyes for a second before opening them once more and looked at me and the others next to me before locking back on to me. ¡°Faith Cyrilia, your actions from this date super exceed anyone of this kingdom. From helping those struggling to survive in the slums, helping those in a dungeon even though they might have seen you as an enemy, even in the face of an army of thousands, you never faltered in helping this kingdom. And now, with this new event, I am not even sure how I am supposed to reward you. While I know you ask for little, I guess I can only offer one thing.¡±
I watched as the king stepped forward and ced his big hand on my head. ¡°As of this moment, Faith Cyrilia will be known as Princess Cryilia, third in line to the throne!¡±
¡°Oi!¡± I yelled out, smacking the damn man¡¯s hand away, only to see the scheming smile on the king¡¯s face! This bastard! I told him many times that I did not want the damn crown! ¡°Adel, do something about your stupid old man!¡±
¡°Huh? But I think the title princess suits you well!¡± Adel, you traitor! I cried out in my mind. I looked up at the King, who was smiling away. Then I looked at Adel, who was covering her mouth to hide herughter. The damn girl really found this amusing. I then looked at Lance, who was not even looking at me. Why the hell is he looking at the ceiling whistling!? But what got me the most was when I looked at the nobles at the side, they were all smiling away. This meant they were all in agreeance with this stupid old man! I could have looked at the Prime Minister, but I did not want his help.
I hung my head. Why didn¡¯t I just go to another kingdom? Why did I stay in this kingdom only to be given things I don¡¯t want? I looked back up to the king, who was standing here teetering back and forth on his heels with a veryplicated expression. ¡°Can I give this reward back for a shiny rock?¡±
¡°NO!¡± The king replied tly! At least think about it!
Actually, now that I think about it. I am probably the only one in this kingdom who would trade the title of princess for a shiny rock. I sighed and looked at the damn man in front of me and asked: ¡°So what do I do with this new title?¡±
¡°Nothing. If Lance or Adel give up their rights to the throne, you would take the crown.¡± The king replied, causing me to sigh.
¡°What about your other kids!?¡± I asked. I mean,e on man, you got more than one son here!
¡°Those idiots!? They gave up their titles a few weeks ago and are now living in the countryside.¡± His answer stumped me. They gave up their titles!? I guess the look on my face said it all because the king continued: ¡°They both came to me and said: We want to be free from the political drama, so we denounce our rights to the throne. Give us an allowance to live off of and a plot ofnd.¡±
¡°Those bastards!¡± I yelled out. ¡°Why are they doing this to me!? I never even met them, and I want to punch them!¡±
¡°Faith, you are speaking your mind very loudly!¡± The king reprimanded. But all he got from me was a humph as I turned and ignored him. But he still continued: ¡°Even if they did not give up their rights, I still would have made you third in line. Faith, you are a treasure any kingdom would want to keep tied to them. But for me, I just want you to have the right to take control if something were to happen to Lance or Adel. I am entrusting my kingdom to you in case something we did not n for happens.¡±
I took a deep breath before letting out a long, drawn out sigh. ¡°Fine. But I will be damned if they just give up the throne because they don¡¯t want it.¡± I narrowed my eyes as I looked at Adel and Lance as I said: ¡°Lance, Adel, if either of you says I quit, I will kill you!¡±
Chapter 258 Meeting With Grace’s Parents Part 1
I stared at the passing blue sky as the carriage I was in slowly made its way back to my estate. My drawn out sighs could not be blocked as I watched the clouds floating aimlessly by. ¡°I wish I was a cloud¡.¡± I muttered to myself, causing a certain Princess at my side to chuckle.
¡°Is it really that bad?¡± Adel asked.
¡°Well¡ I am not so sure, to be honest. I just don¡¯t like the idea of being forced into it. Everyone else gotnd and boosts in their titles, but I was basically told: hey, you are now a royal!¡± I answered as I sat back in my seat. Adel leaned her head on my shoulder and closed her eyes.
¡°I am d you got the title. It is well deserved. You have done so much for this kingdom and can be considered the strongest person in it. You are worthy of the title of queen, and my father would be happy to give up the crown, but since he knows you would not want that, he has decided to give you the title princess. He also knows you wish to work your way up through the ranks of knighthood as well, which is why he did not give you such a title.¡± Adel replied, her voice going soft. She seemed overly tired. I guess she had been busy as welltely.
Adel fell asleep on my shoulder. Her beautiful face was close to mine. I could see the dark circles that had been forming under her eyes. She tried to hide it with a bit of light makeup, but up close, you could see it. I guess with this new title, I can now at least share more of her burden and help this friend of mine when she needs it the most.
When we arrived at the estate, I did not wake Adel. I picked her up and carried her into the house and up to her room, where I thenid her on the bed with her feet hanging over the edge. Only when I got her shoes off did I put the covers over her and leave the room.
¡°You seem tired.¡± A voice came from my side. I turned to see Jen standing there, smiling at me.
¡°You can say that. That damn old man made me a princess.¡± I replied with a sour face. Jen chuckled and shook her head at me.
¡°Only you would whine about such a thing,¡± Jen replied.
¡°Where is Grace?¡± I asked.
¡°Grace is still very busy. Because of everything that had happened, she had to put off her parent¡¯s meeting. Now she is in full swing again. They are expected to be here in two days.¡±
¡°Yeah, they had to cancel before due to an incident with one of theirpanies. Let¡¯s hope we can finally get this situation handled once and for all.¡± I still had no idea how Grace¡¯s parents would react to their daughter¡¯s new look. Grace had not met them at all since her change. She seemed reluctant or maybe nervous. She still loved her parents, after all.
¡ª
Two days passed by quickly, and right now I was standing waiting for the Dollen¡¯s to arrive. Grace was not to meet them until we arrived in the room we had prepared to receive them in. I wanted them to be sitting down and at least have some calming tea in case they end up having a stroke. Thest thing I need is to have one of the few marquesses that the kingdom has left dying in my house.
Surprisingly the carriage pulled ten minutes earlier than the said arrival time. I guess maybe they were in a hurry to meet Grace. I guess this could be considered a good sign? The two people who got out were a middle aged man and a woman who looked to be in herte twenties. This was normal for nobles as most older men married younger women.
¡°My name is Niel Dollen, and this is my wife, Frera Dollen. It is our pleasure to meet the newly appointed Princess Cyrilia.¡± Grace¡¯s father bowed his head and following after him, as did his wife.
¡°Please raise your head. In my house, status matters not. We are all one big family here. Whether it bemoner, noble, or royal.¡± I answered with a smile. Grace¡¯s father looked up at me. He was a man with a squarish face and short ck hair. He looked refined, and his eyes seemed to hold deep wisdom.
¡°I see..¡± He only answered with these two words. It was hard to tell what he was thinking as he remained expressionless. And his wife seemed to be tight lipped. Or maybe she was afraid to speak?
We walked into the room that Grace set up for her parents so they could be seatedfortably. When we walked in, I saw a slight twitch in the expressionless man¡¯s expression. I am not sure if it was bad or good, but since noints were uttered, we will just go with good.
¡°Please have a seat. Annie, serve us some tea, please.¡± I called out to Annie, my ten star maid. Annie nodded and quickly went to work brewing tea. I then turned to Grace¡¯s parents and looked them directly in the eye. ¡°Before I call Grace here, I would like you to drink the tea. It will help you rx a little. I must say, please be ready.¡± While Grace was with me at the castle, her parents were not there. And the king forbade anyone to talk about her appearance. I made him do so as her parents had not seen her yet as she was. Although I am not sure, they even recognized her at the trial. It was hard to tell with how they were not talking much.
¡°Princess¡ You do not need to worry about us. We already know about our daughter¡¯s new appearance.¡± Grace¡¯s father suddenly spoke up.
¡°I see¡ Then this will make things easier. There is a lot to exin as well. So I will have Gracee in now.¡±
Chapter 259 Meeting With Grace’s Parents Part 2
¡°Grace!¡± I called out, and the door opened. Grace slowly walked in, her head lowered as if she was waiting to be yelled out. She walked over and stood behind the couch, diagonally to me. I sighed as I said: ¡°Grace, at least sit down, please.¡±
¡°Yes, Master¡.¡± Grace replied as she walked around the couch and sat down.
A long sigh came from in front of me as I looked up to see Grace¡¯s father holding his head. ¡°To think this would happen¡.¡±
¡°Marquess Dollien, while I know this seems strange but please do not get mad at Grace.¡± I started, but Grace¡¯s father raised his hand to stop me.
¡°I am not going to chastise her at all. I said that because I was surprised that the stories I was told by my own grandfather were true. You see, our bloodline is unique to others. Our bloodline will only awaken under a certain condition, and that is toe in contact with someone of the dragonic bloodline, and it must lose to that bloodline¡.¡± Grace¡¯s father exined as he leaned back.
My ears perked up as I asked in surprise: ¡°You know about the dragonic!?¡±
¡°No¡ sadly, I do not. All knowledge of the race disappeared many, many years ago. I only know the name of our rightful masters. I only know it was an ancient race that stood above all the other races and that the angelic race was its subordinate. Beyond that, I only know a little bit about the angelic race and how our bloodline works. But in Grace¡¯s case, it seems your bloodline took arger effect.¡± Grace¡¯s father exined, causing my hopes to die down.
¡°I see¡¡± I couldn¡¯t hide my disappointment since I did not know anything about the dragonic. I wanted to know about their history. I wanted to know everything about them. Any clues that would help me keep my sanity were clues I would grasp at.
I took a deep breath as I looked at Grace¡¯s father and asked: ¡°So how should we go from here? Grace does not want to leave my side. If I tried to tell her that she doesn¡¯t need to do these things, she would try to take her own life. I, for one, do not want Grace to lose her life. She is my friend, after all.¡±
¡°Master!¡± Grace lifted her head with a bright smile as she called out to me. I sighed and patted her head, which caused her smile to brighten even more.
¡°Ahem¡¡± Grace¡¯s father coughed. ¡°The angelic race is and always will be subordinates of the dragonic. The stories I heard say that they were absolutely obedient to the dragonic. I guess these stories are very much true. And from the look on Grace¡¯s face, I can tell she is truly happy. I love my daughter, and I know with this new change that, she will not be able to turn back now. I can only leave her in your care. And to be honest, I am grateful that you were the one who had the bloodline, or else Grace would suffer with no will to resist.¡±
¡°I would never let Grace suffer. As I said, Grace is my friend. She has be part of my small family that seems to be slowly growing here.¡± I replied. Grace was important to me just as much as Jen and Adel. I would never let her suffer any unfair treatment.
¡°I know. You did what you did because of my daughter, which caused the trial. But it seems that this was used as a ploy to rid this kingdom of the corrupt nobles. When I saw the people who have gathered around you willing to kneel to you, I was quite surprised. Each one of them held the determination to follow you no matter what. I could see it in their eyes. And what really surprised me the most is how you are no less influential in this kingdom now than the king himself. You may not know because you were busy at the time, but the people outside the court were all praying for your freedom. They cared more about their savior than the king. You have a ce amongst themoners of the capital that can not be moved any time soon.
¡°I had people mingle into the crowd, and the words being said by those in the crowd talked about what you have been doing. Reforming the east side slums. Making it a ce no different than the rest of the capital. People have even begun to look at it as a ce of investment, even among the other nobles. I am sure many proposals have been sent to your assistant Thurul there.¡± Grace¡¯s father exined with a faint smile. His stoic face had finally cracked, and he had a small smile on his lips.
¡°Now that you mention it¡. I guess I have had Annie mention this a few times. I just have not had time to look them over. I will be sure to take a look today.¡± I had a stack of papers on my desk but have yet to go through them. I really need to get myself together and work harder! I looked at the parents that were gazing at their daughter and smiled softly. ¡°Since I have work to do, I will leave you in the care of Grace. Please do excuse me. And¡.¡± I looked at Grace¡¯s father and continued: ¡°Take your time. Feel free to even steal her for the day or two or three.¡±
¡°Master!¡± Grace cried out, but I could see she was not antsy or angry. She was looking at me with a look that showed how grateful she was.
¡°Grace, have fun. Your parents love you deeply. Whether you have them stay here for a while or you go with them for a while. You should spend more time with them.¡± I said before turning to leave,
¡°Princess Cyrilia¡± Grace¡¯s mother suddenly called out to me causing me to pause my steps. I turned to see the beautiful woman looking at me with tears in her eyes but smiling. ¡°Thank you!¡±
¡°You do not need to thank me. Grace is my friend and family. I will never let anything bad happen to her or keep her from those she holds dear and hold her dear. Enjoy your time together. Grace, take your time. There is no need to hurry.¡±
Chapter 260 Annie
When I left the room, I walked toward my office. I had not dealt with thepany things for a while, and Annie had been making most of the decisions on my behalf. She had be less of a maid and more of a CEO of mypany. She was genuinely good at it. It was as if it was a natural born talent.
When I walked into the office, Annie was sitting at my desk looking over the papers. When she heard me, she looked up and smiled. ¡°Young Miss.¡±
¡°Annie. You have been working way too hard. Your eyes have bags.¡± I said as I walked over. She had been doing both maid duties andpany duties, and it was my fault that she was being overworked. ¡°Go rest. From now on, you will only dopany things. I do not want you to be overworked. This way, you can enjoy some free time to yourself.¡±
¡°This¡ Young Miss, if I did that, then who would be the head maid? There are many new maids we just took in to take care of the increase of people living here. They still need to be trained. If I don¡¯t train the¡.¡±
¡°Stop!¡± I yelled out. ¡°Annie.¡± I walked over to stand behind her and covered her eyes with my hand. ¡°You do not need to worry about such things anymore. From this moment on, you only need to worry about thepany. Rina and Brooke both know how to do the same things as you. I will also be lightening your load a bit as well. So for today, give me a rundown on what is going on so I can get caught up. I apologize for cking on this.¡±
¡°But¡¡± Annie tried to speak, but I cut her off again.
¡°No buts! I forgot to tell you, but you are no longer contracted with the royal family but under me now. What I say goes. Give me a run down, and then go get some much needed rest. You are no longer a servant. You are my employee now. You are no longer bound by contracts.¡± I replied. Although working for apany is really no different from a maid job. She was just switching carriers with more time off and higher pay.
¡°Young miss¡¡± Annie started at me in confusion. I can understand why. She had been raised to be a servant, so to have suddenly freedom to do as she pleased must be a strange concept for her.
¡°No more young miss, I am your boss now. Of course, if you wish to quit and do something else, you can, but I do hope you don¡¯t. I need you!¡± Myst words were said in a more begging manner because I really did need Annie.
¡°I would never quit! Young-Boss, you have treated me and the others as family since we arrived. You gave us higher wages. Forced us to take time off. And never once treated us like actual servants outside our working hours. We are truly grateful.¡± Annie replied.
I smiled and slipped my arms around her, and hugged her from behind. ¡°As long as those around me live fulfilling lives, then I am happy. Of course, I will also try to be happy as well. But having friends and family with me is also something that makes me happy.¡±
¡°Although, Boss¡. I will say this. I still n to manage the house. I can not leave it to others.¡± Annie replied with a voice of determination.
I was caught by surprise at her insistence. ¡°Huh? But I can just¡.¡±
¡°No! Do you even know how long it took me to rearrange everything in this house to meet my standards!? I will not allow those without enough attention to detail to take over. Rina and Brooke are good girls, but they are nowhere near ready for such things!¡± I stared at Annie¡¯s wrinkled brow and sighed. ¡°Fine, I give up! I will just pay you extra. But you are not a servant. Remember this. You are now my aid. I will be relying on you to handle things when I am not around.¡±
¡°Mmm! Leave it to me. And Boss.¡± Annie called out and ced her hand on mine. ¡°Thank you. Thank you for treating me and the others as people and not animals.¡±
Hearing her sincere thanks, I hugged her tighter and nodded my head. ¡°Of course, I would. After all, we are all one and the same. Just different body parts here and there.¡±
¡°Mmm¡. But I do wonder one thing¡¡± Annie said as she held onto my arm tighter and stared off towards the door. ¡°If I were to give you a peck on the cheek right now, would the one standing on the other side of the door lose itpletely?¡±
¡°Huh?¡± I was confused when I suddenly heard a loud yell from the other side of the office door.
¡°You dare!?¡± Only then did I understand what Annie meant. She was teasing Adel.
¡°Adel, you know, eavesdropping and stalking is unbefitting a princess,¡± I said with a chuckle.
¡°Then I will give up my title as pr¡.¡±
¡°You sure as hell will not! That would mean my position in line for the throne would be moved up! If you do that, I will stop talking to you!¡± I said in a huff, but my words seemed to prickle at Adel. She pursed her lips and stopped talking.
¡°Anyway. Why are you acting like someone who just had their wife stolen? I keep telling you to reel it in. You can¡¯t act like a jealous girlfriend when we are friends.¡± I scolded.
¡°I am just¡. That is not it!¡± Adel stammered.
¡°Then what is it?¡± I asked. I know I was being kind of mean right now but I was only doing this so that Adel would not end up doing something else out of jealous rage that she would regret. She needed to realize her own actions were wrong even if she had those sorts of feelings for me.
¡°I don¡¯t know! I just get aggravated when any man or girl is near you! I feel like I might lose you.¡± Adel replied, her voice going softer. But she raised her head and continued: ¡°I had a dream where you went far away!¡±
Chapter 261 Realization
¨CAN) Second daily chapter will bete. Had to run to the vet this morning.¨C
Adel¡¯s eyes began to fill with tears. Just seeing her like this made me feel bad for her. ¡°When did you have this dream?¡±
¡°A while ago¡. I do not remember when but since then, I have been afraid that the first true friend I have ever had will disappear from my life.¡± Adel answered.
¡°I see¡.¡± I pondered for a moment before taking a deep breath and asking. ¡°Adel, are you in love with me?¡±
Not only did Adel¡¯s eyes grow wide in surprise at my question, but even Annie¡¯s eyes also shot open. I know I was being very forward about this, but I had to ask this question as it seemed Adel would still be in limbo forever with her possessiveness of me growing stronger and stronger. Thest thing I want is a yandere moment where she is killing me in my sleep due to her jealousy. The idea was quite scary, after all. Although I think the knife would break before it could stab into me.
But from the way Adel was opening and closing her mouth and how her cheeks were turning bright red, I think she finally realized her issue. ¡°I¡. I¡¯m sorry!¡± Adel suddenly yelled out as she turned and ran away.
I stared at her retreating back with a helpless smile. ¡°Boss, are you not going to chase after her?¡±
¡°No. This is something she needs to think over herself. I mean. At this time, I can not really return her feelings. But, I will never think any less of her. Adel is a friend I cherish from the bottom of my heart. Even if she doese to the conclusion that she is in love with me, I will ept it just as that but not treat her any differently. Adel is Adel. And always will be. Maybe in the future, when Ie to terms with my own issues, I cane to love someone, but at this time, I can not. Sadly.¡± I replied. Love was something I could not handle at this time. I liked Adel and thought she was very cute and loveable, but I could not see her, or anyone else for that matter, in the way of love. Now that I think about it, I think I have always been this way. But well, what can I do? Changing one¡¯s self is not as easy as one would think.
¡°So you will keep going as you are?¡± Annie asked.
¡°I guess? I am not sure how I should handle it. All I know is Adel is one of my best friends. And that will never change. I do not think I have been leading her on, have I?¡± I asked. I do not think I have shown that kind of interest at all.
¡°Not that I have seen. Although you do allow her to hang all over you, but you also reprimand her when she is acting too out of line, as you did now. But¡ You shouldfort her about the issue of her dream. She looked quite scared and sad at the same time when she spoke about it.¡± Annie answered.
¡°I guess you are right. I will talk to her soon. For now, I think it is best to let her figure her own thoughts out.¡± I said with a sigh. It was then a knock came at the door. I turned to see Jen standing there.
¡°Faith, what happened to Adel? Her entire face is bright red, and a look of shock was on her face as she ran down the hall.¡± Jen asked as she walked into the room.
¡°It¡¯s nothing. Let her be for now.¡± I replied as I took my seat behind the desk. ¡°Time to dig in!¡±
I rolled up my sleeves, pulled one of the documents off the pile, and began reading it. I also need to get my mind off things. I could also hear Annie and Jen talking. ¡°What is up with her?¡±
¡°Let¡¯s just say Boss needs to keep herself upied for the time being,¡± Annie replied.
¡°Oh¡ By the way, why Boss?¡± Jen asked.
¡°Ah, Boss has now changed my job description. While I will still be managing the house, my main duties are with thepany.¡± Annie replied. I could see Jen nodding her head.
¡°You do, do a lot for thepany. I wish I could help out in some way, but I am not too good at asserting myself, so people would just walk all over me. That and I still have my library duties.¡± The two girls chatted away for a while before Jen said goodbye and ran off. Annie stayed in the room and prepared tea for me as normal. I wanted to say she didn¡¯t have to, but I bit my tongue.
She ced the tea cup on my desk and sat down on the edge of it, sipping a cup of her own. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t let it get to you too much.¡±
I raised my head and looked at Annie. I let out a sigh and nodded my head. ¡°I will talk to herter tonight. I just want to give her time to think things through.¡±
*Bang!*
The door suddenly mmed open, causing Annie and me to jump. Adel came marching into the room and around my desk. She then reached out and grabbed my face, and before I knew it, Adel¡¯s lips were on mine. It was only for a second, a very split second, before she pulled back and stood in front of me with wide eyes¡. ¡°I guess it is love¡.¡± Was what slipped from her mouth as she stared at me with rosy cheeks.
It was now my turn to be frozen in ce. My mind was nk. I knew what had happened, but my brain was just not registering it. I just had my first ever kiss with someone else stolen! ¡°Adel you¡.¡±
¡°Hehe! I finally understand! I feel so much better! So the feeling that was pulling at my heart this entire time was because I loved you.¡±
Chapter 262 The Way It Should Be
I watched as Adel wiped the imaginary sweat from her brow. Her face seemed to be more rxed than ever, with a blooming smile stered right on it. But now I wonder what she will do from here. She just confessed to me, and to be honest, I do not want to turn her down because I know it will hurt her, but I can not lie to her when I do not feel anything at this time that goes so far as to say that I love her.
¡°Ah!¡± Adel¡¯s voice broke my train of thought, causing me to look right at her. ¡°While I now know I love you, I am well aware that you have no ns for a rtionship. I know this because I have been watching you this entire time. You reject any notion of love that is beyond friendship. But that does not mean I will give up easily. One day I will make you look my way. Until then, I will continue to love you as I have. Although I will do my best not to act like I have¡.¡±
Adel paused as she leaned down and hugged me. ¡°But please never forget that my love for you is real.¡± With that, and without me being able to answer her, she turned and left the office, leaving me behind to sit there in a mix of my own emotions.
¡°She is like a whirlwind.¡± Annie¡¯s voice entered my ear, but I was still in a daze. ¡°Boss? Your face is red¡. Don¡¯t tell me you¡.¡±
¡°No! I am just¡ I mean, she kissed me! That was my first kiss!¡± I cried out as I held my head in my hands. So embarrassing!
¡°Hehe, to think Boss was a maiden at heart,¡± Annie said teasingly.
¡°Annie, no pay for a month¡.¡± I mumbled
¡°What!? So mean!¡± Annie cried out, causing me to smile. I looked at her and stuck out my tongue.
¡°Go take a break. I will continue here.¡± I said with a smile. Annie always works hard, so she deserves a break. ¡°Oh! I heard there was a new cake shop in the center. Take a carriage and go check it out.¡±
¡°Cake!? Hehe¡ It only takes one taste, and I will figure out the ingredients! I will be off. Boss, don¡¯t work too hard!¡± I chuckled as I watched Annie rush out the door. She did not love cooking. What she loved was stealing other people¡¯s recipes and making them her own. She has a bad habit of going to fancy restaurants and eating all their expensive meals and then remembering the taste.
I sat back in my chair and closed my eyes. I wonder if Adel will change now. Or if she will still be the same. If anything, I do hope her jealous rampages will end now. I yawned as I leaned back in my chair. I closed my eyes to rest them for a few seconds¡.
¡ª
¡°Faith! What do you think!?¡± Adel¡¯s voice entered my ears. I opened my eyes to see Adel smiling at me as she pointed at the room in front of her. ¡°Well? I redid it for us!¡±
¡°Hmmm? But¡. Why?¡± I was confused. Why would she redo a bedroom for us¡.
¡°What do you mean why!? We are getting @^#%# in a few days. It only took you %^@%# *#&@# toe around.¡± Adel¡¯s smiling face seemed to brighten up the already bright room. Her more mature face and dazzling smile was enough to make anyone who gazed upon it smile back. But some of her words phased out and sounded jumbled. I couldn¡¯t understand what she was saying. But It was good to see her smiling face. ¡°Faith?¡±
¡°Hmmm?¡± I asked. I was feeling very tired.
¡°Faith!? Faith!¡± I heard Adel¡¯s voice yell out, but I felt like I couldn¡¯t move. Everything was going dark. I looked up at the panicked expression on Adel¡¯s face and wondered why she was crying. I did my best to smile as I softly said: ¡°Don¡¯t cry. Crying ruins your beautiful face¡.¡±
Light slowly prated the darkness as I opened my eyes. I looked around the room to see I was sitting in my office. I have no idea what that dream was about, but it was very much different than any dream I have ever had thus far. But the sad look in Adel¡¯s eyes as things grew dark worries me¡. ¡°Is she okay?¡±
This thought made me rise up from my seat and leave my office. I walked down the hall to Adel¡¯s room, where I knocked on the door and called out to her as I opened it. ¡°Adel?¡±
¡°Gehehehe¡.¡± Ermmm? I seemed to have walked in on something strange. ¡°Adel?¡±
¡°Huh? Faith!?¡± Adel yelled out while throwing the pillow she was just hugging over the couch she was on, sat straight up, and tried to fix her clothing. ¡°Wha-What brings you here?¡±
Is she really going to try to ignore the fact she was just hugging and kissing a pillow while making strange noises!? I guess this is one of those times where it¡¯s better to forget than to try to find out what I had just witnessed. Taking a deep breath I said: ¡°I just came to find out if you were okay. But it seems you are okay, so have fun¡ Sorry for disturbing you.¡±
¡°Huh? Ah! Faith! It¡¯s not what you think!¡± Adel¡¯s cry fell on deaf ears as I nkly walked out of the room. ¡°Yes¡ .I will wipe this day from my memory.¡±
¡°Faith!¡± Adel yelled out from behind me. I turned to see her standing there staring at me as if she was going to eat me up. ¡°Don¡¯t misunderstand! Wait, why are you running!?¡±
¡°Because I don¡¯t want to turn into a pillow! Gehehehhe!¡± I let out a mimickedugh causing Adel to scream from behind me: ¡°You! Forget that!¡±
We ran by many of the people in the house. Me running away just fast enough for Adel to not be able to catch up, and Adel, doing her best to catch up to me. This is how we should be for the time being. Two friends who are like sisters who care for one another. This is the kind of rtionship I want for the time being. Until the day I can toss aside my worries about the future, I can only stay like this for her. Just out of reach but close enough for her to know that I am not going anywhere. Whether I end up with her or some man, I have yet to meet, I do not know, but the future was something that should never be set in stone.
Chapter 263 You Were Born
Six more months have passed. I am currently fourteen. My daily life has not changed much. However, I have been more involved in mypany now. The first prototype flying carriage is going to be fully developed within the next year. I am quite excited about this.
Adel now confesses her love to me at least once a day. She has actually calmed down quite a bit. She no longer freaks out if people talk to me. Even when someone else confessed to me, she did not go crazy and try to cling to me. In fact, she even gloated about how I never outright rejected her as if it was some kind of amazing thing. While it was true that I never told her I did not wish to date out right, she knew I was not into such things at this time. So our days were basically the same. Adel and I were the same as always.
As the days passed, I went to the academy and worked on learning as much as I could. I still have four years to go, and I am learning new things every day. I am standing at the top of my ss. But only barely there are a few smart people who do very well on the tests. I am lucky if I can even beat them by five points, but that is only on written exams. For practical exams, I am way above the rest.
But currently, my team and I are now standing in the Dean¡¯s office. ¡°Dean, you called us?¡±
¡°Yes¡ I called you here specifically because a dungeon has appeared at the base of the cliff where your vige is located.¡± The Dean replied, causing my eyes to narrow.
¡°As anyone investigated it yet?¡± I asked. I had a bad feeling something was not right.
¡°Your father¡. And¡ From the reports we got from your brother, he has not returned.¡± These words made my face go pale. If anything has happened to my father, I swear I would¡ I felt my ancient will start to wake up, but it was quickly quieted when I felt both my hands grabbed. I turned to see both Adel and Jen holding my hands. I really owe these two.
¡°Then I will set off immediately. Please notify my instructors.¡± I replied as I turned. I did not wish to wait a second longer. Every second counted, especially in a dungeon.
¡°Wait! You need to know what kind of monsters are inside.¡± The Dean yelled after me.
¡°It doesn¡¯t matter what kind they are. They will all die.¡± I said in a low voice, trying to hide my rage. ¡°As I am now, unless they are all boss monsters, nothing will stop me from finding my father. I must go.¡±
Preparation was key at this time. I had to rush back as soon as possible. I had many things I needed to deal with before I left, and I had to do it all within the next few hours. I nned to leave today.
¡°Faith, go. I will tell Annie to deal with thepany. We will meet you at your vige. Just do not enter the dungeon by yourself.¡± Adel squeezed my hand. I turned and looked at her. Seeing her serious expression, I nodded and took off, only leaving behind a few words. ¡°Thank you, Adel. I will see you all soon!¡±
I flew nonstop towards my house. But even with my speed, it will still take me at least a week to reach my house, and I was already using all the body buffs that increase speed. While it was much faster than a normal journey, I still wished it was faster.
A week of no sleep was nothing to me. But when I reached the entrance of Cyirlia vige, I felt something was very much off. The whole town seemed to be surrounded by some kind of fortified wall. I could hear cries and yells as smoke plumes rose into the sky. ¡°What is going on here!?¡± My voice roared through the sky.
I flew over to where what looked like a battle was taking ce and shot my body down in the middle of it, andnded on the ground creating a crater a few feet wide. My sudden presence on the battlefield shocked everyone there. They had swords, pitchforks, and many other tools that would not normally be a weapon. I scanned the crowd to see many familiar figures, but one stood out the most. The vige elder. His face was now pale as a ghost.
My body shed as I came to instantly stand before the vige elder and grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt, lifting him off the ground. ¡°What the hell do you think you are doing!?¡±
¡°Why are you here!? Why are you not in the capital!?¡± The vige chief¡¯s voice seemed to be filled with panic as well as anger.
¡°Are you an idiot!? Did you think I would not hear about my father¡¯s disappearance!? What did I say when I left this vige? What did I tell you!?¡± I mmed the old man¡¯s body to the ground. My eyes were bloodshot with anger. I was just about to end the old man¡¯s life when someone tried to stab me with a pitchfork.
¡°Because of your father, we are all starving! Because of a damn demi human like you, we have to suffer!¡± The man yelled out as he tried to shove his pitchfork into me, only for a shattering sound to be heard as the pitchfork itself broke into many pieces.
¡°You me me!? Who was it who tried to lynch me!? What the hell did I ever do to you people!?¡± I roared. I did not understand why they did not repent on their own mistakes. They all decided to try to lynch me, and even when we let them all live, they still did not see the error of their ways.
But what I heard next was thest straw. ¡°You were born!¡±
Chapter 264 More Important Matters
¡°Hehe¡. Hahahahaha! Fine! I was born!? Then fine! I will show you what it means to attack the things I cherish!¡± This new life has taught me many things. And the most important part of those things is the fact that I learned to protect what I cared about most, no matter the cost.
With a sword in my hand, the vige elder¡¯s head flew through the air. I had already warned him once, yet he was still trying to take advantage of my father¡¯s absence to try to take over my vige. They were starving? Why should it be of any concern to Cyrilia Vige? They were the ones who shunned my family and me. They despised me for no reason. Now they were getting what they deserved.
I turned to look at the rest of the people who were frozen in ce. Their face¡¯s were all sunken to the point that they looked almost like skeletons. They may have been desperate, but there was still plenty ofnd for them to farm. Why did they not try to grow wheat?
¡°You! You killed the vige elder! You demon!¡± One man yelled, but I could care less for what he called me. I mean, he was technically half right.
¡°I ask. If you are all so hungry, why did you not farm thend that has yet to be cultivated!? You had almost two years. Two whole years and what do you have to show for it!?¡± I yelled, causing some of them to look down at the ground.
¡°Heh, easy for you to say. Your family took all the good farnd! We tried to cultivate thend, but it would not grow anything!¡± A man yelled out, but I knew he was lying. Because I had already swept the side of the vige that had plenty ofnd to farm on it with detection magic, if they cultivated it, it would have at least fed these vigers without issues. I turned to look at the vige elder, who still looked quite healthy except for the fact that he was now dead. His cheeks were not as sunken in as the rest. This meant that the stores of grain that the main vige had were used for himself and himself only. He was starving his vigers to death because they were toozy to even cultivate thend on their side of the cliff.
¡°You really tried to cultivate thend!? Why lie!? None of thend that should have been cultivated has been touched! You people seem to think that some god will rain down their protection on you and give you free handouts. What the hell have you been doing these past two years!? Why did you not ask the vige elder for his food stock? Besides the fact he is missing a head now, he looks quite healthy! You all want to act all well and good but not a single one of you wants to take responsibility for yourselves.
¡°You have all lived off the kindness of my family and the other hard working vigers of Cyrilia Vige in the past, but now you have to take matters into your own hands, you can¡¯t even handle feeding yourselves! What good are you!?¡± I just did not understand these people¡¯s train of thought. Did they think they were rich noblemen who could just sit back and let others do the work for them? Did they think, oh my neighbor will cultivate the fields on their own? No. I can tell just by looking at them that not a single one even thought to put in a bit of extra work.
¡°What do you know!? You have no idea how hard it has been for us! We can¡¯t even feed our young. My son and daughter both died!¡± Another man yelled out. But this angered me even more.
¡°Then why the hell did you not go out and try to supply them with food!? Why did you not go out and till the field!? Why did you not go out and try to hunt some monsters, eat the damn bark off the tree if you had to? Why did you sit around and act like you had to do nothing!? Are you all stupid!?¡± I yelled back. This time they were all quiet. I sneered at their silence. ¡°You all had a chance to better your own lives, but you decided to bezy. You have no one to me but yourselves! And now you will all lose your worthless lives. You should never have attacked a ce that I protect!¡± I raised my hand and was about to burn them all alive when I yell came from behind me. ¡°Faith!¡±
I turned to see my brother and arge group of vigers from Cyrilia Vige guarding him as he pushed through the other vigers. It seems the other vige had lost all will to fight. ¡°Brother!¡± My brother has be much more handsome since I have been gone.
¡°Don¡¯t dirty your hands with these people. We will take care of them. More importantly, I need you to go speak with Mother. She is currently locked up in the house with Rachel guarding the door. She wants to head to that dungeon ce and try to find Father.¡± My brother exined.
¡°Hmmm¡ no need to worry about killing anyone¡. Diablo!¡± I called out.
¡°Yes, Master?¡± Diablo appeared next to me.
¡°One of my brother¡¯s people will tell you who the enemy is. You can dispose of them as you see fit. Just do not harm anyone from Cyrilia vige.¡± I ordered, which Diablo licked his lips and nodded in response. I then turned to my brother. ¡°As I said, have one of your people assist Diablo. The people of Cyrilia vige do not need to fight a battle that can easily be won. Brother, we will go see mother together.¡±
¡°You have grown up quite a bit since Ist saw you¡.¡± My brother said with a warm smile.
¡°We can catch upter. For now, calming Mother and finding Father are my biggest concerns. I promise, dead or alive. I will bring Father back.¡± I hated to say it, but I know how hard the dungeons are. There may be a chance that he has already fallen. I hated this thought but I had to realize this now. But I will not give up hope just like that. So whether all I find is his bones or I find him alive and well I will bring him back.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 265 Son In Law!?
When I reached the familiar house with the familiar frontwn that I grew up on, I heard a loud yell from inside. ¡°Eric, you better let me out this instant, or I will blow this entire house up!¡±
¡°Mother, please think of your grandson!¡± I heard Rachel yell out. Using her own son as a means to quiet my mother down was a smart move. Sorry, Leo, but you are being sacrificed for the greater good.
Eric held his head in his hands as he shook it back and forth. ¡°She has been threatening this for a few days now. I have almost resorted to tying her up. For now, I was able to seal her in the house.¡±
¡°I will deal with it. But to be on the safe side, you, Rachel, and Leo should wait outside.¡± I had no idea what my mother would do once I opened the door, so it was better to be safe than sorry.
¡°Alright¡.¡± Eric¡¯s face said it all. He was hoping the house wouldn¡¯t be destroyed because he would be the one to have to rebuild it.
¡°I will put up a barrier,¡± I said softly. Only then did his mood brighten as he rubbed my head.
¡°You have gotten bigger,¡± Eric said with a smile.
¡°Well, it has been about two years. I at least now look closer to my age.¡± I did grow a bit taller over the past two years, although my chest was nothing to speak about. But if my dreams are truly real in some aspects, then I will eventually fill out. How many hundreds of years that will take, I do not know.
¡°That you do. You have grown even prettier than I saw youst. I am sure many people have confessed to you.¡± Eric spoke as if he was a proud father. I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle. But he was also not wrong. I have had over thirty confessions in the past two years. And that is not counting Adel¡¯s daily confession.
I walked into the house with Eric, who did not waste time getting Rachel and Leo out of the house. I didn¡¯t even get to say hi to Rachel before she was whisked away. I guess Eric was really worried that Mother would go crazy and blow the house up. ¡°Damn it! Eric, let me out now!¡±
¡°Mother, you need to calm down first,¡± I spoke through the door. The whole house suddenly went quiet.
¡°Faith?¡± My mother asked softly.
¡°Mmmmm¡ It¡¯s me.¡± I replied just as softly, but who would have thought the next words out of her mouth would make the little reunion moment we were just about to share get ruined just as quickly as it came?
¡°Tell that bastard brother of yours to let me out of this room right now! Your father¡ Your father might be in trouble!¡± My mother yelled at the top of her lungs.
I sighed and waved my hand, removing the barrier on the door. My mother burst through the door and was about to run out of the house, but I quickly grabbed her wrist. ¡°Mother. No.¡±
¡°Faith¡. You!¡± My mother turned and looked at me. Her eyes were brimming with tears. I yanked on her arm and pulled her into a hug. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I have my team on the way. I will bring back Father whether dead or alive, I promise.¡±
¡°Faith¡ Faith!¡± My mother hugged me tightly as she began crying. She must have been losing her mind with worry. I gently rubbed her back as her tears fell. My brother poked his head into the house and looked around. When he saw me holding Mother as she cried, he seemed to let out a sigh of relief.
¡°Master¡.¡± Diablo suddenly appeared in front of me.
¡°All taken care of?¡± I asked.
¡°I made sure that they were all taken care of. The soldiers of this vige are currently inspecting the vige below. And giving aid to the women and children who need it.¡± Diablo replied.
¡°I figured they would. Thanks, Diablo. Your next task is to keep my mother in the house and protect it for the time being. I do not want anything unexpected to happen while I search for my father. I n to enter the dungeon to take a peek at what kind of monsters are inside. Once I know this, I will be able toe up with a n for when the others get here.¡± I had to know what I was up against before I took a group into the dungeon blindly. It was never good to jump in without knowledge of what to expect.
¡°As youmand Master,¡± Diablo replied while bowing.
¡°Faith this is?¡± My mother asked as she looked at Diablo curiously. ¡°My son inw!? Faith, you have not done badly for yourself! Look how good looking he is!¡±
¡°Mother, that is the first thing you jump to when you see a handsome man at my side!?¡± I yelled out. I could feel my cheeks heating up. Yes, Diablo was very handsome and would make any girl want to swoon over him, but he was a demon! A literal one!
¡°Why are you being shy? Come son inw, let me make you a snack. You have to tell me about faith¡¯s time in the capital.¡± I could only stand there and watch as my mother dragged a very confused Diablo off to the other room.
My brother walked over to me and ced his hand on my shoulder. ¡°Don¡¯t mind. You know mother likes handsome men.¡±
¡°That doesn¡¯t mean she can just go and name any man my fiance! I don¡¯t even have a boyfriend! Diablo is a summon!¡± I yelled out, only to have my brother give me a sympathetic gaze. Why do I feel like the corner of his lips are twitching as if he is trying to hide his smile? This bastard is making fun of me in his head!
Chapter 266 The Graveyard Part 1
¡°Hohoho? So my little Faith is that popr.¡± My mother was having a grand old time fawning all over Diablo.
¡°Mother, I think that is enough. Diablo doesn¡¯t know what to do.¡± I finally spoke up. Diablo was sitting there with a nk expression. I think he has already left this world for another.
¡°What do you mean!? It is only right for a mother to get to know the man that will soon be part of the family. So tell me, when is my grandbaby d¡.?¡±
¡°Mother!¡± I yelled out while spraying her with water magic. ¡°Diablo is not my boyfriend! How many times do I have to say it!?¡±
¡°Faith, why are you being shy!? How could such a handsome man who is willing to devote himself to you not be my future son inw!?¡± My mother yelled back while drying herself off with magic.
¡°So any handsome man I bring into this house is my fiance!? So the onesing here soon will also be my fiance!? I will have a damn harem!?¡± I shouted.
¡°My!? My, my! We will need to build a bigger house. I never thought my daughter was able to bring home so many handsome men. I expect many grandbabies soon! I must go make ns!¡± I suddenly feel like I want to cry¡.
¡°Why won¡¯t she just listen!?¡± I cried out as I fell back into my seat.
¡°Ummm¡. Master, what should I do?¡± Diablo asked.
¡°I¡¯m sorry, Diablo, but just deal with her for now. She is probably using this to keep her mind off my father.¡± I can only think that that was the case because she was talking very strangely.
¡°When are the others arriving?¡± My brother asked as he set a cup of tea on the table for me.
¡°In a few days. Well, if they are not here in a few days, they will be forced to run back and forth from here to the capital and back one hundred times until they can get here quicker. After everything is settled, of course.¡± I really meant it when I said I would make them run back and forth until they could get here in a decent amount of time. They can all use the same spells I can for speed boosting, so it should not take them too long.
¡°You are¡. Alright. I do not know what you have been up to, but I guess it is probably something crazy.¡± To my brother¡¯s words, I just smiled.
¡°I will be off. I want to check the entrance of the dungeon and take a peek inside. If I do note out, then tell my team not to enter.¡± If I enter and something happens like I am locked in. It would be best to keep the others outside, just in case.
¡°Alright. I will let them know. Is Diablo staying at the house?¡± My brother looked over at Diablo, who seemed to have a headache. He was sitting there holding his head in his hands.
¡°Yeah. He will be the first to know if something happens to me.¡± After I answered my brother, I looked at Diablo. ¡°Protect them for me, please.¡±
¡°As you wish, Master. But is there anything you can do about your mother? While you are a very beautiful girl, I am a demon, and you are my Master¡.¡± Diablo looked desperate, but I was unsure how I felt about his quick dismissal of me. I mean, he made it sound like he was praising me, but the end sounded more like he was disgusted with the thought.
I humphed and answered: ¡°Put up with it.¡± I then got up and walked off. I could hear Diablo behind me ask my brother: ¡°Did I say something wrong?¡±
And then answering: ¡°Never try to understand a woman¡¯s mind.¡±
I rolled my eyes as I stepped outside to see Rachel ying with Leo in the yard. ¡°Rachel!¡± I called out. She looked up at me and smiled brightly. She picked up Leo and rushed over to me.
¡°You have grown prettier! I missed you so much! I have no one to tease your brother with anymore and pull pranks on him.¡± Rachel¡¯s tone was filled with dejection, but her smile was radiant.
¡°I will be sure to help you with a few before I return back to the capital. For now, I must go to the dungeon. Keep an eye on things. If you have issues, tell my brother or Diablo. No one is allowed to bully you or my little nephew!¡± I said while pursing my lips. Rachel smiled and nodded. ¡°I will be sure to do just that. So is it true? Is Diablo your¡¡±
¡°Not you too!?¡± I cried out, causing Both Rachel and Leo tough. I sighed and stomped off. Everyone is bullying me today!
I rushed down the cliffside to where the entrance to the dungeon was. The whole array seemed gloomy and eerie. It made me feel like I was walking in a graveyard. I guess I shouldn¡¯t say it¡¯s like a graveyard as it actually was one. It had sprouted up with the dungeon. ¡°That must be the dungeon entrance.¡± I looked at the tall tomb with arge door on it and sighed as I walked over to it. ¡°These things are just¡. At least the outside area is safe. But to think they didn¡¯t even post guards ¡.¡±
¡°They did.¡± A voice came from my side, causing me to jump high into the air. I turned to see a young man standing there with a sword at his side.
¡°Where did youe from!?¡± I cried out while holding my chest. He scared the death out of me!
¡°I have been standing here the entire time¡.¡± The young man lowered his head. I guess this must happen a lot to him.
¡°Alright, well¡. It¡¯s my fault for not paying attention to my surroundings. Can you exin to me what is going on here? How long has the dungeon been up for? And how many people have actually entered.¡± These were all questions I should have asked at the house, but I needed to escape before my mother tried to set me and Diablo up in a bedroom somewhere to make her grandbabies. With her current state of mind, I wouldn¡¯t put it past her.
Chapter 267 Undead Dungeon Part 1
¡°I am not sure. Your father only told me to stand guard here, so I do not know what is going on inside. As for how long this dungeon has been up, I would say for about a month. But it was only a few days ago that your father entered.¡± The young man replied.
I couldn¡¯t help but purse my lips. My father had entered a few days ago, so either he kept trying to dive deeper into the dungeon, or he had run into trouble¡. And the worst case scenario is that he has already passed. As for this young man, I do vaguely remember someone like him from before I moved. I think he is one of my father¡¯s friend¡¯s sons. Not that it matters. But it does exin why he knows me.
¡°Alright. I will take a look inside. I need to know what kind of monsters are inside.¡± I took a deep breath and was about to push the door open when the young man grabbed my arm.
¡°Please don¡¯t! If you go in and can¡¯t get out. Your father will kill me.¡± The young man¡¯s face was pale.
I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle. ¡°It¡¯s fine. In this kingdom, no one is stronger than I am.¡± I said with a smile as I pushed the door open with one hand and pulled away from the young man.
¡°Wait!¡± The young man cried out, but I ignored him.
I entered the dungeon to find the same kind of entrance as the previous dungeon. It was a safe zone. I looked around for any signs of my father but nothing. Not even footprints. Well, it was to be expected as this area was basically dust free. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you wait!?¡± A voice came from behind me. I saw the young man standing there.
¡°Why did you enter!?¡± I yelled.
¡°If I were to let the vige elder¡¯s daughter enter the dungeon alone, your father would have my head!¡± The young man cried out as if he was being wronged.
¡°Go back!¡± I said tly. I was not going to risk this young man dying on me. ¡°You need to go back and go back now! If something happens and you die on me, then how am I supposed to live with that? If you do not go back, I will control your mind and force you out of the dungeon. Choose now! Either leave on your own, and I will force you out.¡±
¡°I¡¡± The young man stood there frozen. He seemed unsure of what to choose. But I had no time to wait either.
¡°Leave now!¡± My voice was filled with magic as I used dragon speak to control the young man. His eyes dulled, and he slowly turned around and walked out of the dungeon. With him now gone, I could finally do what I needed to do. I did not n to go very far. I just needed a better idea of the kinds of monsters I would be running into and to do a quick test on the kind of damage I am able to do to them.
I did not enter the hallway right away. I first put up a barrier that led down the hall to keep anything from closing in on me. If my barrier is in the way, no other barrier should be able to close around it, which will allow me an escape route. After the incident in thest dungeon, this was the only countermeasure I could think up that would probably keep anyone from being locked in again.
I walked down the hallway to the end but did not extend out past the threshold into what looked to be arge area with dense fog. I could see gravestones here and there and what looked to be wet, damp ground. ¡°An undead dungeon?¡± I pursed my lips as I added ten more thinyers to my barrier just in case. I also used a bit of earth magic to make a tether made of stone to wrap around my body. I wanted to make sure I did not get lost in this ce. Just to be sure of no mistakes, I also formed a barrier around it that would expand along with it as I moved into the fog. This would also allow me to retract my entire body back to the entrance.
With things secured, I moved deeper into the fog, where more and more gravestones and evenrger tombs with open entrances began to appear. ¡°Hmmm? This is a strange dungeon. The tombs alone are like a dungeon within a dungeon.¡±
I still had yet to see any enemies, but this onlysted until I reached an area with a bunch of run down abandoned houses. They were run down and falling apart. I decided to start my investigation here as I made my way into one of the houses. I kindly made sure the door broke off its hinges to make sure nothing could stop me from exiting.
Luckily I did because I only got two steps inside when I saw a figure in front of me. Semi transparent in color and a ghostly white. It turned and looked over at me. Well, I guess it was looking at me since it had no face but arge wide, bloodied, looking mouth with some ck ooze dripping from its mouth. Its mouth opened as it turned and crouched down slightly before suddenly letting out a horrific screech!
¡°SKEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!¡±
My eyes lit up as I quickly cast multiple fireballs at it, but to my dismay, they went right through the ghostly body. It then extended its arm straight at me, stabbing me in the shoulder with its knife like fingers causing me to cry out in pain: ¡°Ahh!¡±
¡°Appraisal!¡± I had no choice but to retreat, but I had to at least get a bit of information on the monster that had just attacked me. This was what I came in here for in the first ce. I tried to use my sword in my escape, only to have it pass right through the ghostly arm as it retracted back to its body.
[Wraith]
[Level]: 300
[Health]: 1203746/1203746
[Mana]: 0/0
Chapter 268 Undead Dungeon Part 2
¡°What is up with that health? And on top of that, I can¡¯t even hurt it!¡± I cried out as I quickly used my tether to pull me back to the entrance of the hallway. I held my shoulder, which was now bleeding quite badly. ¡°High heal!¡±
As I reached the entrance of the hallway, I quickly ran back to the entrance of the dungeon and passed through the door. Only when I got outside did I sit on the ground and try to attend to my wound.
¡°Young miss!¡± The young man who I sent out earlier cried out. He looked at my shoulder in horror.
¡°I¡¯m fine. I just got careless. And to be honest, it was good you stayed out here after I sent you out. You might have died.¡± I said as I took some bandages out of my inventory and wrapped up my shoulder. Healing magic was not working, so I had to figure out why. ¡°I am heading back to the vige. You can head back as well because I am setting up a barrier around the entrance. The only one who will be able to pass through it is my father.¡± ¡®
¡°Yes, ma¡¯am!¡± I have no idea why this young man is suddenly being so polite to me but whatever.
After I sent him off, I set up the barrier and then flew up to the vige. Blood was still pouring out of my wound at a steady pace which was really worrying.
[HP] 76500/101500
My health was also steadily dropping as well. I guess bleeding this badly would cause such a thing. To be honest, I think this is the first time I have been hurt so badly without being able to quickly take care of the wound. ¡°I will need Diablo to take a look at it. There seems to be something wrong with where I got stabbed.¡±
¡°Diablo!¡± I yelled out as I entered the house. Diablo quickly appeared in front of me.
¡°Master! This!?¡± Diablo¡¯s look of concern was a bit unexpected. I knew he wanted to stay in his world for my mana, but he had genuine concern in his eyes.
¡°I need you to take a look at it,e to my room,¡± I said as I did my best to keep the blood from dripping onto the floor. I was trying to make it to my room before my mother saw me, but I guess I was a bit toote for that.
¡°Faith, what happened!?¡± My mother cried out.
¡°It¡¯s nothing. There is something wrong with the wound where healing magic doesn¡¯t work. Diablo will look at it for me.¡± I exined and quickly made my way to my room. I wasn¡¯t going to stop my mother from following me, though. She would cause a fuss if I did.
When I entered my room, I removed my chest te and, with red cheeks, pulled up my undershirt so that Diablo could get a better look at my shoulder. It was embarrassing since a man would be seeing me with my shirt off, but I had no choice in this matter. My armor and undershirt obstructed the view of the wound. I, of course, made sure to cover my chest with my arm as I turned around and faced him. Trying to hide my embarrassment, I asked: ¡°Can you look at the wound and see if there is anything strange about it?¡±
¡°Yes, one second.¡± Diablo did not seem phased at all to see me topless, which was kind of a dig at my womanly pride but well, whatever. This made things less embarrassing. But one thing was for sure it hurt like hell when he touched the wound. ¡°Master, this will probably hurt a lot, but there seems to be something in the wound that is causing it to bleed more than it should and is probably what is keeping healing magic from healing the wound.¡±
¡°Alright¡¡± I took a metal rod from my inventory and used it to bite down on, as I said in a muffled tone. ¡°Do it.¡±
Diablo nodded and, with his slender fingers, reached into my wound that was the size of a fist and dug deep into it. ¡°Argh!¡± It hurt. It hurt a lot. I could see my mother tearing up, but she still stayed quiet. Although it was only a few seconds that went by before Diablo pulled his fingers out of my wound, but it felt like an eternity. The pain of having someone dig through your wound like that was really bad.
¡°Got it¡.¡± Diablo held a strange ck worm looking thing between his fingers. ¡°This is?¡±
¡°A wraith worm. Where did you run into a wraith?¡± Diablo asked as he looked at me in shock.
¡°Inside the dungeon. I ran into it while trying to see what kind of monsters were there.¡± I exined as I began healing my wound. This time it was finally healing. ¡°Diablo, can you turn around for a second?¡± I asked. It was hard to heal and cover myself up with only one arm.
¡°Ah yes¡.¡± Diablo did as I asked as I also turned around and continued to heal myself. With high heal, it only took a few seconds. Only then did I grab a shirt and put it on.
¡°Thanks. Now exin to me why this thing can block healing magic. And how can a wraith that I can¡¯t hit with weapons or magic stab me in the arm and even imnt such a thing inside me?¡± I was bombarding him with questions, but I needed to know as much as I could. I had never run into a monster like this wraith before. It would be different if I could attack it, but all my attempts failed, and at the same time, I was attacked in return without being able to even guard myself. It stabbed through my armor and even my natural dragon defenses. I would not be able to find my father if I could not kill these things. But for all I know, he might have fallen to such a monster himself. And this thought scared me.
Chapter 269 [Weekly Bonus 1/2] Iena
¡°Wraiths are even feared by us demons. They are a strange form of undead and are almost impossible to kill except by way of soul magic. Wraiths are able to make any part of their body corporeal at any given time. This means even the fingertips can be corporeal while the rest of the body is untouchable. They are a more evolved form of ghosts that can not physically harm you, but they can drain your energy. If you get into a group with both and do not know how to kill them, then you are basically asking to die.¡± Diablo exined.
¡°I see¡.¡± I frowned slightly, hearing this. If my team and I were to dive into this dungeon and we got surrounded, we would quickly be defeated. ¡°Then what are these worm things?¡±
¡°They are part of the wraith¡¯s body that embeds into you. It will allow them to control your soul once you die. They are vicious because if you are in battle, they can make you attack your ownrades.¡± Diablo¡¯s answer made my heart sink. If this happened to my father¡. Would I even be able to attack? Would I be able to destroy his soul?
¡°Umm¡.¡± My mother¡¯s voice came from behind me. I turned to see her standing there with a pale face. I suddenly realized the conversation between Diablo and me was not something she should be listening to.
I quickly walked over to her and hugged her. ¡°It will be fine. Father is a fighter. He will not give up easily. I was just careless, is all.¡±
¡°Mmm¡¡± My mother hugged me tightly, her body shivering. I knew she was very scared right now. I rubbed her back. I wanted to sayforting words but nothing wasing to mind. There was nothing I could really say that couldfort her at this time.
¡°Diablo, can you teach me soul magic?¡± I asked.
¡°I can, but the magic is not easy. Since you need to channel your mana through your soul and write the magic circles with your soul to cast any of the spells.¡± Diablo answered. Whether it was hard or not, I had no choice but to learn it as quickly as possible. So did everyone else in my team.
¡°Then please teach me. I will need to learn it in order to search for my father. Everyone who is about to arrive here will also need to be taught this magic.¡± I wanted to get this training over and done with quickly. If even a few of them can learn it then it would be worth it.
¡°Ahem¡.¡± Diablo scratched his head. ¡°You know, by exposing your soul to me, it is the same as a person standing there naked. Souls do not have clothes after all.¡±
I blushed at Diablo¡¯s words, but it was a necessity. I had to learn it no matter what. I took a deep breath and nodded my head. ¡°You teach me, and then I will teach the other girls while you teach the boys. The two of us are connected anyway, so I will deal with it.¡±
Embarrassing as it was, I had no choice. Diablo sighed before asking: ¡°We can summon a female demon. Iena is one of my top generals and knows how to use soul magic as well. She can teach you how to do it, so you do not need to expose your soul to me.¡±
I was not sure, but I think I saw a tinge of red on Diablo¡¯s cheek, but I did like his suggestion better. It would be hard to concentrate on casting magic with Diablo there if my soul was, as he said, in the nude. ¡°Then let¡¯s do that.¡±
¡°Then I will mix my mana with yours, so she will know I am calling her. This will allow you to form a contract with her. I will then do a full submission contract between you and her. This way, if things like earlier happen, it won¡¯t be as ufortable for you.¡± Diablo exined. So he is worried about me.
I smiled and nodded my head. ¡°Let¡¯s do that then. Thank you, Diablo.¡±
¡°It¡¯s nothing¡.¡± Diablo replied before continuing: ¡°I will need you to use the same summoning spell you used before. I will add my magic to it to make sure we call Iena. You can begin when you are ready.¡±
¡°Alright.¡± I closed my eyes and stretched out my hand. ¡°Enve Demon!¡±
Arge magic circle formed in front of me on the floor. Diablo began pouring his magic into the magic circle. At the same time a ck fog began to appear and slowly began to take shape. Secondster, a young woman wearing a half metal chest te that exposed her midriff and a pair of short leather shorts that only covered up to her mid thigh appeared. On her back was a bow and a quiver full of arrows. Her long purple hair fluttered in the air due to the energy the magic circle was giving off.
She slowly opened her eyes to expose two purple eyes that glittered like gems. She looked around the room until she spotted Diablo. Her lips curled up into a big smile, but before she could say a word, she looked down at the new magic circle that was forming under her feet. Her eyes grew big as she looked up at me and the magic circle that had formed under my own feet. ¡°What are you doing!?¡±
¡°Iena, calm down, Master is not doing the forced contract, I am. I can¡¯t risk you harming her.¡± Diablo¡¯s voice cut in before I could even speak up. Iena turned and looked at Diablo in shock and confusion.
¡°Why!? Why are you forcing me to be a servant of a lower being!?¡± Iena had tears in her eyes as if she had beenpletely betrayed. But Diablo¡¯s expression did not change in the slightest as the contract formed between the two of us. By her reaction, I do believe Iena is in love with Diablo.
Chapter 270 [Weekly Bonus 2/2] Ancient Will Emerges Part 1
¡°This lower being, as you called her, is also my Master! So watch your tongue!¡± Diablo yelled. He was actually legitimately angry.
¡°I¡.¡± Iena looked as if she was going to cry. I sighed and stepped forward. Iena, at this time, couldn¡¯t harm me even if she wanted to. So I was not worried about hershing out at me.
I reached out and grabbed her hands, causing her to look at me. I leaned close to her and whispered: ¡°By staying here with me, you can be closer to him. I think this works out well for you, does it not?¡±
I watched as Iena¡¯s eyes went wide, and she nodded her head. And suddenly wrapped her arms around me. ¡°Master is smart!¡±
Okay, I understand you are happy, but please let me go. Your boobs are crushing my face! Damn demon! I¡¯m not jealous! ¡°Okay, please calm down. The reason Diablo helped me call you here is because I need to learn soul magic. There will also be more girlsing as well. Since Diablo is a man, it is not best for him to teach girls this, so he will be teaching the boys.¡±
Hearing my exnation, Iena nodded her head. ¡°I understand.¡± She then turned to Diablo and said: ¡°Please leave the room. Girls only!¡±
Diablo nodded and went to leave before pausing: ¡°Make sure you teach her well. Our lives are also connected to hers. I will know if you try anything funny.¡±
¡°I would never harm her!¡± Iena snorted as she took my hand. ¡°I already know we will be the best of friends!¡±
¡°Humph! Just don¡¯t overdo it.¡± Diablo replied before leaving the room. This left me, Iena, and my mother standing in my room.
¡°So¡.¡± My mother spoke up. ¡°Diablo is not son inw?¡±
¡°I have been saying that since the start!¡± I yelled out. Why was she still concerned about this!?
¡°Then you need to work harder!¡± My mother yelled back. ¡°Hmph! I will go see what he thinks!¡± And with that, my mother was off like lightning following after Diablo.
¡°That is your mother?¡± Iena asked. She didn¡¯t seem to mind what we talked about just now, which was good. It seemed she was not the possessive type that would go crazy over every girl who talked about the man she liked.
¡°Yeah, sorry. Let¡¯s get this over with.¡± I answered.
¡°I see. Her heart is in turmoil. I guess why you need to learn soul magic is due to this?¡± Iena seemed to be someone who was sensitive to other people¡¯s emotions, or it could just be an innate skill she has.
¡°Yeah, my father disappeared in the dungeon that popped up, and it has wraiths in it,¡± I exined. I then told her what happened in the dungeon.
¡°Yes, then soul magic is the way to go. Surprisingly, his highness is being so gentle. If it was any of those under him, he would have just invaded our souls and told us what to do without a care for our privacy.¡± Iena gave a wry smile. I guess she experienced this firsthand. ¡°And the worst part is he never even reacted!¡±
¡°Well, now you have plenty of time to try to make him notice you,¡± I said with a smile, trying to make her feel better. She seemed to have gone into a gloomy mood after remembering that.
¡°Hehe, that is thanks to you, my new Master!¡± Iena smiled and hugged me tightly, pushing my face into the two meat bags that hung off her chest. I swear I am not jealous!
¡°Okay, on a more serious note, let¡¯s get down to business. Master, you will need to open your body and soul to me in order for me to enter your sea of consciousness. Only there can I begin teaching you how to use soul magic.¡± Iena¡¯s words were a bit confusing. I had no idea what my sea of consciousness even was.
¡°Ummm¡ I am not sure¡.¡± I began, but Iena stopped me.
¡°Don¡¯t worry. You will feel it once I try to enter it. Normally no one in these mortal ns would ever attempt to enter their sea of consciousness as it is a domain most do not even know exists within them.¡± Iena exined.
¡°I see. Then I am ready whenever you are.¡± I said.
¡°Then sit on the bed. We will need to press our foreheads together. From there, just enter a state of meditation and try to feel the inner workings of your body. Once you feel a slight pain, focus on it. I will then begin teaching you how to open your sea to me.¡± With Iena¡¯s instructions, I sat on the bed cross legged, Iena did the same. Then we leaned forward and pressed our foreheads together. Once we were in position, I closed my eyes and began trying to do as I was told.
I had never really meditated before, so this was new to me. I tried to focus on things inside my body, mainly my heartbeat. I allowed the sound to get louder and louder, draining out any sounds around me. It was only when I felt a sharp pinch in my forehead did I change my focus. But as I did, the darkness that I was experiencing with my eyes closed turned bright as I entered a white room like area. I looked down and could see my body which was semi-transparent in nature. But as I was told, I had no clothes on.
¡°Not bad.¡± A voice entered my mind. ¡°Now, picture a door. A door that will allow me to enter where you are.¡±
I closed my eyes and pictured a door. I pictured a door that Iena and only Iena could enter. When I opened my eyes again, a door appeared before me. Just an ordinary door. Wood nked with a metal handle.
¡°This might be easier than we thought.¡± Iena¡¯s voice entered my mind once more as the door began to open, but as it did, the white area around me began to turn from white to dark, blood red. An ominous feeling began to take over me, causing me to cry out: ¡®Wait! Iena don¡¯t enter!¡±
Chapter 271 Ancient Will Emerges Part 2
It was already toote. As soon as Iena entered, a figure rushed towards her. I shed and stood in front of her blocking the figure from harming Iena. ¡°You! Why did you stop me!? If you consume her here and now, you will gain all her strength!¡±
¡°And? What then? I consumed a friend to gain power? How does that make sense?¡± I was calm, a little too calm. While I was white and transparent, the me in front of me was blood red and full of malevolence. I even answered the other me back as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
¡°What is the point of a tool if you can not use it!? You want to grow stronger. I am just trying to help you out. Shed the blood of the few to get the highest gains. Is this thought not right? It¡¯s the same as if you were on the battlefield. Sometimes you must sacrifice a small number of people to save the majority. Although I would just kill them all to save the hassle, hehe¡.¡± The other me replied.
I shook my head. ¡°Iena is not some tool to be used to gain power. She is a friend who is here to help. Why would I go through the trouble of summoning her to use her to gain strength that is not my own? Your way of thinking is wrong. Not to mention that in this situation, it would not even help.¡±
¡°You are weak! How can someone like you be the one in control? If it were me, I would have just killed all my enemies, burned them all, and taken what I needed to grow stronger. This whole kingdom would have already been fully under my control. And from there¡.. I would expand until this whole world is mine. And I know you want the same!¡± The other me yelled out.
¡°What you want to be is nothing more than a tyrant. No one would follow a tyrant willingly. But let me ask. Why do you act as if you know me and what I want? I am not you. You are nothing more than a will that was imnted into me when I evolved.¡± I did not understand why this ancient will thought I would want the same as it. I don¡¯t even want power. I just want to aplish the dreams I have had since young. What is wrong with that?
¡°Imnted into you? Hahahaha! I never heard such a funny joke. Let me make this clear so you can get it into your stupid head of yours. I am you. I am the real you. The one you have been suppressing for so very long. The true you that wishes for bloodshed and wants to bathe in the blood of our enemies. We are the same. You just wish to suppress your true nature. The true nature that you have been trying to reject for so, so long. It was thanks to you deciding to evolve that allowed me to slip out.
¡°That allowed me to break off part of the shackles you ced on me. Do you know what it is like to want toe out and y and not be able to? Do you know what it is like to be stuck in a dark abyss with nothing to do but my own thoughts to keep mepany? The me in front of you is the true genuine you, but you will not allow me to raise my head. Untiltely, when things get too exciting for your feeble mind to handle, I am able toe out and y.
¡°Do you remember when I beat that group of kids up in the dungeon? Do you remember the thrill of their bones crushing under your fists? The excitement that came with the blood that sttered on your face? The smile andughter you let out as you allowed your true self toe out? What about the war? When you could cut a man¡¯s head off without a care. The spray of blood that fell onto our body, making us quiver in excitement. That is the true you! The true you that you have suppressed for so long. So let me destroy this woman¡¯s soul, and we can consume it together and grow even more powerful than before. Hahaha!¡± The other me¡¯s eyes were feverish as if the thought of blood was like pure ecstasy to her.
¡°Are you stupid?¡± I asked. I still remained calm. None of her words affected my mindset at all.
¡°What?¡± The other me seemed shocked at my suddenment.
¡°Do you think that just by saying some words like this that I would change my mind? Even if you are originally a part of me, the me of now is the true me. You are just an artifact of a bygone time. But from how I see it, you are nothing more than a part of the new bloodline I gained. You are just trying to get me to submit to your way of thinking so you can take over my body.¡± I spoke slowly as I answered, making sure the other me heard each word.
¡°You still do not understand! Since you do not want to listen to what I am saying, let¡¯s just deal with this in another way. I will consume you now and take over. This way, you can return to who you truly are!¡± The other me suddenly charged at me. But I did not flinch in the slightest. I waved my hand, and a ghostly me sword appeared in my hand, causing the other me to suddenly stop in her tracks.
¡°You! How do you know how to use soul magic!?¡± The other me yelled. But even I thought her question was rather on point. I did not know soul magic at all, so why was I able to use it so easily?
This was something I would have to figure outter. For now, I had to deal with the matter at hand. ¡°Sorry to say, but I can not tell you since even I do not know. So let¡¯s just end things here. I will get rid of you once and for all!¡± I replied before charging towards the other me. But as my sword swung down, the other me disappeared. The room I was in returned to its white state leaving only me and Iena here.
¡°You will one day return to who you are truly meant to be! Don¡¯t think you can escape your true origins!¡±
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 272 Ticking Time Bomb
With thosest words, the other me went silent once again. I turned to look at Iena, who was staring at me with a bit of fear in her eyes. ¡°Iena? Are you okay?¡±
¡°Huh? Wait¡. What the hell are you keeping in your body!? What was that!?¡± Iena looked frightened beyond belief. I do not know what scared her, but I do know I did not have much time to waste as I had already wasted enough of it on the other me.
¡°It¡¯s just an ancient will that tries toe out every so often. Anyway, is this true soul magic?¡± I asked, raising the me sword in my hand.
¡°Yes¡. yes it is¡. It seems you already knew it or more like instinctively knew it.¡± Iena answered. To be honest, I was quite surprised by this myself. I just knew how to use soul magic. I didn¡¯t even think when I saw the other me charging at me, I just waved my hand, creating this ghostly me sword.
¡°I guess this is a good thing. We just need you to be able to use it outside your body now. I really do not wish to stay here any longer if that ancient will, as you called it, shows up again.¡± Iena seemed to have calmed down a bit but was still scared of the ancient will. To be honest, a lot of the other me¡¯s words seemed cryptic in nature and seemed to have another meaning. Like what did she mean by she was always there even before the system? Was this part of my bloodline of this world my original one? Or was this something I have had since my previous life? I really do not know. Maybe I am the reincarnation of some demon lord or something. Actually, this thought kinda makes me wonder if it is true or not.
I mean, the way she talked was very demonlordish. All the talk about taking over the world and whatnot. Killing as I saw fit just because it was pleasurable. But what really shook me was the realization that came to me that some of her words were correct, and now I can not tell if it was the ancient will that made me feel satisfied after I killed or beat someone or if it was myself that truly enjoyed it.
I shook my head and pped my cheeks. ¡°Don¡¯t let her words get to you, Faith. You are you!¡±
¡°Huh?¡± Iena seemed confused at my sudden outburst, but I needed to do that to straighten my mind out.
When I exited my sea of consciousness, Iena sat back and wiped the sweat from her brow. I was kind of shocked to see that her entire body was soaked in sweat. I guess she was truly frightened more than I thought. ¡°Are you okay?¡±
¡°Yes¡ I just¡ Master, tell me, what was that? That thing that is in you is scarier than any of the demon kings I have ever met. The blood lust, the killing intent, and the power that resided in it that seemed to be suppressed was enough to make my entire core shake with fear. That thing inside you is not something I would even dare go near but you¡. How are you fine!? How are you able to keep that thing inside you!?¡± Iena was bombarding me with many questions, but even I could not answer her.
¡°Ummm¡ I don¡¯t know?¡± I answered while tilting my head. I felt none of what she felt. Is this because it was part of me? Or for another reason¡. Like I was used to it in the first ce. I shook my head. Such a thought of being used what Iena described just did not match up because I was never subjected to anything she had talked about before. Or maybe there was a part of me that I did not know about?
I had many questions and no way to answer them. But for now, I had more important matters at hand. ¡°So, how do I go about casting soul magic outside the body?¡±
Iena took a deep breath and wiped the sweat on her forehead. ¡°Basically, you just need to imagine that you are casting it but project that casting to the real world from your sea of consciousness. It may be hard to imagine, but if you keep trying, you will¡.. Never mind¡.¡±
Iena looked at the ghostly ming sword in my hand that I quickly waved away and then made a ghostly fireball. A ghostly spear of ice and many more different elements. ¡°I must ask. Is it possible to harm people with these spells?¡±
¡°Soul magic is magic that is nasty in its own way. While it does not leave visible marks as normal magic would, it can damage a person¡¯s soul to the point that they will die, leaving a soulless corpse. It is also impossible to use any magic residue to figure out who the culprit is. Although this world might not know how to use magic residue to track a person.¡± Iena¡¯s words caught my interest because it was a fact that this world had no way of using magic to tell who did what.
¡°I will have you exin this magic residue thing to meter as it will help with criminal investigations in this world. But for now, I can cast soul magic with ease. With this, I can teach the others with your guidance if you do not mind.¡± I was not sure about teaching the others myself, but I figured it would be best if they had someone they knew well entering the sea of consciousness.
¡°I do not think you should be entering anyone¡¯s sea of consciousness. Master, you might not realize it, but that other you inside you is like a ticking time bomb. If you ever lost control over it. And to be honest, I have no idea how you are able to suppress it, but if you do lose control over it, it will spell doom for this world. You should be mindful of your actions from this time forward. I will do what I can to assist, but we should also talk to his highness about this as well.¡±
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 273 Team Faith Assemble!
I held my tongue. I was going to say it would be fine, but I could not be sure. So I could only nod and agree with what she said. ¡°Then I will leave it to you. Do your best to teach them well. I need at least four people who can use this kind of magic. Concentrate on Adel, Sophie, Sally, Grace, and Sei. And is there a way to heal one¡¯s soul?¡±
I was hoping that if Grace learned how to use healing magic in soul form, it would actually heal the soul as well. ¡°Yes, but it is a lot harder than just normal healing. Soul healing, while it uses the same concept as normal healing magic, requires one to use more mana, so if they have low mana, they could easily fall from mana exhaustion.¡±
¡°It¡¯s fine. Grace can handle it. I can link my mana to hers and everyone else who can cast soul magic. I had nned to link up with everyone in the first ce because dungeons are not a ce most can easily deal with without lots of mana reserves or ways to replenish it.¡± I exined. I am very much relieved that healing magic can heal souls if cast as soul magic. It makes me feel much more hopeful that our mission will seed.
¡°Don¡¯t worry, Master. I will also be going with you.¡± Iena suddenly said, causing me to look up at her. Seeing my expression, Iena smiled as she continued: ¡°My guess is that you nned to go in with a team without His Highness because you wanted someone here to defend your home. But now I am here. Although I am weaker than His Highness, I can still hold my own against powerful enemies.¡±
I smiled and nodded. ¡°Then I will be in your care.¡±
I spent the next few days keeping my motherpany. I figured I would talk to Diablo about my ancient will when we got back to the capital. I had to mentally prepare myself as well since he might have to enter my sea of consciousness. But after talking with Iena about it, it seems Diablo doesn¡¯t react to much of anything.
On the third day, a group of people walked up the side of the mountain while I watched them from above. I was very happy with how quickly they arrived. I guess all the training they had been going through was not for nothing.
¡°Faith!¡± Adel was not the first to yell out. It was surprisingly Sophie.
¡°Wait, Sophie! Don¡¯t get ahead of yourself!¡± Adel yelled out and was chasing behind her.
I was confused as to what was going on when I was suddenly tackled by a fluffy fox girl. ¡°Sophie? What¡¯s wrong?¡±
Sophie nuzzled her nose into my chest, her tail wagging back and forth. I looked up at Adel, who had a defeated smile on her face scratching her head. ¡°This is my fault. Faith, I know how you do not like too many people fawning over you. I mean, you already got me confessing my love to you all the time, but I couldn¡¯t sit around and watch Sophie as she was anymore.¡±
¡°What do you mean? What happened?¡± I asked as I rubbed the fluffy ears in front of me.
¡°You know how Sophie likes sleeping with you? Since you have been sharing the same bed for so long?¡± Adel asked. I nodded. It was not as much as it was before, but she does go on streaks where she can¡¯t sleep in her own room and will ask if she can spend the night with me.
¡°Well, it¡¯s because she never realized that she imprinted on you as a mate. Well, to make it make more sense, she is like me.¡± Adel exined.
Only then did I understand. Sophie had been a bit more clingy the past few months, but I never thought much of it. I figured she was just lonely because I had been so busy as ofte. But now, this left me feeling a bit awkward. I mean, first, it is Adel and now Sophie. What am I supposed to do? I sighed as I scratched the fluff. It was really addicting.
¡°Anyway!¡± Adel suddenly jumped in and joined Sophie, and hugged me. ¡°I missed you, my love!¡±
¡°Oh my¡. My my! My daughter not only has a handsome son inw but two beauties as my daughter inws!¡± I heard my mother cry out from behind me, making my face go ck. Why was she always jumping to these kinds of conclusions? No, wait, why would she even jump to this conclusion when it was two girls hugging me!?
¡°Mother, it is not what you think!¡± I cried out for the umpteenth time sinceing here. I could see Diablo, who was probably dragged here by my mother, slowly making a retreat. I smirked as I called out: ¡°Mother, it seems Diablo wants more of your homemade pastries.¡±
Humph! Trying to escape to leave me with my mother¡¯s wild thoughts. You can join me! I only saw Diablo freeze before running as fast as he could. My mother just looked at me strangely before grabbing both Sophie and Adel and dragging them away. ¡°We must talk!¡±
And with that, the two girls who weretching on to me were now gone, and I could feel Diablo cursing me from wherever he ran off to. Free from my bindings, I looked at Sei and Sally and smiled. ¡°How was your trip?¡±
¡°Much quicker than I had expected. Who knew that running three days straight at full speed could get us here so quickly? Leveling up and your training really helped.¡± Sei replied. She was not even sweating.
¡°Yeah, I was surprised as well. Young Miss, what are we up against? I saw the strange graveyard down below. Is that the dungeon?¡± Sally asked.
¡°Yes, and before we enter you all need a bit more training.¡±
Chapter 274 Mother’s Mental State
We were all currently in my front yard since my house was not big enough for so many people. I stood in front of everyone in my team and began my run down. ¡°So this dungeon is more troublesome than you would think. The monsters, at least the one I saw, was level 300. The problem is, is that this monster was a wraith, and from the wound, it gave me, it is not an easy monster to deal with. They can not be harmed by normal means. You need to use what is called soul magic to kill them.
¡°The dungeon we will be diving into is an undead dungeon. It is not a ce we can take lightly. I only know of the wraiths. There could also be ghosts who will suck up your energy if they touch you, making it hard to fight. If you mix a wraith into this, we will be at a big disadvantage. Whether there is any other kind of undead, I do not know. But as you have experienced in thest dungeon, what we run into can change at any time. So be extra careful in this dungeon.¡± I exined.
¡°So this soul magic, will we be learning it?¡± Grace asked. She seemed quite interested in soul magic.
¡°Yes. But it is not easy to learn. As an example.¡± I created a soul fire sword, as I like to call it, and showed everyone. ¡°This is soul magic. It is the same as normal magic, but it uses your soul to cast the spell. It will not leave marks on the body and can and will damage other people¡¯s souls, so do not use it on your teammates unless it is soul healing magic.¡±
¡°Now. Boys and girls will be taught separately. The girls will be heading to my room while the boys will follow Diablo. To learn soul magic, Iena will be helping you, but it requires her to enter your sea of consciousness. This means she will see your everything. So to make itfortable for everyone, we are splitting it all up.¡± I saw many cheeks flush red when I said this and a few disappointed faces on both girls and boys.
With this, I had everyone split up. While Iena was teaching the girls, I spent more time with my mother, who was raving about the three prospects. ¡°So how far have you¡.¡±
¡°Stop!¡± I quickly stopped my mother, who suddenly seemed like gossiping was her new pastime. ¡°Mother, why are you even thinking along the lines of me even marrying anyone? You know I will outlive most people. I might not even age much either¡.¡± I felt like my aging process was slowly slowing down. I had no proof since there was no real way to tell in this world, but it did feel like it was slowing down. And if my dream is right, it will probably stop when I look around eighteen to twenty years old.
¡°So what!? Isn¡¯t Diablo a demon? You can just marry him and have the girls on the side.¡± My mother¡¯s words caused me to shake my head as I asked: ¡°So father can have girls on the side?¡±
¡°If he wants to die, he can.¡± My mother¡¯s answer came swiftly and full of killing intent.
¡°Then why are you telling me to do the same?¡± I asked. It was a huge contradiction, but she seemed to be using this situation to get over what was going on. I can understand her wanting to lose herself in her surroundings, so she did not need to think or dwell on my father¡¯s well being, but this was also not good for her. It¡¯s like she is losing focus on reality.
¡°I¡.¡± My mother¡¯s words got caught in her throat. It took her a minute to finally say what she had to say. ¡°I just want you to be happy. I worry about you every day while you are out on your own. I worry that you will be alone forever.¡±
I smiled and hugged her. ¡°I will be fine. Even if I do end up alone, it will be by choice. But as you can see right now that I have many friends at my side. I have people who care about me and wish for me to be happy as well. So as long as I have people next to me, even if I do not end up in a rtionship, it will be fine.¡±
¡°I guess you are right¡. But you should still try at least to fall in love once.¡± My mother still would not give up on this, but I guess she is right. Maybe one day I will. I am just not ready yet. Maybe when I am older and out of the academy. But for now, I like how things are.
¡°Mmm, as long as you are willing to try.¡± My mother smiled as she suddenly stood up. ¡°Now then. I should prepare for when your fatheres home.¡±
¡°Mother?¡± I looked up at her in confusion. It was as if something had snapped inside her. I was starting to really be worried about her current mental state.
¡°Don¡¯t look at me as if I am crazy. You have made a bunch of ns, right? You n to find your father and bring him home, right? Even if all you find is his bones, he should still be weed home. I just want to be ready for every possibility¡.¡± I quickly got up and hugged my mother. She ended up bursting into tears as she felt my arms wrap around her. She was really not holding up well at all.
Eric came in when he heard her crying and joined us in a family hug. Life was not easy. Loved ones will be lost over time. But if I can at least bring my father back alive and allow my mother¡¯s heart to finally settle, I am sure she will be able to return to her old self. If he is dead¡. Then I will bring her back to the capital with me even if I must put her to sleep.
¡ª
Two dayster, about half of my team was able to learn soul magic. Some were close but not there yet. Adel, Sophie, Sally, Sei, and Grace all learned it with ease. Some of the boys were also sessful. In total, ten people were able to learn it. The rest would be staying back to continue training. So with me and Iena added to the group, twelve people would be diving into the dungeon.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 275 Ghost!
I did not wish to take so long but to dive deep into a dungeon with so many unknowns. I had to make sure we had a way to fight any monsters. Diving in without proper readiness would just kill us. Even with Iena at my side, there is nothing saying we wouldn¡¯t get overwhelmed with just the two of us. Diablo had to stay behind to keep my mother from doing anything stupid. She seemed quite attached to Diablo, which made him the best choice even though Diablo was giving her the eyes of an abandoned puppy as I left.
We stood inside the dungeon, where I had everyone do ast check on their supplies. ¡°Is everyone ready?¡±
¡°Yes, Boss!¡± Everyone shouted at the same time. I nodded, and with me in the lead, I once again set up a multiyered barrier on the tunnel leading to the exit to ensure our escape route.
When we got to the end of the tunnel, I did not exit right away. I turned around and looked at everyone before nodding to Iena. Iena stepped forward and waved her hand. A rope made of magic wrapped around everyone, tethering us all together but with enough flexibility to allow us to move around freely. ¡°This rope will allow us to find you at any time in case we get split up. ording to Master, the fog is quite thick, and one could easily get lost. So we will need to ensure we are able to find one another without issue. Also, since this ce is probably an undead realm, you need to watch out for a certain kind of flower. It¡¯s called a Dream Flower. It is a flower that has an intoxicating scent. The smell alone will draw you towards it and put you into a hypnotic dream. So if anyone goes missing, report it immediately. Do not follow their tether! We do not all want to be caught under the flower¡¯s influence. Even we demons must be careful of this flower.¡±
¡°Alright, you heard her. Let¡¯s get going.¡± I yelled before taking a step out into the wet, muddy graveyard looking area ahead of me.
I have no idea if I was even going in the same direction as I was before. But I still moved forward. ¡°Yell if you see any signs of someone passing through the area.¡± This was the most important thing. I knew I had already mentioned it to them many times on the way down to the dungeon from the cliff, but I had to make sure they all understood that this was the most important part of our trip in this dungeon. We were not here to clear this dungeon, just here to find my father.
We made our way past the wooden and stone grave markers to where many broken-down homes were. It looked simr to the ce I was at before but slightly different. The first house did not have a broken down door unless it repaired itself, which could be a possibility.
¡°We will search each house one by one. I will go in first to see if it is clear on the first floor. Any signs of anything, yell out immediately.¡± I gave out one final order before heading to the closest house to us.
When we arrived, the old wooden porch creaked under my weight as I created a me sword in my hand and walked to the front door. This one was slightly ajar and made a grinding sound as I pushed it open. I did not have to worry about knocking it off its hinges this time. Because Adel and Sophie were behind me to make sure nothing strange happened as I entered. They were not going to enter the house, and I was only checking to see if the front room was clear or not.
When I entered, I was met with a dusty, musty smelling room. I wrinkled my nose as I looked around. Once I saw that it was clear, I waved my hand at the others. Everyone quickly filed in and stood before me. ¡°Work in groups of two. Do not split up for anything. If one of you is in danger, yell out at the top of your lungs. We can not risk anything here. We must be extra careful. I do not want to lose any of you.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t worry, Boss. We will be safe.¡± Steven replied.
¡°Alright then, Adel and Iena will form a two person group. I will go with Hailey. Sally with¡.¡± I made up the teams with the best possiblebination. The reason I had Hailey with me was because she was still the weakest in the team, and I did not want to leave her alone. Iena was with Adel due to her status. I basically split up teams to have one strong and one weak person in the team in order to ensure everyone was covered.
With teams set, everyone split up. I had Hailey walking behind me, holding her staff, looking this way and that way. I could tell she was slightly nervous or maybe even scared. Maybe she isn¡¯t good with ghost stuff. ¡°Umm¡. Boss¡.¡± Hailey suddenly spoke up.
¡°Yeah?¡± I asked as I looked around the staircase for any signs of anything strange.
¡°Why did you have to choose the basement of all ces!?¡± Hearing her voice quiver, I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle.
¡°Oh? Where is the valiant girl who was waving spells this way and that way during thest dungeon dive?¡± I asked in a teasing manner.
¡°This and that are different! We are talking about ghosts here!¡± Hailey whined. It seems that she really was not good with ghosts! This was quite interesting. I should tell Amanda.
¡°While they may be ghosts, they are still monsters, and you already know how to cast soul fireballs, so why are you scared?¡± I asked.
¡°Still ghos¡. Gh¡. Gh¡. GHOST!!!!!!!!!!!¡± Haily suddenly screamed out, causing me to look in the direction he was pointing. When I turned my head, I was met face to face with not a ghost but what looked like a wraith!
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 276 A Clue
This one was different and had a face, but its face was half rotted away with an eye falling out of its socket. It was less than an inch from my face. My nose was almost touching the spot where its nose should have been. It looked at me with both eyes, even the one that was dangling down and was just standing there. Even I did not move. I was finding this situation strange.
Hailey, who was behind me, seemed to not even be breathing, but I did not have time to turn to look at her. At such close proximity, it was either me or the wraith. One of us was going to get hurt at this time, and it seemed to be whoever was the quickest, that is, if it even nned to attack.
Luckily I had my sword already in my hand. I did not n to let it strike first, so I quickly and swiftly swung my sword up in an arc, slicing it diagonally. It didn¡¯t even flinch or move as the sword sliced through it. It just began to disappear into particles of light. Once it hadpletely disappeared, I let out a sigh of relief and turned to Hailey, who seemed frozen stiff. ¡°Hailey!¡±
¡°Ah! Huh!? Where is the ghost!?¡± Hailey came back to her senses and began quickly looking left and right, front and back. I am starting to think I should have brought someone else.
¡°It¡¯s dead. I killed it. Or at least I think I did. It seemed too easy. That may have actually been a ghost¡¡± I was unsure since I did not take the time to use Appraisal on it. It could have been a wraith, a weak one, or it could have been just a ghost. I am unsure.
¡°Of course, it was a ghost. It was scary and transparent looking and disgusting and¡.¡± Hailey kept mumbling her thoughts out loud, but I ignored her. I was thinking about how my sword easily cut through it, and it turned into balls of light. Makes me wonder if it was even really dead.
When we reached the basement, I soon found out my answer. Because just as I was about to take a step off thest step the same thing happened again and it was the same entity as before. As for Hailey, I think she fainted.
This time I did not try to kill it but used Appraisal.
[Apparition: Henry Tolbell]
No other information, but I guess an apparition was different from a normal ghost? ¡°You are Henry TolBell?¡± I asked.
The apparition suddenly floated backward and turned around, and pointed towards the darkness of the room. ¡°Is there something there?¡± I asked. But the apparition did nothing. It just stood there and continued pointing towards the darkness.
I sighed and turned towards Hailey, who seemed to have truly fainted. Her eyes were rolled up into the back of her head. I raised my hand and let a bit of lightning fly through the air. ¡±AZabaabaganababa!¡±
Hailey¡¯s whole body twitched from the shock I had just given her, and stood there looking all over the ce in confusion. When she spotted the apparition again, she almost fainted once more, but this time I pped her. ¡°Will you cut it out!? How am I supposed to take you into dungeons if you can not keep your act together!?¡±
If she continued like this, she was just asking to die. I know people had fears, but ghosts and the like were just a different kind of monster. Hailey lowered her head and pped her cheeks before raising it again. She looked at me with eyes filled with determination which were the same eyes she had back in the other dungeon. Seeing this made me feel relieved. ¡°I am okay,¡± she said.
I nodded and waved for her to follow. I made a few balls of light to light up the room. As I did, the apparition disappeared, and what was revealed with an empty room. Nothing here except dust and cobwebs. I looked around and walked towards the spot the apparition had been pointing. But it was nothing but a solid stone wall.
¡°Hmmm¡ is it because of the light?¡± I was unsure, but since the apparition disappeared after I used a light spell, maybe the thing it was pointing at also disappeared. With a wave of my hand, I got rid of all light sources except one but dimmed it enough to only give the room minimal light. When I did this, a scene filled my eyes. It was this house we were in, from what I could tell. But what shocked me the most about what I was seeing was the image of the man that had just walked into the house. It was none other than my father!
I did not dare to look away. I watched as my father walked through the upper floors of the house, finding nothing. He then climbed down the stairs andpletely ignored the apparition that appeared. He looked around the basement for a few minutes before scratching his head and leaving. But what I did not get was that it seemed more like he was searching for something specific. Not like he was searching for any old treasure. But what was he searching for and why?
The scene only began repeating itself after my father walked out of the house. I watched it quite a few times, but the more I watched it, the fishier things seemed. I turned and looked at the apparition and smiled. ¡°Henry Tolbell, thank you.¡±
At these words, the apparition gave a slight nod before disappearing. It was as if he had only stayed to give me this clue. But it was at least a clue. My father dide through this way, but now things seemed more confusing than ever. I guess I can only progress further into the dungeon in hopes of figuring it out. What the truth may be, I do not know. For all, I know, he could really have been looking for treasure, but for me, it seemed like that was not it.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 277 Theory
¨CAN) Runningte. Another chapter will be up soon!¨C
When I went back upstairs, everyone else was already gathered. ¡°Any clues?¡±
¡°Nothing. Just dust and cobwebs.¡± Adel answered.
¡°I got one downstairs in the basement. Iena, have you heard of apparitions?¡± I wanted to confirm everything before I exined anything. I could not be sure if what I saw was real or not.
¡°An apparition? Those are rare. They are known as guides. They will help those who are seeking things. If you saw one and it was what gave you a clue, then it should be trustworthy.¡± Iena answered. I let out a relieved sigh because this meant I was at least able to find a single clue.
¡°If that is the case, then my father dide to this house. He seemed to be searching for something. I am not sure what, but he searched the entire house. But what I do not get is the dust factor. The dungeon should not have been reset if someone was inside it. At least, I think¡. I could bepletely wrong, as dungeons are not really understood yet. But it¡¯s a gut feeling. But I wonder if there might be some kind of time dtion going on because this dust is too thick. And you can clearly see our own footprints on the floors, so if my father was here, there should be some kind of sign.¡± I had been wondering this since I saw the images of my father walking around. If he had truly been walking around, then the dust should have been disturbed, but there was no sign of it. Everything looked untouched, as if no one had entered this ce for many, many years.
¡°Boss, don¡¯t worry. This is at least a sign. We will figure something out. We just need to head to the next house and hope we find another clue.¡± I smiled, knowing that Amanda was trying to make me feel better. I nodded my head and took a deep breath before slowly letting it out.
¡°Let¡¯s search the next house.¡± I could only hope to find more clues. Maybe a kind of path that would eventually lead me to my father.
But even after searching house after house, no more clues appeared. I even searched each floor myself just in case but still nothing. ¡°The trail ended on the first house¡.¡±
¡°Faith, don¡¯t give up hope yet,¡± Sophie said as she came over and hugged me. I was not sure if she was just trying to take advantage of the situation or what, but her fluff was definitely warm.
¡°Mm¡ Let¡¯s keep searching.¡± I never nned to give up. I promised my mother that I would find him. But I found it strange. We had not run into even a single wraith sinceing here, which was making me feel a bit confused. Part of me was yelling at me to test out a theory that was forming in my mind.
¡°Everyone, we are going back to the entrance.¡± I suddenly started causing everyone to look at me in surprise. ¡°Don¡¯t get me wrong, I am not giving up, but I want to test a theory out about this ce. I find it strange. Not a single speck of dust or footprint can be found in this ce, even though my father should have been here. But no proof can be found. If we leave something as a means of a marker and then leave ande back, I want to see if it is still here. I can¡¯t be sure, but I think if we return to this ce, the whole area may just change again.¡±
¡°Alright, let¡¯s do that. Your theory might just be sound. Undead realms can be tricky and such things are also possible.¡± Iena seems to think that I might be onto something.
We ended up taking a bunch of broken wood and piling it just at the entrance of the vige area. It was right on the main path, so it should be easily seen. We then walked back to the entrance of the dungeon and into the safe room. ¡°Should we exit first?¡± Steven asked.
¡°We will exit if we go back out there and find the pile. If we don¡¯t then we can just continue as is and try to find more clues. Otherwise, we will exit and try again.¡± The thing that I worried about was the idea that maybe things were timed, like the dungeon changed every twenty four hours or more.
If this was the case, then we would have to split up and have people attempting to enter and exit until the dungeon changed while the other half kept investigating. And the only one powerful enough to lead a second team was Iena.
The situation was not very favorable. We could only hope that things would work out and that we would unlock the mystery of this dungeon and how it works. ¡°Let¡¯s go back in,¡± I said. We only waited a few minutes, but I was being impatient. I couldn¡¯t wait hours to test this out. I already dyed long enough to make sure we wouldn¡¯t die right away. Now that we could make our way through the dungeon, I did not want to wait any longer. I may have seemed calm this entire time, but in truth, I was very worried. Worried to the point that my stomach felt sick, but I had to keep it together for those around me. If I began panicking, what would they do? I had to keep myself stable.
We went back into the dungeon, and sadly the pile we made was standing tall as we left it. This meant that we needed to exitpletely and then enter again. I stared at therge pile of wood, unsure of what to do. I already had a clue in this dungeon as it was. Should I leave and test my theory or not?
¡°Everyone but myself will exit the dungeon and try for a new one.¡± I should just have Iena do this on her own, but I can not guarantee that I myself will be able to protect everyone on my own without her help. She was much more powerful than I and could easily wipe out a group of monsters on her own. This meant she was the best fit to protect the others.
¡°Sorry, but I can not follow that order.¡±
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 278 Complex Dungeon
¡°I can¡¯t either.¡±
¡°Neither can I.¡±
¡°If Faith is staying here, so am I.¡±
¡°Mmm¡ Meto.¡±
I looked at the five girls who had opposed my decision and sighed. I did originally n to split the group up anyway, so I guess this is okay as well. ¡°Okay, you five can stay then. The rest of you will go with Iena. Iena, test the theory out by doing thirty minute intervals. It might take a while, but I will wait outside for you if I do not see you if I leave the dungeon. And¡. if you run into an issue or find my father, send me a message through our contract.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t worry, Master, I will keep everyone safe. You should stay safe as well.¡± Iena¡¯s expression showed a bit of worry.
¡°I will stay safe,¡± I replied before turning to the others. ¡°You all should stay safe as well. If something happens, just stick together and leave the dungeon as quickly as you can.¡±
After giving a few more instructions, the others left the dungeon while Adel and the others stood there waiting for me to make my next move.
¡°Let¡¯s backtrack over every ce we have already searched just so we can be sure we did not miss anything.¡± After everyone agreed, we headed back off, searching every house until we reached the area we had yet to investigate yet.
¡°Ummm?¡± Adel looked around in confusion. It was not just her but me and everyone else as well. The reason for this confusion was the fact that we were staring at the pile of wood we had set up. We had walked no more than maybe ten feet from thest house we investigated to find ourselves back at the start of the dungeon.
¡°How is this possible!? We didn¡¯t even walk far enough to get lost!¡± Sei yelled out. She was not panicking but more in such a confused state that her brain seemed to be hurting. She stood there holding her head with her mouth open, staring at the pile of wood in shock.
¡°For now, let¡¯s leave one thing here in case this is some kind of copy. We can¡¯t be too careful. We need to figure out how this dungeon truly works.¡± I say this, but I was starting to get worried. This dungeon seemed too strange. Like it was not a dungeon at all but more of a maze¡..
I froze in ce when this idea came to mind. ¡°I think I might know why my father was searching for something.¡±
¡°What do you mean?¡± Sally asked.
¡°Well. Let¡¯s say this ce is not a normal dungeon but more like a huge maze with many starting points. If that were the case, then we would be all starting from different areas, and we just happened to reach the starting point my father got when he first entered the dungeon. Some have monsters in them, like the house I checked when I first entered the dungeon before you all arrived had a wraith. So that was just one of the starting points. In order to progress deeper into the dungeon, we will probably need to find out how to pass through the maze.
¡°And to do this, I think my father had already figured out that we need to find a certain item of some kind, so we need to do a deeper investigation on what that certain item is or if it is an item at all.¡±
¡°Faith?¡± I heard my name called, causing me to turn around to see Iena standing there. ¡°How many times have you entered?¡±
¡°It¡¯s been a day¡. And we havee in and out many times but only ended up here.¡±Iena replied, causing me to frown.
¡°It¡¯s been a day?¡± I sighed as I realized that there seemed to be some kind of time difference between outside and inside.
¡°Yes, it has already been a day, and we keep ending up here,¡± Iena replied.
¡°Alright, then you can stay here with me. We will need to work together because we found something else out.¡± I said and then exined what we had figured out.
¡°I see¡ I guess a maze is not a bad way to phrase it. That would exin why you ended back at the start as if the dungeon was saying you went the wrong way or made the wrong choice. So what do you n to do?¡± Iena asked.
¡°We will keep the same groups. But this time, one team will go left, and the other will go right. I already know straightforward does not work. We will enter the vige and check what happens if we go off track. If you find anything or get reset, meet at the dungeon entrance, and we will go over our findings.¡± This was the only way to really figure this ce out. If we can pool our findings together, we may just find more clues. But now that I think about it, what if the clue my father found was the same? But depicted someone else besides himself? I guess I won¡¯t know until we find another clue like that.
¡°Alright, we will take the left side of the vige.¡± With things decided, we split up once more.
My group took the right side of the vige. We still rechecked the houses here, but there was nothing new. We then made our way between the houses and began checking the backyards and the other surrounding areas. But what we found were more graves and a very eerie feeling. When we reached the backyard of the house that was the furthest on the right, we came upon arge wheat field. ¡°This is?¡±
¡°Should we enter it?¡± Grace asked. As she went to reach out and touch a stalk of wheat, but as her finger touched it, it was like some kind of barrier was blocking her and a liquidy ripple spread out from where she touched the barrier.
¡°It seems we found something¡. We should return and see if anyone else has found anything as well.¡±
Chapter 279 Farm House Part 1
A few hourster, Iena and her group arrived with crestfallen faces. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±
¡°Master! You have no idea! We walked and walked and walked for hours on end, and then suddenly, we found ourselves at the entrance of the dungeon again! I hate this ce!¡± Iena whined and stomped her feet, causing me to chuckle.
¡°Thank you for the hard work,¡± I said with a smile as I walked up to her and patted her head. ¡°But everything was not in vain. We have found something interesting.¡± I said with a smile. My words caught everyone¡¯s interest.
¡°There is what looks to be a wheatfield in the back of one of the houses. But when Grace went to touch the wheat, we found it seemed more like a barrier of some kind. Let¡¯s go investigate what it is.¡± I was hoping this was the key that the dungeon had gimmicks like these that you had to find in order to progress.
With everyone a little more excited now, we made our way back to the wheatfield. We now stood right in front of the barrier. ¡°How should we cross?¡±
¡°Hand in hand. Everyone will hold each other¡¯s hand to pass through the barrier. If, for some reason, we get split up, try to backtrack if you can. If you can not take a single step backward and return to this point, then do not move. Do not move from where you are unless you are under attack.¡± I had no idea what would happen once we crossed the barrier. I just did not want everyone to get split up.
When I checked to make sure everyone was ready, we locked hands. ¡°On the count of three!¡±
¡°One!¡±
¡°Two!¡±
¡°Three!¡±
Everyone stepped forward as one and into the barrier. And I must say that the feeling that I was feeling at this time was stomach turning. I never felt so much motion sickness in my life as I reappeared on what looked to be an open field of some kind. The wheat was no longer visible.
¡°Blergh!¡± A sound came from my side. Adel was hunched over. It was not just her either. Many of us were doing the same. I reached over and rubbed her back. ¡°Let¡¯s hope we do not need to do this more than once.¡±
¡°Gah! That was horrible! Who the hell made this thing!¡± Sei yelled out as she held her stomach. She kept dry heaving as well. Luckily I was able to keep my lunch. But I was just as close as the rest of them to puking as well.
We took a small break to allow us time to recuperate. Only when everyone had their wits about them again did we begin looking around. ¡°Looks like a farm, maybe?¡±
¡°It does, but there is nothing here but grass and the house off in the distance.¡± Steven and Amanda were chatting with one another while I was sending out my detection magic to see if I could pick up on anything. I tried with both regr magic and soul magic and got nothing, which left me feeling a bit disappointed.
¡°Let¡¯s go to the house. Watch your surroundings.¡± I said as I took the lead once more.
The trip to the only house we could see took almost five hours, give or take. It was hard to tell with a sun that did not seem to move. Not that I should expect a sun like object in a dungeon to move. The house we arrived at was not as run down as the houses on the previous floor, I guess you could call it. There was an old broken down wagon outside with overgrown grass andrge dirt patches all over the ce.
There were even a few wooden barrels with holes in them that looked very worn, showing that they must have been here a long time. There was no wind, no birds. It was like the whole area was a void where time did not move. But everyone in her team was here, walking around stirring up the dust that had long settled.
We decided to split up into two teams. Iena and her group would search more around the area while I went into the house with my group. The inside of the house was not empty at all. There was a table with a cloth over it with wilted flowers that had dried up a long time ago. Old trinkets covered in dusty in the cabs that were against the wall. The old wooden rocking chairs, although dusty, had a rustic feel to them. And this was just the first room of the house as we passed through the entry.
¡°This ce looks much more lived in than thest ce,¡± Sophie said as she walked over to the cab. She opened it up and pulled out what looked to be an old picture. ¡°A family of four. Two girls and a husband and wife. The girls look around eight and fourteen, maybe?¡±
¡°Anything peculiar in the pictures?¡± I asked.
¡°Ummm¡ not really. The husband is hugging his wife¡¯s waist with one arm while his other is resting on his oldest daughter¡¯s shoulder. The young girl is leaving against her mother with the back of her head. But what I do find strange is the clothing.¡± Sophie said as she brought the picture over to me. What I saw was something more akin to a North American farmer from Earth clothing wise. Something you would have seen back in the 1920s. ¡°Hmmm¡.¡±
This was very interesting indeed. I took the picture and put it into my inventory. It was something to think about for the time being after I found my father. Maybe a clue to how these dungeons came to be. If these dungeons have something to do with Earth, then I want to know exactly why they do and what is their true reasoning for being here. But I can not assume much of anything just from a photograph.
Chapter 280 Farm House Part 2
¡°Before we do a full investigation, let¡¯s just check for any enemies.¡± I decided this would make things not only faster but safer as well.
We checked the whole house from the second floor to the basement. This time there was no apparition or any clues like that left behind that were easy to find. ¡°The house is empty, so let¡¯s split up. If you find anything that looks off, grab it if you can pick it up. Otherwise, call for us toe take a look.¡±
¡°On it!¡± Adel said while saluting me for some strange reason, but she had a big smile on her face. The group ran off, all except for Sophie, whogged behind. ¡°Sophie?¡±
¡°Faith¡. Can I ask for you to honestly tell me how you feel for Adel and I?¡± Sophie walked up to me and took my hands. ¡°We have both decided to dedicate our lives to you and only you.¡±
This wasing out of left field, so I felt like I had just been truck kun¡¯d once more. But when I looked into Sophie¡¯s upturned eyes that seemed to be full of hope, I could only sigh and pull her into a hug. ¡°I will give it serious thought. But I can not give you a full answer at this time. Can this wait until after I find my father?¡±
Sophie nodded and hugged me back. ¡°Mmm¡ Sorry. I know this was not the time for this, but my mind has been a mess since I found out my true feelings for you. I will wait for your answer. But remember, no matter what the answer may be, Adel and I will always be at your side.¡±
Her words made me smile, and a warm feeling began to fill my heart. I now had to give this more thought and really decide what I should be doing with myself. Even my mother is worried about me. I know this world¡¯s age to be an adult is only one year away for me, but I still have some misgivings. But¡. Maybe¡ Just maybe I can figure out a way to allow everyone I love and care for to live longer lives like my own.
When I went to let Sophie go, she looked up into my eyes. I could tell her feelings for me were genuine as the gaze she was looking at me with was filled with pure love. And without even a warning, she stood on her tiptoes and pushed her lips against mine before running off, leaving me standing there frozen in ce. I am starting to think that I am a bit too defenseless when ites to these two girls! They both stole kisses from me! Adel stole my first kiss, and Sophie stole my second one!
But¡. I touched my lips, which were still slightly warm, and couldn¡¯t help but smile. It did not feel bad¡ To be honest, I am wondering how it would feel to kiss a boy now¡ Wait! Why am I stuck on kissing now!!? ¡°These girls!¡± I cried out before pping my cheeks and going back to investigating.
After getting my mind out of the gutter, I went back to searching the room I was in. Since everyone else ran upstairs, I stayed in the basement and began going through the items here. There was everything from old dolls and old clothes, all very old looking. Dust and cobwebs were covering everything, so I had to use a bit of wind magic to keep myself from gagging.
¡°Still nothing, but many things do not look like anything that could be found in this world. Earth maybe, but not here¡.¡± I sighed as I looked around the room. It was slightly dim in the room, so to make sure I wasn¡¯t missing anything, I waved my hand, sending balls of light to every corner of the room.
As the light filled the room, I spotted something shiny out of the corner of my eyes. My shiny senses instantly activated, and I somehow found myself standing in front of it. I knelt down to find a small rock. I lifted it up and used appraisal on it.
[Norite]
[A stone with no actual use other than its shiny surface that can be used as a stone in jewel crafting. The words: ¡°I am safe.¡± Is carved on the bottom of the stone.]
My eyes instantly went wide when I saw thest part of the description. I turned it over, and my eyes began to tear up. It was his handwriting. I would know it even if it was only carved into the stone. ¡°Father¡¡± I couldn¡¯t stop my tears as I held the stone to my chest. He was so weird. Why a shiny stone!? I wiped my tears and smiled. He knew my habits well. But why only this?
I was a bit confused as to why he only wrote I am safe. Why not more? Why did he leave this stone in the basement? So many questions and no way to answer them, I do not know what I should do.
¡°Faith, you okay down here?¡± Sally¡¯s voice came from the first floor. ¡°Yeah¡. Get everyone down here. I found a clue!¡±
I wanted to make sure I checked every inch of this room with everyone¡¯s help. I couldn¡¯t trust myself not to have skipped anything. So It was best to have all of us check each room together because there might have been something more we might have missed.
¡°What did you find!?¡± Adel asked as she walked over to me. I handed out a stone and showed her the back of it. When she saw it, she startedughing. ¡°Hahaha! Definitely your father! Only he would leave a note on a shiny rock!¡±
¡°Hey! I am not that bad¡.¡± I yelled. But my voice started to grow quieter at the end of my sentence.
¡°At least we know he has been here, so we are still on the right track,¡± Grace said as she came to stand at my side. ¡°Now we just need to figure out how to get to the next area.¡±
Chapter 281 A Connection
We retraced our steps throughout the entire house. But when we still found nothing, we headed outside to see Iena and her group sitting there chatting. ¡°Anything?¡±
¡°Mmm¡. Come take a look.¡± Iena replied. I nodded, and the group and I followed Iena to an area with tall grass and a fence that barely stuck out above it. ¡°The fence seems to be the same as the wheatfield. It was the only spot that we could find that did not bring us back to the house. It¡¯s strange, every time we reached a certain point, we did not reappear at the start of this area but right in the yard at the house. And¡. The spots around the fence will also cause us to reappear at the house. Only this section of fence is the entrance to the next area, it seems.¡±
¡°That¡¯s good to know. I found another clue, this time one left behind by my father.¡± I took out the shiny rock causing everyone there to begin giggling. I humphed and ignored them as I put it away without saying what was on it. ¡°Anyway! Let¡¯s go. We don¡¯t want to waste any more time here.¡±
We gathered together once more and once again held hands as we passed through the barrier, and once again, we all felt sick to our stomachs. But when I lifted my head after almost losing my lunch, I froze. In front of me was not what I was expecting at all. Tall skyscrapers covered in nature that seemed to have reimed thend. Cars that should not exist in this world sat motionless in the streets. The entire ce looked like some kind of post apocalyptic movie.
¡°This ce looks like a city in one of the novels I read!¡± Amanda yelled out, causing me to hold my head. I wonder what she would think if I said that this ce looked very much like the ce I lived in, in my past life.
But seeing a city like this that did not belong to this world in the slightest with the technology that should never have appeared in anything but fantasy tales made me think even more that these dungeons had some connection to Earth or at least a world simr to Earth.
I looked around to see that there were two blocks in total here. Which meant we would be stuck here for a while with how tall these buildings were. ¡°Iena, you take the bloc-street on the right, and I will take the left.¡±
¡°Yes, Master.¡± Iena replied before motioning for her team to follow her.
I made my way to the left block, where we stood on the street that nature was in full control over. ¡°We shall start in this building. One floor at a time. But we will move in a group. No one is to be alone at any given time.¡±
¡°Sounds good to me. To be honest, This ce gives me the creeps.¡± Sei said as she looked at the tall buildings in front of her. I could see why it might freak her out since it did look spooky, but to me, I have seen many pictures of such ces, so it didn¡¯t really affect me much.
We walked up the cracked cement steps and made our way into the first building. I once again made sure the door was broken before entering. And just to be safe, I even added a small barrier around the door frame to make sure nothing sealed us in.
The building we entered seemed to be an office building of some kind. The main entrance had vines and even some saplings growing out of the floor. There was a long reception desk on the back wall, which was where I walked over to first while the others inspected the other parts of the room.
When I arrived at the front desk, I saw many papers strewn about. There wereputers and many other modern things from when I lived on Earth. I was not going to let these things just sit there and go to waste, so I quickly began to stick them into my inventory. If I could replicate some of this stuff, then I would be able to enhance the technology level of this world by leaps and bounds and maybe even make it better than what Earth originally had.
One thing that stuck out to me was the writing on the papers was something I could read, it was all written in english. Not thenguage of this world by any means. I stood there staring at the papers that were nothing more than information that one would give to people who came to ask questions. This ce was probably some kind of newspaperpany. At least, that was what I was getting from the stuff on the desk. It could also be a magazinepany.
I shuffled around the desk to see if I could find anything interesting. One thing that did catch my eye while I was moving all the papers was a slim ck rectangr device, a cell phone. I was unsure if it would turn on or not, but I still pressed the button on the side and attempted to turn it on. The screen flickered slightly before showing apany name that I was familiar with, which made my eyes widen in surprise.
My heart started racing just thinking of the fact that this world, or at least these dungeons, may be connected to the world I once lived in. As I watched the screen change, I couldn¡¯t help but frown when I saw that the phone had no lock set up on it. ¡°Is this person dumb? What if someone stole their phone!?¡±
As I grumbled, I began swiping the screens and checking the apps on the phone. The battery was basically fully charged, and if I was careful with the output, I could even charge it or find a device of some kind in this dungeon that would allow me to charge it normally. But it would need to be some kind of sr powered charger.
¡°If I could somehow find a few more of these and try to replicate them¡.¡± My mind was spinning on what cell phones would do to this world.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 282 The City Part 1
I continued to search the desk and found another cell phone tucked away to the side. This one was locked and had very little battery life. But it woulde in handy for taking apart and seeing how it ticks. I searched the entire desk and found nothing more of interest. I was kinda hoping for a newspaper of some kind but found none. I could only hope to find one up on the top floors. But I did figure out that I was wrong about the building. Thepany was some kind of technologypany, and the things I was reading before were probably some kind of press statement that would be told to reporters who came in. Of course, this was all just my assumptions.
But if this was a techpany, then there might be something on the upper floors of great interest. I mean, any technology that might be replicable through means of magic would be an amazing leap in technology. Like, let¡¯s say we could use runic inscription to recreate aputer board and use lightning magic and let¡¯s say water magicbined as a processor that could process the information. It would revolutionize this world.
Whether that would be good or not is another question. But I do know that some new advancements would help out the kingdom in a big way. But to keep any of this technology from being used by other kingdoms, some things would need to be done to secure them from falling into the wrong hands.
But I know this is also something that would be hard to do unless I had a runic imprint on the item that would explode if a person not registered to it tried to open the tech they stole to try to see how it worked. I guess this could be usible, but a new kind of transmission device with a link to the items would need to be made to allow new people to be registered to that device type so they could do repairs if needed. It did not seem very intuitive, but it would secure the technology. New methods to secure the new technology coulde at ater time.
After storing what I could, I looked up to find the girls had all moved to the hall next to the room I was in and were inspecting the elevator. ¡°How does it open?¡±
¡°I am not sure, but this is definitely a door,¡± Sally replied to Sei¡¯s question.
¡°Should we open it?¡± Adel asked.
¡°We probably shouldn¡¯t. We should wait for Faith in case there is something behind the door that is too strong for us to handle alone.¡± Sophie seemed to be thinking that some kind of huge monster was hidden behind the elevator door. I do hate to say this, but she will be very disappointed to find out that there is only a small room made of metal behind those doors. Or just the shaft, depending if the elevator is on this floor or not.
¡°Did you find anything?¡± I asked as I walked up.
The girls turned to me and shook their heads. ¡°We only found a bunch of things with strange symbols on them, nothing else,¡± Adel answered. I guess they wouldn¡¯t be able to read english since they never came across it before.
¡°I didn¡¯t find anything of use either.¡± I decided not to say anything about theputers and phones at this time. I would wait until we got out of this dungeon. If they found it themselves that is different, I would just store it away to be looked atter.
¡°Faith, should we open this?¡± Sei asked.
¡°Yeah, it seems to be a sliding door. So Sei and Sally get on each side and pull towards you at the seam.¡± I instructed. I already knew how to force an elevator door open. So there was no issue with the two whose strength was above normal humans to force the doors open with ease.
When the doors creaked open, everyone else besides me leaned forward to see what was inside. I could see the excitement and curiosity in their eyes. I wanted to tell them not to keep their hopes up, but I couldn¡¯t bring myself to disappoint them, and what I saw secondster was a bunch of pursed lips and eyes filled with a bit of disappointment. But still, it was better for them to find out themselves that not everything was going to be amazing.
¡°It¡¯s just a small sealed room, so boring!¡± Adel yelled out.
¡°It should be more than that,¡± I said as I tested the elevator to see how secure it was with my hand by pressing down on it with a bit of my strength. When I found it to be sturdy, I walked inside and floated up to the ceiling, and pushed on the light to open the hatch. ¡°There is a door here.¡±
¡°Hey, how did you know that was there!?¡± Sei yelled out in surprise.
¡°Dragon instinct,¡± I replied while sticking my tongue out at her. Of course, this was a big fat lie but well, whatever.
I poked my head up to see nothing but darkness. Not that I nned to climb up through the elevator, but it was still neat to see the elevator shaft as I had only seen one on tv in my past life. I would not risk everyone trying to climb up the shaft, so we would be taking the stairs.
One thing I did take note of was the numbers on the elevator panel. There were sixty floors and three subfloors. This meant we had a lot of ground to cover just in this one building alone. I do hope we will find something worth wild here. While I wanted to find a clue that maybe my father had left behind, I also wanted to find a newspaper or something that told me the current date and time this city was once a living ce, if it ever was.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 283 The City Part 2
We headed upstairs, where we were met with a small reception area by the elevators that had some vending machines and a few ces to sit. When the girls saw the vending machines, they looked as if they were looking at some kind of alien artifact. ¡°What is it!? What are the things inside?¡±
Surprisingly the vending machines had packaged food in them. But this was also good. I was hoping that maybe just maybe, I could get a sell by date. I walked over to the machine and put my fist through the ss, causing the others to stare at me in surprise. ¡°Faith!?¡± Adel was the first to cry out.
¡°Just checking something,¡± I said as I grabbed what looked to be a package of cookies. I looked at the back, and even though the print was slightly faded, I was still able to make out a date: Dec. 6, 2022.
Staring at the date, I couldn¡¯t help but wonder why what seemed like a city block appeared in a dungeon with so many things from Earth. ¡°Faith? Is something wrong? You have been acting strange.¡±
¡°Ah¡ Ummm¡ Well¡.¡± I looked at the girls in front of me, who were all my closest friends, and sighed. ¡°While Adel already probably has some ideas, the rest of you do not know, but before I tell you, what is about to be said needs to be kept to the utmost secrecy. Even the King has forced me to keep my lips sealed, but I can not keep it from the people who are always at my side. And you all have signed a blood seal contract that will keep you from speaking about it anyway. So I will just exin myself.¡±
It seemed that Adel understood what I was getting at. ¡°Faith, these are from the world you lived in, in your past life?¡±
¡°Huh? Past life!?¡± Sophie cried out in confusion.
¡°To answer your question, Adel. Yes. This machine here is called a vending machine. The items inside are foodstuff, but they are not edible now, or at least I wouldn¡¯t eat them. Sei, you can try eating them to see if you get sick.¡± I said in a teasing manner.
¡°Hey! Don¡¯t use me as a test dummy!¡± Sei yelled out.
I chuckled and held out the package in my hand. ¡°Surprisingly enough, this packagees from the year I died. It is a package of food called cookies. This building is some kind of office building, and the things on the street down there are called cars, which are basically horseless carriages. Everything you see here is something from my past life, and it has been bothering me¡.. Why is this all here?
¡°Why did these things appear in a world where they should not belong? What exactly are the dungeons, and why was I born with a system? And now, suddenly, anyone can get one as long as they dive into the dungeon.
¡°Where Ie from, we have a thing called video games. They are a form of entertainment that allows a person to kind of be another person in a story where they are in control of the character¡¯s actions to a certain extent which has these kinds of systems in the game. The world Ie from is not a world of magic but a world of science, like the novels that are in the library. The so called fantasy world you create is a true reality.
¡°But the dungeon seems to be mixing the two worlds¡¯ ideas of fantasy. First, we had a dungeon full of goblins. They are a fantasy kind of monster from the world I used to live in. Then there is this dungeon that has what this world would see as a fantasy. But at the same time, it is all things from my old world.
¡°This is why I have been taking objects from the dungeon and storing them in my space. Any clues I can find that will help me figure out why things are the way they are will allow me to understand just what is going on. Although having some of the things here to use as a means to advance our own civilization is also not a bad idea.¡± I exined as I stored away a vending machine.
¡°So the reason you knew about the hatch in the metal box was¡.¡± Sei began putting two and two together.
¡°Because that is an elevator, and that was an emergency hatch in case it gets stuck,¡± I exined.
¡°Now I get it¡. So they can not work as they are? Is that why we took the stairs?¡± Grace asked.
¡°They run on electricity, something simr to lightning magic. But it is generated in a different manner that does not require magic.¡± They then began bombarding me with question after question. I was starting to be overwhelmed with their curiosity. The only one staying out of it was Adel, who was watching things with a warm smile on her face. I guess she liked the idea that everyone was so open to my exnation. In a way, so was I. No one was looking at me in a strange way which made me feel that no matter what I said or did, they would never see me in a different light as long as I did not go too far.
After about thirty minutes, they calmed down. Sei came over to me and put her arm around my shoulder, and asked: ¡°So do you n to make anything with the stuff you are taking?¡±
¡°I can only hope to recreate things with our current power sources and abilities. If we can advance technology to a higher level, our kingdom will never have to worry about being taken over, and we can have many, many years of peace.¡± I answered with a smile.
¡°You know Faith, I know you love this kingdom, but I think you should think about yourself for once. Do not give up all this technology, as you called it, to the kingdom. Save it and secretly work on it until it is ready and then im all the benefits for yourself. You keep saying you do not want to be a ruler, then act like it by keeping the things you wish to create for your own well being. This way you can at least be the richest person in the world.¡±
Chapter 284 Things Slowly Coming Together… Maybe?
I stared at Adel in amazement. I never thought she would want me to keep my ideas to myself. I figured she would be all for sharing it with the kingdom to develop, but here she was saying that I should keep it for myself. I smiled and shook my head. ¡°I will only be giving some things that will not upset the bnce too much. But only after Ie up with proper safety measures to keep the technology I hand over from being stolen by others.¡±
¡°If that is what you want to do¡.¡± Adel pursed her lips, but what can I say? If it will benefit the people in some way in a good way and allow them to live easier lives, then why not, right? It¡¯s not like I will be taking something like a bomb orser of some kind and using the idea to make some weapon of mass destruction and distributing it to the public to use as they wish.
¡°Anyway, let¡¯s keep looking. We¡¯ve got a lot of ground to cover.¡± With this, we began searching the whole floor. One room at a time. Everyputer or cell phone I came across, I would store in my space. I also had to stop and exin what everything was.
It was not until we reached the fifth floor that I came across a newspaper, and well, what I saw was not exactly what I was expecting. The front page had inrge lettering the Antean race had returned to Earth.
Seeing the words Earth was all I needed to know to officially say that the dungeons and Earth were connected. But what really caught my attention was the lines on the faces of the so called Anteans. They were very much simr to that man Azengrade.
¡°Faith, you find something?¡± Sophie asked as she walked over to me and hugged my arm. ¡°Mmm¡¡± I nodded and lifted my head to look at the others. ¡°Everyone,e here. I want you to hear and see this.¡±
When everyone gathered around, I held up the newspaper in my hand. ¡°Do you see the woman here?¡± I asked as I pointed to the woman in the photo.
¡°She is¡. Wait, she has the same kind of lines as that man!¡± Sei yelled out.
¡°Yes. ording to this newspaper, whether it is true or not. She is what is called an Antean. A race that was only a myth to the folklores of Earth. They were supposed to be a highly advanced civilization that was long lost. No one knew where they went or how they disappeared. But the ce known as Antis was something that many lores of old on Earth had spoken about.
¡°I am not sure if these people were lying or not, but ording to these newspapers, they were these so called Anteans who had left Earth to travel the stars only to return thousands of yearster.
¡°But this also could be a hoax created by the dungeons as well. I think these dungeons may have been created by these so called Anteans, a race from space. But none of it adds up¡. This newspaper is dated a few months before I died.¡± I said point at the date, which read: March 16, 2022. And now that I was thinking about it, Jen also lived almost another ten years past 2022. So all my assumptions are thrown out the window.
¡°Then what is going on?¡± Grace asked. She looked very confused.
¡°I don¡¯t know¡.. On Earth, there was a theory of a thing called parallel worlds, or it could also be called a multiverse. Let¡¯s say you had one world and then copied it over and over, only changing one thing per time it was copied, giving a slight variationpared to thest, whether it was a point in history or even a single organism that died out before they had a chance to do anything. Or maybe even the chemicalposition of the itself, creating a world not based on science but based on magic instead.
¡°This is all just an assumption, but if this was the case. Would Earth still be called Earth? What if it was called Mestea, for example?¡± I could see the heads swaying back and forth of the others as they tried to understand what I was saying, but if a race of earthlings had mixed science and magic together to create a new, highly advanced civilization, and were these so called Anteans that the newspaper was talking about they could probably cross over to different multiverses. Or there could have been some kind of freak ident.
In a way, it kind of made sense since Azengrade was able to control part of the dungeon. But whether my thinking was correct or not was another story. Even I am surprised that I was able toe up with such a hypothesis so quickly with limited information. I guess maybe high intelligence is also a good thing.
But the more I thought about it, the more things kind of clicked together like a jigsaw puzzle. Once the pieces began falling into ce, the image would be clearer and clearer. If my train of thought is correct, then the world of Mestea, the I am living on, might just be Earth in a new form.
¡°Wait, stop, my head hurts!¡± Sei yelled out. Sally was right next to her holding her head as well.
¡°I think I kind of get it, but at the same time, I do not. So what you are saying is that the world we live in is linked to your old world in some shape or form?¡± Grace asked.
¡°Mmm¡ I think that the multiverse theory that my world¡¯s scientists hade up with is actually correct. It¡¯s just that not everything is an exact copy. Things change. Like this world¡¯s day cycle and year cycle are longer than that of my past life. It has two suns whereas mine only had one. If this is correct and the Anteans were able to form some kind of tunnel to this world from their own¡. ¡°
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 285 The Message On The Wall
¡°If that is the case and they are all as powerful as Azengrade, wouldn¡¯t that mean we are all in serious trouble?¡± Adel asked.
¡°To be honest, yes, if that is the case. But we do not have enough to go on. He could be a special case. Someone who fell through a hole and arrived here by ident. For all we know, something could have gone wrong on their, and the stories and cities of that world turned into separate dungeons that are now appearing in our world. But this also still leaves a lot of questions and no answers. So we can only specte for the time being.¡± I answered. ¡°For now, let¡¯s just try to find any signs that my father has been to this part of the dungeon.¡±
With this, we continued our search floor after floor and then onto the next building. Because we were searching through everything with a fine toothb, we spent four days just searching. And in the end, we found nothing. ¡°Was your father not here?¡±
¡°Might be possible¡.¡± It might be possible that the dungeon rotated at some point, causing us to end up somewhere else, but I would not know for sure unless I searched the other side.
¡°Let¡¯s go meet up with Iena and the others. We will switch sides and research each other¡¯s areas..¡± I was feeling a bit discouraged. After all, I was hoping to find another easy clue, but it seemed I was not going to be able to do things so easily.
When we made our way over to the other block, I saw that Iena and her team were standing there staring at something. ¡°Iena, what¡¯s wrong?¡±
¡°Master, look at that. What do you think that means?¡± I turned and looked at what Iena was talking about, and what I saw made my cheeks turn red.
¡°That damn old man!¡± I yelled out. I have no idea what is wrong with his head, but that old bastard actually wrote something so embarrassing on the wall!? And in such big letters. ¡°I am starting not to care about him anymore¡.¡±
¡°Hehe¡¡± I heard Adel giggle from behind me. I turned and gave her an evil eye. ¡°Everyone does it!¡±
The stupid old man actually wrote: ¡°Faith, I am pretty sure you are in the dungeon looking for me, so I am fine but remember, if you see something scary, don¡¯t wet your pants like you did that one time when you were little!¡±
I could feel my whole face heating up. Everyone was smiling at me knowingly. I red at them as I said: ¡°If you do not want me to use dragon speak to make you all tell me your most embarrassing moments, then I suggest you leave me alone!¡±
¡°Hahahahaa!¡± Steven suddenly burst outughing. Causing me to grit my teeth. ¡°Steven! Tell me what your most embarrassing moment is!¡±
Steven¡¯s eyes dulled as he began to speak: ¡°When I was eight, my brother tricked me into running around the town naked, and from that moment on, I was called Little Weewee by all the neighbors.¡±
¡°¡±Pfft!¡±¡± Sophie and Grace both burst outughing. The two quietest people on the team were now in tearsughing. But I mean, it was funny. I watched as Steven¡¯s eyes came back to life as he looked around. He was very confused as to why everyone was staring at him andughing. ¡°What!?¡±
¡°Don¡¯t worry¡. Pff¡ Little Weewee. We will not judg¡ Pff¡ Judge you¡ hahahahahahahahahahahaha! I can¡¯t, Little Weewee! Hahahaha.¡± I couldn¡¯t help butugh, I mean. To think he would have such a nickname.
¡°Wha? How did you know my childhood nickname!? Wait!? Faith, you really made me talk!?¡± Steven¡¯s face was bright red. He dropped down and hugged his knees as he buried his face in them.
Amanda walked over to him and patted his shoulder. ¡°Next time, hold it in better when you want tough at Faith. She is not our boss for no reason, you know.¡±
¡°Ahhh! I will one day get revenge!¡± Steven suddenly stood up and yelled. ¡°Laugh! So what! It was when I was a kid!¡±
As we allughed and joked, I was actually quite happy. Luckily my father was able to leave a message behind that I would see. I had worried that I might have lost the trail that would allow me to find him. But he seems to be moving right along with ease.
In the end, I still went through Iena¡¯s block and secured anything that was useful for future endeavors. Iena had already found the way to the next area, which was in a parking garage on the top floor at the rear door of a box truck.
When we passed through it, wended in what now looked like a futuristic version of the same city blocks as before. ¡°This is¡.¡± If anything, this was a major find. ¡°Same as before, spread out and search for any clues.¡±
We quickly split up. When I stepped foot onto the street, the first thing I did was walk over to one of the cars that were lying half on the street and the other half on the curb. ¡°A flying car¡.¡± I looked it over a few times before storing it away. I did not have time to fully inspect it, but I did check the engine. It was not a normal car engine. I was hoping that these cars were abination of magic and technology. If it was, it would be a huge find and would help me greatly in my production of new things.
When we entered the first building, we all froze in our tracks and quickly went on the defensive. A human stood in front of us and suddenly bowed. ¡°Wee to Medfonics. May I ask what you are here for today?¡±
¡°You are not human?¡± I asked. The girls were all looking at me in surprise. But this was a given as I had spoken in english.
Chapter 286 X7
¡°Human? No, I am not. I am X7 serial code 238745. I am nothing more than a humble android.¡± X7 replied. An android¡. I walked up to X7 and looked him over, and even poked his face. Everything about him felt real. As I did this, the girls all watched me with great diligence, as if they were waiting for it to attack me at any moment. I could have told them that it was fine, but this was a good chance to let them learn to always be on guard.
¡°How long have you been in operation?¡± I asked. Since it was able to tell that we were people, then it may have some valuable information.
¡°ording to my creation date, fifteen million years have passed,¡± X7 replied. But I guess my question was too broad.
¡°Let me ask you this. When was thest time you saw a human besides us?¡± If I narrow it down this much, I should be able to get a better date on when this ce was once a thriving ce.
¡°Three days ago,¡± X7 replied, causing me to raise an eyebrow.
¡°Was it a man¡± I bit my lip, hoping it was my father. If it was, I could see my father trying tomunicate with this thing and even asking it to leave a message.
¡°It was indeed a man. But mynguage processing unit was unable to understand hisnguage. I did record what was said before the man walked away as protocol stats in my programming.¡± X7 replied.
¡°y it for me, please¡. That man should have been my father¡.¡± I was d X7 had such a function.
¡°Reying now: ¡®Hey, what is this? Are you an enemy?¡¯ My father¡¯s voice came out of X7¡¯s mouth. ¡®Not an enemy, huh? What the hell are you? I can not sense any lifeing from you. Anyway¡. Since you are not an enemy, I will just leave you here. If my daughteres by, ry a message to her. Keep going, and meet me at the end of the dungeon. We will reunite there. And¡. I will leave another message for you at the desk of this building. I know you are probably going crazy and cursing me for being stupid for continuing my dive. But I feel something is strange about this ce.
¡®It all feels off to me as there is some kind of connection to another world or something along those lines. Dungeons may not be what we think they are. But don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m fine. Hell, I even leveled up a bit. So the floors you visit should be quite safe. Who would have known the first floor had some texts on how to defeat these white monster things? I even searched the whole damn ce for more¡. Anyway, I am just rambling now. Faith, always remember to stay strong and believe in your old man. I promise I will not die on you. Anyway, I am off. See you at the dungeon¡¯s end. I wonder if you will ever hear this. Can this thing even understand me?¡¯
¡°End of recording. The man walked to the desk and left a note. But I could not understand what it said, so I left it there.¡± X7 exined.
¡°Thank you, X7.¡± I looked at the android that seemed to have lost its purpose and decided on something. ¡°X7, I will be storing you away for the time being. Once I leave the dungeon, I will let you back out. Do you have the ability to self learn newnguages?¡± I asked.
¡°This is part of my programming, yes,¡± X7 replied.
¡°Then that makes things easier. I will help you learn this world¡¯snguage when we get back to my home. There is nothing left here for you to do. If anything, you would probably be attacked by the next people thate through here. But before I store you, can you tell me when thest time you saw someone other than the man you just spoke about?¡±
¡°To answer your question 7 million years ago,¡± X7 replied. This meant whatever made the city as it is now was probably done at that time. Which is why¡.
¡°X7, can you tell me what caused this building and its surroundings to end up like this?¡± If I could get a better clue, it would really help me out.
¡°I will rey what happened that day¡.¡± X7¡¯s eyes began to glow as a small screen appeared in front of us. It showed the building and what was happening outside the window and into the street. Many humans and flying cars were passing by. That was when suddenly something looked strange. The people began to digitize. I mean, this is the only way I could describe it. The humans were turning into strange greenish squares that floated up into the air. The flying cars began to crash into buildings, and then after about a minute, it was silent. The sky above had been gray the entire time as it is now.
¡°Fast forward at the fastest speed.¡± I wanted to see if anything else happened but did not have time to watch it every second. Soon the screen was moving at a fast pace. The view changed from what looked like an employee lounge to the front door once more. The scene outside turned from a thriving city to a ce overrun by nature. But the sky always stayed gray, never any blue to be seen. Millions of years passed in minutes until the view of my father appeared: ¡°Stop! yback at normal speed.¡±
My father stared at X7 while rubbing his chin and even poked it in the face like I did. Only after a few minutes of inspection did he begin to talk to it and leave a message. He then left the main hall probably to search the building. But he looked in good shape with no wounds or anything. Still the handsome father I remember him as. My eyes began to water up knowing that he was fine and in good health.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 287 [Last Weeks Bonus Chapter]Crazy Finds Part 1
¡°Thank you, X7.¡± I gave my thanks. He had helped some of my worries.
¡°It is my pleasure to be of assistance. But if I may ask. When you said you would take me from this ce, were you telling the truth?¡± X7 seemed to be more sentient than I had thought. Maybe the many years of loneliness had gotten to him, so he had learned to gain a bit of self awareness.
¡°Yes, I would not lie. I see no point in you continuing to stay here. I will only store your way in my inventory for a short time, and when I return home, you will be given your own room and can do as you please. If you want a job, I can even find you a job.¡± I replied. I had no idea how its programming worked, but if it was asking me something not in its normal programming, then this was good.
¡°Then I will take you up on the offer as no humans resided in this ce,¡± X7 replied.
I smiled and held out my hand to him: ¡± Then take my hand. I will store you in my inventory now.¡±
X7 reached out and grabbed my hand, and then disappeared. I turned and looked at everyone who was staring at me in shock. ¡°Faith, did you just teleport him somece?! And what was that strangenguage you were speaking!?¡± Adel suddenly bombarded me with questions.
¡°I was speaking anguage from Earth, called english. It was one of the mostmon tongues spoken on the. And no, I did not teleport him anywhere. I just put him in my space as he was not real. But what is called an android or robot? A life form created with technology.¡± I tried to exin, but it was hard when the concept of a robot was not really a thing here.
¡°Your old world was crazy¡.¡± Sally said while holding her head. I guess this was all too much for her.
¡°This kind of technology was not something the world I came from could produce yet. This whole area is in a future time frame from when I lived there. Or it coulde from a different parallel universe. Remember how the Anteans had appeared in the same time frame as when I was alive before on the previous floor? But that was not my world. So this world and that were different, and this one and the world with the Anteans might be different as well.¡± I exined lightly.
¡°So, in other words, your old world was crazy!¡± Sally repeated herself, causing us to chuckle.
¡°Let¡¯s just leave it at that. Anyway, let¡¯s begin our search. I want to see what the note says that my father left behind.¡± I walked over to the desk to see many new things that I did not recognize, but they looked like they might be useful, so I stored them into my space. It took a minute, but I did find the note that my father had left for me.
¡®Faith if you are reading this. Then that means one of two things. You found out about me from the weird non-life form, or you just walked past it and found the note anyway. Either way, we will meet at the end of the dungeon. Stay safe.¡¯
I smiled and kept the note. He seemed determined to investigate this dungeon thoroughly but what I did not understand was if he was clearing all the floors of monsters, then how was he defeating them? Was he hiding some kind of secret? Or was the spell he got from the information he found so powerful that it was able to disregard the level difference? Well, I guess as long as he is okay.
We searched every floor. But I really couldn¡¯t find anything like a newspaper to give me any kinds of dates or times, so I could only hope that the devices I had been picking up would have something for me to look at.
But when we reached the tenth basement floor, I finally found something very interesting. ¡°It¡¯s huge!¡±
It was indeed huge. To me, it looked like a spaceship, but I could be wrong. But I knew one thing and that was I wanted to investigate it and see how it ticked. ¡°Gather everything in this room. I will store it away. If we can replicate this ship at some point, the security of the kingdom will be safe for many many years.¡±
The ship in question was at least one thousand feet in length and at least four hundred feet tall. It was a huge machine that had a width of at least another five hundred feet. If such a thing was replicated with magic and had magic based weapons and defenses, it would be basically unstoppable. If my dreams were true and war was eventuallying with people like Azengrade, then I wanted to make sure that I could easily defend my homnd. And technology like this was going to be needed, because I was only one person. Even if I summoned every high ranking demon, there was no telling if we would still win, so the more things we had to fight with, the better.
It took many hours, but we finally collected everything and stored it away. What was left was nothing but a barren room and a bunch of cables leading to some kind of power source. And this power source was next on my list of things to find. ¡°Everyone, let¡¯s search for the power source in this ce. But do not go near it until I have used Appraisal on it.¡±
¡°You n to take the power source as well?¡± Sophie asked.
¡°Mmm¡ I mean, why not, right? A power source that may not use mana, or if it does use mana, it is a power source that is magic and technologybined. And one that seems infinite to be powering the ce for so long.¡± I never expected that I would be diving into a dungeon and walking out with advanced technology. It was better for me to take it now than having someone else get their hands on it. Like, let¡¯s say Azengrade.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 288 Crazy Finds Part 2
We searched the whole room from top to bottom but still found no way to ess the power source that was powering this basement floor. The other floors did not have power at all, and this one floor alone was enough to take up the two city blocks. I was not sure about the other buildings, but I did not see any stairs leading down to this basement level from another building.
¡°I think I found something!¡± Sei yelled out from across the room. Everyone was split up on each side of the room, so it took us all a few minutes just to get to her.
Sei was standing on top of a section of the floor, stamping her foot. She then pointed at the ground and said: ¡°This section sounds different from the others.¡±
I looked down at where she was talking about and scanned the floor. A few inches away from where she was standing, I could see a thin hairline crack in the floor. ¡°So easily missed¡..¡± I said while pursing my lips. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s try to get it open.¡±
We searched the entire area and found no means of opening it. As we searched, I started to feel that maybe sending everything into my space was not such a good idea. There was probably some equipment of some kind that had a button that would open this hatch.
¡°Hmmm¡¡± I transformed my hand just enough to create my ws on my hand the same size as my finger and stabbed at the spot that should be the hatch to the power source, only to have my hand deflected at thest second. ¡°Ouch!¡± I cried out. My poor fingers! It was no different than stubbing one¡¯s toe!
¡°Faith, are you okay!?¡± Sophie cried out as I shook my hand. It really stung!
¡°Yeah, but it seems there is some kind of barrier on this thing,¡± I replied. ¡°I guess not everything will be easy. Everyone back up.¡±
On mymand, everyone quickly backed up as I took my dragon form. I raised my w and smashed down at the small hatch with everything I had!
*Bang!*
A loud bang echoed through the room, causing the other girls to cover their ears while I clutched the floor with my ws and ripped up a huge chunk of the floor. What was revealed was arge area under the floor that had a huge machine of some kind with a blue, glowing orb set in the middle. This orb had blue arcs of lightninging off of it. I could feel that this was indeed a massive ball of mana. ¡°Jackpot!¡±
I transformed back into my human form and floated down into the room with the power source, and used appraisal.
[Mana Capacitor]
[A power core to generate the same amount of power as a small sun.]
Reading the information, I couldn¡¯t help but be stunned. So much power could easily power an entire sr system. I couldn¡¯t help but shake in excitement, knowing that I was going to be getting my hands on such a thing. For something like this, I would need to take the entire room, cables and all, to be sure nothing was out of ce. I did not dare to just take the machine itself in case there was some kind of special setup with the room that kept it all contained. I used detection magic to check how deep the entire ce went before cing my hand on the wall, and in an instant, the entire ce was nothing more than arge dirt hole in the ground that was so deep that it looked like a ck abyss from where I was floating.
I flew back up top andnded in the previous room with a big smile on my face. ¡°We really struck gold this time. Come on, we got more buildings to explore and things to take!¡±
The girls all looked at me with stunned expressions before bursting out inughter. ¡°Faith, you sound like a bandit.¡±
¡°I can only be a bandit in dungeons, so let me enjoy myself!¡± I said with a bright smile.
We went building to building, and I scooped up whatever technology I saw. If Azengrade decided toe here, I did not want him to be able to take anything. Or anyone for that matter. When we met up with Iena, I once more ran through every building at top speed and grabbed everything from her side as well. Even the cars in the street were not safe from my plundering.
As for the entrance to the next area, it was quite difficult to find as we had to climb to the top of the tallest building and up a pole at the tip top to find the entrance. This time I tethered everyone together with magic and jumped through the entrance pulling everyone along. Luckily it worked, and no one was separated. This was my biggest fear.
But now, what stood before us was no longer cities of any kind but a barren desert that had three suns shining down on us. The temperature was so high that even I was starting to sweat. ¡°Cooling¡.¡±
¡°Faith, you are a goddess!¡± Steven cried out as he felt the cool air wash over him.
¡°And you are Little Weewee,¡± I replied with a smile, causing Steven¡¯s cheeks to blush and the others tough.
¡°Let me send my detection magic out. I want to see if there is anything out there.¡± I sent my detection magic in all directions. I prated the sand dunes to see if anything was underneath them, and to my surprise, there was a very familiar site under the city. ¡°The same city but¡. This one is covered in sand¡. And the sky is blue with three suns¡..¡±
It makes me wonder just what happened. This was probably another variation of the previous world, but some disaster happened on this version, or at least I think¡
Chapter 289 The Dungeon Kingdom
¡°Stay back. I am going to move all this sand,¡± I yelled out as I stood a hundred feet or so away from the entrance of the city blocks. If I could gain two of these free of charge, then I was not going to let it go. I also wanted to take all the technology here as well. I closed my eyes and stretched out my hands before opening them again. The ground shook as the sand in front of us, over a thousand feet in all directions, was lifted into the sky. It was then wrapped in a barrier and moved to the side. I had also created a barrier around the city blocks to keep the surrounding sand from falling into it again.
¡°Faith, are you sure you should have done that?¡± Adel asked. I know what she was worried about. ¡°It¡¯s fine. Thest message told me to meet him at the bottom of the dungeon. And he is not dumb enough to try to leave a message here of all ces. To him, this was probably just a desert area that might have had some monsters in it. Even if he detected the city, he would not be able to move all this sand at once.¡±
¡°I see¡ You know your father well.¡± Adel said with a smile.
¡°Of course! He is a man worthy of being looked up to. And he is my father, after all.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but smile, thinking back to all the father daughter moments we had while I was growing up. He is a silly man and a great father.
The only thing different about this ce was that the X7 of this floor was not functioning when I found him. But I still stored this X7 away in case he ever needed spare parts. We cleaned out all the buildings, and I also got my hands on a second mana capacitor. Surprisingly it was still very much functional.
We checked around quite a bit but found nothing out of the ordinary. I figured maybe, X7 could tap into his other world counterpart to shed some insight on what happened to this world. In the end, we found the portal to the left of the city in the middle of the desert. When we passed through the barrier, we came out to what seemed to be a thriving kingdom.
¡°Oh? Residents?¡± I looked around from the mountain top we were on and found that the ce was very much alive. From my point of view, there were many towns and viges and even a city off in the distance.
¡°What should we do here?¡± Iena asked. I was also unsure as this floor was unlike the other dead floors.
¡°I am not sure. We can only try to find the barrier wall. However, this ce looks more like a medieval Earth era than a ce with magic. Speaking of which, everyone, check your ability to move your mana.¡± I had a strange feeling that something was different about this floor of the dungeon.
¡°I can, but it¡¯s very minimal.¡± Grace was not the only one, everyone else was too. And as for me¡. ¡°I am still the same¡ I wonder if it has to do with my system¡¡±
¡°Isn¡¯t that a little unfair!¡± Sei whined as she created a dinky fireball.
¡°My magic is fine as well¡.¡± Iena said as she created arge fireball with ease.
¡°Is it because you are connected to me? Hmmm¡.¡± I decided to try tethering everyone to my mana pool, and surprisingly this did work quite well¡ ¡°I see¡ So this is due to how much mana a person has. Since Iena feeds off my mana, she would naturally have her normal powers, but you all do not, which restricts your power. So being connected to my mana fixes this issue. It¡¯s like finding an exploit in the dungeon system. Alright, we will be moving as one anyway, so this works out well.¡±
We climbed down the mountain and found a dirt road that looked to be well traveled. I had no idea if we were heading east, west, north, or south, but we were definitely turned right onto the road. We were not in too much of a hurry since this ce was much different than the other floors.
When we arrived at the first town, we noticed the tall log style wall surrounding it. Outside were guards with spears and metal armor standing there as they inspected the carts and the people entering. And this was when the first problem arose.
¡°Ahh, demon!¡± Someone yelled out in my current worldsnguage while looking straight at me. I frowned as I looked at the person who screamed but they seemed to be truly terrified. Not more than a few secondster, the entire line of people began to react and scream out in horror. Adel and Sophie came over and held my hands. They knew the things I had been through since young, so I guess they were worried about me.
¡°Stand down, demon!¡± One of the guards yelled out, causing me to frown once more.
¡°Who are you calling a demon!?¡± Adel yelled out. ¡°Can you not see all the humans in our group too!? If she was a demon, would we be next to her!?¡±
¡°Humph! For all I know, you are all demons! You will alle with us!¡± The guard yelled. I sighed and pulled Adel back.
¡°Since we are unweed, we will leave,¡± I said with a smile and bowed my head.
¡°Faith! Why are you¡.¡± I stopped Adel once more and shook my head.
¡°They might not be used to demi humans or why might not exist in this world. So they are only scared of what they do not understand.¡± I replied. I did not want to cause a scene when we did not need to. If they let us leave on our own, that would be the best oue. The worst case oue is that we would be put in jail, which was also fine. Either way, it was not like they could keep us here if we truly wished to leave.
Chapter 290 Taming Nobels! Gotta Catch Them All! Not!
¡°Halt! Who said you could leave!?¡± The guard yelled out. I knew he wouldn¡¯t let us leave, but it was still worth a try.
¡°So you are forcing us all to stay?¡± I asked as I turned around and looked at the guard. An idea started to form in my mind. ¡°As long as we can stay together in the same cell, we will go with you.¡±
¡°You! Do you think you have the right to make demands!?¡± The guard yelled out.
To his question, I only smiled and nodded: ¡°You say I am a demon, but you act all high and mighty. What is stopping me from destroying this town? Don¡¯t think just because I am not causing trouble that you can walk all over me because if you do¡.¡±
Since they wish to call me a demon, I will just make it so I can be seen as a demon. My hand grew to twice the size of my body, causing everyone to scream out in fright while the guards who came over, faces¡¯ paled and began to shake in fear. ¡°So, do we get to stay together in the same cell?¡±
The guard quickly nodded. I think he was very much confused as to why I was willing to go with him without making a fuss. ¡°Fo-Follow me¡¡±
I nodded and turned to everyone else, and motioned for them to follow. We followed the guard through the gates to a guard house that was stationed just inside. He then brought us to a back room that had metal bars but was actually well furnished. My guess is this was more of a noble holding cell than a criminal one. ¡°Please stay here for the time being. I will need to contact my superiors.¡±
¡°Thank you.¡± I gave my thanks before entering the spacious cell with everyone else. Of course, they were all staring at me in confusion.
¡°Faith¡¡± Adel was the first to speak up. She seemed to always be the group¡¯s representative.
¡°You are all wondering why I did what I did, right?¡± I asked, and everyone nodded in response. Except for Iena, she seemed to understand my n.
¡°It¡¯s simple, really. Think about it. If I were to show that I am indeed a demon yet am willing to follow the rules, they would show less hostility towards us out of fear, but on top of that, they will contact the higher ups. They will then treat us as guests because any smart nobleman will try to gain our favor in order to use our power to benefit them. But¡. for us, this makes things easier to handle. We need to find the entrance to the next floor, right? We need freedom of movement within the kingdom which means we will need to work our way to the top using the small noble who rules this town and then gain the attention of a higher noble. Adel, you should know this more than anyone.¡± I exined.
¡°I see¡. So we are basically using anyone and everyone of power until we reach the top.¡± Adel fully understood.
¡°Yep! And it won¡¯t take long to do. We just need to find out what rank the person is in the next town, and if they are too low or the same rank as the one ruling this town, we can ask about the town after that. Maids and servants will be very much open to telling you such things with a bit of coin. This is a ce without magic, from the looks of things, so it will be easy to do. No magic means no magic contracts on servants. We can easily loosen their lips.¡± It was the same in the novels I read and even in history. A servant was not always loyal to their master, and this caused the death of many masters and nobles in ancient times and in stories.
¡°I see. I see. Faith, you are brilliant!¡± Adel smiled as she hugged me.
¡°Anyway, do not take offense to anything that is said. And most importantly, disy your power only when they think they have the status to suppress you. A noble values their life more than anything after all.¡± It may be different for those in my team since most of theme from noble houses, but most nobles would always value their lives over others. Even going so far as to sacrifice their own family members to keep their lives.
¡°Anyway, let¡¯s enjoy this small break and rest,¡± I said as I walked over to a corner of the room and sat down on the plush carpet. I then leaned against the wall and closed my eyes. Not even a few secondster, I had two soft bodies leaning against me. One fluffy, one princess.
Three hourster I awoke when I heard a shout: ¡°Lord Julius is here!¡±
¡°These are the demons? Hmmm¡.¡± A rich, plump man walked in with gold practically covering his entire body. I always hated that about the rich nobles. They really did things in such a gaudy way.
¡°Yes, My Lord! I saw it with my own eyes. The girl¡¯s arm transformed into a monster¡¯s w.¡± The guard replied.
¡°Oh?¡± The noble looked over at me with a strange gaze as he ordered: ¡°Show me!¡±
¡°Huh? Is that how you ask someone to do something!? Do not think I am in this cell because you can keep me here. I came here voluntarily. Even if you sent your entire kingdom¡¯s army after me, you would not be able to hurt me. So show some respect when asking me to do something. Say, please show me.¡± I was not going to listen to any demands. I was only here to use them, not to be their pet.
¡°You! You dare defy this lord!?¡± The noble yelled out. ¡°Drag her out here!¡±
¡°My Lord, please calm down! She is not someone we can really handle!¡± The guard was smart, it seems. He had seen me transform, after all.
¡°I dare go against mymand!? Someone, drag him away!¡± The noble yelled out, causing me to frown.
*Bang!*
The cell door hit the ground with a flick of my finger. ¡°I already said I was not in here because I was captured but that I was in here willingly. Lord, whatever your name is. You can either work with me or against me, pick.¡±
Chapter 291 Becoming A Demon Lord!
¡°You! Do you not know who I am!? I am the lord of this town! I make the rules! If I tell you to show me, you will show me!¡± The lord seemed to have lost his mind.
¡°Geh¡. This man is useless. Steven, smack him for me.¡± I decided that maybe the nice route was not the best route.
¡°Yes, Boss!¡± Steven happily walked over to the so called lord, raised his hand, and smacked him, sending the noble flying to the ground. ¡°Boss, shouldn¡¯t you be the new city lord? Since they called us demons, let¡¯s just act like it.¡±
¡°Are you saying demons are all uncivilized as this bastard!?¡± Iena yelled out, causing Steven to flinch and shrink down.
¡°Miss Iena, that is not what I meant!¡± I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle. Steven was all over the ce.
¡°Iena, what he said was not a bad idea. Earth where Ie from foretold stories of demon lords who would take over thends. His idea actually makes things easier and quicker for us. I wanted to go the nice route and just work up through the ranks, but that could also take a long time. But if we just march from town to town and city to city and take them all over as we make our way to the capital, we should be able to find the entrance to the next floor quickly.¡± I also wonder if this will help the people that are living here if we change the leadership. Well, it really depends on the noble ruling the town at the time.
¡°Any nobles who act like this one throw them out and dispose of them, then find someone with a head on their shoulder to take their ce. Mmm¡ yes, let¡¯s have this guard here take his ce.¡± I pointed to the guard, who seemed to have some reason in him.
¡°Huh? Me?¡± The guard¡¯s eyes went wide.
¡°Yes, you. Are you up to the job of keeping this town in order?¡± I asked.
¡°Huh? Yes!¡± The guard suddenly saluted me. I nodded and told him to go ahead and deal with the old lord as he saw fit and to clean out the lord¡¯s manor as it would now be his new home. The guard dragged the old lord off in a daze. But after he turned the corner, I heard a yell of happiness which caused me to smile.
¡°Now then!¡± I said as I turned to the other guards who were standing there in confusion. ¡°Let us search the town. You and you will be our escort. But when talking to the citizens, be nice about it. Just tell them we are searching for a criminal.¡±
¡°Yes! Please follow us!¡± The two guards quickly snapped out of their daze and saluted me. They then motioned for me to follow them, so me and the others in my group began searching the town.
The town itself, with how it was set up, reminded me very much of the movies I saw of the middle ages back on Earth. Although I did find it strange that thenguage this time was the same as in my new home world. I wonder if this is because it was a variation of that world that did not have magic? All I know is it made things much easier since I would not need to trante everything being said. This probably made it easier for my father as well. And since he looked human, he would not be suspected of being a demon. In other words, he got a free ride!
We searched the entire guardhouse from the top floor down to every inch of the dungeon. From there, we went to the next building, which was a pub. It was quite lively until I entered with the guards. The ce went dead silent. ¡°We are only here to search the building for a criminal. We are not here to disturb your fun.¡± The guard yelled out. This seemed to soothe the people¡¯s worries a little, but they still looked at me with a bit of fear. I was not offended. I mean, it was not like they had seen demi humans before.
But I couldn¡¯t just search the walls and things either. I walked over to the counter where an older burly man stood washing his cups. ¡°Master, can I ask you a question?¡±
The older burly man turned around and looked at me but did not seem to be startled by my appearance. ¡°Little Miss, you need something from this old man?¡±
¡°Mm¡ I was wondering if you saw a man that came here not long ago.¡± I went ahead and began describing my father¡¯s features to the older burly man.
¡°Hmm¡ Now that you mention it, about two days ago, such a man stopped by here. He was doing what your group is doing as well. However, he was not doing it as openly. He didn¡¯t say much. He bought a drink and some food and left.¡± The older burly man replied.
¡°Okay, thank you. If he stops in again, tell him Faith is looking for him and to head to the capital.¡± I then passed the older burly man a gold coin. ¡°This is for the trouble I am causing.¡±
The old burly manughed and shook his head. ¡°You must be rted to that man because he did the same thing.¡±
I let out augh as I stood up. ¡°That I am. He is my father.¡±
The old burly man smiled as he said: ¡°I hope you find him, Little Miss.¡±
¡°Me too!¡± With that, I left the pub with everyone in tow. I at least now know that my father had been there. And there is a good chance he was still in this kingdom, especially if he had only been here two days ago.
Once I find him, though, I will give him a big piece of my mind! I mean, he left my mother without telling her he would be diving deep into the dungeon! She is going crazy because of it!
¨CAN) I edited this fast as I had to run out the door, but if you find any mistakes, please let me know in thements I will fix them. Thanks!¨C
Chapter 292 Acting The Part!
¡°So what¡¯s the n?¡± Steven asked as we all gathered in the street.
¡°That lousy father of mine has been here. He is not like me and has full human features, so he is probably moving around with ease. We will stick to the n and split up. We will move from town and city one after the other across the floor and just take over everything wee across. But try to do so without bloodshed. If the one in charge of the ce you are in is a good person, let them stay as the head as long as theye under yourmand. We will meet at the capital. If you run into an enemy that is powerful, just run away. Do not fight them. After all the training you have endured, you should be able to move quickly enough to escape most enemies.¡±
¡°Alright! Let¡¯s crown Boss as the next demon queen!¡± Steven cheered, but his excitement onlysted a second because I promptly smacked him in the head. ¡°Little Weewee, don¡¯t get ahead of yourself.¡±
¡°Boss, can we not call me that anymore!?¡± Steven asked as he rubbed the back of his head.
¡°I will stop calling you that once you stop acting like one,¡± I said teasingly, causing everyone else to burst outughing. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s do a full sweep of the town before heading out.¡±
We swept through all the houses and buildings within the town and did so in a fashion that was not an invasion of privacy to a certain extent. Like we did not go through closets or dressers or anything and only checked the walls, floors, and ceilings of each house and nothing more. Each person was also given a gold coin for their troubles which made them happy.
After that, we split up into teams of two. Sally and Sei teamed up while I had Sophie, Adel and Iena form a group of three. Grace wanted to go with me, but because I had one group of three, one person had to go solo, and I was the best choice. So Grace ended up teaming up with Steven, which was not a bad pairing since, under Sophie and the others, Steven was the next strongest in the group.
After saying our goodbyes, I looked at the long road ahead and sighed. It has been a long time since I have been alone like this. I walked down the dirt path in front of me and made my way to the next town. This time I did not n to be nice from the start. Nor did they n to be nice to me. ¡°Stop, demon!¡±
Well, I guess if I am ying the role of a demon lord, then I should act it, no? ¡°Muahahaha! So you figured out that I was a demon! But too bad puny human! Either take me to your leader, or I will destroy this entire town!¡±
While I was putting on my best demon lord act, I transformed my arms to threaten the guards, one of which peed his pants. I felt bad, but a demon lord must keep up their image and be demon lordish!
And so now I was sitting in a rather expensive house on a soft cushioned chair looking at the man in front of me that was kneeling on the floor with his head lowered as I sipped some okay tea. ¡°So will you take me as your lord?¡± I asked in my most menacing voice.
¡°Yes! Of course! My lord, I am willing to swear allegiance to you!¡± The plump man who was the lord of this town replied.
¡°Good! Then I will hold you to your words. I will need two guards who will follow me through the town as I inspect the houses and buildings here.¡± And so, just like that, I was once again checking walls. When I left the town, I told the lord of the town to be good to his citizens, or I would make his life a living hell. He shivered in fear and repeatedly told me he would do as I said.
This time I did not get any information about my father. I am unsure if he did not do what he did before and just passed on through or what, but no one seemed to know who he was. When I arrived at my next destination, I noticed that this ce was no town. It was a legit city. And as I walked up to the gates, the same scenario began to y out.
It was just that this time it was¡ ¡°Die demon! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!¡± I kind of reacted on instinct and pped him into a wall.
¡°Ah¡. Well¡ Ahem¡. Muahahahahaha! You dare attack this demon lord! Bow before me, puny humans! Today is the day that this city too shall fall under my rule!¡± I did as before and transformed my hands into giant ws and waved them in the air, but sadly, it seemed these people were more willing to fight. Sighed as I said: ¡°Sleep¡.¡±
All the soldiers who came out of the city fell to the ground in an instant. I stepped over them and entered the city, making my way towards the small castle. It seemed this city lord knew how to live extravagantly. Although his citizens¡. As I looked around, I noticed many of the people here were suffering. I stopped and pointed to a young man who was trying to protect his family from me. ¡°You there!¡± I still kept my demon lord act. I mean, I was in the groove.
¡°Please don¡¯t harm my family!¡± The young man yelled out while stretching his arms out in front of his wife and kid.
¡°I have no intentions of harming people who will be citizens under my rule. I just wanted to ask a question.¡± I softened my voice as I dropped my act. I did not wish to scare these people. ¡°Just tell me. Is your city lord mistreating his people?¡±
¡°Miss¡¡± The woman behind the young man called out to me. ¡°Are you really going to rule over this city? Will you protect us from the city lord and his guards!?¡±
¡°Milly! Shhhh! You will die!¡± The young man quickly covered his wife¡¯s mouth.
¡°Mm¡ I will make sure none of you suffer from now on. So don¡¯t worry.¡± I replied.
Chapter 293 Scum To The Very Last One
¡°Can you tell me more about this city lord of yours?¡± I asked. I figured I might as well know exactly what this city lord and his guards have been doing.
¡°Not here. Follow us.¡± The young man said after a moment of hesitation as he waved me over. I nodded and followed them down a side alley to a small run down house. The house was only one room which also had a kitchen and the bathroom (a small pot) in the same ce.
¡°I am sorry for our home. It is not the best of ces to be.¡± The young man said as he quickly cleaned a spot on the floor for me. I smiled and sat down.
¡°It is a cozy ce. I can see that you have spent a good amount of time in setting things up with what little you have.¡± I said with a smile.
¡°We are only living on a few copper per day. The ones who livevishly in this town are those who are part of the city lord¡¯s men. They are unruly and even forcefully snatch daughters of the people they are supposed to protect. If anyone goes against them, they will kill them. The city lord is no better. He has a thing for both girls and pretty boys. If the guards spot one, they will drag them off to the city lord¡¯s castle. Taxes are high, and wages are low. We are lucky to be able to survive.¡± The young man began talking about the hardships of the people.
¡°I see¡. Why did you not take your family and leave the town?¡± I asked. If things were this bad most would just get up and move.
¡°It¡¯s not like we do not want to, but we can¡¯t. To leave the city, you need a pass which costs one gold. Only merchants can afford it! Us citizens are stuck here. If we try to leave, we will be killed.¡± After hearing what the young man said, my eyes turned cold. He was basically keeping the people here hostage and forcing them to live in poverty so they couldn¡¯t leave.
¡°Don¡¯t worry. I will fix this city up in an hour, so for now, stay here and do not leave the house. I will be setting up a barrier here to protect you from anyone trying to harm you while I take care of things.¡± I took out a few bits of food and ced them in the young man¡¯s hands before standing up and walking to the door. ¡°I will change this city for you.¡±
After saying this, I walked out of the house and set up a barrier around it to protect it. It was a barrier that blocked people from leaving and entering. I could hear the young man calling after me, but I did not turn around. I pped my wings and flew off towards the castle. I hovered above it just in time to see a group of guards dragging some girls through the castle gates. I snorted andnded in front of the guards. ¡°Who are you!?¡±
¡°Your worst nightmare!¡± I said in a cold voice as I pped the three men to the ground, knocking them out cold. The girls were close to my age, maybe a year or two older. Their eyes were red with tears. They looked at me in surprise and shock and a bit of hope. ¡°Go. Go back to your families.¡±
¡°Thank you!¡± One of the girls mustered up before grabbing the hand of a girl that closely resembled her and running back through the gates. I waved my hands, causing the guards in the area to fall asleep. I did not wish for them to be harmed after being rescued.
I turned and looked up at the six floor castle and raised my hand. The whole castle began to shake as I used earth magic to rip off the entire outer wall and roof of the castle and turned it into dust before setting it to the side. I could hear the screams and yells of the guards.
I then pped my wings and stood in the air in front of the castle near the one room that looked the gaudiest and yelled out: ¡°City Lord! Show yourself!¡±
¡°Who are you!?¡± A man wrapped in a nket made his way to the opening of the wall and red at me with hatred in his eyes.
¡°I am the one who will soon rule this entire kingdom. I am here to dispose of those who abuse their status and power. City lord, you are deemed unfit to rule under my new reign. You will be imprisoned for your crimes against the people of this city and sentenced to death three dayster. The same goes for each one of your guards. But only if you surrender now. Otherwise, face death.¡± I answered in amanding voice. I was once more back in my demon lord role!
¡°Do you really think you can do as you please!? Men kill this demon! Whoever kills the demon will get ten women and one thousand gold!¡± The city lord yelled out but sadly for him, no one dared to move. I mean, who would? I just ripped the walls and roof off the castle. And there were only like ten guards inside the castle while the rest were passed out on the ground.
¡°It looks like no one is willing to risk their lives for a bastard like you. Now then. Let¡¯s deal with you properly.¡± I raised my hand, causing the city lord to be wrapped in wind magic.
¡°You!? How are you doing this!? Let go of me! Do you know who I am!?¡± The city lord yelled out as he tried to struggle to escape my wind magic, but this expression soon changed to that of fear when he arrived in front of me and was forced to look me in the eye.
¡°You abused the people you are supposed to protect. You snatched their children from their homes for your own sick tendencies. For this, I hereby sentence you to death.¡± I did not care who this man was, but from what I was seeing, the things he was doing to the people of this city were already worthy of him dying. I waved my hand and set his body aze, causing him to scream out in pain before dropping him to the ground.
¡°Awake!¡± I yelled out using my dragon speak. All the guards stood up in a dazed fashion. I nned to deal with everything in one single easy swoop. ¡°Anyone here who has killed innocent civilians, abducted and forced themselves onto innocent girls and boys need to take their own life now.¡±
I was hoping for one or two good people¡. But sadly¡. Every guard that I could see in front of me took their own life. They were all scum to the veryst one.
Chapter 294 Returning What Was Once Taken
As I gazed at the scene in front of me, I shook my head before burning all the bodies. I then sent out my detection magic to check the castle, and I kinda wish I didn¡¯t. In one of the dungeon cells in the basement was just a pile of dead bodies. But I did find one cell and one room within the castle that had people in it. I flew over to the room on the second floor that was situated in the middle of the castle.
When I opened the door, a group of girls wearing servant clothes that were skimpier than what the girls at the brothel wore were all huddled together. Each one was around twenty years of age, and some even had wounds on their body. ¡°Please don¡¯t kill us! We will do anything!¡±
I sighed when I saw the fear in their eyes. ¡°I won¡¯t be hurting any of you. Can you tell me how long you have been here for?¡± I asked. I was unsure if it was possible or not, but if I could break the limits of cosmic magic, I might be able to return these girls their youth.
¡°We all came here in the first few batches when the city lord took over.¡± Said the oldest of the group. ¡°Miss. We can cook and clean. Please allow us to live¡.¡±
¡°I already said you will be fine. I just want to know how many years have you been here for?¡± I asked once more. I know they were scared, but please answer my question!
¡°Six¡. Six years¡¡± The oldest of the group answered.
¡°Six years, huh? Let¡¯s see if I can do this.¡± I took a deep breath as I looked at the group of girls. ¡°I am going to be casting magic on you all. But do not worry. It will not harm you. I am just reversing time on your bodies back to a state from six years ago. Then you can return back to your parents as pure as the day you were forcefully brought here.¡±
¡°Really? You can return my innocence!?¡± One of the girls asked with tears in her eyes. She looked to be the youngest in the group and only twenty at that.
¡°I am going to try. So do not panic.¡± My eyes lit up as a bright light enveloped the group of girls. ¡°Rewind¡.¡±
Before my eyes, the group of girls¡¯ bodies slowly started to grow younger. The youngest girl¡¯s height gradually began to lower. Within a matter of minutes, I had rewound time to a point seven years ago. I gave them an extra year just in case. The girls all looked at each other, then at themselves before suddenly bursting out crying. Getting your youth back after it had been taken from you was not something anyone would think was possible, but here they were, back to their past selves before they had been forced into this ce.
I had the girls wait until I got a chance to check the basement floor. But what I found there almost made me lose my lunch. A cell where women over their thirties were shoved into. Instead of killing them or anything like that, they shoved over fifty girls into a cell and left them there to starve.
Luckily they were still alive, even if it was only barely. I once more reversed time for these girls bringing them back to their teens. Once more, cries filled the air, and the girls thanked me from the bottom of their hearts.
I sent the girls to the front yard of the castle as I did not n to send them home just yet. There was no telling if they had a home to go to. So instead, I decided to have the girls stay in this castle and help take over the leadership of the city. I burnt all the rooms besides the study to get rid of any filth. This included the cell with the dead bodies. Of course, I made sure to give a proper send off.
While I could reverse time, I did not know how it would work on dead bodies since I have yet to really have a chance to test it out. In fact, I was slightly scared too. With how Jen and I were able to reincarnate, what if the person I brought back was living happily? What if they came back but were not the same person? Many things felt off to me when thinking about resurrecting the dead.
When everything was taken care of, I used earth magic to rebuild the walls of the castle. Only then did I rejoin the group of girls. ¡°Young Miss!¡± One of the girls yelled out as she bowed to me, then continued: ¡°We can not thank you enough. You not only recused us but gave us back the thing we cherished the most. Your kindness is something we will never forget.¡±
¡°You don¡¯t need to worry about such things. I just did what should have been done since I have the power to do it. Even if you were all men, I would have still helped you if you were innocent. From this moment on, I will be assigning someone here to take over the position of city lord. I hope you can help him out. While I reversed your age, I did not reverse your minds. I wanted you all to learn from this experience. Learn and take what you can from it, and from now on, grow stronger so no one can do this to you ever again.
¡°Grow stronger and be someone no one can look down on but still bepassionate to never look down on others. ¡± I wanted these girls to be strong and use their past few years of terror to grow even stronger. I could easily make them forget everything, but I think it was better this way. They would not be naive anymore.
¡°Young Miss, we are d you did not erase our memories. While yes, it is something we would rather forget but at the same time, it is something we should not forget. We will do as you say and grow stronger.¡± One of the girls stood forward and said. The others behind her all had determined expressions. If I was not in a hurry, I would want to stay and train these girls. But the most I can do is give them a daily routine to follow and then let them go from there.
¡°I will be back.¡±
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 295 Cleaning Up A Kingdom
Inded in front of a small house with a barrier around it. Sitting on the doorstep was a young man. When he looked up and saw me, I noticed him let out a sigh of relief. I guess he was worried something might have happened to me. I waved my hand and removed the barrier, and bowed my head: ¡°I apologize for locking you in I was doing it to¡.¡±
¡°We know. And we thank you.¡± The young man cut me off. I raised my head and smiled.
¡°I never got your name. My name is Faith Cyrilia.¡± This man would be perfect for someone to be the city lord. I figured with the help of the girls who had resided in the castle all these years. They could help him along. This was the other reason why I did not erase their memories. Although I am sure, they will figure this out over time.
¡°My name is Thomas Higgins,¡± Thomas replied.
¡°Thomas, you own a stall on the street, if I am correct?¡± I had noticed his wife and him setting up when I was walking towards them before.
¡°Yes, it is just a small shop, but it gives us just enough to get by,¡± Thomas replied.
¡°Then Thomas, you are your wife will follow me. This city needs a sensible person who understands the plight of the people. A city lord who will not use his status to do wrong but to help those in need. As such, I would like you to take charge of the city.¡± I said with a smile, causing the young man¡¯s face to go nk.
¡°No! Wait, I am not fit¡.¡± I raised my hand, cutting him off. ¡°You know basic math, or else you couldn¡¯t run a stall. You know how to read from the books I saw stashed in the corner of your house. And you know how to write as your name is written above your door. These are all the skills you need. And I have many people who can help you along. But just be warned, while they may look young most of them are older than you. I just reversed their age a little.¡±
An hourter, I walked back through the castle gates that now had a crowd forming around them. Inside were the sixty or so girls from early swinging swords. It really seems they took my words to heart. Some barely had any strength to lift the sword, but from the expressions on their faces, they were so determined that even though they were covered in sweat and their arms were shaking, they still forced the sword into the air and swung it down.
¡°This is?¡± Thomas looked at the scene in confusion. He had no idea why so many girls were practicing swordsmanship in the front yard of the castle. ¡°They will be your new guards. While they are just starting out, so are you. Plus, as I said, while they look young, they are actually much older. They have all suffered under the hands of the previous city lord. Some actually worked inside the castle, so they would know a few things and should be able to assist you. But do not get any funny ideas. If you cheat on your wife, she will kill you.¡±
¡°I would never!¡± Thomas yelled out, causing me tough. Even his wife, who was at his side, chuckled.
¡°Everyone gather up!¡± I yelled out. The girls all turned and stopped what they were doing. They hurried over to me and bowed. ¡°Young Miss, your orders?¡±
¡°I have no orders. From this moment on, Thomas Higgins is your new city lord. I hope you all will support him mentally. Help guide him on the things you know about the city. Those who know math and know how to read will assist him so that he is not overburdened. You will all be learning how to run things together. I want you all to make this city into a ce you all have dreamed of. A ce where every citizen is able to live fulfilling lives. But always remember, never leave the city short. Keep taxes low but not so low that you can not pay the fees needed to sustain the city.
¡°A city needs, or even a kingdom for that matter, needs two things to keep it sustained. First is happy citizens! The second is a stable andpetent government that is doing its best for the people and not itself. Do not pad your own pockets but do not leave yourself hungry either. There is a fine line that needs to be met, and it is up to you all to figure out where that fine line is. You might make mistakes, but this does not mean you will not learn anything in the process of things. I tomorrow we will address the people of this city. For now, everyone should settle in. I will supply a bit of funds for you all to go out and get necessary items for the castle since I burnt it all except for what is in the library.¡± After finishing my speech, I left the castle and found a spot nearby on a tree branch toy down. I was actually quite tired. Today was a long day, and many things have happened. But tomorrow, I hope once the sun rises, a new hope will be brought to this city and the people within it.
¡°I guess I am not really being very demon lordish anymore¡.¡± I sighed as I cast a barrier around me and fell asleep¡..
The next day things went rather smoothly, and celebrations filled the streets. The citizens were told they could either leave the city if they so wished or stay and try to make a ce for everyone. I have no idea how many left, but the city has many citizens who were offering up services. I knew Thomas and the girls had a long road ahead of them.
After leaving the city, I ran into many more incidents like this and cleared them up at the same time. After almost what felt like a month of travel, I arrived at the capital¡¯s entrance. I did not go into the city since I needed to wait for the others. My mana was tethered to them, so I knew they had not arrived yet. I am sure they had it just as hard as I did. On the third day, Sophie, Adel, and Iena appeared. They looked very tired.
When Adel saw me, her eyes lit up as she yelled out: ¡°Faith! My love!¡±
¨CAN) If you find mistakes in the past two chapters, please let me know. Something came up and did not allow me to edit these chapters very well. I will fix any all mistakester today.¨C
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 296 Found
As I sat under the tree to wait for the others, Adel and Sophie both snuggled up next to me, hugging my arms. ¡°So, how was it?¡± I asked. I was curious as to what they had to deal with.
¡°Ugh¡. This kingdom has so many issues. We ended up killing almost all the city and town lords. They were so corrupted and sick¡.¡± Adel¡¯s beautiful face scrunched up. I reached up and pressed my finger to smooth out her brow wrinkles.
¡°At least we helped as much as we could. Doing what you can is the only way around things. Our next target is the capital city in front of us. We will see just how this kingdom¡¯s king or queen truly is and hopefully find the path to the next floor.¡± I said as I leaned my head on her shoulder, I closed my eyes. I was also tired. It has been busy the past few weeks.
At some point, I must have fallen asleep. I awoke to Sophie drooling on my chest as she hugged my waist, sound asleep, and Adel still hugging my arm while she slept as well. I looked around to see a few more groups had returned. They, too, were resting and looked very much exhausted. Iena was standing in front of me, looking out towards the capital. ¡°Iena, what is it?¡±
¡°I feel a faint magic powering from the castle in the distance, but it seems to be below ground,¡± Iena replied, causing my eyes to open wide. I quickly sent out my detection magic to the spot Iena was talking about to see a very familiar person chained to the wall by some very thick chains. Using my dragon speak, I sent a message over my detection magic: ¡°Father! Are you alive? Say something!¡±
The man raised his head. He looked ragged, but I would still recognize him. My tears began to well up, seeing how he was okay. ¡°Faith?¡± His eyes looked dull, and his cheeks were sunken in, which meant he had probably not been fed for a while now.
I stood up, identally throwing both girls off me. ¡°You all stay here. I will be back.¡± Without another word, I pped my wings and flew off towards the city. I am sure everyone was confused because I heard both Sophie and Adel cry out my name, but I had to go. I finally found him. I could not let him suffer anymore!
As I flew over the city, I felt a strong suction force pulling at my mana. I snorted and continued forward. It seemed this city had some kind of defense barrier against people with mana. I wanted to destroy the barrier, but if this barrier was blocking the powerful figures of this floor from being able to cast magic, it was best not to disturb things and make more trouble for myself. There are times when you have to trust your gut instinct.
As I flew over the city, I saw that it was thriving. There were still poor people from what I could see but nothing like the other cities and towns I had been to. This makes me wonder if this ruler is just negligent in checking up on their subordinates. Well, in any case, I could care less. I was going to get my father out of this ce and head home. I do not care to finish this dungeon at this time. We have already spent well over three months in this ce. I do not wish to continue being here any longer.
When I reached the castle andnded in the area by the dungeon entrance, the first thing that I ran into was a group of guards rushing at me. ¡°Halt! How dare you enter the castle grounds!¡±
¡°Out of my way!¡± I yelled in dragon speak, causing all the guards to stop in their tracks and make a path for me. Dragons are, after all, the rulers of all, or at least this is how I see it.
I entered the dungeon and held my nose after smelling the putrid smelling from below. It seemed they never cleaned this ce. I formed a barrier around my nose to block the smell of the ce out as I hovered in the air and flew towards where my father was. He was on the fourth floor of the dungeon in a cell surrounded by darkness.
Anyone who got in my way was controlled with dragon speak and was very obedient in getting out of my way. When I reached the cell where my father was, I smashed the door open to see his figure chained to the wall. I could tell his mana was just about to be depleted. I quickly tethered him to my mana to keep it from being drained away and flew over to his side.
¡°Father¡.¡± My tears began to well up. If I knew this was happening to him, I would have ignored the people and flown directly here¡.
¡°Faith?¡± My father looked up at me. His eyes were slightly dull. I ripped the chains up off the wall and shattered the cuffs on his hands and feet. My anger began to rise. These people¡.. I took a deep breath¡. And forced a smile: ¡°Father¡. We will go home now, okay?¡±
¡°Mmmm¡¡± My father nodded before passing out in my arms.
I flew out of the dungeon and up into the air. I wanted to destroy this castle, but I knew getting my father out of this ce was my top priority. I flew out of the city without issue andnded down on the ground in front of everyone. ¡°Faith this¡.¡±
¡°We are leaving. Our task here is done.¡± I said as I adjusted my father and began walking towards running towards the exit.
¡°Faith, Steven, and Grace have yet to return,¡± Sally shouted behind me. I turned and looked at Iena. Iena nodded and disappeared: ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±
The others all stared at me in confusion but still followed behind me. We ran at full speed towards the exit. By the time we reached the spot we entered from, both Steven and Grace were being carried in Iena¡¯s arms. ¡°What happened?¡±
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 297 Did Not Mind
¡°One of the towns was filled with wraiths. I found the two struggling to ward them off. There were too many of them, and Grace does not have many attack options.¡± Iena reported. I frowned and decided to try to figure out some attack spells for her.
¡°Alright. We will head back now.¡± The two were only exhausted from continuous fighting. So they will be fine. But I will be scolding themter because they could have sent a signal on the mana tether that they were in danger.
We were able to leave the dungeon in four days¡¯ time. We ran nonstop towards the exit of each room until we finally exited the dungeon. I turned and made a thirtyyer barrier over the dungeon so no one could enter it or leave. ¡°I want a bath¡.¡± Amandained. I could agree with her. I also wanted a bath.
¡°We can take turns when we get to my house, for now, let¡¯s just head there¡.¡± I said as I adjusted my grip on the father once more. He had yet to awaken even once since I found him. I could see his mana pool was filling up, but his body was still weak. I do not know what they did to him, but I have tried using rewind on him, but it doesn¡¯t seem to do anything, and there is no status effect on him.
I talked with Iena about it, but she also did not see anything wrong with him. Grace even cast her healing magic on him a few times, but nothing came out of it. My only guess was that he was exhausted. I will also have Diablo take a look, just in case.
¡°Faith!¡± A cry came out as soon as I walked towards the door of my house. My mother came running outside with tears in her eyes. She ran right up to me and hugged me tightly. ¡°Faith¡ You found him¡.¡±
¡°Mmm¡. Currently, he is asleep. I do not know what happened, but he has been asleep for a few days. Let¡¯s take him inside.¡± I used one arm to pat her back. I looked up to see my brother and Rachel standing there. My brother¡¯s eyes were watering up. I could see he was happy that we returned.
A few hourster, inside my room, I had just finished taking a bath and was now currently talking with Diablo. ¡°So anything?¡±
¡°Just exhaustion. From what I can see, he has not slept for many nights. On top of having his mana forcefully sucked out of him, it took arge toll on his body. Rewind wouldn¡¯t be able to return him to a better state due to the mana being forced out of his body. It seems the spell is unable to rewind mana itself.
¡°He will need a few years of having mana nourishing his bones and muscles before he will return to his previous state. But one good thing is that his mana pool has expanded quite a bit. I do not know how he did it, but he was able to sessfully safeguard thest bit of mana he had in his mana pool, allowing him to draw in what little mana was in the air around him. I think the dungeon helped him greatly in this aspect.¡± Diablo exined, causing me to rx a bit. He was still passed out. But with a bit of mana therapy which was just infusing his body with a bit of mana, hisplexion looked much better.
¡°Thank you for suffering during this time, Diablo. I know I put a heavy burden on you. But my mother trusted you, and I needed someone strong here in case anything happened.¡± I was really thankful to Diablo for what he had done.
¡°You are my master, and yourmand is something I have to follow. But please, I beg you not to force me to do this again! Your mother kept pestering me on when our wedding would be and when we would bring home grandbabies.¡± Diablo¡¯s expressions as making it hard tough, but at the same time, the way he was speaking made me feel a little irked. I mean, am I that bad!?
¡°So you are saying I am not marriageable material!?¡± I asked with a huff. Having a handsome man say such things was just a blow to my womanly pride!
¡°No, Master, it is not like that. It is just that¡.¡± Diablo scratched his head, causing me to smile andugh. Seeing him flustered was quite amusing. It kinda made me want to kiss him to see just how it would feel to kiss a man and to also make him even more flustered.
Now that I was thinking about it, I realized I really needed to figure this out, if kissing a man was any different from the kisses I got from Sophie and Adel¡ I looked up at Diablo again and stared at his lips. I bit my lip and leaned forward and pressed mine against his before quickly pulling back. I touched my lips with my hand feeling the lingering warmth. Just like when Sophie and Adel kissed me, it was warm and soft¡. I turned to look at Diablo, who seemed to have frozen in ce with pink cheeks. It was only then that things really hit me. ¡°Ahh! Sorry, I just¡.¡±
¡°Master, if you will excuse me!¡± Diablo stood straight up and dashed out of the room. I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle. To be honest, his actions were quite cute. However, I do wonder how he will act around me from now on. But I did kind of do that out of the blue. It will probably be awkward for a while. But I would rather kiss Diablo than someone else. At least with Diablo, it would be safe since he will always be around me and has a contract with me. But I dide to the conclusion that I did not mind kissing boys or girls. I guess that would make me bi? I sighed as Iid back on my bed. ¡°I need to really figure this all out. I promised Sophie and Adel, and now¡ Diablo¡.¡±
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 298 Making A Decision Part 1
¡°Faith! Your father!¡± Adel burst into my room and yelled.
I quickly jumped up from my bed with a worried expression as I hurriedly asked: ¡°What happened?¡±
¡°He woke up. He is asking for you.¡± Adel replied while grabbing my hand and dragging me to my parents¡¯ room.
I walked in to see my mother at his side, hugging his waist. My father was sitting up, but he still looked very weak. ¡°Father!¡±
¡°Faith¡.¡± My father looked at me and smiled. ¡°Thank you¡.¡±
¡°You idiot!¡± I yelled out. ¡°How could you dive into a dungeon by yourself!? What if you died!? What if¡.¡±
I couldn¡¯t hold back my tears as I joined my mother in hugging him. I was just so happy he was awake and that he was alive and well. But it still did not mean I was done scolding him. ¡°Ahem¡ Master, I know you are happy, but I suggest you ask him what happened.¡± Diablo¡¯s voice entered my ears. I looked up and blushed slightly as I remembered what I had done before. Diablo also seemed to have blushed as he averted his eyes. But I still nodded and sat up.
¡°Father, what happened? How did you end up in the dungeon?¡± I asked.
¡°It was strange. I was perfectly fine until I stepped into the city. As I did, the mana in my body began to be sucked out without any resistance. I had to employ a technique my grandfather taught me to protect what little I had left. But I ended up copsing. The next time I came too, I was chained to a wall. I have no idea why.¡± My father answered. But I had a few guesses.
¡°I think they thought you were a demon. Anyone with mana seems to be a demon to those people. If I am correct, the that that kingdomes from probably had two or more races. Demons and humans, at the minimum. And the human poption set up such a barrier to keep the capital safe in case of a demon invasion. Of course, this is just an assumption, and that could have just been the final floor, and the king is like the final boss.¡± I replied. Everything I said was just spection. There can be many number of reasons why that barrier was in ce. But these reasons seemed the most sound.
¡°No more dungeon talk. Your father will never enter a dungeon again!¡± My mother¡¯s voice was strict, with no room for argument.
¡°You are right¡. We will give you two time alone. Father, you need to rest for the next year and take in the mana around you to regain your strength.¡± I said as I stood up and grabbed Diablo¡¯s arm before he could run away.
¡°Alright, I will listen to you.¡± My father replied with a smile. I nodded and dragged Diablo out of the room to mine once more and closed the door on the two girls who were following.
¡°Master¡.¡± Diablo¡¯s voice sounded behind me.
I turned and bowed my head. ¡°I am sorry about earlier. I should not have done that out of the blue like that. I wanted to know how it felt to kiss a guy, and you were the only one who came to mind when I thought about kissing someone. Not to mention you¡¯re handsome, so my first kiss with a guy was with you¡.¡±
I scratched my head. I felt like I was kind of making excuses even though it was the truth. ¡°So anyway, I am sorry¡.¡±
¡°Master, it is fine. It was just unexpected, and it was also my first¡. It¡¯s not like I hated it either¡. It¡¯s just¡ Never mind¡ Just know it is fine.¡± Diablo replied, his ears going red. I couldn¡¯t help but blush as well.
¡°Ahem¡.¡± I cleared my throat and smiled at Diablo. ¡°We got people listening in, so if you do not want to be bombarded with questions, it¡¯s best if you escape first. But just know, I also did not hate it. It felt nice¡.¡±
Diablo scratched his head before patting me on the top of mine and disappearing. I smiled and turned and opened the door to have three girls fall on the floor, looking up at me with aggrieved expressions. ¡°Faith, you said you would help me!¡± Iena was the first to speak.
I sighed and knelt down, and wiped the tears from her eyes. ¡°You heard everything?¡±
¡°Mm¡.¡± Iena replied, nodding her head.
¡°It was just something that happened.¡± I really did not know my own feelings, and I was just doing it out of wanting to know how it felt. I guess I should have thought it through more, but to be honest, if it was not Diablo, I wouldn¡¯t have been able to do it.
¡°But¡¡± Iena looked really sad. I pulled her close and looked her in the eye before pushing my lips against hers. ¡°There now, I kissed you too. So it¡¯s like you had an indirect kiss with Diablo.¡±
Iena¡¯s eyes went wide, and her cheeks turned red. Adel and Sophie both looked at me with wide eyes. ¡°Faith¡ You! You!¡±
¡°Hmmm? Didn¡¯t you two do the same to me? You two were the ones who turned me into a kissing monster!¡± I said jokingly as I helped Iena up. Iena was blushing like crazy as she kept looking at me and looking away. Is it just me, or are all demons cute when you kiss them?
¡°You!¡± Adel stomped her feet and jumped on me, knocking me over, with Sophie following right after her. They both took a cheek and kissed it.
¡°Alright, let me up!¡± I said as I pried them both off. ¡°I am not one hundred percent sure about my own feelings. But¡ I already promised Sophie I would really think about it now. And I also do not wish to worry my mother.¡±
¡°You really mean it!?¡± Both Sophie and Adel asked at the same time. Their eyes were beginning to brim with tears.
I smiled and reached out to the girls, taking one of their hands into mine, and nodded my head. ¡°I am still young and am not the best at rtionship things, but I think as we slowly walk down this path, we will probably all end up as one big happy family. But I promise you I will not make you wait long before I give you my final answer. The same for you, Iena. ¡± I turned to Iena and looked at her. She lowered her head and gave a slight nod. If something really did form between Diablo and me, then I would feel bad for Iena as I know she likes him. So the only way to rectify it would be to bring her into the family? Wait, why does this sound like something a harem protagonist would do!?
¨CAN) Please give me feedback on this chapter and the next one. I have been having a hard time deciding how I wanted the romance to flow, so please give me your input after reading the next chapter. Thank you.¨C
Chapter 299 Making A Decision Part 2
¡°Ahhh! When did I be such a gigolo!?¡± I cried out. Adel and Sophie giggled while Iena blushed.
¡°Alright. So, for now, we will just take things slow. But Iena¡. About Diablo¡.¡± I probably shouldn¡¯t continue this conversation, but I still felt like I should say something.
¡°It¡¯s okay¡. Master¡.¡± Iena took my hand and knelt down and kissed the top of it, flipped it over, and then kissed the palm. I tilted my head to the side since I did not understand this gesture. I knew it was something simr to what a knight would do, but this was different, and I was not sure what it meant for a demon. ¡°A kiss is like a proposal and seals the deal between a demon couple for marriage. What I just did is a symbol of devotion. It means my body and heart are for you to do as you please with. It¡¯s the final step in a demon marriag¡. ¡°
¡°Iena!¡± Diablo¡¯s voice roared out, causing Iena to grow stiff. ¡°Why did you go and tell her!?¡±
¡°I¡.¡± Iena lowered her head. I sighed as I pulled her behind me and looked at Diablo. ¡°Don¡¯t yell at her.¡±
Diablo¡¯s lips pursed, but he stopped ring at her. He then bent down on one knee as well and took my hand and kissed it just like Iena did. ¡°Even though we are bound by a contract, this is different. This means you own our everything. Including our hearts.¡±
Diablo stood up and turned around, took two steps before pausing: ¡°What you decided to do is now up to you. Whether you keep things as they are or go a step further, we will both abide by your decision.¡±
I watched as Diablo walked out of the room with a nk expression. I think I really just did something irreversible. Did he not want me to know because it would put a heavy burden on my shoulders? Did he not want me to think I was forced to be with them? While I was lost in thought, both my hands were taken by Adel and Sophie, who kissed them the same way as Diablo and Iena. What the hell! You are not even demons!
¡°You two!¡± I yelled out, only for them to stick their tongues out at me. I sighed and turned to look at Iena. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. He doesn¡¯t really me you. He was probably hiding it for my sake.¡±
¡°Mmm¡ He can be very strict at times but also very soft, especially towards you.¡± Iena had a depressed look, but that was not much I could do about that. I had no idea such a thing was part of demon culture, never mind it being a marriage thing. But why did Diablo seal the deal? Did that mean he liked me in such a way?
¡°I am sorry, Iena, I really didn¡¯t know¡.¡± I felt like I should apologize.
¡°It¡¯s fine. I know you didn¡¯t know, but I decided, since I actually did not hate it, that it was fine, and I felt that since you are my master that if I was with you, everything would work out. While I do like His Highness, I also know my chances of being with him are also very slim. I also could have dodged your kiss, but I kind of nked out and allowed it to happen. So this is also my fault as well. I also could have kept quiet about it all as well. But I still made my decision as sudden as it was.
But do not worry. Even if you only wish for us to be master and servant as we are now, I do not mind. I will always follow by your side. Demon culture is strange, but this is just how we are. I even hesitated to follow through with thest part just now because I was unsure of what to do. But I did not dislike the kiss or you, so I decided to go through with the final step. I should be the one to apologize to you.¡± Iena exined as she blushed. I smiled and reached up and patted the top of her head. This girl was quite strange indeed. She is too spontaneous. Marriage is not something you just jump into! But I guess demon culture is like this¡ At least, it is not something you can formally say is legitimate in this world.
¡°While I did wish I knew about all of this beforehand, it has made me understand one thing¡.¡± I looked at the other girls and continued: ¡°All of you listen. I will say this once. Love is not something that can be easily acquired in a day or two. It may take time, but this just means I will need to try to foster this feeling from now on.¡±
¡°Faith, you mean?¡± Adel¡¯s eyes showed a bit of expectation.
¡°From this moment on, we can all be considered to be in a rtionship. Every one of you, including Diablo. Whether or not I can fully fall in love is another story. This is because I have never fallen in love with anyone. I only know what familial love is but not love between two people who wish to start a family together. This is all new to me, so let me take things slowly¡.¡± This was the answer I have finally decided upon. Now knowing that demons had some weird cultural habit where kissing someone was sealing the deal in a proposal, I might as well give it a try and see where this all leads. Maybe¡. Maybe this will change the futures I have seen in my dreams. But really¡ howe my first rtionship is starting off with four people?
¡ª
With my father now rescued, it was time to head back to the capital. We had already been gone for a few months, and I needed to catch up on my sses. I missed a lot which means I will need to get notes from someone so I can catch up. Before I left, I did set up a teleport in my bedroom in a corner with a barrier around it that would only allow my family to use it. It was the best ce in the house since it was the only room not used. My brother had already built an addition for Leo, my baby nephew, for his bedroom.
Now I just needed to set up a connection point in my house so that my family coulde and visit me at any time or would have a ce to escape to if things went wrong. I also changed the runic equation a bit to have a method of destroying the other ess point if something does happen. But this was for emergency use only.
We did not rush back. While we did travel faster than most, we still took another three months to return. We had a long journey this time. But luckily, everything turned out okay. My father just needed to rest, and he would be back to his top form within a year. My family will now be only a teleport away, so I can see them anytime I want, and they cane see me at any time. Things were much better than before.
But as soon as I stepped foot through the door of my estate, Jen was there to greet me with a message: ¡°Faith, the Dean asked me to tell you to see him right away. Something has happened.¡±
Chapter 300 New Movements
¡°Don¡¯t tell me my sister¡¯s brother¡¯s mother¡¯s ex-husband dived into a dungeon.¡± I know I was being a wiseass, but I couldn¡¯t help it. I just dived into a dungeon, and now I am here. Which reminds me, I didn¡¯t even get to let X7 out yet.
¡°What? No! The Prime Minister, along with a few lower noble families, have disappeared.¡± The Dean replied, which caused me to be very much confused.
¡°Diablo!¡± I called out. We had a shadow following that stupid man, so how did he just disappear!?
¡°Yes, master.¡± Diablo appeared in front of me.
¡°Is the shadow you summoned still following the Prime Minister?¡± I asked.
¡°It hasn¡¯t moved for a long time. And is looking at the Prime Minister¡. Wait¡ something feels off.¡± Diablo waved his hand, causing an image of what the shadow was seeing to appear in front of us in the middle of the room. ¡°If I am not wrong, this is an illusion.¡±
¡°It is an illusion,¡± I said after watching the same motions happening over and over. ¡°My guess is that the Prime Minister noticed the shadow a long time ago or someone close to him noticed it, and this was why heid low. But when I left the capital to save my father, he took this chance to escape leaving this illusion that seems to be able to confuse the shadow¡¯s senses. I think there is a person backing the Prime Minister¡.¡±
I did not like the thought that there might be someone lying in the shadows that we did not know about. If it is Azengrade, then we might be in trouble, but I do not think it would be him. I at least hope it is not.
¡°You can call the shadow back. There is no need for it to still be there. The Prime Minister, as far as I can tell, is no longer in the capital either. So we will need to wait to see what his next move is. Dean, have you talked with the King?¡± I asked. I was unsure if it was the Dean who was the first to find out or if it was the King.
¡°It was the King who told me to talk with you. He did not wish for anyone else to know of this except for you and those close to you and his own trusted people.¡± The Dean replied.
I nodded and turned to Adel. ¡°Adel, we are going to the castle. To be safe, those of the royal family living in the castle will be staying at my house. Court will be held in the meeting hall of my house as well. Diablo, you and Iena are to stay by the King¡¯s side. Right now, protecting his life is something we must ensure. Everyone who passes through my barrier will be scanned by it, not allowing those in with bad intentions. Right now, we are putting everyone on high alert.¡±
¡°Faith, is it necessary to go so far?¡± Adel asked. She looked confused and worried.
¡°Mmm¡ If I am not wrong. A civil war may break out at any time.¡± I answered. ¡°I do hope I am wrong, but¡.¡± Just thinking of the dreams I have had, I think this is the most probable scenario. Whether it happens tomorrow or a few years from now. To keep those in power who care for the people, it is better to take them under my roof and protect them at all costs.
¡°I see¡ But I do not think my father will do as you ask¡. Can¡¯t you just set up barriers and stuff in the castle itself?¡± Adel asked. It was true that I could, but I still felt insecure. If I am not in close proximity and someone breaks my barriers, then what? I would rather him be under the continuous watch of Diablo and Iena, who can protect him around the clock under my roof where I can reach him faster.
¡°While what you say is true, the fact still remains that my estate is the safest ce for him. This would mean all the heirs to the throne are under one roof, and unless it is Azengrade himself, no one can even get close to them. It is better to cluster together where the strongest in the kingdom reside, than be separated during this time.¡± I exined.
¡°I see¡ You will need to persuade him then because he will not listen to me.¡± Adel replied with a sigh.
¡°Hehe¡ I will just kidnap the King then!¡± I said with a bright smile. It would be very much amusing to princess carry the King for the entire capital to see.
Adel held her head as she gazed up at me. ¡°Are you trying to take revenge for him appointing you as an heir to the throne!?¡±
¡°No!¡± I quickly looked away. That thought never crossed my mind. Well, maybe just a little¡. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± I said as I grabbed Adel¡¯s and Sohpie¡¯s hands and walked out of the Dean¡¯s office. Since I said I was going to do this, I was going to do it!
¡°Both of you hold on tight,¡± I said as I wrapped my hand around the two girl¡¯s waists. I didn¡¯t n to walk to the castle since flying was easier. The two girls hugged me as I pped my wings and flew through the air towards the castle. ¡°When we get to the throne room, let me do the talking.¡±
¡°I didn¡¯t n to say anything anyway since I know he would ignore my opinion on it anyways. Only you can make him change his mind. Sometimes I wonder just who his real daughter is.¡± Adel replied with a bit of bitterness in her voice.
¡°I already have a father, so you can keep him,¡± I replied and stuck my tongue out.
¡°I don¡¯t want him either!¡± Adel replied with pursed lips. ¡°Ah, right. Sophie and I will move into your room. My father can take my old room.¡±
¡°Alright. It¡¯s not like we haven¡¯t all shared a room before anyways. Just know that Grace is strict. When the sunes up, she will yank you out of bed whether you want to get up or not¡.¡±
Chapter 301 Preparing For Everything
When we arrived at the castle, we walked unimpeded directly to the throne room. The servants and guards in the castle now all knew who I was, so even without Adel at my side, I could still pass by them without a problem.
The guard at the door to her throne room quickly opened it and announced our arrival. ¡°Princess Adel, Princess Cyrilia, and Miss Sophie have arrived!¡±
We walked through the door to see many more knights than usual in the room, as well as many nobles. ¡°Adel. Faith, I heard you were sessful in finding your father.¡±
¡°Yes, thankfully. But this is not why we have arrived.¡± I said as I stepped forward and bowed slightly to show my respect. Adel and Sophie did the same. ¡°I am here to have you moved to my estate for safety.¡±
¡°Thank the gods you are here, Princess Cyrilia. Please talk some sense into His Majesty!¡± A noble cried out. I turned to look at him feeling a bit confused. ¡°What happened?¡±
¡°We thought the same thing. I am sure you are here because you have spoken to the Dean. We can only rely on you to protect the royal family. Only you have the capabilities. But His Majesty is being too stubborn! We asked him to talk to you about it, but he rejected it!¡± The noble looked very much worried about the king, which gave me a good feeling about him.
¡°You! You traitor! Who rules this kingdom, her or me!?¡± The king yelled out.
¡°It would be best if it was her, but she doesn¡¯t want it!¡± The noble retorted while the other nobles all nodded their heads.
¡°Oi! You¡¯re going to give him ideas!¡± I quickly shouted out to stop this train of events.
¡°Tch!¡± I could have sworn I heard someone click their tongue. I looked up at the King, who was now looking out the window as if the clouds were absolutely amazing, but sadly, there were no damn clouds!
¡°You old fox! Listen here, stop trying to trap me!¡± I yelled while stomping my feet.
¡°Haha!¡± Adel burst outughing. I ignored her and tried to bring things back on track. ¡°Anyway! I am here to bring you to my estate. It is the safest ce now that things have turned out like this. And I am not taking no for an answer. I do not care if I have to use dragon speak or even put you to sleep while I princess carry you out of here. You are going to my house one way or another.¡±
¡°Faith, if I do recall, I am the king here.¡± The king looked at me with firm eyes. I rolled mine as I replied: ¡°Then act like one! Plus, I am stronger than you. What can you do to me?¡±
¡°Fine, I will go! But spare me the princess carry.¡± The king replied with a furrowed brow. Whether he was happy or not didn¡¯t matter. This was something that had to be done.
¡°This is not only just for you. Every one of you nobles and your families will be settling into my estate in ten days¡¯ time. I will be creating new ces for you all to stay. We can not have those who manage the kingdom either turn traitor or be killed while things are up in the air on what is going on. But be warned, if you have ill intentions and you pass through my barrier, you will die.¡± Thest part I said coldly because I wanted these people to understand that this was a do or die moment. If they refused, they would be deemed traitors as well. If they agreed, they would be brought to my estate to be protected. I could only hope that the people still at the king¡¯s side were still good people.
¡°What happens if we refuse to go to your estate?¡± One of the noble men asked. This was a normal question, so I did not think of him as someone who was a traitor or not, so I have no issues answering this question. In fact, I was happy he asked such a question because it meant that I could instill more fear into these people.
¡°You and your family will all be wiped out just like during the trial. No blood rtives above a certain age will be allowed to live, and those too young to have anything to do with anything as long as they are clean will have their memory wiped and will work for one of mypanies.¡± I looked at everyone there, but not a single person averted their eyes from me. ¡°I will say this now. Right now, we are in dangerous times. Civil war could break out at any moment if the Prime Minister decides to make a move. We do not know if he has built up a massive army or not. We do not know what he has nned or who his backer is. Just know that we need to be ready for anything, and anyone notplying with orders at this time will be deemed a traitor.
¡°I hate doing things this way. It is a tyrant¡¯s path of action, but we have no other path we can take. We must first try to protect our citizens. After I settle things here, I will be putting a barrier up around the capital. With Little Bell¡¯s help, I will be able to pinpoint every town and city in the kingdom and stick a barrier around them as well. I will do my utmost to protect the citizens of this kingdom. But let me tell you, I do not have time to y games. I still need to take sses at the academy after all.¡± I still wanted to continue my daily life. If civil war were to break out, I could be sure the citizens of the towns, viges, and cities were all protected. A barrier will be put around each of them. But this will only keep those from the outside from harming anyone. If they leave and try toe back, they will be checked if they have ill intentions towards the kingdom. If they do, they will die. But I have a feeling that we will not be attacked from within the poption of the kingdom. But outside it from the neighboring kingdoms.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 302 As The World Comes Down Part 1
After a long day, I finally got home. I asked Diablo to use his magic to create a new building for the nobles. They were not too happy with the simple apartments, but they had no choice but to deal with it.
All of the royals were also here in another building that was much fancier. Adel had nned to give her father her room, but he rejected it and said he would make due with an apartment style residence. This did not stop Adel and Sophie from moving into my room, though. Which I was fine with. I am quite used to sleeping with these two anyway.
I do wonder if my future will change now that I have decided to date these two. Would I still be lonely with only Grace at my side in the future? Or will I have little Adels and Sophie¡¯s running around? As for Diablo and Iena¡. Well, I am not sure how I feel about them. I did not mind kissing either of them, but I did not have any feelings that remotely resembled love towards either of them. So while I did say they were part of the rtionship, it is only for now while I try to work out my own feelings.
It was a long day with many things happening. Some of the nobles have huge families! The buildings we made are almost like skyscrapers to the point that I had to extend the original barrier I set up to be much taller. I even had to long distance cast more barriers around the city and towns in the kingdom.
But now, after much hard work, I can finally rx. I was currently in my bathroom in therge bath sitting back, soaking in the hot water. Next to me, leaning their heads on my shoulders, were Sophie and Adel. Each interlocking their fingers with mine. ¡°It¡¯s strange I will be fifteen soon, and I feel like I just turned fourteen the other day.¡±
¡°We have been busy, and diving into the dungeon took a lot longer than we had expected,¡± Adel said as she yed with my fingers.
¡°Mmm¡ You will soon be an adult as well, which means we can get married and have many foxkin!¡± Sophie, who has been much more forward as ofte, said with a big grin.
¡°Sophie, we are all girls. We can¡¯t have babies as of yet.¡± I replied, causing her to look at me with a nk expression. I do wonder if Sophie knows how babies are made but probably not from the way she is looking at me.
¡°What? Don¡¯t we just need to do a deep kiss to make a baby?¡± Sophie asked, causing me to wish I had a third hand so I could hold my head.
¡°Ummm¡ Ask Adel. She will exin it to youter.¡± I was not going to try to exin this to her. I leave it to you, Adel, my sacrifice!
¡°Faith!¡± Adel cried out. I looked up at the ceiling of the bath, not daring to make eye contact with her, but I soon felt a sharp pinch in my side: ¡°Ouch!¡±
¡°Humph!¡± Adel snorted as she leaned over and whispered into Sophie¡¯s ear. Sophie¡¯s face blushed as she suddenly cried out: ¡°Then how can we start a family!?¡±
¡°We will figure something out if we ever get to that point. Right now, we are only dating.¡± I said as I raised my hand that she was holding and poked her forehead. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t get too far ahead of yourself just yet. First of all, we are on the brink of civil war if the Prime Minister decides to make a move. We should worry about bettering ourselves and making new spells just in case.¡±
¡°Oh¡. Mmm¡ Sorry.¡± Sophie lowered her head, her ears dropping to the side. I know she was depressed, but this was just how it was.
¡°Faith is right. We have all the time in the world. We need to work on leveling up after this crisis is over. We needrger mana pools so we can live as long as Faith does. We do not want to have her feel regret for being with us if we die of old age.¡± Adel seemed to understand some of my worries. I guess I should have guessed this since she has been watching me this entire time.
After our bath, Adel and I both fluffed Sophie¡¯s fluffy tail since it was so soft and fluffy. But on this night, since it was our first time alone after we started dating, both Adel and Sophie took turns giving me a deep kiss. It was my first time ever kissing anyone like that, and to be honest, I liked it. We did not go any further than that, but we did end up kissing a few times before we finally decided to sleep.
I never thought I would be in a rtionship. I was very much against it from the start due to probably living forever because of my infinite mana. But now that I was in one, I did not mind it. Both girls have been at my side for years. They have always put me first before everything, and I hope one day I can truly return their feelings with my entire heart. I just wish I knew what true love was. Because even now, while these two girls cuddled up next to me with content smiles on their faces, I still did not know if I loved them or not.
But one thing I do know is that I do not wish to make them sad. So I will do my best to try to figure out where my heart lies no matter what. I just wish things would stop cropping up and allow me more time to really figure out my own feelings.
Sadly things never seem to go the way I want¡. Because the next day, while having breakfast with everyone, a loud explosion was heard across the entire kingdom. At the same time, the teleport array in my house went off, and my brother¡¯s voice could be heard from the other room. ¡°Faith!¡±
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 303 As The World Comes Down Part 2
¡°Faith, where are you? You need to heal, Mother!¡± Hearing my brother¡¯s panicked voice, I rushed into the teleporter room to see my mother¡¯s body half burnt and that she was missing a leg. My eyes went wide seeing such a scene. My father was also in serious condition as well. I ran over and quickly began using rewind on the both of them. ¡°What the hell happened!?¡±
¡°We don¡¯t know. We were suddenly attacked with a strange spell that ignored the barrier that you set up. It destroyed the entire vige. We only survived long enough to get out due to the barrier you put around the vige and house that slowed the spell. But everyone else¡.¡± My brother¡¯s lip trembled. He held my nephew in one of his arms, while Rachel stood there shivering in the other.
I waved my hand, erasing the teleportation runic inscription on the floor so no one else could make use of it. If they could ignore the barriers to the point that it only slowed the attack down, then there is a mage with great power out there. ¡°There¡ they should be okay now¡.¡± I said as I looked at the leg that reappeared on my mother. Her wounds and my father¡¯s wounds also were fully restored but they were still passed out. Luckily they would wake up soon.
¡°Little Bell!¡± I called out.
¡°Yes?¡± Little Bell appeared in front of me, rubbing her eyes.
¡°Can you tell me the status of the cities and towns in the kingdom? Have any of them been attacked?¡± I asked. If I could get a grasp of the extent of the damage, I could figure out the next n of action.
¡°Only your vige was attacked, but there is a massive army entering the Kingdom with strange machines on carts being pulled by monsters. They areing in from the Norian Kingdom.¡± Little Bell replied, causing me to bite my lip. Strange machines? Did they actually find them in a dungeon, or was this something else?
¡°Alright¡. Annie, can you get some of the maids to prepare Adel¡¯s and Sophi¡¯s old rooms for my family?¡± I asked. I had no time to spare because a meeting needed to be held right away.
¡°Yes, Boss!¡± Annie quickly ran off.
¡°Brother, you will be led to a room in a bit to settle everyone down. If Mother and Father wake up, tell them to stay put.¡± I said before standing up and turning around. I looked at the King, who nodded at me and quickly left the room.
In a newly built meeting room, myself, everyone on my team, The king and the nobles of the court, along with the generals of the army, were all sitting around a long table. I was standing at the head of it as I waved my hand, revealing the destruction of my home vige. ¡°This is what is left of my home, Cyrilia Vige.¡±
Gasps filled the room. Even I couldn¡¯t help but grit my teeth. Only my family was able to get out. Everyone who was kind to me was now dead. I was already doing my best to hold my anger in. My ancient will was begging toe out, but I repressed her. But this did not mean I did not n to avenge everyone who died for no reason. So many kind people¡. Auntie Finna, who used to give me cookies¡. They will all be avenged.
¡°As you can see, the vige was attacked, and now a massive army has entered our kingdom from the Norian Kingdom. They have strange mounted weapons which I believe were used to attack my home vige. But on top of a massive army of soldiers¡.¡± I switched the view. The magic I was using was abination of my detection magic and illusion magic which allowed everyone to see what I was seeing.
¡°The army is not just humans or demi humans but also monsters. They number in the hundreds of millions, maybe even a billion. Our world is big and vast, and the number of people living in any kingdom can be hundreds of millions to tens of billions, depending on the kingdom. So it is not strange to see this, but the force they built is something we will need to face head on. While watching our backs since we do not know if any other kingdom will attack in union with them. General Briggs¡.¡± I called out one of the generals.
¡°Can you secure our rear borders with your men?¡± I asked.
¡°Princess Cyrilia, you can count on me and my men to hold the line.¡± General Briggs replied with a salute. One may ask why I was the one giving the orders, and that is because the King pushed all the responsibility onto me.
¡°I thank you. I will have part of Mr. Blob¡¯s subordinates join you as well. Keep one at your side at all times to give me updates since they can send me the information through my mana link.¡± This was basically an army of slimes that numbered in the hundreds of thousands. While they may seem weak, they were actually all over level one hundred now.
¡°That would be a big help.¡± General Briggs replied with a funny expression, but well, whatever, he will understand their worth when the timees.
¡°General Hanson, you will take the north, and General Harris, you will take the south. You will each get a part of Mr. Blob¡¯s subordinates, and as I said to General Brigg, keep one on you at all times so you can ry messages back and forth.¡± After appointing the generals to their locations, I looked at the king and said: ¡°I will go to the front lines with the rest of our forces.¡±
¡°Are you going to be able to handle it?¡± The king asked as he gave me a deep look.
¡°We are fighting the unknown. How am I supposed to know if I can handle it? All I know is I need to do what I can to protect the kingdom I havee to love. Protect the people who only wish to live out their lives in peace. The one behind this attack was probably the Prime Minister and the nobles who followed him. Even if I must destroy the entire Norian Kingdom, I will drag that bastard out from under his rug and cut off his head. If it isn¡¯t him, then I will find out who is and still do the same.¡±
Chapter 304 As The World Comes Down Part 3
¡°Just be careful. I know Adel will be going with you, so I hope you can try to protect her. I know it is asking a lot because the battlefield has many unforeseen events, but I still hope for not only her but you as well to return alive.¡± I could understand where the king wasing from. His only daughter was going off to battle. Even if I tried to keep Adel from going, she would still sneak out.
But I do have one thing to say about this. ¡°I will protect her no matter what, even if it means going against the gods themselves and bringing her back from the dead.¡± Adel and I still have not tested it, but I am pretty sure rewind can do just that. I would snatch Adel back from the dead even if it meant going against the gods doing so.
¡°I will hold you to that¡.¡± The King replied while closing his eyes and continuing: ¡°This kingdom will once again be under your protection. I wish you luck and hope we can reduce casualties as much as possible. ¡°
¡°We can only hope¡.¡± Yes, we can only hope.
¡ª
I set up a one hundredyer spinning barrier around the capital. Now knowing the enemy has a weapon that can ignore my barriers, I do hope I can reduce its power at the very least. I wish I had more time toe up with a different spell that could be used to ward it off, but at this time, I do not have any time to waste. I had just finished creating a massive teleport runic inscription that was going to begin transporting troops to the front lines.
This war was going to be unlike any war this continent had ever seen. The number of people that were involved was no small number. Sadly though, we were outnumbered by a lot. And I mean a lot. Diablo and Iena were being left in the capital to protect it. Over ten million soldiers were stationed around the Spirits¡¯ domain. We have sixty percent of our forces stationed in different directions of the kingdom, all so we do not leave any side open.
This means an army of a little under a hundred million would be facing an army that was hundreds of millions to maybe even a billionrge. Such an army is unthinkable. It seems fake, but if you include all the monsters they have that outnumber the number of humans and demi humans in their group, then it really bes believable. No country on Earth during my past life could have such an army. The size and scale of such a battle is something one could only see in fantasy stories.
And right now, I was currently flying at top speed, making my way to the front line to create a teleportation circle to allow our small army to arrive quickly. I was about a hundred miles away from the actual enemy army. I had to make sure our front line could dig in before they fully arrived. While I felt bad for the people that were about to suffer in the towns and cities in their path, there was nothing I could do about it.
Right now, some had to be sacrificed. I could only hope that they could hide and stay safe until we could push the enemy back. It pains me to think that many will suffer, but there is no other choice.
I worked quickly and created arge teleportation magic circle in the ground and quickly used it to return to the others. Only then did we start moving our military to our front lines. No one wasted time. An underground camp was quickly created by those good in earth magic, and trenches were being dug as all. Magic was quite handy in times of war. Things were almost fully set up in just under two hours. From the time of the initial attack until now, it has been a total of five hours.
I turned and looked up at the uniformly standing groups of soldiers and sighed because they were all waiting for me to make a motivational speech. In such a war that we were about to run head first into, a speech would be needed. ¡°I will say this now. I can¡¯t promise that you will all make it back. But we will do our damnedest to push the enemy back out of our country and make them pay. So this way, if you do die, your lives and the effort you all put in will not be in vain. We are the Kingdom of Gravos! A ce where people of all races cane and live with our discrimination! We hold ideals that many hate, but it is those same ideals that have allowed us to unite under one banner. Let¡¯s show these Norian bastards or whoever they are that our Gravos Kingdom is not a ce they can just walk into and do as they please!¡±
A loud roar filled the air, but I raised my hand to quiet them down. ¡°We are currently dealing with an unknown weapon or spell. It can pass right through the barriers I myself have created. My own parents almost fell victim to this weapon or spell. Whatever it is, we will still need to march forth into the unknown. So, please¡ Keep on your toes. Stay alive and keep fighting. I will be there on the front lines leading the way. I will not retreat until I am dead. Let¡¯s begin our death march!¡±
Another loud roar filled the air. Death march. This is the right term for it because we are walking into the unknown. We do not know what lies ahead of us. But we do know that we will be fighting for our lives and for the people who can only hope and pray that we will seed. I hope that whoever the enemy is this time that they are not as powerful as Azengrade. Or that it is not him behind it all. But I do know one thing. I will take out all my enemies to the veryst one of them this time around. I have already steeled myself to an understanding that the Norian Kingdom can be no more.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 305 War Rages
¡°Watch your heads! We got iing!¡± The war had already started. I still do not know who was the one who started this whole thing, but when I find them, I will definitely kill them.
There are three things that I have realized about this current battle. First is that barriers are basically useless against the enemy¡¯s strange weapons. Second, they have a group of mages who are creating mutliyered barriers around the weapons, which is keeping long ranged attacks from hitting the weapons. Third is that we can stop the attacks from the weapons if we use fire magic on them and blow up whatever is benign shot at us before it reaches us. I have a squad of fire mages whose only duty is to stop any of those new weapons from harming our people.
But besides these few things, I still have not determined what they are using for ammo or if it is some kind of mana infused cannon. It could be anything at this rate. We currently can¡¯t get close enough to do anything. I really want to move forward myself, but I have tomand this army. They are all counting on me to give them proper directions.
¡°Another volley! Barriers up!¡± I yelled out. ¡°Melee, focus on monsters and foot soldiers! Mages, keep barriers up and ignore the enemy mages! Just keep the spinning barriers up that I taught you all!¡± One good thing about this army is that our mages are very capable. I only taught two people how to do the spinning barrier that I created, and each one of them is now able to cast it, and it is all we need to protect our people. In other words, we can ignore the enemy mages¡¯ attacks making our advancement easier.
We have only gained a few miles of ground, but that is still a few miles when we are already this outnumbered. I have not been cking, either. I have about one hundred grand falls smashing into the barriers they are keeping up around the strange weapons. If things work out, I will be able to keep their barrier mages busy long enough to wipe out the rest of their army. Because along with the grand falls, I have a barrage of fireballs and gates of faithylon raining down on the enemy as well.
One thing I am happy about is that I do not see anyone with lines on their faces. But I have made sure of one thing. Both Adel and Sophie are at my side. If I am correct, ording to my dreams, this is the war that Sophie¡.
¡°Faith, are you going to be okay? You are using a lot of magic, and on top of that, you have tethered the entire army supplying them with your mana.¡± Sally asked. Sally, Sei, and Grace were on defensive duty to protect Adel and me. This was not my choice but theirs. They refused to listen to any orders besides protecting us.
¡°Mana is thest thing I need to worry about running out of. Just pay attention to any stray attacksing our way. Grace, you keep everyone healed. You can spam your aoe heals as much as you wish.¡± I gave out orders to Sally and Grace while Sei looked at me expectantly. I grinned and whispered: ¡°You could always use that special skill of yours to you know¡. Entice the entire ¡.¡±
¡°No! Not happening!¡± Sei blushed and quickly shook her head back and forth, causing me to chuckle.
I shrugged and continued monitoring the situation. I had multiple water screens hovering in front of me, and one of them caught my eye, causing me to frown. ¡°Steven¡¯s side is being overrun by high level monsters. Those monsters are not from our world either.¡± I bit my lip as I watched Steven fighting with everything he had. He was cutting them down with no issue, but the others were just normal humans and demi humans so they were having trouble holding their ground.
¡°Squad 132, form five man cells to fight the monsters. Do not fight them one on one. Those are dungeon monsters that they must have dragged out of whatever dungeon they entered, so they will be a bit stronger than normal monsters, but they will go down easy if you work together.¡± I ryed my message through the slimes that were spread out over the battlefield. By using them as a speaker in a way, I am able to ry orders without issue. This was a result of Mr. Blob¡¯s evolving after he ate quite a few of the enemy monsters. It was quite the nice timing, too, since it made things much easier than using our normal connection.
¡°Squad 345, you are moving too far forward! Keep a steady line. Take cover, do not fight directly unless you have to. The days of running down the line are over. Fight smart and not stupid. Rushing in will only get you killed.¡± I gave out this order before looking out over the battlefield once more. I took a deep breath and looked at the girls. ¡°I am sending you all to the back line. I need to try to end this quickly. While giving orders is easy to do, we can not allow our enemy to gain an understanding of our tactics.¡±
¡°We want to rush into the enemy line and leave us here doing nothing!?¡± Adel shouted at me, but what can I say? I would do more good right now on the front line than sitting in the back.
¡°Adel, I know you want to fight beside me, but right now, we can not do that. Sophie as well. I need you two girls to just behave for me and stay put and protect Grace. She is what is keeping our forces alive!¡± My words seemed to have made them reluctant, but they still nodded their heads without saying anything. ¡°Then please protect Grace. I am moving out. Keep an eye on the mirages. If you see anything strange, contact me through the slime. You girls are my ears and eyes on the battlefield while I am fighting.¡±
¡°You can leave it to us!¡± Adel replied with a salute. I could see that she was still mad, but unfortunately, I could not allow her to move any further on the battlefield.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 306 Stealing Things Because They Look Cool!
My main priorities were to keep those close to me safe as well as my men. If she moved any closer to the front line, they would prioritize her safety over their own and might end up getting themselves killed. Thest thing I want is for them to sacrifice themselves for someone else when they could have been able to move out of the way because she would be the number one target on their enemy side to break morale. Nothing says killing a princess of the enemy kingdom to drop the enemy¡¯s morale and boost their own.
I flew through the sky while keeping my massive attacks going. My current goal was the back line. While we could keep these strange weapons at bay, I still needed to take them out once and for all so we could do a major push, and to do that, someone needed to go to the back line and create havoc.
I stayed clear of the main part of the battlefield andnded on the side near the first weapon. This weapon was quite amazing. It looked like a futuristic ballistic weapon, and I could feel a strong source of mana as well as another type of energy mixed within. what that energy source was, I did not know, but I did know one thing¡. I licked my lips as I looked at the weapons. ¡°These will be mine!¡±
I don¡¯t think the enemy will mind If I steal some of these weapons from them, right? I mean not steal, just borrow indefinitely. At any rate, what is the best way to keep an enemy from firing a fancy weapon at you? Borrow it and test it out yourself!
I made my way the long way around towards where the enemy was surrounding therge weapon. They had about a hundred guards surrounding it, along with fifty mages casting barriers around the weapon and holding off the grand fall that was bearing down on it. I thought for a moment before snickering as I yelled out in dragon speak: ¡°Dance!¡± At the same time, I dispelled the barrier they had created and cast my own to block my grand fall. I still had a use for it, so I was not going to let it crash into my main prize.
I charged forward and touched the weapon causing it to disappear before shing away and releasing my barrier. The soldiers that had been dancing could only keep dancing as my grand fall fell on top of them.
My eyes were now set on the next weapon. There were a lot of them, and I nned to take all five. I continued forward using the same method as before. With each grand fall hitting the ground, the cheers from my men filled the area, causing an obvious disturbance in the enemy¡¯s front line. No one was able to tell what was going on. I raced across the battlefield as if I was on some kind of one hundred meter dash, and I was doing my best to get first ce. But instead, I was just busy stealing weapons of mass destruction.
With each weapon and each grand fall that fell, I felt our victorying at hand. But even though I did try not to jinx myself about a total victorying our way, a strange sound could be hearding straight at me.
*Boooooooooooooooommmmmmmmmmmm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!*
Myself as well as the weapon I was about to pocket, the ten grand falls that were in the process of being held back by the barriers, and all the people that were guarding the weapons were blown to bits. Well, I was just flung through the air, but I can say that the weapon that just hit me was not the same as the weapons I just stole. ¡°What the hell was that!?¡±
I crawled up from the dirt and mud, as well as what looked to be bits of flesh and body parts, to see a huge crater in the ground where I once stood. I shook my body off of what I could before flying into the air. I squinted my eyes and focused on the direction I was shot at from and off in the horizon, there looked to be arge cannon simr to what I had just been stealing but on a muchrger scale. ¡°Hmmm¡ Do you really think that will stop me?¡±
I sneered as I turned towards the enemy forces. I was currently in the back line, which means I can cut the back line off and destroy them all in one go now. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath as I waved my hand. ¡°Earth wall!¡± I created a massive earth wall the entire length of the battle that reached up towards the clouds. The enemy began to panic as I slowly began to merge fire and lighting together. I have gotten the current progress of this spell down to a two minute cast time, which so far is my limit.
But this time, I was not creating two tiny little balls of each element but massive balls that were a hundred times the size of my own body. I slowly began to fuse the two spells together, and in a matter of seconds, I had a massive lightning me that looked like it was ready to explode at any moment. With such arge battlefield, I had no choice but to use such a spell.
¡°Child of Dragons¡. I can not allow you to cast that¡.¡± An old voice entered my head. It was a very familiar voice. One I have heard before. The spell in my hand began to diminish, causing me to frown.
¡°Why not!?¡± I shouted out but got no answer. ¡°I will need to visit the spirit domain once this is all over. Anyway, Let¡¯s just do it this way. Since I now have a wall blocking my men, I can use dragon speak in a wide area.¡±
¡°Stop!¡± My voice echoed across the sky. Every enemy soldier and monster stopped in their tracks. ¡°Kill yourselves¡..¡±
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 307 Heavy Artillery
Every person below me in the entire length of the battlefield on my side of the wall suddenly copsed to the ground. Some used magic to blow themselves up, some just used a knife or sword to slice their own throats, and the monsters seemed to have all snapped their own necks. ¡°More effective than I thought it would be. I was scared that if used in such a wide area that my own people would end up killing themselves but now that it is tested and foolproof, only I need to go out to the battlefield in the future. That Earth Wall made a for a good soundproofing material.¡±
I once more heard something being fired off in the distance, causing me to turn around. As I did, I saw a huge beam of light heading right at me. I waved my hand, sending out a massive fireball which collided with the beam of light, causing a huge explosion that almost knocked me out of the air but still sent me flying back into the earth wall I created. At the same time, I heard two more shots being fired, heading directly at me.
Waving my hand, I sent out another two fireballs out causing the same thing to happen, but this time I was embedded into the wall. Repeated shots could be heard off in the distance as I tried to pull myself out from the wall. But these shots were fast, too fast for me to be able to unstick myself as they smashed into me, exploding on contact. My earth wall began to crumble as another five shots were heard in the distance. ¡°Damn it! Let me breathe!¡±
They were firing thatrge cannon like a damn machine gun! I quickly smashed the wall behind me and waved my hand, creating thousands of fireballs and sending them flying towards the cannon thing. For some reason, I felt like the final boss of some really bad RPG! I mean, who makes the final boss as cute as me!?
Loud explosions were going off in front of me. I turned and fixed the wall that was damaged from earlier before flying forwards while keeping a steady barrage of fireballs on the enemy in front of me. I had a feeling something was off, so my detection magic was on full st. I was ready for anything. Anything that moved had a fireball sent flying at it and would explode. I didn¡¯t even care if it was a fly because, on a battlefield with so many unknowns, I did not know what to expect.
The dreams I have had up until this point are all different from the current events to a point. In my dreams, the war that happened did not have these kinds of weapons. So dungeons might not have existed at that time. Unless maybe I had changed things just enough to change the future that should have been. Or maybe I was seeing a future of another me in a parallel universe.
For all I know, the current weapons could have existed, but since the war was supposed to start at ater time, things changed greatly. But none of that matters now because I just ran into an army even bigger than thest. ¡°What the hell is with this kingdom!? Where do you get all these soldiers!?¡±
With my detection magic beyond the massive cannon that was still firing at me and only me was another massive army. It was like the first wave was to draw me out. If they really did, then it is because they fear me and were using the first wave as a means to check my abilities.
If this was the case, I royally screwed up! How am I supposed to deal with a situation where the enemy has seen my tricks and can now adapt? If they saw me using dragon speak and now insting their men with soundproofing magic, I can not kill an entire army in a singlemand. They seem to understand the strength of Grand fall as well since their barriers around the weapons I stole held up well.
Dragon speak¡¯s only weakness was that it needed to be heard, so if they couldn¡¯t hear anything, then it would be useless. ¡°Now what!?¡± I halted my advance and waved my hand, creating a massive rain of grand falls before continuing my advance. I decided it would be best to let the massive army in the back, that I know they are there. Even if it does nothing, it will at least keep them busy long enough for me to figure out what to do with this massive cannon. They seem to be firing at me no matter which way I go and only seem to have a single one of these weapons. If I can get close enough, I can steal it. I really do not want to give up such a nice defensive weapon.
If it can be replicated, we can outfit our borders with them and really secure the kingdom. As long as no one actually fires them by ident, things will be fine, which would mean needing some kind of safety lock and also a theft lock, so people like me don¡¯t show up and steal them all.
I flew in circles around the cannon and realized that they would not fire in the direction that pointed ind. Which meant¡. ¡°Looks like if Ind on the east side of it, I can make it stop firing, but then I am sure to be attacked. So maybe a sleep spell to get in quickly and then get out? Or should I charge forward and attack the next wave of soldiers after I take the weapon?¡±
¡°I should probably charge towards the enemy line. If such an army also makes its way into the Gravos Kingdom, more lives will be lost. But if they have defenses in ce to counter me, then I guess the best solution is to go full dragon mode. But I still wonder why I can¡¯t use fusion magic. This would be the perfect time to use it. While I do wish to use it, since the leader of the spirits stopped me from using it before, my guess is that it would have serious consequences. What consequences, I do not know. Ahhh!¡± I scratched my head andnded softly on the ground. ¡°One thing at a time, weapon first.¡±
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 308 Understanding The Situation Part 1
Yes, the weapon first. I had so much to do but was only one person. I do wonder why I take on so much responsibility. Why do I always see it as my responsibility to handle what is toe? But at the same time, I do not trust others to handle an issue that might just harm those I love.
But I guess aftering this far, I shouldn¡¯t really question my own instincts. I do love the kingdom I live in. So wanting to protect it is natural. While it is not my responsibility to do so, I still will take it upon myself to protect it. I do not wish for the people of this kingdom to die. I do not wish to see any of them suffer. And now that I am in the enemy¡¯s territory over the border into the Norian kingdom, I can only think of one thing. Destroy the enemy at the roots. Do not let those in power cause problems for my kingdom anymore. Take control of thend that has caused so much pain and suffering and killed those I cared about.
The people of Cyrilia Vige did not deserve to die. They were all innocents, but the people of this kingdom or whoever it was that instigated them had actually attacked my home, the ce my family worked so hard to build up. I will never let that slide. So I guess this makes this war pretty personal now that I think about it.
I wonder if this is how people felt during times of war back on Earth. The lives of their loved ones dying at the hands of an invading army. Cities and towns destroyed as the people suffered at the hands of the enemy. Lives snuffed out for no reason, even though they yed no part in anything.
I do not see any of this as a means of fighting an enemy. Any military that attacks unarmed civilians are nothing more than murders. This was why I had no problem ordering millions of soldiers to kill themselves. I had already seen what they were doing to the citizens of my kingdom. There were no innocents in that army.
As I stand in the air looking at the massive cannon that is pointed at me but not firing, I couldn¡¯t help but smile. They dared not fire in the direction their military wasing from. Yet they do nothing about the massive grand falls falling on top of their main forces. With a mana barrier surrounding me, I slowly flew over to the massive canon. And the closer I got to it, the bigger it got. It was as tall as a castle and just as wide. It was massive. And the amount of mana and strange power it took to power the thing was also enormous.
Inded in front of the massive ten thousand man force that was guarding the weapon and slowly walked towards it. On this day, this weapon will be mine. Then I will replicate it and station them at every border of my kingdom to keep those with ideas from even thinking of invading ever again.
¡°Demon Princess, I suggest you put your hands up!!¡± An old man on the back of a scaled horse yelled out as he rode towards me. I guess they think I am here to surrender. Did they think their weapon scared me into submission? Well, whatever the case, I will just let them believe what they want for now.
But something really bothers me. What is this demon princess crap? Well, I guess it is actually not all that wrong since I am also part demon, and I am officially a princess as well but still! Everyone keepsing up with names for me! And none of them are any good!
¡°It¡¯s good to see you are willing to surrender.¡± The old man on the scaled horse said as he arrived in front of me with a sword pointing right at me.
I tilted my head, looking at him in confusion as I asked: ¡°What makes you think I came here to surrender?¡±
¡°Why else would you willinglynd and walk towards a massive army of fifteen thousand? If you are not here to surrender, then what are you here¡. Not good! Fall back!¡± The old man was quick. He was not as dumb as many would think. But sadly, he did not get far before his head caught on fire, and he fell off his scaled horse. Which I kindly climbed onto the back of and, before charging forward. I made sure to kindly repay the old man by kingly setting his men on fire as well.
¡°Stop here! She killed the general!¡± Wait, that was a general? Did he think he was going to gain all the glory for himself by riding out alone to meet me? Just how much of an idiot is he? But one thing I did notice was that not all these people are in the same military. It looks like the army this time is not only just a mix of monsters and soldiers but different kingdom soldiers as well.
Since this is the case, it seems more than one kingdom needs to be taken care of. It looks like I have a big job ahead of me, but that works out just fine. I rode over and grabbed one of the men not in a Norian army uniform and asked: ¡°What Kingdom are you from!?¡±
¡°I won tell¡.¡±
¡°I said, what kingdom are you from!?¡± This time I used dragon speak, he had no spells blocking sound, so this meant he would be vulnerable to it. His eyes dulled as he slowly spoke: ¡°The Kingdom of Gend.¡±
¡°How many kingdoms are involved in this war? Who instigated this?¡± I asked. Instead of interrogating them all one at a time, I can get this man to spit it out for me.
¡°The Kingdom of Gesnd, The Norian Kingdom, The Kingdom of Retolne, and the Kingdom of Hearth. I do not know who instigated this. Only captains and above would know.¡± The man replied before I burnt him to ash.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 309 Understanding The Situation Part 2
From the information I got, it exined two things to me. First, the kingdoms the man told me about were all north of the Norian Kingdom. They were like city states instead of a massive kingdoms, but they still had billions of people in each kingdom. And they had been conquered by the Norian Kingdom a long time ago. This was where they were getting their human forces from. As for the monsters, the Kingdom of Hearth is mainly a beast tamer kingdom. Their culture is heavily oriented around beast taming. This was probably how they were able to capture monsters. But the level of the monsters was also pretty high, which means many of these people probably have system stones.
This much I had already expected, but still, I would have hoped to have gotten a bit higher in level before others began to catch up. I do wonder, though, what dungeons they entered to get these monsters. There are even cyclopses mixed in as well as werewolves. Anyway, none of that matters. I just need to figure out one thing.
I grabbed the person nearest to me and used dragon speak on him: ¡°Where is your captain?¡±
¡°Next to me¡.¡± The dulled eyes soldier replied, causing the man next to him¡¯s eyes to grow wide. ¡°You damn traitor!¡±
I turned to look at the other man who was turning to run away but quickly grabbed him with a wind spell and forced him to face me before using dragon speak on him as well. ¡°Why have you all invaded the Gravos Kingdom!?¡±
¡°Pholin Sergi promised half the kingdom to the Norain King in exchange for their help. He is currently in the Norian Kingdom¡¯s capital, Norsen. He nned it all out so that he could kill the King of gravos and his family. But he seemed warier of you: Demon Princess Cyrilia. Our orders were to draw you to the front line while a small force invaded the capital.¡± The captain¡¯s eyes went dull. I sneered and lit the captain on fire as well. I looked at all the soldiers who were just dumbly staring at me, not daring to go near me, and snorted.
¡°You people are fools!¡± I yelled out and then used dragon speak once more. ¡°Kill yourselves!¡± I sat on my scaled horse as the ten thousand or so soldiers all copsed around me. They blindly followed that damn idiot Prime Minister, and he dared to attack my family first!? ¡°Hehe¡. I will ughter them all¡.¡± I could feel the blood lust welling up inside me. My ancient will was trying to surface, but I was still keeping it at bay. But I did not mind borrowing a stand of it to handle the situation in front of me. ¡°Don¡¯t get ahead of yourself. You are part of me, and I am the one in control.¡± I muttered to myself. I still haven¡¯t forgotten what the ancient will said about me. But I will not let it get to me. I am me and only me. If the ancient will wants toe out, it will be on my terms.
With the forces around me dead, I walked right up to the cannon and stored it away. I turned to look at the barriers blocking my grand falls and sneered. I set my scaled horse free as I rose up into the air. And looked out towards the capital of the Norian Kingdom. ¡°Diablo, can you hear me?¡±
¡°I can, Master.¡± Diablo¡¯s voice rang out in my head.
¡°There is a small force headed your way. I want you to destroy it and behead every man in the force. Then bring the heads to me. I wish to bring a present to the man in charge.¡± I was mad, very mad. My parents almost lost their lives. My brother, my nephew, and my sister inw as well. They all could have died. Auntie Finna lost her life along with the other vigers all because of me. I will bring that bastard back to Cyrillia Vige and use his blood to send off those who died for no reason.
My thoughts may be disgusting. My thoughts may be violent. They may even sound like the thoughts of a mad person, but I do not care. As of this moment and time, those who dared to harm those and the ces I care about will vanish from this world after they are drained of every drop of blood in their body.
¡°Yes, Master¡.¡± Diablo replied. He did not question my orders. He would always bow and do as I asked.
¡°Mm¡ Thanks, Diablo¡. I will now destroy our enemies.¡± I said as I waved my hand once more, creating a massive fireball in one hand and a massive lightning ball in another. I was no longer on the Gravos kingdom¡¯snd so I should be able to use this attack now. But just as I was about tobine the two forces, Little Be suddenly appeared and pulled my hand back. ¡°Little Bell?¡±
¡°You can¡¯t! It¡¯s bad!¡± Little Bell looked up at me with pleading eyes. I sighed and got rid of the spell. I wanted to ask why once more, but now was not the time. ¡°Then I will refrain from using it.¡±
¡°Mmm! Faith is good!¡± Little Bell flew up and kissed my cheek before disappearing back inside my body. I still have no idea why they stopped me, but they don¡¯t seem to want to see me using fusion magic on arge scale, I guess¡.
It¡¯s not like I will need it. I will just do things in an even easier way. Let¡¯s see if they can block my dragon speak. I flew towards the massive army that was doing its best to keep the grand falls from falling to the ground and stopped when I was halfway there. ¡°Let¡¯s y a small trick, shall we?¡±
I sent my detection magic out all over the enemies¡¯ four kingdoms. Once I spotted my target, I turned towards the border between the Gravos Kingdom and the Norian Kingdom and waved my hand, creating a massive wall of stone and metal. It rose up three miles into the sky, casting a massive shadow on thends below. But I did not stop there. It was not just the boarded between my country and this one but every border that surrounded the entire four kingdoms borders based on the maps I remembered. After which, I pleased a massive rotating barrier that covered the skies of the four kingdoms. ¡°Since you want to harm me, I will make sure you can not escape!¡±
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 310 When Dreams Become Reality Part 1
The walls I created were just for show, while the real show stopper is the barrier. This barrier not only reflects spells used against it back at its attacker, but it also makes the attacks homing attacks. These attacks only reflect back at those within the barrier. On the outside, they just get spun away. But there is another thing that this barrier does. If someone tries to touch it, they will not only be shredded to pieces, but they will feel the pain tenfold as they do.
I am being quite vicious, but I do not care. The current situation does not allow for niceties. Everyone in thesends can be considered my enemy. And because my detection magic is now locked on to him, I can see that Mr. Prime Minister is not having a good time at all. He is currently yelling at the king of Norian. Oh? It seems he is being arrested. This makes things easier on me. I bet the king of Norian wants to use him as a bargaining chip to be let off but sadly for him, his entire family has already been marked for dead by me. While I will keep to my normal rules of extermination, I will be wiping out the military, nobles, and royal families of all four kingdoms.
¡°Hehehe¡.¡± I bit the tip of my finger, drawing blood. Just thinking about it was starting to make me excited¡.
I took a deep breath as I felt the pain in my finger. The taste of iron filled my mouth. ¡°Even just a little bit of the ancient will is able to corrupt my mind. But it¡¯s fine. A little craziness is what I need right now.¡±
I flew off to the Norian Kingdom¡¯s capital. I was not here to kill civilians, only the nobles and military officials who okayed this war. I wasn¡¯t nning to harm any innocents, but this did not mean I was not going to have an easy time picking who is who. I would need to gather them all in one ce and use dragon speak on them. But to be sure it works, I will need to do it in another way. Since soul magic is unaffected by normal magic, I can use my soul to cast dragon speak on the nobles. This will allow me to truly know who is evil and who is good.
My travel time took five days. The Norian Kingdom was much bigger than the Gravos kingdom due to its continuous expansion. When I arrived at the capital, I found myself being weed by a group of knights on flying monsters. The lead knight flew in front of me and bowed his head: ¡°Princess Cyrilia. His Majesty is waiting for you at the pce.¡±
¡°Oh? Not going to call me Demon Princess Cyrilia? Or any of the other names you have for me?¡± I asked in a mocking tone. The Knight¡¯s eyebrow twitched, but he kept himselfposed.
¡°Of crouse not, such names are¡.¡± The knight stopped speaking when a figure suddenly appeared next to me with arge bloody sack.
¡°Diablo. You took care of it?¡± I asked with a smile.
¡°Master, there were four teams altogether, adding up to over one hundred heads,¡± Diablo replied. He looked at me and looked slightly shocked at first, but I guess that is the given with how my eyes were wide with excitement. The smell of blood was really making my blood boil. This was what I had to deal with when dealing with the ancient will. If I want to be more imposing and clear my mind of kindness, I need to use it, but even this little sliver of it is enough to cause issues. ¡°Master you¡.¡±
¡°I will have to have you take a look another time, Diablo. For now, return to the capital just in case anything serious happens. And¡. Thank you.¡± I replied with a smile. Although I think it might have been a bit of a crazed smile. There was nothing I could do at this time, though. Diablo nodded and disappeared. I took a deep breath before returning my gaze to the knight in front of me.
¡°Now then, shall we make our way to your king?¡± I asked, still smiling, but the knight now had a look of fear on his face. I guess my bloodlust was quite strong at this time. ¡°You all call me the Demon Princess now, do you not? Would you like to join the men in this bag, or will you bring me to your king like you said you would?¡±
¡°Ahem¡ Please, this way¡.¡± The knight cleared his throat, and motioned for me to follow him. I nodded and allowed him to lead the way. The supposed men who were probably supposed to be my guard escorts were not flying at quite the distance away from me. My guess is that they want to be able to fly at any second in case I go crazy. Maybe the ancient will is not so bad after all. No! It is not something I should use lightly.
I took a deep breath and tried to clear my mind. I must never let my thoughts control me. This is what it wants.
When we arrived at the so called pce, which was nothing but a castle in my eyes, we walked right to the throne room unimpeded. On a throne sitting high above the rest of the room, was a young man who looked to be in histe twenties. He was muscr and burly and wore armor instead of kingly robes, as many kings wear. ¡°So you are Demon Princess Cyrilia. I am the King of the Norian Kingdom, King Greth. I wish to make a deal with you.¡±
¡°Oh? A deal? What kind of deal can you make with me when you attacked and destroyed my home vige? Killing my loved ones? Are you okay in the head? You want to make a deal with me!? I think you need to understand something right now, Mr. King. In this kingdom, including your three vassal states, you are all my hostages. The only one making deals is me, and only I am to be asking questions so¡.¡± I took a step forward and appeared right in front of the king and grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, and tossed him to the bottom of the stairs leading to the throne. ¡°In this ce here and now, I am the only one who makes all decisions. My word is like god¡¯s words.¡±
I turned and sat on the throne and looked down at the king, who was struggling to get up. ¡°You are the ones who dared to invade my homnd and kill my kingdom¡¯s people and those close to me. You started this. Now I will make you and all those involved pay.¡±
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 311 When Dreams Become Reality Part 2
¡°You can not get away with this! You will pay a high price if you harm me in any way!¡± The King suddenly shouted, causing me to tilt my head.
¡°Call out the people you have as backing. Can they even enter this kingdom? I am sorry to say that you are sealed off. I have made sure that you and your allies have been closed off from the world. From this moment on, you are at my mercy.¡± Killing intent oozed out of my body. ¡°Iena!¡±
¡°Yes, Master!¡± Iena appeared in front of me in a puff of smoke.
¡°Can you summon demons under yourmand to seek out every noble in this kingdom?¡± I asked.
¡°This is simple, Master,¡± Iena replied as she waved her hand, thousands of summoning circles formed, and a legion of skeletons suddenly appeared. Iena looked at them and waved her hand: ¡°Go! Seek out and find every noble for this kingdom and bring them before my Master!¡±
All the skeletons suddenly pounded their chest tes and disappeared in a puff of smoke. I pursed my lips when I realized just how useful this summoning thing is. ¡°I should practice this magic more.¡±
¡°Master, I can help you with your summoning magic so you can pick and choose what you wish to summon.¡± Iena¡¯s eyes as she looked at me were filled with a bit of expectation. I guess I have ignored her a bit since things had happened. ¡°Then I will be in your care when things are all settled.¡±
¡°Yes, Master!¡± Iena smiled brightly. Her pointy tail was wagging back and forth. I know it is rude to say, but right now, she reminded me of a dog. ¡°Master, what should I do with this man?¡±
¡°Oh right¡. Iena, the Prime Minister, should be in the dungeon. I want you to bring him before me.¡± I sent my detection magic back into the dungeon. ¡°Hmmm¡ Wait, Iena¡.¡±
¡°Master?¡± Iena, who was about to leave, stopped and looked at me in confusion.
¡°It seems the Prime Minister¡¯s backer was here..¡± I bit my finger. The man I wanted to kill most escaped. He is no longer in the dungeon. I sent my detection magic out over the entire kingdom, but no matter where I checked, I could not find any trace of him. He was nowhere within the bounds of this kingdom or the three vassal states. It was like he had vanished from the face of the.
¡°Iena, go to the dungeon and check for any traces of magic that might be found. Someone helped that bastard escape and even eluded my detection!¡± I was not happy. I guess when things are going too smoothly, they will soon mess up. But who could be the Prime Minister¡¯s backer?
¡°Right away, Master!¡± Iena disappeared and went to the dungeon as I asked. I was not liking this. From what I can tell, way before the dungeons had appeared, the Prime Minister seemed to be nning something. But who was the one who was behind him that gave him the ability to pull this all off?
I looked at the Norian king, who was staring daggers at me, and leaned over and stared at him. ¡°Speak! Who is the Prime Minister¡¯s backer?¡±
This just did not match up. Why would the Norian king be willing to team up with a Prime Minister? Why would he suddenly attack a kingdom he has no ability to attack? Why was the response during the first Norain invasion so slow, yet this time, even without my help, the forces would have been sent out quickly? So why? Why would the Prime Minister be able to pull all of this off?
My eyes fell onto the Norian king who was staring at me, not answering my question even though I just used dragon speak on him. ¡°I see¡ Then let¡¯s do things another way.¡± I opened my mouth, but no sound came out. Not a sound a person could hear normally. That was because I just gave the same order but used my soul to cast dragon speak.
The Norain king¡¯s eyes dulled as a white apparition appeared from his body, looking up at me: ¡°I do not know who the man is¡. I only know he was very strong. He had ck hair and purple eyes. He was very powerful. Beyond anything, I have ever seen before. Maybe even more powerful than you.¡±
¡°Did he have any markings on his skin?¡± I asked in dragon speak once more while using my soul.
¡°He had a burn mark over his right eye.¡± The Norian king replied.
¡°Tell me, what do you know about him?¡± A burn mark over his right eye meant he was not Azengrade, which allowed me to feel a bit at ease.
¡°I do not know much except that he seems to have a grudge against the Gravos Kingdom. He and the Prime Minister of Gravos seemed quite close. They might have been family.¡± The Norain king answered.
¡°Anything else?¡± I asked.
¡°No¡.¡± A simple word was all he answered.
I took a deep breath as I waved my hand, canceling dragon speak, and looked over at the bloody bag next to me. I picked it up and sent it flying towards the king. The bag crashed to the floor, and the heads rolled out towards the Norian king. ¡°Do you recognize these men?¡±
The Norian King looked at the heads with a pale face. But he showed no real reaction, which told me nothing. ¡°Tell me now do you know these men?¡± I once more use dragon speak with my soul.
¡°They were part of a special squad capable of infiltrating any kingdom. They had no name since they were all trained from a young age.¡± I raised an eyebrow. It was true that these men easily infiltrated the Gravos Kingdom. Most of my questions for this king were now answered, so all that was left was to clean up and wait for Iena¡¯s investigation before moving to the next kingdom.
Chapter 312 When Dreams Become Reality Part 3
¡°I see¡ since you know nothing, you are worthless to me.¡± I waved my hand causing a wind de to form and fly through the room severing the head from the Norain king¡¯s body. ¡°It seems your powerful backer is nowhere to be found even after I took your head.¡±
¡°Master!¡± Iena suddenly appeared next to me. ¡°There were no traces of magic left behind. It is like they were not using magic at all. I did however find a trace of a strange energy I have never seen before. But sadly, before I could figure out how to collect any of it, it dissipated.¡±
¡°A strange energy?¡± I frowned. This might be the same strange energy that was powering the weapons I found. This would exin where the weapons came from if this was the case.
¡°Alright. Let¡¯s just take care of things here then¡.¡± I let out a sigh. I let the big fish get away because I thought he was locked in the dungeon. I would never have thought that he would be taken out of this dungeon from right out under my nose. I tapped the little blue slime that was sitting on my shoulder. ¡°Adel, how are things on your end?¡±
¡°Well, after you created the massive wall, the soldiers cut off from the main squad troops all surrendered. We have a massive POW camp set up now and are guarding it. But Faith, can you tell me what the hell happened!? Why was the entire army on the other side of the wall dead as if they hadmitted suicide? Why is there a giant wall and barrier surrounding the boarder!? What are you doing!?¡±
¡°The soldiers killed themselves because I told them to. As for the wall, I put it up to keep the Prime Minister from escaping, but I failed. Right now, I am sitting in the Norain Kingdom¡¯s throne room, on its throne, looking at the headless body of the Norian King. Iena is helping me round up all the nobles as I n to purge all future threats to the Gravos kingdom and take the Norian Kingdom and its three vassal states under the Gravos Kingdom¡¯s banner.¡± I answered. The other side went dead quiet. ¡°Adel?¡±
¡°Faith¡. Do you mean you have seized control of four different kingdoms at once?¡± Adel asked in an almost whisper.
¡°Mmm¡ Everyone must pay for their sins. Adel, I can not let these people live. The soldiers that invaded our homnd. The people behind the strike against my home vige. The deaths of those who were close to me. How can they reincarnate if they are stuck with regrets? I will not allow it. I will find the Prime Minister, and I will use his blood as an offering to those who died so they can reincarnate into a new life without regret. So that they know that they have been avenged.¡± I answered, but the cruel, sinister smile on my lips would not go away even though tears dripped from my eyes.
¡°Faith¡ Your ancient will¡.¡± Adel¡¯s voice of concern entered my ear, but I had no choice. I had to be cruel. I had to turn into evil this one time to rid the world of those who were worse than me. Just like when I cleaned up the nobles of the Gravos Kingdom, I will now do a new purge.
¡°It¡¯s fine¡ I am still in control. But I need to use a bit of its power. A bit of its ability to allow me to stayposed as I be evil for a short while. Adel¡. Please don¡¯t hate me¡.¡± I closed the connection there as I wiped my eyes. The skeletons had brought in over fifty people. They ranged from all ages. And they all looked up at me with a face filled with fear. I smiled coldly as I leaned over and looked down at them. ¡°From this moment on, I will ask questions. If you are not guilty of any crimes, you will live, but if you are¡.. You will end up like your king.¡±
The questioning and answering had begun. Those who were innocent were let go but had to sign a blood seal contract with me to never rebel. Those who were not innocent were beheaded. The throne room of the Norian Kingdom was filled with ake of blood. The soldiers who were outside never once dared to move in to capture me. I had noticed most of them had even fled once I entered the throne room. It seemed they did not wish to lose their lives but sadly¡.. If they were not innocent, they still lost their lives.
Those who were on the battlefield that were still trapped by my grand falls were all forced into a blood seal contract as well and were now forced to follow all my orders. They were not the ones who attacked my kingdom at the start, so I decided not to kill them. But they were now only able to protect the popce as a form of police.
Once the Norian Kingdom was cleansed, I moved on to the other kingdoms. And only when all was said and done did I open a path from the Gravos Kingdom to the Norian Kingdom. This way, we could send a delegation to each kingdom and annex it under the Gravos banner.
¡ª
A monthter, I was standing in the throne room in front of the king of Gravos. He was sitting there staring at me with narrowed eyes. After a long moment of silence, he finally spoke up. ¡°Since you annexed it, you keep thend for yourself. I don¡¯t want it.¡±
¡°That is not how it works, Your Majesty! I was nothing more than amander in this war. So I was just doing what I was ordered to do. So from this moment on, thend belongs to the Gravos Kingdom. More importantly, now that things have settled down, I do wish to talk to you about something much more important.¡± With the war now over and clean up underway not only in Gravos but the newly annexed kingdoms, The king has been so busy that I could not talk to him about the Prime Minister and about this so called man and why he would have such a grudge against our kingdom.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 313 Issues At Home Part 1
¡°Humph! I still do not want it! It¡¯s yours. Do with it what you will!¡± The king was acting like a little kid. I turned and looked at the newly appointed advisor for help. He sighed and turned to the King.
¡°Your Majesty. She has no ability to take over four kingdoms. Only we have such an ability. And¡ She is right. The kingdom who annexed it would need to take over and reorganize things.¡± The new advisor replied. I do not know his name but good job!
¡°Dan, you traitor!¡± The King yelled out. He had a sour look on his face as if all his ns had been destroyed right there.
¡°Anyway. I need to know who Pholin Segri really was and where hees from.¡± I asked. If his brother is as powerful as what I have been told, then I will need to make a few ns. It already bothered me that he was able to escape from my detection magic and barrier without even rming me or leaving a trace behind. I had Iena check the dungeon a few times, but still, nothing was found.
¡°Pholin, from what I know, was from a town to the north. He made a name for himself in the academy as the smartest person to ever appear. He was not good at magic or swordsmanship, but his knowledge caught my eye, and I allowed him to work in the castle. I am one who values talented people, as you know. He worked hard for many years, and when the previous Prime Minister passed, I appointed him as my new one due to his abilities. Other than that, his past ends at the small vige. I have many witnesses that said he grew up in a small family. I am not sure if they were his real parents or not, though.¡± The king replied. But this only left me with more questions.
¡°I see. Did he, by chance, have any brothers?¡± I asked.
¡°Mmm¡ Yes, he did, but his brother was not the best of people. He was someone who caused a lot of trouble for Pholin when he was starting out to the point that he was banished from the kingdom after he started a fire in the city. He was even injured in the fire. I banished him so he would not cause problems for Pholin anymore.¡± The king¡¯s exnation connected a few dots. It exined how he got the burn mark. And if he was a petty man who held a grudge, he would dislike the kingdom even more. But why would Pholin help his brother? Was it because he wanted to be king? Or was it because he could if his brother were to help him?
There were many things I did not know yet and many things I needed help with. ¡°That¡¯s it for now. I will be going to the academy tomorrow to gather a team to work at my estate for a while. I need them to research the weapons I found, but I do not trust anyone at this time, so they will need to be under a blood seal contract.¡±
¡°I will let the Dean know. But I have one question for you, Princess Cyrilia. What is going on between you and my daughter?¡± The king asked. I figured this woulde up sooner orter since the two of us really did not hide it.
¡°Mmmm¡ Dating? I guess. We are currently a couple.¡± I answered honestly.
¡°I see¡. I see¡ I guess she got her wish then. I do hope you will take good care of her. But if she became queen, I guess that means you will be the king¡ Hoho¡. I like this¡. Yes! We will hold a formal engagement in two years¡¯ time!¡± The king suddenly yelled out, causing me to hold my head. This man always gets way ahead of himself.
¡°I think we are not even close to an engagement side of things, but I will let you know if we decide on it,¡± I replied before turning around, ignoring his little outburst. I did not wish to deal with any more headaches. ¡°I will be off. I have many things I need to exin to my parents and things to deal with.¡±
¡°Yes, you should deal with your family matters..¡±
¡ª
With my meeting with the king done. I wanted to go home and rest. I spent too much time away and left my entire family at home. I am sure they were worried about me. Sadly my thoughts and reality were not exactly matching up. ¡°Oh! Faith, you are home. How was the war?¡± My mother asked in a cheery voice. I turned and looked at the others, and they all shook their heads.
My brother walked over to me and whispered into my ear: ¡°Mother has been like this since she woke up. Father is fine, but Mother¡.¡±
¡°I see¡.. Brother, take Mother to see the flowers in the garden. I need to speak with Father.¡± I said. I wanted to use rewind on my mother, but if it is due to trauma, I do not want to break her. Unless I rewind past that moment but she would still find out about what happened again.
¡°Huh? I just came in from looking at the flowers!¡± My mother pouted and stomped her feet. She seemed more childish as well.
¡°It¡¯s fine, Mother. We can talk while we stroll. I wanted to tell you a small secret.¡± My brother said as he took my mother¡¯s hand and pulled her along. When my mother heard the word secret, her eyes lit up as she nodded and let my brother lead her away.
My father, who was sitting on the couch, let out a long sigh. ¡°Faith¡. I know what you are thinking but do not use that magic on her this time. She needs to ovee this ande to terms with things. While she has retreated to this state for the time being, she is sure toe around eventually. I just hope it will be sooner rather thanter¡.¡±
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 314 Issues At Home Part 2
¡°I see¡ I did rewind time for you both but only to the point of reconstructing Mother¡¯s limbs¡.¡± I sighed as I sat next to my father. He put his arm around me and hugged me.
¡°To think my daughter has aplished so much in a span of a few years. You have your own noble family and are even a princess with this fancy estate. You have really made me proud. My baby girl, who was worried about being discriminated against, is now the most powerful person in the kingdom. I know from this moment on, with the things I have heard about going on, that you will be put into harm¡¯s way more than once. I just want you to promise me, for both your mother¡¯s and my sanity, that youe back alive.¡± My father¡¯s voice trembled. I guess he was truly scared of losing me. I hugged him tightly and rested my head on his chest.
¡°I will do my best to always return home¡.¡±
¡ª
My father¡¯s expression was not good as I got up and walked away from him. I felt bad for not being able to give him a proper answer, like yes, I wille home safely every time, but sadly, I can not make such a promise, nor will I promise it just to make him feel better. I know he knows this as well.
For now, I can only do my best to stay alive and grow stronger. When I got back to my room, Sophie and Adel were waiting for me. I should have gone to see my mother, but right now, I do not think I can handle seeing her in such a state. I walked over to the two girls sitting on the couch talking to one another and knelt down in front of them, and hugged both their waists.
¡°Faith?¡± Sophie¡¯s soft voice entered my ear.
¡°Just let me stay like this for a little while.¡± To be honest, while I knew they would be there for me even if we were not dating, I felt closer to them and more rxed knowing we were a couple. Adel and Sophie both began to stroke my head taking turns as if it was some kind of game to them. I smiled as I took in their scents. Adel smelled like strawberries, while Sophie smelled like melon. It was very soothing¡.
¡°Where is my Faith!? I want to see my Faith!¡± My mother¡¯s voice echoed down the hall loud enough to be heard in my room. I raised my head to see my door burst open and my mothere running into the room with tears in her eyes. ¡°Faith, you are okay! My darling girl!¡±
My mother didn¡¯t even give me time to get up before hugging me tightly and crying into my chest. ¡°I am so d you are safe!¡±
I was very confused as to what was going on. I looked up at my brother, who was slightly out of breath and had a red handprint on his face. ¡°Faith, sorry she escaped me. She suddenly said that you were in trouble and ran off.¡±
I nodded and patted my mother¡¯s back. ¡°Mother, as you can see, I am fine. Can you tell me what you saw?¡±
¡°I saw¡. I saw you fighting with a powerful man. And¡ And he used some kind of spell you were not able to block to shoot a whole right through your body¡..¡± My mother exined through choked sobs.
My eyes grew wide. Why did it sound like my mother suddenly had some kind of precognitive power? I bit my lip and looked at my mother, who was trembling. ¡°Mother, you should sleep¡.¡±
¡°Yes, I should¡.¡± I¡¯m sorry, mother¡. I do not like having to use magic on you, but for now, you should rest. Your mind is being taxed. I gently lifted my mother up and put her on the couch, which Sophie and Adel got up from. I then turned to my brother: ¡°Has Mother had these dreams before? Or these kinds of episodes in the past few years?¡±
¡°She¡.¡± My brother looked down at the ground, seemingly not wanting to look me in the eye. ¡°She has been having issues with remembering things, but sometimes she will suddenly say something will happen, and it wille to pass. But her mind has been slipping since before Father entered the dungeon.¡±
¡°Why did you not tell me about something so important!? You just literally told me this stared happening recently in the other room!¡± I yelled. I mean, what the hell? I may be in the capital, but they could still send me a message!
¡°Father and I did not want to bother you when you were already dealing with so much¡.. We know you are bus¡.¡±
¡°I am never too busy to care about my family! She is my mother too! Brother, do not ever hide anything from me again that has to deal with our family, or I will not have an older brother anymore.¡± I yelled out, tears rolling down my cheeks. I did not mean what I said, and I said it out of anger, but I will not let him know. I looked at my mother for a second before biting my lip. ¡°Diablo!¡±
¡°Master? Master, why are you crying!?¡± Diablo¡¯s voice became panicky as he saw me in my current state.
¡°It¡¯s nothing but can you¡. Can you tell me if there is a spell that can let me check my mother¡¯s mind and see if there is anything wrong with it? Her mind is slipping, and she seems to have gained the ability of foresight.¡± I exined while wiping my tears.
¡°Foresight¡. Master, I¡¯m sorry I would not know¡. Seeing the future is so rare that it is almost impossible to meet anyone who has it in a single lifetime, so this¡. This is not something I can help with¡.¡± Diablo lowered his head.
¡°It¡¯s fine. I just thought I would ask¡.¡± I looked at my mother, and my lower lip began to tremble once more. I did not wish to keep her like this.
Sophie came and tugged on my sleeve, causing me to turn and look at her: ¡°Faith¡ the festival will be going on next month, and the fortune teller might appear again. It is a long shot, but she might be able to answer some of your questions.¡±
Chapter 315 World Laws Part 1
¡°The fortune teller¡.¡± I thought for a moment before nodding my head. Sophie¡¯s idea may just help since not even Diablo had a way to help my mother. ¡°We will do that. For now, I will take Mother back to her room to sleep. The spell will wear off by tomorrow.¡±
¡°I will have Rachel keep an eye on her. She is good at distracting Mother.¡± My brother still had his head low as he spoke. I sighed as I walked over to him and gave him a hug. ¡°Just do not hide things from me anymore.¡±
¡°I promise.¡± My brother replied while giving me a hug back.
A few minutester, my mother was back in her room, sleeping soundly on the bed. She seemed so peaceful as shey there sound asleep. I reached over and moved a lock of her hair away from her eyes. ¡°Mother, I will find a way to help you.¡±
¡ª
The next day, I found myself standing in the Dean¡¯s office. It was not easy to leave the house as my Mother clung on to me for a long time. Rachel, though, seemed to have a knack for being able to keep my mother busy. When I visited the housest time, I never realized just how bad she was. I only found it funny at how much she was clinging to Diablo and the rest, and when I spoke to her alone, she seemed normal. I can only guess that maybe this incident really broke her. I want to rewind her mind to a state to where nothing was wrong, but she would forget everything over the course of those years. While it might work, she would lose a chunk of memory, and my father already said not to do it.
¡°Dean, sorry for the sudden visit, but I would like your help in gathering a team.¡± I did not wish to waste too much time as I wanted to get the research started as soon as possible on those weapons I stole.
¡°Mmm¡ His Majesty did notify me. I have selected the best minds we have in magical research. They are not too happy about the blood seal contract, but they are willing to form one.¡± The Dean replied.
¡°Alright. I will have a proper facility created in a week¡¯s time, along with proper lodging within the facility. It will be underground, though, with many restriction barriers ced on theb. I do not want any unexpected idents to happen. So this gives them all a week¡¯s time to change their minds about joining.¡± I exined.
¡°I will be sure they are fully ready by that time.¡± I have to hand it to the Dean. He was always quick about my requests and I kind of felt bad because I kept stealing his people.
¡°Then I will be back by then,¡± I said with a smile and gave a small bow.
¡°Oh? You are leaving once more?¡± The Dean asked, a look of interest shing across his eyes.
¡°I need to go to the spirit domain to find something out. But I will be back in a day or so, this I promise.¡± I said my farewells without exining why I was going to the spirit domain.
I had to go and find out why they were stopping me from using my fusion magic. Since it did not make sense. I asked Little Bell, but she did not give me an answer besides that it was bad. I could only ask the leader of the spirits.
I had to leave everyone at home for this, even though both Sophie and Adel begged to go. But I did not know if the spirit leader would tell me what I wanted to know if I had a group of people with me.
The flight to the spirit Domain only took a few hours at full speed. When Inded at the entrance, the guards did not even stop me and allowed me through without issue. Little Bell also came out of her space and was dancing about as the other spirits began to show themselves. I once again had to tread slowly because the little spirits liked to pop up out of nowhere to the point that I would almost step on them even when I was being careful.
The small glowing light balls that flew about in a teasing manner made me smile. I have always liked this ce. It seemed so peaceful. I wished the whole world was like this, but sadly, people¡¯s greed, no matter the race, would want to try to make spirits do their bidding. Because although they were small, they also were a very important part of the world itself.
When I reached the top where the spirit leader resided, I once again stood looking at what was probably one of the most powerful beings in the world. Even Little Bell could be considered a god ss hazard if she got mad. They were able to control nature itself and could destroy thends in an instant.
¡°Child of dragons, you havee as I thought you would¡.¡± The spirit leader¡¯s voice filled my head.
¡°Yes¡. I am sorry to bother you, but I had to ask why did you stop me? Why is fusion magic bad?¡± I asked, getting straight to the point.
¡°Child of dragons¡. Fusion magic, as you call it, goes against the basis of this world. While I know you have used it once before, at that time, it was only on a very small scale. Butrge scale fusion magic can have dangerous effects on the world around it. Let¡¯s say you had cast that spell. It could have created arge crater upon explosion, or it could have created an area that would be unlivable, a ce where two elements collided and were still fighting one another.¡± The spirit leader lightly exined.
¡°So what you are saying is that it would break the world¡¯s elementalws? Something like creating an area where nothing but those elementalws could exist?¡±
Chapter 316 World Laws Part 2
¡°Yes. The world has many elements, but they only consist of a single element each. There can be no two elements merged into one. While it is possible, as you know, it breaks thews of the world. No one should have the mana to even sustain such a spell, but you are different. You have a vast amount of mana within your body that even surpasses myself.
¡°Because of this, you are able to create a fusion between elements and even use it as a spell. But¡. if that spell grew out of your control it would create zones that no one would be able to tread. And those zones would grow bigger due to the elements in the air. The affected zone would suck in the two elements it is made of and slowly expand while using the mana in the air to feed the spell without relying on the caster. It would be a kind of elemental being that goes against thews of nature. This is why elementals are only made of one element.¡± The spirit leader exined.
¡°I see¡.¡± I tapped my finger off my chin. I was currently sitting on the ground with a bunch of spirits hanging off me as I pondered what I was just told. I never thought that fusion magic would have such adverse effects, and I can understand why the spirit leader would want to stop me from using such magic.
¡°So just to confirm, fusion magic can go out of control of the caster? Is there no way to counteract the magic once it is out of the caster¡¯s control?¡± I asked. If there is a problem, there should always be a solution, right?
¡°It may be possible, but then you would need to create a spell that could do such a thing. But to test it, you would need to create such a scenario. As such, you would have an out of control fusion magic spell that would slowly consume the itself.¡± The spirit leader was right. To create a spell to counteract another spell, you would need to test it out. And even then, it may cause another issue altogether.
¡°This is really a problem¡. I did wish to advance my fusion magic to be more practical. May I ask why you never stopped me during my trial phase or when I actually cast the spell before?¡± I wondered why they never stopped me from testing my theories out.
¡°Because you never actually allow it to do anything beyond the fusion process. Only when it leaves the casters hands does it have a chance of causing a disaster that no one could do anything about. While I am sure that you, child of dragons, may one day be able to figure out how to avoid such a thing, for now, while your testing is still in its infancy, I can not allow you to cast such a spell so early.¡± The spirit leader answered.
¡°So it is not that I can not cast it but because the spell is unsafe in its current form?¡± I asked.
¡°Yes. It is against this world¡¯sws to have two or more elementsbined, which could potentially create zones that would be unlivable. But if you can find a way to keep the spell from breaking free of the caster¡¯s control, then that would be different. But the only way I see that happening is if you change thews of the world itself.¡± The spirit leader¡¯s words threw the little hope I had left right out the window.
¡°I understand¡.¡± So fusion magic is possible. I have used it myself, but it was also much more dangerous than I could have ever imagined. So my earlier tests with my father were actually very dangerous. I could have created a disaster that would have put my entire family and those around me at risk. I guess the only reason the spirit leader was stopping me now was because he knew me and did not wish for me to make such a mistake.
I let out a long sigh. To properly use fusion magic, I would need to be able to control thews of this world. While it may sound strange, I guess I can only go along with what the spirit leader has said.
¡°Child of dragons¡. Do not be hasty. Learn from what you have created and expand upon it. Maybe one day, you will be able to change this world¡¯sws. And child¡.¡± The spirit leader turned to focus on Little Bell. ¡°You must stay with this child of dragons and watch over her. If she ever needs your assistance, do not hesitate to help her.¡±
¡°I will do what I can for Faith!¡± Little Bell happily said as she flew around me a few times before disappearing back into my body.
¡°I leave my little one in your care. I do hope she will never have to use her powers. Child of dragons, I hope the spirits of the world will be with you as you journey through this world. Now go.¡± The spirit leader closed its eyes, and before I knew it, I was at the entrance of the spirit domain.
¡°Faith¡. Do not mind the leader¡. The leader is just tired¡.¡± Little Bell¡¯s voice came from within me.
¡°Little Bell¡. Is the spirit leader¡. Never mind¡.¡± I had a feeling something might be going on with the spirit leader, but I also feel that Little Bell was much more than just a small spirit. After all¡ she seemed to have some of the same powers as the spirit leader.
When I got home, it was already dark, so I nned to begin working on the underground testing area the next day. My mother clung on to me for a few hours before Rachel was able to convince her to go to bed. Sadly she would not listen to me, nor did I have the heart to push my mother away. When I finally climbed into bed, it was already veryte. Sophie and Adel snuggled up next to me, allowing me to feel their warmth.
I am feeling stressed, very stressed. There is so much going on but so little time. I can only try to prepare for the things toe in the fastest time possible. Maybe just maybe, this time around, things will move slowly. And I can try to enjoy a bit more out of life than the current craziness that has been happening. To be honest, I just want a peaceful life and to spend my days with the people I love while traveling the world with out a care.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 317 Research Lab
I woke up early the next morning, even before Grace walked in and slipped out of the clutches of the two girls before freshening up and getting dressed. I had a lot to do today so I wanted to have a quick breakfast and get to work. As I opened the door Grace was right there about to open it herself. I quickly raised my finger to my lips, which Grace nodded in response. ¡°Let them sleep in today.¡±
¡°Yes, Master,¡± Grace replied with a polite bow. ¡°Grace, did you want to take some time off and visit your parents?¡±
¡°I was actually going to ask if I could take a week off in two weeks¡¯ time..¡± Grace replied. I had to put things in work terms, or Grace wouldn¡¯t listen to me. She was very adamant about being my personal maid.
¡°That¡¯s fine. Anytime you want to take time off, just tell me.¡± I said with a smile.
¡°If I took too much time off, you would sleep in and ck off. While mornings like this are not bad, you still have a bad habit of not getting up even when you need to go to the academy. You need to keep a set schedule to regte your body otherwise, you might get sick.¡± How did giving time off result in me being scolded?
¡°I will listen to the great and wonderful Miss. Grace! Please go easy on me, Miss. Grace!¡± I said teasingly, which caused me to get pinched. Iughed and ran down the hall. I turned around to stick my tongue out at her again to see her slowly walking down the hall with a small smile on her face. But when she realized I was looking, her face went back to being as serious as ever.
After a light breakfast, I went outside and began using earth magic to form the entry away to the underground research center. Luckily with earth magic, you can form a rockyyer over the dirt walls. Once the main entrance was done, I used detection to find a good location to begin making the first floor of the research center. To start, I only took out a space big enough for me to fit with ease and created a teleport magic inscription on the floor of the entrance that would activate with a bit of magic. After testing it a few times with some rocks, I was able to get the positioning and depth right. Only then did I teleport myself down.
After casting a light orb, I made the area I was in stone and then opened up the areas around me a bit more. ¡°I am about a hundred feet underground, so¡. I can go up about fifty feet, I guess.¡±
I used earth magic to continue expanding the entire area. Then made a second teleport room that would lead to the living area. With a bit of magic to create venttion, the base structure of the researchb was done. ¡°Okay, time to take out my items here¡.¡±
I set up all the weapons I had in a line against a wall, spaced out evenly. I then built enclosures around them with multiple barriers in case anything happened while they were being worked on. ¡°I am not sure if this will keep the strange power from destroying anything, but it will also give me time to investigate exactly what this power is so I can make new countermeasures.¡±
I have to admit I was a little excited to tinker with my new toys. Well, calling them toys is a bit of an understatement. But I was very curious to see how this thing ticked. If I am able to create a spell to defend against this kind of magic, then I will not need to worry anymore about what we are attacked with. Which reminds me¡.
¡°Let¡¯s put both of those over here¡..¡± I forgot about the things from the dungeon. Even X7 still has yet to be taken out.
I took out the tworge rooms with the massive energy source and set up a teleport to these two new ces. Luckily everything seemed intact and was working properly even after transferring everything. I then took the ship I found along with all the other tech I found and set it all up within these rooms. ¡°We will need more researchers¡.¡±
I had too many things and little staff. At most, I can get a few brains from the academy but this is not enough. ¡°Should I speak to the dean about it? Or maybe have the King and the Deane take a look to see what we can do¡.¡±
I tapped my finger off my chin for a moment and nodded: ¡°Yes, I will get the king involved, then he can give me funding for research and hiring of staff¡. Hehe¡ Old man, you better be ready!¡±
With everything set up, I returned to the house and let X7 out of my inventory. ¡°This is¡?¡±
¡°Annie, this is X7. You can get him a room with the servants¡¯ area for the time being.¡± After saying this, I turned to X7, who was looking around curiously at everything, and said: ¡°Annie here will help settle you in. What you do from here is up to you.¡±
¡°What I want to do?¡± X7 asked while tilting his head. I guess he was still unsure of how to handle making decisions of his own yet. He had a will of his own but he was probably still listening to his base programming.
¡°For now just spend a few days and follow Annie around. She will be working but it will give you a bit of insight on what this world is like. Annie, I know it might be a bit of trouble but X7 is from the dungeon I went to. He is not human.¡± I could see Annie looking at me with a questioning gaze so I decided to exin things.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 318 Getting Funding
¡°So Boss, you are saying this is what is called a robot or a kind of golem?¡± Annie asked. I used golem instead of android since they are basically the same thing, except one is made from technology.
¡°Yes. But he does not work on magic. He hase to be sentient, the same as you or me but is currently lost on what to do with himself due to his basic programming. Although I am sure that makes no sense to you. But just think of it as the magic inscription inside of him is messed up at this time.¡± I tried to exin, but with no knowledge of robots and the like in this world, it is kind of hard.
¡°I see. Then I will do as you say and take him with me.¡± Annie said her goodbyes and led X7 away. If anything, I was hoping maybe X7 would be able to help Annie out a bit since he was an A.I. he would be able to learn the things she does quickly and, if anything, would be a good assistant for her.
With X7 taken care of, I headed back to the castle to speak with the King. For some reason, no matter when Ie, this man always seems free. Because even now, when there was so much to do, he still made time to see me. ¡°Your Majesty.¡±
¡°Shouldn¡¯t you just be calling me father inw now?¡± The king asked with a smirk on his lips. I rolled my eyes as I said: ¡°Not so soon yet. I actually came today to see if you had some time to spare. I would like to request funding for a few things from the kingdom as my backer and hope you can take a look at what I am requesting funding for beforehand.¡±
¡°Oh? Then let¡¯s go now. I do have a few meetingster, so now is the best time.¡± The king replied as he stood up. I could see that the current advisor, Dan, looked troubled, but sadly I also did not have time to wait either. These were all things for the kingdom anyway and would hopefully help out in the long run. Especially that ship¡..
¡°Thank you for your time.¡± After giving the proper etiquette that was needed, I left the castle with the king and headed to the new research facility. The first thing I showed was the weapons I took during the war.
¡°So these are the things that can bypass barriers?¡± The king asked.
¡°Yes and no. From what my brother said, they are slowed down by barriers but nothing more. And fire magic seems to counteract them. I did not get a chance to see if a barrier mixed with fire element is able to stop the attack or not. That is why the barriers here in each of these rooms are all elemental based. Each element on each barrier, with the fire element barrier being the finalyer of protection. The smaller ones are not what attacked my home vige though it was the big one at the end.¡± I exined.
¡°I see¡ to think such weapons existed. The energying from these is strange as well.¡± The king rubbed his chin and then looked at me. ¡°My guess is that this is not the reason you want funding from the kingdom, right?¡±
¡°Right. This is already settled since I have the dean bringing some of the best minds to work on how this works and what this new energy is. The things I want your help in funding to gather the minds needed for them is down below.¡± I said before bringing the King to the next teleporter. When we arrived, I watched as his eyes went wide when he saw the massive ship in the hangar.
¡°This¡ What is this!?¡± The king asked.
¡°It is an airship. It might even be capable of going outside the into space as well. I am not too sure. It is a form of technology thates from another time and ce, what I can only think of as a parallel world. Think of this world as a starting point, and then during each phase of the evolution of the world, it splits off into many copies that all differ by a fraction of thest. As these copies make copies, they also differ until you have an infinite number of copies that are all different. Some with magic, some with no magic but based on technology. We can be said to be in a magic based world, while the same world would be a highly advanced technological world in one of the parallel worlds.
¡°Of course, this is all my own assumptions, and I have no way of knowing for a fact yet if this is true, but this whole facility is a mix of magic and technology. The power source that is powering this ce could power the entire, and more is called a Mana Capacitor. And just so you know, I have two of such power sources.¡± I exined. But this only caused the king to turn and look at me with a strange gaze.
¡°Are you sure you do not want to be que,¡.¡±
¡°Stop! I am not looking to be some ruler. I just want to boost our kingdom¡¯s technology, so we are not left behind. You saw the weapons on the previous floor. They are all highly advanced and seem to be made with our own world¡¯s powers. They differ from what we have down here. But they could also be tech found in a dungeon too. I am not sure, but whatever it is, we must make ourselves a kingdom that is able to ward off all enemies that seek to harm it. We do not want to lose more lives due to senseless wars.¡± I looked at the king and bowed my head: ¡°Please allow me some funding so I can reach out to the best minds in the world toe and work here.¡±
¡°I see¡. If this is the case, then I will do what I can to help. But for such things like this, I would think we will need the dwarves¡¯ assistance. They are some of the best craftsmen and are known for making some metal golems.¡±
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 319 The Kings Decision
¡°I can talk to Thurul about speaking with the dwarves. He has some connection to the dwarven kingdom. I should probably talk with the elves as well. I can speak to Runa and see if she knows anyone good at magic technology.¡± Now that I think about it, I have made quite a few connections over the past few years.
¡°Why is it that you have just about the same connections as I, the king do? I think this is just fate telling us that you must be destined to be the ruler of my Gravos Kingdom! Haha! It is only a matter of time.¡± Hearing the king once more bring up my taking over his position made me roll my eyes. I decided not to even talk about it.
¡°Anyway, besides this, there is one more hanger.¡± I had split the items up between the two hangers. Mainly because I wanted to keep the airship hanger as free of space as possible. It already held two airships, one to take apart and try to re-engineer and the other to keep as a guide on how to put it all back together.
¡°Another one!?¡± The king seemed surprised. He followed me to the teleportation point and transferred over to the second hanger. It was here where I stored all the cars and other technology that I found.
¡°As you can see, this one is filled with various types of technology, fromnd moving cars to flying cars. Ah, umm, cars are like carriages. But besides that, there are different kinds of devices and other quality of life things we can use to really better the lives of our people in the kingdom.¡± I began to exin the various things, which some things the king felt intrigued about while others he was confused about. But this was probably just my bad exnation.
¡°I can see you really thought a lot about this kingdom. Not just about defense but for the betterment of society altogether. With the things, you have here, even if it was released slowly and heavily regted, it would make a huge change in the peoples¡¯ day to day lives. Faith between everyone I know, even myself, you think more about the people and this kingdom than anyone else. It truly amazes me that you are so willing to always think about what can help the kingdom. What can better the lives of the people. Even the weapons. Instead of destroying them, which was what most people would have done in your situation, you thought to not destroy them but also to steal them for our own use.¡± The king paused and ced his hand on my head.
¡°I have decided to make Adel my heir to the throne. While I know this is crafty and scheming by me. I will be upfront about it. Whether you end up being with her in the end or not, I do hope you will be at her side, helping her in the future toe.
¡°There is no telling what tomorrow will bring. We coulde under attack at any time, and the kingdom could be utterly destroyed. I hope with your skill and know how that you will be willing to protect Adel no matter what and keep her safe to rise up and give birth to a new kingdom with the same or even better values as the one we have now. As king and as a father, I hope I can leave my daughter and the heir to the throne in your hands.¡± The king bowed deeply to me. This time he was not joking around. These were his heartfelt words.
But even still, I felt kind of bad for Lance, who had been working hard all this time to be a good king. To be honest, I am not sure what to say about this. I guess the king also understood my feelings because his next words exined everything. ¡°I am not making this decision suddenly. I have been watching the three of you all this time. I would be stupid not to see my daughter¡¯s true feelings for you. Even Lance knows that Adel has been in love with you from the start. And when you told me bluntly that you two were now dating, I had a meeting with Lance. And we both came to a decision. No one cares about power in my family. They only care about the people they rule over.
¡°This means once I told Lance about the two of you, Lance immediately let go of his right to the throne and told me to make Adel the first heir to the throne as well as making you the second heir. We both think that if Adel takes the throne with you by her side, the kingdom will prosper for many, many years toe. And if something happens to Adel that you could take up the reigns and bring the kingdom back from the brink of destruction.
¡°I may be putting all my eggs into one basket by doing this, but I see hope in your way of thinking. I see a future where the Gravos Kingdom flourishes and will stand tall against any and all adversaries. So please think about it. No matter how much you are against it. I hope you will decide at that time what you truly want. But if you decide to part with Adel, I still hope you can help her out in the future.¡± The king¡¯s words were heavy. And that heaviness did not feel right. I felt like I was being pushed into a corner because he knew my personality way too much.
¡°I can only promise to think about it. Nothing is certain about the future.¡± I said no more after that. I escorted the king back to the castle and went back home after. My drive for the day was sapped after speaking with the king. He didn¡¯t even say when he would announce that Adel would be the new heir to the throne.
I sat on my bed, lying there staring at the ceiling, lost in thought. I didn¡¯t even notice Jen until she jumped on the bed, scaring the hell out of me. ¡°Jen, don¡¯t do that!¡±
¡°Why are you so gloomy?¡±
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 320 In Need Of People
¡°I just have a lot on my mind,¡± I said as I rolled over and looked at her. ¡°Jen, do you think I am trying to do too much?¡±
¡°Too much? What do you mean?¡± Jen asked as she gotfortable.
¡°Like¡ Do you think I am working too hard? As someone who is in the position to help those around me, I can¡¯t help but want to reach out to the people and try to help make their lives easier. It seems I am doing everything for everyone else, but I am forgetting about myself¡.¡± Sometimes I wonder if I am not stopping to take a look at myself instead of those around me.
¡°Mmmm¡. I think it depends on the person. The Faith I knew before was someone who only cared about reading her books. The Faith I know now is no longer the Faith of the past. She is responsible and dependable, and will do anything she can for others. And¡. I see you smile more often now than I have seen you do in the past. Faith you may not have realized it, but you draw people to you. You bring people together and are born to lead. You are caring and decisive. You know when to be tough and when to shed blood.
¡°I heard about what happened during the invasions. Both of them. You sacrifice yourself for the greater good, even if it means going in alone. People look up to you and even worship you. I have gone to the slums that you have slowly been reiming to see a bustlingmunity with people smiling happily and working hard every day. Did you know that one of the people living there sculpted a statue in your honor? Faith, your actions help people in more ways than not, and you barely ask for anything in return.
¡°You have given people their lives back. You have given people a chance at a new life, and you have saved more lives than you can ever imagine. I think that you of now is worthy of people¡¯s respect. There is even a good number of people who wish you would be the next ruler of the kingdom. I know you have not had time to get out, but what you have aplished in the few years you have arrived in the capital is more than anyone can ever hope to do in their entire lives. And while doing all of this, you are smiling. You show expressions I never thought you could make.
¡°In truth, Faith, I am very happy for you, the friend who was so selfless that she would push me out of the way of an oing truck just to save me. And not only that, I am thankful to the you who saved me yet again from the loneliness that I have lived in this world since arriving here. So if you get burdened by the load you have taken, then stop and take a breather. No one will fault you, and no one will leave you because of it.¡± Jen took my hand and pressed it against her forehead. She was always my bestest friend, and she knew me better than anyone else. This is why hearing these words allowed me to feel a bit better about myself and the things I was doing.
¡°Maybe I will take a small break after I gather people¡.¡± I mumbled to myself.
¡°Oh? Faith is in bed with another woman?¡± Adel¡¯s voice entered my ears, causing both me and Jen to turn to look at her. She was standing there with her arms crossed across her chest and a teasing look on her face. She normally would be freaking out, but now that we are dating, she has mellowed out a lot.
¡°Mmmm¡. We were having a lot of fun too. Do you want to join?¡± I asked, teasing her back. Adel smiled and jumped on top of me, kissing my lips.
¡°Should I leave?¡± Jen asked with a chuckle.
¡°No! I was justing in to get changed. My father has sent me a message to go to the castle. He wants to speak with me alone.¡± Adel said as she crawled back off the bed. ¡°Faith, do you know what my father wants to talk to me about? You were with him earlier, right?¡±
¡°Yeah, but I think it¡¯s best that he tells you and not me. That old man can never sit still for a second.¡± I replied as I slowly sat up. ¡°Take Sophie and Sei with you just in case.¡±
¡°Alright. I will.¡± Adel replied as she began to get undressed.
I watched for a minute beforeying back down. I was tired and wanted to rest, but this thought was short lived because I once again sat back up. ¡°I guess I should head to the lower city. Jen, you want toe?¡±
¡°I guess. Not like I have much to do.¡± Jen replied. With that, we all got ready to head out.
It was not just Jen who wasing with me this time but also Annie and X7 as well. We were all heading to Thurul¡¯s ce, which was now located next to the factory. He moved his entire shop just to be closer to thepany itself. I really owe him a lot because he is practically the face of mypany alongside Annie.
¡°Haha! Long time no see!¡± Thurul let out a joyfulugh as he saw me walk through the door of his shop. ¡°What brings you down here, Princess?¡±
¡°Can you not call me princess? I already have it hard enough.¡± I said with a long, drawn out sigh as I flopped down onto his couch.
¡°Well, you can¡¯t really go against what you are now. Anyway, why are you down here? I wasn¡¯t expecting you for a month or so.¡± Thurul asked as he poured some tea.
¡°I need your help,¡± I said as I pulled out a crystal orb from my space and ced it on the table. I then put some mana into it, causing a bunch of pictures to appear in the air. ¡°I need people. People who know how tobine magic and technology to reverse engineer everything you see here.¡±
Chapter 321 Preparing To Set Out
¡°This¡ what is all of this!?¡± Thurul stared at the images with wide eyes. He stood up and got closer to the images trying to take them all in. ¡°This¡. Where did you get all of this!?¡±
I chuckled to see how excited Thurul was. ¡°I found it all in a dungeon Ist entered. I was hoping we could form a team¡.¡±
¡°Let¡¯s go! Right now! We need to get started on this right away!¡± Thurul suddenly yelled out, causing everyone to be startled.
¡°Thurul, give at least two days to prepare. Getting to the Dwarven kingdom will take time.¡± I said, trying to calm him down. I know he wanted to get things started right away, but first, we needed to prepare.
¡°Alright, two days. But you need to go with me. To make those old guys move, we need someone with enough power and influence in this kingdom. And that is you.¡± Thurul replied.
¡°Alright. I will first tell the king and begin preparations. We will meet here at your shop by first bell two days from today.¡± I had to make sure everyone was set before I left. This included telling the king and also telling the dean that I would be gone for a while. Luckily I was ahead in my studies. Not that the curriculum was hard, but I did wish to have some more time studying how tomand armies better. While I did think I did okay this time around, I still ended up finishing everything myself. Which, in truth, was not ideal. I also had many things to take care of as well. Maybe I should set up a barrier around the entire kingdom¡.
¡°Alright, I am off. I will see you in two days.¡± I said as I picked up the crystal orb. Thurul¡¯s expression sank as the images disappeared. I chuckled and said my goodbyes, and headed back to the house with Jen.
¡°So¡. You are heading to the dwarven kingdom. To think the Faith I know who used to lock herself in her room unless dragged out would be willing to go to another kingdom at will.¡± I looked at Jen and stuck my tongue out at her. Only she would tease me like this.
¡°It is all for the ns I have in mind,¡± I said with a smile.
¡°But it seems to me that your ns pretty much put you in a position that will make you in a higher power than the king himself. Why not just take the king up on his offer and be queen?¡± Jen asked.
¡°A queen can not make trips as she pleases, nor can she aplish everything she wants when stuck dealing with nobles and other political matters. Think about it. When did those in charge on Earth ever run around as they pleased while not taking care of their duties? I don¡¯t want to be locked down. Nor do I have the will to take full control of a country. My goal is to assist the kingdom that has been so good to my family and me.¡± I exined. I do not have such lofty goals of being a ruler. While I have had a few dreams where such a thing has happened, but that did not mean it woulde to pass. However, it does seem some things will move in that direction no matter how much I try to ignore it. It¡¯s just that¡
¡°This time, I will need to go alone¡.¡± I needed the girls to do me a favor while I was gone because I could be gone for more than a month. I needed the girls to help watch over my mother. I will be setting up a temporary teleport from wherever I am to quickly make a trip back to the capital to take my mother to the fortune teller, but I will need to return quickly and continue my journey.
¡ª
¡°So you will be heading out?¡± The king asked after I told him my ns.
¡°Yes, I will be heading to the dwarven kingdom to bring back people to help me with the things we talked about,¡± I answered. I kept it vague as I did not want others to know about what I had hidden under my estate.
¡°I understand. A trip to the dwarven capital will take four years by airship. We do have a teleportation circle set up for the kingdom, but it can only be used for political means. So I can not allow you to use it. I am sorry. But I can allow you to take an airship. We do have a small airship that can make the trip in four years¡¯ time.¡± The king¡¯s words made me remember just how vast this world is. While I could probably make it there in a shorter time if I was by myself, but sadly I needed to bring Thurul with me in order to have any chance of finding people. But this made me slightly confused¡.
¡°Wait, how did the sly cat from the beast kingdom and the elf princess of the elf kingdom get here so quickly?¡± I asked because it made no sense for them to arrive here in such a short time.
¡°They had special means to arrive in our kingdom. I can not say how they did it. But if you were to be¡.¡±
¡°Stop! Why does our conversation always turn out like this!? Anyway¡. I will be speaking to the Dean as well since I need to set up a way to keep taking my military tactics courses. I don¡¯t want to fall behind since by the time I get back, I will be able to graduate.¡± I really did not want to miss anything, so I figured with some runic inscriptions, I might be able to set up a few things to allow me to still attend ss and also talk with my family and loved ones while I am gone. With an emergency teleport set up, I can also return almost instantly if need be.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 322 Departure
So unexpectedly I secured an airship to fly to the dwarven kingdom in. After making a few special kinds of crystal orbs I was able to secure the ability to attend sses and even ask questions if need be. On top of that, I made a few for my family as well. They also acted as a point of teleport as well, which means the orbs that I have are able to act as a means of teleporting me to my house, Adel, Sophie, and all my family members.
After settling things and making sure I coulde and go if needed, the morning to leave had finally arrived. I had to have Thurul stay at my estate the night prior since we would not be going by carriage. Last night both Adel and Sophie clung on to me the entire night. We did nothing but kiss but it was a very long kissing session.
¡°Faith, you better contact us every day!¡± Adel said stubbornly as she hugged me tightly. I smiled and hugged her back.
¡°I will. I will be back as soon as I get enough people. Luckily I can teleport back here in an instant when that happens. When I get back, I hope to see an amazing Crown Princess.¡± I said with a smile.
¡°Humph! That stupid old man.¡± Adel whined. She had been told she was going to be the first heir to the throne. She was not too happy about it but when she heard why she suddenly became fired up about it.
¡°Faith¡.¡± Sophie tugged on my sleeve. I turned and smiled at her pulling her into the hug as well. I then leaned down and kissed them both on the lips.
After I broke my hug with the girls, I looked at Iena and Diablo who also stood at the side. I scratched my head and walked over to the and hugged them both and gave them a kiss on the cheek. It was more a friendship kiss, but it was also to tell them that I had not forgotten about anything. ¡°Diablo, you and Iena will be my sword and shield while I am gone. I leave the protection of the kingdom in your hands. Also¡.¡±
I pulled the two demons close and hugged them tightly. ¡°Diablo, take care of Iena while I am gone, and Iena, take care of Diablo. You two are with me, but I still want you two to get along as well.¡±
¡°Master¡.¡± Iena blushed. I know she still loved Diablo, so using the fact that they had formed a marriage pact with me is a way to get them closer.
¡°Master this¡.¡± Diablo¡¯s cheeks turned red. He knew what I meant, and seeing him acting shy was kind of cute.
¡°I rely on you both a lot. And I wish for everyone to be happy. As I said before, I am not someone who has reallye to love anyone yet. Adel and Sophie are the ones I havee to be intimate with, but that does not mean I have forgotten about you two. Diablo, Iena, you are both bound to me. In more ways than one, so I will not abandon either of you in my lifetime. And to be honest, I may one day want to start a family as well. But before any of that happens, I must grow to know more about the two of you as well, just like how I have grown to know so much about Adel and Sophie, and yet we still are only at the stage of kissing. I want all four of you to be happy. This is my wish. But at the same time, I do not want to force anything, either. What happened between the three of us was a misunderstanding on both our parts, but I will also not run away from my responsibility.
¡°But we need time to grow together and nurture the feelings we have and then see where it takes us in the future. Just like how Sophie and Adel kiss, I do not mind if you two nurture feelings between yourselves as well. After all¡. We are all tied together, right?¡± It may sound weird to some. But I havee to terms with the way things are between those around me. Adel and Sophie have grown close enough to kiss, and it doesn¡¯t bother me either. I do not feel jealousy because they both truly love me as well. It might be that I am broken in terms of rtionships, but to me, seeing those I care for being close also makes me smile. Of course, it would be different if it was not someone in our strange circle that we have now.
¡°Master!¡± Iena hugged me tightly and leaned close to my ear before whispering: ¡°Thank you.¡±
Diablo scratched his head. His ears were burning red, causing me to smile. I waved him over. Seeing this, he slowly got closer and joined in on the hug.
I said my goodbyes to my family and friends before boarding the airship. It was of a smaller size, but it still had quite a few rooms and a lot of storage. There was a full bath and even a kitchen as well. This was once an airship owned by a noble, one of which had been exterminated during the purge.
¡°Lass, we will be in for a long journey. I hope you don¡¯t mind this old face of mine.¡± Thurul said as she sat on the couch in the main sitting room of the ship.
¡°Thurul, I have seen your old face enough not to cry anymore,¡± I said jokingly, causing him to snort at me.
¡°Yes, Master has seen your ugly face enough to be immune to even the ugliest of people in the world.¡± A voice came from behind me. I turned to see Grace standing there as if her presence was as natural as natural can be.
¡°Grace!? Why are you here!?¡± I cried out.
¡°Master, you did not think that you would be able to leave this servant behind, did you? Whether you told me to stay or not I had full intention of following you because you are my master and if I allow you to ck off for even a second you would bezy. After all there is no telling when you will take over the world and need to actually do things in a proper manner. It is my job to make sure you are ready for such a schedule.¡±
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 323 Strange Energy 1
¡°So you snuck aboard?¡± I asked, feeling amazed by Grace¡¯s ability to just pop up out of nowhere. Now that I think about it, I did not see her when I set off.
¡°Master, the word snuck on is a bit demeaning. I walked right on without issue. I even sat near the rear of the airship out of sight while it took off and waited for this moment to appear.¡± Grace proudly replied.
At this, I couldn¡¯t help butugh out loud. ¡°So, in other words, you snuck on.¡± I shook my head and slouched down in my chair. ¡°Not that it matters what is done is done. Did you at least tell someone else, or should I notify the house?¡±
¡°I left a note for Annie stating that I would be away for some time in order to serve Master properly,¡± Grace answered with a firm nod.
Thurul was at the side, chuckling while I held my head. ¡°Now that you are here, take one of the rooms. We are in for a long trip, after all.¡±
¡°Then I will go about my daily routine and make sure the ship is kept clean. Master, you still have ssester, so, please make sure you do not miss them.¡± Grace gave a bow before turning around and going about her tasks. She was strange. A nobledy turned servant. All because of a blood seal contract that put her in this role. I still feel bad and want to fix this issue, but sadly there is no way. Not unless I rewind her entire life back to before then, but she refused no matter what I said.
¡°Lass, the next few years will be long. I say we stop off in a few ces along the way.¡± Thurul took out a map andid it on the table in front of us, then began pointing at a few ces. ¡°Here and here.¡±
¡°This is?¡± I looked at the spots he was pointing at, and they were not major cities or anything but ces far from any known town or city.
¡°They are sights of interest because they are known to have strange energy fluctuations. The dwarven kingdom has wanted to investigate this strange energy source for a while but they can¡¯t due to it being on other people¡¯snds. And for some reason, the kingdoms involved will not allow it either. So I am suggesting that we take a peek ourselves. It may be rted to the energy you talked about with those weapons.¡± Thurul exined.
¡°I see¡ Then let¡¯s change course slightly and head to the first spot. It will make our trip about a half year longer but it will be worth it if we gain something from visiting these areas.¡± I would not pass this chance up. If the areas in question actually had something to do with the strange energy, then it would be well worth the extra time it took to reach these ces.
¡ª
Two yearster¡.
¡°Lass, we are almost there.¡± A voice came over the as I slowly rose from my slumber. It¡¯s been two years since I set off. Adel and Sophie have talked to me every night for hours on end until we all fell asleep.
Diablo and Iena have also been doing well together. Although Diablo said he would not have a child with Iena since he was married to me and that only I was allowed to bear his children if I so choose, but as I had asked, he had been treating Iena very well as a lover since then, which was good.
Iena talked nonstop about how happy she was and told me she did not forget her duty to me either. She said she was still saving herself for me when the time came, which made me blush. In other words, the two have never gone past kissing, from what I understand.
To be honest during this time I have to say that all four of the people in my rtionship I guess you can call it, were still always thinking about me. I gave them permission to nurture their own feelings toward each other, but they still think of me before themselves. But I guess since they all seem to be happy, that is good. I do make a trip back to see them once a month, which turns into a huge fuss since it is only one day. On that day, the airship is docked somece out of the way in order to not lose the teleport point.
But besides me trying to stay in contact with everyone, it has really been a long journey so far, and the first stop on our list before the dwarven kingdom was a ce inside a kingdom called Golentod. It was a very small secluded kingdom within a mountain range between two other kingdoms. The Kingdom of Tross and the Kingdom of Yorn. All three are human kingdoms, and all three allow envement of demi humans so people like Thurul and me are number one to be attacked and enved.
¡°You ready, Lass?¡± Thurul asked. He was now in full metal armor with a huge hammer on his back. This was Thurul¡¯s battle gear.
¡°Yeah, let¡¯s head down. Grace, the ship is covered in a multi elemental barrier. If you get attacked, take the ship and leave. Contact me when you are safe, and Thurul and I will catch up. If they are able tond on the ship, escape through one of the many escape teleports, I set up after activating the core orb I gave you to cause the ship to self destruct. You will only have five seconds, so make sure you activate it only after you are about to teleport away.¡± I had taken everything into ount. Because of the area we were in, I did not wish to allow Grace, who was a support type mage, to get captured. While she was stronger than average, I still worried. So I was leaving her on the ship with many ways of escape.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 324 Strange Energy 2
¡°Master, I will be sure to stay safe so please focus on your task at hand,¡± Grace replied with a smile. I nodded and stepped forward to hug her before turning to Thurul.
¡°Alright, let¡¯s head down. Hold on tight.¡± I said as I motioned for Thurul to hold on to me. I was going to be flying down and Thurul was not able to fly so he had to hold on to me.
¡°Take care, Master!¡± Grace yelled out as I jumped off the airship.
¡°Lass, if you drop me, this old man will haunt you!¡± Thurul cried out as we fell towards the ground at a high speed. Only when we broke through the cloud bank did I spread my wings to slow our descent.
¡°If that happens, I will wee you to haunt me,¡± I replied with a chuckle. I looked down at the mountain range we were headed to and pursed my lips when I saw a factory hidden deep in one of the valleys. ¡°Thurul that?¡±
¡°Looks like a refinery. It seems the power source or whatever needs to be refined in order to be used. And it seems this small kingdom has a means of refining it. My guess is they probably sell it to the neighboring kingdoms as well, otherwise, they would have already been wiped out by therger kingdoms. Although, I can understand why after all if you have such a power source it is best to use it to profit from it. ¡± Thurul answered.
¡°Or they are not selling it and have such a strong military that uses this new energy that can ignore barriers that no one dares to attack.¡± I was unsure which one of us was right, but I can say I do not n to go and ask either.
¡°That is true as well. Anyway, let¡¯s take a look. But Lass, don¡¯t make any snap judgments. If they are enving demi humans it will not be pretty. But we need to keep ourselves from reacting too much.¡± Thurul warned. I knew what he was saying, but if I see anything that goes beyond manualbor, I will not even think before acting.
¡°I will do my best. I mean, I could just wipe the whole kingdom out with a single phrase.¡± My lips curled up into a sinister smile, causing Thurul¡¯s body to tremble.
¡°Well, anyway, let¡¯snd somewhere out of the way. We don¡¯t want to be noticed just yet.¡± Thurul suggested. I nodded and flew over to a dense area filled with trees andnded in a small clearing on the back side of it.
¡°It¡¯s quiet¡. A little too quiet¡.¡± I mumbled as I looked around. The wind was blowing, so all I could hear was the rustling of the trees, but that was it. I could not hear any birds or monsters at all. There wasn¡¯t even an insect in sight.
¡°It might have something to do with this new energy. If there is an abundance of it in the area, monsters and other animals which use mana as a means to sustain themselves might not want to get near it.¡± Thurul suggested. But this suggestion did seem quite sound. But something came to mind.
¡°Thurul, if you knew of such energy before, why didn¡¯t you mention it until we got onto the airship?¡± I asked.
¡°It was not like I was trying to hide it, but I saw no need if you were just going to jump in without understanding what we were up against. Plus, would you spend two years flying out here just to investigate something that might not be sound? Yes, you might have been able to talk to His Majesty and ask him to send people, but what good is that if you do not have someone who is at least knowledgeable in magitech? I wouldn¡¯t have even suggesteding here if you were not here. This is the only safe way to inspect another kingdom¡¯s source of power. And that is to have a power stronger than the kingdom itself.¡± I see, so Thurul was worried something would have happened, and then it would have caused a bigger issue.
¡°That does make sense, but you could have still told me,¡± I replied as I let out a sigh. ¡°Thurul, I am going to put a few barriers around your body. And tether you to my mana. ¡°
¡°Oh? Why so cautious?¡± Thurul looked up at me with a questioning gaze.
¡°Because the area is too quiet. As you said, the other monsters and animals might have fled from this ce, but why? Why would they flee when there is still mana in the air? I think this special kind of energy might be toxic. If that is the case, we need to be sure that we are keeping ourselves safe. From what I know from the energy in the weapons I found, they were contained in a nket of mana and also mixed with mana itself, which caused the energy to be stable. But¡.. if the energy, if it is the same, is in its natural environment, then it could be very toxic to living beings.¡± I exined. I did not want to cause either of us to get sick from an unknown energy.
¡°Ah! This is something I did not think of.¡± Thurul scratched his head, looking slightly embarrassed.
¡°Well, I am usually one to be more cautious when ites to the unknown.¡± If I did not set myself up in the dungeon to be able to be pulled back from that house when the Wraith attacked me, then I might have been killed then and there without being able to defend myself. Which reminds me, I still need to ask my father what skill he learned to kill wraiths and ghosts with. ¡°For now, let¡¯s move slowly. And watch our surroundings carefully just in case something else is here that we should worry about. Because it could be more than just the strange energy that has caused this ce to be free of life except for the trees and nts.¡±
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 325 Stealing A Kingdom Part 1
I did not know what it was about nts, but they seemed perfectly fine and flourishing even though the animals had all disappeared from the area. My guess was that since they do not take in anything but mana the other kind of energy would just bounce off their outeryer, unlike animals and people that need to breathe in the air around them, which will result in taking in both mana and the strange energy into the body. Hopefully, Thurul and I do not get sick from breathing in the air that we did. Just in case I did cast a healing spell on us.
We made our way through the forest, and I kept my detection magic, scanning the entire area. In order to not set off any kind of monitoring system, I made sure to keep the area I was detecting short range. While I know I did not really need to worry about who would show up, I still did not wish to alert anyone of my position since I was using illusion magic to hide the two of us as we made our way toward the refinery.
¡°Lass, there it is.¡± Thurul pointed at the opening between the trees after a thirty minute walk, we had arrived at our destination.
The refinery was like nothing I had seen on this so far. It seemed more like some kind of steampunk style ce because there were many smokestacks and metal piping everywhere, along with many huge cogs that interconnected, turning one another.
The building itself was made from brick and metal. And there were open air windows with nothing stopping the elements from passing through them. The loud sounds of machinery grinding inside could be heard, causing Thurul and me to look at one another before nodding and proceeding on.
We did not speak but used hand signals to tell each other which way to go next. We walked around the back of the refinery to see carts and carts of a blue glowing ore that emitted the strange power. I have never seen this kind of ore before, not even in books. I could only turn to my appraisal skill to see exactly what it was.
[smite]
[High density mutated wind elemental filled ore used in the refinement of smatic material.]
[Good source of energy.]
I pulled on Thurul¡¯s sleeve, causing him to nod as we followed the ore carts inside. What we found was a massive refinery that was taking the ore and using super heated mana to melt it down into a liquid and mixing it with concentrated Mana.
[Mana Infused sma]
[A material that can only be made by melting down smatic material. ]
[Due to its properties and mana mixtures, it is able to ignore certain elements.]
[Highlybustible when exposed to air or fire. But also very flexible, allowing it to be stretched and pulled.]
Reading the information, I patted Thurul on the shoulder once more and motioned for us to leave. We quickly retreated back to the forest, where we found a downed tree and sat on it. ¡°Lass, what did you find out?¡±
¡°Using my appraisal skill, I was able to figure out that the rock itself is called smite. It¡¯s an ore infused with a mutated variant of wind element. The reason that it takes on the form of a rock like that is because of its high density and mutation. The refined product is called smatic material, which is then used to create mana infused sma. But because of its mutation, it differs from normal wind elements and is able to ignore most other elements. But it is also highlybustible, which is why when it makes contact with fire, it will explode. It is also able to stretch as well which is probably why it can be fired in a beam shape. This is all spection, though. They might do something else to it as well.¡± I was thinking that maybe it was shot out like a rubber band. It¡¯s pulled to its upper most limit, then left, sending it flying. When the back side of it finally retracts, it will m into itself, causing an explosion or sorts, or when it finally hits something.
¡°Strange indeed, but does this exin anything about the Prime Minister and his brother?¡± Thurul asked.
¡°I am not sure. Maybe he has a way to harness the power or is using special tools created using this same power source. There is no way of telling until I find that bastard.¡± I said through gritted teeth. I want the Prime Minister¡¯s entire body so I can soak the now barrennd of my home vige in his blood.
¡°Lass?¡± Thurul called out to me, causing me toe out of my small trance. It was hard controlling my anger every time I thought of that man.
¡°Sorry. Anyway, we need to take this kingdom for the Gravos Kingdom. But first, I will need to speak to the king to see what he thinks.¡± Taking the kingdom is easy enough. I can just create a barrier around the entire kingdom itself and then threaten the ruler into submission. But before I did, I had to make sure it was something the king wanted me to do.
¡°Why is it so scary that I know that you are not lying? After all, you annexed four kingdoms in a single month.¡± Thurul replied while shaking his head. I shrugged as I took out a crystal orb. It shot a rectangr beam of light six feet high and five feet wide into the air and also a beam of light that engulfed my entire body.
¡°Hmm? Faith?¡± The king asked as he looked at me in confusion.
¡°Thurul and I think we found the source of energy used in those things. I want your permission to take the whole kingdom that is able to refine it and turn it into weapons under the Gravos Kingdom¡¯s g. What do you think?¡±
Chapter 326 Stealing A Kingdom Part 2
¡°Wait¡. Wait¡ Slow down¡.¡± The king held his head and stared at me. ¡°Have you be addicted to annexing kingdoms!?¡±
¡°No. But it is the easiest way to get all the technology that they have, is it not? They allowed weapons of mass destruction to be used in a war against our kingdom which is basically an act of war against us right? So what is wrong with annexing them?¡± I asked. I am not sure how this works, but if they allowed their weapons to be used in another kingdom¡¯s war, then it should be considered as such.
¡°¡.¡± The king went silent as if contemting what I said. Only after a few minutes did he finally speak. ¡°It can be considered as such. But are you sure this is the kingdom in question?¡±
¡°Nope!¡± I replied honestly. ¡°I mean, how am I supposed to know what is what? For all we know, they got rid of anything that dealt with the sale of these kinds of weapons. And I have not traveled the kingdom to find out if there is anything that mildly resembles the weapons I captured. That is why I will just take both kingdoms under the kingdom¡¯s g. Set up barriers around them, and then have your people deal with the aftermath. We only need teleports to our kingdom, no? I think with so many kingdoms under one rule, we do not need much from other kingdoms, so closed borders are fine for the time being. Of course, we can stay open to allies and those who wish to formally form alliances and trade routes. But those can all be easily dealt with with a kind of pass in and out of the kingdom.¡±
¡°This does make sense but by doing this. I am not against the idea, but you need to do it in the least violent way. After all, while we can do things forcefully thanks to you, we still do not want to turn the popce against us. And I am only willing to do this because of the lingering threat of Pholin and his brother.¡± The king did make a good point. We did not want a revolt.
¡°Alright, I will try to do this delicately then. I will fly to the capital city as an envoy to start and try to speak with their king. Is there any chance you can give me a letter? Or have something I can use to identify myself as an envoy?¡± While I could just fly over the ce and cast thousands of grand falls to cast a shadow over the kingdom to threaten them, it would be best if I could do things more delicately, as the king said. I mean, it would be much easier to just have the king suddenly abdicate the throne to me, right? Dragon speak wille in handy for this.
¡°This I can do. Teleport here when you can, and I will give you what you need.¡± The king replied, causing me to smile. I took Thurul and hurried back to the ship.
As soon as I was on board, I teleported directly to the throne room, where a court session was taking ce. None of the nobles seemed to be bothered by my presence, and some even greeted me with a nod of their head.
¡°You were quicker than I thought.¡± The king said with pursed lips. Well, I am one to be prompt when ites to dealing with issues at hand. The king waved his hand and had someone bring him over a few items, which he used to create a special kind of royal seal used by envoys who travel to other kingdoms.
¡°Thank you. I will head off now.¡± I said as I turned around to teleport back but was stopped when the king called out to me. ¡°Faith, make sure you do things in a manner that will not cause an issue for our kingdom. As I said, I do not wish to have the people revolt against us as we work to secure the kingdom and set up a government there.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t worry. I will not do things forcefully. If anything, it might be handed over on a silver tter.¡± I gave a smile as I turned around and began to teleport away. Just before I left, I could hear the king say: ¡°Why do your words make me worry!?¡±
When I returned to the airship, I went right to work putting a barrier up around the entire mining and refinery operation. As soon as I did, Thurul gave me a strange look. ¡°I thought you were not going to take things by force?¡±
¡°Hmmm? I have to make sure they can not move anything out of the kingdom first, right? You never know. Once I take over, they might try to do something they shouldn¡¯t. This is just a precaution to make sure I do not lose this energy source which is why I want this kingdom in the first ce.¡± I replied. I did not see anything wrong with my actions. I even made it so nothing can teleport in or out as well.
¡°I do not think that is the point! You were supposed to be an envoy. If they get word that the refinery is suddenly blocked off before you even show up, they will know it is you or think of it as too much of a coincidence.¡± Thurul tried to argue, but I just pursed my lips. I was already going to force everyone to do a blood seal contract with my dragon speak as soon as I made the king abdicate his throne to me. So it¡¯s not like anything bad will happen. At least I hope anyway¡.
¡°Sir Thurul, I think you misunderstand my Master. While she is smart, some of the time, she doesn¡¯t think things through the other parts of the time, but either way, she will always get the job done.¡± To be honest, I am not sure if I should be happy Grace is trying to stick up for me or cry due to her making fun of me.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 327 Sometimes Not Everything Works Out
It was still going to take some time to arrive at the capital, so I retired to my room. I had only just sat down in a chair when one of my orbs suddenly lit up. It was the one for Sophie. ¡°Faith!¡±
Seeing Sophie¡¯s face filled with tears caused me to be confused and a bit panicked. ¡°Sophie, what¡¯s wrong!?¡±
¡°My parents¡. They were found¡.¡± Sophie replied, but her tears kept flowing. I had a bad feeling rising up inside me when I saw the sadness in her eyes. ¡°They¡. They have passed¡.¡±
As soon as the words left her lips, I called down to Thurul to anchor the airship and teleported away. I appeared right next to Sophie, who dived into my chest and clung on to me with her trembling body.
Life is harsh. Sophie had been strong this entire time because her parents had left to go to a nearby vige to sell some of the produce my father had harvested during the attack, so for the past few years, she had been holding on to hope and never really spoke about it. Both Adel and I also did not wish to bring it up in case it broke her mindset. But now¡.
¡°Where were they found?¡± I asked softly as I embraced the grief filled fox girl in my arms.
¡°Near the vige, they were supposed to trade goods at. The cart they were pulling was found deep in the forest near there in a hidden cave, riddled with arrows. They were attacked by bandits¡. My mother and father¡¯s clothing, along with some bones, were found not far away. If not for a hunter discovering it, they would never have been found.¡± Sophie exined through her sobs.
¡°I see¡¡± I took a deep breath. My own voice was trembling as I hugged Sophie tighter. I did not wish to leave her alone at this time. ¡°Do, do you want toe with me for a few days?¡± I asked as I gently rubbed her back.
¡°No¡. I still have things to do here. Adel is also going to help with the funeral operations that will be held when their remains are sent back. I know you have many things to do. But¡. Can youe to my family¡¯s¡ Muph!!!¡± I stole her lips for a few seconds, cutting her off as I slowly parted from her. I reached out and gently wiped her tears away as I said: ¡°No matter what I am doing, nothing will stop me from being there to support you during your time of sorrow. While I must push on due to the circumstances at hand. When the dayes, I will be there to hold your hand and say words of parting. Such a thing is not something you have to ask me to do but something I have to do.¡±
My heart ached for Sophie. To lose one¡¯s parents suddenly while having hope that they were alive all this time was not easy. I wonder if this was how my parents felt when I died. Was this how Jen felt as well, as she watched me pass away before her eyes? I pulled Sophie back into a hug and stood there in silence for a while. I could feel my shoulder getting damp from her tears.
¡°Faith?¡± Adel¡¯s voice came from the side. I turned my head and raised my hand to my lips. At some point in the past thirty minutes, Sophie had fallen asleep in my embrace.
Adel nodded and walked over to me, and gently ced her hand on top of Sophie¡¯s head. I feel guilty about how I was of no help in this situation. I did not have any idea of what Sophie¡¯s parents looked like, so detection magic was not something that was of much help in this situation. I did send it out quite a few times to see if there were any signs of them in the viges, but I am not sure if my mind shut out the idea of them having died or what, but I never thought to search the forests for anything¡.
I spent the next few days at Sophie¡¯s side before returning to the ship. While I wished I could stay with her in her time of need, I still had responsibilities, and one of them was to ensure that Gravos would be protected so that the lives of the people would be safe from war. Only then will the knights be free enough to move across the kingdom and wipe out any and all bandits. To double ensure the safety of the hard working citizens of the kingdom who only wish to live out their lives peacefully and so that what happened to Sophie¡¯s parents will never happen to the parents of other sons and daughters of the kingdom.
But to do that, we needed the weapons and technology that I had gathered to be mass produced in a way that would protect the kingdom from all threats, no matter how big or small. I disliked the idea of amassingrge amounts of powerful weapons that could be used for mass destruction, but in order to live in this new world threatened by powerful people like Azengrade and Pholin Segri, it seemed like the best option instead of standing still with the current power structure.
¡°Lass, what¡¯s wrong?¡± Thurul asked as he walked over to me. I was currently standing on the deck of the ship, looking out over the clouds below.
¡°I am just thinking if there is a way to keep people from doing things likemitting murder, or other henious acts. Why must the world be in a situation where no matter what rules are made there is always someone who wishes to break them due to their own greed. Whether they were people of high standing or low standing there is always that one person who ruins it all. Why did Sophie¡¯s parents have to die? I did not get to even meet them yet and announce that I was dating their daughter. I mean¡.¡± I could feel the tears rolling down my cheeks. I never wanted to introduce myself as their daughter¡¯s girlfriend like this¡.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 328 One Kingdom Falls While Another Becomes An Empire Part 1
¡°Master!¡± Grace came out of nowhere and hugged me, which only served to drive my sorrow more. Death was not something that I could handle well. I had been bottling it up inside me all this time, but now with the news of Sophie¡¯s parents, all the people I knew and grew up with were now popping up in my mind. Auntie Finna and everyone else all died because they were targeting me. If only¡.
I do not think I have cried like this in a long time. Grace did not part from my side either. Instead, she stayed with me, keeping mepany while I released all my pent up stress. Staying strong is one thing but bottling it all up inside was also not a good thing. I have been busying myself trying to do this and that to keep my mind busy. But even then, I was still suffering on the inside.
A month passed, and we finally reached the skies over the capital city of the Kingdom of Golentod. Thurul put the airship to anchor while I was busy readying myself for my departure. Thurul was noting with me, but grace would be. As an official envoy, I needed at least one servant to make things look good and official. However, I needed to make things quick if I wanted to make the funeral in two weeks¡¯ time.
¡°Lass, be careful down there. You know those bastards will be wanting to pick a fight with the fact that you two are demi humans.¡± Thurul gave me a hard reminder that this ce was not against very. Even at the factory, I did see many demi humans pushing carts. While it hurt to see, I did not make a fuss about it due to the fact that at that time, there was nothing I could do, and did not wish to make too much of a scene, but now things will be different.
¡°Don¡¯t worry. I will deal with it all. Everything needs to be set in motion before I have to head back to attend the funeral.¡± I replied with a half hearted smile. Just thinking about it made me think of many things that I did not wish to think about at this time.
¡°Alright, I will watch over the ship. Good luck.¡± With Thurul¡¯s words of encouragement, I jumped off the airship with Grace at my side. I then activated my teleport to the castle in Gravos to allow the knights that were waiting to be my guards to appear in front of me with scaled horses and a carriage. They each kneeled to the ground and bowed their heads to me. ¡°Princess Cyrilia, it is our honor to be of assistance during your mission this time. I am Knight Captain Breckett.¡±
¡°I thank you for your help and am sorry for the sudden notice. We will try to do things quickly. But please keep things as civil as possible. Also, please don¡¯t kneel to me. I hate these kinds of things.¡± I said with a smile.
The nights all mmed their chests with their fists in salute as they all answered in unison: ¡°By your word Princess!¡±
With this, we made our way to the gate in a grand procession. Ten knights and a royal carriage rolled down the path as we made our way to the gates. I peeked out the window after getting changed into a proper dress that was blue with white frills that went down to my ankles.
There was a long line of humans at the gate, most seemingly merchants, with many having demi human ves carrying their gear. Their ragged clothing made me frown, but there was nothing I could do about it at this time. We skipped the line and rode right up to the gates with all the merchants staring at us. Some of the knights were actually demi humans catching the attention of the humans and the guards.
¡°Halt! Who are you!?¡± One of the guards yelled out while drawing his sword. He did not move to attack, nor did he say anything nderous but only asked the simple question, which was the normal procedure, I guess.
¡°We are here to escort Princess Cyrilia as the envoy of the Gravos Kingdom to meet with your king. We have the envoy¡¯s seal right here.¡± The Knight Captain, Sir Breckett, said as she stepped forward with the royal envoy seal and showed it to the guard. The guard frowned as he looked at it before waving his hand to have one of the other guardse over.
The other guard, who was most likely the captain, looked at the seal before handing it back to Sir Breckett. ¡°Get my horse. I will lead them to the castle.¡± The captain ordered before turning to Sir Breckett and saying: ¡°I am Captain Willson of the Kingdom of Golentod¡¯s guards, Sir Knight. May I have your name?¡±
¡°I am Knight Captain Breckett of the Royal Knights of the Kingdom of Gravos. I am in charge of protecting Princess Cyrilia, our kingdom¡¯s envoy.¡± Sir Breckett seemed very well suited for this kind of thing. He did not waver in the slightest, even with all the people staring at us with a bit of hostility.
¡°Sir Breckett, I must ask that the demi human knights please stay outside the capital. Our kingdomws do not allow demi humans who are not of a royal decree from another kingdom to enter our capital. It is to keep not only your knights safe but our people as well.¡± Captain Willson suddenly said, causing me to frown. Half the guards were demi human and they wanted us to leave them outside? Did they really look down on us that much?
Before Sir Breckett could answer him, I decided to speak up. ¡°So you are saying that I, myself, and my servant are not allowed to enter? After all, I am only a titled princess, not a princess of royalty, yet I am also a demi human.¡±
I slowly opened the door to the carriage. Grace jumped out and reached out to me to help me off. I took her hand and slowly stepped out into the open and looked at the guard captain. ¡°I think you should understand what it means to anger another kingdom¡¯s envoy. It will cause an international incident. I think you should first think before you speak. My guards and I will all enter the city no matter what. As far as I am concerned, only a member of your royal family has a right to tell me how I should act, and only then would it be up to me whether or not I heed their advice.¡±
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 329 One Kingdom Falls While Another Becomes An Empire Part 2
¡°Look, Princess Cyrilia, was it? I do not make the rules. If you want to enter, you need to leave behind all demi humans.¡± The guard was basically saying that all demi humans had to leave including myself.
¡°Oh? So this is how you do things in this kingdom? You tell the envoy of another kingdom they can not enter? I see. Well, too bad you will be getting punished for not following the rules.¡± I sneered as I turned back around and got into my carriage. I wanted to see if they would really stop us from entering or not.
¡°Master, are we really going to force our way in?¡± Grace asked. I guess she was concerned about causing some kind of international incident, but I came here to start one, so it was fine.!
¡°Grace, I came here to take over the kingdom. Why are you worried about international incidents?¡± I asked with a chuckle. Grace blushed. I guess she forgot.
¡°Sir Breckett, ignore him and just continue forward. I want to see who dares to stop me.¡± I finally got to act like a tyrant! It was kind of fun.
¡°You! You dare force your way in!?¡± The guard captain yelled out. The guards from the gate all rushed out and encircled us. I smiled and waved my hand creating a barrier around us that began to spin and narrow out to a point so that it could push people aside easier.
¡°Let¡¯s go! To the castle!¡± I yelled out.
¡°Yes, Princess!¡± Sir Breckett¡¯s voice had a tinge of excitement in it. I guess he found this just as fun as I did.
¡°Master, you¡¯re smiling weirdly,¡± Gracemented, causing me to purse my lips. How was I smiling weirdly? This was like a movie back on Earth where a tyrant princess does as she pleases! Of course, I am not sure if such a movie ever existed, but this was fun. As for doing things low key well¡ That went out the window after the guard told demi humans to wait outside, so this was my only choice. Well, maybe not, but still, can you me me for wanting to have some fun? I do have a lot on my mind and doing things like this allows me to forget about it.
As expected, as we began moving, not a single guard could stop us. They fired magic at us, and it did nothing. They sent someone to hit the barrier with their sword, and that person went flying in some direction. I made sure that no citizen would not be harmed, so when I saw that they were getting too close to the barrier, I warped the barrier around them so that they could not be sent flying.
Like this, we made it all the way to the castle gates, where I casually got out of the carriage with Grace¡¯s help while arge group of guards surrounded us. The knights I had brought with me all encircled Grace and I as I removed the barrier around us so that it would only surround the carriage and our horses, as I did not wish for them to be harmed in any manner. After all, an envoy could not bring their carriage into the castle grounds as it would not be proper. And I was doing things very properly. Proper was my middle name!
¡°Princess Cyrilia! Please do not make us use force! Return from where whence you came!¡± Captain Wilson, who had chased us all this way, was sweating andpletely out of breath as he stood there pointing his sword at my knights and me while his chest heaved up and down. I had to hand it to him. He had a lot of dedication, but then again, it would be his head for letting me through.
Now, if anyone heard of what I just did, they would probably ask me: ¡°Why did you not just use your dragon speak to allow them to let you in.¡± And my answer to this would be: ¡°Where is the fun in that?¡±
¡°Huh? Why would I go back? Is this not your own fault for trying to refuse a royal envoy of another kingdom? I have an important matter to talk to you king about. If you keep this up, you may very well end up losing your head.¡± I said with a bright smile as I continued forward, not stopping for anything. Everyone who was standing in my way had no idea what to do. Because if they attacked and something happened to me, they might very well cause an international incident. So with my nose in the air and my tail swaying back and forth, I walked confidently through the castle gates without them even trying to stop me. Even Captain Willson had no choice but to let me go.
It was ten minutes to the castle¡¯s main entrance, where I was greeted by two knights who both reluctantly bowed their heads to me. ¡°We will lead you to where you can speak to His Majesty.¡±
I chuckled, seeing the looks of hostility in their eyes. I knew that not only were the knights not happy, but I am sure the King was not happy one bit. But this is what he gets for showing no respect for another kingdom envoy.
The castle was well decorated. The halls that we walked down were not red carpeted but actually blue in color, so were most of the banners that lined the walls. The statues of previous kings and monsters decorated the sides as we passed by and were brought to a small receiving room which made meugh even more. I guess an envoy who was a demi human was not allowed to be received in the main throne room.
¡°You may only take two guards with you. The rest must wait outside.¡± One of the knights said. I nodded since this was normal. Those that entered also had to wait at the door, including Grace.
When I entered, there was only the king sitting on his small throne and a few aides at his side, as well as ten guards who stood by the walls. I guess he was quite wary that he was about to be assassinated. I walked to stand before the king of Golentod and did my normal courtesy as I said: ¡°Your Majesty, I am Princess Cyrilia, and I am here on behalf of the Kingdom of Gravos.¡±
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 330 One Kingdom Falls While Another Becomes An Empire Part 3
The King did not say anything, forcing me to keep my head lowered. Only after five minutes had passed did he finally speak: ¡°Why has the envoy from another kingdom barged into my capital city and forced their way into my castle? Is this proper etiquette that should be followed by a Princess of another kingdom no less?¡±
¡°Hmmm? So telling my knights and myself that I need to wait outside even though I am the envoy is considered proper etiquette for your kingdom? I never knew this¡.¡± I said as I lifted my head without the king telling me to and tilted my head to the side, looking at him as if he was an idiot.
¡°Watch your tongue! You are in front of his majesty!¡± One of the aides stepped forward and yelled but what caught my eyes was not his ugly face or therge nose he had on his noggin but the gun shaped object at his side. Which highly intrigued me.
To his remark, I only smiled and said: ¡°Watch my tongue? I only asked a simple question. Why are you getting all flustered when all I did was ask why I, an envoy of another kingdom, was told I couldn¡¯t even enter the capital because I am a demi human. You might as well have just yelled: I want war! I mean, is that not what it means to reject an envoy and treat them with discourtesy? I mean, even now, the rudeness of this kingdom knows no bounds when you are not even willing to receive me in the real throne room. You do realize that I have already set up teleport points in this kingdom on my way here that my kingdom can use to send a massive army in to deal with a small kingdom like this that is rude towards one of their princesses, right?¡±
I watched with a sly smile on my lips as the king in front of me lips twitched, and his brow furrowed. He then snorted and waved his hand. ¡°Stand down.¡± He narrowed his eyes and looked at me. He seemed to be finally taking me seriously. ¡°What did youe to my kingdom for?¡±
¡°Nothing much. I just want you to¡.¡± My eyes lit up with magic circles as I finished: ¡°Hand over your kingdom to me.¡±
¡°You dare!? Guards seize her!¡± The aid yelled out, but before anyone could move, the king suddenly stood up, and to their disbelief, he took off his crown and walked over to me and ced it on my head before kneeling down in front of me and saying: ¡°As you wish, My Queen.¡±
¡°Your majesty!? What are you doing!? Witch! What did you do to His Majesty!?¡± No one dared to move. Even though the aide had just yelled out, they dared not move now that the king had suddenly done such a thing. They had no idea what was going on, but they knew this was not right. I could see the confusion and anger in their eyes, causing me to smile brightly.
¡°Thank you never thought you would hand it over so easily. Now then, as Queen, I guess I should seal off the kingdom.¡± I waved my hand, and with that, the entire kingdom was epassed in a spinning barrier that no one could leave or enter through.
¡°What have you done!?¡± The aide was now starting to get scared. I could see it through his eyes. It was then that something seemed to strike him as he suddenly pointed at me and began trembling. ¡°The Little Demon! Faith Cyrilia!¡±
¡°How rude! How am I a demon!?¡± I yelled out. I am not a demon. I am a very nice young woman who likes to read and eat cakes while sipping tea.
¡°You! So you came here to annex us just like you did to the Norian Kingdom!¡± The aide began to back away in horror. Even the knights who had surrounded me all began to back up. I do wonder if I was that scary. I see no reason for them to be acting this way.
¡°Look, I will not lie. I dide here to annex your kingdom, but that is only because you are producing weapons of mass destruction and then selling them to others. Those same weapons were used to attack my homnd and kill my kingdom¡¯s people. Some of which were very close to me. Do you think after all of this, I was just going to let the kingdom who created these weapons go?¡± I asked as I waved my hand. The weapon on the side of the aide¡¯s hip flew into my hand. I looked it over and saw that it was indeed a mini version of the weapon I had seized during the war.
¡°You! What happens to the weapons after they are sold has nothing to do with us! We just produce them!¡± I guess the aide did not see a reason to hold back information but sadly, he was very wrong with his words.
¡°Heh¡. Did you really think such a reason would fly? I am here today to tell you that this kingdom is now the property of the Kingdom of Gravos. From this moment on!¡± I waved my hand and created magic circles in front of every being in the entire kingdom before saying in dragon speak: ¡°You will all now sign a blood seal contract making it so you can no longer enve any demi humans. You can also no longer sell weapons to anyone but the Gravos Kingdom. And You will never try to start an uprising at any point and time and will not harm anything that deals with the Kingdom of Gravos¡¯s interests. Complete the blood seal by dripping a drop of blood onto the magic circles in front of you.¡±
With this, no one will ever be able to cause any issues, and everyone will be able to live peacefully from this moment on. Through my detection magic, I could see the demi humans who were enved crying tears of joy while others were cursing me or, well, cursing my voice. But there was nothing they could do about it. This kingdom was not the same as Gravos and would be under the samews where everyone was equal and free. With this, I draw a magic circle on the ground, which would be a teleport to the officials who would being over to organize this kingdom to be under Gravos¡¯s rule.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 331 Committing
The organization of the new government took some time, but I have now returned to the capital. Sadly it is not a time of celebration but a time for mourning. I was currently at my estate, which has had a funeral set up in the front for those who wish toe to pay their respects. ¡°Why is there a long list of names here?¡±
¡°Sophie wished toy her parents to rest along with those who died in Cyrilia vige.¡± Adel, who was standing at my side, answered. I looked at the mourning que and saw hundreds of names on it. Even now, Sophie was thinking of me by doing such a thing.
¡°Where is she?¡± I asked while lowering my head. I was trying to hold back my tears.
¡°She is with Mother and Father, receiving guests,¡± Adel answered as she held my hand and led me to where everyone was being handed an incense stick. In this world, when someone dies, they burn incense as a means of showing respect. It was the same for some Asian cultures as well back on Earth. Many people were showing up to pay respects, I never thought so many woulde, but they did.
¡°Sophie.¡± I saw Sophie pretending to be strong as she greeted people. When she heard me call out to her, her ears dropped, and her tail sagged. I guess my voice was enough to cause her wall toe crashing down. My body shed, and I appeared in front of her and pulled her into my arms. Her tears once again soaked my shirt.
¡°Faith, take Sophie. I will handle this here.¡± My father said while handing me an incense. I nodded and pulled Sophie away.
With Adel following behind us, I walked with Sophie over to a room that held an urn that was being used as Sophie¡¯s parents¡¯ casket. From what I understand, only a few bones were left, which was not enough to even fill a casket, and only this one urn was enough. I sat down in front of it and lit my incense, and ced it in the holder.
Sophie and Adel sat on my left and right while I reached out and gently touched the urn. ¡°I never got to meet you¡. But my name is Faith Cyrilia. I am your daughter¡¯s girlfriend. I never thought I would be meeting you in such a way. I had nned to meet you after the things in the capital were settled, but I guess things did not work out that way. Life¡¯s funny in a way. It can take the things you care about most away from you but at the same time give you something or someone you wish to protect more than your own life. While we had to meet in such a way. I promise you. Sophie will be safe. I will protect her from everything. I promise never to make her sad. And¡. I promise that she will one day walk down an aisle wearing a wedding dress. It might not be any time soon, but I swear here, and now I will make her my wife one day.¡±
I realized this while I was thinking about things the past few days. Love is not something you find. It is something you fall into unexpectedly. My care and concern for both Adel and Sophie are not just that of liking or that of a friend. I truly love both of these girls. And I will do what I can to make them happy. While now is not the time to be holding a wedding, I do wish to make both of them my legal wives.
¡°Faith!?¡± Sophie¡¯s eyes widened as she stared at me from the side. I turned and put my finger to her lips before turning back to the urn and leaning down, and pressing my head against the ground. ¡°I, Faith Cyrilia, promise to love and care for Sophie for as long as I live. So while I know, you can not answer me at this time. I do hope you will give us your blessing.¡±
I kept my head lowered like that for a few minutes while I said a few words of silent prayer in my head. If her parents were able to be reborn as I was, I hope they can find each other again and live a full and loving life together in a peaceful world.
As I raised my head, I turned and looked at Adel and smiled at her, then I looked at Sophie and pulled them both into my arms. ¡°Will you both marry me in the future?¡±
¡°¡±Yes!¡±¡± The girls both answered at the same time. We were alone right now, so it was only us in here. I know this was no ce for a marriage proposal, but I wanted Sophie¡¯s parents to see that their daughter would be loved and cared for. And I wanted them to see with action that I truly meant it. The two girls hugged me while Sophie softly sobbed. I owe so much to both of these girls, and I want them to be happy.
Mourning time was one week. Only when the week was over did a que with all the names of the people who died in Cyrilia Vige and the urn for Sophie¡¯s parents get buried in the royal cemetery. The king was kind enough to allow it.
A few dayster¡.
¡°You both want toe with me?¡± I asked as I looked at the two girls standing in front of me with bags on their backs.
¡°We will go with you. While our engagement ceremony will not be held for a while, we do not wish to be apart from you anymore.¡± Adel answered. Both Adel and Sophie had determined expressions on their faces. I sighed and nodded my head. I knew they would not take no for an answer.
¡°Fine, but I still have one kingdom to take over before reaching my final destination,¡± I exined. They both nodded with smiles and began stuffing their bags into Sophie¡¯s space which made me chuckle.
At least now Sophie was smiling again. I know she still hurts, but even with the death of loved ones, time still has to move on. You must also move on. Life will always continue no matter how much death is in the world unless the world itself dies.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 332 An Advanced Kingdom
A year and a half have passed, and I am now sixteen, almost seventeen. And well, curiosity finally took over, and us three girls have stepped over the bounds that were holding us back and have explored other options besides kissing. Legally in this world, I was already an adult at fifteen and could have been married and been with a baby before even the age of sixteen, but for something like that, I was going to wait. While I have been spending much of my time during this trip with Sophie and Adel, I did not forget about Iena and Diablo. Our rtionship was slowly progressing. Now those two would spend a night with me. Iena one day and Diablo the next. Of course, we are not at the same stage as Adel and Sophie, so it is not as intimate.
But our feelings are slowly fostering. While my time with the girls was soft and fluffy. Sleeping in Diablo¡¯s strong arms was not so bad, either. If this was Earth, I would have been called all kinds of names by now, but my parents are all for it, and Sophie and Adel do not mind either. So I guess as long as everyone was happy, it would be fine.
I did feel bad, though, because I needed Diablo and Iena in the capital just in case anything happened while I was away that I could not spend as much time with them as I could with Adel and Sophie. But they told me that they were just happy they could spend at least one day with me each. I did make sure to talk with them every night for a few hours.
Both girls were also taking sses on the ship, so they were not missing any academy time. As for Adel¡¯s Crown Princess training, it was being done the same way as her sses. Teleports were quite handy when needing to send overpleted assignments and other things.
Currently, though, I was looking out over the railing of the main deck at the city in front of me. It was much more than I had ever expected. It looked more advanced than any of the other cities I have ever been to. ¡°This kingdom is?¡±
¡°It is the Droth Kingdom and is a human kingdom, but they are much different than the other kingdom we went to as they do not allow very. So you should have an easier time here.¡± Thurul answered.
¡°This kingdom is also much bigger. But I do not think they are using that energy at all. I do not detect it within the kingdom except for the mountain range where it should be located. It is as if the kingdom does not know about the energy source.¡± I had already sent out my detection magic, and it seemed only the magic technology of this kingdom was on a different scale. They even had a few things that I was nning on making, like flying carriages. However, this will now change for something much more advanced when I am done.
¡°Mmm¡. I never thought such a kingdom would exist either, but they are closed off from the world. I only know its name. Unless you owned an airship, you would never be able to make it here.¡± Thurul stroked his beard as he looked at the massive city.
¡°Looks like we gotpany. Thurul, stop the ship and get ready for anything.¡± I said as I watched as a few flying carriages made their way to us. These ones were much different and had weapons of some kind attached to them, but I could tell these two were magic based weapons.
The carriages stopped in front of my airship. The lead carriage had a door open, and a seat slowly slid out with a man sitting in it with a long stick like weapon pointing at me. I guess it was some kind of magic gun or maybe something else. I am not sure I can only guess unless I could hold one in my hands.
¡°The airspace over the King of Droth is forbidden without a permit. You will need tond and travel by foot if you wish to travel in ournds if you do not have one.¡± The knight, I guess you could call him, said. He did not ask who we were but only told us tond, which was a bit of a no no as we were still a few months away from the capital by foot.
I took out my envoy seal and said: ¡°I am Princess Cyrilia. I am a special envoy of the Kingdom of Gravos. I am here to meet with you, king.¡±
Seeing the seal in my hand made the knight wrinkle his brow. He then took something off his side and spoke into it. Another thing I had nned to create! But still, mine will be much better! Although I guess I already had something like that now. However, I did n to make a cell phone with apps on it!
After speaking to whoever was on the other line for a moment, the knight waved his hand, and the flying carriages that hade with him surrounded the airship. ¡°We will escort you to the capital. We will need you to dock your airship at our dock. From there, you will be escorted to the castle.¡±
¡°Then I will be in your care,¡± I said as I gave a slight curtsey. The knight nodded before sliding his chair back into his carriage. I had to say these people were at least more friendly. Of course, this did not mean I could lower my guard. It was always smart to be prepared for anything. If I could just get the kingdom to give me the mountain range, then I would take it without annexing this kingdom. I do not wish to cause harm to good people.
On the surface, this is a kingdom flourishing without any discrimination, so I hope it would be better to work together and make formal ties to this kingdom and gain somend for ourselves. ¡°Thurul, what do you think? Can we do this peacefully?¡±
¡°I am not sure. With two princesses from our kingdom, it should be fine, no? But whether they will give up thend is another question. As soon as you ask them about it, they will probably investigate it.¡± Thurul¡¯s answer made me frown a bit. I also thought of this, but what can I do? Well, if they say no, I can make them say yes, so it¡¯s no big deal, but I did not wish to be too forceful just yet.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter ?333 Coup Part 1
Chapter ?333 Coup Part 1
While we were heading to the airship dock, I was busy getting changed with Sophie and Adel''s help. "Faith, your chest has gotten bigger again."
"That''s because two girls won''t leave them alone!" I said with pursed lips. I do not know what had gotten into them, but they keep attacking me at night. Well, it''s not like I dislike it, but they both team up on me, and it''s not fair.
"Hehe!" Adel giggled as she helped me zip the back side of my dress up. I turned and narrowed my eyes at her but didn''t say anything.
"Sophie, sorry you can''t wear a dress this time¡." I felt bad as we were not bringing knights with us this time. Sophie was going to be our guard while Grace was our attendant, but with this group, I do not think there is a single kingdom that could stop us from doing what we want.
"It''s fine. I am morefortable in this anyway. I feel more me than I do when I wear a dress." Sophie replied.
"Are you girls ready yet? We are just about to dock." Thurul''s voice came over the inte.
"Yeah, five minutes," I answered as we began to hurry to finish getting ready.
Ten minutester, we were finally done and walked out of the room towards the deck of the airship to get off. When Thurul saw us, his eyes opened wide as he stroked his beard. "Sometimes I forget you girls are girls."
"Hey!'' I shouted, causing Thurul tough. While we might not act verydylike, we were indeed girls.
"Alright, you should get going. Those guards are looking impatient." Thurul said as he pointed to the guards who were standing on the dock. I nodded and made my way off the ship.
"Hello, I am Prime Minister Douglus. I will be your guide as we make our way to the castle." a young man in sses and short ck hair said as he bowed to Adel and me.
"My name is Princess Cyrilia of the Gravos Kingdom. Next to me is Crown Princess Adel of the Gravos Kingdom. We are sorry for the sudden abrupt visit, but there was something we must talk to your king about." Adel and I both curtsied. We had decided to reveal Adel''s title as it might help with negotiations. After the king found out that this kingdom did not know about the power source, from what we could tell, he decided to try to do things diplomatically. And only when that failed would we annex that plot ofnd and seal it off with a barrier.
Hearing Adel''s title made the Prime Minister raise an eyebrow. "It is a pleasure to meet you both. I hope you do not mind that the carriage is slightly crude as we did not have time to prepare a proper royal carriage."
"Anything is fine. We were the ones toe unannounced after all." I answered. I guess the Prime Minister was wondering why I was answering all the questions because he kept looking at Adel with a questioning gaze, but she only stood there and smiled.
"Then this way, please." The Prime Minister seemed to have gotten a hint as he led us out of the docking area and to a carriage that was waiting for us. We climbed aboard what was actually a spacious andfortable carriage. The Prime Minister, as well as one guard who was a woman, climbed aboard as well.
"Princess Cyrilia, is there a reason why you did not bring any knights with you and only one guard?" The Prime Minister asked.
"Hmmm? Because there is not a single person in this kingdom who can defeat my guard." I replied with a bright smile. I guess my answer did not sit well with the Prime Minister because his brow twitched, and the guard next to him ced her hand on the hilt of her sword. "Don''t get so worked up. I was only answering the Prime Minister''s question. If you draw your sword on me, it will mean an international incident."
"Take your hand off your sword." The Prime Minister seemed to realize he was overreacting as he gave his guard an order. But I think he was surprised at my ability to see her movements so quickly and still stay calm. "I apologize, Princess Cyrilia, Crown Princess Adel."
"It''s fine. It is only natural to be wary of the unknown. Now may I ask where we are going? Because if we go this way, we will not be heading to the castle anytime soon." I said with a smile as I titled my head in a questioning manner. I had been using detection magic this entire time, so I could tell what was going on outside and noticed we were not heading toward the castle at all.
"This? Are you sure!?" The Prime Minister seemed flustered as he quickly looked out the window. "Captain Billings, what is going on!? Why are we not going to the castle!?"
"Prime Minister, a smart man should never stick his head out the window." With those words, I heard a ssh of blood as the Prime Minister''s headless body fell to the floor. The guard that came with him quickly drew her sword and stood in front of us.
"Princesses, please do not move. I do not know what is going on, but we all may be dying today. I will try to make a chance for you to escape, so when I tell you to run, run!" The guard had a look of unwillingness, but it seemed she wished to keep to her duty. I guess she was not in on this plot or whatever it was.
"I guess we came at a bad time since it seems there is going to be a coup." I let out azy yawn as I leaned my head against Adel''s shoulder. "Tell me when it is over. You girls kept me uptest night."
"MMm¡ Sleep. I can handle these people with ease." Sophie said as she leaned over and kissed my lips before standing up and drawing her sword. She then looked at the guard, who was confused as to what she was doing, and pushed the guard back in her seat. "No need to lose your life."
Chapter 334 Coup Part 2
Chapter 334 Coup Part 2
The guard watched with a stupefied expression as Sophie phased through the door. "You, who are you!?"
The sounds of yells and shouts were heard as Sophie did her thing outside. On the inside of the carriage, I was drawing a teleport to the airship because I was worried about Thurul. When I was done, I looked at the guard in front of me and asked in dragon speak: "Did you know about this?"
The guard''s eyes went dull as she shook her head. "No, I am only loyal to His Majesty, the king. I was ordered to protect the Prime Minister¡."
Nodding my head, I released the spell and said: "You can either stay here ore with us. It is your choice." Without waiting for her to answer, I yelled out: "Sophie, we are leaving."
"Here!" Sophie yelled out as she phased through the door.
I had Adel and Sophie go first before looking at the guard, who, in her confusion, got up and went through the teleport as well. I followed after knowing quite well that the carriage would explode due to the addition I added on to the runic equation. When I came through, I was met with a line of soldiers pointing swords at me. And one of them holding a cloak and blue Thurul. "You dared to harm my people?" My voice grew cold as I tilted my head to the side and looked at the soldiers in front of me with a crazed smile.
"Look, Princess Cyrilia, you can only curse your own luck toe to our kingdom at this time. As of this moment, all witnesses must be disposed of." A knight in ck armor said. He seemed to be amander or something because his armor was all spiky.
"Hehe¡. Hahahaha! Do you really think you can get away with harming my people? I am sorry, but you will all die now. So kill yourselves." My words fell, and every knight there, even the ones holding Thurul, all froze for a second before reaching for their swords and slicing their own necks. Only the knight in ck armor stood there motionless. All thirty of his men who had boarded my airship had died in an instant.
"You!? You''re a drag¡." The Knight could not finish his words as Sophie''s sword cut him in half, leaving his armor untouched.
"Lass, I owe you my life. Those bastards seemed to have been waiting for you to leave. Luckily you kept a barrier around all the rooms, or they would have destroyed everything. They got angry and destroyed themon areas." Thurul adjusted his clothes and walked over to the body of the ck armored knight, and kicked it. "Damn bastard! If you weren''t dead already, I would have beaten you like you beat me."
Seeing how he was still active, I let out a sigh of relief. Grace was already over there healing him. "Ummm¡. May I ask you all a favor?" The guard who came with us suddenly knelt down in front of me. "Can you please help my king? If the knight''s order has revolted, then my king will not be able to survive without someone strong helping him."
"Sure." I mean, why not? This gave me a good reason to request thend without any way for him to reject. I do him a favor, and he does one for me.
"I know it is not your problem but¡. Wait¡. You said yes!?" The guard looked up at me in shock, which made me smile. The sliver of ancient will that had surfaced was pushed back down thanks to her expression.
"Mmm¡ I originally came to ask your king for a favor, so this helps. But flying there will be a problem so we will need to go on foot. Let Adel and I get changed, and we will head to your castle while taking care of any troops on the way." I answered.
"Thank you! Thank you!" The guard bowed her head multiple times. I chuckled and said: "It''s fine. Sit tight for the time being."
"Thurul, the whole ship is now protected by a barrier, sorry I should have done that to begin with. Grace will stay here with you. Adel, Sophie, and I will take care of things." I wanted Sophie and Adel toe with me to get more experience with war. They both did well in thest one, but it was time for them to see what it was like with fewer numbers and having to fight on the front line. Since I was going to be there to watch over them, I did not need to worry about their safety.
"Thanks foring so quickly, Lass. I really thought I was a goner." Thurul bowed his head to me, which made me shake mine.
"Thurul, you are one of my long time good friends. We are business partners who live or die together. So there is no reason for you to thank me. I owe you a lot, and saving your life a few million times is not enough." I replied as I gave him a hug. He really has been a huge help and has believed in me since the first day we met.
"Hehe, Thurul, if not for you, Faith wouldn''t be as rich as she is. So just charge her a few extra gold for putting you through a scary experience." Adel said jokingly.
"I will take that gold coin from you to repay the bank," I said while poking her side. We allughed, leaving a very confused guard.
"Why can you all joke like this?" The guard asked. They were in the middle of a coup. There would be bloodshed everywhere.
"Hmmm? Why not be like this? War is war. We''ve seen it enough to get used to it. Come, let''s get changed. Fighting in dresses is not the best." Not that I couldn''t, but still, it would be annoying. I did not wish to fight in a dress that could easily get caught on things. Adel and I quickly got changed, and in ten minutes, we were ready.
"Let''s go! We got a king to save!"
Chapter 335 Not Our Fight
¨CAN) Another chapter will be outter. Family things¡¨C
We arrived on the dock and could hear the sounds of battle off in the distance. The female guard who was with us had a worried look on her face as she heard the fighting. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± I asked. It would not be good to call the guard hey you or miss guard this entire time.
¡°Kim¡.¡± Kim replied, her voice shaking slightly.
¡°Then Kim, we will be working together from this moment on. We will need to push through the city and try to get to the castle at the fastest speed but without bringing too much attention to ourselves.¡± I would put a barrier around the castle and try to protect it or even try to fly over there, but I am worried about the weapons here, and to be honest, I am in no rush. If the king falls, the king falls. It is not an issue for me to take care of the rebellion and take over the kingdom. I mean, while things look okay on the outside, there is no telling what is going on on the inside.
The king of this kingdom could be a tyrant for all I know. While this Kim seems genuine in her concern over her ruler, there is no telling if this is out of love or if it is out of fear, as if her family was being locked up or for some other reason. I am not saying these are all facts, but I do not know these people through a hole in the wall. Their rebellion is of no concern of mine. But that does not mean I do not care about the people of this kingdom either. If I see peoplemitting war crimes as I pass by, I will stop them. But from what I can see, with my detection magic, they are not touching the people. And there is a huge force around the castle fighting against the rebellion.
This meant that there were two opposing sides fighting one another while not touching the citizens. In times like this, I am d to see that each side has the basic ethics of not doing anything bad to the people. While I could easily end the entire thing with two words, it was not something I intended to do. First, Adel and Sophie could get real practice in a more calm situation. Second, this was not my fight, I am only tasked with trying to ensure the king¡¯s safety. I was not asked to save the kingdom. I was not asked to make sure the king stayed on the throne. I was only asked to save him. As such, I had no issues doing this.
As soon as we exited the station, five soldiers who were guarding it turned and drew their swords. ¡°Stop right there!¡±
¡°No¡. You Stop.¡± Adel raised her finger, and the man who just spoke froze. She then softly said: ¡°Fast forward¡..¡±
¡°What!? What did you do!? Kill them!¡± The other soldiers yelled out when they saw theirrade suddenly turn into a pile of dust.
Sophie snorted as she swung her sword, sending out an invisible de of phase magic that had a bit of wind magic hidden inside that was so thin that it could slice through the strongest of metals. This was a new spell I created for her called phase sh. It cut on the microscopic level, meaning it could slice right through anything. The phase magic wrapped around a thin de of wind magic allowed for her attack to pass through any barriers and easily kill her target.
It was a tricky spell that took me a while to create, but once it was done, it was well worth it. It allowed Sophie the ability to attack from a long range without any issues. And it was unstoppable. To the point that even I can not stop such an attack.
The four remaining guards all split in half and fell to the ground. Because everything was done at the microscopic level, there was not even any bleeding. It was as if the body had no idea that it had been cut in half. Even the guards who were now lying on the ground in two halves had no idea what had just happened. This was what was scary about this attack. If it was not done to a vital part of the body, they would still be alive.
¡°Mass fast forward.¡± Adel swiped her finger through the air over her targets, and in seconds four piles of dusty on the ground. This was Adel¡¯s newest attack. It was mass use of her current cosmic magic. It allowed her to pick and choose her targets. Right now, she still needed more practice with it to do things mentally, so for now, she was just using her finger to point at her targets.
I did hope in the future, she would be able to use detection magic to target all the people she wanted, but I needed to expand the spell more so she could ce a marker on them with detection magic. Because, as of right now, she was nervous about using the spell in a mass setting unless there was no one else around. Luckily she can practice her magic with other things besides people she wants to kill.
¡°We should keep moving,¡± I said as Adel and Sophie took the lead, and I followed behind. Kim, who was still standing there in a daze, only moved after a few seconds and hurried to catch up to us.
¡°Faith, are you sure you want to move this slowly?¡± Sophie asked in a low voice that only Adel and I could hear.
¡°Mmm¡ it¡¯s not our fight. What happens is not our problem unless we are getting something out of it. If we reach the king in time, we will make him give up the mountain range for our help. If not, we will just annex it anyway. So we will not lose anything in the long run, so there is no reason to hurry. Just take this time and practice your spells.¡±
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 336 Adel’s Training
¡°Alright, then we will take this time to practice.¡± Sophie and Adel looked at each other and nodded. I could tell they really wanted to get used to their new spells in a real world application.
As we moved through the streets, the people were all taking shelter indoors. It was like a ghost town. No one was out and about. When we ran into knights, they would attack us, and Sophie and Adel would get rid of them.
The entire time I was paying attention to the situation with the king. He was currently in his throne room with his officials, that were still on his side, from what I could tell, working on ns to quell the rebellion.
¡°Kim, your king is still alive and kicking and putting up a force fight. But just so you know, we will not stop the army from taking over the kingdom. I will only protect your king as I promised.¡± I said as I turned to look at Kim.
¡°As long as he is fine. I lied before¡.¡± Kim said softly. ¡°I am no guard. I am nothing more than a princess of this kingdom. One who has low standing in the castle but the king is still my father. I do not wish to see him die.¡±
¡°Hmmm? You have an aura of someone who has been to battle though.¡± I could tell Kim knew how to fight. But her answer did tell me why she was so concerned about the king.
¡°Our kingdom is no stranger to wars. We have fought against our neighboring kingdom at least every three years. I would not be surprised if they were the reason for this uprising. There are two factions in the castle. One who wishes to take down my father, who is pro peace while the other faction is for war. They think with our current technology, we should not be hiding behind tall walls. That we should be expanding ournds, but my father sees no reason for it. Why would we expand when we already have so muchnd that we are unable to fully protect all the time? My father thinks logically and realistically. At least this is how I see it.¡± Kim answered as she let out a long sigh.
¡°I see for now, I will keep an eye on things with your father. Even from here, I can stick a barrier around him if he is attacked. But if he wants me to protect this kingdom, then he will need to pay a price.¡± I decided since a princess was next to me, I might as well be upfront. Sadly I would not take her word for anything and will only talk directly to her father.
¡°I am sure my father will ask for help if he begins to lose,¡± Kim replied. I guess even she was not sure if her father would be willing to make any promises.
Not that it mattered, but I guess we will see when the timees. For now, we were only doing what we needed to make it to the castle. If they attacked us, then Sophie and Adel would get rid of them. If they ignored us, we ignored them.
The capital city was big. It was almost two hours on foot before we finally arrived at the front line. As soon as we arrived, we were stuck in a situation of how do we get through because the main gate waspletely blocked off. While we could charge through, I decided it was best to n out actions before doing so. If I was going to talk with the king, I wanted to first make sure I did not kill anyone on their side. It would look bad if I did.
¡°How should we do this? Is there a secret way into the castle?¡± I asked as I looked at Kim.
¡°There is, but I am not sure if the tunnel is actually essible from the outside. It has not been used in my father¡¯s reign. I only know about it and never have actually been down it.¡± Kim exined.
¡°Wait! Kim, you said father just now!?¡± Adel looked at Kim in surprise. I guess she did not hear the early conversation.
¡°Yes. My father is the king. I am the ninth princess.¡± Kim replied.
¡°I see¡ No wonder¡.¡± Adel thought for a moment before continuing. ¡°Faith, what if I use a mass time stop, and then we can just walk past both armies and through the castle gates?¡±
I thought for a moment before nodding. ¡°We can do that, but Adel, how much mana will it take for you to cast it on thousands of soldiers?¡±
¡°Ah¡.. Well, I can¡¯t do it, but you can!¡± Adel said with pursed lips.
I chuckled and shook my head. ¡°Nope. I want you to do this. But we will not do it on a grand scale, we will only stop those we need to. Adel, watch your mana and when you need more, let me know but go as far as you can. Even reduce the mana consumption of your magic circle. See how low you can go before the spell no longer works.¡±
¡°Okay!¡± Adel nodded. She really wanted to try this out. Any time it came to changing the way her spells worked, she always got excited because her spells were limited. While she was working more on casting other elements, her main priority was her cosmic magic.
¡°Unmmmm¡ can you all please take this seriously!? Why does it seem like you are only here for fun?¡± Kim asked, her expression was filled with annoyance and worry. I can understand where she wasing from, but she should remember this kingdom has nothing to do with us. She asked us for a favor, and as of now, her father was in no danger. And since he was not in danger, we could use this chance to train.
¡°Don¡¯t worry. I already said I will protect your father.¡± I replied before turning to Adel and said: ¡°Anyway, Adel remember to keep a close eye on your mana consumption. I want to see if you can stop at least one thousand people!¡±
Chapter 337 Ending A Rebellion For A Price Part 1
In the end, by the time we walked past the gate, Adel was able to stop six hundred people before I had to replenish her mana. But she did a good job of reducing the mana consumption, and she even got better at targeting those she wished to cast it on, which made for very good progress.
Kim slowly trailed behind us in disbelief. She looked like she wanted to say something, but she held it back and had somewhat of an aggrieved expression on her face. She probably wondered why we would not stop this war when we could easily deal with everything if we so wished. But I am sure she also knew the answer to that as well. It was because it was not our problem, to begin with.
One may ask if I had a heart. One may ask since I have the power, why am I not using it to do good? And the answer is simple. Not my problem. As long as these two sides are not harming the citizens, then I will not interfere unless I am getting paid. That is just how it works when you work as a mercenary.
Kim took the lead as she was the princess of the kingdom. The guards who were standing at the side did not stop us at all as we made our way to the throne room. Only when we reached the throne room doors that had many guards outside did we finally get stopped.
¡°Princess! Who are these people!?¡± From what I could tell by the different style of armor, the person who spoke was the knight captain.
¡°Captain sis, they are envoys from the Kingdom of Gavos, and they have helped me return here. Also¡. The Prime Minister is dead¡.¡± Kim answered, causing the knight captain to lower his head.
¡°I see¡. One second. Let me announce to his majesty that you are here.¡± The knight captain turned around and walked into the throne room, only for us to hear the king yelling out to let us in.
We were quickly led into the throne room where the king, who looked very haggard, sat upon his throne. He looked so stressed that I kind of worried about his mental health. But that was only a little bit.
We walked to the middle of the room and stood in front of the king. ¡°Kim, you are safe¡.¡±
¡°Father, sorry it took so long to return. We had to break through the front lines to get here.¡± Kim replied as she walked up to the throne but was quickly stopped by the guards. ¡°What are you doing? You are stopping me from getting close to my father?¡±
¡°Kim, please understand at times like this¡.¡± The king said with aplex expression. It did not seem like he wanted to do what he was doing but had to.
Kim red at the guard before stepping back. ¡°Where are my brothers and sisters?¡± Kim asked, seemingly not wanting to continue to press the issue anymore.
¡°Only your sixth brother has made it back, and he is on the front lines. As for the others, I do not know. I have not heard from them yet.¡± The king replied. ¡°The one who started the rebellion was General Hammon. He had been wanting us to expand the kingdom for some time now. He seems to wish to take reign and do as he pleases with the kingdom. Sadly he had more soldiers than us using the same magitech as us. If things keep going as it is, it is only a matter of time before they will break into the castle. Kim. Take the envoy and escape through the secret passage. You can leave the kingdom and make a new life for yourself.¡±
¡°Ummm¡ Sorry, but we are not leaving.¡± I spoke up since I did not wish to waste any more time.
¡°You! You can not stay here! You must leave!¡± The king yelled out.
¡°Nope. Because as of right now, you have two choices. Make a deal with me and win this war or¡.. Lose the war, and I annex it all for myself after you are gone. I will give you five minutes to decide.¡± I said as I calmly walked towards the king. The guards there all began to point their swords at me, but Adel stopped time for them, making them freeze in ce. This was to show a small disy of power as I walked over to the king unhindered. ¡°Time is ticking, so think carefully because if you do not want to make a deal with me, then I will just watch everything from the sidelines.¡±
¡°This¡.¡± The king looked scared as I walked up and sat in the queen¡¯s seat, and ced my elbow on the armrest to support my head as Izily looked at the king at my side. He stared back at me and shakingly asked: ¡°What are the odds you can win?¡±
¡°One hundred percent,¡± I said with a smile. ¡°But¡. I want the mountain range to your north. All of it. It will be the property of the Kingdom of Gravos and will be defended as such. What do you say?¡±
¡°Deal! If you can truly win this war, then I will give the mountain range to you.¡± The king did not really see the value of the mountain range nor did he seem to think something was off. If he was not in such a situation I am sure he would have noticed something was off.
¡°Then we have a deal. From this moment on the mountain range to the north will be blocked off from anyone entering it from the outside.¡± I said as I waved my hand. If one were to look they would see the mountain range was now covered in a massive spinning barrier. And I mean the entire thing. Even parts in other kingdoms. Was I going to ask for permission from them? Nope!
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 338 Ending A Rebellion For A Price Part 2
¡°Now that that is done, I guess I will start with what I promised.¡± I cleared my throat as my eyes lit up. ¡°All those who are against the crown, die.¡± With a single sentence that echoed across the entire kingdom, tens of thousands of soldiers and others died on the spot. Even some of the knights here in this room and a few officials. I checked the entire kingdom with my detection magic, and all fighting had stopped.
¡°There, done. Negotiationplete. Please write up an official bill of sale to the Kingdom of Gravos over the territory transfer.¡± I said as I stood up and stretched. ¡°I will find an inn to stay in for the time being. Send a knight to follow after me so they can return and tell you where.¡±
As I started to walk out of the throne room under the stupefied gazes of the people there, the door burst open, and a handsome young man with raven ck hair and eyes ran through it. ¡°Father! We won! I don¡¯t know what spell was cast, but it killed every soldier who was a part of the rebellion!¡±
¡°Fredrick, please mind your manners. Miss! I still do not know your name.¡± The king called out to me. Now that I think about it, it is true that I did not introduce myself. I turned and said: ¡°My name is Princess Cyrilia of the Kingdom of Gravos, and next to me is my fiancee Crown Princess Adel of the Kingdom of Gravos, and my other fiancee Sophie Cyrilia.¡±
The king watched as I gave a knightly bow instead of ady like one, but this was due to the fact that I was not wearing a dress. ¡°Your Majesty, I will now retire, so please send an escort.¡±
¡°AH¡. yes¡. I will have the bill of sale written up and stamped with the royal seal.¡± The king must have been able to tell that I was not here to continue chatting, especially after I introduced two girls as my fiancees.
As we left, a guard walked behind us. Kim didn¡¯t even say anything as we left. Maybe she was afraid or something. I am not too sure, but I truly do not care. A rebellion they were so worried about was easily taken care of by me with just a few words. I bet she is angry and probably ming me for not doing something sooner.
I did tell her I would not do anything unless I was getting something out of it. If she had not lied to me and actually told me she had a good rtionship with the king, then maybe, just maybe, she could have said she would do it and given me thend then and there. Then none of this would have happened.
But now it was toote. I am not sure how many people actually died because of my word magic just now, but it would not be the first time I have killed many in just a few words. We left the castle and were escorted to the inn in a carriage which was slow going as they had to make a path through the dead bodies that nowid strewn across the ground.
I wonder if I am broken now that the sight of so many dead bodies no longer seems to bother me at all. I have seen so many dead bodies as ofte that I am pretty numb to it. I have also taken many lives.
If this was Earth, I would probably be the most wanted person in the world with my current kill count, which ranges in the hundreds of millions. So many soldiers have died due to a few words from me. But because of my abilities, it has also saved many lives as well like the few billion that live in the Gravos Kingdom.
But luckily, with this, my excursion through the other kingdoms is done, and I can get back on track. Once I finish up here and make a teleport to the gravos kingdom to connect to the newnd, I can continue on to the destination I had nned for from the start. The Dwarven kingdom!
While I do now have many magic engineers, I still have more than just the current weapons and strange energy to take care of, but much, much more than that.
When we reached the inn, I rented a room with an extrarge bed and led the girls upstairs. The room was quite cozy. It was small, but plenty of room to rest for the day. It was very quiet. ¡°That was tiring!¡± I said as I flopped down onto the bed.
¡°Faith, at least take your boots off,¡± Sophie said as she walked over and began stripping my leather boots off me. I justy there as the girls began peeling things off of me. They did not strip everything, just my outer armor.
Adel began giving me a massage which rxed my muscles but to be honest, I do not know why they were all pampering me when they did most of the work. But I couldn¡¯t move at this moment because Adel was sitting on my back and Sophie was on my legs, massaging my calves. ¡°Why are you two suddenly massaging me?¡±
¡°Because we want a reason to touch your body,¡± Adel said bluntly, causing me to chuckle.
¡°Then massage away!¡± I would not say no! My two cute fiancees want to pamper me. Who am I to reject? It really did feel good.
¡°Hehe¡. You have been much more open about our rtionship as ofte.¡± Adel said as she leaned down and kissed my cheek.
¡°Well¡ I figured there was no reason to hide it. I love you both, and you love me. I don¡¯t want to hide the fact that we are together. I see no reason to. Plus, isn¡¯t your father getting his wish? Once you be queen, I will be made royalty just like he has been wanting this entire time.¡±
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 339 Tying Up Loose Ends
¡°Now that I think about it, he has been smiling much more as ofte. I think he is currently counting down the days.¡± Adel sighed as she pressed hard on my shoulders.
¡°That¡¯s the spot¡. Reminded me to take him down a notch when we officially return to the kingdom.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but let out a rxed sigh. It was really amazing. Massages always feel good when you have stress built up. As for the king, I just liked ruining his day. It was fun.
The next day a messenger came from the castle. So Sophie, Adel, and I made a trip back to the castle to surprisingly be met with a grand ceremony. All the knights who were loyal to the crown all stood in line with their swords held in front of their chests as we made our way to the throne room. This was truly not what I was expecting. When we reached the throne room. The king, two other young men, and Kim were standing next to him.
The king slowly stood up and bowed to us. ¡°Princess Cyrilia, Princess Adel, Miss Sophie, I humbly thank you for your assistance. Because of you, the people of this kingdom can be safe and sound and not under a militaristic rule. Besides thend, we would like to openly have trade talks with your kingdom as well.¡±
¡°We will need to establish an embassy here in this kingdom to establish such ties.¡± I watched as the King lifted his head, not understanding what I meant.
¡°Princess Cyrilia, excuse me for not being knowledgeable enough, but what is an embassy?¡± The king asked.
¡°An embassy is a ce for kingdoms who have some form of rtionship to go to that can provide assistance to their own people if need be. Think of it as a plot ofnd owned by the other kingdom. It would be considered an attack on the kingdom if another kingdom attacked the embassy. It can also be a go between for other countries who wish tomunicate certain things.¡± I exined as best as I could while incorporating this world¡¯s way of doing things.
¡°I see¡. Then we will do that. We would like to formally form an alliance with the Kingdom of Gravos. We will gather a few sites within the capital that can be used for this embassy thing and allow your kingdom to pick which site is good.¡± I am not sure if it is just me, but this king really makes quick decisions. But one thing is for sure, and that is that this kingdom has the same values as the Gravos kingdom, which makes them a good partner to form an alliance with. With a teleport set up between the two kingdoms, we can do trader and passage between the two kingdoms for a toll cost on each side, allowing a bit more ie for both kingdoms.
¡°I will ry your wishes to my King. But I will need to set up a teleport area for them to be able toe and go as needed. This should be set up in a safe location that can be guarded easily.¡± Having a secure point will allow for a bit of breathing room to build up trust between the two kingdoms.
¡°Mmm¡ For now, we can set one up at a location within the city. If you can, give me one more day to make arrangements.¡± With this, I received the bill of sale.
The next day I met with one of the officials. We went to a house and set up a teleport circle in the basement and had the house be a knights barracks that would be guarded day and knight.
After making arrangements on the Gravos side of things, I finally set off once more. The diplomacy portion can be done by the two kings. The airship was once more flying through the air. However, we did have one extra visitor. Today was Diablo¡¯s day to spend time with me. As always, his ears were bright red as he talked with me. You would think as a high and mighty demon king would be more straightforward and not so reserved, but it seemed this was the case for all demons.
¡°Mas¡. Faith. Do you n to dive into any dungeons in the near future?¡± Diablo asked.
¡°Mmm¡ Probably. During that time, I will be working on leveling up as much as I can. Probably will be after I finish up in the dwarven kingdom. Why do you ask?¡± Diablo never really cared about where I went, so I was curious as to why he would suddenly ask this.
¡°I¡. I want to go with you. Not to get in the way of your training but to protect you¡. As we are¡. Ummm¡ in a rtionship¡. I do not wish to see you get hurt.¡± Diablo¡¯s face slowly turned red, causing me to grin. At times like this, he was indeed cute. As we slowly got to know each other over the past few years, Diablo has really shown me how much he cares about me and not just as his master but as someone who was, in demon tradition, married to him. He never made a move on me this entire time, knowing I was not ready yet since we were not at that stage in our rtionship, but he was very caring.
So in the future, once things settle down and things keep on course, maybe things between Diablo and I will get to that point to where my mother and father will finally see a grandchild from me. But this is still something I do not know.
But for now, before that ever happens, I will need to first get married to the two girls at my side. Iena and Diablo will probablye soon after. So, for now, at Diablo¡¯s words, I smiled and snuggled into his chest. ¡°Then you cane. But make sure you tell Iena. Make sure she knows what you n to do.¡±
¡°I will¡ Iena is a good girl, and she understands that I can not have a family with her, but she also wants you and I to be happy as well¡. She also talks about you all the time, which gives us a lot to talk about.¡± Diablo replied.
¡°Mmm¡ Iena is very sweet. Adel and Sophie also like her a lot.¡± I said as I leaned up and kissed Diablo¡¯s lips.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 340 Teleport
I always thought that being in a rtionship with multiple people would be hard, but Adel, Sophie, Iena, and Diablo are all good to me. And I am trying to do my best to be good to them. However, I do worry about Diablo and Iena a lot. But I guess thates with the current situation I am in.
Time ticked by, and I am officially seventeen. I have now outlived my previous life me! Although, now that I think about it, I probably outlived my previous life a while back but if we are talking just going by age, then yes, I am one number older than my previous life me. But if you add it all up, I am much older than that, even though I do not act it all the time.
We are currently in the dwarven kingdom¡¯s airspace. ¡°Thurul, I am seeing a lot of humanmunities down there.¡±
¡°Mmm¡ You will see them. After all, we dwarves mainly live in mountainous regions. The outlying area where the farms are is mostly run by humans. They are all under the same kingdom, but the dwarves normally live in Dwrognar, the capital. But you will still see some living in the viges, towns, and cities around here. Some are even married to humans and demis and have given birth to hybrids.¡± Thurul answered.
Another kingdom that did not discriminate. ¡°Wait, but I thought that dwarves did not like humans very much.¡±
¡°No, it is we do not like humans who enve our kind. Those who live in our kingdom do not have such thoughts and live alongside us. Of course, we do have a few people who think they are still in a ce to say such things, but those people neverst long since the humans living here will normally be the ones to toss them out.¡± Thurul replied. I guess everyone has their own outlook, and for those who disagree with the ways of some kingdoms, if possible, would move to a ce that did not have such traditions.
It did always amaze me, though. Why was it humans that were able to dominate over thend when demi humans had so much more of an advantage? In terms of power and strength, there are many more races that are able to outpower humans. Even with knowledge alone, humans can¡¯t defeat some of the other races. It truly was a strange thing.
¡°Well, forget about that for now. We need to head to the city of Loncaster. It will have a teleport we can take to the capital.¡± Thurul pointed to the northeast towards the tall mountain range.
This now set our new destination, which I was kind of excited about. By teleport, he meant arge teleport circle that floated in the air. It took two months, but as we arrived, you could see arge city with tall buildings made of metal and stone. In the middle hovering over the tallest building high in the sky, was a huge metal circr construct that had a glowing magic circle in the middle of it. ¡°That is an amazing feat of engineering.¡±
¡°Haha! It was the work of over ten thousand dwarves. It was constructed in three years¡¯ time, but it was well worth it. As it was the first of its kind at the start, the magic circle used to send people way off course, but after some time tweaks, it now joins up with the one in the capital inside the mountain range you see off in the distance.¡± Thurul had a look of pride on his face as he looked at the teleport in the air.
¡°I would love to get a few of these made for Gravos.¡± It would make things so much easier, and to be honest, I think as long as we had the circle and the correct inscriptions, I could easily make one of my own. Surprisingly I never really thought of using it in such a fashion.
¡°We will get one made. We first need to find dwarves willing to join us, but I think with the pictures of the things you have, many will jump at the chance. A dwarf can never resist the chance to work with new kinds of technology. We wouldn¡¯t be dwarves if we did. Haha!¡± Thurul let out a jollyugh.
I really couldn¡¯t wait to see what Gravos will look like in the next five to ten years or so as the technologies begin to appear. As long as we can make things that will help the people and defend the kingdom, I will be happy.
The airship slowly made its way to a long line of airships from all over that were waiting in line to take the teleport. There were thousands of airships, so we still had a while to wait. The teleport, while big, only allowed one ship through at a time. This was because, from what Thurul told me that they do inspections on the ships. No one was allowed through if they had any kind of magic weapons on board. But Thurul also added that ships on the return from the capital were put under heavy inspection that was triple that of the ships going to the capital. This was to keep people from stealing secrets.
This may seem like some kind of invasion of privacy, but it was indeed a means of keeping their technology in the kingdom and safe. It seems the border crossing was also the same on foot. What surprised me was that there were no other magic vehicles besides the airships in the dwarven kingdom unless they were in the capital, but Thurul never mentioned it. But knowing him, he is probably keeping it some kind of surprise for augh.
¡°It will be a few hours, so you girls should take a rest. I will call ya when our turn is next.¡± Thurul offered, but I shook my head. ¡°I want to watch and learn. Everything I see imprints into my mind, so the more minute detail, the more I can understand how things work. So I will stay up here and study this massive teleport.¡±
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 341 Arrival At The Dwarven Capital
It took almost seven days before it was finally our turn to use the gate, and in that time, I was able to pretty much get a decent understanding of the teleport system here. Of course, I learned it all in one day, but I still studied it over and over when I did not have my normal sses at the academy. I just wanted to make sure I did not miss anything this way, I may be able to make improvements on it when we go to create the real thing in Gravos.
Thurul was taking care of all the gate stuff. He told me to sit tight inside the cabin as this was just a formal inspection. But sadly for him, I could hear everything that was going on. ¡°Prince Thurul! You are back!¡±
¡°Why the hell are you bowing to me? I gave up my rights to the throne a long time ago to follow my passion. Why do you think I left the kingdom so that idiot brother of mine could take my ce?¡± Thurul yelled back.
¡°That does not change the fact that you are still a prince of this kingdom. I am sure His Majesty will be very happy to know that you are here when you see him.¡± From what I could tell, the guard seemed very happy.
¡°Why the hell would I talk with that old man? I have nothing to speak to him about. I am only here in this kingdom on business. Don¡¯t even think of spreading the word that I am here or else I might just have to identally tell your wife about that time in Dinnd City.¡± Thurul¡¯s voice was quite threatening, but now I kind of wished I knew what happened in Dinnd City.
¡°Ahhh! Look at that I got the wrong person! Sir, please go on through. You are already checked and ready to go!¡± The guard was really quick to give up, which made me want to know even more!
¡°Lass, we have passed the inspection area, so you cane out now,¡± Thurul shouted.
I pursed my lips as I opened the door to the deck and walked out like I was not eavesdropping. I mean, if I am going to do it, I should do it right! Sophie and Adel would have been with me as well if they were not ying a game! ¡°So¡. What happened in Dinnd City!?¡±
¡°That is what you ask me about!?¡± Thurul looked really surprised, but I mean, I kind of expected him to be some noble with how he has talked over the years.
¡°What do you mean that is what I ask about? That is the most important part of the conversation!¡± I said with a huff. I wanted to know! But really, when did I be a gossipy old woman? Well, I guess age changes a person. I mean, I did go from being someone against romance to being in a rtionship with four people! And because of that, I will never say anything bad about those harem novels I used to read all the time.
Thurul furrowed his bushy brow before letting out a sigh and saying. ¡°That guard captain is the leader of the inspection squad here. But he was once a royal guard but retired to do a simpler job. During his time as a knight, he was in DInnd City and met an elf girl there and the two were drunk and¡ Well, they went at it. It was just a one night stand. The guard also has a wife and two kids. Maybe more now, but it was one of those things he regretted, but I found out about it through my informationwork. This is why he was so quick to let us through.¡±
¡°I see¡ So it was a drunken ident¡..¡± I really couldn¡¯t say anything because I was with four people, so I was no different, but it did amuse me that Thurul would use such a thing against a guard to cover his tracks.
¡°Lass, you are not going to ask more about me?¡± Thurul asked.
¡°Huh? Why? Your life is your life, not mine. Anyway, are we already there?¡± I asked.
Thurul chuckled and nodded his head. ¡°We will be undergoing docking procedures here soon.¡±
¡°Okay!¡± I smiled and turned around to get ready. I couldn¡¯t help but be excited. After all, this was a dwarven kingdom! I have only ever read about such ces and scene depictions of it in movies and tv, so this is really exciting to be able to see it up close in real life.
I ran down to the bedroom where Adel and Sophie were busy ying a game simr to chess when I began stripping my pajamas off and digging out my armor. I did not n to wear a dress, that was for sure.
¡°Faith?¡± Adel asked curiously as her eyes drilled holes into my back.
¡°Hmmm? Oh, get dressed in some armor. We are going to be docking any minute! We have finally arrived!¡± I exined as I slipped my arms through the sleeves of my shirt.
Both Adel and Sophie hopped up from their seats and quickly joined me. ¡°Faith, you look excited.¡±
¡°Of course! I have never seen the dwarven kingdom before, well, the actual ce where most dwarves live. I have only read about them in books and stuff back on Earth.¡± I exined.
¡°Ah! I see. I myself have not been out of the kingdom either, so this is my first time as well. But I have heard many stories from the officials who have tried to make diplomatic ties here. After all, the dwarven kingdom has many things all kingdoms would like to covet. But it is also how we were able to bring in some of the teachers at the academy as well.¡± Adel exined.
¡°Then let¡¯s make the most of this visit and explore it all!¡± Sophie seemed to also be very excited. Her tail was wagging just as much as mine!
Chapter 342 The Dwarf Crown Prince Part 1
After getting changed, Adel suggested I let Iena and Diabloe with us to sightsee as well. So basically, it would be one big date. Well, I guess date is a little off since both Thurul and Grace were here too. ¡°Faith, are you sure this is okay? With us both here, the kingdom¡.¡± Iena was the first to speak up. She knew it was very important to keep an eye on the kingdom during these troubled times.
¡°Mmmm¡ Diablo has set up awork of shadows around the kingdom as well as having some mid tier demons guarding the castle. So don¡¯t worry, we thought of everything just so you two could be here with me today!¡± I said with a smile as I held Iena¡¯s hand. Iena blushed and nodded as I led her off the airship.
¡°Faith has really be someone who is smooth with thedies.¡± Adel¡¯s teasing voice came from behind me.
¡°Miss Adel, you forget, Faith has also captured my heart as well.¡± Diablo cut in, causing me to blush. Why is it sounding like I am some kind of yboy!?
¡°Now that you mention it, that is true. I guess it¡¯s those who fall first who lose while the winner is the one who is the happiest.¡± Adel¡¯s words made me turn around and stick my tongue out at her. She returned one in kind.
¡°But Diablo, since you do not get to spend as much time with Faith, you should get over there and take her other hand. I am sure she will be happy.¡± Adel¡¯s voice was low, but I could still hear her. I couldn¡¯t help but smile as both Sophie and Adel are very supportive of anything I do.
And sure enough, Diablo did take my other hand as we walked towards the exit of the airship dock. ¡°Thurul, are we already inside the mountain?¡±
¡°Yep, this is Dwrognar, the capital of the Drawven kingdom. It may seem gloomy with how dark it is, but it is actually quite nice here. We dwarves like the dampness and cool air thates with living inside a mountain like this. The air is moist, clean, and cool, making it the perfect ce to work hard, creating many things.
¡°There are special vents that have wind magic inscribed in them that sucks the air out and also brings air in. It is a nice cycle that allows for the city to always have clean air. But this was not always the case. At one point, the kingdom was filled with heavy clouds of smoke and soot from all the forges. That was until aw was passed to have these vents put into ce.
¡°And since then, the entire city has be a more rxing ce to live and work. I would love to have a mountain for my shop in the capital gravos, but I can only do so much. Luckily the Kingdom of Gravos has good clean, cool air as well.¡± Thurul exined.
¡°I really like the glowing rocks embedded into the cave¡¯s ceiling. It looks like stars but also gives off a gentle blue light. It¡¯s very soothing in a way.¡± I really like this ce. It was different from what I was used to. I have been stuck on an airship for a long time now. While looking down at thends of the different kingdoms that we passed through was fun and entertaining, this was a whole different thing.
A different culture that was different from the norm that I was used to was something to really enjoy, and I couldn¡¯t wait to explore this ce from top to bottom. Thurul seemed nervous as he wore a hat on his head that covered his face from people¡¯s eyes. It was interesting to see him trying to hide his Identity.
¡°Brother, I know that is you!¡± A voice came from in front of us, causing everyone to turn to look at a well dressed dwarf with many guards around him as he walked over. ¡°Did you think we wouldn¡¯t know if you arrived in the kingdom? We have known since you passed through the barrier at the border! Why are you not announcing your arrival?¡±
Thurul¡¯s face turned sour as he ripped his hat off and pointed at the dwarf in front of him. ¡°You think I want to talk to you and that old man? I just came here to help my business partner! We have something to do that many dwarves will be highly interested in!¡±
The well dressed dwarf face scrunched up. ¡°Are you still mad at me for taking Lena? Just so you know, Lena was the one who wished to be with me. I tried to stop her, but father announced our engagement to make the elders happy. Things were out of my hands.¡±
¡°Out of your hands? You sure know how to pop kids out of her belly every single year! Just to spite me!¡± Thurul roared. I suddenly feel like I have stumbled upon a part of Thurul¡¯s past that we were not supposed to know about.
I quickly let go of Iena and Diablo¡¯s hand and walked over to Thurul, and ced my hand on his shoulder. ¡°Thurul, rx. This is not the ce.¡± I then turned to the well dressed dwarf and said: ¡°I would appreciate it if you would stop egging my friend on. Whether you are his family or not does not give you the right to be washing your dirty linen in public like this. Are you trying to make people talk about him in a bad way? Point andugh at him for having his lover taken? Is this how you treat someone who is supposed to be family?¡±
¡°Huh? Who are you? What right do you have to butt into my conversation with my brother?¡± The well dressed dwarf yelled out.
My cold gaze fell onto the well dressed dwarf who called thurul his brother. ¡°Who am I? Let me introduce myself. My name is Princess Cyrilia. Princess of The Gravos Kingdom and long time friend of Thurul. And as his friend and as a princess, I can not sit here and watch you belittle him, a citizen of my kingdom. Or do you wish to find out what I do to people who harm my friends, whether it is physically or mentally?¡±
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 343 The Dwarf Crown Prince Part 2
¡°You!¡± I could see the anger in the well dressed dwarf¡¯s eyes. I sneered and stepped forward.
¡°So, are we going somece to talk or not?¡± I asked in a moremanding tone.
¡°Follow me!¡± The well dressed dwarf spat out before turning around and walking off.
I patted Thurul on the shoulder to give him some reassurance before walking off, following behind the well dressed dwarf. He brought us to avishly decorated private room in a nearby restaurant with many paintings and expensive looking pottery inside a restaurant. ¡°Is this better!?¡±
¡°I think you should watch your tone. From what I have heard and what hase out of your mouth. You really have no right to be looking down on anyone.¡± I said as I narrowed my eyes at the well dressed dwarf. ¡°You may think you¡¯re some kind of amazing person, but to plot with someone else to go against your own kin is disgusting if you ask me.¡±
¡°What the hell do you know!? Are you saying I plotted against my own brother?¡± The well dressed dwarf yelled out.
¡°If you didn¡¯t, then why are you bringing up things that would harm your brother now? A malicious heart will always be a malicious heart. Your every word is like a knife trying to cut open your brother¡¯s wounds. Because you are scared that he came back to take away your spot as the crown prince. That all your schemes were going to be ruined just because of your brother¡¯s return. But let me tell you. Such schemes may work on many people, but in my eyes, you are just a clown dancing around looking for attention.¡± I said mockingly. I mean, I have read so many novels with so many scheming people, how could I not see the scheme he had in ce?
¡°nder! I would never¡..¡± I let out a loudugh interrupting the well dressed dwarf.
¡°nder? Let me guess. This girl Lena was it? You nted her at your brother¡¯s side. Made her act as if she was in love with him, and then when your brother fell for her, you used that chance to call her back and married her. All for the sake of making your brother want to leave the kingdom due to his depression of having his only love stolen from him. You even birthed many children with her. If that girl ever had a shred of feelings for Thurul, she would never have been willing to let you produce so many kin.
¡°A woman in love with someone would never betray those she loves as long as they were not betrayed in kind. And from what you said, Thurul never betrayed her, but she betrayed him. So this means you set this all up. All the clues to this are so obvious it makes me want to puke.¡± I could see the changes in the well dressed dwarf¡¯s expression, which means I was probably on point.
¡°Wait¡ So Lena¡.¡± Thurul¡¯s voice quivered. I felt bad. This must be hard to take in. Never mind breaking up with a lover or being betrayed by a love, I am only now learning what it means to fall in love. But Thurul has experienced it all.
¡°Humph! Your wild stories are just that wild stories. Brother, do not listen to her. Friend or not, that means nothing. She could have just been using you because she already knew you were a prince of this kingdom. Maybe she was using you to get closer to me. I am the crown prince of the dwarven kingdom, after all. She will probably find some excuse to jump in my be¡.¡±
*p!*
¡°You!? You dare hit me!?¡± I turned to see Adel¡¯s face red with anger and Sophie standing up with her hand on the hilt of her sword. Iena was no different, but the main culprit which surprised me the most was Diablo.
¡°Watch your tongue! No one is allowed to insult my wife!¡± Diablo angered roar echoed through the room. Technically we were not married officially by Gravos standards. Only demon standards, but I will not correct him in this situation.
¡°Who!? Who are you!?¡± The well dressed dwarf seemed to be suffering under some kind of pressure, causing his entire body to bepletely covered in sweat.
¡°Diablo enough. And Thank you¡..¡± I said softly as I grabbed his hand and pulled him back.
I could see his brow wrinkle, but he still nodded and sat back down. Once I looked at the others, they also sat back down, but I could see the killing intent in their eyes. I turned and coldly looked at the well dressed dwarf. ¡°I suggest you be careful with what you say, or even I will not be able to hold my family back. They are very overprotective of me. Just know if you were not a prince, I would have castrated you here and now.¡±
¡°I see¡. So this is the kind of person you were from the beginning. You have truly opened my eyes and for Father to go along with it all means that I was never in a position to be cared for by this family. I am d I left¡..¡± Thurul words cut the tension in the air as I sat back down. Since he wanted front stage, I would give it to him. But to my surprise, he turned to me and said: ¡°This gives me some peace of mind. So now I do not mind what I am about to do. From this moment on, I hereby request to join the Cyrilia family as part of House Cyrilia.¡±
¡°You wish to be known as Thurul Cyrilia?¡± I asked in confusion.
¡°Yes. I wish to be under your g and will swear my loyalty to you from this day forth.¡± Thurul replied as he bent down on one knee and bowed his head in a knightly fashion. Looking at him, I sighed and stood up and drew my sword, and ced it on his left shoulder. ¡°Then, from this moment on, you will be one of my retainers, Thurul Cyrilia.¡±
Chapter 344 The Dwarf Crown Prince Part 3
¡°You! Thurul, are you crazy!? You know by doing this, you are no longer part of the royal family!¡± I turned and gave the well dressed dwarf a strange look. It seemed there was more to things than what was being said.
¡°Humph! You can¡¯t ever open the vault without me. My blood has been inscribed into the magic circle since birth, and without me there, you can never sit on the throne. I never nned to help you retrieve what was inside. So your kingly status will nevere to fruition. You are bound by the magic to never be able to open it to im the throne. Even if Father dies, you will never officially be king even if you name yourself as such, as each king must go into the vault and retrieve the Dreadnaught Hammer.¡± Thurul¡¯s tone was full of mockery, causing the well dressed dwarf¡¯s face to twist.
¡°You! You dare!? Do not think I can not do anything to you! Guards seize Prince Thurul for conspiring against the Crown!¡± The well dressed dwarf yelled out but sadly for him, the guards couldn¡¯t move, not when Adel had already cast pause magic on them. ¡°What is going on!? Why are you not moving!?¡±
Horror filled the well dressed dwarf¡¯s eyes as he looked at his guards, who were all frozen in ce. It was only the sound of my finger tapping the table was heard, did he turned to look at me. ¡°Mr. Prince¡.. It seems you do not know your position. If you threaten those of my family, I will not hold back. From what I can tell, this kingdom is running perfectly fine, and I do not wish to bring it under Gravos¡¯s rule, but if you dare to make another move like you have now, I will annex this entire kingdom, and your dream of bing king will never see the light. Your fate will be for Thurul to decide.¡±
¡°This¡. How can you just interfere with another kingdom¡¯s affairs!? I need Thurul to give up his right to the throne legally in order to take the crown!¡± The panicked well dressed dwarf looked at me with pleading eyes as if I was going to help him.
¡°Why would I not interfere with this? Thurul is my friend and is now officially part of my Cyrilia family. Who gave you the right to threaten him with your soldiers? My question for you is, are you trying to start an international incident by threatening a princess of another nation¡¯s family members?¡± I asked this question, but I couldn¡¯t help but feel a bit used as I eyed Thurul. He lowered his head as soon as he felt my gaze. But nheless, I still owe Thurul a lot for all he has done, so I will not me him for his motives. But he should now know he is locked to my family.
¡°I¡.¡± The well dressed Dwarf seemed at a loss.
¡°I think I should be asking you the same question.¡± A voice came from the other side of the door. Another much older looking dwarf pushed the door open, followed by a few knights.
¡°Father!¡± Thurul had aplicated look on his face as he saw the old dwarf.
¡°Thurul, what is the meaning of this? You bring outsiders to walk all over our ages long dwarven tradition!?¡± The dwarven king yelled out. He seemed very angry.
¡°Father, you expect me to sit by after being under my brother¡¯s grip for all these years? Why do you think I left the kingdom in the first ce!?¡± Thurul shot back.
¡°What does your inability to deal with your brother have to do with anything? This is why you were not favored. You arecking!¡± The king snorted before looking at me. ¡°Princess Cyrilia, was it? You are overstepping your bounds in my kingdom.¡±
¡°I wouldn¡¯t overstep if you raised your son correctly. Thurul is a good person and a hard worker. He sees friends as people he can trust with his life. But you allowed your good son here to trample all over him. Just admit you didn¡¯t like Thurul in the first ce. Why else would you allow your good son here to use a woman to honey trap him and force him out of the kingdom?¡± I answered back coldly.
¡°Humph! It is his own weakness! He let a woman take advantage of him. This is his own fault and something he will need to live with!¡± The dwarven king answered. ¡°But you, Princess Cyrilia, are nothing more than a titled princess and are butting in where you do not belong. I will give you a fair warning. Stay out of this, or the dwarven kingdom will not stand idly.¡±
¡°Oh? Let me say this, then. I will stand back, but as of now, Thurul is part of my Cyrilia family. He is no longer a royal. So if you are trying to detain a member of my family and a citizen of the Gravos kingdom, then that would be an act of war.¡± I replied with a bright smile causing the dwarven king¡¯s brow to furrow.
¡°Humph!¡± The king snorted before looking at his other son. ¡°You did good! Real good! Let¡¯s return!¡±
I signaled for Adel to release her spell on the other knights as we watched as the king and the well dressed dwarf left with their entourage. ¡°Faith¡ I am sorry¡ I had no choice¡.¡±
I shook my head upon hearing Thurul¡¯s apology. ¡°It¡¯s fine, do not worry about it. If anything, you made the right choice since the King himself came. He can¡¯t do anything to you or to me at this time unless he wishes to start a war. So before he makes his next move, he will need to n carefully. Until then, we are free to explore the city as we please. After all, he wouldn¡¯t dare kick me out.¡±
I gave a bright smile as I leaned back in my chair. ¡°So for now, let¡¯s order some food. I would hate to waste this chance to eat at a high scale restaurant now that we are here.¡±
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 345 Free Meal!
We waited thirty minutes before arge amount of food was brought to the room. The whole bill was paid for by the dwarf kingdom or, should I say, the well dressed dwarf, since he was the one who booked the room. So I made sure to buy all the most expensive dishes.
¡°This is not bad¡. The meat melts in my mouth.¡± I said as I shoved another mouthful of meat into my mouth. It was really melting away inside my mouth with how well it was prepared and cooked.
¡°It really is. This mashed proato is also very good. The seasoning makes my mouth water for more!¡± Adel chimed in, her cheeks were just as puffed out as mine.
¡°How is the meal?¡± A waiter came in after knocking. He had a big smile on his face as he looked at us.
¡°Can we get another round of the same tes?¡± I asked. The waiter¡¯s smile broadened even more as he nodded his head and quickly ran off.
The only one not really enjoying his meal was Thurul. ¡°Thurul, what¡¯s wrong? Don¡¯t like the food?¡±
¡°Lass, it¡¯s not that but the fact that I brought you into a conflict that has nothing to do with you. I have to apologize and also thank you at the same time.¡± Thurul replied.
¡°Ah¡ don¡¯t worry about it. It¡¯s not like you meant to drag me into anything, and well, I kinda stuck myself into it when I noticed that flea trying to use words to stab you. As your friend, I can not stand by and allow such a thing to happen. So turn your frown upside down and enjoy the free meal the flea offered us. You can even order the best ale they have here.¡± I said with a big grin as I rang the bell. The waiter once more came in with a big smile on his face and asked: ¡°What can I get for you.¡±
¡°We want the best ale you have. Bring us whatever you have.¡± I answered. I wanted to taste a bit of this myself to see what dwarven ale tasted like.
¡°Right away!¡± The waiter happily ran out the door, and not more than ten minutester, two huge jugs of ale were ced on the table with multiple mugs. Seeing the ale, I saw Thurul¡¯s nose twitch, and before he probably even knew it himself, he was already drinking. I poured myself a small cup. Sophie and Adel did so as well. Diablo, Grace, and Iena did not, they seemed to be on guard duty. I did tell them they could, but they refused.
Although my first sip of ale did not go very far, I stuck my tongue out and wrinkled my nose. I really did not like it. But Adel and Sophie seemed to like it a lot as they downed their mugs. ¡°Hehe¡.. Faithy is here¡.¡± Adel suddenlytched on to me and kissed my cheek.
¡°Ahh, no fair! I want to kissy Faithy too!!¡± Sophie yelled out as she slipped under Adel¡¯s arms and joined in. I, who was suddenlytched on to by the two girls, felt helpless.
¡°Hahahaha! You are more manly than any man!¡± Thurul suddenly let out a loudugh, his cheeks red. I think he had drunk one of the jugs himself. ¡°I do not think the Cyrilia family will ever have a problem needing an heir.¡±
I pursed my lips and looked at the two girls, who were now half hugging me and each other at the same time, passed out in myp. I was quite surprised at the low tolerance. ¡°They only drank a cup!¡±
¡°Lasss, this ale is made for dwarves who are born drinking ale instead of milk. Only a small bit is enough to knock them out. I am more surprised you didn¡¯t get drunk off a single sip.¡± Thurul replied. He was obviously drunk, yet he could still think rationally.
¡°Well, I didn¡¯t drink that much, just a mouth full. So I do not think that is enough to get me drunk.¡± I replied.
¡°No, No, you do not understand. Lass, this ale is enough to get a grown human male who has drunk ale for years drunk on a single sip. Never mind a small girl who is only a few years into adulthood.¡± Thurul exined.
¡°I see¡.¡± I guess this is a benefit of being a dragon? Either way, I do not like drinking, so I won¡¯t be drinking anymore.
¡°I guess we will be stuck here until these two wake up. I could dispel their drunkenness, but I think a small headache will be a good lesson for them to not drink anymore.¡± I could cure them of any hangover, but everyone needs to learn the hard way sometimes.
We waited for almost an hour with no signs of the two girls waking up, so in the end, I carried Adel and Iena carrying Sophie on our backs as we decided to leave. The waiter was very happy when I told him to take a thousand gold tip. After all, he worked hard for us. The wall dressed dwarf should feel good about helping a hard working man out with hisrge amount of wealth.
We found an inn where we took three rooms. Thurul and Diablo shared one room while Iena, Adel, Sophie, and I shared another, and Grace got her own room. The boys got a double which had two beds, while we girls shared arge bed that was just big enough for all of us. It wouldn¡¯t be the first time we would have slept in tight quarters. Well, at least not for me, who is normally sandwiched between fluff and puff.
Luckily night time was already settling in on the outside, so it was a perfect time for everyone to take a break and rest so we could do more exploring the next day. Iena sat on the edge of the bed in a long nightgown as I brushed her hair for her. ¡°Iena, are you okay with all of this?¡±
Chapter 346 A Morning With The Girls
¡°Hmm?¡± Iena turned to look up at me.
¡°I mean with how things are. I know it¡¯s a littlete to be talking about this stuff, But you love Diablo, right? He has said he will not have a family with you¡.¡± I said softly.
Iena tilted her head to the side with a puzzled look as she answered: ¡°Faith, I am married to you. Why would I care? While yes, I do like spending time with Diablo, we get along great, but it feels more like just friends now. I find myself happier spending alone time with you than with him, and I cherish every second of it. While how we got to be this way was a pure ident, I do not regret it in any way and am, in fact, very happy. My onlyint is being stuck in the capital all the time. I wish I could spend more time with you like Sister Adel and Sister Sophie. Plus, I can see you really like Diablo as well. I can see how you smile when he hugs you or kisses you.¡±
Iena paused as she lowered her head and blushed as she continued: ¡°Also, Adel and Sophie have been teaching me many things, so when we reach the stage where we can be intimate, I will be ready to be of service.¡±
Seeing her bashful face made me smile as I leaned down and gave her a deep kiss. I had worried Iena would be troubled with the current arrangement. She seemed happy on the surface, so I had not asked anything until now but seeing her as this showed me that she seemed to be just fine. That night, Iena and I got much closer.
The next morning, two girls woke up with bad headaches. They only drank one mug, but that was enough to give them the worst experience of their lives. ¡°I am never drinking again!¡± Adel yelled out as she held her head.
¡°I agree¡. Faith, heal me¡.¡± Sophie whined as she looked up at me with big round watery eyes.
¡°Nope! You got what you deserve. Let this be a lesson to never drink again.¡± I replied as I got up.
I, of course, didn¡¯t miss Sophie changing targets and looking at Grace, who hade in to do her normal routine. Sadly for Sophie, she only got a snort from Grace as Grace said: ¡°Master is right, mistress or not, you should learn from your mistakes. But¡. You can take this to ease the pain.¡±
¡°Speaking of which, Master, I heard there was an incident at the Crown Prince¡¯s residencest night. Rumors in the city are saying that the Prince refused to pay his debt even though it was clearly ced on his ount with his own signature.¡± I have no idea what time Grace had to get up to go out and find such information. But she seemed to be very good at this.
I do have to say the information is funny. I could imagine the look on the well dressed dwarf¡¯s face as he was handed the bill. If he refuses to pay, there is nothing the restaurant could do about it, but that does not mean the well dressed dwarf¡¯s reputation would not plummet. Who would trust someone who can¡¯t even pay their bills? As such, the well dressed dwarf¡¯s reputation took a big hit.
Did I n all this, one may ask? Not really¡ In fact, I only wanted to make him pay a lot of money for the food and drinks. I never actually thought this would be something even better than just making him pay a huge fee. But now that I think about it, he did seem the arrogant type who would run out on the bill. So I guess, all in all, it worked out well for me, but I do hope the waiter will not be harmed in any way.
At any rate, it was time for breakfast. Looking at my two fiancees, who were holding their heads, made me sigh as I reached out and cast healing on them. When they looked up with their big round eyes that were filled with gratefulness, I couldn¡¯t help butugh. ¡°Next time, don¡¯t drink so much.¡±
¡°I will never drink again. That was horrible!¡± Adel said as she climbed out of the bed.
¡°Mmm¡. I will only drink if Faith is drinking¡..¡± Sophie said as she too climbed out of bed.
¡°Master, may I ask what is wrong with Mistress Iena? She seems to be out like a light.¡± Grace¡¯s question caused everyone¡¯s gaze to turn to the demon girl, who was covered in nkets with nothing but her bare shoulder and head sticking out. Her hair was a mess, and her cheeks were shiny and flushed.
I rubbed my nose and said: ¡°We stopped up our rtionshipst night.¡±
¡°What!? No fair! I missed out!¡± Adel cried out. Causing everyone to give her a strange look. She blushed and lowered her head as she felt everyone turn to look at her.
¡°I see¡ So it is only a matter of time before little masters begin running around. I am sure Sir Diablo will be very happy when¡.¡±
¡°Grace, stop!¡± I yelled out. I really wondered why Grace had to go above and beyond in everything, including when she was trying to tease me!
¡°Master, I was only going to say when you two finally stepped up your rtionship.¡± Grace gave me a sly smile as she began cing clothes on the edge of the bed. ¡°Master, Mistresses, please wash up and then get changed. Sir Diablo and Thurul have been up for a while now.¡±
¡°Alright, let¡¯s get up then,¡± I said as I climbed out of bed as well. I turned to look at Iena, who was still sound asleep, and smiled. Seeing the small smile on her lips made me happy. To see those I care for and love be happy brings me happiness as well.
When we made our way downstairs, minus two since Grace stayed behind to wait on Iena, Thurul and Diablo were sitting at a table drinking a cup of tea. ¡°Your girls are finally down. I have a ce I want to take you today.¡±
Chapter 347 Surrounded!
¡°Oh, where are you taking us?¡± I asked as I sat down. Diablo poured me a cup of tea for me, Adel, and Sophie.
¡°To the secret trade district. Only those in the know, know about this ce and it is where all the top craftsmen of the kingdom reside. If we can snatch a few of them, we can surely reengineer everything you have in those hangers, including that big guy.¡± Thurul answered. He seemed highly excited about this. It looks like the prior day¡¯s events did not have too much of an effect on him, or he was just really good at hiding his emotions.
¡°I guess for high quality craftsmen, it will also cost quite a bit of money as well.¡± I would be happy to get top notch craftsmen, but if they asked for extraordinary prices, it would not work out well. While quality over quantity was the normal way to go, I still needed to hire many people to build these things as well. All of which would cost a good deal of money.
¡°Lass, you are misunderstanding something about us dwarves. Those who love their trade will never be swayed by money. Only those things that truly interest them will they be moved enough to want to see things through to the end. These masters are the same way. And I know these things will light a spark of interest in them.¡± Thurul exined.
His words helped extinguish some of my worries but not all. I mean, if I go in there and they all reject me, I will have to try other dwarves, but if word gets out that I was already rejected then what? How many would be willing to work for someone who was rejected by the masters? I can only hope things will go over smoothly.
*Bang!*
The inn door mmed open, and a bunch of dwarven knights filed in and surrounded my table. ¡°Crown Prince Thordor would like you to visit the pce.¡±
¡°Huh?¡± I narrowed my eyes and looked at the knights surrounding us. ¡°Who the hell is this prince?¡±
¡°Lass, it¡¯s my brother from yesterday,¡± Thurul replied. His eyes were also cold as he stared at the knights.
¡°Oh, the arrogant well dressed dwarf.¡± I didn¡¯t know his name and calling him a prince did not sit well with me since I did not like him one bit.
¡°Impudent! You dare nder the Crown Prince!?¡± One of the knights yelled out. I only snorted as my eyes lit up and said: ¡°Sit!¡±
*Bang!*
The knight who yelled out hit the floor right on his butt as he was forced to sit on the ground. Did they think we were easy to bully? Did they think we would just do as they said? I red at all the knights as I said: ¡°What right does the crown prince have to use force against not just one but two princesses of the Gravos Kingdom? Go back and tell your prince if he wishes to have us go to the pce, then he needs toe here and crawl on his hands and knees between Thurul legs. If he does that, we might grace the Pce with our presence.¡±
¡°Cough! Cough!¡± Thurul choked on something, whether it was air or spit, as he looked at me with wide eyes. He then raised his hands and gave me a thumbs up.
I watched as the knights looked at each other, seemingly troubled as to what to do. But what can I say? They barged in here, acting all high and mighty. But now they were being told to go back and ask the prince toe back on his own and crawl between Thurul¡¯s legs. If they did that, they would surely lose their lives! So instead, they did the only thing they knew would not get them in trouble! All the knights looked at each other and drew their weapons.
¡°What are you doing to my wife!?¡± A yell came from behind us, causing me to turn around to see a red faced Iena standing there, giving off an immense pressure. That pressure mmed down onto the knights surrounding us, causing them all to fall face first onto the floor.
¡°You¡¯re so loved,¡± Adel said teasingly as she leaned over and nudged me with her head. I poked her nose and raised my hand. ¡°It¡¯s okay, Iena. Come sit and have tea.¡±
I heard a snort before footsteps, and then Iena walked over, hugged me from behind, and kissed my cheek before taking her ce next to Diablo. Only when Diablo handed her a cup of tea did she release the pressure she was giving off.
The knights that were on the floor were all pale faced as they began to scramble up. They didn¡¯t even look at me or anyone else before they all took off. Only one knight stayed, and that was because I had not canceled my magic on him yet. I wanted to ask him a few questions before I let him go. My eyes lit up as I asked: ¡°So tell me, what did the prince want by forcing us to go to the pce?¡±
¡°He wanted to put you and Thurul on trial for ruining his reputation and force you to admit that it was you who had staged everything to do with the restaurant.¡± The guard replied.
¡°So he is an idiot.¡± I mumbled, and surprisingly the guard said: ¡°Yes¡. He is truly an idiot. Everyone knows this.¡±
¡°Pfft! Hahahahah!¡± Adel burst outughing. She was always one to find things amusing.
¡°It seems this crown prince is not very well liked by his own people. Wouldn¡¯t that mean a coup would be possible? I bet as soon as he takes the throne, many people would want him gone.¡± I have to agree with what Diablo just said. If the Prince was not liked and was given the throne, the possibility of a coup was not out of the question.
Chapter 348 Blocked!
¡°So, do you think he wille and crawl between Thurul¡¯s legs?¡± Sophie asked, causing all of us tough.
¡°If he does, I will make sure I shower first. Need to show him a tiny bit of respect.¡± Thurul replied with a big grin. He seemed to find this whole thing amusing.
¡°Haha!¡± I couldn¡¯t help butugh. The whole situation was kind of funny. I looked at the guard still sitting on the floor and gave him another order: ¡°Go tell your prince toe walk through Thurul¡¯s legs.¡±
After this order, the guard finally stood up and walked out of the inn while my group and I finished our breakfast and chatted merrily as we did. When we were done, we got our things out of our room. I told the girls tonight I would be with Diablo since I had spent the night with all of them already. I had to make it fair, after all. While they pouted, Diablo smiled. He was in a much better mood, it seemed.
The dwarven capital was really a unique ce. As we walked through the city streets, I could see the way the locals lived. While dwarves were the biggest of the poption, there were humans and other demi humans living here as well.
But while there were many people walking around buying things here and there from the various stands and shops, there were also many sitting on the side of the road with a can in front of them and a sign looking for a handout. ¡°Thurul, is it like this everywhere?¡±
¡°I am not sure. During the time I was here, there weren¡¯t so many poor people. To be honest, I am even surprised at how many are here. Gravos also has its poor sections, but only the east side was like this, while the main hubs were quite clear. Now I am not saying that the poor should be hidden, but this is just a bit crazy if you ask me. But with your reforms in the east side slums, life there is hundreds of times better now. My father once did his best to keep people from suffering and even issued reforms himself but now¡.¡± Thurul let out a sigh. I could see that he was not happy with what he was seeing.
¡°Thurul, do you want to figure out what is going on in this kingdom?¡± I asked. I wanted to know what Thurul wanted. If he wished to figure out why this was all happening, I would help him out as best as I could. If he just wanted to finish the task at hand and return, we could do that as well. Everything was up to him.
Thurul paused his steps, causing us all to stop as he turned to me and said: ¡°Can I have a day or two to think about it?¡±
I smiled and nodded: ¡°Take your time. We will not be leaving right away anyway, so take your time and figure out what you want. If ites down to it, I will use my full power to get to the bottom of things. Even if I must take over the kingdom to find out.¡±
¡°Well, don¡¯t go taking the kingdom over because I do not want it,¡± Thurul said tly. I could see he had no interest in ruling anything.
¡°Well, if that¡¯s the case, I know a ruler who would be more than happy to have another kingdom thrown at him.¡± I could hear the sneeze from here. That stupid king!
¡°Faith, my father would probably cry if you annexed another kingdom. He said in all of the kingdom¡¯s history has the kingdom suddenly expanded in such a short period of time. We arecking ministers to even set up a stable government to keep the kingdoms in ce.¡± Adel said as she chuckled.
¡°Adel, I wouldn¡¯tugh too much. He might just abdicate his throne to you, making us handle it instead.¡± I said as I poked her side. I guess this realization only now just hit her as she frowned.
¡°If he dares, I will refuse!¡± Adel shouted righteously. ¡°He has to stabilize everything before I take control, or else I will not let him off! But then again, the one annexing everything is my fiancee¡.¡±
I felt a sharp pinch in my side, making me p the hand away that was doing such an evil thing. ¡°I get it! I won¡¯t annex any more kingdoms¡ For now¡.¡±
¡°Adel, if we took over the entire continent, wouldn¡¯t it make things easier? Then we won¡¯t have to worry about foreign interference.¡± Sophie suddenly asked.
¡°It¡¯s not that we can¡¯t do such a thing, but we will need to deal with the current matters at hand first. We need to be able to protect everything we have without worrying about some super being like Azengrade destroying everything we work hard to build up. Which is why I am here in the first ce.¡± I exined. While maybe having the continent under one rule would keep things quiet for the time being with so many unknowns in the mix right now we still have to worry about how we will defend ourselves against a being who is on par or stronger than Diablo and if there are more than just one of him. Then there is the man who can ignore even my own detection magic and barriers. Such things as of now make it hard for us to build up the kingdom any further.
¡°That is true¡.¡± Sophie sighed as if her ns for world domination were suddenly crushed. But for her of all people to suggest such a thing was quite amusing in itself as she was normally the passive one.
¡°We are almost there. Just a few streets mo¡.¡± Thurul stopped his steps once again when he saw a group of knights walking towards us. ¡°Why are there more knights here!?¡±
¡°Thurul, rx, they are probably sent to keep us from talking with the masters. ¡°
Chapter 349 Stealing Dwarves From The Dwarven Kingdom Part 1
¡°Even so, they had no rights to block anyone from entering any part of the city.¡± Thurul snorted.
I chuckled and patted him on the shoulder as I asked: ¡°What are you so worried about? It¡¯s not like they can do anything.¡± My eyes glowed as I looked at the knights. ¡°Right? You will let us pass, right?¡±
¡°Of course!¡± All the knights replied at the same time. The formation they were in suddenly split apart, making room for us to pass.
I smiled and gave my thanks as our group walked past them without incident. I wonder how angry the well dressed dwarf will be when he finds out we walked right into the street he seemed to want to keep us out of. I can already picture him swelling up like a red balloon after he finds out.
This street much much different from the other streets we were on. There were still peopleing and going, but all of them looked like craftsmen. ¡°This is Forge Street. There is nothing but cksmiths on this street, and each one is a master of the trade. The ce I want to take you first is right over there.¡±
Thurul pointed to a small building with arge smokestack that stretched high above us. We walked over, and Thurul pushed the door open to reveal a small weapon shop. ¡°Master Toremdeat!¡±
¡°Hmmm? Thurul, is that you!?¡± A voice yelled back from the back room. Secondster, a short, stout old man with a long white beard came walking out. He was covered in soot and wore a pair of goggles on his head and a pair of dirty overhauls on his body. When he saw Thurul, his old eyes immediately lit up: ¡°Haha! Thurul, my boy! Did youe back to save this kingdom?¡±
¡°Huh? I will not be king of any nation. More importantly, Master Toremdeat, I want you to look at something.¡± Thurul quickly blew off the whole save the kingdom thing, which told me that there probably was an issue in this kingdom that was bigger than we could see.
¡°Oh?¡± I saw Master Toremdeat frown slightly, but he only sighed as he said: ¡°Let¡¯s have a look. You always bring me interesting things.¡± After saying this, he looked at others and me and said: ¡°Come on in. any friend of Thurul¡¯s is a friend of mine.¡±
¡°Thank you, Master Toremdeat.¡± I gave a respectful bow. Those who show me kindness get kindness in return.
We were led to an office like room that was simr to Thurul¡¯s meeting room at his shop. I guess this was something all cksmiths had. When we all sat down, Master Toremdeat did not beat around the bush. ¡°Show me what you got, I have many orders to finish.¡±
¡°It¡¯s this here,¡± I said as I took out a crystal orb and ced it on the table. I then sent some magic into it, making many pictures appear in the air. Master Toremdeat looked at them with wide eyes showing great interest in what he was seeing.
¡°What is this!? What are these crazy things? And this big one!? Thurul, Lass, what are these? Can I see the real thing!?¡± Master Toremdeat was like a little kid in a candy store as he stared at the pictures in front of him.
¡°They are back in my kingdom, the Kingdom of Gravos,¡± I replied. ¡°My name is Faith Cyrilia, also known as Princess Cyrilia. The things you see here are all things I acquired and are very sensitive in nature. If you wish to see them in person, you must agree to help reverse engineer them so they can be recreated with this world¡¯s technology.¡±
¡°Wait, Lass, you want to reverse engineer these things!?¡± Master Toremdeat asked before turning to Thurul, who nodded.
¡°Faith is the head of the Cyrilia family and a princess as well. I have joined under her name and am now known as Thurul Cyrilia. Her ambitions are much more profound than you can ever expect. You can say she is someone who is trustworthy and will treat all who work for her fairly. This I know since I have made a pretty penny working for her.¡± Thurul exined.
¡°I see¡.¡± Master Toremdeat sat back inption for a moment, then looked at me. ¡°If you n to reverse engineer these things, you will need every dwarf craftsman in the kingdom. But¡.¡± Master Toremdeat¡¯s lips curled up in a scheming smile. ¡°I think I can get them if you are willing to take us all in.¡±
I was utterly stunned by this statement. I came here for craftsmen, and it seems I would be able to get them, but the problem was¡. ¡°I am not sure if I got enough money¡.¡±
¡°Lass¡ you need to understand we dwarfs are not all about money. If you can give us a ce to live and food and ale, we will work for you. So can you do this?¡± Master Toremdeat asked with a smile.
I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle. ¡°Alright, I will take every one I can get. Just the ship alone will need hundreds of people to work on.¡±
¡°Good! But Lass, I hate to say it, but you should also talk to those long ears. We will need their help with certain intricate systems.¡± Master Toremdeat was a man of action, I guess. He was already thinking ahead.
¡°Alright, I will talk with Runa. She is the Princess, after all.¡± Although I have not talked with Runa for years, so I am not sure if she will be willing to talk with me. I mean, I will still try, but there is no telling if she will be willing to help me or not. I do hope so since she is my own connection to the elven race. But I guess only calling upon her when I need something doesn¡¯t seem right either. So I will need to offer something in return.
Chapter 350 Stealing Dwarves From The Dwarven Kingdom Part 2
¡°Oh? You know Princess Runa. Then I think we will be good on that front. For now, go back to your inn and wait for the good news. I will talk with the other masters.¡± Master Toremdeat pped his hands together. Thurul told him which inn we were staying in, and with that, we left.
I rented another inn room since tonight I would be staying with Diablo. The girls pouted, but I decided it was only fair to give some time to Diablo as well. So even though the sun was still high in the sky, I retired to the room I had just rented and sat down on the edge of the bed and looked up at the ceiling.
¡°You know you do not need to mind me so much, right?¡± Diablo said as he sat down.
¡°Diablo, we are all in this rtionship together. As you are the only man in this rtionship, and even though you and Iena are semi together as well, you are still my husband ording to demon culture. I will not leave you alone.¡± I replied.
¡°I see¡¡± Diablo sat on the bed next to me and looked down at me.
¡°Diablo, do you hate this? I mean, you are waiting on me, and it¡¯s been years now. So do, you hate waiting?¡± I asked. He was always so hard to read sometimes that I did not know if I was hurting him or not.
¡°Not in the slightest. You forget that I have never been with a woman for thousands of years, ever since I was born. So this is all new to me as well. And Iena is more of a friend than a lover. While we have kissed at the start, the past few years have been more just us talking as friends and nothing more. We both only have eyes for you and only you.¡± Diablo replied. His words were sweet, so I couldn¡¯t help but smile and turn over and hug his waist. We have known each other for so many years it is quite insane. But we have never once fought. Now that I think about it, I think I have only gotten mad at Adel. But that was because of her actions. Now she is much more calmed down.
I took a deep breath as I came to a decision. ¡°Diablo¡. Tonight¡. We will be one¡.¡±
Diablo hummed as he patted the top of my head. My face was burning, and so was his from what I could see out of the corner of my eye. But I wanted to reassure him that I wanted to be with him just as much as the other girls. Although I was kind of afraid since I heard it hurts¡.
Around mid afternoon Master Toremdeat showed up at the inn with a few other elder Dwarves. We all sat at a table in the inn with a few jugs of wine in front of us as we began our conversation. ¡°Lass, this is Master Darevoun, Master Godmumli, and Master Aranaeg.¡±
¡°Hey, girl, it¡¯s not fair that you showed Master Toremdeat what we will be working on and not us.¡± Master Darevounined.
I chuckled and took out the orb but adjusted it so that it would only appear on the table. When the elder dwarfs saw the images, their eyes turned the same as Master Toremdeat¡¯s did. They looked hungry, like they wanted to jump into the images. ¡°Master Toremdeat was right. This is well worth it. I am d I agreed.¡±
¡°Lass, you have around five thousand craftsmen from all over the kingdom who will be gathering to go back with you to your kingdom. Will you be able to take in that many?¡± Master Toremdeat asked.
¡°Shouldn¡¯t be a problem.¡± With magic making five thousand, apartments were no problem. ¡°But just so you know, there will be a blood seal contract involved. After all, the information about these things can not be spread.¡±
¡°We figured as much and are willing. What we see is a new age of technology. A new age that will boost all races by many generations. This is something this world needs at this time, so we are willing to sign a contract.¡± Master Toremdeat replied.
¡°Then we will do that when we arrive in the Gravos Kingdom. How long do you need to prepare?¡± I asked.
¡°We will need six days at least. Each craftsman will need to arrange things.¡± Master Toremdeat answered. I really did not expect them to be so quick. I thought maybe a month or two would be needed.
¡°Take two weeks. Make sure you are prepared and that everyone knows about the contract. This way, everyone has a chance to think about this and will not regret itter.¡± I would prefer to have people think things over and make sure this is what they want.
¡°Alright. We will take two weeks.¡± Master Toremdeat replied with a smile. ¡°Then we old men will take our leave. We have many things to take care of.¡±
We saw off the four masters before having dinner and settling down for the night. It was on this night that Diablo and I became intimate. As for a public wedding and all the things that this world would consider the norm. They would still wait. Adel and Sophie were to be first, then Diablo and Iena.
One thing that was amusing was the next morning, Diablo was being teased by the girls. He had to sit there with red cheeks as they asked him all kinds of questions. As for me, I made sure to take precautions. No Little Faiths would be running around any time soon. But I guess while things were going smoothly on one side of things, on the other side, some people did not like it when I was happy.
While eating breakfast, arge group of knights suddenly rushed into the inn with prince¡¯s smelly pants in the lead. He looked around the room and then pointed at us and yelled: ¡°Arrest them all!¡±
Chapter 351 The Stupid Prince
¨CAN) Another chapteringing in the next two hours!¨C
Everyone at my table turned and stared at the iing knights before turning back and around and continuing our conversation. ¡°Master, you need to eat more vegetables.¡±
¡°Grace, I eat plenty of vegetables!¡± I whined as she piled more and more on my te. It was not that I hated them. It was just that it was not meat¡.
¡°You!¡± A yell came at our side as I turned my head to see the wanna be prince standing there, pointing at us in disbelief.
¡°You what!?¡± I yelled back. ¡°We are trying to have a nice breakfast here, and you are yelling at us and surrounding us with your soldiers. Let me tell you this now. If you touch even a hair on any one of us, I will consider it an act of war and annex your entire kingdom. And let me warn you now I am not bluffing when I say I will annex this entire kingdom. You and your father can not do anything to me, no matter what you say. So take your men and screw off. I will only be in the kingdom for two more weeks, and that is it.¡±
¡°Humph! You have no choice but toe with us today! Your actions of stealing our kingdom¡¯s talents is already an act of war!¡± The stupid prince replied.
¡°Oh? Heh¡.¡± I smiled as I stood up. And took a step toward Prince Ugly. ¡°Let me ask you a question. I asked for some assistance on a project. This is all I did. I am offering nothing but room and board in return. But those masters and other craftsmen were willing to help me. How am I stealing anything? I did not offer them riches or fame. I only asked them for help, and they agreed to my request. Now tell me in which way is this an act of war?¡±
The well dressed prince stared at me with his mouth open and closing as if he was trying to figure out what to say. I sneered and turned around, and sat back down in my seat. ¡°Tell your king I will be going to the castleter to talk with him. I want to see what he thinks about all of this. If I see one more knight trying to arrest me or stop me from sightseeing, I will see it as an act of war.¡±
¡°Brother, I suggest you do as she says. I have seen her easily take over many kingdoms without any effort, and our dwarven kingdom is no match for her alone, never mind those around her.¡± Thurul added in a friendly warning. I watched as the stupid prince waved his hand, calling his knights back as he turned and left.
When they were gone, peace fell over the inn once more as I sat back in my seat. ¡°We need to deal with this sooner rather thanter. I want to meet this father of yours, Thurul. No king would act this impulsively.¡±
¡°Mmm¡ I also want to know what is going on in that head of his.¡± Thurul let out a sigh.
¡°We will finish eating and head to the castle. I want to settle things with the royal family here before they do something stupid.¡± I was only doing this because it was Thurul¡¯s family. If it was anyone else, I would not go this far, but I could see the pain in Thurul¡¯s eyes when these things kept happening. He may be trying to hide it, but he can¡¯t hide it from me.
We ate in silence for the rest of the meal before we got up and headed toward the castle. We walked through the streets without issue, although I did notice a few knights tailing behind us, but I figured the prince would send someone to tail us.
When we got to the castle that was carved out of the bedrock of the mountain, it looked quite imposing from the outside. The knights who were guarding the gate did not stop us and let us through, which meant they were definitely expecting us.
Once we passed the gates, a man in what looked to be more of a blue schr¡¯s robe stood in front of us and bowed his head. ¡°Princess Cyrilia, this way, please, I will bring you to the throne room. The king is expecting you.¡± I nodded and allowed the schrly dwarf to lead the way.
When we arrived at the throne room, the king was sitting on his throne with the queen next to him. Which I had to say, I think was my first time seeing a female dwarf. She looked quite young and did not look like a male dwarf. But now that I think about it, I probably had seen them and wrote them off as humans. Standing to the right of the king was the stupid prince. ¡°Princess Cyrilia.¡±
¡°King of Dwarves. You should also be greeting Crown Princess Adel as well, should you not? I do believe I have said she was here as well.¡± I was quite annoyed that everyone kept looking over Adel. She was a true princess, after all. My words made the king¡¯s brow twitch as he said: ¡°Crown Princess Adel¡.¡±
¡°King of Dwarves,¡± Adel replied tly with no emotion at all. She was probably angry about everything that had happened thus far.
The king snorted before asking: ¡°You said you wereing to speak with me?¡±
¡°Yes. You owe me an exnation on why your stupid son keeps harassing me with knights. Surrounding me many times in the past two days. King of Dwarves are you trying to get your kingdom annexed?¡±
¡°Impudent!¡± The one to yell out was not the king or the prince but the queen herself. I turned and looked at her and said: ¡°Sit and shut up!¡±
The queen¡¯s mouth closed, and sat down without being able to control her own body. When the king saw this, he gripped his throne and stared daggers at me. ¡°Control your queen,¡± I said tly as I released the spell. The queen looked at me with fear in her eyes and did not dare say another word. ¡°I will say this now. I did note to this kingdom to start any feuds, but many times I have been harassed by your stupid son. Now exin to me. Why are you doing this?¡±
¨CCheck out my new novel: CyPunk Online!¨C
Chapter 352 Teladeadja
The king narrowed his eyes as he looked at me and said: ¡°Princess Cyrilia, Crown Princess Adel, you should know my dwarven kingdom runs on the craftsmen you are currently looking to poach. Are you trying to ruin my kingdom?¡±
¡°Ruin your kingdom?¡± I asked. ¡°I did note here to ruin a kingdom. You may survive off craftsmen, but I am not taking them all. And I am not forcing them toe with me. They are following me by choice. Second, your kingdom is already in a downward spiral. Have you not seen the homeless filling the streets? What king allows his people to suffer? You make millions to billions of gold per year, yet you still have homeless people begging for money. Why is this?¡±
¡°Hmmm? Homeless?¡± The king looked perplexed. But I do not understand how he would miss such a thing.
¡°Have you not taken a good look at your streets? Have your officials not talked to you about the problem you currently have with the homeless rate rising? How much money are you funneling back into the kingdom each year? Do you have systems in ce to help build new industries? Do you have educational systems to teach new bright minds? All these things are important if you wish to keep your citizens happy and off the streets so that they can provide for themselves. I am not saying this is one hundred percent perfect, but it would keep you from having so many people living on the streets begging for change. I do not know your current crime rate either, but I am sure theft has risen in the past few years.¡± Iid everything out for the king. I watched as he turned toward the stupid prince with a questioning gaze.
¡°Royal Father, do not listen to these lies. There is nothing wrong with our kingdom!¡± The stupid prince yelled out.
¡°Are you an idiot?¡± Thurul suddenly stepped forward and bowed. ¡°Royal Father, I gave up my rights to the throne a long time ago and have also given up my family name in favor of joining under Princess Cyrilia¡¯s noble family name. But even still, even I hurt seeing the streets filled with fellow dwarves who are without ale and food. I have only been in the capital for a few days, and I can say this is not how our kingdom used to be!¡±
¡°Prince Thurul! Don¡¯t spout such lies!¡± The well dressed dwarf yelled out. He looked like he was in panic mode now, which was only making the man next to him to look at him strangely.
But sadly: ¡°Thurul, your brother says nothing is wrong, so nothing is wrong. Why are you trying to nder him like this?¡±
I heard a loud sigh as Thurul stood up and turned to me, and bowed his head: ¡°Lass, please save the Dwarven Kingdom. If my stupid brother and my ignorant father keep going like this, the kingdom is going to copse.¡±
I smiled and nodded my head: ¡°So you made up your mind.¡±
¡°I have.¡± Thurul¡¯s eyes showed great determination. I nodded and turned to look at the king. I then took out an orb and held it out, letting it float up into the air. I then cast detection magic and channeled what was being seen into the orb. Video images began to appear in the room. Hundreds of them, most of just the capital but also the rest of the kingdom as well. ¡°This is what you call lies?¡±
Seeing the images and the people of his kingdom suffering, the king¡¯s eyes turned red with anger as he stared at the well dressed dwarf. ¡°Thordor! What the hell is the meaning of this!?¡±
¡°It¡¯s a trick! Royal Father, do not believe a word of this!¡± The stupid prince yelled out. I sneered as I waved my hand, canceling the images. ¡°You will know if it is a trick if you actually leave this castle and take a good look. I do not know if you were turning a blind eye to this all before, but those in this kingdom who are suffering are greater than you think. Take a tour and see for yourself.¡±
¡°No!¡± The well dressed dwarf yelled out. ¡°Father, this is all trickery! She probably paid these people to act this way!¡±
¡°You idiot! I can¡¯t watch this anymore!¡± A voice came from the shadows causing me to frown. I looked to see a man suddenly appear. He looked human, but he had purple lines on his face. I immediately used appraisal on him.
[Tdeadja]
[Level 800]
¡°You!¡± I shouted as I stared at him with cold eyes and drew my sword. ¡°You work with Azengrade!¡±
¡°Oh?¡± The man turned to me and smiled mockingly. ¡°So you know General Azengrade, and you actually lived to be here today?¡±
¡°General?¡± I felt my heart tighten hearing this. If he was only a general, then that would mean many more of these powerful people are on this¡.
¡°Haha! Ignorant fools!¡± Tdeadja looked at us as heughed. But when his eyes fell on Diablo and Iena, he seemed to frown and then looked at the well dressed dwarf. ¡°Your stupidity has ruined everything for me. For that, I will take your soul aspensation.¡±
Before anyone could react, not even myself, we watched as Tdeadja raised his hand and shot out a green light. The well dressed dwarf let out a horrific scream before his body shriveled up, and a blue light was pulled from his body and absorbed into Tdeadja¡¯s hand. He then turned and bowed to us and said: ¡°Until another time.¡±
¡°Diablo! Stop him!¡± I yelled once I came back to my senses.
Diablo disappeared and reappeared next to Tdeadja, but as he went to grab hold of Tdeadja, his arms passed right through him, and Tdeadja disappeared whileughing. A look of anger appeared on Diablo¡¯s face as he stood there, clenching his fists. ¡°Diablo, it¡¯s fine¡ We were all shocked by his sudden appearance that we all failed to move in time.¡±
Chapter 353 No Other Choice
Diablo returned to my side, where I took his hand to calm him down. I then looked at the dwarven king and bowed my head as I said with sympathy: ¡°I am sorry for your loss¡.¡±
¡°No¡. I had no idea that someone was controlling my son from behind the scenes all this time.¡± The dwarven king slumped down into his throne. Only after a few moments of quiet did he stand up and bowed to me and Adel: ¡°Princess Cyrilia, Crown Princess Adel, I apologize for any inconveniences my kingdom has caused you.¡±
¡°It¡¯s fine. You have a good kingdom. I wish all kingdoms were like this. But as king, please keep an eye on your people and look at things from their view and not from on top of the throne. The craftsmen that will be following me back are still your kingdom¡¯s people unless they decide to take up residence in Gravos. If you wish to make formal ties with the Gravos kingdom, I suggest you speak to the current King. So take this, if you wish to get in contact with him.¡± I handed over an orb that would allow the dwarven king to contact one of the Gravos Kingdom¡¯s aides.
The dwarven king looked at the object in his hand and smiled. He never thought there would be a day he would actually want to form strong ties with another kingdom. His gaze fell on his only other son, and sighed. If he was only nicer, then maybe¡..
¡°Royal Father.¡± Thurul suddenly spoke up. ¡°When the timees that you can no longer rule the Dwarven Kingdom, may I suggest merging it into Gravos? As you know, the Crown Princess Adel is standing right here as well as her Princess Consort. Once the two get married, Crown Princess Adel and Princess Cyrilia will be the next rulers of the Gavos Kingdom. I think with the things these two do and creating a teleport that supports both kingdoms in trade and travel, the two will be a powerful existence.¡±
¡°This¡.¡± The dwarven king looked at Thurul and then at me and fell into deep thought. Only after a few minutes did he say: ¡°When that timees, I will think about it.¡±
¡°Then, your Majesty, we will take our leave.¡± I gave a proper bow this time as I turned on my heel, with everyone else following behind me. Things didn¡¯t go as I expected, and new things began to crop up. Now that I know that Azengrade was only a general, I can only assume that whoever the leader is is even more powerful. This did not bode well for us, which means we need to begin forming a fighting force strong enough to defend against anything that maye.
¡°Thurul, you will need a system. And you will need to start diving into dungeons. As well as the other craftsmen. They will need to spend some time leveling up so they can upgrade their skills. As will I. We will do it in batches. When I begin my dungeon diving when I get back.¡± I had wanted to check out small worlds that the academy had, but I will need to postpone that and focus strictly on leveling up.
¡°Alright, Lass, but you must protect this old man,¡± Thurul replied with a chuckle.
¡°Haha, I will! For now, let¡¯s take some time to tour the city.¡± I decided to try to put things off for the time being while we took a small break. I think everyone needed it.
In a blink of an eye, two weeks passed, and a total of just over five thousand craftsmen were willing to follow me back. The dwarven king also came to send us off. Since we were using a teleport, the trip back would be instant. This meant the airship and all would arrive quickly. Trade talks with the dwarven kingdom were still ongoing, and the king seemed to be very stressed out. Maybe because I keep putting more work on his te, but what can I do? Things keep popping up wherever I go.
¡°So that is what happened,¡± I said as I stood there in front of the king, who had a sour puss on his face.
¡°Faith, are you trying to work me into an early grave?¡± The king asked.
¡°Not at all! I can¡¯t help what happens when I am out and about, but you do not need to worry about it anymore. Once the dwarves are settled in I n to make my way to the nearest dungeon with half the group and begin leveling up. We need to be at least in the level 1000s if we wish to really face off against this unknown threat. And it seems Azengrade and his men are all high level, at least this Tdeadja was level 800.¡± I exined.
¡°Good¡ Please stay low for a while.¡± The king let out a sigh of relief before continuing. ¡°When do you n to hold your wedding?¡±
¡°Ummm, after graduation. I want to settle things there first. Which means I will need to take the graduation exam.¡± I said. I was still gunning to be a magic knight. While I really did not need the title since I was a princess already, I still wanted to achieve the goal I set for myself all those years ago.
¡°Very good. Then we will begin preparations for the wedding. But ummm¡ how many are you marrying?¡± The king looked at both Diablo and Iena, who were standing next to me as well as Grace.
¡°Adel and Sophie, as well as Iena and Diablo. But do not worry, Diablo is only allowed to sleep with me.¡± I said with pursed lips causing the King to cough. Was that too much information?
¡°Cough¡ Then I will settle things to host a grand wedding. But if I do this, I will be making you my first heir which will give you a new title. After all, only the ruler is allowed to have multiple spouses.¡± The king looked at me with a firm gaze. I pursed my lips and looked at Adel, who looked the other way. So basically, in order to marry Adel and the rest, I was going to be forced yet again¡.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 354 Strangeness With Mother
I sighed and shook my head. This old man was crafty. ¡°Not like I have a choice. I love all four of them and will not allow any of them to be left out. So I will do as you say this time, you scheming old man¡.¡± I snorted thest part, but all I saw was a big smile on the king¡¯s face. Adel hugged me from behind, making me sigh even more. ¡°But¡.. I have one condition.¡±
¡°And that is?¡± The king looked at me. He was still all smiles, but he was not going to be happy for long.
¡°I want you to rule in my ce while I run dungeons. After all, with the things happening in the world I can not be sitting on the throne and not gaining strength. We are at a turning point in this¡¯s history, and if I do not prepare with those I love, we will not make it far. I do not wish for my soon to be wives and husband to die because we were not ready. If you can promise me this, I will take the throne at any time.¡± I meant it when I said I would take the throne. I do not mind, and it will make things easier when setting up city defenses and making decisions. But I needed someone with experience to rule in my stead if I was busy leveling up.
The king¡¯s expression turned sour once more, but he still nodded his head reluctantly. ¡°Then we will do it this way. After you graduate and gain the title of magic knight, we will have your wedding with your wives and husband, then do a coronation ceremony. But when you are leveling up, it will not just be me who helps take over things in your absence but also Lance.¡±
¡°That is fine.¡± I nodded. After all, this spot was supposed to be Lance¡¯s in the first ce and he worked hard to learn the way of being a king. So this worked out well. Or at least we thought¡.
¡°Sorry Father, but I will be going dungeon diving as well. I need to level up more and will not be able to help rule the kingdom at that time.¡± Lance, who was standing next to the king said, causing a dark expression to form on the king¡¯s face.
¡°Fine! Just do as you all please!¡± The king yelled out. I bet he was nning to leave it all to Lance so he could go y but looks like he won¡¯t get that chance now.
¡°Alright, then we will head back home. I need to check on my family.¡± With things set, I just wanted to go home and check on my mother.
As we walked out of the throne room, Adel hugged my arm and asked: ¡°Are you sure about this? You have been so against it all this time.¡±
¡°Like I will be able to escape my duties once you take the throne. It matters not who is crowned queen as long as we can keep this kingdom running. Plus, this is the only way I can marry you and the others. With the way us four girls are now, our rtionship is something we can not break apart so easily. And I also have Diablo. So this is just something that was bound to happen. But are you okay? I am taking your spot.¡± I asked back. The title of queen was supposed to go to Adel. So I do feel bad about this sudden turn of events.
¡°It¡¯s fine. I already knew this would happen, I just didn¡¯t tell you.¡± Adel replied with a sly grin causing me to frown.
I let out a long sigh of defeat as I reached over and pinched her nose. ¡°Let¡¯s head back home.¡±
There were lots to do still, and I wanted to prepare for what was toe. But first, before any of that, I have been way too long and want to spend some quality time with my family. When reached the house, the first thing I saw was my mother rushing over to me with tears in her eyes as she hugged me tightly. She didn¡¯t even say anything as she held on to me, not wanting to let me go. My brother, who was now looking more like our father every day, stood there with a helpless smile on his face. And my nephew, who had grown so much, stared at me from the side.
¡°Mother, I am home,¡± I said softly, but she did not say anything as she hugged me even tighter.
¡°When she heard you wereing back, she waited here the whole morning, not wanting to miss it when you arrived.¡± My brother said as he walked over and rubbed my head.
¡°How has she been?¡± I asked.
¡°Her regression seems to have hit a stopping point. But she keeps having weird dreams. I am not sure what they are, but she keeps saying a bloody war ising.¡±Hearing my brother¡¯s answer, I frowned. Because a bloody war would not be too far off. I sighed and used appraisal on my mother.
[Lilith Cyrilia]
[Age: #$^%]
[Race: &@^#]
[Health: !&@#^/ !&@#^]
[Mana: !&@#^/ !&@#^]
Seeing the strange symbols, I frowned. It was never like this before. ¡°Brother, take Mother and have her sit in the other room. There is something wrong with her beyond just regression and dreams.¡±
¡°Diablo, Iena,e with me, please.¡± I only had these two I could consult with on this. The strange symbols were blocking what should be readable.
I hurried to my bedroom and set up a soundproofing barrier as I sat with Diablo and Iena. Adel and Sophie were here as well. ¡°Faith, what is wrong?¡±
¡°Look¡.¡± I said as I showed the stat window I had to everyone present using magic. ¡°These are my mother¡¯s stats which should be readable, but now they are nothing but symbols.¡±
¡°This is¡..¡± Diablo¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Faith, can you summon another Demon King? Amongst us is a schr named Freidinia. She is highly intelligent and knows many ancientnguages. I had once seen thisnguage in her study. So she might be able to tell us more.¡±
Chapter ?355 Freidinia
Chapter ?355 Freidinia
--An) Another Chapter will be outter. Have an early docs appointment.--
"If it will give me some answers, then I see no reason not to." I wanted to know what was going on with my mother and why she was suddenly changing as she was. It made no sense to me. She was always strong and powerful in my eyes as I was growing up. Seeing her so weak now made my heart hurt for her.
I once again formed a summoning circle, and with Diablo''s help, a woman in a whiteb coat stood there with a set of ck feathered wings and a ck halo over here. She was ring at both Diablo and me as if we had justmitted a very big sin.
"Why did you summon me!? I was in the middle of an experiment! I bet my house blew up!" This was who Diablo called Freidinia. The demon world''s top researcher and demon king of her own territory.
"I needed your help to assist my wife," Diablo stated firmly, causing Freidinia to stare at Diablo in disbelief.
"Did¡. Did you just say, wife!? What has the worlde to!? Now even Diablo, who is known for hating all contact with any living being, now has a wife!? Wait until the other kings hear of this. Anyway, I am busy, so I am off... Wait¡. Why can''t I go back!? What the hell is this!?" Freidinia yelled out. She turned and red at me while pointing her finger at me: "You! Fix this now and send me back!" Freidinia was like a whirlwind changing topics one after another.
I shook my head as I answered: "This I can not do. I need your help with an issue that has been guing my mother. If you can help solve it, I will give you ab filled with all the things you can ever want to do experiments with."
"What!? I was in the middle of a breakthrough experiment in a special drug that will make all men stand up for hours on end!" Freidinia yelled out, but after she yelled these words, her face turned red. I walked over and whispered into her ear and she quickly nodded her head: "Deal! You better not be lying to me!"
"Nope, she has a spell that, if you can replicate it, will do the things you want," I reassured. I can only apologize to Sei, her little secret is now out.
"Then deal!" Freidinia reached out and shook my hand to seal the deal. While we were both smiling, Diablo looked confused. At any rate, I hade to a deal with Freidinia, so I quickly showed her the image of my mother''s stats window.
"This¡. Ancient gods race? Why is there such a thing here?" Freidinia tilted her head to the side as she looked at the numbers. "I can say that there is nothing wrong with your mother other than her bloodline might be awakening, but I would need to see her to be sure and would draw some blood from her if that is fine. Luckily I always keep a spare equipment set in my space, or I wouldn''t be able to help you. Can you give me a room to set up ab?"
"Yes, follow me. I already have a medical wing set up with many of our kingdom''s current medical equipment. But I am sure it is pretty crude to your standards." I had long set up a part of the house in case of emergencies where people who were sick or hurt could go to get some healing. Grace usually manned it since she was the only healer we had, but it still had everything one could ask for from any current medical facility.
When we arrived, I noticed Freidinia''s face sink. "Such trash! Well not like I will be using your things anyways. Please move all of this stuff out of here. Later I will build an undergroundb for safety reasons. Also, have your mothere see me. I want to examine her."
I followed Freidinia''s instructions and had the whole room cleared out of anything Freidinia did not want there before she began setting up some really high tech looking equipment. I thought she was a schr, but she seemed more of a scientist. I looked at Diablo with a questioning gaze. "Freidinia is the demon realm''s top researcher. But she does research on many different ancient races. I knew I had seen thenguage in her office one day, so that is why I had you call her. It seems it was right for me to do so."
"Do you know anything about the ancient gods race?" I asked.
"No, I never read up on them," Diablo answered.
"They are a race of offspring that were birthed between other races and some god. But ever since the gods disappeared, the offspring disappeared as well. At least, this is what I have read. Where is your mother?" Freidinia asked.
"She is being brought over by my brother," I answered, and as if on cue, my mother was being helped over by my brother. She seemed frightened when she saw Freidinia but eased her expression when she saw me. She even ran over and hugged me tightly. I figured this would happen. I still do not understand her obsession with clinging on to me, but maybe we can find some answers somehow through Freidinia''s examination.
"Let me take some blood first. This way, I can get an idea of where things are with her bloodline." Freidinia said as she walked over with a needle. My mother shook her head without saying a word and hid behind me, causing me to sigh as I gently pulled her back around me.
"Mother, she will only take a small sample of your blood. We need to do some tests. I will be with you the entire time, so do not worry, okay?" I spoke softly in hopes offorting her. Luckily it seemed to work because she nodded and stretched her arm out.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter ?356 Graduation Part 1
Chapter ?356 Graduation Part 1
My mother nodded as she cringed and turned her head away as Freidinia took blood from her. What I saw when the blood came out was not pure red blood that one would normally have but red and gold blood. "To think her bloodline would activate at such an age. She must have encountered a life threatening experience."
"She did, actually, but this regression has been going on for a while now¡." I did not know what truly triggered this, but it did trigger somehow.
"There are many things that can trigger a bloodline awakening, it''s just that this is the first time I have seen this kind of bloodline up close. So I will be keeping her under close observation from this day forward." Freidinia said as she put the blood sample aside. In the end, she drew three vials before she was done.
"Alright, then, I will leave my mother in your care." I nodded before pushing my mother back so I could see her face and said: "Mother, Freidinia will be keeping an eye on you. But I promise no matter what, you will get better, okay?"
"Faith doesn''t want her Mother?" My mother''s voice was soft and sounded sad, which caused me to immediately hug her as I answered: "I love you very much. But I will be busy for the next few days. But you will see me a lot, unlike before. You will see me graduate, you will see me get married, and you will see me be queen. Well, probably Empress with all thend we have now. I do not n to go anywhere for an entire year before I begin dungeon diving again. And during this time, Freidinia will keep youpany so you will not feel too lonely when I can''t be at your side, okay?"
My mother looked up at me and smiled as she hugged me tightly. "My baby is getting married!" This seemed to have been my mother''s biggest wish. And it made me feel d that I came out of my no rtionship loop. I can now rewind time so I can let everyone live forever if they so choose. But I will never force this upon anyone. They would get to decide if they wished to grow older or not. As for me, I think I might have reached my limit a few years ago. I did undergo a huge growth spurt when I reached fourteen that made me look older than I truly was, and now it has already caught up, and I look my proper age.
With my mother now in the care of Freidinia, I had some of the maids settle in Freidinia with a proper room near the medical wing. With this, I would not need to worry about Freidiniaining about needing to walk too far to get to herb.
The next few days, I spent time with my mother while Freidinia did her thing. But now it was time for my graduation exam. One thing I did not realize, even though I was gone for four years, was that I seemed to have be even more popr at the academy. As soon as I walked through the gates, I had people running up to me, wishing me luck on my exam. I guess after everything, in the eyes of the people of the kingdom, a demi human was no longer such a bad thing. I also noticed that many demi humans were now in the academy as well and none of them were being looked down upon.
This feeling of seeing such a change in such a short time really made me happy. Annie had also done a lot, and now almost seventy five percent of the slums were now converted into proper housing and cleaned up. Jobs had also expanded to new business popping up in the new east side section that was making money for families outside my ownpanies, which seemed to have expanded into other fields without me knowing. But my bank ount keeps rising, so I will notin.
"Faith, you are here." The dean smiled at me as he walked over to meet me.
I nodded and asked: "So, what do I need to do for the test?"
"You will fight me." The dean replied with a smile. "The written test can be bypassed due to all the merits you have gained over the years. To be honest, if you did not get your title of princess, you would already have enough credits to be a titled princess. But I guess I will be calling you by a new title soon."
The dean gave me a knowing look, making me purse my lips. "It''s the old man''s fault for trapping me."
"Haha! Looks like he finally got his wish. Bute. The students are all waiting for a battle between me and the only one to be a magic knight in many years. Even Prince Lance did not have the ability to be a magic knight."
I followed after the dean, who led me to arge coliseum that seemed to have been built a long, long time ago. When it was created, I do not know, but they did do a good job of keeping it in shape. The whole ce was set up for a fair one on one duel without any obstacles.
"I will go to the other side. The king himself is here to be the announcer and overseer of this battle." The dean pointed to the high tower not too far away to see the king hopping through the air and standing above the area.
"Today, I have the honor of overseeing a legend in the making. Crown Princess Faith Cyrilia has made many contributions to the Kingdom of Gravos and has proven her abilities through actions and not words. It is my pleasure to be here to see the first magic knight in many, many years. Today''s battle will be between the dean of the academy. She only needs to hold her own against him for twenty minutes. This will be actualbat, so no summoning magic or other pet type monsters are allowed on the battlefield. Please show us your natural skill. Once everyone is ready, the battle will begin."
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 357 Graduation Part 2
Chapter 357 Graduation Part 2
The king looked at both of us and when we both nodded he yelled out: ¡°Let the battle begin!¡±
I quickly shot forward as I waved my hand, casting Gates of Faithylon, creating thousands of ming swords in the sky before drawing my own sword. I was not going to hold back because I knew the dean was very powerful.
I watched as he snorted and cast a spell simr to my own! His were made of water element and as I fired mine at him fired his at me. Luckily I put up a ming spinning barrier. But he was not dumb either, copying my spell once more and casting a spinning water barrier to ward off my attack.
This kind of annoyed me since he was matching me in tit for tat. Whatever I cast, he would copy with the opposing element. And when I got close to attack, he would easily defend against it. ¡°Are you not being a bit too much of a copycat?¡±
¡°Faith, your attacks are already too easy to read. You may be able to do a lot, but you have the same attack patterns, and I can easily tell which spell wille next. This is your biggest weakness, and any enemy will notice it. It will only need one exchange to see the simrities in your attack. You need to change this!¡± The dean shouted before suddenly firing thousands of earth spikes at me.
I snorted and decided it was truly time to change the way I fought. ¡°Mass Dispel!¡± I canceled all magic in the area. He was not at a higher level than myself so dispelling his magic was simple.
Once his magic was canceled, I flew up into the air and created a massive ck magic circle over the entire arena. ¡°If you want something new, then I will give you something new. Try to cancel this! Gravity Field!¡±
*Boom!*
The entire arena sank into the ground, and I watched the Dean forced to his knees. But I did not stop there. Another red magic circle that filled the entire arena formed under foot. ¡°Hell¡¯s Swimming Pool!¡±
The entire area turned into a swamp of magma, causing the arena to heat up. I saw the dean quickly using water magic and ice magic to ward off the magma underneath him. But he was still restrained by the gravity field, which made the next spell I was going to cast the finalizer. Trap your enemy in all directions and swiftly eliminate them. ¡°God¡¯s Judgment¡.¡±
Thousands of lenses appeared in the sky and began to focus the light of the suns which all began to converge onto one spot. It fell into the magma below and began to cut a path through it, splitting the magma in two.
¡°I forfeit!¡± The dean suddenly yelled out. I saw him give a defeated smile as the spells all canceled and the arena returned to normal. ¡°Girl, don¡¯t you know how to give some face to your elders!?¡±
¡°Haha! I see the next Queen of Gavos is truly strong. Winner Crown Princess Cyrilia!¡± I do wonder if this old man knows he is giving out news that should not be given out until tomorrow. But well, aw well. Not like it would make a difference. Inded on the ground and walked over to the dean, whose knees were charred due to the heat, and cast cosmic magic on him to reverse the wounds.
¡°I see now why you started off with the other spells and normally limit your own powers. But going easy on the enemy is not a way to progress whether you wish to train or not. If you have dispel, use it. If it fails, think of something else. No need to train in such a dangerous way. You will only be harming those around you. Thatst wave of attacks was perfect. I do not think many could survive such an attack.¡± The dean gave me a small lecture with a smile on his face before ruffling the air on my head.
I swatted his hand away before letting out a sigh of relief. If I had not made a bunch of new spells during my trip, I would not have been able to pull this off. I had been cking on my spell creation, but these past few years have allowed me to build up quite a few new ones.
¡°Now then. As of this day, the Gravos Kingdom now has a new Magic Knight entering its ranks. And as some of you may have heard and are probably confused about it. Faith Cyrilia is now the Crown Princess, as she will be marrying my daughter and will also be the new leader of the Kingdom in the foreseeable future. This change was due to many different things, but it is because I believe Faith¡¯s ability to look far ahead has helped this kingdom grow and bloom into a more prosperous nation. So under her rule, I believe we will flourish even more. Faith,e here and say a few things.¡± The king waved me over, so I had no choice but to fly up toward him and stand in the air next to him.
I looked out at the thousands of people in the coliseum and took a deep breath. ¡°Some may question why I am being promoted so quickly. Hell, even I question this fact. But I will say this. No matter what happens in the future, I will protect the kingdom with everything I have. I will do my best to make life easier for its citizens and allow for more innovation and progress as we build a kingdom that no one can look down upon. Beside me will be Princess Adel as well, as she is now my fiance, along with three others. We will all work hard for the kingdom and hope you will all support us.¡±
I bowed slightly, finishing my speech which gained a standing ovation. But I did not care about these things as I still had many other things to do. But I am d I was able to properly graduate even with everything that was going on. I have learned much over the years even if I had to learn most of it aboard a flying ship. But even so I think I will have a better understanding of how to lead massive armies and how to use the experience I gain from everyday things as a means to make better decisions on the battlefield ande up with better strategies.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 358 Graduation Part 3
Chapter 358 Graduation Part 3
I now know that doing everything myself may be easier, but if I allow the people under me to think that I will finish everything for them, they will bezy, and when a really powerful enemy emerges, we will be stuck in a tight spot. This I did not wish for. So I will no longer stand in the front but in the back unless the enemy is too powerful for such a thing.
¡°Faith!¡± Adel and the girls all jumped me at the same time, hugging me. Diablo ced his big hand on my head. ¡°We will have a party tonight~!¡± Adel continued.
¡°Then let¡¯s have a party. We will invite all our friends to the estate.¡± I actually hoped that Gesel and Fred were in town since I had not seen them in years.
¡°Don¡¯t worry. We already knew you would agree, so we sent out word, and people will be heading to the estate tonight. So let¡¯s go back and get ready!¡± Sophie replied as she wagged her tail back and forth. I couldn¡¯t wait. To be able to have a calm rxing time together would be a very good change of pace.
When I got home, I was surprised to see so many people were already here. Grace and Annie were taking control of everything, and many grills were already lit up, cooking meat and other kinds of food. There were many colorful tents and streams all over thewn, making it quite the colorful scene.
When I walked in, everyone who saw me began pping and congratting me on my graduation. But I only got two steps into the party when I felt danger. I quickly drew my sword and swung it behind me to have the ground under me, sink in. ¡°Tch! You have gotten so much better!¡±
Hearing the familiar voice, I turned to see Gesel, in all her muscr glory, standing there with a big grin on her face. ¡°Gesel!¡± I yelled out as I jumped on her and hugged her.
¡°Haha! Faith, long time no see!¡± Gesel smiled as she hugged me back. Fred stood at the side as quiet as always.
¡°So, how have you been?¡± I asked as she went to sit down at one of the tables.
¡°Fred and I have been working hard at leveling up in the dungeons. We are also doing our best to get skill stones. I have gained quite a few abilities that have allowed me to take on thousands of monsters at once.¡± Gesel began telling me about her adventures in the dungeons and how she had almost died quite a few times. And that was when she hit me with a bombshell.
¡°Now, though, I need to take a break from adventuring,¡± Gesel said with rosy cheeks. ¡°I will be having a little Gesel soon.¡±
¡°What!? Who¡¯s the father!?¡± I yelled out even though I already knew, causing Gesel tough. Poor Fred stood there speechless, unsure of how to react to my outburst. ¡°I am just joking. Fred, Gesel, congrattions.¡±
¡°Faith, when the child is born, I was hoping you could be he or she¡¯s godmother. Is this okay?¡± Gesel asked as she rubbed her belly. Now that I was looking, I did notice she was starting to put on some weight.
But how could I say no to my long time friend? ¡°Of course! No matter what happens in the future, they can count on me if they need me.¡±
¡°Knowing you will be willing to protect my baby in case anything happens to me puts me at ease,¡± Gesel said as her normally stern eyes grew soft as she rubbed her belly. It made me wonder how I would feel in the future when I have a child of my own.
Just thinking of having a child of my own was still a scary thought. I mean, would I be a good mother? Would I be able to raise a child properly? Would they even like me? These kinds of questions were things I had no answers for at this time, nor did I wish to think about them too hard but knowing one of my good friends was with child made my own maternal instinctse out.
The graduation party went on well into the night. The whole estate was packed with people I had met throughout my life. The dwarves supplied alcohol which really got the party fired up as some people had mini bouts in the yard, causing people to cheer. There were even a few people who were dancing like fools on top of tables. It reminded me of the movies I have watched and the manga and novels I have read that depicted these kinds of scenes in them.
It was a very fun time. Even after the party, when people were passed out on thewn, I could only smile as I sat with my fiancees and fiance under a tree, looking up at the stars. If only peaceful days like this couldst forever. But I knew this would not be the case. I reached up with my hand wanting to grab those stars, but I guess, for now, this was far from my reach. Maybe one day in the future, we will achieve space flight and see the worlds beyond.
But I have a feeling interdimensional travel woulde first. Although I think the dungeons are already considered a dimension of their own. But the thought of maybe one day taking a peek back at Earth would not be so bad. To see how the itself is doing. I no longer hold any more attachment to that world, but it would still be nice.
I had the girls using me as a pillow, so I leaned against Diablo to make him my pillow as I slowly closed my eyes. It was a busy day but a very eventful one. I do hope I will be able to live up to the expectations of everyone around me and be a queen¡ No Empress of the Gravos Empire. This would be my first order. Changing the name of the kingdom to Gravos Empire as it has already grown toorge to be considered a kingdom any longer.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter ?359 A Sudden Elf Appeared
Chapter ?359 A Sudden Elf Appeared
"Princess, we really need to get some elves here to help with the research." A dwarf came running up to me and asked. It had been a week since my graduation, and now we were currently preparing for another event. My wedding. However, this one was to be held in the center of the city. After talking with everyone, we decided to hold a grand wedding with all wives and husband at the same time. I was to wear a ck wedding gown because I was to be the groom of this wedding. Everyone was marrying into my family which would give them all thest name Cyrilia.
"After my coronation ceremony, I will send word to the elven kingdom and see if I can speak with Runa. But right now I have too much going on to be leaving the kingdom. So it will take some time before¡." My voice got caught in my throat when I heard a voiceing from behind me.
"Are you talking about me?" The familiar voice was something I had not heard in many, many years, so when I turned and saw an older, more beautiful Runa standing there with a smile on her face, I could help but be surprised.
"Runa!? Why are you here?" I yelled out. Runa, on the other hand, puffed out her cheeks and started toin.
"You know, Faith! You should have contacted me more! You sent me like one letter, and after that, I heard nothing from you. If I had not heard wind of all your achievements over the past few years, I would have thought that you were ignoring me! I, your true best friend, Runa! Ouch!" Runa yelled out as she turned her head and looked at Jen with an aggrieved look. "Ahh! the bookworm from the library! The cursed wit¡. Ouch!"
"When did an elf like you get to yell so much?" Jen asked with a snort. I guess these two had a history that I did not know about.
"You two know each other?" I asked.
"Little long ears here used to run around the academy when she was bored. She would sneak in and then enter the library, taking books off the shelves reading three pages, and tossing them on the floor!" Jenined with a snort.
"Ouch! Wait, why are you hitting me, Faith!?" Runa had tears in her eyes as she looked at me with an aggrieved expression.
"Don''t mess with books!" I yelled.
"I was only seven at the time! Leave me alone!" Runa pouted her lower lip as she rubbed her head, causing me to chuckle.
"Alright. Now that that is solved, why are you here?" I asked, trying to get back on track.
"Oh, right! Why did you not send me a wedding invite? And you are also about to be queen! How can you leave out your number one best frie¡. Ouch! Jen, you damned cursed witch, stop hitting me!"
"Who is Faith''s number one best friend!? Hmmmm? Sorry, but I have known her much, much longer than you!" Jen snorted. I chuckled as I reached up and fixed Runa''s hair and said: "Sorry, I figured it would be weird to suddenly get a message from someone who you haven''t talked to in a long time. I''m sorry."
"Even if it has been a long time, we are still friends! Do not leave me out of the loop. But now that I am here, I will attend both ceremonies. Anyway, who is the lucky guy marrying you?" Runa asked with eyes sparking with curiosity.
"Ummm¡ Three girls, one guy." I said softly.
"Huh? Wait? Say that again. I do not think I heard it." Runa cupped her ear as she moved closer to me. I could hear Jenughing, causing me to blush.
"Three girls and one man. Adel, Sophie, and Iena. And Diablo. Two are my summons, while the other two are my closest friends since I was young." I exined. I couldn''t help but blush hearing my own words. After all, I, of all people, was getting married and to four people at that!
"I see¡. So Faith has really grown up¡. Way too much! Just casually marrying four people all at the same time while I am still looking for that perfect som¡. Why, hello, handsome!" Runa suddenly ran by me, causing me to turn around, only for my face to turn ck as Runa began hopping around Diablo.
"Runa¡." I called out. But she did not seem to hear me as she began rambling.
"I like chilled grapes during the summer, and long walks through the forest. I also like big strong, handsome men like you. Hehe¡ Look at me blushing away. What''s your name handso¡. Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! My ear, you are going to pull it off!" Runa cried out after I grabbed her ear and dragged her away from Diablo.
"That is my fiance!" I yelled, causing Runa to freeze and suddenly prostrate herself in front of me. "I am so sorry! I saw a handsome man and wanted to get to know him bett¡." Runa suddenly paused as her eyes lit up, and she shot to her feet and grabbed my hands as she said: "Wait, I know! You can marry me too, then I can be with¡ Ouch!"
"Wishful thinking, you damn elf!" I yelled out.
"I was just kidding!" Runa pursed her lips. She then snuck a peek at Diablo before turning back to me and asking: "Does he have any brothers?"
"Pfft! Hahahahaha!" I couldn''t hold myughter in any longer as Iughed out loud. Runa was really all over the ce.
"You have not changed at all since you were younger. Anyway, I came here to lead her to you. I need to head back to the academy." Jen cut in.
"Alright, Jen, thank you. Don''t work too hard." I said with a smile.
"I never do!" Jen waved and smiled back as she headed off to the academy.
Chapter ?360 Forming A Plan To Get Elves
Chapter ?360 Forming A n To Get Elves
"So why do you need elves?" Runa asked as she turned my attention back to the problem the dwarves had brought up.
"We are working on many projects, but we need people who are more knowledgeable about runic inscriptions. But I can''t show you what it is unless you are willing to sign a blood seal contract to never disclose anything you see." Runa was considered a friend, but business was still business.
"Okay!" Runa answered without hesitation. She even looked very excited to see what I was working on.
I sighed and waved my hand, creating a blood seal contract, I have created so many now that I can do it with my eyes closed. In seconds Runa had signed the contract and hurried me to show her the projects.
It was not until she saw with her own eyes the massive production happening underground did her mouth drop to the floor. "This¡. Faith, where did you kidnap so many dwarves!?"
"Haha! Lass, she did not kidnap us. We all willingly followed her. We wanted to work on the project, but we need the help of the elves and their knowledge in runic inscription to help with the magical arrays that will need to be created in order to make replicas of the technology here. After all, even our teleporters were all worked on in abined effort between our two races." Thurul replied as he walked up. He looked slightly haggard from all his all nighters.
"Thurul, I keep telling you to get some sleep. You can''t keep pushing on like this. Even if I heal you, the mental fatigue will be too much for you." I said with a sigh.
"I was just heading that way now that I was at a good stopping point. The airship is still a long way from being understood, but it is almostpletely disassembled and organized in what needs to be pulled apart first." Thurul replied as he yawned. "I will leave you twosses to do your thing. I need my shut eye."
"Okay. Have a good rest." I said as I waved goodbye to Thurul before turning to Runa. "So, as you heard, we need the help of the elven race to be able toplete a lot of our reengineering of these ships and vehicles. I had nned to make a visit to the elven kingdom at some point, but I felt a little off from contacting you to ask for a favor since we had not talked for a long time."
"What nonsense are you talking about?" Runa punched my shoulder as she said: "I would definitely help my bestest friend! Anyway, let''s do this. After your coronation, I will send a notice to my father to send a delegation here. We can then discuss the terms of an alliance between the two kingdoms. My father has been wanting to make firmer ties with your kingdom after everything that has happened. He is afraid of the demon queen of the battlefield. The one who says a single word to kill millions of soldiers."
"Hmmm? But I have to say two words¡." I replied, correcting Runa as I tilted my head to the side. How did ''kill yourself'' turn into one word?
"One word, two words, they are the same thing!" Runa pursed her lips as she continued: "So, let''s do it like that. If we form an alliance with certain notations, the eleven kingdom will have a better chance of assisting you by lending you a few hundred magic researchers. The elven council is not like other kingdoms, and it runs like a parliament where things are discussed. If we were to send your request in now, it would only result in them ignoring it and moving on to other topics. But, if we form an alliance which can only be done by my father, the king¡. Then we can push the topic in the parliament, and they will need to listen to my father''s opinion on the matter.
"By doing this, we are sure to be able to gain approval of sending over some researchers, even if they have to sign a blood seal as a show of faith that we are abiding by the alliance. Just make sure the alliance is formed with the notations that we have to help in any research your kingdom is undergoing as long as it is not used to attack the elven kingdom." Runa made me very surprised at how knowledgeable she was.
"Faith, what is that dumb founded look that says, how can this elf who only has a one track mind know so much about her own governing system?" Runa questioned, bringing me out of my how does this elf who only has a one track mind know so much about her governing system, look.
"Because you are Runa¡" I replied without much thought, causing Runa to yell out and stomp her feet.
"You! I am much smarter than you think!" Runa yelled in a huff.
I chuckled and apologized: "Sorry! Sorry! I was just surprised, is all. You make me feel like I might be a failure of a rule in the future as I have never undergone any training."
I had to admit I knew absolutely nothing about ruling a kingdom and only had some lofty goals and visions. Whether they worked out or not is another story. But I did know one thing, and that was I wanted to protect this kingdom no matter what.
"I think you will be a fine leader. After all the things I have heard about you over the years, I can tell you love the people of this kingdom to the point that you are not afraid to single handedly cut the head off another kingdom''s king and im the kingdom as your own. And then annex its vassal stats in the same way. So do not look down on yourself, Faith. You will do good." Runa replied, but it only made me frown a bit more.
"You just made me sound like a mad tyrant¡."
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter ?361 Order List
Chapter ?361 Order List
"So what? You are not harming your own people, only those who want to harm your people." Runa replied but what she was missing is the fact that I annexed a kingdom for its special energy in the past few years¡. Now I am starting to worry about myself. What if I really do turn into a tyrant?
"Anyway, let me look around and help with what I can while I am here. We will work on the alliance bits after your coronation." Runa''s eyes were glowing with excitement. And as soon as I nodded my head, she ran off and began inspecting everything.
As for me, I went back up to the surface to see how the wedding preparations were going. The wedding itself was still a week off, but the girls were all about setting everything up. And I was being left out of it all. But as soon as I reached the surface, Annie was waiting for me. "Boss, please follow me to get your measurements done. The tailor who will be making your groom''s dress is waiting for you."
"Mmm¡." I pursed my lips and followed after Annie. When we entered the room where the tailor was waiting, I was met with a middle aged woman with a big smile on her face.
"Princess Cyrilia. My name is Susan Hemling. I am the tailor that you hired." The woman with red hair and brown eyes wore a green dress that matched her red hair well. She walked over and reached her hand out to me, which I took and shook in kind.
"It is a pleasure. I will be in your care." I replied.
"Then let''s please have youe behind the curtain and strip your clothes. For someone as beautiful as you, we will need a nice gown that will match your pure white skin." Susan''s eyes glimmered with a bit of excitement which made me worry, and before I knew what was happening, her helpers had dragged me behind the curtain and were stripping me of my clothes.
I had tape measures wrapped around me every which way causing me to blush. And when it was done, I was once again dressed. "There we go. I was thinking of going with this kind of design."
Susan showed me a sketch book with a dress she had personally sketched out just for me, and to be honest, it was quite pretty. It had a gothic yet elegant look to it that would hug my body but not so much that it would make me feel ufortable wearing it. Normally I would want to wear a loose fitting dress if I was forced to wear one, but this was my wedding, after all. "It looks very beautiful."
"I am d you think so. The jewelry will be made of silver toplement your white skin and the ck dress. I can already see it! You will make the most beautiful groom ever." Susan smiled brightly as she said this, but I do wonder. If I am the groom, that makes Diablo a bride? Thinking of this, I couldn''t help but smirk and giggle at such a thought.
After all, Diablo was a man, and a sturdy and tall one at that, with muscles that were the perfect size. But thinking of him wearing a dress that would not suit him at all made me giggle. So as I walked back towards my room, I was getting strange looks from the staff as Iughed to myself with those images in my head.
When I walked into the room, I found Adel and the girls, plus Diablo sitting down on the couch with a piece of paperid out in front of them. "This is?" I asked as I looked at the names of the four on the paper.
"This is the order list. We have decided that we will split the week up like this. Diablo gets two nights with you while each of us gets one plus one night where we all share you at the same time." Hearing Adel''s exnation, I pursed my lips.
Was there really a need to make a list like this!? Why would they even think of something like this!? I decided to ignore them and went to go get changed. As I was changing, Sophie asked: "How did their measurements go?"
"They were fine. The dress that Susan designed looks very beautiful." I answered as I put on a set of armor.
"Faith, are you going somece?" Diablo asked as he stood up. It seemed he had the intention of going with me. Maybe this girl''s chatter was not his cup of tea.
"I will be going to a new dungeon to take a peek, nothing too big. If you all want toe, you can. But I am only going to assess the dungeon to see if it will make for a good training ground for us. After everything is settled down more. I replied.
"I will go with you." Diablo was the first to volunteer. I had expected the other three girls to do the same, but they all passed.
"We will be here working out our new life as your wives. Diablo, if you are going, do not get mad if you get put on a certain day!" Adel seemed adamant about making a rotation list which I did not know how I felt about this.
"It''s fine. I will agree as long as you are being fair." Diablo replied. He seemed quite in the hurry to escape the girl''s talk session.
"Mmmm.. don''t worry, I will not slight you in any way." Adel nodded. This much I knew about Adel, she would never do anything scheming to the others.
"Then I leave it to you. Faith, let''s go." Diablo hurried me out of the room. When we reached the hallway, Diablo let out a long sigh. "I did not understand half the things that were being said."
Chapter ?362 The Strange Dungeon Part 1
Chapter ?362 The Strange Dungeon Part 1
"It''s fine. As you are my husband only, you do not need to worry about the other girls'' missions. I will not let you be treated unfairly." I replied with a chuckle as I stood on my tiptoes and kissed his lips. "Let''s head out, we only got a few days, and It will take two days to reach our destination."
Diablo nodded, and the two of us headed out. We were heading toward the northern woods, where a new dungeon had appeared. It was surrounded by a thick fog making it hard to traverse, so I was asked by the Dean to take a look. He was trying to make use of me before I became Empress, and he could no longer make such requests so easily. Although I am sure, he still will.
Which I will not mind since I have a backup king to take my ce. If the king thinks he will be able to get away with all his scheming to make me take the crown so he can go on a vacation, he is seriously in for a surprise!
We got to the entrance of the northern forest within a day thanks to Diablo carrying me on his back and running there which was faster than any known method of travel besides teleportation. When we reached the forest edge, I flew up into the sky to locate the area that was covered in fog, and luckily it was not too far into the forest and would only take an hour at most to get to even if we walked at a leisurely pace. But for Diablo, it took us ten minutes. And that was with him running at a medium speed.
So currently, it was already nighttime, and we were standing in front of the thick fog. "What do you think?"
"The dungeon is probably in the center, and the fog ising from the dungeon itself," Diablo answered.
"That was what I thought too. But I worry. The dungeons seem to be changing the areas around them. If they continue to change the area around them, what happens if monsters start exiting the dungeon?" I frowned just thinking about it. Powerful monsters roaming thends would not be ideal. While it could help people level up if they already had system stones, not every civilian was cut out to be able to handle a monster, even at the lowest level. And that was just the monsters we already had roaming around naturally.
"In the demon world, our cities and towns are all guarded by high walls as the devil beasts that live there are dangerous. Sometimes we have to fight off waves of monsters known as monster tides, and this alone can kill many soldiers. If these dungeons keep evolving, then it might be a good idea to start thinking about town and city defenses." Diablo''s suggestion made a lot of sense. And with the new tech we had we could easily make use of the weapons we create to make mounted turrets that even normal people could use.
"After my coronation, I will beginpiling a list of changes that the kingdom needs to undergo. It will have its name changed from the Gravos Kingdom to the Cyrilia Empire. Our size is too big to be considered a kingdom anymore. I want border defenses beefed up as well as city and town defenses. But this would also require a lot of infrastructures to make possible, such as roads and more airship docks.
"We will also be doing a huge draft for those who wish to join the new military I n to establish. Our national defense will need toe first. This will also help the people who will be able to gain paychecks. So the poor people who have no other options will have new options because they can even learn trades for after their service if they so choose to leave after a few years." I had many ns rolling around my head, but there was not much I could do about it at this time as I was not queen as of yet.
"I am sure whatever you do will benefit the kingdom as a whole. So I am sure the people will support you in any way. But don''t most of the towns and cities already have walls?" Diablo asked.
"They do, but they are not able to hold up against an attack from a power monster. So we will need to find a solution to that. While we can use barriers to reinforce the walls, if someone level 600 shows up, we will not be in a good spot. Even I, who am level 258, is not sure if my barriers will hold up to such a monster. Until I am high enough level to ward off all threats no matter where theye from or what level they are, I will not be able to feel at ease about those I care about being safe." This was my drive to continue to leveling up. People can now live much longer lives if they leveled up and expanded their mana pools, but this was only short term. At most, they could live a few thousand years if they did nothing but expand their mana pool per level. But this was not possible in a short time. Only my and Adel''s rewind spell could, in theory, allow someone to live forever, especially now that I can choose what to rewind.
"I am sure you will get there. Until then, I will do whatever I can to assist you." Diablo said as he put his big hand on my head. He really had a habit of petting me.
"MMm¡ Thanks, Diablo." I replied with a smile. But I do hope in the future, I will be even more powerful than him. I was supposed to be the one protecting everyone, after all!
We moved quietly through the fog, checking every so often our direction by flying up past the fog. Otherwise, with how thick the fog was, we would probably end up getting lost and walking around in circles.
But when we did reach the center of the fog, what we found kinda sent chills down my spine. A massive bee''s head with its pinchers wide open revealing a portal of some kind was the entrance to this dungeon¡..
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter ?363 The Strange Dungeon Part 2
Chapter ?363 The Strange Dungeon Part 2
"I think I changed my mind. I do not want to go in there¡." I know it may sound strange after fighting monsters and dealing with the undead but bees were not my thing. They were small and hard to hit and would sting you! Although bees can not actually harm me but still! In my past life bees were the things I feared most!
"Oh? Does my Faith has something she is actually afraid of?" Diablo asked teasingly. It was rare for him to get a chance to tease me, so I will let it go. But still, I will pinch him because his smile makes me mad.
"Ugh¡ Let''s just go in and check it out. But it worries me, with how this is a portal and not a door¡." The dungeons we have gone to so far all had doors and not a portal. As such, it concerned me that maybe there was something off about this dungeon. Why would it have a portal instead of a door? If we enter, will we be able to exit right away?
"You are right¡. Let''s check it out first by sending in some shadows. They will tell me what is inside." Diablo suggested, which I agreed to. He then summoned four shadows of a higher rank and sent them in. But as soon as they all entered, Diablo''s brow furrowed. "I lost contact as soon as they entered¡. Let''s wait and see if any of them exit back out."
"Okay." We found a spot to sit and waited. And waited¡.. And waited¡. No signs of the shadows whatsoever.
"Okay, scrub it. I am not risking missing my wedding due to some strange dungeon!" I made a firm decision. I then flew up into the air only to find that the fog seemed even more strange as I tried to break through the fog bank to see where I was.
Seeing how I was getting nowhere, I flew back down only to find Diablo gone¡. "Diablo?" I called out over our connection, but there was no answer. "Don''t tell me¡." I started having a bad feeling. While I was in the same location, or at least I think I was in the same location, the fog was getting denser and denser, which made me think of one thing. "The fog is the dungeon¡. But if that is the case, where are the monsters?"
This question perplexed me because even with Diablo running, I should have been able to sense monsters. I sighed as I waved my hand, "Diablo!" I called out again to call him to me like I normally would, but I got nothing once again¡ I frowned and tried a few times before deciding to try something else. "Appraisal!"
[Binding Fog]
[A fog thates from the Tri Queen Dungeon. All those who enter the fog must clear the dungeon before they can leave it.]
[Binds summons]
[Binds team members]
[Binds teleportation]
[Binds outsidemunication]
[Team members and summons will be separated and will have to clear the dungeon themselves before they can be reunited with their team members or masters.]
[Summons can not be summoned or de-summoned While in the Tri Queen Dungeon or its vicinity.]
"Tri queen dungeon, huh?" I frowned as I looked at the swirling portal. "So no matter what, I mustplete this dungeon¡."
This was not what I was expecting at all. To think that the fog itself was a binding spell. I did not detect it, and now I was trapped inside of it. "I still have about a week. I need to finish this before my wedding¡. But how am I going to notify everyone¡." I thought for a moment before pulling out a teleport crystal and tried to activate it, but it did not work.
Letting out a long sigh, I could only try to rush through the dungeon. It was just that¡. "There has to be a way to at least send a message even if they can not send one back." I thought for a moment before beginning to work on a magic circle in the dirt underfoot. After creating thousands of them in a short time, I finally got a small connection with one of them. I quickly sent a message over to Iena, who should be my receiver, telling her that I was stuck in a dungeon that locked people in untilpletion. And to note here at all costs. I also stated that the king should have the northern forest sealed off until I could escape.
Whether or not this reached its intended target, I do hope the person who does get it will rte the message for me. I did, however, memorize the magic circle I made and would try to refine it until I am able to escape this ce. Then maybe I can get in contact with everyone.
Biting my lip, I walked up to the portal inside the big bee head''s mouth and stepped through it. There I was met with something I would never expect. "Wee to the Tri Queen Dungeon Game Show! To think we would have so many contestants so soon. You are our next contestant, so please step right up."
In front of me were three big giant bees that looked like hos standing and talking while wearing pink dresses and crowns on their heads. At such a sight, I was at a total loss of what to make of this situation. The whole ce looked like a game show you would see on Earth. Even the bees who were hosting the show were all low level.
[Bee Queen 1]
[Level 15]
[Bee Queen 2]
[Level 15]
[Bee Queen 3]
[Level 15]
Should I just kill them and be over with it? I have no idea what would happen, but if I did, wouldn''t that make things faster? I was just about to pull my sword out when tworge bangs were heard, and two statues taller than a house appeared withrge bulky arms.
[Defender Bee]
[Level 3000]
Chapter 364 The Strange Dungeon Part 3
Chapter 364 The Strange Dungeon Part 3
Both were level 3000, which means that if I were to try to fight them, I would be quashed like a bug. I took a breath and lowered my hand from my sword. At that, the defender bees jumped back up into the air, almost causing me to fall over due to the wind it produced. "Good! We have a contestant! Now then¡. Please take your ce at the podium¡."
I turned and looked at the podium, which had two other things standing there one thing that looked like a caterpir with a hat on its head and another that looked like a beetle with a suit on. I gritted my teeth and took up my position between the two of them.
"Now, let us exin the rules." Queen number 1 began to speak. "First and foremost, if you answer wrong, you will lose a limb. The more answers you get wrong, the more limbs you will lose. If all your limbs are gone, then we will bite off your head. Simple, right? But here is the catch. If you buzz first and get it wrong, you will lose two limbs!"
"Hehe¡. But do not worry. If you get the right answer, you will get one limb back. For each limb you have after ten questions, you will be deemed the winner, while all others will have their heads bitten off. Any questions?" Queen number 2 asked.
I, of course, raised my hand. "How is this fair when they all have more limbs than me? The beetle has six limbs, while the caterpir has twenty limbs. It would have to answer more limbs at the end of the question even if it got all of them wrong as long as it does not answer first."
"Oh, dear¡. This contestant does make a valid point. Sisters, what should we do?" Queen number 3 asked. The three queens then huddled together before suddenly nodding to one another and saying: "Since we are all about fairness. The caterpir will have sixteen limbs cut off, and the beetle will have two limbs cut off. This way, each contestant has four limbs!"
The next second as queen number 2 said this, loud painful cries came from my side as an attack so quick that I couldn''t even follow it, sliced the legs off my twopetitors. They both, of course, turned their disgusting heads to look at me, radiating killing intent, but I could care less about them. They were just as low level as the queens, so even if they did attack me, they would hurt themselves more than they would hurt me.
"Now then! Since things are settled, we will get on with the show! But not before our paid advertisement. Do you like honey? We like honey! Honey gold honeybs is producing honey for everyone so feed your beebies with the best!" Queen number 1 sang out, causing me to furrow my brow. I mean really? An advertisement? Why?
"Now, on with the show! Contestants, the first question is when did the bee uprising take ce? Please state the date and time." Queen number 2 asked. She then looked at the three contestants that did not move an inch and sighed. "Beeeezzzeee! The answer was 2:30 pm in the beeoptuium month on the ten day. Since no one got the question right. Everyone loses a limb!"
"Wait!" I yelled out.
"Now, what is it? For a lower species, you sure are mouthy." Queen number 1 grumbled as she asked.
"You never said anything about losing a limb if we did not answer at all. This is a rule you did not tell us and should not be allowed to be enforced." I answered, causing the three bee queens to be taken aback.
"This is true!" Queen number 3 yelled out. Once more, the three queens entered a huddle before nodding once more. "Since we did not say this rule at the start of the show, this round will be void of punishment. But next time no one buzzes the buzzer, everyone will lose a limb!"
"Then can you make the questions non bee rted? I mean, we are not bees, so it would be impossible to answer any bee rted questions, would it not?" I asked. I had to. Otherwise, if I answered the question and they cut off my limbs, I would be screwed even though I can tell I can use magic here and can rewind the damage but still.
"This we can not do. After all, this is what the show is about. Our superior bee race against the low level dogs who think they can be equal to us. So your request is denied." Queen number 2 answered. I sighed. I guess I will just use my cheat and rewind my body parts, although I am sure it will hurt like hell.
"Next question. When did the first bee queene to be? When did she gain sentience?" Queen number 1 asked.
I just stood there since I would rather one limb cut off than two, so I was not going to buzz at all, but surprisingly.
*Bzzz!*
I turned to see that the beetle had buzzed. "It was on the day of change. When the humans were finally beaten back, and Queen Beeabith took the throne to start the first Bee empire!"
"You are¡. Right!" Queen number 2 shouted.
"Because you answered correctly, everyone else loses a limb!" Queen number 1 shouted happily but I once again objected.
"Wait!" I yelled out.
"Now what!? Do you have another objection to our way of doing things?" Queen number 2 asked. I think she was starting to get sick of me.
"Yes, well, you never stated that we would lose a limb if someone got the answer correct." Loopholes everywhere. I guess normally, no one would point these things out, but this was something I would not allow since it was never stated.
Once again, the queens went into a huddle and nodded before reluctantly saying: "We did indeed not say that loser would lose limbs for not answering¡. This means the punishment will take effect from the next question on¡."
Chapter ?365 The Biggest Loophole Of All
Chapter ?365 The Biggest Loophole Of All
--AN) Am sick today, so only an extra long chapter.--
I couldn''t help but smile as I saw the queens submit once more. I had an inkling from the start that they were not all that bright. But now this confirmed it and also made it obvious that I could make use of this as well.
"Next question!" Queen number 1 yelled out as she held up the card. "Who was the first beezastic dancer in the very first beezee got talent?"
Time ticked by, but no one knew the answer. As the time buzzer went off, the queens smiled as queen number 1 said: "Since no one answered, you will all lose a limb!"
"Wait!" I yelled out once more, causing the queens to frown.
Queen number 2 looked at me and asked: "What is it now!?"
"You just said we all lose a limb, but that is not right. Earlier, you said that if we did not answer, you would be the ones to lose a limb." This time I used dragon speak at a lower frequency to make things more muddled. I did not wish to try to fight the Defender Bee that was way above my current level. Even in my dragon form, I would not be able to beat it.
Luckily the low version of my dragon speak did not get detected as magic use, so I was happy to see the three queens look at each other in confusion and go into a huddle once more. Once they were out, Queen number 2 said: "It is true we did say this, so we will be the ones losing a limb this time¡."
As such, what followed was cries of pain by the queens as they cut their own limbs off. Each one had four limbs, and now they each only had three. Green blood flowed from their wounds as they quickly went to heal them. This told me that they did know magic, but it was very low, from what I could tell.
The other two bugs who were next to me both stared at me withplicated expressions. I nodded at them, and they both nodded back at me. This was a mutual understanding. No one will answer any more questions!
"Ahem¡." Queen number 1 cleared her throat, but I could tell she was in pain. She held up the card and asked: "The answer was Beetinia! Now on to the next question! When did the Beeunication happen?"
Silence. Time quickly ticked by, and another scream of pain was heard as they all lost a leg to stand on. Now they only had one arm and one leg left. And they did not seem to be too pleased by it. They had stopped even giving the right answers as they moved on to the next question.
"Next question! Who is the richest beeman in the world?" This was probably an easy question, but no one wanted to lose a limb, and since we had a silent pact, not me, nor the caterpir, nor the beetle spoke up, causing the queens to begin to sweat.
*Bzzzt!*
The time went off, and now the three queen bees all picked up their swords and cut off their final legs. They now only had a single limb left. "Gah¡. Now¡. Next question¡." Queen number 1 was starting to have a hard time breathing as I smiled and waited patiently for the next question. This time though the queen''s eyes seemed to sh as she asked: "What is the name of the beetleman that came on to the show today!?"
Silence¡. This was not a bee question! She made it up in order to have one of us lose a limb! But sadly for her. As time continued to tick by, the three queens began to sweat, and when the sound of the buzzer went off, the three queen bees slumped in their seats, unable to do anything. But the next second, a defender bee suddenly dropped down and swung its sword, cutting off thest of the queen bee''s limbs! The rules of the show were designated by the queens, which meant they had to follow their own rules!
"Ah!! Fine!" Queen number 1 yelled out as she said: "Since you all are so stupid, we will go into a special bonus round. Whoever gets this answer right wins one million queen bee honey! The question is¡.. What is¡.. 2+2!?"
I lowered my head and fell into deep thought for a moment before shaking it¡ "Sorry, I am not a bee, so I don''t know suchplicated math¡."
"Same, I am only a beetle¡."
"I am just a caterpir¡."
The two contestants at my side followed behind me, adding mes to the fire. The sound of the buzzer went off, and the three bee queens'' eyes became filled with fear as the defender bee dropped down. "Wait! Something is wron¡.." It was toote. The defender bee swung its sword, and the three queens lost their heads. It then turned to us and waved its hand, sending down three brown pouches. Curious about what it was, I opened it to find bottles of golden honey that had a strange energying from them. I quickly stored it away before turning and killing my tworades in arms and taking their brown pouches as well!
I would not give up good stuff to bugs! As the two died, though, the whole ce started to fall apart, and the stage where the queen bees were, disappeared, revealing a door. I walked over and opened the door to see the dungeon core room and a handsome demon standing in front of it. He looked over at me and smiled as he asked: "Done ying yet?"
"Mm¡. I got something good. What did you do?" I asked.
"I killed them all and waited here for you after killing the real bee queen," Diablo replied. " But to think that as soon as I lost sight of you, I was unable to get in touch with you. I do not want something like this to happen again¡."
I smiled and walked over, and kissed his lips. "Don''t worry. I have a magic circle that might be able to break through the binding on the fog. Once I am able to have some free time, I will refine it and make it so that I can create a barrier that will ward off the binding and have a clear path to the dungeon entrance. Although I do believe this dungeon is quite dangerous for lower levels¡."
"That is true. While the three queens and the contestants were at low levels, the defenders'' levels were very high, and their strength was also very powerful. One hit from them can take over a million health in one shot if your defenses are not high enough." Diablo exined as he held out his hands. "It took over one hundred thousand of my life with a single attack. This just proves how strong they were."
I frowned when I saw his hand and quickly healed it. "Did you really test the damage like that?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at him.
"You came here to see the level of the dungeon, so I was just helping¡." Diablo pressed his lips together. I know he was doing it for me but still¡ with his level, there is no way they could have hurt him. I hugged his waist and pushed my face into his chest, and bit down. "Don''t hurt yourself for me. Not like this¡."
"I won''t do it again¡." With his promise, I smiled and nodded my head before walking over to the dungeon core.
"Wait! Before you do that here, take these. They dropped from the defenders and boss." Diablo held out a limit break stone and a few evolution stones to me. "You needed these, right? To grow stronger?"
"Mmm¡" I nodded my head. I did indeed need these¡
"We still have a few days before the wedding, and in here, I was able to contact Iena. So everyone knows we are safe. Take this time to evolve. It should give you greater strength than you have now." Diablo suggested. I am d I showed Diablo what evolution stones look like. While they can drop from anything in dungeons, no one could use them besides me, from what I know. Unless there was a skill that allowed for evolution that you could get randomly from skill stones, otherwise, they were just shiny rocks that people might sell or make jewelry out of.
"Then I will be counting on you to protect me," I said as I took the stones and walked over to the front of the dungeon core. I put away the limit break stone and held the evolution stone in my hand. This could only be used in the evolution tab of my system. But as the stones in my hands got near the dungeon core, the two seemed to resonate. I looked at the evolution stones and then at the dungeon core in front of me before putting the evolution stones away and picking up the dungeon core. "It can''t be, right?"
[Ding!]
[Special conditions met¡]
[Evolution Core detected¡.]
[Special evolution menu now unlocked¡..]
Chapter 366 New Evolution Paths
Chapter 366 New Evolution Paths
As I held the dungeon core in my hand, I noticed it was much different from the core I destroyed before. It was much shinier and looked just like an evolution stone but bigger. And now that it opened up a special section in my evolution panel, I had to take a look.
"Let''s see¡." I mumbled as I opened the menus and found the special evolution tab. It brought up another set of evolutionary trees. "Let''s see, there are three paths¡." One for the basic line, but it skips over Dragonic Princess and Dragonic Queen and jumps right to Dragonic Empress¡. Then there is the right path which only had one choice lit up: Drakani Demigoddess. And then the left path, which also only had one choice, lit up: Ather Demigoddess¡. "What is with these horrible names!?"
I frowned as I read the information on the two new choices. A Drakani Demigoddess was a mixed race of many different races that merged together to form a new race. This race needed to drink the blood of others to survive. While it was a mixed race, it was mainly a dragon bloodline with the abilities of other races mixed in. The blood drinking effect was due to a race called the Vampri which blood came in as the second most dominant.
As for Ather Demigoddess , it was also a mixed race with dragons being the most dominant, but it also had the Angelic race as its second most dominant bloodline, which gave them a more holy feel. And as for Dragonic Empress, it was just a much more powerful form of my current state. The thing that stood out the most for me was the Drakani Demigoddess bloodline which allowed me to do as I did now with my dragon form the same as the others, but it also allowed me to gain more power by drinking the blood of others.
In other words, I could gain experience points by drinking blood. The Ather Demigoddess bloodline did not have such an aspect and which was not very good. While I would not mind looking more holy, I decided to put aside the Ather Demigoddess bloodline. I did not want something that would be weaker overall. It really did not add much in the way of benefits. As for the Dragonic Empress bloodline, it was much more powerful than my current position as a regr dragonic. There were no added benefits, which came down to thest one, which was the Drakani Demigoddess bloodline.
But the question is could I drink the blood of others? Could I stand to bite into someone''s neck and drink their blood? From the description, I would need to feed on blood to keep myself sated, which meant I would need to take in blood regrly. "Faith, is there anything wrong?"
"Mmmm¡ this dungeon core is called an Evolution Core. It opens up special evolutionary paths for me. One of which I am unsure if I should take even though it might make me even stronger." I replied as I looked at my menu screen.
"Oh, exin." Diablo sat next to me and put his arm around my shoulder. I then began exining to him what each choice was. He fell into deep thought for a few minutes before saying. "Well, you can just drink my blood. I have no issues. If you need blood to keep yourself satiated, then I am willing to offer you mine. Especially if it will make you stronger."
I looked at Diablo with uncertain eyes. I mean, what if I go nuts and drink all his blood¡.I guess Diablo saw the hesitation in my eye because he kissed the top of my head and said: "Just go with the one that will guarantee you more power."
I bit my lip and looked at my menu one more time. "Then¡. Please back up just in case something happens."
Diablo nodded and stood up and backway a few feet from me. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before tapping the Drakani Demigoddess bloodline button. Before I knew it, I passed out.
When I woke up again, I blinked my eyes and only saw the world around me as red. "So hungry¡." I looked around and saw Diablo standing there, staring at me with a surprised look on his face. But he soon walked over and crouched down next to me and tilted his neck. "Drink."
I couldn''t even control my body. I could see the veins pulsating in Diablo''s neck, and before I knew it, I had licked my lips and chomped down on that lovely vein, and began drinking his blood. The taste was sweet and tangy. It filled me with a strange feeling that made me make embarrassing sounds as I drank his blood. I could feel his blood flowing into the two new sharp fangs that appeared in the top row of my teeth, and then it flowed throughout my body, strengthening it.
[+10 XP]
My mind was filled with repeated messages as I continued to drink Diablo''s blood. Only when Diablo tapped my shoulder did I realize I was drinking too much and quickly released him. His face was pale as he looked at me with a warm smile. I couldn''t keep my tears from flowing, knowing I had hurt him. "I''m sorry!" I cried out as I hugged him tightly.
"It''s fine. You stopped when I needed you to stop. How do you feel now?" Diablo asked weakly. I had a feeling this would happen. And it did. Now I¡. I bit my lip and hugged him tighter as I answered. "I am much better, thank you¡." It was a lie. I was still hungry, but I was fine for now. I will need to figure out a way to keep my hunger under control without sucking everyone I know dry.
"That''s good. Now use rewind on me and drink some more." Diablo said, causing me to look up at him. He just smiled back and urged me to do what he asked. I lowered my head and nodded. This continued for almost an hour before I was finallypletely full.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter ?367 The Effects Of Becoming A Drakani Demigoddess Part 1
?367 The Effects Of Bing A Drakani Demigoddess Part 1
I guess Diablo knew I was lying when I said I was fine. But this time, I was truly full. I did not feel bloated or anything or have a puffed out stomach like I would if I was eating normal food, but I just felt full.
With my hunger gone, I used rewind on Diablo once more to bring him back to his peak state. Luckily this also brought back all the blood he lost and allowed him to look normal again. "See, you can just do this from now on. This will allow you to feed on anyone, and then you can just remind them back to before you started feeding."
"Mmm¡." I nodded. I still felt bad. I took a deep breath and sat up against the pir that once had the dungeon core. The portal to the exit was already visible, and we could leave at any time. Luckily only two days passed since I started my evolution.
[Humanoid Form]
[Name]: Faith Cyrilia
[Age] 17
[Level] 258
[Race] Drakani Demigoddess
[HP] 501500/501500
[MP] ¡Þ
[Attack Power] 133950
[Magic Power] 133950
[Status Points] 0
[Strength] 13395
[Vitality] 50150
[Intelligence] 13395
[Mind] ¡Þ
[Agility] 13395
[Skill Points] 171
[Limit Break( 1/3)]
Total Domination
[Skills]
[Appraisal (LVL 10(MAX))] [Military Command (LVL 10(MAX))] [Military Tactics (LVL 10(MAX))] [Business Tycoon (LVL 10(MAX))] [Acting (LVL 1(MAX))] [Enve Demon (LVL 10)] [Charm(LVL 10(MAX))] [Dimensional Transfer(LVL 10(Max))]
My level did not go up, but my stats all gained five thousand points to them, which made me much stronger in my humanoid form. I had yet to check my dragon form, but I figured it should wait for now since I nned to head back as soon as possible. The only extra skills I got were Dimensional Transfer and Charm. Dimensional Transfer was a spell that let me step into a separate dimension and travel to any ce I have been to before. So kind of like a teleport spell that did not need two magic circles for the destination. I just needed a clear image in my mind. I nned to use that after leaving the dungeon. The other spell bothered me a bit.
"Charm¡." A spell to make all sexes see you as a target of interest. Meaning I would make people who were within ten feet of me fall in love with me, which made me very annoyed. This was not exactly a spell I was expecting or ever wanted. It was like telling me to go out and make a harem with everyone who cames in within ten feet of me. While I did have some upsides as it will make certain things easier to handle. I felt that it would also bring me a lot of trouble.
What made things worse was that I couldn''t even turn it off! Luckily it does not seem to make people go crazy, as Diablo is still acting as normal. But then again, he does love me, so I guess it would not affect him.
I just worry about those who do not and will end up harassing me because of it. This would not make things easy for me. I will need to see if there is some kind of barrier I can use to contain the effects.
"Diablo, if you see any dogs trying to jump me in the street, smack them away, okay?" I whined. Diablo chuckled and nodded his head. "Don''t worry. If it is someone you do not wish to be courted by, I will make a show of force as your husband. No need to dirty your pretty hands."
I gave a defeated smile as I took out a mirror to look at myself. And to be honest, I kinda looked dead. While I still looked pretty, I looked more like a goth girl than anything now. Not that I will change how I dress or anything, but I did not change much more than that. Just much paler skin than before and two sharp fangs.
I was happy about that because I did not wish to change too much. It would be hard to get used to seeing a different person in the mirror every time I evolved. With everything now settled here, I held onto Diablo''s waist and said: "Dimensional Transfer!" A tear in space formed in front of me, and with a deep breath, I stepped through it, taking Diablo with me.
When arrived in my bedroom, which I felt was the best transfer point, no one was there so I let out a sigh of relief before going to the mirror on the wall to take another quick look at myself to make sure that they could still recognize me.
"Right, Faith, there was one more thing I forgot." Diablo took out another item. It was a book. "This dropped from the final boss."
I took the book and looked it over, causing my eyes to widen as I skimmed through it. "These are answers to the three queens quiz show. I will need to get this to the mercenary guild so they can make copies of it and hand it out to the mercs there. This will be very helpful for those who want to challenge the dungeon. This is a very good find!" This helped some of my concerns about the bee dungeon. This meant when it reset, people would be able to do the dungeon without issue. Well, as long as they remembered everything.
"I figured it might be of use, so I separated it from the other items. I have a bunch of armor as well for you to look at as well." Diablo exined and was about to take it out when I stopped him.
"Save it for now. I just want to rx for now. I am still in a bit of a daze from my earlier blood frenzy." I said as I walked over to my bed and fell face first onto it. Having to drink blood now to survive was not something I had expected, but at the very least, it would help me grow stronger. "I kind of wish I gained more skills though¡." I mumbled, only to hear a sound go off in my head.
[Ding!]
[Evolution Processpleted¡]
[Bloodline mergerplete¡]
[Adding new Bloodline skills¡.]
Chapter 368 The Effects Of Becoming A Drakani Demigoddess Part 2
368 The Effects Of Bing A Drakani Demigoddess Part 2
--AN) Sorry all, still sick, so only an extra long chapter today for this novel. Also, this novel along with Kana will now be released at 6pm EST.--
I was quite confused as to why I was only now suddenly getting a notification for this. But when I thought about it maybe this was because I had yet to feed, and the system needed me to be out of a blood frenzied state. With this thought in mind, I looked at my new skills.
The first on the list was a passive skill called Blood Frenzy, which was one of the things I had expected when I thought of a blood sucking race. It only activated when I did not feed. If I went a long time without drinking blood, I would basically attack anyone and everyone and suck them dry without a care until I was full. Luckily I did not do that to Diablo. I guess fighting against the ancient will has given me some resistance to this passive.
The second skill I got was blood maniption. This skill allowed me to cut my finger and transform my blood into a weapon. It was very handy because I could make it do many different things. And since it was max out at level 10, I could even control other people''s blood. And what made this a frightening skill was that it was an innate skill, just like the others, it did not require a magic circle. Which meant no one would see iting.
There were three more skills as well. But two were only at level 1. Shadow Meld and Shadow Clone. Shadow Meld allowed me to meld into the shadows. Basically, I could jump inside someone''s shadow, and they would never even know I was there. It was a kind of assassination style skill. Not really something I would use, at least I do not think.
As for the other level 1 skill called Shadow Clone, it was a skill that made a copy of myself that I could control. A kind of golem that had ten percent of my power at level 1. The thing about these two skills is that I need to use them in order to level them up to master them. Sadly there was no way to pump skill points into them like I could the other skills since they did not appear in my skill section.
Thest one was just a passive called Blood Enhance. It gave me experience per second based on the level of the person I was feeding off of. Which meant those of lower levels would only give me 1xp per second. Diablo gave me +10 experience, which was not bad. I guess Diablo would be getting sucked once a day now. I feel kind of bad, but I need those delicious xp, and sucking Diablo''s neck also felt well¡. Hehe¡.
Anyway, what I should be concerned about is this charm and making sure I feed on time. While I am now considered a demigod, I guess there was one thing that stuck out to me that made me frown. "To evolve into a Darkani Goddess, I will need to find 1000 evolution cores. Which means defeating 1000 dungeons. But does every run in a dungeon have an evolution core?" I pursed my lips as I thought about this. I will have to run the stupid bee dungeon a few times with Diablo to check after I set up a binding ward.
"Faith you in?" I heard a voiceing from behind me. I turned to see Sophie standing there.
"Something wrong?" I asked as I closed my menu and flipped over, then got into a sitting position. Sophie shook her head as she walked over to me and climbed onto my bed, and hugged me, resting her head in myp.
"I was just worried when we got the broken message from you," Sophie replied. "I got the message while we were working things out for the wedding. But it was too broken to make out. We were all worried, but luckily Iena got a message from Diablo."
"Ah¡. Sorry¡." I reached down and scratched the soft ears. This caused Sophie''s tail to wag back and forth. I chuckled as I reached down and yed with her tail causing her to giggle. And before I knew it, I was tackled to the bed, with her lips on mine.
An hourter, Sophie and I got redressed and went downstairs to see how things were going. I looked at the other two girls, who both had strange expressions on their faces, and asked: "What''s wrong?"
"Nothing!" "Nothing at all, Master¡." The two girls responded at the same time.
"They are mad because they lost rock paper scissors," Sophie exined. I chuckled and gave both a kiss on the lips before sitting down between them.
"So, what are you two doing?" I asked.
"We are finalizing the details on something special. Also, our wedding night will be split into two nights. We talked with Diablo, and he agreed to it. Us girls will have you the first night, while you and Diablo will have the second night. Also, Faith, when do you n to have little Faiths?" Adel asked.
I pursed my lips. I could feel my cheeks heating up and was starting to think it was wrong for me to sit here. But¡. I had a way to change the conversation around: "Are you three not going toment on my new dead look?"
"Hmmm? Faith is always cute no matter what she looks like." Adel replied with a smile.
"Master, I should say that to you¡." Grace''s voice entered my ears. I turned to see Grace now looked even paler than before, and she had a set of fangs. "Grace!? What happened!?"
"Master, I am bound to you by blood. So if your blood changes, so will mine¡." Grace replied. I could see two sharp fangs in Grace''s mouth now, which made me furrow my brow.
"Grace, have you drank blood?" I asked.
"No¡. Master, I actually need you to give me some, or I might faint¡." Grace replied as she began to sway back and forth. I quickly ran over to her and pulled my hair back. "Grace, drink now!"
"Faith, what is going on!?" The other girls stood up and came over. At that same time, Grace opened her mouth and bit into my neck, and began drinking my blood. I bit my lip due to the sensation I was getting as I allowed her to drink as much as she wanted. Luckily it seemed Grace did not need as much blood as me, and for some reason, I did not feel as if my blood was taken at all.
Breathing a sigh of relief, I watched as Grace licked her lips and bowed her head to me. "Thank you, Master. But please warn me before you change bloodlines again¡."
"Sorry, Grace, I never thought¡." I reached up and patted her head.
"Ahem¡ Faith care to exin?" Adel asked as she and the other girls looked at me in confusion.
"Ah yeah¡ I evolved again. I am now what is called a Drakani Demigoddess. It is just that¡. While it is a dragon race mixed with other races, there is a secondary bloodline mixed in that is also very powerful, which is called the Vampri. It''s a race that needs to drink blood to survive. In order words¡. I am no longer a dragonic." I exined.
"Then your other bloodline? The ancient will?" Iena asked with a look of hope on her face. But I shook my head and answered: "It''s still there. I feel it. It''s just not showing its head. If I want to use it as I have before, I still can."
I had also hoped the bloodline change would have fixed my current state, but it might have put me in a different situation. Like¡ If I were in a blood frenzy, would the ancient will try to take control while I was at my weakest point? If so, I might not be able to regain control. Currently, I am trying to ept it and slowly merge it into my current personality without losing myself, but even this is quite hard.
"I see, so you need to drink blood like Grace just did?" Sophie asked.
I nodded and answered: "Yes, but luckily, after drinking Diablo''s blood, I found that rewind can keep anyone I drink blood from feeling weak or sick. Otherwise, I am afraid Diablo might not have made it back. But it also allows me to do many other new things as well. Like I can now open a tear in space to any ce I have been before. I can hide in a shadow or an object, or a person. I can even make a clone of myself. And I can also control blood. Yours or mine. But I think the biggest thing is that I get experience for sucking blood. Lastly, there is charm, which is an annoying skill. "
"That sounds a bit bloody¡." Adel replied while sticking her tongue out. She then walked over to me and produced her neck to me, and said: "Take a taste and see if I am sweeter tasting than Diablo."
Chapter ?369 Wedding Part 1
?369 Wedding Part 1
I stared at Adel''s teasing smile before pulling her over and chomping down on her neck. She let out a small squeal before suddenly hugging me and pushing her face into my shoulder. I only drank a little of her blood, but there was definitely a difference in taste. Diablo''s blood had a more bold vor to it, while Adel''s was much softer and mellow.
"No fair, me too!" Sophie yelled out. As she ran over and pushed Adel out of the way, and showed me her neck. I chuckled and bit into hers as well. Sophie''s had a sweeter taste and felt more energetic. It was hard to actually give a vor since it was blood, but it was very good, like eating a snack.
"Master¡." Iena walked over with a look of not wanting to be left out. I pulled her over and bit her neck as well. Hers had a more refreshing taste. It was strange, but I felt like I could suck her blood all day and never get sick of it. "Sorry, but I think Iena wins this match."
"What! No fair! Drink more of my blood and see if it is any different!" Adel yelled out. I shook my head and pushed her to sit down. "Let''s finish things up."
A few days passed, and I was currently being dressed up by Grace and Annie. Sei and Sally were standing at the side watching. I donned a ck gothic yet elegant dress. With short heels, as I hated heels in the first ce. With silvery jewelry and a few hair ornaments to go in my hair, along with a ck veil to cover the lower half of my face. To be honest, even I looked quite pretty in this dress, even if I did look more dead.
"Faith, you really look beautiful. Makes me want to change sides." Sei teased as she walked over and gave me a hug. "I am d you have found your life partners."
"Yes, Young Miss, you do look very beautiful. It makes me wonder if I should one day get married as well¡." Sally seemed to have finally gotten over what had happened before.
I smiled and said: "Sally, I am sure any man would be very lucky to be with you. To be honest, I do think Steven might be interested in you. He is quite handsome, you know."
Sally blushed, and her ears danced slightly. She was a cute girl, so I do hope one day, she will find happiness. "Hey, are you just going to ignore me!?" Sei, who I did ignore, stomped her feet at my side, causing everyone tough.
"No. I just think that whoever marries you will be in for more than they hoped for. Especially with a certain skill that¡."
"Okay, enough! Let''s go, miss groom. You have three girls and a man to marry!" Sei quickly changed the subject, causing me tough. She even red at me since I knew Freidinia had been bugging her about her skill.
I rode a carriage that was heavily decorated for the event to the center of the lower city. There was arge stage and many colorful decorations set up as well as street vendors and many other things going on. The king himself was already sitting on the stage in the main seat, looking out of the crowd with a wide smile. As my carriage came to a stop, I closed the curtain and readied myself. The door opened to my father standing there with a smile on his face. He still looked as handsome as the day I saw him when I first was reborn into this world.
"Faith, as a father, I have a lot to say about you marrying so many, but I will leave that for another time. I wish you happiness as you progress through life." My father said as he held his hand out to me to help me off the carriage.
I smiled and took his hand, and stepped down before hugging him. "Father, you are about to be an Empress''s father soon. You should hold your head up high. "
My father shook his head and patted my back. "I can not be any prouder of you than I am now. You have done so much over the years and have helped so many. It makes me take a look at your brother and ask, where did I go wrong."
I couldn''t help butugh as I took a peek at my brother, who was standing behind my father. "Brother, don''t listen to him. You are already amazing enough."
"Don''t worry. I never took his words to heart. But to think my baby sister is getting married and to four people at that. At least one of them is a man. So I am sure to be an uncle in the future." My brother teased, causing me to blush. While I do n to have a child in the future. It will not be soon. The tasks at hand need toe first.
"Maybe in the future, after things settle down," I replied with a smile. My brother nodded as I hooked my arm with my father''s and walked towards the stage.
My mother was sitting with Freidinia, she was currently balling her eyes out. She kept trying to get up, but Freidinia kept pushing her back down. When we reached her seat. I leaned over and hugged her and whispered: "Mother, your daughter is getting married just like how you wanted."
"Mm¡." My mother could only hum an answer as I squeezed her. She reluctantly let me go and pushed me gently away. "Go¡ Don''t let everyone wait to see how beautiful my daughter is."
"Hehe¡. I will show them all that my mother and father have the best genes!" I replied while giggling. My mother smiled andughed with me while nodding her head. It was times likes this that I saw her acting normal again, which made me have hope for the future.
Chapter 370 Wedding Part 2
370 Wedding Part 2
"Master, good luck. Make sure you bully Diablo a lot after you are married to him." Freidinia said teasingly.
"Don''t worry. I will!" I let out a chuckle as I looked at Rachel, who was sniffing away.
"Good luck! If any of them bullies you, let me know! I will beat them up!" Rachel sucked in a deep breath and said. She was doing her best, from crying too hard. You would think, with how my mother and Rachel were crying, that I was actually about to die. I smiled and nodded at her as I turned and hooked my arm with my father and again and began walking down the aisle towards the stairs leading to the top of the small stage.
When I got to the steps, my father helped me up each one so that I would not trip or fall before finally letting me go and giving me one more hug. "This is as far as I can go. Now go wait for your brides and man bride. I will go sit with the others."
I smiled and hugged him back before watching him walk off. Only when he reached the bottom of the steps did I walk towards the king and smile at him. "Your majesty."
"Should you not start calling me royal father?" The king asked with a prideful smirk.
"Then Royal Father. I do hope you do not mind me wedding so many at once." I did feel kind of bad. After all, Adel was a princess, yet she was sharing her wedding day with three others.
"No. In fact, I think this is only fair. A wedding day, when everyone has the same status as you have given to your wives and your husband, it is only fair that they all have the same wedding. Adel also seemed to enjoy the fact she was sharing it with the other girls as well. But I do wonder, will your husband be okay? He will be basically at the bottom of the food chain in the house." The king asked. For the first time, he was actually acting seriously.
"He''s fine. He is someone who is more loyal than you think. In fact, ording to the demon realm''s rules., we are already husband and wife. We are just making it official in this world." I replied with a smile.
"I see. I am d to hear it. I do hope you can give a few heirs to the throne. And if one day we find a way for two females to have children together, I hope you will give me a few grandkids as well." The king replied with a smile.
"Don''t worry. We are already looking into it. Freidinia has already made it a side project of her own after she heard of the idea." I exined.
"Then that is good. In a few months, we will be holding your coronation ceremony. I do hope you can give me a few months of peace before diving into a dungeon and pushing the role back onto me." The king seemed to be pleading with me when he said this, which made me chuckle.
"Do not worry. I will be implementing quite a few policies which will have to go through all those old foogies in the court." Now that I was thinking about it. I noticed the king, even though he was within ten feet of me, was not affected at all by my charm. I guess he already loved me like his own child a long time ago. When I walked down the aisle, I did notice the people who were closest to me staring at me strangely. I could only ignore them and hope they would not do anything out of line.
"I am sure they will go easy on you. I think most of them are afraid of you anyways. I did hear you n to change the kingdom to an Empire. Since you n to do that, you might as well change the entire name to yourst name. It would make more sense." The king suddenly said, which made me look at him in surprise.
"I was going to talk to you about that at some point, but I never thought you would suggest it," I said honestly.
"You will be the ruler, it will be you who has the final say from the moment you are ced on the throne. I will follow what you say. You are, after all, the one who has given this kingdom more than I have in all my years of being a king." The king said as he patted my shoulder. "Enough of that. You look beautiful. I am sure your wives and husband will be amazed when they see you. They should be here soon, so prepare yourself. Once you all say your vows, you will no longer be able to escape them for the rest of your life."
"Haha! I know. And I wouldn''t have it any other way. I once thought I would never get married. I pushed that thought for so long into my mind, but then when Adel finally confessed to me, I began to think otherwise. Then it was Sophie¡. And the idents with Iena and Diablo. But as the years went by. I came to love each of them dearly and did not wish to let them go. So I will never let them go, and for as long as I live, I will do my best to make their lives just as long. I will protect everything I cherish no matter what. Even the gods can not stop me." I was speaking from my heart. I truly meant every word I just said. I will protect the empire I n to make and even expand it either by alliance or by force if need be. I will not allow anyone to harm the people I have decided to protect.
While I may seem like a warmonger, but one thing I have noticed while growing up is that not everything can be done easily. I will do what I can to avoid war and hope that whatever kings and queens I speak toter on will be willing to form an alliance that will strengthen this continent and unite it as one as we work towards a better future.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter ?371 Wedding Vows Part 1
?371 Wedding Vows Part 1
As I stood there pondering many things, the sounds of the crowd began to cheer. I looked up to see four people walking down the aisle. Diablo was wearing a white tuxedo with armor ting on his right shoulder and elbow. Two gold chains crossed over from the shoulder te connecting to the golden ne he wore. The way he was walking, you could tell he was nervous. But he seemed to be doing his best to keep hisposer.
Adel and the girls all wore matching wedding gowns. Pure white in color with light blue frills on the edges. In their hands were white bouquets. It really reminded me of a wedding back on Earth. My father was guiding both Sophie and Iena. Rachel took up being Diablo''s guide. While Lance was guiding Adel. They were led up the stairs one by one before they walked over to me. They each looked absolutely stunning. I smiled as I saw them and said: "You girls look beautiful and Diablo looks the most handsome!"
They all blushed when I said this. "And Faith looks absolutely amazing as well. This dress was perfect for you." Adel added. I nodded as I showed my dress to them.
"Ahem¡. If Faith can stand in the middle." The King asked as he stood in front of us. I smiled and nodded my head before positioning myself in between Adel and Diablo. I guess this was the lineup they decided on for the wedding. I had no idea what ns they made since I left it up to them.
Seeing that we were ready, the King smiled as he said: "Today, we stand here under the eyes of the spirits to bring together not one but five people. Faith Cyrilia, if you would please start the vows."
Wedding tradition stated that I had to give a vow to the people I was marrying. Then the others would give me their vows. I was never good at this thing, so this was a bit of nerve wracking experience for me.
I was also nning to do everyone in order of when we met. So I turned and faced Adel first and took her left hand. "Adel¡. When we first met, I was lying on a fence chewing on a piece of grass. I was watching the clouds fly by, dreaming about what I would be doing in the future.
During that time, I had no intentions of finding a lover, never mind four all at once. But on that day, I met you for the first time. I, at first, was taken aback by your friendliness and thought it might all be a ruse to gain my favor. But then we met again. And you treated me as a close friend. We traveled together and spent many days and nights doing nothing but chatting. In my first years of being in this world, you were my first true friend outside my family.
"At that time, I never imagined I would one day be standing here with you like this. I never imagined I woulde to love a girl the way I love you. You are and will always be my first and bestest friend in this world, even though you were a bit strange. But I could understand because, at that time, even you did not understand your feelings. And only when you confessed to me and kept at it for so many days did I finally decide it was time. So Adel, never change. And never worry about losing me. I will always be by your side. This I vow." I could see the smile and tears of happiness on Adel''s face as she heard my words. And lowered her head and sniffled as she hummed an answer to me. I gripped her hand and kissed her lips to seal the vow. Only then did she step back and let Sophie step forward.
Sophie''s tail was swaying back and forth as she waited in anticipation for my words. I smiled and took her hand, and looked the cute fox girl in the eyes. "Sophie¡ You, of all people, were someone I never thought would fall for me. But I guess I am just numb to romance. When we first met, you were being dragged away by people who I thought were thugs but turned out to be actors for a y. Then we acted in a y where you were a princess who fell in love with the demon queen. You were so nervous, it was very cute.
"After that, you opened up to me and told me your problems. You were being forced to marry some noble against your will, which I could not stand for. We had a lot of incidents that we had to go through, and you suffered a lot because of them, but I will never regret helping you or meeting you. The day you suddenly showed up and confessed to me, I was stunned. It was something out of left field. But I am d you did. You are a dear friend to me, and I would never allow you to suffer in this lifetime. My dear Sophie, As I said to Adel, I will always be by your side. This is my vow." I pulled Sophie to me and kissed her lips. Her tail went crazy, causing the audience to chuckle. Her face blushed after the kiss as she stepped back after humming her answer.
With this, she stepped back, and it was now Diablo''s turn. I turned and looked up at the handsome man and took both his hands. "Diablo, in a sense, we are already married. The same with Iena, but now here we are sealing the deal by this world''s standards. At first, when we had an idental misunderstanding, I did not know where our rtionship would lead. I felt like I was leading both of you along. But I am d we stuck it out and slowly got to know each other over the years. You have helped me greatly since the day I summoned you, and to be honest, I never had the intention of this kind of thing at that time. But now¡. If I had a chance, go back in time and do things over. I would still summon you. I would still kiss you because you have turned out to be my knight. The man who I can not rece with any other."
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 372 Wedding Vows Part 2
372 Wedding Vows Part 2
"You mean to the world me, and I will always be there for you. My knight, my husband¡. Diablo, thank you for answering my call. I will always be by your side. This is my vow." As I finished my words, Diablo picked me up, causing me to squeal, and kissed my lips. As our lips parted I grinned and bit his nose. "Your answer?"
"A yes of course," Diablo replied with a smile. The girls in the audience all began to squeal, which instantly made him blush, which only caused more squeals. I will need to keep an eye on this demon. He is too sexy for his own good.
Andstly, it was Iena''s turn. She was already blushing as I took her hands. I smiled as I said: "Iena¡ When I first summoned you, you were very against me. But that onlysted a short while. Then I found out about your love for Diablo, and I had meant to help you two get together. But due to my misunderstanding of the demon race. I did something that ended up being one of the best things that could have happened. I am d we stand here today facing each other like this. You have shown me how much you care about me throughout the years. You even came to love me more than you did Diablo. I will do my best to make you never regret finalizing the demon marriage procedures with me. So whenever you feel lonely and need me. I will always be by your side. This is my vow."
I leaned in and kissed Iena on the lips. Her eyes closed as she hugged me and made the kiss deeper, causing the audience to scream out in glee. As our lips parted, Iena''s whole face was bright red as she said: "I will never regret it."
"Haha! Young love is grand!" The king yelled out. "Now that the groom has given her vows it is not time for the brides and man bride. Although I do believe they have something a little different nned so please."
I was a bit confused, but soon Adel pulled me back as the four of them all suddenly knelt down in front of me, each holding my hand together with each other. "I, Adel¡." "I, Sophie¡." "I, Diablo¡." "I, Iena¡.."
"We hear by vow that we will always love and cherish our beloved for as long as we live. We will work together and provide a ce where our beloved cane home to and rx without worry." The four all spoke in unison. They then let go of my hand as Adel stood up and retook it. "Faith, you have given me the happiest years of my life. You freed me from the everyday struggle of being a princess and shined a new light into my life. I can never thank you enough. As we are now entering a new phase in our rtionship, I will stay by your side and walk the path of our journey in life, even if it means we will walk a path of bloodshed and tears. I love you more than anything in this world, and I will always be by your side. This is my vow." Adel, this time pulled me to her and gave me an even deeper kiss than Iena gave me!
I could hear the squealing going on behind me once more as Adel, and I''s lips parted. She gave me a cheeky grin before stepping back, and now Sophie stepped forward. While I was still in somewhat of a daze, Sophie took my hand and smiled at me. "In my life, I had never thought I would meet the person I was meant to live with for all eternity after being forced to the capital by someone I barely knew. You said Diablo was your knight. But to me, you were mine. You were the hero I once dreamt would sweep me off my feet. I think my love for you started the day you saved me from the actors. You allowed me, someone, you barely knew to stay at your side. Provided for me and cared for me. When I was in trouble, you rushed in head first to save me. Sometimes I felt like I was a burden to you, but in the end, when I realized my feelings for you. You epted me even though it was sudden. Faith, thank you¡. For caring for me. Thank you for saving me. Thank you for giving me a whole new life. Faith in this world, besides my bted parents, you are the one I love the most. I will stay with you for the rest of my life. This is my vow!"
Sophie then pulled a repeat of Adel as she pulled me in and kissed me deeply. It was not until the king cleared his throat that she was willing to part her lips with mine. She then stepped back with a big smile on her face as she allowed Diablo to take center stage.
Diablo took my hand and smiled at me. "I really am not too good with my words. Even though I should have been your ve that you could order around as you pleased, you never treated me like one. You were always concerned about my well being and even got sad when I got hurt. You are my treasure, and as long as we are both alive, I will never part with you. I will cherish you for an eternity and will love you and only you. This is my vow." Diablo once again lifted me up and kissed my lips. Just as deep as the other two did. He slowly set me down and then leaned next to my ear and whispered: "When you are willing to form a family, let me know¡."
These words instantly made my whole head heat up. I really wanted to punch him! How can he tease me at such a time!? I pursed my lips as Iena took my hand, and before I could figure out what was going on, she said: "I am even worse at words than Diablo is, so I will just say it with actions!" Iena then stole my lips once more and bent me almost half backward as she kissed me. This time not just squeals but also many whistles could be heard from the crowd.
As I was finally released from Iena''s grip, she stepped back with deep red cheeks and a big smile. All four of them were once again lined up in front of me. "Faith, thank you for loving all of us equally. We vow to always be by your side from this day forth."
"MMM!" The king suddenly waved his hand, and then five white magic circles formed. White lights began to stream out of these magic circles and fly towards each of our hands, and on our fingers, a white ring appeared. Each one had a single stud, while I had four. This was the proof of our wedding vows.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 373 After The Wedding
373 After The Wedding
¨CAN) Running Late today. There will be another chapter soon!¨C
With the vows and rings now given, the King smiled and looked at the five of us and said: ¡°As the current King of the Gravos Kingdom, I would like to congratte each of you for being married on this fine day. Remember the vows you made today, and make sure you cherish one another.¡±
With these words, the wedding was finally over, and everyone in the audience, the thousands of people who came to witness the wedding, all began cheering. I smiled as I saw the three girls and one man standing in front of me and opened my arms, calling them all into a group hug. We were now officially family. One entity.
While the girls went to the estate to get ready for the wedding night, I was stuck entertaining nobles in the front yard of the estate. Luckily no one forced me to drink, but there were many drinking around us. Diablo was with me since tomorrow would be his wedding night with me. While I felt bad, I could not share him with anyone else. This was the only rule in the rtionship. The girls could y around with the other girls as they wished, but Diablo was strictly mine.
The girls ying rule helped deepen their bonds and allowed for no infighting. This made things much easier to deal with since no one would be at each other¡¯s throats. We could easily work things out slowly.
The third day after my wedding, I woke up in pain. I just spent almost two sleepless nights with my new wives and husband, and they were not so nice to let me go. ¡°Grace, help me!¡±
¡°Master, this is what you get for having so many spouses. But then again, I guess you also expected this otherwise, you would not have ordered so many medicines for pain.¡± Grace said as she handed me a ss of blood and a few pills before casting basic healing magic on my thighs and waist.
¡°How are your hunger spells? Are you doing okay?¡± I had been worried that Grace was holding back from feeding, so I tried to ask this of her once a day.
¡°I am feeling a little peckish now that you said something,¡± Grace replied honestly. I nodded and pulled my hair back while tilting my head. Grace Bowed her head to me before kneeling on the bed and biting into my neck.
My new daily life as a Drakani was still hard to get used to. While I can eat food and drink things, they were much more nd than before, which kinda upsets me. At my wedding, I was drinking blood from a ss like I did just now. Diablo was nice enough to help me stock up on blood for emergencies. So were the girls, so I now had bottles of blood in a special fridge that I had Thurul make that werebeled with each of their names. However, Iena¡¯s blood was still the best tasting.
After Grace had her breakfast and healed my thighs, I could finally move. Diablo had already left earlier in the morning to go help with a few things that the girls had asked him to help with. I was not sure what it was, but they seemed to be kind of secretive as ofte. Although my exercises with Diablo might have put me in a special statest night, and I am not sure if I was fully protected or not. But if something happens, I will just deal with it then.
I got out of bed and stretched before rubbing my eyes as Grace brushed my hair and began telling me what my tasks were for the day. ¡°Master, today you have an appointment with the King to discuss your coronation and the change of the kingdom¡¯s name and status. Also, Miss Runa has also returned to her kingdom to talk with her father. She mentioned something about preparing for a major alliance like no other.¡±
¡°Mmmm¡ The dwarf and elf kingdoms should be willing to form alliances with me. I do not think the beast kingdom will, though. My main concern is the Holy Trident Theocracy. They believe in a water god named Aoilia and hate demi humans from what I understand.¡± I sighed. I had a long road ahead if I wished to push my ideals with other kingdoms to end very of demi humans and humans. But to think I might have to fight a beast kingdom in order to push these ideals. After all, I heard they began enving humans not too long ago, which also goes against my anti very agenda.
I might sound like some crazy person trying to push my ideals on others, but I have two reasons for my new move to make this a united continent. First, outside threats from other continents, and second there were still many inside threats. Between the old prime minister and Azgrade and his people, I had a lot to worry about.
¡°Ahhh! So much to do!¡± I whined as Grace handed me a dress. ¡°Please look the part of a soon to be Empress Master. I do not wish for people to look down on you as you enter the pce. However, your new charm ability may keep things from happening. This is why I chose a slit side dress so you can show more leg.¡±
¡°Grace, don¡¯t try to turn me into some kind of prostitute!¡± I yelled out, causing Grace to click her tongue and switch the dresses.
¡°That¡¯s better,¡± I said, sticking my tongue out at her. It¡¯s times like this that I still really enjoy. No wonder in my dreams, Grace was always at my side.
Strangely I have not had any of those dreams as ofte. So I am not sure if my dreams have changed or what. My other, on the other hand, is a different story. I still need to figure out what is going on with her because she is always crying about me fighting a bloody battle. Maybe sometime in the future, thisnd or even this continent will be stricken with war.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter ?374 Court Part 1
?374 Court Part 1
When I reached the castle, the king was in the middle of a court session which I walked into. "Your Majesty."
"No need to bow to me. Come up here and sit." The King said as he patted the seat next to him. I was quite surprised to see a second throne there that was just as grand as the kings. I, of course, did not stand on ceremony as I walked over and sat down as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
"It''s good you came so soon. Today''s topics will be put on hold untilter. For now, I would like to go over things that will be happening here after I abdicate the throne to Crown Princess Cyrilia." The king''s words made everyone turn serious. I pursed my lips and looked at all the nobles standing sitting below us with a curious gaze. "Faith, please go over what your ns are for the future. These old men need to understand the path you will be setting out so they do not start filing reports about some stupid reform that will cost a lot of money only to be overturnedter on."
"Alright," I said as I stood and walked down to stand in front of everyone. When exining things, I do like to show images of what I am talking about and being in a position that makes it easier for them to understand what I am talking about.
"We have many threats¡." I said as I showed two images in the air. "These two are the major part of those threats. And because of this, once I am given control of the kingdom, I will be first expanding our military capabilities. We will shore up our defenses first and foremost. Second, I will be changing our kingdom''s name and status to the Cyrilia Empire. I have already spoken to the King about this, and he has already okayed it."
"Sorry to interrupt, Princess, but can you exin to me the benefits of bing an empire over a kingdom?" An official asked.
"There are no actual benefits, but the name itself is imposed due to the amount ofnd we own. We have taken over a fair bit ofnd all over this continent, some of which is only connected by teleports. Because of this, we are too big to really be considered a kingdom anymore. Plus, I feel the title of Empress is more imposing when dealing with what I have nned out." I answered.
"I see... So you will be called Empress Cyrilia¡." The officials all seemed to be taking it all in and then began nodding. "This does sound much better and more imposing. "
"But this is also why we will need to expand our military. I wish to unify the continent. Whether through alliance or through force. I want the continent to stand as one in order to take out any outside threats that maye to harm our peace and tranquility." My words made everyone go quiet.
"As you all know, I am not one who jokes around when ites to this kind of stuff. But I am sick of it. War¡. very¡. Things that should never happen because of people''s greed. I do not want to do this because ofnd or resources. I want to do this because I want the people of this world to be happy. To live lives without oppression and the ability to be who they are.
"I will not say this will be smooth sailing. I will not say that what I am doing is right. Many people will oppose all of this, but I¡.. Have the means to deal with it all. Call me a tyrant or a warmonger, but I care about the people under our kingdom and soon to be empire''s banner. I would prefer not to go to war. I would prefer everyone to work with me toward a better future. But who will want to give up certain things?
"I am not going to these kingdoms to take away their powers but to ask them to stop certain acts so that we do not fight against each other due to misunderstandings. I love both humans and demi humans. I do not wish for them to fight. We are all equal under the same suns and the stars in the sky as night takes over the day. Is it wrong to want to see both humans and demi humans get along so that this world can finally rise up and be something much greater in the end?" I asked, looking at all the silent officials.
"Princess, while I know you have great ambitions, your ambitions will also cause many deaths. The people may revolt¡." An official pointed out. He made a good point, but I did not n for anyone to die. I waved my hand, and many more pictures filled the air.
"These are the things we are working on at this time. They are metal golems with powerful weapons on them." one of the elder dwarves had been working on it and quickly built this monstrosity. Once it has the runic inscriptions put into it, it will basically be a mech with autopilot. I also suggested that we have people control it from farther away and even mini versions as well.
"What are those!?" an official yelled out.
"As I said, they are metal golems in a sense. Controlled by magic. Some will even be controlled by humans and demi humans from a safe distance, making them the perfect answer to keeping the lives of our people safe. And lowering the deaths of our people." I answered.
"Princess, if what you say is true, then we will truly be able to do as you nned with no issue. I do not see any problems with future ns." The official who first asked about the deaths of people nodded in appreciation at the images.
"This is all still experimental, and we do not know how effective they will be yet, but they will be made, and this is my main reason for a bigger military budget to fund these new weapons. But sadly, they will not rece bodies on the battlefield when stronger enemies show up."
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 375 Court Part 2
375 Court Part 2
"So you are saying no matter what, we will need people on the battlefield?" An official asked.
"That is a given is it not? But that does not mean they will be going on the battlefield alone. I will also be there with them, doing my best to protect my people. I also wish to save as many people as possible, which is why I am working on research that will help protect and even rece them on the battlefield. But before any of thises into y, my first objective will be to shore up our own borders with proper defenses. Once we have some of our big tech finished, do you think many kingdoms will object to my proposal for an alliance? We all know that every kingdom on our borders has sent in spies, never mind other kingdoms from further away. With just a little silver or even spending a bit of time with some people at a bar in the kingdom, you can get valuable information.
"Because of this, we have to make it well known that we are not so simple. Our borders have been invaded many times but yet we only retaliated recently. So I am hoping that one show of force is enough to make these kingdoms understand we are not war hungry. But we will show force if need be to settle things.
"An alliance with every country on the continent would be good. But we can not allow them to do things such as very and be in an alliance with us. I will not allow it, no matter if it is human or demi human. Only when they refuse will we begin moving our forces." While I had an idea of a united continent, I knew it would be hard to push with so many uncertainties.
"I see no issue." An old official said as he stroked his long white beard. "Discrimination between the races never made sense to me. Just because they are different, why should treat them as lower beings? What''s the point? I think with the current times, we need to all put our differences aside, and even if we must sacrifice a little for the greater good, push the princess''s ideals. She has never harmed us and has sacrificed more than any of us for this kingdom."
"I also agree." Another official spoke up, which began a chain reaction of all the officials.
"Princess, after you take the throne, we will not argue with you on the policies you wish to push forward. I will do things as you say." The leader of the officials said as they all suddenly knelt down. "We agree to follow you until our deaths."
I smiled at these old guys who were so loyal to the kingdom. "I do not want your deaths. You all need to live a few more hundred or so years for me."
"Haha! Princess, you do make us old men feel young again." The officials all let out augh. I turned to see a sulking king sitting on his throne.
"What''s wrong?" I asked.
"These old bastards never listen to me but here they are, willing to push all your policies without so much as putting up a fight!" The king replied with a snort.
"It''s because I am pretty," I replied, causing the king to almost fall out of his chair.
"Humph!" The king looked the other way and began sulking again. I couldn''t me him for being a little angry. I mean, he probably has to fight to push his policies through, but all in all, he has held this kingdom up well. As he is now my Royal Father, I guess I should help him a little bit. I turned to the old man and said: "Please be nicer to my royal Father. He is easily bullied."
"You! Who is easily bullied!" The king did not seem to like my little jab. Aw well, I had to since it made me smile.
"Princess, do not worry. We will not argue with His Highness about anything. We will follow your orders." the lead official replied, causing me tough.
"Then I will be counting on you then." With that, this small meeting came to an end. I do have to thank the king for allowing me to be able to speak with these old guys.
With my time in court done, I gave a bow before turning and stepping through a portal I made and returning to my room. "Master."
"Grace, what is next on my list?" I asked. Without Grace, I think I would not even know what I have to do during the day. I would probably skip out on as much as possible, which would turn me into azy person who did nothing but sleep all day and fiddle with magic.
"Sir Thurul is looking for you down in hangar one," Grace replied. I nodded and stood up. I looked at Grace, who was still busy herself, and smiled. "Grace, thank you for everything you do for me. Without you, I would be a failure."
"Master, I am just doing my job as your servant. I do not wish for people to look down on my Master since my Master is destined for greatness." Grace replied. I smiled and walked over to her, and gave her a hug. "Whatever the reason, maybe, thank you."
Grace''s lips curled up into a soft smile as she hugged my arm. "Just make sure you do not disappoint this servant who works so hard for you."
"Haha! I won''t. I am off. Grace, take a break every so often. You are always so busy." I said before disappearing again. When I reappeared, I was in hangar one.
"Lass, you are here! Come take a look at this. We opened the ship!" Thurul said excitedly. I looked over, and indeed they did open the hatch to the ship. I had been wanting to take a look inside myself to check it out since I wondered just what kind of ship it was supposed to be.
Chapter ?376 The Ship Part 1
?376 The Ship Part 1
We walked up to the ship that now had arge staging set up around it so that the dwarves could do their work inspecting it and trying to figure out how it functioned. We climbed up to the hatch at the side, where I began looking around at the whole entrance. "How did you open it?"
"Mana!" Thurul said. "Any kind of mana works as long as there is arge amount. It took five dwarves to open it. And no elements needed just puremana."
I nodded at his answer. I felt that was indeed intriguing. I looked around and noticed that the interior was kept very clean, almost spotless, besides the foot traffic of the dwarves. The hall at the entrance was very wide and led down toward the back of the ship. But this was only the first floor. From the size of this ship, there were at least three floors. Maybe four depending if one floor was a double floor or not. But from the size of it, it should be able to amodate at least two thousand people max.
I walked down the hall and looked into the rooms. "This seems to bemand." There were many rooms withputer type setups with many ss monitors. It was not on, so could not be sure, but this all seemed to be an area where things were controlled or monitored. I think if I had gone in the other direction, I would have ended up on the bridge.
"I am not sure if it ismand, but it does seem to be a ce where people would work," Thurul replied.
"This room here is a medical bay," I said as I looked at the scifish looking medical equipment. These are the kinds of things I wish to replicate just in case magic is not able to fix certain people''s injuries.
When we reached the end of the hall, we came to an elevator that was open, and a bunch of dwarves were staring at the control panel. "What''s wrong?" I asked, seeing their perplexed expressions.
"We can''t seem to figure out how to get down to the lower levels. This seems to be the only way." One of the dwarves replied.
"Hmmm? Isn''t the stairs right there?" I asked, looking at the door next to the elevator.
"That is even more confusing. These panels do not seem to work." When the dwarf said that, I looked over and did indeed see a panel on the side of the door, which meant everything had to be powered on. This meant these doors would only open if there was power, and if that was the case, if the ship was about to be blown up, the people inside would die. I shook my head thinking of this. It was probably some kind of protective measure to keep enemies from reaching the lower decks.
"Then¡" I reached over and pulled on the door handle, causing a loud crack to be heard and the dooring off its hinges. "What!? Why did you do that!?" A dwarf yelled out.
"Because this ship belongs to me and useless measures to keep people from going to the lower floors makes no sense to me. If an enemy takes over this floor, they already have control of the ship. What is the point of a door that is sealed electronically? That is just asking to have all your crew members below deck killed off." I answered. I mean, it was dumb. I wouldn''t allow such a setup in my ship. I would set up different safety measures that would kill the enemy instead of allowing them to control the ship so easily.
"Now that you mention it¡." The dwarf replied as he stroked his braided beard. "Princess, is it possible for us to do the same to the lower floor doors?"
"Feel free. Like I said, if it is useless, we can tear it out and rebuild it with something better." I replied with a smile.
"Good! Thank you!" The dwarves were happy as they began collecting their things. It seemed they nned to go to the lower floors now.
"I am d you came. Those guys have been obsessed with these two things." Thurul let out a sigh. I guess he has been having a hard time himself.
"This ship is nice and will be good for what we need, but we need to learn how to power it first. Any luck on this?" I asked.
"No¡. We have ess to the main control room but no idea how to use any of it. Do you mind taking a look?" Thurul asked.
"Yeah, let''s go," I said as I turned around. I also was interested in what the bridge looked like.
We walked back down the hall toward the bridge, and when we arrived, I was really surprised by what I was seeing. Arge ck window on the very front of the ship with what looked like a protective covering on the outside that would probably lower during a fight or something. One thing I did realize was that everything seemed to be written in what resembles Chinese or Japanese. But it could all mean something else.
I looked around to see a captain''s chair and walked over to it, and sat down. I looked at all the buttons on it and the console in front of me and pursed my lips. "Thurul, have you pressed all the buttons here?"
"We have not. We do not dare touch anything recklessly in case it makes it explode." Thurul exined. I nodded at his exnation as I reached over and pressed the big red button in front of me. I mean, why not, right? As I did this, the whole ce suddenly lit up.
"Ah¡ it didn''t explode," I said with a wide grin. I really did not expect the lights toe on after pressing the button. But I felt that it was safe due to the fact that there was another red button to my right in a locked clear case. Now I would not touch that button because normally, that meant whatever that button did was not good. "Thurul. No one is allowed to touch this button here."
Chapter 377 The Ship Part 2
377 The Ship Part 2
"Says the person who just touched the big red button!" Thurul yelled out. I am sure he had a cold sweat dripping down his back when the lights came on. He probably thought the ship would blow up!
"Haha!" I let out augh.
"Haha! My dwarf ass! Faith, you are ying with fire by just randomly pressing buttons!" Thurul stomped his feet and snorted. Well, he is right but still.
"Well¡. I mean, who would put a self destruct in a spot that would easily be hit? I just figured it would be okay. I mean, look over there. That console has warning bars and a cover over the big yellow button. I bet that is for weapons or something else. While this button next to my feet is locked up and double covered. So as long as we do not hit this button, we are good, right?" I asked with a smile while Thurul rubbed his beard in frustration.
"Well, at least now there is power to the ship, but please do not touch anything else!" Thurul seemed exhausted. I smiled and stood up before thinking about something. I took out a crystal orb that connected to Jen and asked: "Jen, you busy right now?"
Just sitting here reading. "What is up?" Jen asked.
"Did you ever learn Chinese or Japanese?" I asked. Jen had many more years of reading in her than I did, so I hoped she might have picked up thenguages.
"Mmm¡ Enough to understand what I was reading. Why do you ask?" Jen answered.
"Can I bring you to the hangar and have you take a look at some things? I will talk to the dean for you." If Jen could read the writing here, then maybe we would be one step closer to being able to make this thing work.
"Alright,e get me." Jen pursed her lips. She looked reluctant to put her book down. I smiled and disappeared before reappearing next to her. "Ahhh! What the hell is this!?"
"My new spell. Come." I grabbed ahold of Jen''s arm and disappeared once more, and reappeared on the bridge. "Wee to the Penterprise, my dear Pock"
"Very funny¡." Jen rolled her eyes and looked around. "Hmmm, a mix of Chinese and Japanese¡. Very strange but readable."
"Good now, can you tell me what the words are by this big red button here?" It was the very button I had just pressed.
"It says power on," Jen replied. I turned and smiled smugly at Thurul, who only crossed his arms in front of his chest and snorted. He then pointed to the button in the case. "Tell us what that says."
Jen looked at the words and answered: "It says self destruct, do not press unless you want to go boom."
"Haha! I knew it!" I yelled out as I pped my hands.
"Yeah yeah, but still, do not press any buttons until webel them." Thurul scolded me, causing me to stick my tongue out at him. But with Jen here, this meant she would now be able to trante the buttons, and they couldbel them. "Jen, help the dwarvesbel everything. It will be tedious, but it is needed."
"As you wish, Your Majesty." Jen bowed to me and gave me a teasing look. I smiled and poked her side. "Sorry, I should have asked and said please."
I really was too used to giving out orders. My manners have disappeared. I do not wish to make this a habit either, so I should watch how I speak unless I am in court or something. Time and ce for everything, right?
Once the dwarves found out that Jen could read the writing, she was surrounded almost instantly, causing her to be flustered. But she did begin working right away. It was decided the bridge would get priority before anything else.
With that settled, I went to find the dwarves that were inspecting the hangar with all the cars and other things in them as well as the new mechs. Thurul also decided to follow me for this as well since he had not had time to check on things here either.
So now I was currently standing in front of a three story tall mech that looked very simr to a dundam. But these were different. They were to be controlled by magic like an earth golem. This was the main reason why I needed to speak with the elven kingdom sooner rather thanter.
"This is quite impressive¡.. But I still do not understand where the idea even came for this¡." I never brought back any dundams so I am not sure what sparked this idea.
"It was the cars and the ship. The elder dwarf who made up the design thought it would be useful to have a humanoid machine that could move around on its own. And because we can freely create anything we want as long as it benefits the kingdom, they did not even hesitate to begin working on it, and now this is the first rendition. It''s called D." Thurul answered.
"D?" I looked up at the mech that actually did resemble a dwarf, so I guess that was the name because Thurul gave me the if you can not figure it out, you are an idiot look. "Never mind. So it doesn''t work yet, right? We need to do the inscriptions first?"
"Correct. It needs over a thousand inscriptions to work. So until we have the manpower, we will not be able to do much, never mind mass producing these. Even if we built a factory, it would take a long time to do." Thurul exined. I nodded. A thousand inscriptions was not an easy thing, that is for sure.
"Alright, then, I guess I will need to talk with Runa and see if we can somehow get enough elves out here to do this. I want to try to get a working prototype up and going before my coronation. It would be a perfect symbol of change for the new empire."
Chapter ?378 Binding Ward Barrier
?378 Binding Ward Barrier
"You want to show this off during your coronation?" Thurul looked at me in surprise.
"Mm¡ think about it. I am carried out in the palm of the hand of one of these in front of all the spies and delegates from other kingdoms. Do you think they will look down on me? While I know most know of my prowess already, this would double down on the fact that times will soon change. Plus, it will send a signal to the people. That we are bound for greatness!" I exined. I mean, the main reason would be just because it would look very cool.
"This is true¡." Thurul rubbed his chin and nodded his head. "Welp, I will leave the elves to you. Those long ears never liked us, dwarves, much."
"I will do what I can," I replied as I looked around. I could see many dwarves pulling the cars apart and inspecting every piece, trying to figure out how they worked. Seeing how things were slowly moving along, I decided to go down to the forest where the bee dungeon was to try to finish the magic circle that would form a barrier to allow people to bypass the binding effect.
Luckily I can now move more freely with my new Dimensional Transfer skill. I quickly arrived in front of the forest, where the fog was very thick, and sat down in front of it. I quickly scribbled the previous magic circle on the ground and began adding in the barrier portion of the spell into it. Mixing it with the binding warding.
"If I do this here and add this into this¡." I pursed my lips and tapped my bottom lip with my finger as I tried to work out the spell.
Only after an hour did I finallye up with something that might work. My eyes lit up as I cast the spell, only to find out that I would need to be a mouse to make it through it. I knelt down and peeked into the space I made and saw that it even stopped only after a few feet. "I need to somehow boost the warding effect more¡."
I quickly went back to the drawing board as I began working on the magic circle once more. As the hours passed and many trials and errors, I finally came up with half of the result that I was looking for. "While it is at least reaching the entrance of the dungeon, the height¡."
The tunnel was no taller than my waist, which made me frown a little. "Let''s try tripling the warding effect by using the same runic equation a few times¡."
With this thought in mind, I went back to work. Once again, a few more hours passed, and after working things out to stabilize the spell so it would actually cast, I finally gained the result I was looking for. "Done!"
With the new barrier tunnel put into ce, I put a seal on the barrier for the time being, as we were not ready to have people entering it just yet. People could leave if they were already in the dungeon, but they could not enter.
With this set, I used some earth magic to make a tablet that warns people not to enter this dungeon. I will not stop people from trying to enter, as everyone has the right to decide what they want to do on their own. But with this warning here, hopefully, it will deter those whoe here since they will know what to expect when entering. I could just stick a barrier up, but I do not wish to do that at this time.
With this set, I headed back home. Inded in my bedroom to find the girls all sitting on the couch, seemingly discussing something once more. My room has be their hang out. While we were married, they still had their own rooms because everyone needed their open space, and I would also be having nights with Diablo. So this just made things easier.
"What are you girls doing?" I asked as I walked over and leaned over the back of the couch, and rested my chin on top of Iena''s head. She was the tallest, so she made the perfect chin rest!
"Faith, you are back. We were talking about what we should do from now on. Freidinia has been working on a way for us to all be able to be impregnated by you, but she has not figured it out just yet. Although she does think she is close with her current concoction, but she will need to test it out to make sure it works." Adel exined. I smiled hearing this because these girls all wish to carry on the family line. As my wives, they already stated that they wished to give birth to my child. Which I am not against, but I still worry about the current future with these unstable times.
"Oh? Why are you thinking about what you should do?" I was still confused about what they were up to.
"Well, we can''t just get pregnant at the same time. So we were deciding on a n. We were thinking of spacing it out by a month each. What do you think?" Adel asked.
I chuckled and ced my hand on top of her head, and ruffled her hair. "Do you think it will be possible to n something like this? You can n all you want but if things do not go as nned, it will get messed up. Creating life is not an easy task. It takes time and the right moment. You can try for years and still not get pregnant."
"Ahh! I never thought about that." Adel pursed her lips and looked at the n they had just worked on, and frowned. "I guess we''ll just have to wait and see how it goes."
"Freidinia may be able to tell you when the best time is as well. Or maybe even one of the doctors here. I am not sure about all this stuff. I just know how babies are made." I did not know all the other things, but I do know that sometimes people can never have a baby, whether it is the man or the woman, it does happen. It even happens on this world as well. It''s just the natural course of things.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter ?379 A Trip To The Elven Kingdom
?379 A Trip To The Elven Kingdom
With a month away from my coronation to be the first empress of the Cyrilia Empire, I was currently on my way to the elven kingdom, World Tree Kingdom. The kingdom gets its name from the huge tree that grows in the center of the kingdom that the castle is built in front of. The whole kingdom is basically a forest and has no visible towns or cities as they are all hidden under the tree canopies except for the capital city, which is slightly visible.
I read up a lot on this kingdom in order to visit it one day, and now here I am, standing in front of the gates of the city, waiting for a certain person to pick me up. How I got here so quickly, some may ask. Well¡ Dimensional Transfer has a small loophole in it that I can easily take advantage of. The spell works as a beacon to ces I have visited, but if I use images of a ce, I can easily reach my destination since I already know where I am going.
I had originally wanted to just have Runa send a few people over my way without needing toe to the kingdom, but Runa insisted on me visiting and speaking to her father. With no other option, I was now here with three elven guards standing in front of me, watching me like a hawk with swords pointing at me.
You can say having someone suddenly pop out of nowhere in front of the capital city''s main gate would cause a scene. Luckily I have my envoy insignia, and they were willing to make a report for me.
Sadly I still had to stand there under sword point for almost thirty minutes before Runa appeared: "Lower your weapons! How dare you point your swords at my friend!"
Runa looked quite mad as she walked over, pointing her finger at the guards, who were all startled. I smiled and shook my head as I said: "Runa, you can not get mad at guards who were doing their job. After all, our world''smunication systems are not the best."
"It doesn''t matter. You still have a seal of an envoy on you which means you are a guest in our nation, which means they have not followed proper procedure. They should have taken you to a room to rest while you waited for me to show up and should not have made you stand there under sword point. For one, it could have gotten them killed if they acted out of line and would have caused an international incident, mainly you annexing our elven empire!" Runa snorted as she pointed out many things, but one thing that stood out was she was really making me into a tyrant!
"Runa, I am not that bad!" I tried to argue. But she only gave me a look before saying: "In a single day, you single handedly took over three kingdoms all by yourself, even with their advanced technology. You then went to another kingdom on your way to the dwarven empire and annexed it. In another kingdom, you stole their mountain range and forced them to all treat you like their queen. And then¡."
"Okay, stop!" I yelled out. So what if I did a few dirty deeds? No one is clean in this world! At least mine was for the benefit of my people!
But her words did seem to make the three guards sweat because they were now drenched, and it was not even raining out. "Anyway, I am here like you requested."
"Hehe! Finally, I get Faith all to myself! Come, we will now go on an adventure!" Runa grabbed my hand and began dragging me through the gates. The guards who followed her all looked at each other with worried expressions before following after us.
"Runa, I did note where to y. That would need to wait until after my coronation!" I really did note to y. I had many things to n out!
"Don''t worry. Didn''t you say you had three days at most to hang around ande hang out with me for a while? It has been so long!" Runa pouted, which made me feel bad. It is true that I have not really spent much time with this friend of mine. So I can see why she is so excited.
But I must say, as we walked through the gates that were made out of tree roots that arched over the thick earthen walls, I was quite impressed with the city in front of me. Manyrge leaves floated across the sky as a form of transportation. There were many vine woven bridges going between the tree tops to wooden huts that were built on the tree limbs themselves. The trees here were massivepared to the ones outside but still dwarfedpared to the world tree that rose high into the sky to the point that I think the tip actually went into the outer atmosphere.
In stories I have read back on Earth, the world tree was the tree that gave life to every living thing on the. But I think this world tree is not as it seems and is more of a spirit. The reason I say this is because of the small spirits that are currently hanging from my tail, wings, and clothes.
"Stay away from my Faith!" Little Bell suddenly flew out of her space and began smacking all the spirits away. She was being quite possessive for a spirit who rarely showed herself.
"Little Bell, don''t be mean," I said softly as I pulled the little spirit back and ced her on my head.
"But¡. They are trying to steal you away¡." Little Bell pouted. I smiled and poked her belly. "Don''t worry. No one will take me away, plus only you have your own domain inside my body. So how can they steal me?"
"Ah!" Little Bell seemed to be struck by lightning as this rtion dawned on her. "Hehe, I forgot. But Bell wishes to see the ancient if that is okay."
"We will have to see. I am not sure if I will be allowed to get near the tree." With Little Bell''s words, I guess my assumption about the world tree was true. It was indeed a spirit. An ancient one at that it seems.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 380 A Look Around
380 A Look Around
¡°If your little one wishes to see the ancient, I can bring you there. Normally no one is allowed near the ancient, but since you are loved by the spirits, an exception will be made.¡± Runa said, causing Little Bell to p her little hands happily.
¡°Good for you, Little Bell, you will be able to see the ancient,¡± I said with a smile.
¡°Mmmmm! Let¡¯s go!¡± Littler Bell called out happily.
¡°Let¡¯s take a look around first as we make our way there,¡± Runa suggested, which even Little Bell agreed on. Since I was here, I might as well take in some of the sights. After all, it¡¯s not every day I get to make a trip to the elven kingdom.
One thing I noticed was the stares I was getting from the elves as we passed by them. I can understand why. It is not every day they see outsiders like me roaming around on the streets. I had not seen any race besides elves out on the streets, which meant it was a very closed off nation.
From what I could tell, the top portion of the trees was where people lived, while the bottom section had many shops. Not just built next to the trees but also many stalls that stood out on the streets that people walked down. There were no carriages or anything like that on the lower level. Foot traffic seemed to be the main way people went from ce to ce, but there were these things called leaf winds. It was arge leaf that used wind magic to keep it in the air and travel to a certain destination. I saw many pick up stations, kinda like bus stations, along the streets that allowed people to move freely around the city at a fast pace.
Just seeing such an innovative idea made me want to implement such a system in our cities as well since it would reduce the need for scaled horses and less mess on the roads. While this might cut up some of the cleaners¡¯ jobs, it would reduce the risk of disease as well.
The more I looked around, the more unique things I spotted. Some trees had vines that were attached to tforms that worked as elevators to move people up and down to the levels near the footbridges. Everything used a certain kind of wind magic which surprised me in the way they were able to inscribe such intricate runic inscriptions to make full use of wind magic in many ways I would never have thought of.
¡°So, how is it?¡± Runa asked.
¡°Truthfully, it is filling me with ideas. Your way of innovation with runic inscriptions amazes me. I already have many ideas on how to implement such things for the empire I n to build upon more modern technology. I do hope the time your people stay in my city to help with such things will allow them to implement these things within your own kingdom as well. After all, I do n to join a no hold bar alliance with your elven alliance. I want our two nations to be able to grow and prosper alongside each other.¡± I had nned to make things tight lipped but I think if the empire I am aspiring to create and the Elven kingdom can be sister states where we share and trade with each other without restrictions, then I think we can easily be allies who will defend each other no matter what. This will allow us to grow strong and prosper together in many ways.
While I know the eleven kingdoms will not be able to use a lot of the things I n to make for my kingdom due to them not being nature friendly, they will at least be able to have the forest outskirts defended by this technology. Of course, we will be doing free trade between the two nations as well, which will mean a portal that will allow for free passage would need to be created.
As such new internationalws will need to be created in order to make sure that any crimesmitted by citizens of our nations do not go unpunished and create tension between us. I do not wish to arrest some elven noble and have to go to war over such a thing. We would need an international court that would have both elf representatives and Cyrilia Empire representatives.
So many things were flooding into my mind as we continued to walk through the city. This was filled with sprites, so glowing balls of light were flying all over, making it look like a truly magical ce.
We walked for a while before finally taking one of the leaves to the elven pce where the elven royal family lived and Runa¡¯s home. As for the guards who were following us, they were left behind a long time ago. But I can say that I truly liked the air of this city. It was a harmonious ce. It feltforting being here. Even with all the curious stares I got, not one person said anything or treated me differently. Even in the first shop we went into, they did not say anything mean to me and greeted me with a smile. I guess a lot of that has to do with Runa being with me, but still, there was no hint of any hatred in their eyes which most would have when faced with a stranger such as myself.
The pce was the only thing that was different. I had called it a castle earlier during our walk, and Runa specially corrected me and said it was a pce. It was made of what was called moonlight ore, a rare ore that the elves mined under the roots of the world tree. It was in high abundance as it has been sitting there for many, many years. The pce itself was carved out of arge chunk of this that the ancient had unearthed itself and presented to the elves for bing its protector.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 381 The Elven King
381 The Elven King
I was currently in arge room with two couches and a few guards lined against the wall. Next to me was Runa and on my shoulder was Little Bell. And hanging off me all over were many other spirits. Across from me was a male elf who looked around seventeen years of age but, in fact, was many hundreds of years old and was actually the king of the elves, Zanil, Runa¡¯s father. And next to him was a woman who looked Runa¡¯s age at fifteen who sat next to him who also was a lot older than she looked by a few hundred years and was, in fact, Runa¡¯s mother, Nal, the queen of the elves.
¡°To think, after all this time we finally get to meet the one person who my daughter always goes on about. Your achievements can be said to have spread far and wide.¡± The king of the elves gave me a meaningful look. I mean, yes, I have done a lot, but does he need to look at me as if I am some kind of piece of meat?
¡°I only have done things in order to protect my kingdom and family. I am just a humble girl who never wanted too much fame.¡± I replied, only to have Runa burst outughing.
¡°You have never kept a low profile!¡± Runa was holding her stomach as sheughed while leaning against me, causing me to purse my lips.
¡°It¡¯s not like I meant to! Do you know how many times that old man kept trying to trick me into taking his throne!? If not for the fact that I wanted to marry Adel, I would not have been given the throne in the first ce! I just wanted to y with magic and live a life of amander while exploring the world in my free time. But now look!¡± I whined, but this only caused Runa tough even more.
¡°Ahem¡ Runa, you shouldn¡¯tugh at other¡¯s misfortune.¡± The elven king said while trying to reprimand Runa. But looking at his lips twitching, I couldn¡¯t help but say: ¡°It does not sound very convincing when you are holding back your ownughter!¡±
¡°Hehe¡. Runa has found a good friend.¡± The elven queen smiled as she covered her mouth. I let out a long sigh as I watched this family of three pick on me.
¡°At any rate. I do not wish for any of this, but now that I will be having my coronation soon, I will not ck either. And this is why I am here. King of Elves, I request your assistance. Ie today with the full authority of the crown princess to form an alliance between the current Gravos Kingdom, soon to be renamed the Cyrilia Empire, and your World Tree Kingdom. I wish for our two nations to form a pack of loyalty and trust that allows for free and open trade as well as full defensive capabilities between the two nations.¡± I got into my serious mode as I began to speak.
¡°Hmmm¡ what do you mean by full defensive capabilities?¡± The elven king asked. He also entered his kingly mode.
¡°I mean, if your nation is attacked, we wille to defend you and vice versa. But this also means you will need to understand my reasoning and ns for the future. As of now, there are not many people on this continent who can surpass me in power. If I wish to take thend, I can. But this is not my goal or vision for the future.
¡°Right now, we are in a state of the unknown. I have discovered two different forces that can be a threat to our world. One is a man who is able to bypass my barriers without leaving any traces whatsoever, and then there is Azengrade and his people, who seem to be up to something. I am sure you have heard of what happened in the dwarven kingdom. They are a race of extremely powerful beings who seem to have some kind of influence over the dungeons. Even my husband can not fight Azengrade ande out unscathed. He even admitted to not knowing if he could beat him. This is just how powerful they are.
¡°Because of these unknown factors, I want to unite the continent. And do away with very against us demi human races and human races. The best kingdom has started enving humans, as you may know already. I do not wish for us to fight and would prefer not to use force to achieve my goals, but¡.¡± I paused, and before I could finish what I was going to say, the king of elves finished it for me. ¡°Not everyone will see eye to eye with your cause¡.¡±
¡°I understand this much, which means that we may be called out to fight at any time. Is this correct?¡± The elven king asked.
¡°If we can, I would prefer to go with the new golems that the dwarves are creating. This can be done manually or auto. I do not wish for bloodshed and want the people around me to feel like they are not being sent to battle to be cannon fodder. I do not want anyone to die if possible. But I think with the threats we have now against us, I can only move on with my current ns and hope for the best whether I can get people to join a continent wide alliance or if I have to use force to make them understand that some battles should not be fought to begin with.¡± I mean, if the people who first reject and try to go to battle, then I will send troops out, but if they suddenly change their minds, we can only stop tension and talk about how we will do things. This way, bloodshed can be avoided as much as possible.
¡°I see. And to do this you need the assistance of elven runic inscription masters to help the dwarves with their golem creations?¡± The elven king seemed to be trying to get all the facts before making a decision. ¡°Can I see this creation you speak of?¡±
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter ?382 Forming An Alliance
?382 Forming An Alliance
"I can not show you unless you are willing to form an alliance with me. Our alliance will differ from other kingdoms as we will have a full free trade alliance that will allow us to freely move back and forth between the nations. With certain restrictions on people who have been arrested in either nation. If you are willing to form the alliance, then I can show you everything I have nned and in the works to ensure both our nation''s safeties." I would not give out or show what I had on hand for nothing. After all, only when an alliance was formed would we both have the means to truly trust each other. I am not saying that the elves are untrustworthy, but I can not risk the lives of my soon to be citizens.
"Hmmm¡." The elven king looked at me before nodding his head. "You are young but smart. I figured I would ask this question because you were Runa''s friend. I wanted to see if you would give out the knowledge freely before even forming an alliance with me. I know Runa has seen the things but is unable to speak about them, no matter how many times I tried to fish for information. But do not look down at me. I am a king, after all, and anything that may benefit my kingdom and my people is something I have to look into. But you know that this alliance that you speak of will force all of our citizens of both nations into a pact that will not allow any of us to harm one another. This alliance you speak of will be one that we can never go back on from the moment it is sealed. So if you ever wanted to take over my elven kingdom, you would never be able to."
I chuckled as I answered: "I may seem like a warmonger, but that is not the case. I would prefer to form an alliance between all nations. Which will support one another and not fight for measly gains because that only ruins the lives of the soldiers who die, their families, and our citizens. Everyone will be affected by it. So a peaceful pact between nations is something we should be able to give rise to. Our best minds between nations working together for one purpose is better than everyone being wary of the other, is it not?"
"Hahaha! You are right! We elves always prefer peace. This is why we rarely mingle with other kingdoms, but this time as you have said, times are not very good. There are too many unknowns, and if my people are alone in this matter, it will result in us being targeted by many. As such, I would prefer to be in a rtionship with your empire that is about to bloom and follow your lead in hopes of making a continent that is truly at peace." The elven king replied with a smile. He looked very satisfied with my answers thus far. Inwardly I was breathing a sigh of relief because Runa was my friend. I did not wish to be enemies over any of this. We would still be two separate nations just working towards the same goal.
Whether any of this is good for the world or not, I do not know. I am following the path that many on earth have tried to tread many times before. World wars were started in this way. But that does not mean I will sit idly and allow ourselves to be consumed by greater powers and threaten the safety of my people. The dwarven kingdom is an example of this. If I had not gone there when I did and discovered the issue, we would not have known that there was someone pulling the strings from behind the scenes. There was no telling what would have happened. The kingdom might have fallen, the king would have been ousted, and the stupid prince would have been made a puppet ruler who would only suck the kingdom dry, even more, making the lives of billions of people worse to the point that a civil war would have probably broken out and only when the Azengrade''s people appeared to stop it would things reallye to show.
But this is all spection on my part, as I have no idea what they had nned. They may be nning something else for all I know. But from everything that I have heard so far, this seems like the best assumption for this whole mess.
Why such powerful beings are hiding in the dark, I do not know, unless there are many unknowns in this world that are blocking them as well. Whatever it is, I do wish I could see it for myself. After all, it would at least shine some light on the mystery of this race of beings who appeared out of nowhere.
"Then we should work out what will go into the contract." The elven king waved his hand, and a servant came over with a pen and paper. I noticed he was using one of my pens which made me smile.
For the next few hours, we worked out our alliance pact, which covered everything from military to trade, as well as rules andws that would need to be followed in case someone somehow broke the contract on them andmitted a crime. Everything was pretty simple. For military, if one was attacked, the other nation would send aid no matter what. If I moved to annex a territory, the elven people would gain control of any forest and the spirits domain. This did not stop people from entering the forest to hunt and whatnot, but it would allow the elves to regte certain species that were considered necessary for the forest''s growth. As for them gaining the sprite''s domain, it would only be on an in name basis only since no one owned that but the spirits themselves, but they would be in charge of protection as the elves are the protectors of the spirits.
For trade, the elves would build a small town where many things could be traded at the edge of the forest. This will be where the teleport would be set up, and it would allow trade with my citizens and also allow for regtion on certain items, as some things were not allowed in elven cities or territories. The same would be done on my side of things as well.
We wanted free trade, but this still had to have some limits due to the different cultures. As for the other things, I would disclose them all to the elven king once the contract has been set between our two nations to never disclose any information about our military capabilities. Then I would bring him directly to the hangars to get a first hand look for himself.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 383 The Ancient Part 1
383 The Ancient Part 1
After several hours of working out the ins and outs of our agreement, the elven king and myself stood in front of one another and dripped a drop of blood on the magic circle under our feet. We then had to press the palms of our hands together and began saying the special incantation. "We the leaders of our nations herebymit to the terms of the national contract that will bind our two nations together for all eternity. From this day forth, we will be allies without restraint."
A bright light formed around us and shot up into the air. This light spread out into billions upon billions of smaller lights and rained down over our two nations, hitting every person no matter what they were doing. They could have been going to the bathroom or bathing. They were still hit with this light, and a magic contract was formed in their body. Words of the contract sprung up in their heads, telling them that they were now bound never to harm either nation. At least, this is what Runa told me once the contract was over.
"That was not something I wish to do ever again! having voices appear in your head suddenly creeps me out." Runa cried out. But sadly for her, it will happen many more times soon. While this restrained us from hurting each other, it didn''t go as far as to stop a normal fight. If people argue, they argue there is nothing that can be done about that. We mainly narrowed it down to acts such as kidnapping, very, murder, or over harming someone. Racism was not allowed, but you could curse one another as long as there was no racist intention. The result would be immediate punishment by shocking a person on the first offense, a stronger shock on the second offense that will paralyze the person for a few days, and the third offense will cause permanent paralysis and teleportation to a prison where they would stay until the person has been dealt in court.
You also could not harm the security of either nation. Any actions that would harm either nation would result in the person being teleported to prison without a second thought. We originally had the idea to just kill the person, but we did not want to do that in case the magic misinterpreted something that was not actually harming either nation. When cultures collide, people will make mistakes, this much we knew, so we had to handle this delicately.
All in all, I was very happy we were able toe to an understanding so quickly. It only took a day and a half for everything. "Faith, can we go to see the ancient now?"
Little Bell seemed to be bing impatient. It was now early morning, and while I would like to at least get a nap in, I decided to just take Little Bell to the ancient as I promised. "Alright, let''s go. Runa, can we go see the ancient?"
"You can, but are you sure you do not want to sleep?" Runa asked. I shook my head and smiled as I poked the silly spirit on my shoulder. When Runa saw me do this, she smiled and said: "Okay, then let''s head there now. Just so you know, we will need to pass through three checkpoints to get there."
"Alright." I had figured the ancient was heavily guarded, but when we came to the hall in the pce, the only entrance to where the ancient lived, I was really surprised at how heavily guarded the ancient was. It was more guarded than the elven king. This just went to show you how important the ancient was to the elven people. Its safety came first, even before its king.
"Halt! No outsiders are allowed through!" Arge burly elf, something I never thought I would ever see, stood in front of us with his spear pointing directly at us. I was surprised because he was pointing it right at Runa. "Princess, you know that you need proper clearance beforeing down this hall. Royalty or not, you will be killed if you try to press forward. "
"You can not stop us due to the spirit on Princess Cyrilia''s shoulder." Runa pointed at Little Bell. Little Bell looked at them, and the guards looked back at her, but they still did not budge.
"Spirit or not. We still can not let you pass." The guard was still firm in his stance, but at that moment, a great gust of wind came from the hall, and an old ancient voice echoed through it.
"Let them through. I must speak with the little one and the child of dragons¡." The voice was calm and seemed filled with wisdom. As soon as it spoke, the guards all stood at attention and moved to the side and bowed.
"I apologize. You may go through." The guard who was once holding a spear to our necks bowed and apologized. I did not me him for his actions. This was just how much these people revered the ancient.
We walked down the hall, where more and more guards began to appear and stand at attention. By the time we got to thest check one, though, there was only one old elf standing there. I secretly used appraisal on him.
[Rsh]
[Level: 3402]
Seeing his level, I almost had my eyes drop out of my head. Level 3402 was not something I was expecting! The old man looked up at me with a small frown as he said: "Littledy, you should not pry into one''s personal space¡."
"Ah¡ sorry." I quickly apologized. I never thought I would be caught!
"It''s fine, but just remember, not everyone is as humble as I am. The ancient wishes to see you and the little one on your shoulder but no one else. So, princess, I am sorry, but you must wait here." Rsh had no hostility in his voice, but the way he spoke showed he was not going to argue about anything. Runa, who stood at my side with pursed lips, could only nod her head.
I had originally thought this was going to be easy, but it seems not everything is as it seems in this world. Runa did make it sound simple to go see the ancient, but I guess she was betting on Little Bell to allow her to move through. So when my gaze fell on her, she quickly turned to look away with red cheeks.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter ?384 The Ancient Part 2
?384 The Ancient Part 2
"Runa¡." I called out her name, which made her ears turn red. Finally, she turned to me and bowed her head. "I am sorry I have never met the ancient myself. Even my father needs to have a good reason to disturb the ancient."
I smiled and patted her head. "It''s fine. But next time, tell me before we are faced with guards. I do not wish to start an international incident after forming an alliance with your kingdom."
"Princess, you have made a good friend. Now, please do not keep the ancient waiting." Rsh broke up our little moment. I smiled and walked forward, and bowed my head slightly to Rsh before pushing open the gates made of thorns and walked into the open space in front of me.
The ground was covered in lush grass with only a small dirt path that led to the trunk of the huge tree in front of me. Little Bell stayed perched on my shoulder as she hugged my neck. It seemed she was also very nervous at this time. But as we reached the trunk in the very front was a table made of roots with a few seats that were also made of roots sitting in front of it. Sitting in one of the seats was a young woman with barely anything on. She had green skin and long grass like hair with leaves covering her privates. To be honest, she was a beauty, but I knew she was not really human. She poured what looked like tea from a wooden kettle into wooden a cup and ced it by the other seat.
When she was done, she looked up at me, and without opening her mouth, she smiled and said: "Child of dragons. Please sit."
I nodded and walked over, and sat down. As I did, a smaller seat and table appeared on top of the table with a small cup. The woman then waved her hand, causing a bit of the tea from the kettle to fly out andnd in the smaller cup. "You too, little one."
Little Bell smiled and flew off my shoulder, and sat down in her seat. I also sat down and took the wooden cup. I brought the cup to my mouth and took a sip.
[Sap of the world tree]
[All stats permanently raised by 10,000]
I almost stood up in shock. But I was able to keep myposure. Instead, I smiled and said: "This is very tasty. Slightly sweet but not too much, with a mellow aftertaste. I really like it."
"I am d to hear that. I only prepare this tea every one million years. It has been a long time since I have gotten to have this tea. So please sit and enjoy it with me." The woman said with a smile. She seemed very noble from how she talked but what surprised me was that tea could only be drunk every one million years! This was a bit shocking!
Seeing my shock, the woman giggled as she said: "I hardly have anyone here to keep mepany. And when I felt your presence, I did hope you woulde to see me. My name is Nalia. I am the world tree''s spirit. Or should I say that I am the world tree itself."
Hearing Nalia''s words confirmed my suspicions, but it was really different from what I was expecting. "My name is Faith Cyrilia. It is a pleasure to meet you. Next to me is Little Bell, mypanion."
"Yourpanion is very cute and is still young. She will grow up to be someone who can truly help you in the future. But for now, she still needs to take in the world''s energy. Once she has taken in enough, she will evolve into a new form that will be able to wield greater power. At that time, you two will be able to form a merger contract allowing you to wield yourpanion''s powers as your own. But child of dragons¡ No, I am sorry I should call you Faith. Faith. I hope you can promise me that the power that you will gain from spirit merger will not be abused. Such power can easily end this world if used wrongly.
"I can tell the two of you have one hundred percent trust in one another. I can see this as clear as day, but I still must ask you to never abuse this child''s power." Nalia lowered her head to me as she said this, which made me grow flustered.
"Please raise your head. I swear on my life that I will never abuse such power. In fact, I do not think I will ever need it as I am now." I really did not think I would ever need to use Little Bell''s power. I just did not see the need to at this time.
"No¡. There wille a day when you will need it. But please do be careful." Nalia did not exin when or why I would need to. She only said I would need to one day. Seeing as she did not exin, I also did not ask as I also kind of did not want to know. So far, knowledge of the future to me is a scary thing. While it can help in trying to avoid disaster, it can also be a burden and add more stress on me when I do not need more than I already have.
"I promise I will be careful to never abuse such power," I replied firmly. She smiled and waved her hand. An apple fell into it from above and then suddenly split open into many slices and was ced on the table. "This is quite sweet this time of year. Please try some."
I smiled and reached over, and took a slice. I bit into the apple slice and felt a rush of vor enter my mouth. I almost let out some embarrassing noises as the fruit melted in my mouth and slipped down my throat without me even needing to swallow it. "This¡."
"It is a fruit of the world tree. It has the effect of refreshing one''s body and expunging the impurities within them. I wanted to allow you to feel as if you were reborn, and it seems to be taking quite the effect. I will prepare a bath for you and a new set of clothes." Nalia smiled as she looked at me. When I looked down, I saw ck sticky stuff all over my body!
[Fruit of the World Tree]
[Attack Power permanently raised by100000]
Chapter ?385 Sworn Sisters
?385 Sworn Sisters
I stared nkly at the message that popped up, only to hear a giggle at my side. "There is not much I can give you, but these two things should help you in the future. You should wash up and change your clothes."
After a hot bath, I walked out in a fresh set of clothes that were made from the leaves of the world tree. However, there were no special stats on them. It was just a long green dress. When Nalia saw me, she smiled as she said: "Faith¡. You are more¡.. Never mind. Time will say it all¡."
Hearing Nalia''s words confused me. Why did she start saying something but then stop? I guess she saw my frown because she giggled as she covered her mouth. "Do not dwell on my words. Just think of it as me misspeaking. "
I could only sigh as she began talking about other things. We spoke about trends in the cities for clothing and snacks and many other things. Nalia was a very chatty person, but I guess with so few people to talk to, this was a given. Not many were allowed toe and talk with her. So after many hours of talking, Nalia''s expression looked very lonely as she looked up at the darkening sky. "It is getting dark. You should head back."
I stood up but did not turn to leave, instead, I walked over, and under the shocked gaze of Nalia, I gave her a hug. And then handed her a crystal orb. "If you ever wish to talk or want me toe see you use this. By injecting a bit of mana into it, you will be able to speak to me." I would have suggested for her to speak to Runa, but I was unsure if that was okay as Runa was an elf. I did not wish to make decisions for her.
Nalia looked at the orb in her hand and then back at me, and a smile bloomed on her face as she held the orb close to her. "In all my years¡. You are the only one to truly understand me. The elves mean well, and they treat me as some kind of deity, but still, even deities get lonely from time to time¡. Faith, the child of dragons¡. I thank you."
"We are now friends. Thanking me sounds too stiff. I will call you Sister Nalia from now on. We can now be sworn, sisters." I was unsure if this was right, but I felt a close connection to Nalia as we spoke. We really got along well. I did not wish for this to be ourst meeting.
"Sworn sisters¡" Nalia lowered her head. She then nodded and reached out and touched my forehead. "From this moment on, we will truly be sisters." I felt a small pinch on my forehead as Nalia pressed her finger on it. Soon I felt something enter my mind. I closed my eyes and saw a tiny green light within my mind.
"With this, you will be seen by all spirits as my sister. They will acknowledge you as one of their own." Nalia exined as she gave me a hug. "Sister, go and sleep. I will contact you in the future."
I smiled and nodded my head. Nalia was really a kind soul. "Then I will talk with you tomorrow. From now on, I will try to make contact at least once a day this way¡. You will never be lonely again. And¡." I leaned down and whispered: "If you can keep it a secret, I cane visit you every now and then as well without the elves knowing."
Nalia smiled and nodded her head. "I would like that very much."
"Then I will visit again. Oh right¡. Sister, would it be okay if I put up a stronger barrier? I do worry for your safety." I asked. I knew this was a bit out of left field, but I worried that with the way the world was now that someone might target here.
"It''s fine. The barrier that is up now is just an elven barrier, but if I were to cast one, not even Azengrade could break through it. You should go. Your friend has waited a long time." Nalia''s words once more surprised me! She knew Azengrade! Knowing Nalia, she could definitely not answer any more questions now that she was shooing me away, so I could only sigh as I waved goodbye to her and walked back down the small path toward the exit. But before I left, I paused my steps and yelled out. "Little Bell!"
"Hehe!" I heard her giggle as she flew over andnded on my shoulder. I poked her stomach, causing her to giggle and me to shake my head. This little one has a lot of trouble sometimes. I would be afraid of not being able to get Little Bell back if I left her there.
As I walked out, Runa was talking with Rsh over a cup of tea. When they heard meing, they both looked at me, and the tea cups in their hands slipped and ttered onto the table, spilling the contents. They were both mouths open, staring at me. "What is wrong with you two?"
"Faith you!?" Runa suddenly got up and knelt on the ground, and so did Rsh.
"What are you two doing, please get up!? Are you ying a joke on me!?" I was a bit confused at this sudden reaction since Runa would never bow to me. Even if I was empress she would still act the same as she always has. This was what made Runa, Runa.
"But you have the mark of the priestess¡." Rsh was the one to answer me.
But his words made me purse my lips. But when I thought about it, I reached up and rubbed my forehead before creating a reflective piece of ice in front of me. And sure enough, I had a small green leaf imprint in the middle of my forehead. I knew I felt something, but I never expected this. "This is just something Sister Nalia put on me on a whim. Do not think too much about it."
"Sister?" Runa looked at me in surprise.
"Mmmm¡ Nalia and I decided to be sworn sisters." I did not see anything wrong with this. I mean, we were basically just making a verbal agreement, but now that I have this mark, maybe it wasn''t just verbal. Anyway, Nalia is a kind person, and I will not let her suffer from her lonely life.
Chapter 386 A Means
386 A Means
"Faith, do you realize that the mark on your head means you are now the priestess of the world tree? You are someone who is as holy as the ancient herself¡." Runa eximed with a hint of envy in her voice. But what can I say? I just said what was on my mind. I never asked to be some priestess and Nalia probably never thought of it that way either.
"Either way, Runa, it doesn''t change who I am. This is no priestess mark but a mark of sisterhood between Nalia and I. Do not think too much about it." I exined but the two in front of me still gave me strange looks. Well, they can just think what they want. "Anyway, Runa, let''s chat tonight since I need to return tomorrow. If you areing with the envoys and your father tomorrow you need to rest up and it is alreadyte so we can only chat for a short time."
"Ah right!" Runa nodded, and we finally left the long hall. Rsh seemed to want to ask me some questions, but I didn''t really want to stay too much longer.
Although it was kind of annoying that everywhere I went, I heard gasps and then people kneeling. When I be, empress, I might ban kneeling unless it is an official event. It is kind of tiresome. I can understand why some people would want to have people bow for them, but to me, it is unnecessary. I do not feel superior just because a person bowed to me. I feel ufortable. I mean, why bow? Just makes things more tedious.
We ended up chatting in the early morning hours. Unlike me, who was of a higher level than Runa, Runa was dead on her feet, so I had to help her to the throne room where the elven king was waiting. When he saw me, he wanted to bow, but I quickly stopped him. "Your highness, please do not do this. I hate this formal stuffiness."
"Ahem¡. Forgive me¡." The king seemed to not know what to do so I could only hold my head and wish the headache would disappear. "When everyone is gathered we will all need to hold hands in order to make the transfer to the hangar."
Why was I going straight to the hangar, some may ask? Well, that is mainly because if for any reason, someone tries to assassinate the elven king, I will have a better chance of protecting him in the hangar as its security is tighter than the castle itself.
It did not take long to have over a thousand elves bowing to me out of nowhere, making me want to cry. I quickly made them all stand up before having them all hold hands as I used my dimensional transfer skill to bring us to the hangar with the metal golem. When we arrived, the elves all looked around in awe, and Thurul quickly ran up to me. "You are back, and you brought so many elves!"
"Mmm¡. I think this many should be able to help you build at least this one mech before my coronation." I answered with a bright smile. I still couldn''t wait to walk out with this thing while riding on its hand.
"Haha! We will do what we can!" Thurul smiled. He had been working with the elder dwarf on this and seemed very excited. More excited than when I showed him my idea for the pen.
"I will be counting on you." I smiled before I gave directions to the elves to follow Thurul''s orders before taking the elven king for a tour. I showed him everything, including the ship, and he was quite surprised by the things he saw.
"I see why you wanted so many elves. In fact, I will be sending you moreover to help with the other projects. Your ideas are sound, and if brought to fruition, then we can save many lives on the battlefields toe." The elven king looked around in amazement which allowed me to feel a bit more at ease.
"Are you okay with all of this, though? I know your people are a peaceful race." I still felt bad for dragging the elves into my ambitions as they were kind people.
"It''s fine. We were once a warning nation ourselves in ancient times. And we still have quite the military force that still trains in the old ways. I am sure their skills will help reduce many deaths on the battlefield whether it is an enemy or not." The elven king replied.
"Then I will be counting on you." I smiled. We walked around a bit more and I exined more of my ns to him before he had to go back.
Runa stayed as she was now glued to the mech and would not leave it. But with her expertise in runic inscriptions I was a bit more at ease that things would go smoothly. With my job done I could finally rx as I returned to the house only for Freidinia to stop me. "Master, pleasee here."
"What''s up?" I asked as I followed her into theb. She quickly closed the door and put up a sound proofing barrier. Only then did she hold out a vial to me. I looked at the vial with a questioning gaze as I asked: This is?
"A means for you to get your wives pregnant. I did not tell them about this because I know they will y tricks as soon as possible since they seem to be dead set on giving birth to your child but this will allow you to mix your own¡. Well you know, down there, into their spot and there will be a one hundred percent chance for them to get pregnant." Freidinia was blushing.
I was blushing as well but what she said made sense. I nodded my head and quickly stuck it into my inventory before saying: "Do not let them know about this. I will only tell them when the time is right and things have settled down more. Thank you."
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 387 Coronation Part 1
387 Coronation Part 1
A few months passed quickly and I was currently being dressed up once more. Today was the day of my coronation, and I would officially be the first empress of the Cyrilia Empire. Thanks to the hard work and many sleepless nights of Runa and her team of elves, as well as the dwarves who have been working tirelessly as well, the mecha golem, mechazi had been born.
It is fully made of metal and is able to move quickly if needed. It can even fly! And this was the main thing I needed since I can not exactly walk down the street riding this thing. It is way too big and would not look as cool either. But if it flies down into the center of the city with me standing on its hand, it would definitely make an impression on all the watchful eyes.
Now normally an abdication of the throne and the coronation of a new king or queen or in this case empress, would be done inside a safe ce like the throne room and then streamed through water screens to the rest of the nation. But I do not need any protection so I wanted to make it so everyone could enjoy a fun celebration together. Plus, this helps out the small business as well as the big business, since they can set up stalls and sell their wares and other goods.
As such there seemed to be quite the festival going on outside. And I was currently in my estate being dressed to the nines in ck robes with a reddish orange dragon on it. At first, they wanted to put a phoenix on my robes, but I quickly stopped them since I was not a phoenix but a dragon!
It seems that, unlike the current king, a queen or empress is supposed to wear a bunch of different things to show off her status for special events like this, which I did not mind as long as it was only for the one day. But this required me to be poked and prodded all over by my wives as they cleaned every inch of my body and readied me to be presentable for the people below.
Why did they have to clean every inch of my body, one may ask¡ I don¡¯t even know, but I will say they were being very handsy! And so handsy that I was forced to p Adel who now had a red handprint on her face. I mean, what was she trying to do before my coronation!?
Anyway, I was now feeling a bit nervous as I knew I would need a nationwide speech as empress. I would like to just hand it over to someone else, but this was all part of the job, unfortunately.
¡°All done!¡± Grace, who was in charge of dressing me up, said in a very satisfied tone. ¡°Master looks as beautiful as ever.¡±
¡°Oh? Grace, should I marry you too?¡± I asked teasingly.
¡°Master, I am a servant, not an object of affection. I am here to serve you in anything you need and make sure you get up on time, or else you will bezy and never get anything done. I even have to¡.¡±
¡°Okay, stop!¡± I yelled out before she started rambling about embarrassing things. Grace has a tendency to not stop once she starts ranting about how I am not as perfect as she would like me to be. But if I was perfect, she would not have a job! So I think it is perfectly fine to be imperfect.
¡°Master, you should get ready to go out. I am sure your wives and husband are already waiting.¡± Grace quickly went back into work mode, which made me feel a lot better.
I took a deep breath and pumped my fists into the air as I got up and walked out of the room, followed by Grace. When I walked out, Adel and the others were indeed waiting for me, each wearing robes befitting their status as well as crowns on their heads. As for me, I would get a crown from the king as he transfers his position over to me.
¡°Faith, you look beautiful!¡± Adel was the first toment this was followed up by everyone else. ¡°Your girls and Diablo look beautiful and handsome. I am d you all will be by my side because I am quite nervous.¡±
¡°Mmm¡ count on us to give you all the support we can!¡± Sophie replied as she also pumped her fists.
I nodded and began walking out. From my house, I was going to teleport everyone into the air to where the mecha golem was already waiting for me high above the clouds. We really need to think of a name for this thing because I still do not know what to call it. But it¡¯s cool looking, and that is all that matters.
With everyone holding hands, we arrived at therge hand that was set up for me to stand on and smiled as I saw the king standing there waiting patiently. ¡°I could have teleported you, you know¡.¡±
¡°It¡¯s fine. These old bones needed some exercise.¡± I could tell this old man was basically jumping for joy because he was handing over his position to me, but sadly he would only have a short round of peace because I would need him to take over as soon as I finished doing my policy changes and begin dungeon diving. I nned to do an on off. Do a dungeon and then work as an empress for a few months, then do a dungeon and then work for a few months.
I really needed to level up after seeing so many high levels. I felt so weak. While yes, I was actually quite strong now, especially with my extra boast, that did not mean I was strong enough to fight Azengrade or anyone else atm. I had to be stronger and stronger so I could protect my family¡.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 388 Coronation Part 2
388 Coronation Part 2
¡°You are finally here.¡± The king, or should I now say Adel¡¯s father, said with a big bright smile.
¡°That I am. Is everything ready below?¡± I asked. We had to make sure everyone was ready to go. We did not want anyone to be caught off guard, as we still had to ensure everyone¡¯s safety.
¡°Yes, everything is a go. All the troops are in proper positions and will make sure no one gets hurt. So we can descend at any time.¡± Adel¡¯s father replied.
¡°Then let¡¯s get this show on the road. Lower us down!¡± I yelled out.
On my word, the entire metal golem shook as it came alive. It slowly began to fall down toward the ground using wind magic as a means to slow its descent. What surprised me was that they even took into ount the wind from flying around and added a barrier around the metal golem to keep us from being affected by it.
As the metal golem reached the ground, I was met with wide eyes from the citizens as we came to a stop hovering over the middle of the lower city. At this point and time, it was not my turn but the current king¡¯s turn. ¡°Citizens of the Gravos Kingdom! I, William Gravos, will be handing over my crown to a new generation. In the past years of my reign, I have done what I can to try to better the lives of the citizens of Gravos. But now there is someone much more suited than I to fill this role and bring you to new heights¡.¡±
¡°Shut up and let the new Empress speak to us!¡± A voice suddenly broke out from the crowd below.
¡°Yeah! Where is Empress Cyrilia? We want to see Empress Cyrilia!¡± Another voice rang out. I could see Adel¡¯s father¡¯s expression slowly turning gloomy. I sighed and stepped forward, and shouted: ¡°Do not interrupt! This is no way to show respect to a man who has worked hard for this kingdom, doing what he can to help you all.¡±
Everyone went dead silent. I snorted and turned to Adel¡¯s father, or I guess he is now my father as well since I did marry his daughter, and nodded. He gave me a grateful look before taking center stage again. ¡°I will make this short since you all do not like me¡. But I want to say that the path ahead will be different from the past years. Faith¡. Or more I should say Empress Cyrilia will now be taking the reins I have left and expanding upon them to bring this kingdom, no this empire, to a new future we would never have thought possible. We will soon enter a new era, and I hope you can give your new empress your full support. As of this moment, I, King Gravos, Abdicate my throne to Faith Cyrilia.¡±
Cheers filled the crows as Adel walked forward with a new crown that was specially made for me on a purple pillow with tassels on it. I knelt down in front of Adel¡¯s father and waited for him to ce the crown on my head. Only when he did and stepped back could I officially give my speech.
¡°I leave this kingdom in your hands.¡± Adel¡¯s father spoke softly as he ced the crown on my head.
¡°I will make sure the Cyrilia Empire flourishes and is brought into a new age, and I will protect the people of thisnd with everything I have.¡± This was my oath.
I stood up and turned to the crowd to hear the cheers and sounds of music going off below. Some people even let white birds go signaling a dawn of a new era. I took a deep breath as I raised my hand and looked at all the people below. ¡°As your new Empress, I would like to announce that the Kingdom of Gravos will now be named the Cyrilia Empire. We are now and that is too big to be considered a small kingdom anymore. We are a nation of multiple territories, and this will probably soon grow.
¡°As your Empress, I only have one goal in mind. Better the lives of my people and bring them into a new age. But sometimes, things are not so simple. There are powers out there who wish to ruin our peace, and these foes are extremely strong. What you see before you is the first prototype of a new mech golem. It is carefully designed by our brightest minds and will be expanded on much further in theing months. But this is just the tip of the iceberg. There will be much more toe, not only for national defense but also for personal use by our citizens. We are painstakingly working on new ways to make your lives easier, from the ability to have horseless carriages to how youmunicate with your parents who live in the next house over.
¡°There is a lot to be done and a lot that will take time, but these things will slowly progress and be released as they do to the general public once we know how to manufacture them properly. This means new jobs for those who are willing to learn and new ces to learn new skills to better your lives on the job front. No one should ever say I never had a fair chance in life because what I n to offer is open to everyone. Free schooling, free trade skill skills that you can use in everyday life to make money on your own or with apany, whichever suits you best.
¡°I will keep doing my best to help you, the citizens, grow and be smarter and bring you bright minds to use for the empire, like this metal golem who was thought up by a single man. He came up with the idea and worked hard to make a working prototype like this.
¡°Do your ideas and innovations need to be as grand as this? No! They can be simple things that will help even the mostmon of folk. I n to open up a call for talents to see if I can bring in even greater minds under my wing and expand even more on the front of a new future¡.¡±
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter ?389 Sudden Request
?389 Sudden Request
--AN) I changed the release time for this to 7pm EST. It makes things easier for me, and I do not need to rush chapters as much.--
"While I do hope for a future where things are different from how they are now, I also hope for a peaceful future as well. While I n to do as much as I can diplomatically as your Empress and try to form peaceful ties through alliances, I know this will not always be the case. I do not wish for war. I do not wish to take anyone''snd, but if the continent we are living on is not united, how will we face the greater threats that maye in the future? Just a short while ago, I formed an alliance with the elves. We did this peacefully, and now our people are able to trade freely between our nations.
"This is a peaceful way of uniting and bing one but¡.. There is still very in this world. There are people who despise our way of life and think either demi humans or humans should be enved. I know there is unrest, and some races can not forgive the other, but it is a proven fact that by me standing here now that humans and demi humans can get along. We do not need to despise each other. We do not need to hate each other. We can coexist without issue and even learn to love one another." I turned and pulled Adel forward along with Sophie. Iena and Diablo also stepped forward as well. This was all nned ahead of time, so this was no surprise to them.
"As you can see. I not only have a human wife. But also a foxkin wife. A demon wife and even a demon husband. I love all four of them dearly and will give my life for them. I will not sit still and allow what is easily attainable to disrupt the harmony of our empire. And I can not sit by when greater threats loom overhead, and we are all still at odds over petty things." Back on earth, I never understood war. What was the point? Send your soldiers out for them to get killed and rile up the people of your homnd. Why interfere in other people''s way of living? Why do things that make no sense? Why fight when it will only bring more suffering?
All these questions always went through my mind any time I watched the news with my father and mother during that time. But now¡. As I say all of this. I understand the meaning of war. While lives may be lost but if the cause of the war has meaning, then maybe the war is truly for a good cause. Whether my cause is right or not is another story.
I do not want people to die, nor do I wish for people to suffer the loss of their loved ones. This is why, if we go to war, I will stand on the front lines with my own people. I will help them survive as I try my best to bring peace to this continent so we can focus on those who wish to cause trouble from behind the scenes.
I let out a long sigh as I continued: "I do not want war. I want to settle things peacefully, and if ites to war, I will stand with those who are sent to the battlefield. I will stand at your side and watch over you and protect you with everything I have.
"As your new empress, I will work hard to protect this empire and its people." With this, I bowed my head. The crowd below me was dead silent. I probably should have kept a lot of what I said a secret, but this is what I needed to do. I could not lie to my people. And¡. It was a warning to the kingdoms of this continent. I will be looking to form alliances even if I must use force.
It was only after a few minutes did p and cheering begin to fill the streets. The silence was overtaken by the sounds of them chanting my name. I let out a sigh of relief that I did not scare the citizens too much. But I had to be as honest as possible. I did not wish to lie to them.
With the coronation now reaching its end. I decided to mingle with the people a bit. So I did not hesitate to jump off the golem andnded down in the crowd. As I did, the citizens went crazy and began cheering once more. It was not normal for the leader of a nation to suddenly appear in the crowd like this.
I looked at those around me and smiled as I walked the street. Many people came up to say hello, while others stood to the side and watched from afar. It was not until I sat down that a young man wearing ragged clothing walked up to me. He seemed hesitant at first, but he had a look of determination on his face. "Your hiiiighness!" Oh! His voice squeaked.
"Yes?" I asked as I looked at the young man.
"Do¡. Do you have to go to war?" The young man asked.
"When the timees, yes, but¡.. I will not force anyone who does not wish to fight. I will not force my people to do something they do not want to do. Although I will be opening the military up to allow new recruits from all walks of life to join, I will not force anyone to be a soldier." This I was firm about. I never nned to institute a draft unless it was absolutely needed. Bright minds would be lost if too many went onto the battlefield. I wanted my people to make the choice for themselves on how they wished to live their lives. Some would be willing, while others would not. It is not my ce to tell them how to live.
"I-I see¡. Your Highness¡. May I know when you will be allowing for new recruitment? And will there be a way to get an advance in payment?" The young man clenched his fist. I guess this is what he was getting at.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 390 Strange Sickness
390 Strange Sickness
"In a few days'' time, the recruitment will start. Are you in need of money now?" Looking at his clothes and his state of urgency I can tell something was up.
"I¡.. I need money for my sister. She is sick and needs medicine." The young man had tears in his eyes. He looked up at me and wiped his eyes as he asked: "If you wish to bring change to the lives of your citizens then please I beg of you to help my sister!"
The young man suddenly knelt down and pressed his head against the ground. I couldn''t help but sigh as I reached down and helped him up. "Hurry and stand up or people will think I am bullying you. What is wrong with your sister?"
"I do not know. She had been sick for a few days and had begun withering away. It''s not just her either, many of the people on my side of the slums have been getting sicker and sicker." The young man replied. I couldn''t help but furrow my brow. This did not sound as simple as it seemed.
"Grace!" I yelled out. And almost instantly, Grace appeared at my side. "Yes, Master?"
"Follow me. We are going to the slums to check on his sister. I want you to try healing her." I had no idea what was going on, but it seemed whatever it was needed to be taken care of quickly.
To me, from what the boy said, it sounded more like some kind of epidemic. One that was new. I have yet to run into anything like this since I was reborn on this world, but it does not mean it is not possible. This world has been undergoing many changes since the arrival of the dungeons, so some kind of virus might have alsoe from it as well.
Whether this was true or not was another story, but when I think about the seven sins that the others got during the first dungeon and then hearing that his sister was withering away, I wondered if it was some kind of curse that was spread from person to person.
"You are really going to help my sister?" The young man asked his eyes lighting up with hope.
"I do not know if I can help her, but I will take a look and see what I can do. What is your name?" I asked.
"It''s Tryu, Your Highness," Tryu answered.
"Then Tryu, lead me to your sister, and let''s be quick about it." I wanted to hurry and try to deal with this as quickly as possible since he already said many were sick with this same illness.
It took an hour to get to the east side slums that were still waiting to be reimed. Luckily I had my skill, or it would have taken much longer. When we arrived, Tryu led us to a small hut that was in decent condition. In fact, most of the slum houses have been upgraded to be in better shape than before due to Annie''s efforts in helping those she would while they waited for things to be rebuilt.
When we entered, it was a one room hut with two beds. And behind a curtain was a young woman who should have been in herte teens, early twenties lying on the bed, shriveled up, looking as if she had no meat on her bones whatsoever. I used appraisal on her and found nothing wrong. No status effects or anything of the sort. "Grace any idea?"
Grace had been studying up on medical stuff as ofte which was why I brought her along. She looked at the girl and took her pulse but still shook her head. "Her pulse is weak, but I am not sure what is wrong with her¡. Let me try to use heal on her and see if that works."
"I will try to dispel after if heal does not work and if needed, I will call Iena and Diablo here to see if they know." I frowned. I did not think dispel would work as there was nothing showing in her status, but it was still worth a try. If it was a curse of some kind, it should have at least shown up at least I would think anyway.
If it is some kind of disease though, then heal should work. If heal doesn''t, then it is something that magic can not take care of, which will put me at a loss. My only other options would be to talk to Diablo and the rest. I did not wish to bother Freidinia if I did not need to as she is usually doing some kind of experiment, and if I called her, it could cause an explosion of some kind.
Grace stood at the young woman''s bedside. The young woman did not speak. She only looked over at us. It was as if she could not move at all. Her sunken cheeks and hollow eyes seemed like a mummying alive when her eyes moved.
"Greater heal!" Grace cast healing magic on the young woman, but even as the minute slowly went by, no changes ord. "Dispel!" It was my turn next but even dispel did nothing. I couldn''t help but wrinkle my brow.
"Tryu, you have been in contact with your sister this entire time, and nothing has happened to you?" I asked. I should have asked these questions beforehand, but I did not think too much about some kind of illness.
"Mm¡. I have not felt anything wrong with me. It seems only certain people areing down with this strange sickness." Tryu replied. I nodded and called Diablo.
"Faith?" Diablo looked at me in confusion.
"Before I ask you to go get Freidinia, have you ever seen this kind of illness?" I asked as I pointed at the young woman on the bed.
"This¡." Diablo looked at the girl, and like me, he wrinkled his brow and shook his head. "No, I do not know what is wrong with her. Freidinia would be your best bet. I will go get her." And before I could say anything, he disappeared.
Chapter 391 The Undead
Not longter, Freidinia was next to the bed inspecting Tryu¡¯s sister to see if she could diagnose what exactly was wrong with her. ¡°Master, this is really strange. It¡¯s not that she is sick per se, but more of her life force is being drained from her.¡±
¡°Her life force?¡± I looked at Freidinia in confusion. I have no idea what could cause such an issue. Who or what could drain someone¡¯s life force from them?
¡°Yes, her life force has been drained. There are a few possibilities for this kind of urrence. One is that she has a ghoul worm inside her which is easy to diagnose. They are worms that imnt themselves in the upper intestines of a being no matter what race they are and willy eggs which will then feed off the host¡¯s body, draining them of their life force and slowly killing them. These are usually only found near towns that are on the border of ces with the undead.
¡°Now I said these are easily diagnosed because there would be a bulge in her stomach where the worms would be and she has no bulge. The second would be a little harder to diagnose but not impossible, and that would be some kind of magic imprint on her body. This is a type of curse and is harder to discern, but either I or Diablo would be able to detect it.
¡°The one inflicted with the curse would have a ck magic circle somewhere on their body. And even though neither Diablo nor I have detected anything, I still searched her body and found nothing. This rules out two possibilities.
¡°The next possibility is that someone has some sort of ability to steal the life force of others that they might have gotten from a dungeon. This would be harder to detect but after testing everyone¡¯s skills from the dungeons that they got they all leave a kind of residual trace after casting the spell that lingers for a long time. And well, I have not found anything of the sort.
¡°Thest possibility is that an undead has appeared here and is actually posing as a human or some animal. This is the most likely possibility because the others seemed to have be dead ends. If we do not find this undead soon, it will cause much harm to more than just a few people as well.¡± Freidinia exined. I frowned, hearing the word undead.
But what kind of undead would be here in the slums¡ It would be hard just to make it into the capital. I couldn¡¯t help but scratch my head because this was truly an annoying thing. If it is an undead, then I would need to handle things carefully as the undead are not an easy race to deal with and are highly protective of their kind, even if it is an undead cockroach¡.. My own wandering thoughts might have actually given me the answer I was looking for.
¡°Diablo, do me a favor, please and send out shadows to search for any undead bugs, rats, or mice in the city. If you find any, capture them. I will need to make contact with the undead kingdom¡.¡± I never thought I would be making contact this soon, but it seems I will need to. I wanted to wait and contact themst because they are so hard to deal with, but if they find out we killed one of their people, it would start an all out war, and even with me there, I do not think we can stop an invasion with the undead.
They are not easily killed. They would need to bepletely destroyed, or they would sometimes reattach their parts or even keep moving with no problem. Such enemies are a pain on their own, but when you have billions of them rushing your border using weapons and magic, it would not be an easy fight, this much I do know.
While I could contain them, I am still unsure how powerful the undead truly are. If they have figures like the elves have that are way past my level, then they might justpletely destroy me before I could do anything. To be honest, I never thought of such high level people in this world until I saw Rsh. Only then did I realize that one does not need the system to reach such heights, just a long lifespan.
But now was the tricky part. The undead do not converse much with the outside world, so I guess I will need to hold an emergency meeting with the officials and see if I can get them to help me figure a few things out. ¡± On it. I will give you a report as soon as I can.¡±
¡°Thanks.¡± I stood on my tiptoes and kissed Diablo¡¯s cheek before looking over at Tryu, who was waiting for me to pull off some kind of miracle. On this, I could only shake my head. ¡°Tryu, if your sister was sick with some kind of illness or if your sister had some kind of curse, I could work something out to heal her. But if her life force was taken, I can only try to use rewind on her, but I am not sure if rewind can fix the loss of life force¡..¡±
¡°Master, there may be another way if rewind does not work.¡± Freidinia interrupted me. ¡°You are now a drakani. Which is also part vampire, if I am correct, right?¡±
¡°Yes, that is right.¡± I nodded my head to answer her question.
¡°Then, if my research is not wrong, vampires have the ability to make kin. And the basis of that is pushing your blood into her right at the moment you have drained her blood. At least, this is what I read. I have also read a few other species of vampires as well that are lusty and can only drink female blood, which in this case might work even if that was the case, but that is a race of vampires that can only drink the blood of those who be their wives. You do not have such an issue.¡± Freidinia exined. I guess she is right. I am able to drink anyone¡¯s blood if I so wish.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 392 No Will To Live
¡°Alright, So drain her of her blood and then inject my own. But this would make her basically my ve, no?¡± I asked. I did not really want to make ves since that kind of went against my morals. Grace could be considered that if you looked at it one way, but I never forced her to do anything and what happened to her was aplete ident.
¡°Yes. and no. She will be someone who will not be able to resist following your orders to the point that even if you told her to kill herself, she would. But master, you would let her live freely, right? She would only need a bit of your blood every month to survive.¡± Freidinia exined.
I could only sigh because I still did not like this idea, but if it would help, then there was no reason not to try it. But this was not my decision to make. I looked at Tryu and asked: ¡°What do you think? This is your sister. Do you want me to save her with whatever means necessary?¡±
¡°Yes!¡± Tryu nodded firmly. I could see his fists still clenched together tightly. But he seemed to be very firm in this decision of his.
I nodded and moved to the bedside, and asked: ¡°What about you? Move your eyes up and down for eyes back and forth for no. But before you answer, let me warn you. That you will need my blood every month, or you will die. I will also be going away for long periods of time, so you might need to follow me as well. If I do this, I will take full responsibility for it, so do you wish to go through with this?¡±
The girl on the bed¡¯s eyes seemed hesitant for a moment before moving back and forth. Seeing this, I sighed¡. She seemed to have given up on life. I looked at Tryu, whose eyes were now wide open in shock, and said: ¡°I can not and will not force anything upon anyone. I think you should cherish the time you have left together.¡±
¡°Sister, why!? You are still so young! You could¡.¡± Tryu broke down crying as he rushed to his sister¡¯s bedside and held her hand. ¡°Please don¡¯t die like this. You can still have¡..¡±
His sister¡¯s eyes moved back and forth. She seemed to be using all her strength just to move her eyes. I guess sometimes, when something like this happens, the person will lose all hope and not care about anything. They will lose their will to live and just want to disappear.
Even if there is hope, they will still not care. This much I can see. Looking at her lying there no matter how much I wish to help her, I will respect her wishes since it is not my ce to try to talk anyone out of anything. ¡°Freidinia, let¡¯s go. Tryu and his sister need their alone time.¡±
Freidinia nodded as she got up. We took onest look at the brother and sister and disappeared. When I arrived at the medical bay, I pulled up a stool and sat down on it. ¡°Freidinia, do you think what I did was right?¡± I really did not know.
¡°Everyone has a path they choose for themselves. You are already trying your best for everyone around you. You are not a god. You are and will not be able to save everyone. I don¡¯t even think a god can save everyone. And from what I know you are one hundred percent mortal at this time. While I do admit some things you can do are god like but you are still no god.¡± Freidinia answered.
¡°I know this. I never said I was a god or anything like that, but just seeing Tryu wanting to help his sister but his sister not wanting any help in return is just¡.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but feel bad for the young man. But I guess there is nothing I can do about it now. His sister made her decision, and I am unable to create life force out of thin air. It is just now possible.
Life force is more than just keeping a person alive but it is also a will. And once a person¡¯s will deteriorates so much, they will give up any hope at all in staying alive. But I saw no distress in his sister¡¯s eyes either. So I think she hade to terms that she was going to die and did not wish to continue living.
I had no choice but to push these thoughts to the back of my mind as I called all the officials to court since I now needed them. Most were still in their pajamas as it was nowte at night, but they did notin in the slightest. ¡°You must be all wondering why I called you here. And, well, I need a way to get in contact with the undead kingdom. There seems to be undead in our empire.¡±
¡°What!? Are you sure?¡± One of the officials asked in surprise.
¡°I am sure. A young man had asked me to take a look at his sister because she was sick. And it seems it was not just her but quite a few people within the slums. I had the girl checked for many different things, from illnesses to curses, but in the end, it was none of these, but her life force was still sucked out of her. This leaves only one thing, and that is an undead. Unless it is something we do not know about already and have already checked, then this is the only thing I can think of.¡± I answered in hopes of someone knowing how to reach the undead kingdom.
¡°I am not sure. We have never had any contact with the undead kingdom. They are normally sealed off from the world since no one needs anything they sell, and they hardly eat anything. I am sorry, Your Majesty, but I think you will need to send someone personally to the undead kingdom to make contact. It might take a while, but this is the only way.¡±
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 393 Loophole
393 Loophole
In the end, we decided to send an envoy. I, of course, could not go myself since I had things to deal with here. Well, I did try to fight this as I did want to see what the undead kingdom looked like, but I was forced to give up when all the officials told me I needed to stay and finish all my reforms.
After the meeting, I retired for the night and went to my room. As I was getting changed and stood there in my underwear, Diablo suddenly appeared behind me. ¡°Faith.¡±
¡°Hmmm?¡± I turned and looked at the devilish man standing there with a blush on his cheeks andughed. ¡°What ¡®s wrong?¡±
¡°My-My shadows have searched the entire capital and were unable to find any signs of the undead above ground¡.¡± Diablo¡¯s words made me turn around and look at him.
¡°What do you mean? Above ground? Are you saying there are undead underground?¡± I asked. If that were the case, things might be much trickier.
¡°It¡¯s not just one or two. We are talking about millions of them.¡± Diablo stood up and helped me undo my bra as I stood there, trying to take in his words. Why would so many undead be underground? This made no sense at all. ¡°Diablo, are they moving at all? Like heading in a certain direction? Or are they just sitting under the capital?¡±
¡°They are converging on the capital, and more are stilling,¡± Diablo replied. He then tapped the air and created a water screen in mid air for me to look at. I knew I was half naked at this time, but right now, the scene before me took all my attention.
These were not just some ordinary undead like bugs or rats or something along those lines, these were skeletons of zombie style undead in full armor and weapons. I now realized I was not going to get any sleep tonight. ¡°Diablo helped me get changed. I need to go back to the court for another meeting. Send someone to get all my generals and all officials to court now. Also, have someone bring back the envoy I sent out today.¡±
I was really looking forward to sleeping. Sighing and with diablo¡¯s help, I was in my normal everyday armor in a matter of minutes. I tied my hair up and made my way to the courtroom while Diablo went door to door, calling all the officials back. I felt bad calling them back after they had just left, but now that we have a big emergency such as this, everyone has to suffer fromck of sleep with me.
An hourter, everyone was once again sitting in the courtroom. This time my military generals were included. ¡°Your majesty, what is this sudden emergency?¡±
¡°Diablo,¡± I called out, and Diablo stepped forward and created arge water screen in the air. ¡°This is under our capital. Millions upon millions of undead soldiers. They went and detected and have amassed a massive army under our own capital, which means they are not here peacefully, but I am sure you can guess that by just looking at things. The envoy we sent out is on the way back. Since the undead has decided to attack us, I will not hold back. I have already cast a barrier around the capital.
¡°This barrier goes underground and is about thirty feet away from the undead army. If they wish to move from their current position, they will need to do so outside the barrier. But sadly for them, I have a second barrier containing them. Blocking them from being able to move anywhere but the way they came. Generals, I need you to get your men together and spread them throughout the city. Keep a close eye on the back allies and other areas. We will be undergoing a full lockdown of the city as of now.¡± I have blocked the enemy¡¯s advancement, but I do not know how long that willst. I do not know if they have any powerful undead among the mix.
I am trying to use my detection magic and using appraisal on them from here, but it is hard to tell science some of these numbers are ovepping with one another, and I can¡¯t tell if they are the same or not. I could take the time to try to sort through them all, but I do not have the time for that.
I stood up from my throne and looked at the officials: ¡°As of now, we are under attack, but we are in control of the situation. I will be leaving Iena here for the time being while Diablo and I make our way to the undead capital. We will be flying at full speed, so we should make it there in a few hours. I would like to see what the undead king has to say about invading my empire.¡±
¡°Your majesty, I suggest you rethink this! Your safety is more important than millions of lives.¡± An official yelled out, which made me stop my feet. I turned and looked at the official who spoke out.
¡°I think you need to correct your words. No one is more important than anyone else. I may be your empress, but I am still a person of this and a citizen of the Cyrilia Empire. I am not some god. The people here, from themoners to the highest of nobles, are all the same in my eyes. Plus¡. This is not something anyone else can handle by myself.¡± I then tossed out three crystal balls to the generals. ¡°Contact me if anything happens. You would be the first to know.¡±
After saying this, I turned and walked away. I had no time to waste because I wanted to get this resolved. I did not like the idea of someone being so sneaky, and this also made me realize there was a major loophole in the defenses of my empire.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 394 The World Descends Into Chaos Part 1
394 The World Descends Into Chaos Part 1
Sometimes I wonder if things happen for a reason. I wonder if it is because of the things I have done in my life that things happen in such a way that I am left without many options. I wonder if it is because of this that I am stuck here now, as I step out of the pce arge beam of light incinerates half of the lower capital, firing straight up into the sky turning night into day as my barrier shatters into dust.
The light was like an anatomic bomb going off as it rose high into the air leaving behind absolute nothingness. There was no shock wave. There was no wind. Only the sound of the shatter of my barrier and the scene of millions of lives disappearing right before my eyes.
What did the people of my empire do to deserve such an end? What did they do to be killed for no reason? The people I worked with for so long at my factories were now gone. Tryu and his sister. The entire east side slums, were gone in the blink of an eye.
I had no bad blood with the undead kingdom. I never once wanted to provoke them. But this was too much. Why? Why were my people dying for no reason? ¡°Why!!!!!!???¡± I yelled out at the top of my lungs. I couldn¡¯t take this. I couldn¡¯t stand the people I knew dying one after the other for no reason. Is it because of me? Am I a bane to those who are around me? Am I some kind of gue that no matter where I go brings nothing but death and destruction to those I care for? Will my own family be next?
¡°Heh¡. Hahaha!¡± My mind slowly sank into nothingness. I felt cold, and I felt the world around me slowly descending into darkness. ¡°You dare¡. You dare harm my people!? You dare harm the ones I care about!?¡±
¡°Faith!¡± I could hear Diablo calling out my name, but I was in no mood to listen as I shot into the air.
In my mind¡¯s sea, I sat in the white space curled up into a ball. In front of me, smiling away, was another me. ¡°Do you want revenge? Do you want your enemies destroyed? Let me take over, and I will destroy everything that stands in your way.¡±
¡°Leave me alone. I will not let you have my body.¡± I replied, but I could already feel my mind sinking deeper. Through my eyes, below me was a massive hole that was tens of miles wide in all directions, anding from that huge hole were millions, maybe even billions, of undead. They were flooding out and moving in all directions attacking and murdering everything and everyone they came across.
I waved my hand and cast a barrage of fireballs into the hole, but they were stopped easily by a strong barrier. ¡°Haha!¡± A familiarugh came from within the hole. I looked down to see five figures slowly rise up from the hole. Each one with purple lines on their skin. ¡°It¡¯s been a while, my little friend, but hmmm¡ You are not very strong now, are you?¡±
¡°Faith!¡± Diablo showed up beside me as well as Iena and Freidinia. When Diablo saw the man in the middle of the five people, his brow furrowed: ¡°Azengrade!¡±
¡°That it is. I am happy you still remember me. I am the General of the Altorians. It is a pleasure to meet you officially. To think that we would meet so soon, well¡ Maybe not since I had nned to wait a little longer, but I got word you are using an interesting bit of technology and wanted to check it out for myself. Of course, this is just a lie¡± Azengrade smiled a toothy grin.
¡°Why? Why are you killing innocent people!?¡± I yelled out. I should be attacking. I should be trying to stop these bastards, but I still did not understand they would kill so many.
¡°Hmmm? Cattle to the cause are nothing more than a means of fulfilling our goals. You see. We only want one thing.¡± Azengrade slowly raised and pointed his finger at me as he smiled sinisterly. ¡°We want you to die.¡±
I was confused. I did not understand why he wanted me, of all people, to die. This made no sense since I had never met him before the time in the dungeon. ¡°Me? Why me? What have I done?¡±
¡°What have you done?! You do not know!?¡± Azengrade expression turned cold. ¡°You, of all people, should know what you have done. Because of you¡. Because of you¡.¡±
¡°General! Why waste time!? Let¡¯s just kill her now!¡± Tdeadja cried out as his hands changed into sharp ws.
¡°I will not let you!¡± Diablo suddenly shot forward with Freidinia. I wanted to reach out and stop him, but a voice in my head was screaming at me. Screaming so loudly that I couldn¡¯t even think straight.
¡°Shut up!¡± I yelled out as I held my head and stumbled backward. The ancient will in my mind was crushing my thoughts.
¡°Let me out! Let me out! You can not handle them! You will only kill more of your people!¡± The other me yelled out over and over. My head was pounding. The pain was stopping me from taking any action.
¡°Shut up! You are in the way!¡± I yelled out as I shook my head and hit it with my fists. If I could, I would reach in and rip the bitch out of my head!
¡°Faith.¡± Iena, who was at my side, called out to me. But as I looked up at her concerned face, I saw it¡. A ssh of blood and a w pierced through Iena¡¯s chest.
¡°Iena!? Iena!?¡± My eyes went wide as the hand retracted and Iena¡¯s body fell limp into my arms. I turned and looked at Tdeadja, who was standing there licking his bloody w with a smile on his face. It was then that the world around me turned blood red¡..
¡°Hahahahha! I am finally freee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!¡±
Chapter 395 The World Descends Into Chaos Part 2
All around me was blood red. I sat there looking through eyes that were mine yet not. The ancient will, or maybe I should say the other me, had finally broken free. "Hahaha! After millions of years, I am finally free!"
Hovering in the air, the other me stood there in the sky confidently. The power flowing from my body was not something I could ever exude in my current state. She looked down at Azengrade and the other Altorians with a bloodthirsty smile on her lips.
"Trinity!" Azengrade called out a name I have never heard before as he gritted his teeth and looked at the other me. "You dare show your face in front of me!? After everything you have done!?"
"Hahahaha! So what!? What does what I want to do have anything to do with you? You are only lucky I even remember your race because of how powerful your leaders were. They are the reason why I have been sealed in the first ce. I arrived on your world to have some fun and destroy a few things, and your leaders had to get in my way! Do you really think you alone are powerful enough to stop me?" The other me asked as she waved her hand. My body which was now out of my control became d in a ck skin tight suit. It covered every inch of my skin except for a diamond shape in between my chest that revealed some of my cleavage. Along with it, a ck and blood red trimmed cloak with a hood appeared as well and fluttered in the breeze.
"I have long wanted to finish cleaning up the trash that dared to seal me away. I only destroyed half your world, and you made me fall into a system of reincarnation over and over. I had to sit and watch in disgust as my body did so many stupid mundane things! What is the point of having power if you do not use it freely and do the things you want to do with it? Why sit back and let others walk all over you when you can easily trample them with overwhelming power? Stamp out those who resist. Kill everyone who dares to turn against you. This is how everyone should live. If you see something, take it. If you are bored, destroy a world or two. What is wrong with this!? Hehehe¡." After saying all these messed up things, the other me giggled and bit the tip of my finger, and looked at Azengrade provocatively. "How did it feel when your loved ones burned in my starry mes? How did it feel when you were forced to watch all the ones you cared about slowly die? All because of me?"
"You! Trinity, you bitch! I will kill you now and get revenge on the billions of my people you destroyed. I will take my revenge for my family! We had nned to slowly build up our forces, but since you are out now, I will do my people a favor and kill you now!" Azengrade seemed to have lost his mind as his bloodshot eyes looked at the other me as if he was trying to tear her apart with his eyesight alone.
"Hahaha! This is why I chose your. You and your kind are parasites in the first ce. You did not even belong to that! You want to me me for destroying half your race, but then what about the people your kind has thoughtlessly destroyed? Not that it matters because even if your kind was not there, I might have still destroyed the. Hahaha!
"The cries of pain. The look of horror on their faces. Is not thrilling!?" The other me asked as she waved her hand. Arge ck scythe three times the size of me formed in her hand. Its sheen reflected the moonlight in a murderous light. "I will finish up what I did before. I can not let your race, which is like a bunch of cockroaches, live. Otherwise, I might have to destroy this world as well."
"You!" I called out. I did not want to be the cause of death for my loved ones. Iena¡. She was already¡.
"Humph! You whine too much. You should thank me because I already saved your little lover. But Now I am going to y whether you like it or not! My time is limited." The other me''s voice rang through the white space. I looked up at the images in front of me and realized that maybe, just maybe, the other me was not all bad¡. Because in front of my eyes was Iena, floating in the air surrounded by a green light, and the hole in her chest was slowly healing. Even Diablo and Freidinia seemed to be trapped in some kind of barrier. I had noticed any of this until now. "Now that you know. Hold your panties and watch as I show you what true power is."
*Ding!* *Ding!*
"The bells toll for those who are about to take their trip down the yellow river." The other me said softly as two loud bell rings rang out through the air. At the same time, the area around the other me suddenly turned into a hellscape where billions of hands were reaching up out of the ground.
The sounds of cries of pain and help could be heard all over the ce. The sky had turned colorless. Azengrade seemed to have gone on guard as he looked warily at the other me. I have no idea what she was nning, but it seemed that whatever it was was not something Azengrade and the other Altorians did not want to have any part of.
Across the sky, a yellow river slowly formed. The arms below began reaching for it frantically, seemingly wanting to make their way in and follow the flow. "As those who have sinned are unable to set sail. Ie and show them that true terror has arrived. The starry night sky."
The sky suddenly lit up with billions of stars as Azengrade, and his people all looked up in horror. "Are you really going to cast that here!? You will destroy more than just us!" Azengrade yelled out. But the sinister smile that formed on the other me''s lips sent a chill down my spine. Was the other me really going to kill more of my people? Was she going to destroy everything I cared about? Would I even be able to live the life I lived before if she did such a thing!?
I could only helplessly watch as she grinned from ear to ear with cold eyes as she slowly said: "The starry fire descends upon the masses¡.."
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 396 Stealing Power
*Boom!*
"Nooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I screamed out with everything I had, but all I could do was watch as beams of light fell from the sky, destroying everything they hit. The lives of billions of people gone just like that. My mind was sinking even more. I did not want this. I did not want any of this. I just wanted the people of the empire I loved to live peacefully, so why!? Why must ite to this!?
"No¡ It won''t end like this¡ I will not allow things to end like this¡." I stood up in the white space, which was slowly being consumed with red, and closed my eyes. I slowly opened them again as my eyes lit up with a light so radiant that I never thought would ever be imaginable. "Stop¡.."
Everything in the world slowed to a stop. The other me who had been destroying the empire I was working hard to make better and defend suddenly appeared in my mind''s sea. "Why!? Why did you stop me!?"
"Why!? Why the hell would you kill my people!? Why would you kill the citizens of my empire!? Are you fucking dumb!?" I yelled out, cursing at the top of my lungs. I could no longer take it. I could not allow this. I would not allow my people to die so needlessly. "You think just protecting my loved ones was enough!? Look what you are doing! How are you any different than the Altorians!?"
"I am doing this for you! You are weak! Sometimes a loss must be made in order to deal with the unexpected! If I do not use this power, I can not defeat Azengrade and his people with my current strength! Only this spell will hurt them enough to make them fall back! But to do that, sacrifices must be made!" The other me told back. Her eyes were bloodshot with anger, but I did not care.
"So sacrificing billions of lives is your way of solving the issue? I wonder¡" I reached out and took the other''s me''s hand, and pulled her close to me. In her shock, she did not even know what to do as I tilted her head and sunk my fangs into her neck. In a muffled tone, I said: "Since you are so powerful, let me borrow that power."
[+1000000XP]
[+1000000XP]
[+1000000XP]
[+1000000XP]
[Level +1]
[Level +1]
[Level +1]
[Level +1]
I held on tight to the other me as I sucked her blood. My level was increasing by one hundred every second. "Get off me! What are you doing!?"
She struggled in my arms until she finally used her foot to push me off, but by then, I had already jumped up to level 1428. This was different than before. When I sucked the blood of my wives and husband, I could taste their blood, but from her, it was hard to describe. I could feel the power within her, making me stronger by the second. I did not taste anything. I just felt a surge of power flowing into me.
"You bitch! You actually stole some of my power!?" The other me yelled out. She looked at me in surprise and anger. I wiped my mouth and sneered.
"Heh¡ I did not think it would work, but I am d I did it. To think you were at such a high level yet need to use such a strong attack to get rid of your enemies." I snorted as I looked at the world outside, still frozen. I had used arge scale cosmic magic to stop time for the entire capital. Everyone was frozen at this time, including the undead. "But let me make one thing clear. The lives of my people are not things you can just destroy without my consent. No one is allowed to harm the people of my empire. I would not have taken up the role of empress if it was not for the fact that I love thisnd I grew up in that was so weing to me."
"Trinity, was it? I guess this is your name. We will talk more when I am finished fixing what you have done. When it''s over, the two of us will have a nice chat." After that, I disappeared from the space. I could only hear Trinity as she cursed me left and right. When I arrived in the time frozen world, I was still wearing the same clothes that Trinity was wearing.
[Skill Acquired: The Starry Night Sky (LVL 1)]
[Skill Acquired: Armor of Infinity(LVL 1)]
[When worn adds: Lesser instant regeneration, +2,000,000 Health]
[Side effects when taken off: Weakness, all stats lowered to a level 1% of current level for 300 hours.]
"Oh? I guess this is why I could so easily steal some of her power. She is currently in a weakened state of her weakened state. I do wonder what level she is at currently." I rubbed my chin and wondered if I should have more of a feastter. But I guess all of this will have to wait for the time being.
I looked down at Azengrade and the others, who were not fully stopped but in slow motion with cold eyes. I took a deep breath and spoke slowly as I said: "Rewind¡."
The world around me began to slowly reverse. The beams of light that were raining down began to rain up until they disappeared, and the destruction and death they had caused disappeared with them. The undead that had also arrived all disappeared back into the hole they came from, with the city being returned back to its original state. The only thing I did not rewind was Azangrade and his people. Or more like I couldn''t.
With a snap of my fingers, the world around me returned to normal. Azangrade and his men all looked around in confusion. I snorted once more as I yelled out: "Azengrade. No matter how much I wish for you to die, I can not allow it toe at the cost of billions of lives. Leave now."
Chapter 397 A Tweak In Personality
I was making a gamble. I was currently wearing the same armor as Trinity was, so I could only hope that I would be able to fool him. Azengrade looked at me and then around at the untouched city around him in somewhat of a daze. After a few seconds of thought, he looked back up at me with a cold expression as he said: "To think the great Trinity was so magnanimous. But do not think this will be the end!" With this, he turned and created a strange blue barrier around him and hisrades that began to shrink down and disappear from sight.
I let out a sigh of relief as I stayed there frozen in the air looking out over at the sunset that was starting to rise. I only reversed time for the capital, so it was already good enough that I could do this much. I looked out over the horizon that was slowly growing brighter and tried to smile. Yet, no matter how much I tried, I was unable to.
"Faith? What just happened!?" Diable, Iena, and Freidinia all stood at my side and looked at me in confusion. I did not reverse time for Diablo or Freidinia, just Iena to make sure she was fully healed.
"I¡. It''s hard to exin, but for now, I need to take care of a bigger issue." I had no time for an exnation as I used detection magic to see the entire undead army still under the capital. After taking another deep breath, I used dimensional transfer to arrive in the middle of the mass of undead and then used aura healing to kill them all instantly. Holy spells were really handy against the undead.
With the undead taken care of, I put the entire empire under lockdown with a barrier before returning to the castle with Diablo and the rest.
I was mentally exhausted. But I still had to push on. The world around me was bing more dangerous. Much more dangerous than I have ever imagined. Five of the same race, the Altorians, and there were probably many more than them out there. Not to mention Trinity, the other me said something about them being parasites which probably means they can turn other beings into their race. I am not sure about this, and I will only know when I speak to Trinity if she is currently willing to speak to me. After all¡.
[Humanoid Form]
[Name]: Faith Cyrilia
[Age] 17
[Level] 258 ¡ú 1428
[Race] Drakani Demigoddess
[HP] 701500/701500(2701500)
[MP] ¡Þ
[Attack Power] 1233950
[Magic Power] 233950
[Status Points] 0 ¡ú 5850
[Strength] 123395
[Vitality] 70150
[Intelligence] 23395
[Mind] ¡Þ
[Agility] 23395
[Skill Points] 171 ¡ú 1341
[Limit Break( 1/3)]
Total Domination
[Skills]
[Appraisal (LVL 10(MAX))] [Military Command (LVL 10(MAX))] [Military Tactics (LVL 10(MAX))] [Business Tycoon (LVL 10(MAX))] [Acting (LVL 1(MAX))] [Enve Demon (LVL 10)] [Charm(LVL 10(MAX))] [Dimensional Transfer(LVL 10(Max))] [Blood Frenzy(LVL 1(MAX))] [Blood Maniption(LvL 10(MAX))] [Shadow Meld (LVL 1)] [Shadow Clone(LVL 1)] [Blood Enhance(LVL 1(MAX))] [The Starry Night Sky (LVL 1)][Armor of Infinity(LVL 1)]
I am now level 1428, and this means soon, when all my stats reach their mana drip max, they will be another 35100 points higher than before. This is such a boost to my prowess that I am feeling a tiny bit better about the future. If I can get Trinity to let me steal more of her power, then I can grow even stronger.
But I highly doubt she will let me get closer anytime soon. But I find it funny that her power was quickly reduced once she entered my sea of consciousness. I guess she never realized it. This was lucky for me. And luckily, because I gained two of her abilities as well, I was able to pretend like I was still Trinity. I guess the reversal trick just now was a shock to him. He was probably having a hard time understanding what had just happened.
"That is what just happened. I know it is hard to believe, but it is the truth." I said as I looked at the officials and generals, who were all staring at me in surprise. "Right now, none of my generals or the people of the lower capital city would be alive. I was able to turn back time to before the attack happened after chasing Azengrade and his men away. But now we are left with a crisis. Things will not be so easy in the future. The enemy may be able to turn our own people into their allies, making them part of the Altorian race, which seems to be a parasitic race. I will not go into details about how I know of all of this, but please understand what I have said just now is one hundred percent true."
"If what you say is true, then we really are in for a rough future. How should we handle the undead nation now that you have destroyed their army?" General Briggs asked.
"I will give them an ultimatum. Be destroyed or form an alliance with our empire. I will not take no for an answer, and any hostility will result in the entire annihtion of their race." My words caused everyone''s eyes to go wide, but this was myst straw. Unlike other races, the undead did not give birth to new undead. Undead came from the corpses of the dead. So I did not mind saying I will wipe them out. Maybe my mind has been affected slightly by Trinity now that I think about it because¡. I would have never said such words in the past¡.
It was very unlike me to resort to wanting to kill off an entire race when my purpose is to bring us together without discrimination but¡. Well¡ So be it¡ I will just y it by ear and see how the undead race really reacts to me asking them for an alliance.
I know I should not do such a thing to a kingdom that had suddenly attacked us or was nning to attack us, but as of now, after I just reversed time, they had yet to flood into my city just yet, and I have already killed the ones who were under the capital.
Chapter 398 Trinity Part 1
--AN) Chapter might seemte, but it is Daylight saving where I live, so it is still the same time for me.--
"Your Majesty, is this right?" One of the officials asked. "The Undead have been around for thousands of years. Their strength is not small."
"I know!" I gritted my teeth. I know there were probably some powerful forces within the undead kingdom but still¡ "We will put this aside for now. For the time being, I will make a trip soon with Iena, Freidinia, and Diablo. We will see just what the Undead King has to say about the invasion of my empire. Meeting adjourned."
I stood up and walked off. Diablo and the others followed behind me. I had to converse with Trinity and find out exactly what the Altorians wanted and what they were capable of. If she was even willing to talk to me. Right now, besides Azengrade and his people, she was my most powerful foe, and worst of all she was within me.
We all returned to my room, where Adel and the others were waiting. "Faith, what is going on?"
"I will exin more when I figure it out myself. Right now, I need to enter my mind''s sea." I said before walking over to the couch and lying down. Before closing my eyes, I looked at Freidinia and Diablo and asked: "Please look after my body. If for any reason Trinityes out, stop her at all costs even if it means you need to destroy my body."
"What, no!" Adel cried out. She had no idea what was going on, I know, but I had no time to exin. Before anything else happened, I needed information, or I could not prepare for what was toe.
"Adel, stop." Sophie walked over and pulled Adel who was standing in front of me with her arms spread out wide in a protective stance. "There seems to be more going on than meets the eye, so we will have to trust Faith."
"I will exin," Iena said as she pulled the girls to the side. I gave her a grateful look before taking a deep breath. "Put a restraint on my body now. Just in case I wake up and am not me."
As long as I allow it, I can be secured in such a way. This way, if Trinity does somehowe out when I talk with her, she will be restrained to an extent long enough for Diablo and Freidinia to do something. At least, I hope. "Don''t worry. We will make sure nothing happens."
"Thanks, Freidinia." I nodded and closed my eyes. I was still wearing the Armor of Infinity because I did not want my spirit body to suddenly be weak. I needed my strength.
After closing my eyes, the world around me became white and red. It was half and half. It seemed letting Trinity out had caused my inner world to be a ce that was being controlled by both of us. This was definitely not a good sign.
"Oh, you came back?" Trinity walked out from the red area with a mocking smile on her face. "I know what you want. After all, I am you, and you are me."
"No, I am not you. You are someone who was willing to sacrifice billions of my people just to kill five. No matter how powerful they are, there is always another route. Or at least a way to evacuate as many people as possible so that more people could live. You went straight for a kill instead of taking everything into ount. Whether this was the right choice or not, you and I both know it was not!" I yelled.
"Hahaha! Deny it all you want. Who just said they wanted to annihte an entire race? Admit it, you are just as bloodthirsty and as crazy as I am! Do you think I do not know what is on your mind? How many times you thought it would just be easier to kill everyone you hate? Do you not know what is truly deep in your heart, screaming toe to the surface? Your fake facade that you show everyone. If anything, you are nothing but a walking lie!" Trinity yelled back.
"Everyone has moments where they wish to kill someone. I am no exception to this. I will admit that! But¡. this does not change the fact that you wanted to kill billions of lives for five people. Why? Why would you do it? If you say, I am you, then why would you do something that you know would hurt me!? Wait¡ no¡. I don''t even care. What I want to know right now is, what are the Altorians? How are they so powerful? And what is the best way to fight them and keep the people of my empire safe? After what you did, I think you owe me this much." I did not wish to fight semantics with Trinity, who did not have the same mindset as me.
While yes, the current her was messing with my own thought process now, I still had enough control over my own mindset to try to avoid turning into a bloodthirsty killer. I have killed many, but all with good reason. I do not want to kill innocent people if I can help it.
"Humph!" Trinity looked at me and crossed her arms across her chest. "I think I paid you back enough, did I not? Stealing so much power from me¡."
"You can consider that rent for using my body. Now you are paying the price of almost annihting my people. If I was unable to reverse time as I did, billions of lives and families would have been lost or in mourning. How can I exin that to my people? The lives of the citizens of my empire are not for you to take, especially not with my own body." No matter how you look at it or how much I deny it, Trinity was currently part of me. I just had to figure out a way to get rid of her or somehow cut a deal with her not to do anything rash anymore. However, this is probably only my wishful thinking.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 399 Trinity Part 2
"Hah rent! Right¡." Trinity said mockingly. "Isn''t it more like you are the one who owes me rent? Originally you were me. You are just a part of me that was released from the seal to keep going with the soul that belongs to me. You keep saying we are not the same, but it is the truth whether you like it or not!"
"If that is the case, why would you do such stupid things!? You have so much power, but you do not seem to care about anything!" I yelled out. I did not want to bring this conversation back to this, but it seemed Trinity was not going to let me change the subject so easily.
"Heh¡. Why should I care?" Trinity asked with her lips curled up. "Little Faith, you are too naive. You think the world can be won over with good deeds, but this is not the case! Any world, no matter which one you live on is filled with strife. The people that you wish to save, how many actually give a shit about you? Which one of them would actually spend time running to your aid when you are in danger? None! They would rather save themselves and leave you to your death than try to help you because they only care about saving their own lives.
"You may be the empress of this empire. You may care for the people of yournd, but why must you sacrifice yourself for them? Why must you care for the lives of others when you are already doing so much for them? You are lucky Azengrade backed down. You are lucky that,bined with you still wearing my armor and your time magic that you were able to make him feel wary of you. If you even knew he had been tricked, not only you but every living being in this empire you so love would have died. Your loved ones, your friends and family, all of them. All of them would have died because of how naive you are.
"The Altorians are not what you think they are. They are not a race that you can easily deal with. They are parasites that will eat their way into a sentient being''s brain and control them and make them do things against their will. They take over wholes and grow and spread. Then when there is no one left to infect, they will move on to another world. They are a gue. They will consume and consume.
"I have lived my life hunting them down. Everyst one of them must die! You do not know what it is like to watch your family being consumed and turned into an Altorian. They retain their memories, but they have no feelings for anyone but their own race. So they will not care for your people. To them, it is all a game. So I made it my life''s work to kill them. I spent years growing stronger and stronger. Picking them off one at a time. I have destroyed countless ofs one after the other to get rid of those disgusting things.
"You want to save your people, I understand, but you are still naive. It only takes a single infection, and in a span of days, there will multiply, and soon your billions of citizens will turn on you and try to kill you. Hahahaha!" Trinity paused as she looked at me with crazed eyes.
"Think about it, your lovers all of a sudden having their skin split and showing glowing lines on them. Each one showing their disgust for you. No longer loving you. Wanting to kill you. Think about it! You naive bitch! Do you know what it is like to watch your parents go from a loving mother and father to people who are trying to shove this disgusting worm down your throat to make you one of them? Do you know what it is like to have no choice but to kill your own parents to escape with your life? Huh!? Hahaha¡." Trinity tilted her head. Her lips curled up into a smile. "Life is not what it seems. You are happy now, but now that the Altorians are here, you will suffer the same fate as I have. You will be someone who has no choice but to rely on me, the one you deny. We will relive what I have lived through in my past life. We will see it all. We will watch as we have no choice but to kill the ones we love.
"You do not seem to understand what it means for the Altorians to show up. Whether you believe me or not is up to you. Now that you know what they are and how they act let''s see how you are able to break free from this mess. You had your chance to kill five of them, and you gave that chance up." Trinity snorted and sat on the ground, crossing her hands across her chest.
I was shaken by her words. I was unsure if I should believe them or not. I was unsure if she was telling the truth. But the look in her eyes. Although they looked crazy, deep down, I saw sorrow. Pain that still lingered inside her to this very day.
"Then I just have to get stronger. Stronger than even you. They sealed you because you were a threat to them, so I just have to be sure to be stronger than you to show you that there is always a way." Yes. Strength. I just needed to level more. If I level more, then I might be able to win this fight. But the question was, did I have the time?
"Heh¡. You do have one thing going for you. This world seems to like you. While those Altorians seem to have a bit of control over the dungeons you have visited, you have that system. This is something I did not have. I have nothing. I could only use my blood, sweat, and tears to grow stronger, even though it took me millions of years only to be sealed off and forced to watch a part of my soul live many lives. But don''t get me wrong. I will not give you any more of my power. You stole enough already. Until the day you realize you need me, I will no longer surface. From this moment on, whether we live or die will be up to you. To be honest, I am tired of it all¡. Let''s see what the great Faith can do." With these words, Trinity suddenly disappeared. The blood red side of my spirit domain stayed, but she was nowhere to be seen.
I don''t know what brought about this change in attitude. But maybe deep down. Trinity was actually a good girl who just longed to take revenge for all she had lost. Maybe her outburst was something she needed to do all this time¡.. Of course, this is my own spection, and she could just be lying low until I was at my weakest once more¡..
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 400 Heading To The Undead Kingdom
--AN) Sorry all, power kept going on, so chapters arete.--
When I woke up next, I found everyone huddled around me, looking at me nervously. I could see the care and concern in their eyes. "It''s me¡." I spoke softly as I slowly got up. Luckily my armor spell was still active, or else I might not be able to handle what I needed to do next.
"Is it really you?" Adel looked at me suspiciously, causing me to grin slyly as I said: "On our trip back to the capital from when I first left home, you had to pee really badly, but because we were not in a spot we could stop you¡."
"Stop! Okay, it''s you!" Adel yelled out while covering my mouth. Everyone gave her strange looks as her face turned bright red. She red at me and punched my chest lightly as Iughed. "You asked~."
"I didn''t ask you to reveal an embarrassing moment!" Adel yelled out as she for up and stomped her feet.
"So what happened to this Trinity" Sophie asked, getting on point.
"She yelled at me and called me naive before disappearing. But I now know what we are up against, and it is not good. I told you about my dreams. And one of them had us all fighting against people with purple lines on their bodies. Well, these people are Altorians, Azangrade''s race, and they are parasites at that. They take over worlds and infect the citizens to give rise to more of their kind. And they are powerful at that. We can probably assume they are already infecting some of the kingdoms of this world. We need to push things forward. Adel, I want you to talk to Runa and ask her to bring more people from the elven kingdom. Get Annie to find all the craftsmen in the empire and have theme to the capital. You can take my seal to make sure it gets done in a timely fashion. Also, tell your father he needs toe sit on the throne for a bit to deal with the daily things. Let him know what is going on as well. Sophie, you will help her with this. Go now because every second counts."
"On it! Sophie, let''s go!" Adel grabbed Sophie''s hand, and they ran out of the room.
After they left I looked at Iena, Diablo, and Freidinia: "Iena, you will guard my house with Sally and Sei. Fill them in on everything that has happened. And please protect everyone there. My house is currently our only hope at this time since it has all our operations going on underneath it."
"I will protect it with my life. But Faith, please be careful." Iena gave me a worried look before running off.
"Diablo, Freidinia, you two wille with me to the Undead Kingdom. No matter what, we must investigate what is going on. I am not sure if Altorians can change undead, but we can at least find out. Either way, we need an answer to this invasion." Although mostly everyone was unharmed, there were still a few who were affected by their life force being sucked out of them.
"Master, are you sure you want to do this? We can go and investigate for ourselves." Freidinia asked.
"Yes, I need to hear with my own ears the reason for this sudden attack," I answered as I stood up.
"Let me at least send some shadows. There is no reason not to, right?" Diablo''s words made sense, so I nodded my head. It was not a bad idea to know what we were walking into.
"Alright." With this, Diablo summoned multiple shadows that quickly disappeared. Only then did we fly out of the castle and head to the undead kingdom.
Because We had Diablo there pulling us along, we reached the border in just a few hours. There was an entire kingdom between us and the undead kingdom, which I made sure to use my detection magic on to see if I could see anything out of ce, and sure enough, there was nothing. This meant that the Cyrilia Empire was their target from the start. Why this was, I do not know, unless they were wary of me.
I had a lot of questions but no answers at this time. When we reached the border, the kingdom that bordered it, the Rosen Kingdom, had a massive fortified fortress wall that spanned the entire border. There was also a dull gray barrier around the entire undead kingdom as well. There was only one entrance if you wished to go to the kingdom by foot, but I did not n to be nice about my entry as I flew straight to the barrier and transformed my hand into a huge fist, and mmed it into the barrier shattering it into dust.
They came to my kingdom in the same manner. I will do the same to them. "Let''s head to their castle."
Diablo and Freidinia nodded as he continued forward. "Faith, the shadows are finding something strange about the undead here¡. Normally undead are like the living and are living out their daily lives, but these are just wandering around mindlessly¡ Like they have lost all their intelligence."
"Ignore it for now. Either way, we will need to head to the capital. We will see if the undead there are in the same boat." I only wanted an answer for the attack by the undead. Because to dig such a long tunnel to our kingdom would have taken a lot of time, even with earth magic. At least, I think, anyway.
As we continued flying over the undead towns and cities that were not much different from our own, I noticed right away the aimless wandering around as if they had really lost all their intelligence. Somewhere even walking into walls and other things falling over and then getting back up as if nothing had happened.
"The capital city is just head. The shadows are already there, and there seems to be some kind of battle going on there." Diablo exined. I nodded as I saw the smoke rising overhead. It was then that a thought came to mind. "Diablo, if Azengrade used earth magic, how quickly could he move to our empire?"
Chapter 401 More Questions Than Answers
"If all five of them worked together with their power in just an hour or so." Diablo answered and then asked: "Are you thinking Azengrade did something to the undead to make them the way they are now?"
"Yeah, it would only make sense. If there is a massive battle going on at the capital, then that only means something has happened in this kingdom. Luckily I did not act on my earlier words¡." Now that things seemed to be falling into ce, I couldn''t help but curse myself for having such thoughts before. But then again, if this was not the case, then what would I have done? Would my emotions take over? Would I have really annihted the undead kingdom?
When we arrived at the capital, undead were fighting undead. But there was a distinct difference in the organization. The ones attacking the city seemed to be in a berserk type state, while the undead within the city was organized. But the thing about the berserker undead as they seemed to have something protecting them from damage.
"Diablo, I am going to teleport us in." I grabbed both Diablo''s and Freidinia''s hands and used dimensional transfer to move inside the barrier without destroying it. I then waved my hand and put another barrier around the kingdom of the undead.
"Who are you!?" A skeleton with thick ck armor yelled out as he stepped on air and came over to us.
"I am the Empress of the Cyrilia Empire. Earlier, millions of your undead attacked my empire with the Altorians, or should I say the people with purple lines." I exined.
"Those bastards!" The skeleton seemed truly angered. Even his bones were shaking. "Your highness, on behalf of the undead Kingdom, I apologize. My name is General Tur. I will bring you to his Majesty. As you can see, we have a crisis on our hands."
"Thank you. And I now know it is not your kingdom''s fault, so do not worry about it. I should apologize for destroying your kingdom''s barrier. I put a new one up to rece it." I scratched my chin. I destroyed it out of anger but now¡. Well, I guess this makes us even a bit¡.
"It''s fine. His Majesty will not hold it against you. Please, this way." General Tur did not seem upset at all over my action.
We followed General Tur to the castle. The castle looked like a giant church. I can tell now why they call it the citadel. It was very grand and gothic looking. It had tall peaks on the towers andrge stained ss windows with strange depictions on them.
We were led right to the throne room, where many other undead were in a meeting. "General Tur, what is the¡. Who is this?"
"Your Majesty, this is the new Empress of The Cyrilia Empire. Our¡. People attacked her empire¡." General Tur answered.
I looked up at the man, that had gray skin and long white hair, and nodded my head. This man was what was called a Lich. He was the ruler of the undead kingdom. "I am Empress Cyrilia, Undead King. I came to find out why your people had attacked mynds with the Altorians, but it seems I might have let my anger get to me now that I see what is happening in your kingdom."
"It is my pleasure, and I am truly sorry for what my people have done. As their leader, I am ashamed to say I have no control over the actions of the undead outside my citadel." By citadel, I guess the entire capital was considered his citadel, which made since the main building resided in the middle of the city. "I am the Lich King Dran. If I may ask, who are these Altorians?"
"They are the people with the purple lines on their bodies. A parasitic race that invades worlds and takes over their people." I exined lightly. "May I ask if you havee in contact with such people?"
The lich king sighed as he nodded his head. "As you know, we Lich are immortal. I built this kingdom in order to allow other liches like myself to have a ce where they will not be shunned or killed. At first, when the Altorians, as you call them, showed up and offered us an incentive to trade, I thought it was time to try to open our doors to the outside world after so many years. And I hoped that the world would ept us, but I never thought¡..
"I spoke with someone named Azengrade who wanted to trade and suggested we test it out on one of the border towns first to see if the living and the Lich could coexist. I felt like this was a good n, and so I allowed it, but¡. It was only a few dayster that reports beganing in about the humans having their life force sucked away. It was then that things spiraled out of control. Every soldier we sent was turned into a mindless undead. They were no different from the scourge. They were brainless and only seemed to follow a singlemand. I am not sure what happened to them, but as you can see, the result is the war outside." The lich king had a bitter smile on his face. He seemed helpless in this situation.
"Hmmm¡ I wonder why Azengrade decided to use your people in such a way. The same goes for the way Tdeadja was trying to control the dwarves. If they only need to produce more parasites and inject them into their host, why are they going about things in a roundabout way? Is it some kind of game?" I really did not understand their actions. The only action I know makes sense is their attack on the capital because they seemed to have noticed Trinity. But I am still confused as to why they are ying games, I guess you can say, with the other kingdoms.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 402 Mana Signatures
"They may be experimenting." The lich king spoke up. He folded his hands in hisp and let out a long sigh. "He originally came here to try to allow my kind and the living to get along but look what happened. He used them, and in the end¡.. I do apologize for this. And I do not me you for their deaths. As you can see, even now we are fighting our own."
"Experimenting huh?" I frowned. If that was the case, then what if he found a more powerful race? One that is strong enough to take over the entire world with little effort but not strong enough to resist the parasites¡. If I had only pushed Trinity for more answers, then maybe¡. "Do you know which race on this is the strongest even if they are in seclusion?"
"The strongest? Besides the dragons¡. I would say the one stronger than them might not exist anymore. At one point, there was a race of beings that were known as the Nolights. They were named that because they hid in the darkness. They did note out during the day and only walked around at night. They were just like you humans, only they were long lived and had magic powers stronger than dragons. But they were a race that was closed off. I only know this because I have met them myself once and was even almost killed by them. I took my everything to escape. But if these Nolights were to be taken over then we might not have any chance of survival." The lich king answered.
I never knew of such a race on this. So this was a first for me. But what concerned me was not this race but the other continents. "Was this only on this continent?"
"Yes¡ Sadly I can not speak about othernds. I only know what we have on this continent. But if there are the Nolights, then maybe¡ just maybe there are even more stronger races out there on other continents that we do not know about." The lich king let out a heavy sigh, and so did I.
"Then I guess we will have no choice but to send an expedition out¡." I still had to continue leveling up. The Altorians needed to be tracked. We also needed to check the other continents. It was not going to be an easy task.
"I will send shadows out. It will take them a while to reach the other ces, but I can at least have them all over this continent within a few hours." Diablo spoke up as he ced his hand on my head.
"Then we will do that. It is our only option, for now, to try to keep track of things. I will talk to the dwarves and the elves and see if we can create something that will be able to track everyone on this who has a proper mana signature." I was thinking if we were to create a satellite and I flew it up into space, we could easily keep track of things over the whole. Well, I would need a few satellites, but it would be worth it.
"Track the mana signatures?" The lick king asked out of curiosity.
"Mmm¡ the world we live in all has mana. Everything has mana in it. But living organisms have a different sort of mana signature, and it is different per species. But if we narrow things down to those who are of the races, we can easily keep track of them since there is one thing that every race has, and that is its mana spark in their hearts. It is strange to say, and I only realized it myself not too long ago, but when I use detection magic, I know who is who based on their mana spark. Like I can tell a monsterpared to a human just by their mana spark. While I am not sure if all the sentient races on this can be cidered the same in this aspect, I do know that most are. So¡. If we can track them, we can check for any strangeness in their being. Like I noticed a weird fluctuation in the undead outside that you are fighting against. This fluctuation might not seem much, but it is very different from those who have not gone crazy." I exined.
"Then¡. If you can really do as you say, you might be able to tell who the Altorians have infected or done something to?" The lich king asked.
"It''s a theory, but it is worth putting to a test. But I will need to have the elves and dwarves work on such a device first. As of now, we do not know if we can even reverse what is done. Or if every being will react in the same way. We still have a lot we need to figure out, so we can only work on this one step at a time. Lich King, I do hope you can work with my Empire on this. I wonder, do you mind capturing a few of the berserker undead?" We were starting to formte a n, so if we could use both magic and technology and make use of things this world has never seen before to our advantage, we may just be able to keep ourselves from being overrun.
"Of course. I have, in fact, already many at my disposal. But I must ask¡.." The lich king''s voice went soft: "Can you take care of my current problem?"
"Mm¡ I was about to offer this. I can use an area heal on those infected. It will cleanse them and turn them to ash¡." I know this was not the nicest way to go for undead, but it was the quickest.
"I will leave that to you then. As for the ones we already have captured. We will prepare them to be ready to leave with you." The lich king gave me his thanks before giving out orders to his men.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 403 Exchanging Hosts
In no time at all, I was already standing out at the entrance of the city again with the Lich King at my side. He wanted to see for himself the end of his people''s lives. "Are you sure? I can put them in a barrier for the time being if you wish. We can then wait and see if the effects can be reversed¡."
"Will the barrier be able to hold them?" The lich king asked. I smiled and nodded my head as I said: "Move your people back. I will put up a tenyer barrier for the time being. If this doesn''t hold them, then I need to train more."
Luckily I thought of this before killing them all off. Because if we were able to turn them back then it would be a huge loss and more blood on my hand than I really want. When his people retreated behind their city barrier, I quickly set up another barrier which surrounded the berserker undead. It went underground as well, so nothing could escape easily. As a final touch, I also added an eleventh barrier that spun for added protection. This was a just in case barrier.
When I was done, I returned to the throne room where a berserker undead was being held. It was iling about as three undead soldiers held it down with magic. The lich king kindly exined why this was. " We can not go near it, or we will be infected, so we can only use magic to keep it from spreading anything to us."
"I see¡. So it can be restrained with magic¡." I looked at the skeleton and used appraisal on it.
[Undead Skeleton]
[Level: 467]
[Status Effect: Parasitic Invasion]
"Oh?" I had yet to use appraisal on the skeletons, so I was quite surprised that they showed they were actually controlled by something. I scanned the entire body and found a small worm in the skull. It wastching on to the skeletons'' source of life. "Appraisal."
[Infant Altorian]
[Level: 1]
[Will only mature once it has consumed enough lifeforce.]
"Hmmm¡. Let''s try this." My eyes lit up as I used dragon speak: "Stop!" I did not use it on the skeleton but on the worm in its head. I smiled when I saw that the worm had actually stopped feeding. "Move out through the nose¡."
At mymand, it did as I said and slowly made its way to the nose of the skeleton. But just as it was about to exit it, the entire skeleton suddenlybusted into a ze of blue mes. The skeleton kicked and screamed as it burned into nothing but ash, the same with the worm as well¡ "A fail safe?"
"Empress Cyrilia, this? What was what?" The lich king asked.
"That was some kind of self inducedbustion of the worm inside the skeleton''s head. I was using one of my powers to control the worm and was trying to remove it so we could study it. If we can remove it this way, it might return the host back to normal. I never thought it would have some kind of fail safe¡" As I exined this, another idea came to mind. I looked at Freidinia and asked: "Did you notice anything?"
"It seemed to trigger once it came into contact with air. But it might not be the case if we can transfer it into a new host we can dissect and examine the worm. The worms themselves do not have much mana or life force, so they can not survive outside the host body for even a few seconds." Freidinia answered. I was quite surprised she got all his information just from a single observation.
"What if we moved it to a monster or something?" I asked.
"This may be possible, but it might need an undead. I might not be correct on this assumption, but I think these worms evolve with the host they firsttch on to." Freidinia''s assumption may be right. We all began thinking, trying to figure out what to do next.
"Alright, let''s get an undead monster here, and we will use them to test if we can move them from one host to another." I felt it was worth a try. If it didn''t work, we could always try some other things out.
"Quickly bring an undead monster here!" The lich king did not seem to mind my not asking his permission for things as he gave orders right away. I know I was being rude by not asking her permission, but I felt this was really worth testing out. It could save all of the berserker undead outside.
But one thing did bother me. "Freidinia, you said itbusted when it came in contact with air, but¡.. This was a skeleton¡."
"Undead have a membrane inside their skulls, especially skeletons. This is how they keep their mana and everything inside them." Freidinia''s answer was still confusing since I do not know the undead race all that much, so I will just learn as I go.
Not longter, a skeleton monster was brought back along with another berserker skeleton. "Okay, this time, I will order it to move to a new host. This might be a bettermand."
"It is worth a try. It may just work out better and keep it frombusting on instinct." Freidinia agreed with my idea. I took a deep breath and said: "Stop and move to the new host!"
The worm inside the skull wiggled before slowly crawling toward the nose. It was slow, but it did eventually arrive at the nose. The two skeletons were face to face as the worm hesitated a moment before suddenly rushing out of its current host and into the other. It was so fast that one would have missed it if one had blinked.
"It worked!" We all cheered and looked at the original host. The skeleton shook its head and sat up, and looked around in confusion¡ When it saw the lich king, it began to panic and quickly bowed its head. "Your highness!"
"No need to bow. Stand up. We need to ask you questions." The lich king''s lips curled up into a smile. With this, we had a way to move the worms to a new host and saving his people. I couldn''t help but fist pump on the inside, knowing we had actually made progress.
Chapter 404 Results And Planning For More Dungeons
"How many is this?" I asked as I sat down. This was a very tedious process, but we needed many test subjects.
"This makes over one hundred," Diablo answered.
"Okay, and how are the trials going?" While we were exchanging hosts, we were also testing how to extract the worms in different ways as well.
"I might have been able to figure out a method that we can do on a mass scale," Freidinia replied as she held a jar up with a bit of energy in it and a worm. "I recreated the conditions of the undead in a simplistic state. It''s basically just a ball of mana, but it has the characteristics of the undead without any sentience. It''s just that the worms do not seem to realize it."
My eyes lit up. Finally! "Do you think this same method can be used for the living as well?"
"I am not sure. Until we can grab hold of a few turned Altorians I do not think I will be able to do much. The brain of a living being is much different. I would need to know what they are feeding off of and what theirmands are. They might be race specific as well, which will make things harder. The reason these are easier to do is because they are in a berserker state. If they were more conscious, like Azengrade and the rest it might be hard to get them to leave the host, and if they do, the host might be brain dead as well." Freidinia exined.
"Either way, it is still worth the try. If they are infected we can only test them. Even if they end up brain dead, it is better than doing things against their will or out of their control altogether. For all, we know, the Altorians could be eating the consciousness of the beings they take over so they might no longer be who they once were." I hated to use people as test subjects, but if we are able to somehow save those who be hosts for the Altorians, we can at least turn the tides and build up a bigger force to fight against them.
"When we are able to get a few test subjects, we can then test from there. For now, I will need all the jars we can get. As long as they can fit a worm inside, they will do. I don''t even care if they are dirty." Freidinia gave out her order, and the lich king could only be at our beck and call since we were the ones saving his people. He quickly did as we asked, and soon the room was being filled with bottles.
Hour after hour, we worked day and night non stop. Until we finally turned the berserker undead back to normal. I let out a sigh of relief as I sat down. I was very tired, but this was needed in order to get a better understanding of these worms, and now we have billions of them that can be used to experiment on. "Empress Cyrilia. You have my thanks. You not only did not hold it against my people for the invasion of your empire, but you also saved my people."
"It wasn''t your fault, to begin with. Anyway, if you truly wish to thank me, then form an open alliance with my Empire. It will allow trade of specific goods between our nations and also provide assistance as well when needed. This will also keep my people from harming yours and vice versa." I was too tired to really exin things in detail. So Diablo did it for me.
And within the same day, a new light shed throughout both our nations allowing the Undead Kingdom and the Cyrilia Empire to be allies without bounds. This also applied to the elven kingdom as well.
"I am sure you have much to straighten out with your people. The teleport that I created will be linked to an embassy that I will set up for you in theing days. I will send notice over the crystal orb I provided for you. " I exined as I held Diablo''s and Freidinia''s hands.
"Then I will speak to you then." The lich king smiled and waved goodbye as we disappeared.
The past few days were trying, but even so, I made a report to our officials. And set up a secludedb where all the worms were to be stored. These worms were to be locked in a special barrier that Freidinia had created that would keep their aura sealed away. Although the jars already had such a seal, it was still something that needed to be done just in case.
Once I was done, I wandered to my bedroom, where Sophie, Adel, and Iena were all waiting for me. They helped me undress and allowed me to curl up in their embrace and fall into a deep sleep.
When I woke up the next morning, I was hugging Sophie like a body pillow, unwilling to let go. Her fluff was just too amazing. "It''s not fair that Sophie gets all the cuddles¡."
"Then grow some fluff¡." I muttered as I sank into the fluff and wrapped my arms and legs around Sophie.
"I would if I could!" Adel whined, but she did not seem mad at all. Sophie, on the other hand, seemed very happy as she hugged my arms. Iena was still sound. The girls all had a busy day the past few days as well. "That''s it I am joining too!" Adel gave up and hugged me from the back. In the end, all three of us fell asleep like this.
When I woke up next, the sun was high in the sky, and only Sophie was left in bed with me. Not that she could slip out of my fluff death grip. "Good morning, sleepy head."
"Mmm¡ Morning¡. Kiss¡." I mumbled. Sophie rolled over and kissed my lips, making me smile before I clung on to her once more and buried my head into her neck, and sunk my teeth in. The sensation of sucking blood was strange to me. I still feel hungry a few times a day, but I do not need to eat all the time. I could probably go a week without eating, but I still couldn''t resist. Sophie''s soft voice as I sucked on her blood also tingled my ears. You can say that we did more than just a feeding session after that.
But that did put me in a good mood. Stress relief was very important, after all. When I walked downstairs, Adel was already organizing some things. She looked over at me and raised an eyebrow. "Where is Sophie?"
"Sleeping still. I wore her out just now after I ate." I said while sticking my tongue out. Adel chuckled and walked over, and hugged me. "You can''t be biased."
"I know. You and Iena are tonight." I said as I hugged her back. "At least as long as nothing big happens."
"We will prepare." Adel licked her lips before kissing me and then putting her fingers to her chin and asking: "When do you n to dungeon dive? The whole team is already waiting for this."
"I was thinking about next week after I finish a few things here. I want to run a few dungeons. But it will not be just with our team. We will be splitting up into groups. Everyone will have a team they will lead as we begin building our military levels. Mass recruitment of soldiers will need to begin as well. I was thinking of having General Briggs handle this. We will need all soldiers to jump into dungeons and make their way as far as they can. No one is allowed to die. If they can''t push forward or are uncertain of the fight, they must retreat." Of course, I know people will still die in the dungeons. It is something that will happen no matter how prepared you are unless you are above the dungeon''s level. But this was just a kind of thought that I wanted to instill in everyone''s mind.
"So, does that mean we will all be splitting up?" Adel asked. She seemed a bit anxious.
"No. Not all the way. Sally, Sei, Sophie, and you will be on my team. Iena and Diablo will lead the other teams. We need those of higher levels to lead our elites. We can get more experience in smaller teams, so if we split up, we can gain experience faster. There is a dungeon in the elven capital that seems to be an instanced dungeon, so we can all go to the same ce. The elven king has given me full ess to it to the point that we now have a teleport to and from the dungeon." I exined. I did not want to split up like this, but the smaller teams would mean more experience. It has already been said among the mercenaries that many were leveling up faster in smaller teams rather than bigger teams.
"I see¡ Well, as long as I am with you since I really do not want to be split up from you." Adel pursed her lips. I reached up and ruffled her hair and smiled: "I know this. This is why I made the teams as they are. Diablo and Iena are both ways over my level and are perfect for power-leveling the others. I will do my best to do the same for you as well."
Chapter 405 Mr. Blobs And The Slime Army Go Dungeon Diving
A monthter, I found myself standing outside the entrance to a new dungeon. In front of me were not my teammates but an army of slimes! With Mr. Blobs jiggling in the front. I paced back and forth a few times with my hands behind my back. When I walked right, the slimes shifted to look at me. When I walked left, they shifted again to look at me. They were all very good little slimes. "Today is an important mission for all of you. You will be heading into this dungeon in teams! I want you all to work together and take down the enemy and level up as much as you can. Mr. Blobs will be forming his own team, while team leaders will also be forming teams as well. You are to work hard and level, level, level. If you can pick up skills, do so! Our future to survive will be left in your hands! You will have many missions and important tasks soon! I can not leave these tasks to the weak! So Work hard, and work together. I want all of you toe back fastly! What do you all say!?"
*Jiggle!*
Seeing them all jiggling and bouncing up and down, I smiled. My slimes are truly the best! A felt a tear well up in my eye as I quickly wiped it. "Good! Then go forth! And make the most of your time. If youplete the dungeon, then do it again! Keep going until you are all at least level 2000!"
*Jiggle!*
"Mmmm! Now go! " I watched as each team was quickly formed. This was thousands of slimes, all going into the dungeon in groups. My current slimes were now so many I lost count. The meter seems to be broken in the system. Not that it matters! Because they will only keep growing bigger over time! I turned and looked at the few girls behind me, who all had strange expressions on their faces, and ignored them! I don''t care if I seem weird. My slimes will be the best!
In the past month, all my stats have finally been updated with the trickle. I now have some crazy stats:
[Name]: Faith Cyrilia
[Age] 17
[Level] 1428
[Race] Drakani Demigoddess
[HP] 1052500/1052500(3052500)
[MP] ¡Þ
[Attack Power] 1584950
[Magic Power] 584950
[Status Points] 5850
[Strength] 158495
[Vitality] 105250
[Intelligence] 58495
[Mind] ¡Þ
[Agility] 58495
[Skill Points] 1341
[Limit Break( 1/3)]
Total Domination
[Skills]
[Appraisal (LVL 10(MAX))] [Military Command (LVL 10(MAX))] [Military Tactics (LVL 10(MAX))] [Business Tycoon (LVL 10(MAX))] [Acting (LVL 1(MAX))] [Enve Demon (LVL 10)] [Charm(LVL 10(MAX))] [Dimensional Transfer(LVL 10(Max))] [Blood Frenzy(LVL 1(MAX))] [Blood Maniption(LvL 10(MAX))] [Shadow Meld (LVL 1)] [Shadow Clone(LVL 1)] [Blood Enhance(LVL 1(MAX))] [The Starry Night Sky (LVL 1)][Armor of Infinity(LVL 1)]
The strange thing is that my dragon form no longer raises my stats any more, which is kind of annoying. I was hoping it would make me stronger, but it doesn''t. I guess this has something to do with the new race¡.
Either way, I guess it is okay. I can still use the weight of my partial transformation to my advantage by using the weight of my transformed limbs as a means of adding more damage which is useful. Not to mention my attack power and health now are much more than what they used to be in dragon form. It would just be nice if it stayed that way¡..
But I guess such a bulky body is hard to fight in as well. So I am not too sad about it as I hardly use my dragon form. One good thing is that my new Armor of Infinity will shape shift with my partial transformations, which makes things easier. I can now cast it on me with just my underwear on and not have to worry about anything else. Like I can use my feet now as well instead of just my hands. The sword I picked up before seems to be a bit strange. It says it is a growth item, but it does not grow. In fact, it fused into my new armor of infinity spell and can now be called forth from that. Its name was Athena''s Promise, but it really did not keep its promise and just stayed at normal stats. But having a sword that can now be summoned at will from any ce on my body was quite neat.
"Faith, I may be seeing things but are you sending you slimes into the dungeon to level up?" Adel asked.
I turned and looked at her and smiled. "Hehe¡."
"This¡ doesn''t this mean you will also gain experience points!?" Now that Adel was saying something, this is very true! If the slimes kill things, I will gain experience from it, and in turn, so will those in my team. This was just¡.
"We should be much stronger after doing these dungeons a few times." And I mean very strong! I had forgotten that my slimes were basically my pets which were a part of me. I only know they can go into different instances of the dungeon because I had already checked. But now, this was a huge amazing thing! If they all cleared the dungeon, that was millions upon millions of free experience points!
"I never thought such a way of leveling up would be possible. If we can be stronger, we can easily be a match for the Altorians!" Sophie became excited, as did the other girls.
"I hope I can finally be of some use¡." Sally looked depressed. I can see why though, since it had been hard on her to sit by and do nothing all this time.
"I know how you feel! It''s not fair to use people who have not had a chance to do anything as ofte to be left behind like this. At one point, I might have been a match for Faith, but now I feel like one flick of her finger will send me flying into the abyss." Sei was just as depressed as Sally for different reasons, though.
"Then let''s put you to work and start leveling, shall we?"
Chapter 406 How To Power Level
Upon entering the dungeon, we all looked around in awe at the strangendscape in front of us. Tall trees with colorful leaves, along with mushrooms taller than my head. "Faith, what kind of monsters should we expect to be facing here?"
"nts¡." Runa had told me that this ce was filled with nt monsters, and it was hard to distinguish them from the regr nts and the ones that were monsters. But from what I was told, the nts here were on a high level, so I can hopefully get some experience myself.
One thing I hate about leveling is that I never get any experience points for monsters of a lower level. It is annoying since there are not many high level monsters to fight. While we have run into some strong monsters, things are now different due to my level. I can only hope the bosses will give me something at the very least on our first few run throughs.
"nts!?" Adel seemed shocked, but then confusion filled her face as she began looking around. "Umm¡ Where is Grace?"
"I only said it would be the few of us. Grace is helping take care of things back at the capital with Freidinia. She is also now connected to me, so her level will also rise. Did you not realize she is much more powerful now?" I asked, which caused the girls to all frown.
"No fair! Why does Grace get it easy while we suffer? Quick turn me into your ve too!" Sei yelled out. She was always one to try to find the easy way out of things. She was also the one who slept in the most!
"No, go. Plus, if I did, I would probably make your work like a horse since all you do isze around." I replied while sticking my tongue out at her.
"Then never mind. I have a feeling you would do such a thing!" Sei quickly retreated, causing us all tough.
"Getting back on point. The nts here are dangerous right now. I can see three, and they are all level 500." Sadly they were too low level for me to even be considered worth wild for me to gain experience from, but there was nothing I could do about that. The reason why I picked this dungeon in the first ce was because of one thing I heard from Runa. The level of the dungeon seems to be based on party mid point. So with the girls in the level 100s and me at level 1000 plus, this means the mid point would be closer to their levels as I am the only one here at a high level. This is why I can say that we can run this multiple times. Because eventually, the mid point will get to a spot where I can start gaining experience as well.
Although this is all well and good for us all, there is one person who is actually cking butining about not having a vacation, and that was my father inw who is now stuck running the empire for me.
I did say that he would need to do such things while I was gone. Luckily if anything happens because he is in team he can tell me right away. He will be getting free experience as well. But because he can tell me what is going on quickly, I can rest assured that I can appear there when needed and summon everyone back in under a minute with my dimensional transfer. I have checked, and my skill does work in this dungeon.
"What level five hundred!?" Sophie cried out. She seemed slightly frightened since her face paled a little.
"Don''t worry. This is why I am here. For the time being, I will be helping you through the dungeon killing things. This is called power leveling. I will power level you all until you are able to fight on your own. But as we raise in level, the monsters will also be harder as well, so we have to be careful." Power leveling was invented in MMORPGs back on Earth. It was when you have a higher level tow you along and kill higher level monster for you to leech experience from. It allowed lower levels to level quickly.
"Oh¡." Sophie nodded and let out a small sigh of relief. I think she was trying to hide the sigh, but I still heard it.
At any rate, the monsters in this dungeon were not all that hard from what I heard, at least the ones on the first floor. The second floor monsters were a bit harder, but that seems to be a trend for this dungeon. Although Runa did say that this dungeon had many floors and she was unsure what the floors were like past the fourth one since her people had yet to reach that level.
"Stay here. I will go see if I can round up a bunch of monsters." The key to a proper power leveling session was to round up as many monsters as possible and then kill them all! So with a wave of my hand, I put up a barrier around the girls, who were very confused at this moment, and took off to gather as many monsters as possible.
Luckily even though I was a higher level, these monsters were not shy about attacking me, but I did find something a little annoying. About half of them were rooted in ce. Making it hard for them to chase after me. This was not what I really wanted, but this was not too bad. I still gathered up a hundred or so monsters all around level 400 to level 600. I then returned to where the girls were and cast an area of effect fire spell called: ring of fire. The monsters all caught on fire and died within a few seconds. With this, the power leveling session was underway!
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 407 Plant Monsters
The first batch of monsters I rounded up easily gave the girls ten levels which was nice. And for me, I got zilch¡ No experience whatsoever. But that was fine. As long as we continue like this, the girls will level up quickly. Some of the experience points even came from the slimes, who were doing well in leveling up as well.
"Alright, we will now go in and fight the ones who can''t move. Be careful and watch your surroundings. There are many vine type monsters." I had to give this warning because when I was running around collecting a batch of monsters, I was almost tripped up a few times in the process.
This is why I have always disliked nt monsters. Even in novels, they were always the most annoying. Because it is hard to distinguish a nt monster from a real nt, after all, in a sense they are still nts.
A flower monster might be the same flower you sniffed not too long ago. You stop and sniff the same kind of flower only to have it suddenly open up and show razor sharp teeth that bite your head off and then consume you slowly. And that is if you are lucky to have a quick death by the nt. From what I know from Runa''s exnation, some of the nts will slowly devour you within their bodies using a special acid their bodies produce.
It is not the best of ways to go, that is for sure. Runa had told me that many had died when they first entered the dungeon before they figure out what was what for monsters. One thing I have to say is lucky for her is that the monsters here are level based, so it enables her people to level properly without worrying about taking on monsters way too strong for them.
Although maybe nt monsters are kind of horrifying. When they attacked, they looked quite grotesque and even alien like. But now that I am thinking about it, there were some grotesque nts back on Earth as well.
If life on Earth evolved in even a slightly different manner, the nts of that could have grown legs and run around chasing after early humans. Maybe it would have never be so advanced and would have been more of a tribal. But who knows? Maybe humans would not have been able to evolve at all, and the me of that world, would never have been born. It is a strange thing to think about, but it is a possibility.
"Faith, watch out!" Sophie snapped me out of my thoughts. I looked up to see arge brown vineshing out at me. I snorted and raised my sword, and shed down, slicing it in two.
I pursed my lips, looking at the purple oozeing from the cut parts. It was fizzling and melting the ground. If that hadnded on any of us, we probably would have melted too. Luckily we all have barriers up, so that will not happen, but still. These kinds of nts are indeed scary if you are not careful.
"Faith, are you okay?" Adel asked as she came to my side.
"Mm¡ Just in my own world." I had to kinda be out in my own world to do power leveling. Killing monsters was not all that fun, to begin with. It was a big grind, and I was one to hate the grind.
I liked leveling up, but only if it was fruitful, so fighting monsters with no true reward was not very fun to me. The girls were leveling up, which was my intention, but still, it was very tedious and boring. And we just started! I did not n to stop our leveling mission until everyone was at least level 1000 plus. We needed at least this strength for the time being. But even if I do have this kind of goal in mind, it was still boring as can be!
It took us three hours to clear the first floor. When we found the set of stairs leading down it was surrounded by strange pink glowing mushrooms that wiggled back and forth. Luckily, they were small, and if you stepped on them, they would squish instantly. They were not monsters at all, and ording to appraisal, they tasted sweet, but¡.. They were hallucinogenic. This meant if you ate one, you would really be in for some freaky things.
When we reached the second floor it was much like the previous floor. I once again rounded up all the monsters that could roman around before killing the stationary ones after. This time the girls even helped with fighting.
Each floor was the same until we reached the fifth floor. This was a mini boss I guess you could call it, as it was just a big room that was sealed off once we all entered the room. And in the middle was arge Mushroom that was level 1034. "Careful."
"Is this a boss?" Sei asked as she looked at the huge pink and blue mushroom. It looked very ominous if you asked me.
"Yes¡."
[Boss: Mutated Mush]
[Level 1034]
[Health 2000000/2000000]
[Mana 500000/500000]
It did not have the best of names, but I do wonder what makes this different from the other floors. But I did worry. The blue on the mushroom kind of stuck out to me as troublesome. I had not seen any blue mushrooms besides the mini mushrooms that were on the stairs leading down to each floor, so if it was mutated with parts of those little mushrooms, then we might be in trouble.
"I suggest that everyone use the spell I made to filter air¡." Luckily I had made a special magic spell just for this that I had everyone learn. When you think of nts, there are kinds that have spores. And some novels also had these spores be used as poisonous attacks. The girls quickly cast their spells without a second thought. I also did the same. As we slowly entered the boss room from the stairwell, the boss that was slumbering suddenly shook, and spores really did fly through the air. It was just that¡.
*Sprout!*
Chapter 408 The Troublesome Boss
"Ummm...." I touched my head to feel a small mushroom on top of it. I took a deep breath and tried to pull on it. "Ouch!"
"Faith! We all got mushrooms growing on our heads!" Sei yelled out. She seemed to be panicking.
"Rx. I will cast appraisal on us." I turned and looked at everyone. Each one of us had an identical mushroom growing out of our heads. "Appraisal...."
"A mimic mushroom?" I looked at the status effect on us and was a bit confused. I did not understand what it meant by mimic mushroom. There was no exnation....
"Ummm.... Should we try to attack the mushroom?" Sally asked, she seemed confused as to what to do.
"I am not sure...." Thinking for a moment, I decided to have Adel attack since she was the one with the lowest attack power. So if she used a sword to attack, it would not do much damage. My only issue was the mimic part which was why I was being so cautious. "Adel you wille with me. I want you to poke the boss with a sword. Do not attack but just poke it."
"Okay?" Adel gave me a confused look but it was still hard for me to exin since I was not one hundred percent sure this was correct or not.
We both walked towards the mushroom. I had my sword drawn just in case, but even when we stood right in front of the boss it did not move. "Okay, poke it gently."
"Like this?" Adel poked the mushroom with the sword I handed her, and as soon as it touched the mushroom, the mushroom wigged, and Adel let out a pained cry. "Ouch!"
"I figured this would happen...." I said as I rubbed my chin.
"If you knew this would happen, why did you ask me to poke it!?" Adel gave me an aggrieved expression. I gave a cheeky smile as I kissed her lips. "I choose you because you have the least amount of attack power. If I did that I would end up with most of my health gone. The same goes for the others."
"No fair!" Adel pouted. She exined that she felt pain throughout her entire body. It was as if she was struck by electricity. She even lost two points of health as well. But this allowed me to understand one thing. This first floor boss was no joke. The mushrooms on our heads acted as a transmitter. It transmitted the damage from the big guy to the little guys, which meant these little mushrooms were basically a parasitic type of mushroom that would then transfer that damage to the user.
"No one is to attack...." I said as I gazed at the stupid mushrooms on our heads. A thought came to mind, but I was not sure if it would work or not. Since the big mushroom was connected to these little mushrooms, would the big mushroom take damage if the little ones took damage?
"Don''t be rmed if I suddenly cry out in pain. I am testing something." I warned before taking my sword and stabbing it at the mushroom on my head. And sure enough, my guess waspletely and utterly..... Wrong! "Ouch! Heal! Heal!"
My poor health! Even my heals were doing nothing! These damn little mushrooms are like the root of all evil! "Faith! What happened!?"
"Do not attack the little mushrooms, and do not get hurt. We need to figure out how to deal with this. I just took off five hundred health by attacking the mushroom on my head, and all my heals seemed to be transferred to the boss!" I cried out. There was no visible injury, but the shock you get from harming the little mushroom was intense!
"What should we do then? We can''t just sit here doing nothing...." Sei seemed to be very worried about our situation.
"I am not sure we will just need to figure things out. For the time being, let''s try to see if we can find anything unusual in the room. If you do, yell out." The girls nodded, and we all began searching the room. What we were looking for, I had no idea, but we had to look around for some kind of means to beat the boss.
As of now, we only knew two things. The boss would send a physical attack back at its user. The mimic mushroom on our heads would do the same. My heals seemed to be ineffective when trying to heal myself. But we had yet to use magic on the boss. I was a bit afraid to do so and would only do so if we could not find anything to deal with our current situation.
We looked around our room all over the ce and could not really find anything worth mentioning. There were glow mushrooms, but even if you stepped on them, they did nothing. I know this because I tried, just in case. I kicked all the rocks, and seven stabbed the walls of the room, but nothing seemed to have any effect.
"There has to be something!" I looked around and only saw the boss mushroom silently sitting there doing absolutely nothing amusing.
If we could just figure out how this boss works, everything would be fine. But I am afraid if we do something wrong, one of us might die. If this happens, I would not be able to live with myself knowing I caused a friend''s or lover''s death. But then again, this could be the meaning behind it. What if the pain we are feeling is a means to defeating the boss? I know it sounds crazy, and it could be that this boss needs one of us to die to move on, which I can not allow. It makes me wonder if I can jump out of the dungeon and then bring back a monster or something to test this theory.... I guess I will leave this thought to be ast case scenario....
Chapter 409 Hurts Like Hell
"Anything?" I called out. We did not have to worry about the boss attacking us, but we were still trying to find some clue as to how to defeat this boss so we could move on.
"Nothing here!"
"Not here either¡."
"Faith, I think we need to figure something else out."
"Alright, let''s gather and eat something¡." I had to think about this. The mushroom takes damage from physical attacks and sends it back to us. I felt this firsthand. I tried healing myself, and it had no effect. If my assumption is correct, the healing probably healed the mimic mushroom or the boss mushroom.
The only things I have not tried are casting attack magic on the boss mushroom or poking myself. Now I am no masochist, so stabbing myself does not sound like a good time. And I can''t bear to harm the others either. But we were running out of options¡. "You girls stay here. I will be right back. I need to get a monster in here to test something¡."
"Okay." Adel and the girls nodded. I waved my hand and went to use dimensional transfer, but when I did, nothing happened.
"Hmmm?" I looked around and tried again. But still nothing. "Really? Is this room sealed from all transportation magic!?"
"It''s probably because we are in a boss room. Remember before we couldn''t leave the boss room no matter what?" Adel was right. The room was sealed with magic blocking all exits. This also meant transportation magic of any kind.
I couldn''t help but frown. I grew stronger, but I was still too weak to ovee the stupid dungeon! I really did not want to do this, but we had no choice. "Adel, poke me with your sword¡."
"Huh? Why would I do that!? No!" Adel firmly shook her head and seemed to be fully against stabbing me. Well, I can understand why. I also did not exin things clearly either.
"I need to test something, so just stab me." I needed her to do it because I could not let my health drop below a certain threshold. Even if I had to take damage until I was almost dead, it would be worth it to kill the boss mushroom. At least then they could heal me.
Adel bit her lip as she looked at me. She stomped her feet a few times before walking over and gently poking me with her sword.
[-1 Health¡.]
The -1 did not damage me but the boss mushroom! While I did feel pain, the small cut did disappear after. This was probably due to my new skill from my armor, less instant regeneration. It was not so instant onrge wounds as my health was slowly still rising from my previous self inflicted wound. But now I know that as long as they all attacked me, we could defeat the boss.
"Okay, it worked. We took one health off! Everyone, attack me! Just do not go for fatal points." As soon as I said this, I got strange looks. "Just do it! I do not wish to spend the rest of my life stuck in a damn boss room!"
"Fine, but don''t think I will hold back!" Sei smiled brightly as she walked over and wound up her fist, and threw a punch right at my face!
"Ouch! Why did you aim for my face!?" I held my nose, which was now red. At least I wasn''t bleeding! I red at Sei, who was holding her hand with tears in her eyes.
"Why is your nose so hard!" Sei cried out.
"Serves you right for aiming for the face! You should be using a sword and stabbing me with it anyways! Why are you punching!?" My poor nose!
"I thought I could get some payback for training!" Sei shook her hand and blew on it. In the end, I am not sure who took more damage, me or Sei. However, the mushroom did jiggle just now and was one hundred health lower than before.
I rolled my eyes and snorted at her as I picked up my sword and stabbed my arm through. It hurt like hell, but when I saw another six thousand health drop off the boss, I knew I was on the right track. I pulled my sword out, and the wound began to close up.
Now it was just a matter of who will die first. The boss mushroom or me from blood loss. I swear if I knew who created this boss, I would definitely hunt them down and kill them with everything I have!
But sadly, I do not have such an ability at this time. Because I am sure whoever created these dungeons in the first ce was probably on a godly scale. How Azengrade was able to control a portion of the dungeon, I do not know, but I am sure their people never created such things.
If my assumption is even remotely right, I think Azengrade was really just running tests on the dungeon when we met up with him in the goblin dungeon at that time. Which means, my system and the dungeons have nothing to do with the Altorians.
"Alright, let''s take this seriously, alright? Everyone,e at me and stab me!" I yelled out. The girls looked at one another before really doing what I asked. And I must say it hurt like hell. I do not know how people can be masochists. How do they even get through the pain? We continued this for quite some time until I began to feel faint and had to drink blood. Luckily I have many ways to heal outside of normal means.
We continued this back and forth for almost three hours when the boss mushroom finally shriveled up, and the mushrooms on our heads fell off. Only then did I let out a sigh of relief, but This left a sour taste in my mouth. Because now¡. I will have to do this same tactic over and over until I am able to instant kill the stupid mushroom!
Chapter 410 I Will Cry
"Let''s hope this is an infinite dungeon¡." I mumbled as I stood up. We ended up taking a break while I fed on the girls. I still miss my refreshing Iena¡ Her blood is still the best, while Sei''s tastes salty¡.
"Alright, let''s move on to the next floor." The girls nodded, and we slowly began making our way down to the sixth floor. When we reached the nt life that made up the first five floors were reced with a rockyndscape. I did not even need to ask what kind of monsters were on this floor since I could see rock golems and elementals all over the ce. At least this ce made things easier to level up with.
The previous floor boss didn''t give us much. We got two skill stones for our trouble which I gave to Adel and Sei. This was after a fair roll to see who got them. I did not want anyone to think I was being biased about loot. So I had everyone y rock, paper, scissors to determine who would be the first to get new skills.
Basically, the next boss or when another skill stone drops, Adel and Sei will be left out while the rest of us battle it out. And once everyone has gotten one, we will just keep the same rotation. I already nned to gost, so I nned to make sure I did not win at all. It was not easy for them to get skills, while for me, it was pretty simple. I might not be able to buy normal skills, but I can buy other skills, which reminds me I have not bought any in a long time. I have over 1341 skill points, so I might go ahead and spend someter on.
But for now, the task ahead was power leveling once again! This time I just had the girls follow me as I killed everything in my path. One thing after the other, I killed, killed, killed. I did not leave a single monster alive! I was taking out my frustrations from the stupid mushroom level.
I do wonder how everyone else is doing, though. I mean, those in Diablo and Iena''s team might be in for a bit of trouble. But then again, if those two can somehow figure out a different method like blowing up the entire room or something, then maybe, just maybe, they will not need to resort to the stabby stabby routine that hurts so much.
As for my slimes¡. I do hope they will be okay. I do not think the mimic mushroom will be effective on them since they are slimes. Which means I think they can probably defeat it with ease. This thought kinda makes me wish I had brought a few with me, but I sent them out on their own. I do hope they alle back safely. My precious little balls of jelly!
While they have multiplied by many times, I have a feeling once they finish their training, they will be my Empire''s most feared army. I do not n to put them away anymore. Since they have all gained a bit of sentience, I n to put them to work and reward them with some good stuff.
After everything that happened in such a short time, I think after all my preparations and growing stronger, I will be able to handle Azengrade, at least by myself. His flunkies I would not need to worry too much about his until they reached a super high level. But if we continue on this road, we are on now, we may be able to level quickly enough.
At least my group will not have too many problems. If I need to run teams myself, I can do that as well since my mana is infinite and will not run out anytime soon. I already had the girls tethered to it so they could cast spells at will. I just hope my too ckers are enjoying their free ride. Well¡ Grace is probably working since all she does is work, but that father inw of mine is another story.
Hopefully, he will notze about too much while standing in for me. He knows my ns and should be able to sign off on things. I do have Anne helping him when she is free. I have been thinking that it might be a good idea to take a visit to Diablo''s realm and try to persuade the other demon kings toe to my aid. But what I wonder is, if there are demon summons, are there any angel summons? There probably is, but it would require gaining the skill for it.
While lost in thought, we reached the tenth floor in a sh. This just goes to show how much easier it is to kill nonnt monsters. But I do hope this boss will be much easier.
[Boss: Mutated Rock Golem]
[Level 2341]
[Health 50000000/50000000]
[Mana 10000/100000]
"Oh? Looks like I will get a good chunk of experience this time, too, but¡.. Mutated¡." The mutated, in its name, bothered me. Thest boss had such a strange quirk about it that it made it hard to understand how to defeat. So I do hope this one is slightly different. If we all suddenly grow rocks on our heads, I will cry. I mean it. I will start crying here and now.
"Faith, what should we do?" Adel asked.
"Well¡ we are in for a fight no matter what because this thing''s health is high as well as it''s level. And when I say it is high, I mean really high. It has fifty million health. But only one hundred thousand mana. So I think it is more of a physical attack boss with high defense. We will need to work out a method to bypass its defense if we wish to kill it." I exined.
"We will follow yourmands." Sei seemed ready to fight. Everyone else nodded as well. As team leader, I guess I can not let them down now, can I?
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 411 One Tough Boss
"For now, stay back. I will go in first to test the waters." I did not want to send anyone in just yet if we did not know exactly what this boss was capable of. But I do have a feeling that this will end up being a battle of endurance. We will need to fight even if we do very little damage to it.
I rushed in with sword in hand, wanting to test how much physical damage will do to the boss. Sure enough, though, as soon as I entered the middle of the room, the boss suddenly stood up, towering in the air. The huge boss room barely had enough room for how tall this boss was.
*Whirrrrlllllll!*
It made a strange sound before beating its chest like a gori and mming its fist toward me. I quickly dodged to the side as I ran too close in but soon realized it was not a single attack. A rain of rocky fists suddenly powered down on top of me as I moved back and forth, avoiding them. The ground shook, along with dust and debris being shot into the air. This alone was enough to make me form a barrier around myself so I would not be affected by it.
I decided to take this chance as one of the fists wereing down to parry it and sh down onto the rocking arm that it was attached to. A nging sound was heard as my hand vibrated from the impact. I could only frown as I spun my body around and aimed for one of the joints. Once again, my sword was reflected off its hard surface.
Seeing how my sword was of no use, I shot a few balls of each element at the arm to see if that would do any damage, and once again, I gained no results. "This is not working. I will try the head!"
The entire boss was made of solid stone except for two spots. One was the red ominous eye in the head and the ck glowing core in the middle of its chest. I quickly cast a barrage of attacks at both spots, only to find my attacks to be quickly blocked by some kind of barrier. I could not feel any magic fluctuation in this barrier which made me frown even more. "This thing is like an imprable fortress!"
I quickly retreated and stood away out of arm''s reach of the boss. As soon as I did leave its range of attack, it stopped moving once more. "Faith, how was it?"
"No good, not a single attack got through. No damage was done at all." I frowned as I looked up at the huge monster who was frozen in ce. "There is some kind of barrier around the two spots that should be its weakness. But they are not made of magic, so I am unsure what to do."
"Faith if you go into your dragon form, do you think you can hold it off? I can try to use my dimensional attacks to bypass the barrier." Sophie suggested. I thought for a moment before nodding my head. "We can try, but you need to stay in your void. Do note out when you attack."
"Don''t worry. I saw how quick it was. I will not let myself get hurt." Sophie replied. I smiled and ran forward as I shouted out: "Get ready! When you see me grab it, attack!"
I did not wait for her to agree before suddenly turning into my new dragon form. My entire figure grew to the same size as the golem. I reached out and grabbed a hold of it. But I suddenly realized something was wrong. As soon as I grabbed it, it immediately flung my arms away and punched me in my stomach! I felt the wind suddenly being knocked out of me as I was sent flying across the room. But I know why this happened. I couldn''t sink my ws into it! A barrier appeared!
"Faith!" I heard the others call out as I tried to catch my breath. Luckily my defenses were still high in dragon form, or else I might have been swatted to death. I looked up to see Sophie swing her sword through the void to use her void sh. I was hopeful that it would work, but that hope was quickly shattered. The attack was still blocked, and nothing got through. Sophie quickly retreated, feeling defeated.
"Now what!?" Sei cried out as she stared at the massive golem.
At least we could attack it without much problem, but the fact of the matter was, was that we were in a pickle since we would be stuck here until we could defeat this stupid thing. Even if we could attack, it was useless if we could not do any damage to it. Thinking for a moment, I yelled out to Adel. "Adel, can you use cosmic magic and try to stop it?"
"I can try, but I think you should do it, no? You are closer to it in level." Adel had a point. I returned to my humanoid form andnded on the ground.
"Then let''s try this. I will use cosmic magic at the same time as Adel, and if it works, I want the rest of you to attack the core on its chest with your strongest attacks. But only if it works. We will know if I get into range to use my magic." This was a long shot, but if this does work, we will be able to tear this big boy down. Although it still annoys me that my dragon form was swatted away like a fly. It actually took a bit of three hundred thousand health in that one attack. Luckily my current armor actually melds with my dragon form, too, which is quite nice. It gives me a kind of ck scaled armor on top of my blood red scales.
At any rate, right now, we can only hope this works in stopping the stupid barrier on the boss from blocking our attacks. "Everyone get ready. I am going in!"
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 412 This Is Impossible
In many games, there is always that one boss that is not even the final boss that is always super hard to defeat. If you do not have max level with all maxed out stats and all the most powerful magics, weapons, and armors in the game, you will never defeat it, no matter how hard you try. Right now, that frustration when you were just about to beat said boss only to be wiped out when it got to one health was the feeling I had right now as I rushed forward.
I looked up at the massive stone fist about to stter me against the dungeon floor and yelled out: "Stop!" It was not just my voice either but also Adel''s. "Attack!" I yelled out quickly after as the wind from the sudden stop of the fist blew past my body, causing my hair to flutter in the air.
The fist was only about a foot away when it stopped, and I could tell one thing. It was not fully stopped. I guess this is a level thing. I had noticed the same thing when I faced Azengrade and the rest. They could still move ever so slightly.
Resistance to magic is a main in the butt, but this means when I get to a high enough level, nothing will be able to resist this kind of magic which is very op. But now that I think about it. I have a feeling if Adel ever out leveled me, I would be toyed with and wouldn''t even know it. After all, out of all the girls, she was the biggest minx who loved to get intimate.
I also rushed forward with sword in hand. The attacks of the three girls in front of me finally allnded their marks. I was not skimming out either as I jumped up in the air and stabbed my sword down. A cracking sound was heard as the sword smacked into the ck orb. I quickly jumped back, and all four of us quickly left the boss''s attack range. "Faith, how was it?"
I was also curious about how much health we took away in this attack. And to be honest, when I used appraisal, I was not expecting to see that the fifty million health it had would drop to one million with a four pronged attack. I looked up at the core that was cracking and chipping away and understood why. It had massive defense with the barrier andrge health but was still weak once you bypassed the barrier. This made it fragile to attacks. "I am going in once more. We will finish it after this attack."
"Awesome!" Sophie yelled out. I quickly took off before anything unexpected happened. I once more jumped in the air and brought my sword down, stabbing it into the same spot as before. This time a loud shattering sound was heard, and the entire core broke. But I forgot one thing about bosses. Sometimes¡. They had a second or third form. Or it could be something even worse.
A great wind whirled up, and I was sent flying away. Dust and debris filled the air causing a wall of a tornado to fill the room. I was tossed back and mmed against the wall for the second time today. It did not hurt any less, either. As I gathered my bearings once more and looked up, multiple red lights could be seen shining from within the wall of wind. These lights grew brighter and brighter. I couldn''t help but have a bad feeling as I used dimensional transfer to the girls and surrounded us in a fiftyyered spinning barrier.
Just as the barrier formed, multiple red lights shot toward us like beams. The barriers, even though they were spinning, shattered one after the other. Such an attack was unheard of up until now in the dungeons I have been in thus far. And right now, I felt like maybe I would not survive this attack. Thirty barriers shattered almost instantly and kept shattering until they reached thest one when the rays of light dimmed and stopped only after cracking thest barrier.
The wind and debris also began to settle, revealing a metallic golem standing where the rock golem once was. But this one looked more mechanical. Which made me frown. But it did exin why I did not sense any magic. It seemed this boss was never an actual elemental based golem but a mechanical one?
But we had no time to rest when the golem suddenly raised its arms, and its hands opened up, showing two red spots that were glowing brightly. Secondster, another ray of red light shot toward us. I once again formed barriers around us but this time, one hundredyers worth. But they all shattered under the intense force of the rays. Had no choice but to grab the girls and use dimensional transfer to relocate us to the other side of the golem.
"We need to spread out! Or we will never get any attacks in. Sophie, Sei, and Sally, I will leave distractions to you three. I will need to protect Adel and use stop on the golem, so we can get out attacks in. But for now, hurry and move! Stop!" I yelled out so we could get a chance to move. But Sadly, it seemed to be ineffective because all it did was cause the golem to rotate its arms behind it and shoot more red beams of light at us. We all had no choice but to scatter. I have no idea why stop was not working unless it had some kind of anti magic field up that was much more powerful than before. But I do know this was not something I really wanted to deal with!
"Faith, what should we do? Cosmic magic is not working!" Adel seemed worried, but that did not matter. As long as one of us can attack, we can at least do some damage. Since I had a bit of time between the boss''s reaction time and my dimensional transfer. I quickly used Apprrsial on it.
[Hidden Weapon: X9-1289]
[Level 9000]
[Health 1,000,000,000/1,000,000,000]
[Mana ] NA/NA
[An ancient weapon used as the core of the Mutated Rock Golem. After breaking its binds, the weapon was fully released. Note: only activated under special conditions!]
Just seeing the stats made me scream out: "This is impossible!"
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 413 Atollie
I can only think that I really jinxed myself. How was I supposed to know I would unleash some doomsday weapon? It firedsers nonstop. If it was not for the fact that everyone here was quicker than the rate the weapon was firing, we would already be dead by now. But this makes me wonder. How was one supposed to defeat the golem if they did not destroy its core? It''s like this dungeon is ying with me. First, I needed to be stabbed multiple times to beat one boss, and then I somehow awakened the ultimate weapon!
"I am open to any ideas!" I yelled out. I had no idea what I was going to do to get out of this mess.
"Faith, try using the skill stones. We gained quite a few, did we not? Maybe we can get a skill to defeat the boss." Sally yelled back. I thought for a moment and nodded my head. We ended up with like ten skill stones, so we might get something worthwhile, right?
I took a deep breath and activated the first skill stone.
[Common Skill Acquired: XXXXXXXXXXX (LVL 1(Max))]
I frowned. Yes, this skill was helpful in some situations but only when you are with your loved one! I now understand how Sei felt when she got her naughty skill. Frowning, I tried another one.
[Ultimate Skill Acquired: Atollie]
[Ultimate Skills Unlocked...]
[Atollie]
[The path to heaven is not an easy one...]
[Follow the path of butterflies...]
[Reach the end for untold power....]
The description was quite weird, but I had no time to really care about that. I had no idea what this skill would do, but.... For now, I could only try it. I took a deep breath as I dodged another barrage ofsers and closed my eyes, and let the name of the skill roll off my tongue. "Atollie"
At the moment the word left my mouth, it felt as if time had stopped altogether. The whole boss room began to light up as glowing butterflies began to fill the room in masses. I felt my body be lighter, and a surge of power welled up within me.
[Conditions met.....]
[Commencing Summoning...]
[Gate Has Connected...]
The butterflies suddenly condensed into a big massive glowing ball. It took up so much room that I had to retreat backward. My eyes were glued to the glowing ball as it slowly unfurled, revealing a young woman with huge glowing white feathered wings. She wore silver armor and had long blonde hair that trailed down to her back, just past her waist. She turned her golden eyes to me and softly smiled. "My name is Atollie. I shall smite your enemies."
With these words, she turned to the boss and raised her hand. A golden sword suddenly appeared in the air. It gave off a pressure I had never felt before. Before I knew what was happening, the one who called herself Atollie disappeared. There was only the sound of ringing going off in my ears as my level suddenly began to rise at an incredible speed.
I didn''t even get to see what happened. The boss suddenly turned into balls of shiny light before dropping a huge pile of treasure. Slowlynding in front of me, Atollie knelt down in front of me and bowed her head. "I have dispatched the enemy, Master."
"Huh? Yeah...." I could only nod dumbly as I looked at the angelic-looking young woman in front of me. She was definitely otherworldly, that is for sure. She did not seem like anything that coulde from any mortal ne of existence.
"Master?" Atollie looked up at me in confusion, but I was still out of it. It was not just me either. The girls all turned and looked at her as well, with shock written all over their faces. A boss... with one billion health died instantly. It was so fast I didn''t even get a chance to figure out if she struck more than once or not. All I knew was that my crisis hade to an end.
Appraisal did not even work on Atollie. I tried two times already but got nothing. It was as if magic did not work on her. What was even stranger was that she did not seem to be disappearing....
"Ummm, Atollie.... was it? How.... How long is your summon time for?" I asked. I was a little scared, to be honest. I have never met anyone this powerful before. She was leagues above Diablo, and the rest, even Azengrade, could not hold a candle to her power.
"Hmmm? Summon time? I am sorry, I do not understand." Atollie blinked her eyes at me as she slowly stood up and walked to my side, and stood there like a statue. Was she nning on guarding me!? Not that I amining but still....
My level jumped by almost two thousand, and I am sure the girls got even more levels. The boss was like some kind of hidden mega boss and really gave us a ton of experience points. This was like a level 1 fighting a level 100 boss and winning. But I had no time to rejoice as I still needed to figure out what was going on with Atollie....
She stood at my side with her back ramrod straight. Her eyes darted back and forth as she looked around. I could see the excitement in her eyes. I guess this was all new and fresh to her. I scratched my head as the girls ran over to me and asked: "Umm.... Atollie, do you live off magic?"
"Hmmm? Of course. As long as I have magic I will never disappear." And so we have an answer. Atollie was probably one of those kinds of summons that would not disappear until you run out of mana to sustain it. And since I had infinity magic, I was basically made for such a skill. But an ultimate skill was something that summoned a powerful figure. I did not think such a thing would be possible. I wonder which realm or ce Atolliees from.
"I see... that is good. Well... Atollie, my name is Faith. This is my wives, Adel and Sophie, and these two are my closest friends, Sei and Sally." I went ahead and introduced everyone. I mean, I do not know if Atollie will ever disappear, but for now, she was our new friend andrade, so....
"It is a pleasure to meet you all. My name is Atollie, one of the Thirteen Rounds of the Table of Gods. I will be in your care from now on." Atollie gave a knightly bow. But her introduction kind of said a lot more than I was ever expecting. Like, what is the Thirteen Rounds of the Table of Gods?
"Atollie, what are the thirteen rounds?" Leave it to Adel to pick up on the important stuff and ask right away!
"The Thirteen Rounds of the Table of Gods are a group of knights who protect the realm from any evil that dares to try to attack. You can think of us as the guardians of the gate. The table of gods is a table we all gather at for meetings. I never thought I would be summoned to another ce." Atollie replied, her eyes still looking around curiously.
"Atollie, why do you call me Master?" This was something I did not understand. She is so powerful but is calling me Master. I feel she is much different than a demon summoned with enve demon.
"It may sound strange, but when I was summoned, I was suddenly connected to you and was given an order from a higher power. I can not tell you more than this." Atollie''s answer left even more questions. Is this dungeon truly messing with me in some strange way? Was this the reason it gave me this OP cheat!? I mean, Atollie is like the key to solving all my worries!
"We will be in your care from now on, then," I said with a smile.
"No, I should be saying this as I am now your guardian knight. It is a pleasure to serve one so cute." Atollie''s lips curled up into a smile, as did her eyes. She seemed happy about her current situation.
"Was your job guarding the gate hard?" Sophie asked.
"No, but there were a lot of old men, and I was the one and only female knight. So being able toe here and see new things and hang around actual girls is something I have always dreamt of. It''s hard because we can not leave the gate. I have been stuck there guarding it with the others for so long that I have lost count. Seeing the same sights every day gets boring and nd. I was hoping maybe one day I could escape such a fate."
"Well, hopefully, you will enjoy your stay here." I did not know how to send her back, and from the looks of it, she did not wish to go back, so this all worked out. We get a powerful ally, and Atollie gets her freedom from her boring life.
Chapter 414 Inner Gate
We ended up taking a long break. Thest boss was just insane. I never thought such a thing would pop out, not in a dungeon where it was level based. Such a boss should be illegal, but somehow I got some kind of protagonist luck and ended up summoning Atollie. Not that I amining because the way I look at it, we would have died otherwise. There were no resets and no save points to load back into. Once we die, we are dead.
I was really out of options for that boss. It waspletely made of metal, with no way of getting close to it to see if there was a weak point. So without Atollie, we would have been in a bind until one of us slipped and was hit by thesers that shattered over a hundredyers of my barrier in an instant. To be honest, I would prefer to fight Azengrade head on than to fight such a monster again.
Now, if I was even remotely close to it in level, then that would be another story. I would definitely make some sort of n that would kill it, but this time¡. I could only let out a sigh. "I need to be stronger¡."
"You will get there," Adel said softly as she snuggled up next to me. Sophie was already asleep in myp. Sei and Sally were both a few feet away, passed out on the ground. Atollie stood at my side as stiff as a statue.
I turned my gaze down to Adel, who now had her eyes closed, and smiled. I tucked in a lock of her hair behind her ear before turning my attention to Atollie. "Atollie, you can sit, you know. You may be here because of me, but I will not treat you some sort of ve."
"Master is very kind," Atollie replied with a smile. She sat down on her knees and ced her sword at her side. It was as if she was ready to jump up and attack at any time. I guess in time, she will slowly begin to rx.
I guess I fell asleep at some point. I know this because I am no longer in the dungeon. I am currently standing in a field by myself. In front of me is arge door. It has many different carvings on it of monsters or animals that I have never seen before. It does not look evil in any way, but kind of gives off a holy feeling. Why it is here, I do not know. I only know that I am in the middle of this field that seems endless, with nothing around me but the door itself.
I slowly walked forward to the door and ced my hand on it. It is cool to the touch, and for some reason, I feel like whatever is on the other side is calling me. But no matter how hard I push on the door, it will not open. I can only stand here staring at it. Where this door leads to, I do not know.
"Faith!" A voice enters my ears. I slowly wake up to Adel and Sophie looking at me with worried gazes.
"Is something wrong?" I do not feel like anything is wrong, but the way they are looking at me is making me feel something is off.
"Your body was fading in and out¡." Adel suddenly said, causing me to look down at myself. There was nothing wrong with me from what I could see, but if they say this, then it is probably true. Did this have something to do with my dream? Was it because of that door?
"Strange¡" I furrowed my brow and stood up. I looked around and saw everyone, including Atollie staring at me strangely. "I do not feel anything off, so maybe something to do with the dungeon?"
"Master, a moment, please," Atollie called out to me. I nodded and walked to the side with her, away from the others. "Master, your body did flicker in and out a few times. By chance, did you dream of a door?"
My eyes opened wide as I turned and looked at her and nodded. She let out a sigh and ced her hand on my shoulder. "Do not touch the door in your dreams. I am sorry. This is my fault. I should have warned you. You and I are connected in a different way than a normal summon. We are soul bound. My soul is now part of you as yours is part of mine. It is something the higher-ups did to bind me to this world when I was called. They would not have done this if you did not have the mana to support me. I guess it was them giving me my wish. But because of this, you are now connected to my inner gate. That inner gate is dangerous for a mortal to touch as it will suck your very existence into it. Until you form your own inner gate, you can not touch the gate in your dreams, do you understand?"
"I do, but what is an inner gate?" I was confused on this point. I know it is dangerous for the current me to touch but what was an inner gate, to begin with?
"An inner gate forms when you are about to break your mortal body and be a higher being. You, people, call us gods. But in truth, we are nothing more than people who have lived a very long time and gained power one way or another or were born in the higher realms that are not easily essed. Nowadays, it is rare for anyone toe from the mortal world. I myself was born in the higher realms. But only those who are born there are born with an inner gate. But for mortals to gain one, you must be powerful enough to form one. I do not know the exact process, but I am sure one day when you reach that point, you will know. I can not tell you any more than this, but please, if you ever dream of the gate again, walk away from it." Atollie''s expression was serious, but I was still confused. Why was her inner gate calling me?
"Atollie, should your inner gate have been calling me? It felt like something on the other side of your gate was calling me." I asked. I had to know if this was amon thing or not.
"Calling you?" Atollie gave me a puzzled expression. "I have not even been able to open my inner gate since I was born. I am still not powerful enough, so for something to be calling you from the other side¡. I do not know. I never heard of such a thing before."
"You haven''t opened it?" I was surprised. With how powerful Atollie was, I would think she could open it.
"I am just a lowly guard. While my title may sound amazing to you, we are only a bit higher in status than themoners of the realm. And our job does now allow us to get many chances to free ourselves from our post." Atollie saying that she was not that strong made me feel like I was an ant. She was so powerful! But I guess that is true for the world I live in, but for hers, she was on the weaker side of things. But her title does sound grand, so I am surprised by this.
"At least now you do not need to worry about seeing the same old sights anymore. Is it just your world''s military that is stuck in such jobs?" I asked curiously. I had not been able to talk with Atollie yet like this, so this was good to get to know her better.
"Mmmm... Our jobs are decided based on our aptitude. While it can get better and we can be more powerful over time, mine was very poor to start with, so I was lucky that after a few million years, I started to grow in strength after many years of hard work. But then I was stuck with the post guarding the gate, but now I am here with you. If my guess is not wrong, someone took pity on me and allowed me toe to this world." Atollie''s exnation was kind of confusing, but I guess I will understand in time.
"Faith, what is going on?" Adel called out to us. I looked at Atollie, who shook her head. "Only I can tell you about this. It is not to be spoken about as it is not something a mortal should know. You can know because of our connection."
I nodded and turned to Adel: "It''s nothing. I know what happened, and no worries, it will not happen again." At least, I think. Hopefully¡. But I will not say this to them. I do not want them worrying more than they already are.
Chapter 415 Getting More Skills
Adel and the girls seemed to be worried about myck of response, but since Atollie told me not to say anything to them, then I won''t. But I still needed to give them some sort of exnation. So after scratching my head and trying to figure out the best way to exin things, I slowly began to tell them what I could. "Basically, Atollie and I share a special connection, unlike other summons. This is totally different from Diablo, Iena, and Freidinia as well. Atolliees from apletely different realm, and in short, our souls are connected. Due to me being able to provide her with the mana she needs to live on, she is now here to stay, but this alsoes with a strange urrence that I now know how to deal with. I can not exin things but trust me when I say I will not fade away anymore."
"I hope so¡." Adel walked over and hugged me, so did Sophie. I sighed. I hated not being able to tell them the full truth, but it was probably for the best since I did not know what would happen if they knew. At any rate, for the time being, I will need to be careful in my dreams from now on. I just hope I can control my body during those times. After all, dreams are not always fully under someone''s control.
But now that that was settled, it was time to take a look at the loot. "Oh?" I looked at the pile. I spotted not only skill stones but even a few limit break stones as well. "There are six here. So you girls split them up between the four of you. Sei, Sally, take the extra two."
"Huh? You are not taking any?" Adel asked in confusion.
"No, I already have one. And now also Atollie. I would prefer it if you all had better skills to work with. At least with the limit breaks, you will be able to have extra trump cards." I wanted the girls to have as many cards as possible to ensure their survival.
"I guess this is true¡." Adel hummed. She looked at the skill stones and picked them up, and passed them out. I had given Sally and Sei extra ones because they will be the ones to protect Sophie and Adel the most. They were their personal guards now, after all. Luckily they were all now over level 1000 along with me¡
[Humanoid Form]
[Name]: Faith Cyrilia
[Age] 17
[Level] 1428 ¡ú 3304
[Race] Drakani Demigoddess
[HP] 1052500/1052500(3052500)
[MP] ¡Þ
[Attack Power] 1584950
[Magic Power] 584950
[Status Points] 5850 ¡ú 15230
[Strength] 158495
[Vitality] 105250
[Intelligence] 58495
[Mind] ¡Þ
[Agility] 58495
[Skill Points] 1341 ¡ú 3217
[Limit Break( 1/3)]
[Total Domination]
[Skills]
[Appraisal (LVL 10(MAX))] [Military Command (LVL 10(MAX))] [Military Tactics (LVL 10(MAX))] [Business Tycoon (LVL 10(MAX))] [Acting (LVL 1(MAX))] [Enve Demon (LVL 10)] [Charm(LVL 10(MAX))] [Dimensional Transfer(LVL 10(Max))] [Blood Frenzy(LVL 1(MAX))] [Blood Maniption(LvL 10(MAX))] [Shadow Meld (LVL 1)] [Shadow Clone(LVL 1)] [Blood Enhance(LVL 1(MAX))] [The Starry Night Sky (LVL 1)][Armor of Infinity(LVL 1)] [XXXXXXXXXXX (LVL 1(Max))]
[Ultimate Skills]
[Atollie]
So basically, at this time, I am sitting on a mountain of points. Just in this current dungeon, I have gained 1876 levels, 9380 status points, and 1876 skill points. If you add in my trickle¡. That is an extra 56280 status points which will really boost me all around. With such a power boost, we are basically leaving everyone else behind, but this also means that the next floor level will probably be much harder. I do wonder, though, since I have Atollie, can I not power-level everyone quickly if we summon the mega boss? I will have to test it to see, but if we can, then it will be worth the repeated dungeon dives, that is, if the ultimate boss is able to be summoned.
I would not mind seeing my level hit nine thousand plus. Then again, greed is not a good thing either.
While I know, Azengrade is still at a higher level than me. He is no match for Atollie, but I do not know about the people above him or how many levels of ranks they have above general. Speaking of this¡ "Atollie, if one wanted to take control of this dungeon and slightly alter it, how powerful would they need to be?"
"At least around my strength to alter it. Even I can''t do too much to this dungeon as it seems to be created but someone very powerful. Although if you were to have a tool made to change part of the dungeon from a powerful person, then you could still alter it at your level but such a tool would need to be crafted by someone even stronger than me." Atollie replied, which made me feel no better than before. So if what Atollie is saying is correct, then, Azengrade did not control the dungeon himself but used a tool to do so.
Scratching my head, I leaned over and whispered: "Is it possible for someone from your realm to be able toe down here and mess around?"
"Mmm¡ it happens all the time. They get bored and decide to do things down here to entertain them. It really depends on who and what they design to do." And those were the words I did not wish to hear. But this only brings about more questions. Like who is behind the Altorians, and were the Altorians created by this being, just following their orders, or are they something else? I felt another headacheing on. I am wondering why I was reborn in this world where it seems everything wishes to be on a power scale much stronger than I am. I thought I was amazing being a dragon, but I guess I am just a frog in a well. Or did these things all happen because I am here with this strange system?
I massaged my temples as I walked over to Adel and ced my forehead on her shoulder. This allowed me to receive head pats. I do this when I need to clear my mind. Head pats fix everything!
After sorting through all the items, Adel and the girls all got new armor. I did not take anything since my armor was probably the best I could get at this time. After all, it was the armor Trinity wore, and I still did not know what level she truly was. But one thing dide to mind. If Atollie had blood, would I be able to drink it? And if so, would I be able to gain experience from it?
I kinda wanted to ask, but I figured I would wait for the right time. My quest to grow stronger was real, but I did not wish to force anyone into anything.
"Now that things are put away, I want to rest a little longer. I need to take a look at my skill menu." With so many skills points, I really wanted to see if there was anything useful that I could use. I sat down once more and opened my menu, and began looking through the skills. There were so many skills that I really had no idea where to start. "Cooking mastery¡. Fishing Mastery¡. Tracking? Hmmm¡.. Let''s get this¡.. And max it to level ten."
I kept scanning through the skills and came upon one called mesmerizing, which worked the same as my charm, so I skipped it. There were many that were absolutely useless. But if you look deeply, you can find a few gems here and there, like practical skills. Tracking, for instance, allowed me to track not only animals but any race with a quick look. I grabbed this since it seemed quite useful. "Hmmm? Lingual Mastery? A skill to allow me to understand anynguage to ever exist¡." The price of this skill was high. While maxing out tracking costs me ten points, this skill will cost me one thousand points to max out. Just to buy it costs ten points. But this may just be very usefulter on.
With these two skills, I decided to close my menu. I am sure there are more, but I do not want to waste too much time sifting through all the skills. "All set?" Sophie asked as she saw me stand up.
"Yeah, let''s move on," I replied with a smile. We gathered our things and began deciding down to the eleventh floor. The first five floors were a forest area, the floors from the sixth to the tenth were all rocking areas, and now we seemed to be in a fire area. It was hot. I mean, this ising from a dragon girl! It was really hot! The floor was sizzling under our feet. If we did not use ice magic to keep our feet cool, we would have already retreated. The only one who seemed fine was Atollie.
"Atollie, you are not hot?" I asked.
"No, this kind of temperature is not that bad. But I do suggest that you be extra careful there are some powerful elementals on this floor. They are hiding within theva at the side and watching us." Atollie warned me, making me pursed my lips. Why do I feel like having Atollie here might have caused a break in the dungeon system?
"It would be funny if the boss for these floors is a dragon." Sei looked at me and snickered, which in turn made me stick my tongue out at her. But to be honest, it would be amusing.
Chapter 416 The Fire Dragon
Luckily I did not stuff my foot in my mouth, and the level of the monsters did not reflect Atollie''s level in the slightest, but this did not change the fact that we were still on the eleventh floor of the dungeon. And that was because we were basically in a wave type scenario. One of those situations where monsters just kept spawning over and over and over again while you killed them over and over again.
We were all fighting at full force except for Atollie, who I asked not to get involved unless one of us were about to die. She was basically our chaperone for this level. And one thing I noticed was that the girls were reallycking in skills. We got a handful recently, so I figure once we get out of this wave killing situation, I would give them all the skills so that they could try to pick up some more useful things. Maybe they can also get an ultimate skill. Although this is probably doubtful. I probably used up a life''s worth of luck to be able to summon Atollie.
Not that I amining because with her here, I can concentrate on actually fighting without much worry. It reminded me of the first dungeon when I first summoned Diablo. But even so, I do wonder if I will ever be as strong as the both of them. Although I say this, I am slowly progressing. I have gotten lucky and boosted my level by a lot. While we were already way past the level I wanted to reach, it was still a good idea to keep going as much as possible. After all, the others had just started, and it would not be good for me to leave first.
Plus, I also wanted to see just how deep this dungeon would go. If it really did dive down over a hundred floors or so, I would not mind, but the fact of the matter was that each of the bosses so far had these tricks to them and werepletely unnecessarily hard! After almost an hour of fighting fire elementals, we finally cleared the wave and got a breather. I passed out the skill stones as we took a rest. Each girl got five skills in total. And somewhere normalmon skills like Adel got cooking, and Sally got hunting. There were a few that surprised me, like Adel got a skill called detonation sphere that she could send out bubble like objects that stuck to her enemies and then exploded onmand. She could only cast five at a time for now, but it said the skill was upgradable so it would help her greatly.
Sophie got a skill that allowed her to create arge shadow under her enemies that would then have shadowy handse out and wrap around those in the shadow and pull them down. Where they went from there, I have no idea. Sadly skills were not copyable because both detonation sphere and shadow grab, as it was called, were useful. However, I can recreate my own version of detonation sphere, which would probably be more powerful.
We keep moving forward floor after floor. And surprisingly, when we reached the fifteenth floor, there was no boss. The theme continued all the way to the twentieth floor, where I ended up pping Sei on the back of the head. "You had to say something stupid!"
"Hahahaha!" Seiughed. She looked at me and winked as she said: "It''s your chance to show that dragon who is the better dragon!"
I sighed, looking at the huge dragon sitting in the boss room. It was a red fire dragon. "Appraisal¡."
[Boss: med Tongue Hordren]
[Race: Fire Dragon]
[Level: 4500]
[Health: 300000000/300000000]
[Mana: 300000000/300000000]
Yep, it was insanely strong¡. But I still have one thing going for me! I was a dragon too! So maybe¡. Just maybe we can talk things out. I took a deep breath as I looked at the girls and said: "I will go talk to him and see what he has to say. You stay here."
"Don''t get eaten!" Sei let out a chuckle. She really found this whole thing funny!
I sighed once more as I transformed into a dragon and walked over to the middle of the room. The fire dragon opened its big eye and looked at me. "What does a youngling like you want!? Leave before I burn you to cinders!"
"Ummm¡" I was quite surprised it was able to talk and even was willing to let me leave, but¡. Sadly the room was sealed off¡ "I would love to, but we are stuck in this room."
"Hmmm?" The red dragon lifted its head and looked around, and snorted, causing mes toe out of its nostrils. "So you were stupid and got trapped here too? Heh¡ sadly, you will have no choice but to fight me then."
"Oh? Well¡. Let''s chat first, shall we? We have plenty of time." I wouldn''t mind getting to know other dragons. It is my first time meeting another dragon, after all.
"I guess we could. I do get bored just lying here. But this form is probably not good. Let''s take on human form, shall we?" The red dragon asked. I nodded, and the both of us shrank down. In front of me was a handsome young man with red ming hair and orange eyes. I smiled as I took out some chairs and some snacks before calling the girls over.
"Faith, what is going on?" Adel asked as she sat down.
"Hmmm? We are having a conversation with a dragon. One from another ce, I guess." I really did not know how else to exin it. I figured it would be a nice change after all the fighting we have been doing.
"Oh? Quite a few of you and¡." The fire dragon looked at Atollie and quickly lowered his eyes. "It seems even if we do fight, the oue is already decided. So I guess to have tea and snacks like this is not a bad thing."
"Even if that is the case, Atollie will not attack unless one of us is about to die. I know this isn''t something you want to hear from me, but you should know that we have no choice but to continue on. Whether you are good or bad, we can not stay here. And our only way to leave is if you have died." I couldn''t help but feel like a jerk when I say things like this. I feel so cold hearted but what can I do? I can not be stuck in this dungeon, and the dragon will actually respawn, I think¡. To be honest, I do not know. It might end up being another monster altogether¡
"Don''t worry, I know." The fire dragon let out another sigh before picking up his cup of tea. He took a sip and then looked at me. "You seem to have questions."
"Mm¡. It''s about dragons. I want to know more about them. You are the first dragon I have met." After all this time, I had yet to meet a dragon. And I know they are hiding somewhere in this world, but I have not met a single one of them.
"Mmm¡. Dragons are pretty much loners. We only mate once every few hundred years, and that is it. You would be considered an oddity. You are roaming around with humans, and either race like it is nothing. Even a higher being is guarding you. You can say out of dragons, you are something that would draw attention no matter where you go. Then again, we are from different worlds with probably different values.
"Dragons on my world rule the skies. We stay out of worldly affairs and only slumber quietly. Who would have thought I would end up here? Is it wrong to want to stay in my cave within a mountain and protect my treasures?" The fire dragon seemed depressed, but I was instantly drawn to the word treasure. After all, treasure meant shinies!
"Ahem¡. You do not know how you came to be here?" I asked. I did want to ask more about the treasure, but I figured it wouldn''t be here, even if that was the case.
"No. I was in a thousand year slumber, and when I woke up, I was here." The fire dragon replied. "My treasure is now gone, and all I have is the peace and quiet of this cave. But now you are here, and it seems my time is about toe to an end. I do wonder what I have done with my life."
My brow wrinkled. I do wonder¡. "If we could somehow fake your death, then we could take you with us¡."
"Master, you can try a taming spell¡. Although it will bind the fire dragon to you for a period of time, from what I can see from this dungeon so far, it would probably count you as defeating the dragon if you tamed it. Then you could set it free once we leave the dungeon."
Chapter 417 Water Zone Part 1
"A taming spell?" It was a possibility. I did have Mr. Blobs. So I know it is possible to tame monsters. I looked up at the fire dragon who was staring back at me. "Do you want to try?"
"Would I be able to leave this ce?" The fire dragon asked.
"As long as it allows us to pass through the boss room, then yes, you will be able to. And. I will not bind you to do anything. You can roam the world as you see fit." I would not bind him into being my pet or anything like that. I am only doing this because I do not wish to kill one of my own kind who did not seem to be bad in any way. To be honest, it kind of left a sour taste in my mouth thinking about killing another dragon.
"Then we can try¡." The fire dragon bowed his head. I smiled and walked over to him. I ced my hand on his forehead and closed my eyes, and took a deep breath before opening them again. A white light began to shine underneath us as a magic circle formed under us. It did not take long for me to see a new message pop up.
[Would you like to tame the Fire Dragon?]
I hit yes right away, which caused the light around us to increase.
[Name your new pet.]
"Hordren," I whispered, causing the light to glow so bright that everyone had to shield their eyes.
When the light dimmed. The barriers blocking the exit from the boss room disappeared. It had worked. Not only did I not need to fight Hordren, but I was able to save him from the dungeon. He could now roam freely around the world once more. I took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "You are free," I said with a smile.
Horden looked at me with tears forming in his eyes as he knelt down in front of me. "You have my thanks. I owe you my life and will help you whenever you need me. Just call for me when you are in need of my help."
"Alright, but for now, I still n to dive deeper into the dungeon so take a rest inside your space. My. Blobs says it is actually quite cozy in there." At least, I think this is what he said¡. It is hard to judge sometimes based on jiggles.
"Then I will. Please call me if you need me." With that, Hordren disappeared into a stream of white light and entered my body. It felt kind of strange. I was a dragon with a dragon pet¡..
I looked at my pet window to see an avatar of Hordren there next to Mr. Blobs and the rest. At least for now, he would be able to live freely once I leave the dungeon. Where he will go or what he will do, I will leave that up to him.
"Now then¡. I guess we should finish our little tea party, shall we? Atollie,e take a seat." Since we already had things out, I did not n to finish my tea party too soon. We ended up spending quite a few hours chatting. The girls tried to include Atollie as much as possible, but since she had no idea what we were talking about, she only gave a gentle smile. I must admit that smile was very angelic.
Afterward, we packed up and moved to go to the twenty first floor. We were met with a major issue. We stood on a rocky outcrop that overlooked a vast ocean. Behind us was just a door that stood in the middle of nowhere. You could literally look at the back side of the door and only see more water. But if you stood in front of the open door, you could see a staircase leading up.
"What should we do?" Adel looked at me, and I looked at the others, but no one had any good ideas on what to do here.
I sighed and transformed my armor into a bathing suit, and said: "Stay here. I will be right back." I then dived into the waters to take a look, but as I swam down, I could only see darkness¡ I did not wish to go too far, so I quickly resurfaced. When I reached the top of the waters, I saw that I was a little further away from the rocky outcrop, so I had to swim back. I climbed back up with the help of the others and shook the water off my body. "It''s too dark to see. But if I am right, we will need to dive to the bottom."
"How are we supposed to do that?" Sei asked, but the answer was simple. "We will use a spinning barrier to form a bubble around us. But I am unsure if we can fight like this¡." I answered with a sigh. Because there were many ws in my idea, we would need to move to the bottom of the ocean floor, but how were we going to fight?
"That may work, but if the barrier is spinning, won''t we be asking for punishment if a powerful monster appears? We won''t be able to avoid it if we identally attack it." Sally made a good point.
"Then, no spin, and the barrier will expand and retract as needed. This way, we can fight monsters as well to keep gaining experience points. I would hate to give up any free experience, but¡. It will be hard to find the exit to the next floor¡." I did worry about this, but I do wonder what we are going to end up fighting.
"I wonder if the exit will have a barrier keeping the water from getting into the stairwell or if it will just be a deeper water zone. We might have ten more floors of this or maybe twenty¡.." Adel also brought up some good questions.
"We can only keep advancing and try to work things out. Sei, you are good with map making, right? Can you keep track of our progress?" I asked. Sei seemed to have a knack for keeping a map inside her head that let us traverse areas quite easily.
"Will do, but I am not sure how well it will work underwater."
Chapter 418 Water Zone Part 2
We took another small break before standing at the edge of the outcrop. "I will stick a barrier around us. I will use wind magic to keep us from falling too fast in the water."
Thest thing I wanted was for gravity to take effect and the girls to fall through the barrier. It would only be designed to keep water out, and that was it. I did not wish to block other things. Because if a monster shows up, it could swim at us and attack and then fall into a space with no water where it would be vulnerable. Easy win!
With this in mind, I wrapped our feet in wind magic to make us all hover in the air and then put a barrier around us. I reached out and took Adel''s and Atollie''s hands. "Hold hands. We will jump at the count of three." When everyone was ready, I counted down. "1¡. 2¡. 3!"
We were definitely a good team. We were all in sync as soon as we jumped. Even Atollie jumped at the right time. We jumped up into the air and out into the water. The water began to part as hended, and with the wind magic under our feet, we floated in the middle of the ball like barrier I made and slowly sank to the bottom of the ocean.
Our vision grew dark as we slowly descended. Many fish even entered the barrier, but these were just normal fish. We fell into the abyss of the deep dark ocean for what seemed like forever until we finally reached the sandy floor.
"Why is it not muddy?" Adel asked in confusion, which was not surprising. After all, the whole area was once under water until the barrier pushed the water away.
"The barrier repels all the ocean water. This includes the water in the sand. It won''t affect living begins, though." I answered. I also did not wish to be walking through a bog the entire time we were trying to find the exit to this floor.
"Ah! I knew my wife was smart!" Adel praised me, causing me to blush. Only when they call me their wives do I remember I am really married. Diablo does the same thing as well. Not that I n to run off and marry someone else. To be honest, I find having four people hard enough to deal with. I love them all, but I have to always make sure they are not being neglected. Rtionships are hard, and even more so with more than one person.
"So, which way do you think we should go?" I asked. I had no idea where I should go from here.
"Well, we can backtrack to the rocks that support the outcropping we jumped from, if there is any, and try to see if we can follow anything," Sei suggested.
"Then let''s do that. It is better than wandering aimlessly. Sei. get ready to map things out." Sie''s idea was the only option. If we began wandering around underwater for years on end, it would not be too good. I did wish to try to reach the end of this dungeon. So far, things have been quite steady, and we have only spent a few days down here, and I wanted to keep it this way.
We did as Sei suggested and moved backward. Luckily the base of the rocky outcropping was really there. It was just a bunch of rocks, but it was enough for us to at least have a starting point. Sei took out a piece of paper and marked it on the map. "Okay, we will say that anything directly away from the rocky outcropping is north. We will walk around the rocks and see if it extends into a lower wall that we did not see while above water. So let''s head southwest around the outcropping and then south."
"Sounds good." I nodded, as did everyone else. We walked towards our right since we were going southwest.
The rocks were piled up as if someone had ced them by hand. It looked strange and unnatural. I do not know why I felt this way, but I did. We walked for like five minutes before Sei stopped. She was leading us since she was mapping, but she stopped and took out the map once more. "The underwater portion extends out like this¡." She drew more lines on the map that showed that the further we followed the rocks, the more it brought us to a wall that blocked us from heading any further south. "It seems if we wanted to go south anymore, we would need to jump off the other side of the rocky outcropping."
"Well, if worsees to worst, we can do just that. There is nothing stopping us from surfacing and going to the other side." I did not see any issue with us being blocked off. I just worried that there was no end to this room.
"I figured the same. So let''s follow the wall for now." Sei suggested, and once more, we were on our way.
The thing I found strange thus far was that there were no fish this deep in the ocean. I had yet to see any monsters as well, unless they were waiting in other areas that we had yet to reach. But for now, we were taking the safest route, and hopefully, if we were lucky, we would end the path to the next floor.
We walked for a few more hours, taking a few twists and turns as the rocking wall that blocked us was not straight. We rested for about thirty minutes before continuing our walk. Atollie seemed excited as she walked beside us with her eyes glowing. I guess things like this were not something she would get to see at all. I do wonder how long she was truly stuck guarding the gate.
I know I would go crazy if I was stuck doing such a thing. But then again, it seemed someone took pity on her and allowed her toe down here with me, which was a good thing, I guess. But everything had a time and ce, and right now was not the time. Our quest right now was to find the stairs leading to the next floor.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 419 Crab!
We walked around following the rocky wall for quite some time. Nothing particr looked much different except the change in the rock formations as we followed alongside it. After quite a few hours, we finally came to the end of the rock wall and hit the side of the dungeon itself. There were stone bricks like the dungeon walls of the floors above but still no sign of any monsters.
"So far, this is how the map looks." Sei pulled out the multiple sheets of paper now stuck together, showing the line of the map she had made. "We are currently here."
After adding some lines, Sei pointed out our current location. I was quite surprised at how well she was able to make maps. There was no gap in her drawing, it was all done intricately, not leaving out a single nook or cranny that she saw. "If we now follow this wall north, we will eventually reach the northern wall of the dungeon and should maybe finally see a staircase or some kind of path leading down. Unless, for some strange reason, this dungeon designer decided to make it impossible to find the entrance to the next floor."
"I have tried to use my detection magic, but I am not able to pick up anything. I get as about as far as we can see, then there seems to be some kind of blockage." I said while pursing my lips. If I could send my magic out further, I would be able to deal with this. "The only thing I can suggest is pushing my barrier outpletely to all sides of the dungeon. What do you think?"
"If you could do that, you should have done it already!" Sei gave me an aggrieved look. Well¡.It''s not that I was doing it on purpose, but I didn''t think about it, to be honest¡.
"You got to practice your map-making skills!" I tried to make my mistake seem like I was helping, but the girls just gave me a weird look, so I shut my mouth and expanded the barrier.
The entire ocean floor suddenly became dry as I sent out balls of light in all directions to light things up. There were no monsters at all to be seen. Just some fish who got caught up in my barrier expansion. I did not want them to die, so I used wind magic to send them back into the water, but now, with the water gone, my detection magic was working again. And low and behold, I found the dungeon exit¡. On the other side of the rocky outcropping!
I sighed and looked at the girls. "I found the exit," I said as I opened a small portal. "Atollie, you first, in case there is something that I did not detect, we will follow after."
Atollie nodded and walked through the portal. I then sent the girls through before stepping through myself. Sure enough, the stairs leading down to the next floor had a barrier on it to keep water out. I canceled the barrier I made once we passed through. A crashing sound as billions of gallons of ocean water mmed back down to the ocean floor. It shook the entire stairwell, I guess you could call it that we were in. luckily the barrier held up and did not break after so much water pressed up against it again.
We made our way down the stairs to find a door that we had to open. When we did, the light of day pierced through the darkness, revealing arge sandy beach and also a crab monster not too far off to our right. "An ind?"
"Seems it. We will at least have an easier time now." Adel sighed in relief.
"The next entrance is on the mountain peak off towards the center of the ind." I pointed at the hard to miss mountain that rose up into the clouds. We could not even see the peak itself due to the thickyer of clouds covering it, but I was able to detect the next entrance there.
"Do you think we can eat the crab?" Sally had a finger to her lip as drool began to flow from her mouth. I chuckled as I asked: "You must really like crab!"
"I had it once and will never forget it!" Sally answered. She never took her eyes off the crab.
"Let''s kill it and see if it is editable." I had only just finished speaking when Sally suddenly pulled out her hammer and jumped high into the air. Secondster, a loud smashing sound was heard as The crab in question was smashed into the ground creating a crater. The look in Sally''s eyes was scary¡. It seemed Sally was an extreme foodie for things she liked. I know she eats a lot but this was just¡.
"Come on, let''s help her, or she might squish the thing into mush!" I quickly chased after Sally. Surprisingly the monster was called a king crab and was level 2002. It was very slow and had a short attack range, but this might just be because Sally kept smashing it into the ground, screaming: "Just die already!"
But because of her actions, it did make things easier, and we were able to kill it quickly. But to prepare such a huge crab, I used earth magic to make a huge mud pot filled with water magic and then used fire magic to heat it. It took almost four hours, but when the crab was cooked, I had to hold back Sally before testing it for poison or anything. And to be honest, when I sunk my teeth into the crab, my taste buds lit up. "This is really good!"
At my words, everyone dug in. Sally imed one of the ws for herself that was bigger than her body by many times and basically crawled into it bite after bite until she sucked all the meat out of the w breaking out through its tip.
I think sinceing to this dungeon, this was actually quite a new experience since the ocean air was blowing by us, and with the smell of cooked crab, it was like a beach party. Something I had not done since I was little back on Earth.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 420 SeiXSally?
We went down to the water and dipped our feet into the cool ocean waves after we ate. Only after we yed a bit did we finally gather our things and look at the mountain peak in front of us. "Shall we clear the way up to the mountain peak?"
"Let''s do it!" Sally was now raring to go. Her stomach was also protruding quite a bit. One thing I did notice about this trip was that Sei was very much attached to Sally. She always seemed overly concerned with the silly rabbit girl, which I do not mind but still find quite amusing. Well, not so much amusing but more cute because Sei is like the boy who had just met her first love, and it seems to have only happened just recently.
I leaned towards Adel and asked: "Have you noticed?"
"Mmmm¡. It''s cute. Although I do not think Sally realizes it yet, but Sei is definitely trying to show her interest." Adel replied.
"Sally might not swing that way, though. She did seem to like that catfish prince at one point. But who knows? You were able to make me like girls, so maybe after a while, she will give in." I teased as I nudged Adel. She smiled and kissed my cheek.
"No fair, me too!" Sophie cried out as she came over and kissed my other cheek. I couldn''t help butugh. These girls, Iena and Diablo, bring smiles to my face. And I hope I can always keep a smile on their faces as well.
We killed our way toward the mountain to find that there was no path up this mountain. If we wanted to reach the top, we would need to fly or climb. "I will carry Sophie and Adel. Sei, can you carry Sally?"
"Huh? But I can¡. Huh!? Wait, what are you doing!? I can go up by myself¡.." I chuckled as I watched Sei quickly scoop Sally up into a princess carry with a big smile. "It''s okay, you should save your energy."
"Sei!" Sally''s cheeks blushed as her ears danced about. It was very cute. I, on the other hand, had a girl in each arm wrapped around their waists as I flew up using my wings. Sei used air steps to move up the mountain, andstly, Atollie pped her wings and followed closely behind me.
We slowly made our way up, stopping every so often to adjust to the new temperatures as the temperature dropped. Sally sat there and pouted due to Sei overly pampering her. But she did not seem to resist too much, so I guess you can say that maybe things will work out well for the two.
When we reached the cloud bank, I ended up wrapping us in a barrier and used wind magic to blow the clouds away from us, simr to how I did with the seawater on the previous floor. One thing I did not understand, though, was why was the door on top of a mountain? Were these two floors just for recreation? Like some kind of break in the dungeon. I mean, most of the monsters did not drop anything, and the crabs were slow and only attacked when attacked. However, I did stock up on tons of crab meat.
A lot about the two floors was confusing, but the passage to the next floor was both at two extremes. One was deep on the ocean floor, while the other was on top of a mountain that rose into the sky. But I, of all people, know not to think too much about such things since these dungeons never really made much sense to me.
When we pushed through the cloud bank, we finally found the entrance, which was situated just below the peak on a small ledge. Wended and quickly entered the stairwell, and I must say the temperature difference was like night and day. While it was cold in the air, this stairwell made the mountain peak air seem like a summer vacation.
"Everyone, use warming magic. Sei, keep Sally warm." I teased, causing Sally to blush and Sei to nod her head. "As the Empressmands!"
Sei saluted me and proceeded to hug Sally, causing Sally to stamp her feet and push her away. "I can use warming magic!"
Sophie came over and nudged me, giving me a thumbs up. "They are cute together. And the way Sally is acting, it seems like it will only be a matter of time."
"I do hope they will. They have been good friends for a long time now. But Sally always seems more worried about you even though she can''t follow you as much anymore." Sophie made a good point. But I will not interfere too much. I will give Sei as much help as I can get. It will be up to Sally if she is willing to ept her or not.
"Well, now that you girls have jumped so high in level you can follow me anywhere now," I said as I scratched Sophie''s ears, causing her tail to wag back and forth. I couldn''t resist, so I ended up tilting her head to the side and sinking my teeth into her. While I needed blood to survive, eating that crab still tasted pretty good.
We made our way down the stairs until we reached the bottom. When we pushed open the door, we were met with a frozen wastnd. The bitterly cold wind blew by at a high speed. I could only set up a barrier around us to block out the snow and wind that was pelting thend. It was hard to see much in front of us, but with detection magic, I could at least tell that there were monsters on this floor. I expanded my barrier as much as I could. But unlike the ocean floor, my barrier was not able to go more than a few hundred feet. Why this was, I do not know. Maybe a reverse effect of the sea floor. On this floor, I could use detection, but the barrier could only go out so far. Either way, I could make it big enough for us to at least be able to fight within it.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 421 Golden Haired Man
"How many monsters is this!?" Sophie yelled out. Right now, we were surrounded by what are called snowmen. They are, just as one would guess by their name, snowmen, the things kids would make when it snowed out. But these ones had razor sharp teeth, and their skinny branch link arms stretched out quite a ways with their pointy w link fingers.
Now, normally this would not be such an issue, but there were just so many of them! "Master, the monsters on this floor are all converging on to this area. There are millions of them."
"Wonderful!" I yelled out as I melted another snowman. What made this situation even worse than this was that they were easy to kill enemies, but they gave little experience for their level! It''s as if we need to battle the entire floor just to get to the next staircase leading down!
"Ahhhh! I can''t take it anymore! Everyone stand back!" I yelled out as I took a deep breath. Since they just wanted to keeping, I will do something that will make killing enemies easy as stepping on the grass of someone''s yard that has a keep off the grass sign! After everyone retreated, I let a stream of me spread out in front of me. I melted all the snow men within my barrier before turning it into a spinning barrier made of mes. "Let''s go! I do not want to spend another second on this floor!"
"I was waiting for this!" Sei yelled out. "I thought we were really going to have to kill them all!"
"If the experience was good maybe, but the three experience per kill is just¡. It''s not worth it!" I snorted as I walked forward. The girls all giggled and followed behind me. I just wanted to level, not y around with weak monsters.
We continued forward until we found the next staircase. When we reached the next floor, it was another series of the same thing. So we once more moved until we reached the stairs leading up. This repeated all the way until we reached the thirtieth floor, where we were met with arge snowman who roared and died from my fire breath.
The boss was level 5065 but died with a single shot from my me breath which gave me a total of one thousand experience! Yay! Not! I can''t believe how much of a waste of time those floors were. Maybe if it was a team who did not have mes or something, it would be hard, but for us, it was like stealing candy from a baby, which I would never do. If they had a shiny, I might, but not candy!
When we exited to the thirty first floor, we stopped in our tracks as he seemed to arrive on a nket of clouds. But what startled us all was that Atollie suddenly jumped in front of us. "Master, stay back!"
"Atollie!?" I cried out as a golden barrier suddenly appeared around us.
"Come out!" Atollie yelled. Her eyes had turned cold as she looked out over the puffy cloudndscape.
I scanned the area and saw no one. I didn''t even detect anyone. So I was unsure of what was going on. It was not until a few minutes passed that a chuckle was heard, and a made with white feathered wings floated down. "To think one of the gate guards dares to bare their fangs at me."
"I am no longer a gate guardian but my master''s guard, and you are overstepping your bounds." Atollie looked at the man wearing a white robe with golden trim and a golden circlet on his head. His golden hair fell down to his waist, and his golden eyes sparkled in the light. He looked very much the part of a spoiled rich kid with too much money. Well¡. Or an angel or god or something like that¡.
"Oh? I see¡. So you were the one¡. You can rx. I am not here to harm anyone. I was just curious about something." The golden haired young man''s eyes went from Atollie to me, causing me to frown. "Why are you even here?"
"Huh?" It was not just me who blurted this out but everyone else as well. This included Atollie as well.
"Oh? It seems you¡ We will just leave it at this. Things seemed to be getting interesting. But for now. I will say this. If you reach thest floor of this dungeon you are in, I will give you a little surprise." The golden haired man smiled at me before turning back to Atollie. "Protect her well¡."
I watched as the mysterious golden haired man disappeared. I did not understand what was going on. Atollie''s hand was gripping her sword tightly as she stared at the spot the man had disappeared. You can call it intuition, but I think there is something being kept from me, and well, it''s annoying¡. "Atollie?"
"Ignore it. It was just a clown." Atollie replied as she turned and smiled at me. "There are no monsters on this floor, so we should take a break and enjoy the scenic view that not many will ever get to see¡."
Seeing how quickly Atollie was trying to change the subject kind of irked me, but there was probably no way she would answer even if I asked. She was not something you could call as a contracted monster or something like that. She was a summon who would fight for me, and that was it. She was not someone I could order to tell me things because she still had her own free will. So no matter how much it bothered me, there was nothing I could say or do to pry the information out of her. After all, she was too high of a level for my dragon speak.
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly before saying. "Let''s do as Atollie suggests," I said as I walked over and sat down on a fluffy cloud. Adel followed behind me and sat next to me. She then leaned over and asked: "Is it okay to drop things like this?"
"We have no choice for now¡."
Chapter 422 Values
--AN) Late chapters today! I was stuffing my face with turkey! Happy Thanksgiving to those who are celebrating!--
While I said this, I was still very curious as to why the golden haired man said such a thing. It seemed as if he knew who I was. But¡ I still do not understand how he would know me unless¡ As Iy back on the soft fluffy clouds, I entered my inner space and looked around. It still looked the same as before, half and half but no sign of her. "Trinity! Come out, I need to ask about something important."
Silence filled the space. She seemed to really not want to talk to me anymore. Last time she said a lot of things and many of which seem to be true. Whether I can trust her or not is another story, but at this moment and time, I need to know more about myself. "Trinity! I do not wish to speak about the Altorians. I wish to ask about the golden haired man. I know you were at least watching¡.."
Still silence which made me sigh as I sat down on the ground. And looked over at her side of this inner space. "I know you do not like me. And I can not agree with your ways, but we are indeed one¡. This much I know¡. But Trinity, if you wish to aplish anything, you will need to at least speak with me. I can now help you gain revenge."
"Humph!" A snort filled the air causing my lips to curl up. "Trinity, do you know why the golden haired man spoke to me as if I was not supposed to be here?"
"I am not sure¡." Trinity suddenly appeared before me. She was not close. She sat down, staring at me from her side of the area. "Your guess would be as good as mine. I only know I have worked hard to gain my strength and know nothing else. We may be one, but we are also not the same."
"That is true. We are one but not the same, but that does not mean we need to be enemies¡. I know I reacted harshly, but you have to understand where I aming from. And now you can see that I am growing stronger at a fast pace. And I will only keep growing stronger. Atollie, who is beyond you or me, is also by my side. I have the means to help you gain revenge, but if for some reason you have to take over the body, you must understand my own values as well¡." Trinity may not be fully trustworthy, but she does seem to be someone who cherished those she loved in the past. Otherwise, she would not have worked so hard to gain strength. Her story, after thinking about it for so long, is truly heartbreaking.
"Values¡.." Trinity hummed as she looked up at me. "I will let you know I do not wish to die, and I really do not want much to do with you, but I can promise you this. If you are willing to help me wipe out the Altorians, then I will step in if you are on the verge of death and do my best to save the things you care about but¡. Just remember, the more you ept me, the more your mind will slip, and this is of your own doing. Death¡ ughter¡. These things will be second nature to you. Do not me me for this as this is how we truly are¡."
The sadistic smile on Trinity''s lips was filled with a craziness I am very familiar with, but¡. If it allows me to be someone who is able to protect what I want to protect, then maybe the death and ughter she is talking about¡. I shook my head. I will just need to contain such instincts when the timees. I have been doing it all this time, so I am sure I can do it more. Maybe even find a skill that will help me keep my rationale.
All I know is that I was nowhere close to being able to figure out what the golden haired man was trying to say. But it seems that me getting the ultimate skill was no fluke. Someone did something so that I could summon Atollie to stay by my side as a guard.
I let out a sigh as I got up. Trinity''s eyes were locked on me. I let out another sigh before thinking for a moment. I dug into my previous life''s memories and pulled out the shows that I had watched. Entire seasons of stuff most people would not be able to fish out of their memory, but since this ce was controlled by me, I could get them out. Arge screen appeared in the air, and a video started ying. I looked over at Trinity and said: "It might not be much, but for now, you can watch this. You can control it as you see fit. It''s all the shows I watched since I was young in my past life."
"Like I would be interested in¡." Trinity''s voice trailed off as she began swiping her hand back and forth before stopping on what looked like a horror movie of some kind. I chuckled and left the space. My eyes opened to find myself being used as a pillow by two sneaky girls.
I raised my head a little to see Atollie standing not too far away. I moved the girls to the side gently before walking over to Atollie. She gave me a slight nce before staring off into the endless cloudy abyss. "I won''t ask, so do not worry. But¡. When I am strong enough, will you finally exin to me what that man meant?"
Atollie finally turned to look at me before giving me a slight nod. "But you are far from being strong enough¡. Some information will only harm you than help you, so for now, forget ever meeting him and continue with your current goals. I will do my best to keep you safe."
"Then I will be relying on you¡. I know things will only get more rocky from this moment on, but I do n to at least work hard and do what I can. I have a feeling something big will happen soon. Something that is nowhere close to being as troublesome as the Altorians. What that something is, I do not know, but I do feel that maybe whether it is further in the future or as soon as tomorrow that something will eventually happen." I do not know where I was getting this feeling, but I can only guess that maybe my mind was just ying tricks on me, but I do feel deep down that something would soon happen. How much it will change things is another story.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 423 False Immortality
--AN) Check out my Fantasy Carnival entry: ntina Online: The Greatest Sword Mage Reborn As A Weak NPC--
We continued our dive into the dungeon. The thirty-first to fortieth floors were all desertndscapes which was no fun. Luckily we had cooling magic, or it would have been worse. The boss for that floor was a huge scorpion which, after some effort, we were able to take down. Luckily this time, we were all able to damage it without issue.
When we reached the forty-first floor, it was nothing but a canyon area with many wyverns flying about and giant lizards. These floors were a bit more tricky as they required us to deal with many flying enemies at a time. It took us quite a while to clean up these floors because I stopped helping as much and went to being a support role to give the girls more practice.
And now we were standing in front of the staircase that leads to the next boss. "Everyone ready?"
I looked around, and when everyone nodded, we moved down the stairs. We came to an oddly ordinary door which I pushed open. But to be honest, what was in front of me was not something I would expect. I was met with a strange room. It looked like a rest area, maybe an inn. I am not sure because when we walked in, there were a few couches and chairs. A table and even a few beds, all set up throughout the entire room.
There was also a door directly across from the room from the door I was standing out that said exit to floor fifty-one. While the room did look inviting and was not really big enough to be a boss room, we still entered the room in a wary manner.
"Wee!" A booming voice was heard overhead. "You have arrived at the midway point! From this moment on you, when you enter the dungeon with this team of people, you will be able to continue from this floor. There is a teleport on the right side of the room that will allow you to leave the dungeon and return to the entrance. But be warned, if you reach the one-hundredth floor and are able to reset the dungeon, you will need to start from the first floor once again. Have a good stay at thezy dungeon retreat¡."
"Ummm¡ just to be sure, but I am not the only one who heard that, right?" Sei asked as she rubbed her ears.
"No, we all heard it. It looks like we can return to the capital for some time. I do wish to take a bath and sleep in afy bed." I answered as I stretched. And looked at the girls. "What do you all think? Want to go take a break?"
They all looked at each other before nodding their heads. I smiled and walked towards the teleport, with them following behind me. We all got into the teleport, and after I fed it a bit of mana to activate it, we were all teleported out of the dungeon.
Clear skies and fresh forestry air filled my nose as we appeared just outside the dungeon. The people who were standing there seemed startled, but I felt dead. I was tired. I really wanted to bathe and sleep.
"Alright, let''s head home¡." I used dimensional transfer and sent us all back to the pce. The others were still in the midst of their training, so I was not going to interrupt them. We all dropped our gear off and went to the baths. Atollie followed us as well. However, she was looking around at everything, which was probably fun for her since she had been stuck guarding a gate this entire time.
After stripping our clothes off and washing off, we all soaked in the tub. I closed my eyes and leaned back against the side of the bath, and let the hot water sink into my muscles. It was truly rxing. Of course, Sophie and Adel sat on either side of me and used my shoulders as a pillow, which I did not mind one bit.
I will say Atollie has a nice body. Perfectly shaped hips and chest that were a little bigger than my own. After watching her undress, I began to realize I was one hundred percent a pervert now. Luckily no one seems to care if I look. Not like I nned to touch or anything. I got enough girls at my side. As for my friends, Sally''s cheeks were red due to Sei being pushy and wanting to wash her body for her. In the end, she gave in and allowed it, but only after Sei pushed a few times.
"Faith, you turn eighteen soon." Adel suddenly whispered as she hugged my arm.
"Mmm¡. But I do not think my body will age any more than it already has. Adel, what age do you n to have me reset you to when you begin to grow older?" I asked out of curiosity.
"Me? This age. Whatever age is closest to yours." Adel replied. I could see that. She did not want to look older than me, I guess.
"I want the same. I do not want to age any more than I already have." Sophie nuzzled into my neck as she jumped into the conversation.
"Then I can just stop time for your bodies. Well, more like your cells that would force you to age. Now that I have full control over the spell, I can pretty much do anything. So if you want to stay at this age forever, let me know, and I will cast the spell on you." I did not wish to keep other cells from being affected. I would only stop the aging process of their body so they will never have any issues as the years go on. Kind of a false immortality.
"Then please do!" Adel hugged my waist, and this was followed by Sophie doing the same. I then got to warm sets of lips pressed against each cheek, causing me to smile. I hugged both girls'' waists and cast stop on them. They will now live forever unless someone undoes the spell or they ask me to undo it.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 424 Attack!?
"Hey! What about Sally and me!?" Sei yelled out as if she was being left out of a good thing. I chuckled and replied: "But you don''t even need it since you can reverse your age on your own."
"Well, Sally then!" Sei pouted and pushed Sally to the front. I looked at Sally, who seemed confused as to what was going on, and asked: "Sally, do you wish to stay this age forever?"
"I¡. I wouldn''t mind¡." Sally replied. I nodded and cast stop on her just like I did to the girls. "Then you will forever be the same age. Let me know if you wish to grow old again, I will remove the spell."
Sally smiled and nodded before getting tackled hugged by Sei. Sally tried to struggle out of the girl''s arms only to have to give up and slouch over while Sei hugged her from behind. It made me wonder when Sei would finally just confess. To me, as a bystander looking on from the side, it did not seem like Sally was rejecting Sei. She never used her full strength when trying to push her away, and her attempts fell t after a few seconds. But looking at the two as they rested in each other''s arms, they did look like a cute couple.
After a hot bath, we got out and parted ways with Sally and Sei. I went to my room with Sophie and Adel. "Let''s rest for a bit. Then I need to go speak to our father to find out how things went."
"Ugh¡. Can we not? I hate talking with him! He alwaysins!" Adel whined. I leaned into her bumping her slightly before saying: "I will talk to him myself. You are just one of my queens, so you do not need to be there for the meetings. Go rx with Sophie."
"Alright! I heard the cooks hade up with a new recipe for a desert. I want to try it out." Adel somehow already knew all the happenings around the castle. No idea how she does it but she does.
After a nap which Atollie joined us for, we all split ways, while Atollie and I went to the throne room after I called a meeting. The former king, now my father inw, was all smiles when he saw me. "Haha! You are back! I can go back on vacation!"
"Slow down," I said, raising my hand. "Father, you might need to stay here for the time being, just in case. I can not have you going off somewhere just yet. If I need to go out on the battlefield or to another nation, your presence will be needed."
"You! Why!? I don''t wanna!" The man who was once a king of this nation was now rolling around on the floor, kicking and screaming like a child throwing a temper tantrum! I really did not know if I shouldugh or cry at this scene!
"Will you stop!?" I yelled out helplessly. "I do not wish to keep you here either, but current times call for it. Now tell me, what level did you get to?"
"Ah¡. Level 2340." My father inw replied. I nodded and then handed him a small pouch. "Inside are thirty skill stones and a limit break stone. Use them all and build up your skills list. The more you have, the better."
"Oh! Alright, thanks!" My father inw lips curled up as he took the pouch. For some reason seeing his smile and how he was acting it as if I was looking at a small child receiving a bag of candy from an elder.
"Anyway, for now, we will need to keep you on call. I n to let the others continue leveling up. Our level jump was a bit unexpected due special circumstances. So the others still need to work hard to level up. But we might have many more issues soon. There is more to worry about than just the Altorians." I still couldn''t get the golden haired man out of my mind. I only wanted to take a small break for the time being before continuing our dungeon dive. Speaking of which¡.
I opened my menu and summoned Hordren, who appeared half asleep. "Hmmm¡ where am I?"
"Hordren, you are in my empire. For now, just take a seat to the side, and I will settle things with you and give you a ce to stay." I replied with a smile. Hordren nodded and found a seat that was already upied and pushed the official who was sitting there out of the way and sat down. I held my head and sighed. I guess he needs to learn somemon sense before I let him out of the castle. "Ahem!"
"Hey Faith, who are these two?" My father inw asked. I looked at Hordren and Atollie and knew it would probably cause some uproars, but what else was new right? "The man over there who still needs to learn proper manners is Hordren, he is a fire dragon who I tamed in order to free him from the dungeon, and this over here is my protector Atollie. She is ummm¡ a goddess?"
"Master, I am not worthy enough to be considered a god." Atollie humbly replied. But in my eyes, she was already a goddess who could easily kill an ultimate boss who was over level 9000!
"I see¡. A fire dragon and a goddess¡ Why did I even ask? Of course, you would not bring anyone normal home. This was just asking too much¡. Haha¡. A goddess for a protector¡. Hahaha¡. I need a nap¡." I think my father inw''s mind was about to break down. I decided to ignore him as he came to terms with himself.
"For now, just give me a rundown on what is happen¡"
"Your majesty!" a soldier ran into the throne room and knelt before me. "We are under attack! The beast kingdom has sent an army of over one billion to attack us!"
Chapter 425 Preparing To Visit The Beast Kingdom
My face sank. I was like a ship that just hit an iceberg, my hull cracked open, and I sank to the bottom of the ocean. I rubbed the spot between my brow and looked at the soldier who rushed into the room. "How has General Briggs reacted?"
"He has ordered our military to hold them off until Your Highness makes a decision." The soldier answered respectfully.
"Good¡. How are the levels of our people?" I had wanted everyone to level up as much as possible, and from what I understand, our generals had their men jump into the goblin den dungeon. I guess it was a good ce to train as they were sentient beings and a lower level.
"We are mostly all at level one hundred, some even higher than that as some decided to spend a few weeks in the dungeon at a time. We only have about ten losses¡." The soldier replied. I nodded my head and felt a bit better about this. But there was no telling if the beast kingdom had done the same thing.
"Last question, are the beastkin normal looking? Do they have any signs of being consumed by the Altorians?" This was the most important question. If they had been consumed, I would need to move myself and if not, our soldiers could probably handle it with all the training they have undergone, and I could move to invade the beastkin capital alone.
"They seem fine. Nothing too strange about them at all." The soldier answered. With this, I nodded and said: "I will send one person of a higher level out to help. But be careful she might be grumpy."
I nned to send Sei. I would keep Sally, Adel, and Sophie here to protect the capital. If things went wrong, at least a few level 2000 plus would be here to protect things.
"Faith, why not let me go?" I paused, hearing the voice next to me. I turned to see my father inw with a twinkle in his eyes. I really did not know if I shouldugh at this man or not, but he did seem eager to use his spells. I thought for a moment before nodding my head. "I guess you can go out and stretch your legs. But you will be going to Sei as your guard, just in case. Adel can take my spot as leader with Sophie, Grace, and Sally here to protect the capital. I will go and have a chat with the best king."
My father inw looked at me and let out a sigh. "You are going to make more work! But I guess it is for the best¡." I chuckled and disappeared and reappeared in my room. I walked over to the bed and crawled on top of it, and hovered over Adel, who was sleeping peacefully, before leaning down and kissing her lips.
"Mmmfff¡ Faith? Wha¡. Mmmmm¡." Adel fell into my kiss, causing me to smile. "Wake up, my queen, you need to take my ce for a while. I will wake Sophie up as well."
I know I said I would wake Sophie up with a kiss as well, but who knew Sophie was awake and would wrap herself around my body and shover her tongue down my throat!? Instead of making her get lost in my kiss, I got lost in hers until Adel finally pried us apart.
"Ahem¡. Anyway¡ Sophie, you, Sally, Adel, and Grace will protect the capital." I exined as I cleared my throat and rubbed my now-red lips. Sophie had a proud smile on her face while Adel was trying to hold back herughter. I will need to punish these girlster!
"We will head to the throne room then. But wait, why all of this suddenly?" Adel finally realized something was off.
"It''s because the beast kingdom suddenly attacked us. I am sending Sei to the front line while father inw will be going as well. He said he wanted to test out his new skills." I replied.
"Ah¡ Sounds like him. If he gets beaten up after all the levels he has gained, I will toss his ashes into the sea." Adel seemed very indifferent about her father going to the front lines, but she did have a point. He was over level 2000 now after freeloading off us.
"Okay, I will go speak with Sie." I left the girls to finish getting ready and walked down the hall to Sei''s room. I knocked once and got no answer, so I slowly opened the door and looked inside. I heard nothing, so I walked over to where the bed was to get an eye full. One rabbit and one Sei were in the buff hugging each other. I guess they must have connected in more ways than one.
I made a finger gun and pointed my index finger at Sei''s face, and squirted her with a stream of water. "What!? Ahh! Who is it!?" Sei suddenly jumped up and looked around. When her eyes finally met mine, her whole face turned red. "Faith!? Why didn''t you knock!?"
"What are you being so bashful for? I have seen you both naked in the bathers many times. But I do have to hand it to you. You finally caught your rabbit, huh?" I asked, giving a knowing grin.
Sei pouted and covered Sally up, making me burst outughing, and asked me: "Why did youe?"
"I need you to follow my father inw to the front lines. The beast kingdom has attacked us, and he wants to go out and y. Just make sure he doesn''t get himself into any trouble." I exined with a sigh. Sei frowned but still nodded her head. "Can you give me ten minutes?"
"Mmm¡ He won''t be leaving for an hour. I will send you both there. Let Sally, who is already awake, know that she is staying here. She is needed to help protect the capital."
I saw a set of bunny ears twitch, which made me smile. It was nice to know the girls were together now. I just did not think it would be so quick. I guess Sei must have used her special skill to rope her in.
With things settled here, I went to find Grace to exin things and to allow her to take some blood from me. She had been drinking my blood from packs I filled for her, but it seemed it tasted stale. So I wanted to give her some fresh blood for her to drink. "Master, can I go with you?"
"Do you really want to go?" I asked, and Grace nodded her head. I guess maybe she had been feeling left out recently. Seeing her pleading look, I nodded my head. "Alright then, let''s go together."
Chapter 426 Strange Behavior
Myself, Grace, and Atollie all left the Cyrilia Empire and quickly arrived at the border where the war was going on. I looked over the battlefield and noticed our people easily fighting one person to ten of theirs without issue and smiled. "Looks like their leveling spree really ramped up their abilities!"
"They have all worked hard, and more people even signed up to be part of the military as ofte. The people of our empire really look up to you, our Empress, who has sacrificed so much to try to keep our empire safe." Grace replied. Her eyes were turning red as she looked down at the battle below with so much blood.
"Grace,e on." I tugged on her arm, causing her to nod and reluctantly look away from the blood bath.
It seems Grace has an issue with controlling her blood lust. I will need to figure out a way to fix that in case she identally hurts someone she cares about. We flew to the beast kingdom undetected and in a very short time, thanks to Atollie. I hovered over the Beast Kingdoms castle and snorted. With a wave of my hand, I shot a ming sword through the air. The barrier surrounding the castle shattered instantly, and the roof of one of its towers blew off in an instant. This was just me venting some anger.
"Master, you just notified the entire beast kingdom that you are here." Grace gave me a reminder. I turned and stuck my tongue out. After all, I did that because I was letting them know I was here. It could be considered a knock. I was knocking to let them know I, Faith Cyrilia, was here to y!
"Who dares to attack my castle!?" A beastly roar was heard from inside the castle. Not longter, two figures appeared in the sky. One I recognized and another who I did not recognize.
"It''s you!" The sly cat yelled out, pointing his finger at me. I frowned as I said, using dragon speak: "Punch yourself and pull your tail!"
That was a loud pping sound as the sly cat punched himself square in the face and then yelled out in pain as he pulled hard on his tail. I snickered with my hand covering my mouth. Seeing this little basta-sly cat being punished is always amusing.
"Empress Cyrilia! Youe to mynds and destroy my castle. Do you think my Beast Kingdom is easy to bully!?" The middle aged cat next to the sly cat yelled out.
But I couldn''t help but furrow my brow as I asked: "Are you an idiot? You send a billion man army to my doorstep, and you say I am bullying you? Something is really wrong with your head! You attack my empire and want me to sit by and do nothing. I am sorry old man, but this castle, this kingdom of yours, is now hereby annexed!"
"You dare!?" Heh¡. The stupid old man did not even deny he sent soldiers to my empire. I have already scanned him from head to tail, and he has no worms in his body, so he is not under control. It seems he is just an idiot altogether. Attacking my empire and not expecting retaliation, who the hell does he think he is!?
"Why wouldn''t I dare!? You damn old cat. I will tell you this now. Anyone who dares to invade mynds and try to harm my people bes my enemy. I will never harm an innocent person but you. You sent a billion of your men to my borders. Give me an exnation!" I roared out even louder than him in a dragon roar, causing the beast kind''s king to stare at me in shock. The finger he had pointing at me shivered.
"You¡.. You are¡. Why!? Why is someone like you siding with humans!? Why are you even willing to befriend humans, elves, and dwarves!? They shun us beastkin like we are some kind of gue!" The beast kingdom''s King answered back with questions of his own.
"Because not everyone is bad! What is wrong with having friends and citizens that are humans? What is wrong with befriending the elves!? Why is it wrong to want world peace with no very!? You are no better than the kingdoms who promote this same abuse against our own kind, but yet here you are now invading a friendly nation, and for what reason!? Because we are not like you?" I sneered as I waved my hand. "Gates of Faithylon!"
Millions of swords of fire appeared in the air and were all aimed at the castle below. "You start a war without knowing your enemy''s true strength. You question me about my values, but what about you?"
? "I¡.." The beast kingdom''s king''s body shivered as he looked at my massive spell that was on a whole new levelpared to before. I could push this spell to almost a few billion swords if I wanted to, but that would be overkill at this time.
"I what!? Answer me, O''Great Beast King!" I roared once more, shaking the air around us. But in return, all I got was a nk look, which made me furrow my brow. "Atollie, is there anything wrong with that man?"
"No¡ he has no magic cast on him, nor has he been invaded by the worm things you told me about," Atollie answered. I knew I could trust her answer, which made me even more puzzled. Why would this man do all this for no reason?
"Master, let me handle the rest. I have not fought in a long time." Grace suddenly stepped forward. Seeing her crack her knuckles, I nodded to agree. "Okay, but I want to go punch the sly cat myself. I dislike him."
"As you wish, Master." Grace grinned and then disappeared. The next time I saw her, she already punched the Beast Kingdom''s king back into his castle with a single punch. Which I kind of figured would happen. Now that Grace was off doing her thing, I decided to go knock out a sly cat. Although I still have the feeling within me that something strange is going on.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 427 Show Of Force
With the father out of the way, I looked at the sly cat, who was staring at me with fear in his eyes and a crushed face from punching himself. "Faith! Look my father wasn''t thinking correctly! We will call back the troops right away!"
"It''s toote. I am sure you must have a system by now." Of course, I already knew this since I used appraisal on him, and he was already level 160. "You see¡ our soldiers are pretty high level. My father inw is also at a high level, along with one of my own people who is at an even higher level. Let me ask you, just these two people alone whose levels range over two thousand, do you really think an army of one billion low levels can harm them?"
The sly cat''s face paled, and his tail sagged. I guess he finally understood the biggest problem of all¡ They underestimated the power of my empire. "I will give you one chance. Tell me, why did you attack my empire? No¡ Tell me who instructed you to invade my empire. Was it a man or woman with purple lines on their body?"
"This¡" The sly cat averted his eyes. So I guess my guess was right. I do wonder what level they are.
"I see¡ then I am sorry. Of all the people you could have colluded with, you had to collude with them. My biggest enemy." My voice grew cold as a sadistic smile formed on my lips. "I do wonder. If I drain you of your blood, will you be my ve?"
I flicked my fangs that began to protrude out. And disappeared and reappeared behind the sly cat. I guess my charm began to instantly take effect because his entire body went limp as if epting what was about to happen. I chomped down and began to drink. I was not anywhere near limiting the blood I was taking in as I drank it without restraint. The sly cat''s body began to grow cold as blood flowed into my system. Sadly he only gave me one experience point per second, but it was better than nothing. A few minutester, I pulled my mouth away from his neck and wiped my lips, and let out a satisfied sigh. How long had it been since I felt this full?
I looked at the dried up husk in front of me, who was too weak to even more, and shook my head. With a flick of my finger, I sent him flying down into the ground below, creating a massive crater. "Now then!" I stretched and looked down at the castle below, that now had a few more holes in it, and frowned. "What is going on down there?"
"It seems someone appeared and is now fighting Lady Grace," Atollie replied. I used detection magic to see Grace fighting someone who was on par with her level and snorted. "Atollie, if anyone stronger appears, deal with them. I will handle this person."
"As you wish." Atollie respectfully bowed to me before following behind me as we descended into the castle.
What awaited us was a now destroyed throne room. Many holes riddled the walls, and even part of the floor had been destroyed all the way to the basement. I looked at the woman who had purple lines on her body and checked her level.
[Yarsel]
[Level: 2636]
"Oh? Grace is doing pretty well against someone who is of a higher level than her. I guess she has been using her points wisely. Then again, I am sure she would say,: ''All servants must be able to protect their masters!''" I said with a chuckle. But I could see that Grace was slowly getting at a disadvantage. Just as she was being kicked away, I appeared behind her and supported her before she flew off. "I will deal with this guy. Go y with the king."
"Yes, Master." Grace nodded as she wiped her sweat and turned her attention to the man hiding behind the throne.
The Altorian woman stared at me with killing intent in her eyes. "Trinity!"
"Unfortunately, no." I admitted but paused and added: "Well, I guess yes, at the same time. You see, Trinity and I are one and the same. I am her, she is me. Although I do hate to admit but it is the truth." This was a fact, and I just had to ept it.
"But you see, you Altorians really must at me. You even got this kingdom to run amok and send one billion soldiers to my empire. Did you know? You worms are getting stupider with every meeting?" I asked with a smile.
"You! You call us worms, but we are just doing what we were created to do. To us, you are nothing but a means for us to¡. Forget it. I will kill you here now, Trinity or whoever you are!" The Altorian woman yelled out as she dashed forward with a strange purple sword in her hand. I shrugged and allowed her to strike at me.
*Ding!*
It was as if a bell was being tolled. The metal from her purple sword mmed into my arm, causing sparks to fly all over the ce. I had created a set of scales on my arm and blocked the attack. I still had one hand behind my back as I slowly reached up and grabbed the de of the sword while the Altorian woman stood there in shock. I could tell she was trying to figure out what the hell had just happened.
"Was the scene too shocking for you? Did you think I would sit around and do nothing? You see¡. Even my armor is morphable. I purposely moved it out of the way to show my bare arm and allowed my scales to appear to prove something to you." I paused and smiled as I jerked the woman forward and mmed my fist in her face. I dug it down, so her head mmed directly into the floor. "And that something was that you are nothing but a worm. Now die!"
Chapter 428 Another One Falls
?
I finally drew my sword and stabbed it down into the woman''s brain. I heard a shrill cry not from the woman''s mouth but from within her mind. Red and blue blood flowed out of the spot I stabbed as I retracted my sword. I looked at the woman whose eyes were still open and sighed. "You were innocent and just a victim."
I reached down and closed her eyes. I then sliced open the top of her head and pulled out the dead worm, and stored it away. I needed it to give it to Freidinia to match it up against the ones found in the undead.
I rinsed my hands off with water magic before turning to see Grace holding the king up by his ankles. His son was dead, at least, I think he is dead. The father''s plotting with the Altorians failed, and now here he was, being held upside down by a young woman. I stepped over the Altorian woman''s body and walked over to the beast king. I knelt down in front of him and poked him in the head. "Was it worth it? Your son is probably dead and if he is alive is nothing but a dried husk after I sucked all the blood out of his body. The Altorian, who you had as a backer, is also dead, in by this Empress. Tell me, how does it feel to lose to two young women? You not only lost your throne but your kingdom as well. Because now¡.. It has be part of my Cyrilia empire."
With that, like I have done many times before, I forced a contract to keep any rebellions from forming and made sure no one harmed anyone for any reason. This included the freedom of all human ves as well.
I wish it was not just one thing after another. But luckily, now, I do not think many will dare to start any kind of war with me, even if the Altorians instigate it. "Master, what do we do with this thing?"
"Grab him and his son and bring them with us. They will be tried and jailed in imperial court. We will broadcast it to every corner of this continent. To show the world that we, the Cyrilia Empire, are not to be taken lightly. We will bring the woman''s corpse. I am sure the Altorians will be watching as well. Let''s see if they will make a move then." Or at least two of the three people I nned to take back with me were able toe back. The dried-out husk that should have had only a sliver of life left had disappeared. Where the sly cat went, I do not know. Maybe he used some kind of life-saving spell he got from the dungeon.
"Should we search for him?" Grace asked. She seemed worried about something.
"No. I have already sent out my detection across the entire continent, and I can not find him. Probably the same person who is able to bypass my barriers like it was nothing. Let''s check the battlefield first before heading home." With things set in the capital of the beast kingdom, for the time being, I decided it was time to head back. I will send officials overter to settle things correctly and set up a new government that would govern thend.
We made our way to the board quite quickly, thanks to Atollie. When we arrived, the fighting had already stopped, but the battlefield was filled with bodies from both sides, mainly from the beastkin side. "It''s such a shame. All these people did not need to die¡."
"That is life¡." Atollie suddenly spoke up. "Warse, and wars go. And in war, there will always be a loss of life."
"Mmmm. I know. War is never pretty, and I hate it. But in order to achieve true peace without everyone trying to dominate the other, we can only use a show of force that does not lose lives and hope the other nations will form an alliance with us like the few that already have." I would rather not end lives if I do not have to, but those who dare to invade mynds will pay a price for it. Hopefully, after the trial and showing off the Altorian woman, the Altorians will think twice before instigating another kingdom to attack us.
I floated down to where my father-inw was speaking with the enemy general and hovered in the sky. "Ahem!" I cleared my throat very loudly to catch everyone''s attention. I looked at both sides and bowed my head. "We will now hold a moment of silence for those who died for a war that should never have started in the first ce."
Not a single person argued with me and bowed their heads. Both sides lowered their heads and closed their eyes to pray for those who had fallen. Once a few minutes passed, I looked at everyone from my empire to the beast kingdom and sighed once more. "Generals of the Beast kingdom. Take your dead and give them proper burials. The Cyrilia Empire will give money to the deceased''s families and will create a que of remembrance for the fallen on this spot. Today will be a national holiday to celebrate the lives of those who were only doing what their leaders told them. Soldiers are nothing but men and women who fight for their kingdoms and empires. They are people just like me. I hope this day will always be in everyone''s hearts as well as try to work towards a new future where all races are equal. After all¡. I am no different from any of you."
I finished my speech and spoke a few words to my father-inw before using dimensional transfer and returning to the pce. I was never expecting a standing ovation as it was a time of mourning for those who lost their lives in a meaningless war.
When I returned, I was met with Adel giving orders to the officials which stopped as soon as I appeared in the throne room. "Faith! How was it?"
"I annexed the beast kingdom. The sly cat got away, and I killed an Altorian as well as captured their best king for trial. The war is now over, and I am here¡. So I guess you can say things went smoothly." I exined slowly.
Adel looked at me and let out a long sigh as she flicked my forehead. "Can you not make things sound so easy!"
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 429 A Trap?
?
The next day I sat in the imperial court. I sat in the main seat while two dukes sat below me. They were conferred the rank of Duke before I became the Empress. They were Duke Reed and Duke Waylin. They would be the judges of this court.
Standing in shackles was the beast king himself. His hair was ragged, and he did not dare to look up at me. I can understand why. He suffered such utter defeat at the hands of Grace! Although Grace was thousands of levels higher than him but still. The imperial court was created by me. It was to ensure fairness. I was to watch over the proceedings on any case brought to the court. And with my busy schedule, one wouldn''t really want to wait until I was free. But this court was for nobles only anyway, so it was hardly the case that I would need toe here often.
"Today''s court session will be broadcasted to all cities, towns, and viges! Today we will show the world we are not so easy to bully!" I announced as I stood up. With a wave of my hand, arge water mear appeared in the air, and another water ball appeared next to it. The water mirror split into four and showed all sides of the room.
"Ladies and gentlemen. We are broadcasting the trial of the former beast king on the grounds of his invasion of our Cyrilia Empire. While our side''s losses were very minimal and the beast kingdoms were in the hundreds of thousands, it does not mean such events can go unpunished. Many lives were needlessly lost because of how this man, the beast king, handled his kingdom''s affairs. Because of this, his kingdom is now part of my Cyril Empire.
"I must make it clear that I do not wish to invade anyone. I do not wish to start wars. But there are times when my empire is being bullied, and I will not stand down. Beast king! How do you plead for the invasion of my Cyrilia Empire?" I asked, looking at the beast king who had yet to raise his head.
"I am guilty. I am guilty of being stupid to think I could even beat the youngest hero in history, Empress Faith Cyrilia." The beast king finally lifted his head and pleaded guilty, his eyes full of regret.
"How do you plead on your collusion with the Altorians, a race that threatens all races, not just humans or demi humans?" I asked once again. All crimes must beid out, so the world knows why this trial is taking ce.
"Guilty! I never thought the Altorians were trying to make use of me. My mind ended up muddled, and I listened to what they said. But a lot of that was out of fear and hatred for the fact that humans and demi humans were living side by side naturally as if neither was inferior to the other!" The beast king replied honestly.
"It is good that you were so willing to plead guilty. Now then." I pped my hands, and the body of the Altorian woman I had killed was brought out. She was tied to a stake, and her head hung lifelessly to the side.
"This here is the woman you had¡." I had not even gotten my question out when three figures appeared in the courtroom.
"Trinity! You dare!" The man who just yelled with massive killing intent was none other than Azengrade himself. I had purposely left the barrier around the capital and the courtroom down while casting individual ones around the city itself. Only the imperial courtroom was not protected by a barrier.
"Oh! If it is not Sir Azengrade." I snickered as I stood up. "It is good that you showed up since I want to show the people who are watching this that people like Sir Azengrade here are the enemies of all races. The worms that will burrow into your minds and take away your life while using your bodies tomit nefarious acts."
"You! Trinity, you will not live to see another day!" Azengrade looked as if he was about to attack, but Atollie appeared in front of me.
"Sir Azengrade, I would be careful. Atollie likes to punch people after she watched me punch this woman here to death." I said with a smile. I ignored the strange look Atollie was giving me before continuing and saying: "And just so you know¡. I am not Trinity."
"You¡. Wait¡." Azengrade seemed confused by my words. But I did not care.
"Azengrade, it is good you came because we still have a lot to discuss between you and I." I waved my hand, and a thousandyer barrier formed around the courtroom, and even all the officials disappeared through trap doors that were now sealed closed.
This whole thing had been a trap from the start! I had nned to try to use the Altorian woman as a means to draw out more Altorians, but I never expected to pull out a big fish. "I must thank you, Sir Azengrade, for your inability to calm down when one of your worms is benign disgraced. Oh, by the way, the worm in her head was dug out by me and is being tested now."
Azengrade''s face turned ugly. I guess he never expected that I would do such a thing. "Trinity or whoever you are. Return my kin''s dead body now, or I will kill you and then your entire nation!"
"Oh! I am so scared. The big bad worm wants to kill my people." I ran and hid behind Atollie as if I was scared before sticking my head out and hugging her waist, and looking at Azengrade: "Not! Like I would be scared of you any longer. The only one in this room that I would have a hard time with is you, Azengrade. But that doesn''t mean there is no one here to counter you. Atollie, please hold the worm man at bay while I deal with his people."
"As you wish, Master."
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 430 A God?
Atollie disappeared and reappeared in almost an instant. Her speed caused a shocked expression to form on Azaengrade''s face as he was suddenly grabbed by the neck and dragged away from his people. I smiled at Azengrade as I said: "Now, watch as I rip the worms from the heads of these people and then dissect them right in front of you."
Azengrade stared at me with hatred in his eyes. But I could care less. From what I know of these worms, they took people''s lives and made them do things they normally would not do. "How does it feel to watch as your people be the prey? How does it feel to watch as they die? Your brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, all of them. You act as if you worms are the sole rulers of the universe. You y with the minds of others and even force them to do your bidding by overpowering them. The beast king had always been friends with my empire. Until your people showed up and their ways changed. They started enving humans and even sent a billion soldiers to my empire''s borders. Blood spilled, and many died. But all for what? Why would your kind instigate such a farce!?
"If your race needed others to be hosts, then I could at least understand you invading to do such a thing, but your current actions seem strange. It''s like you enjoy the people''s sorrow, anger, and hatred more than anything. You love to toy with your victims before you decide to finally stuff a worm in their body and take over a person''s will and life.
"You are nothing but a parasite, and now you will know how it feels to watch your kind being killed and turned into a tool for research." As I said this, I stabbed my hand into the head of the Altorian man I just took to the ground and ripped the worm from its brain. It wiggled in my hand and tried to bite me, but my armor was too strong for it to do anything. I then walked under the eyes of the other Altorians towards Azengrade and smiled as I squeezed the worm in my hand, causing it to stter blood across Azengrade''s face. Its blood trickled down into his mouth as his eyes stared daggers at me as if he was trying to rip me to millions of pieces.
"How did it feel? Hmmm?" I asked, tilting my head to the side. I let out a slight giggle as my body shivered. For some reason, I really enjoyed this sight. The sight of the man wanting to kill me while I tortured him in this way. Was this also part of Trinity''s personality that was slowly exposing itself? I do not know, nor do I care.
"I will kill you!" Azengrade squeezed out these words, which caused me tough.
"Hahaha! You think you can kill me!? Azengrade, you should look at your own situation at this time! If I did not have the ability to turn back time you would have already killed millions of my people!" I let these words ring across every city, town, and vige as I shouted. These words held a lot of weight, and I was happy to let them be heard as well.
"The day you came here to destroy my capital city, you blew a hole that killed millions of people in an instant. You wanted to kill me so badly and even infected the undead with your worms, but sadly you miscalcted. You never knew I had the ability to control time. You had no idea that I was able to pull your worms out of the undead, saving them and making them my allies. You have failed time and time again, and yet you still send your people out to cause trouble without regard for the lives that you are killing.
"You cursed at Trinity for killing your kind, but let me ask you this, Azengrade, what about the people you killed? What about the very body you are in? Who the fuck gave you the right to say who lives or dies! You are not a god!" I was mad. So mad. Words I would not normally say escaped my lips. This man has been the reason for so many things, and yet he still acts like the victim.
"Enough. The Altorians you brought here today will all die, and then you will join them in hell!" I snorted before waving my hand. My favorite spell, Gates of Faithylon, formed and shot out ming swords at the rest of the Altorians. I made sure to stab right into the worms and burn them along with the bodies they took over. Fire danced in my eyes as I watched this scene. I watched as each body slowly turned to ash and wondered if this put some of the souls killed by these people to rest. If it allowed them to let go of their resentment or not. As the fire died down, I turned and looked at Azengrade, whose face was purple with anger, and his eyes were wide open, looking like a crazy person.
"So? How did it feel?" I asked, tilting my head to the side once more. I took a step towards him and raised my sword. But right as I was about to lunge out and attack him, Atollie suddenly jumped toward me and pulled me away as arge bright golden light descended, crashing through the roof of the imperial court and surrounded Azengrade.
"Little girl, you should know what to quit." A voice echoed through the air as ifing from the heavens.
"You tell me to quit when this bastard has been trying to kill my people and has killed so many innocents. Are you the higher power behind this bastard!? If you have the balls, then show yourself!" I roared, my voice echoing across the sky. The hidden power, the one who probably sent these worms to my world¡. A god¡?
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 431 Sudden Change In The Situation
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"Hmmm¡. It is your own fault for not being strong enough to defend yourselves." The voice echoed across the sky. I could only let out augh.
"Hahaha! You are a hypocrite. We are from a lower ne of existence, but you say it is our fault for being weak? I am defending myself here and now but you are blocking me from finishing the job." My eyes grew cold as I pushed Atollie off me and walked toward the golden light.
"Master, no!" Atollie yelled out, but I didn''t care. I was sick of it. I was so close to killing Azagrade, and now this bastardes out of nowhere to protect him? I will not have it!
I walked right up to the golden light and stretched out my hand. The tip of my fingers touched the light, and suddenly a cracking sound was heard. The golden barrier in front of me suddenly shattered, and Azengrade''s body fell to the ground. I did not waste a single second when I saw what happened. I did not even think. My mind right now was on killing this bastard and not letting him go!
My hand turned into arge w as I swiped it across Azengrade''s head. It sliced right through his skull and through the worm that was wrapped around the brain it was controlling. I looked at the mess on the ground before raising my head and letting out augh. "Hahaha! What now!?"
All I saw was a golden light shooting toward me as I looked up into the sky. But before it could hit, a second golden light collided with it. A loud booming sound filled the air as the two lights shed and exploded into particles of light. This was followed by the voice I had heard before. "You!? Why are you here!?"
"You have crossed the line." A female voice floated across the sky. There was no body to the voice, so I could only guess it was a goddess of equal power to whatever god had attacked. If they are gods, that is.
"Fine! She can live for now!" The other voice yelled out before disappearing.
"Little one, grow stronger. Your time is limited¡." The female voice faded away as she was saying this, which confused me. I did not know what was going on, but it seemed like something major was going to happen in the future.
But I was not happy. Even with Azengrade dead, that did not mean things were going to be easy. An even stronger Altorian will probably show up. Or at least I thought he was dead. "Master, only part of the worm is lying here, the rest is missing!"
"What!?" I cried out as I ran over to the body which was once Azengrade. I looked at the piece of worm that was lying on the ground and truly did not see anything else. "Can you detect it anywhere nearby?"
"No¡ It has disappeared altogether, I think, while you were being attacked a second time and the two lights were shing in the sky, that man must have rescued Azengrade¡." Atollie frowned. She had missed the entire thing. All her attention was on her Master, and she did not see the other beam of lighte down and save the worm.
"We will need to keep a lookout just in case. If the worm somehow slithered away undetected or used some kind of skill to escape, it might show up at any time. But now, this is quite troublesome as well. If Azengrade finds a new body, it will be almost impossible to know who he is. And he will definitelye to get revenge." This sucked. I let one of my greatest enemies escape once more!
"Don''t worry, Master, I have locked in on the bio data of the worm using the peace here. While I can not detect it at this time, if it doese near us, I will be able to tell if it is him or not. I do know he is not on this world at this time." Atollie exined. "But this also worries me because if his bio data changes, then I will not be able to tell who he is."
"Doesn''t matter. All Altorians have those lines on their body, and all Altorians are now my enemy. I will wipe them off the face of this. Atollie, thank you¡" I walked over and gave Atollie a hug. She was doing her best to protect me.
"I am just doing what I should," Atollie replied. She did not hug me back and only kept her hands at her side. I smiled and stepped back. "But why did the golden light disappear when I touched it?"
"It is not time for you to know," Atollie answered with this and did not continue. This irked me so much because it was about me, but I was being left out of the loop. I could only re disgruntled, and stomp my feet,pletely forgetting that I was on a water screen being broadcasted all over the empire. When I finally did realize it, I quickly signed off and went home, not to the pce but to my home, home.
"Faith!" My mother came over and hugged me tightly. I basked in her warmth. She was still having issues, but she still loves me dearly. I let her hang on to me as I walked through the door and saw my father and brother standing there.
"Faith, you shouldn''t throw temper tantrums on the water screen." My father said teasingly, causing me to stick my tongue out at him. Only here was I still treated the same, and I loved that. "I am staying here. So mother, can you make me some snacks?" I asked, causing my mother''s eyes to light up. Something I haven''t seen in a long time. She nodded her head with a blooming smile and ran off to the kitchen.
"Is it okay for her to go in alone like that?" My father asked me nervously.
"It''s fine. I am watching her. Surprisingly she is doing what she has always done." I replied as I walked over and hugged my father. "It''s good to be with my family."
My father patted my back and hummed in response. Sometimes I just want to be pampered by my mother and father. I may be eighteen now, but I still feel like a little girl when I am with my parents. I hope this is a feeling I will never forget.
Chapter 432 World Collision
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I always wondered why my life came to this I thought to myself, as I stand here looking out over the horizon, the soot in the air of the burning buildings as the end of the world nears. In the sky, I see another world. Our world will soon collide with the world in the sky. Parts of my have already been sucked up into the sky. They crumble and then turn into balls of light that float skyward as if they belonged to the other world this entire time.
"Faith!" A voice calls out from behind me. I turn and look at the person standing there. She has always been by my side. A girl who once confessed to me, but I turned her down. It saddens me to see her pained expression. It saddens me when I see how much she hurts when she looks at me. But what can I do? I can not answer her feelings. Even though we have been side by side for hundreds of years. I feel empty. Like an emotionless shell that has nothing to fill it up. I feel no pain, no love, no nothing. I could be torn apart, and my face will never change its expression. Maybe this is because of that incident when I lost so many of the people I cared for. Maybe it was back when my family died. I do not know. I just know there is only one feeling I can feel, and that is sadness, and that is only when I look at her. Maybe this is why I still keep her around?
"Faith!" I look over at Adel, who is pulling on my arm, her eyes filled with tears. I can only shake my head as I turn my gaze back towards the sky.
"There is nothing I can do. This world will soon be sucked into the world above. Adel, if you had one wish that could be fulfilled at this moment, what would it be?" I know our world was about to end, so at the very least, I can at least try to make her one dreame true.
"I have no wish. As long as I am by your side, nothing else matters. If you die, I die¡." Adel had said these words to me many times. I can only sigh as I continue looking straight into the sky, waiting for the time I will be sucked up with it as well¡..
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"Hah!" Sweat dripped from my brow. I had another dream. It was a strange dream, unlike the others. While vivid, I felt like I was just a bystander watching the scene before me. The scene of a world just like this one but seemingly on a different timeline. That world was breaking apart and being destroyed. And the me of that world was just watching with a sad expression on my face. I do wonder¡. Why was she so sad?
"Master! We have a problem." Atollie suddenly burst into the room. "They sky!"
My eyes opened wide as I sat up and quickly ran to the window. I looked up at the sky to see a world mirroring my own. It resembled that of what I saw in my dream just now, but how could that be? "Atollie, have you ever heard of anything like this?"
"A World Collision. It happens when two worlds are so simr they ride on the same timeline in the parallel universal stream. Basically, it is when a parallel world converges on the same timeline as another parallel world. Let''s say you have a world that splits due to its events. This creates two timelines that are different from one another. But if, at any time, those worlds converge back onto the same timeline with the same events matching up, then those worlds will eventually collide as they try to merge back into one. Only the stronger world will be able to survive while the energy and the lives of all the beings of that world, including the world itself, will merge back into this world, giving it a burst of power.
"This could be a bad thing or a good thing. A good thing for the that survives since the beings on that will grow in strength, bing much more powerful by merging with their parallel selves, but bad for the people on the losing as they will disappear forever." Atollie exined. Her exnation matched up with my dream.
"Is there a way to stop it?" I asked. I was curious because if myself from that parallel world was going to disappear and now with me knowing it, I would feel off. I did not want to receive power from another me if it meant destroying my other me''s life.
"Not unless the highest authority steps in," Atollie replied with a long sigh.
"I see¡. What are the chances of dreaming about such a thing and it happening?" I realized this morning I had many questions.
"For you¡. One hundred percent." Atollie replied but did not borate anymore. Atollie always left me hanging like this.
"I see¡." I let out a sigh and turned around when I heard the door open. Grace walked in with a cup of tea and some pastries. "Master, please eat."
"Grace, when did you arrive?" I did not expect her to show up. I figured she would have stayed at the pce.
"I am your maid. Why would I not be where you are? Or do you not need me anymore?" Grace asked as she looked at Atollie.
I walked over and hugged Grace, and rubbed her back. "You have been by my side all this time. When would I not need you? You manage my daily life. Without you, I would be lost." I said softly.
Grace seemed to calm down as she nodded and pushed away from me. "Then please eat and go to court session."
"Yes, Mom!" I said teasingly, causing Grace to re at me. I sat down and began eating. But I found it strange. "Grace, have you looked up at the sky today?"
"Hmmm? It''s a clear blue sky?" Grace replied in confusion.
I tilted my head and then looked at Atollie, who finally decided to fill me in a bit. "Only myself and you can see it. There may be a few others on this world who can also see it, but as far as I know, only the two of us can see it. It''s because we are different. You are different from the others."
Chapter 433 Visions
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I am currently sitting in my imperial court, looking at the tired faces of my officials. I kind of feel bad since everyone has been working non-stop the past few days. Although we are talking about what has been happening, my mind is still on the other world in the sky. I rubbed the spot between my brows as I asked: "Is that everything?"
"Just onest thing, your highness. The dwarves seem to have worked out how the ship works and want to give you a full run down as soon as possible." One of the officials with ck rings under his eyes replied.
"I will look over it in a few days. In two days'' time, I will be hosting an imperial ball. You all have worked hard. You deserve a small break. So everyone can take tomorrow off ande to the ball the following day. Bring your kids and family. I will send down notice to the city office that they can also decorate the streets and set up a festival for everyone to enjoy. Our empire has not had a moment''s rest the past few months since I have taken over. I want everyone to take a much-needed breather. So sleep in! Spend time with your families, and I will see you at the ball." These men and women of my court have all worked their butts off trying to get the things done that needed to be done. While I can not do too much for the officials stuck in the best kingdom straightening things out, the most I can do is give those immediately close to me some time off and a festival to enjoy. When things are straightened out in the beast kingdom, I will also give them a much-needed break.
"Master, should I send word to our Allies?" Grace asked. And to be honest, this was not a bad idea. "Yes, send word to those we have alliances with. I want to invite both the undead royal family and the elves. A show of unity is a good thing. Make sure Thurul, Gesel, and Fred also get invited to the imperial ball. I haven''t seen them in a long time."
"I will be sure everyone gets invited," Grace replied with a nod before setting off to do her tasks. I rested my elbow on my throne and used it to prop my head up as I looked at the departing backs of the officials. All of them were leaving except one person.
"Your Majesty, may I have a word?" The official asked.
"Speak your mind. We are not in an official setting any longer." I replied. I was quite tired, so I hoped this would not be anything too major.
"When are you going to repay us for killing us!?" The official''s eyes suddenly sunk into his head, and his mouth opened wide with bloody teeth and a ck tongue. His skin shriveled up as it seemed he instantly dropped in weight.
"Ah!" I cried out and looked around. Everything was fine. I looked at the official who was standing before me in confusion.
"Your Majesty?" The official also looked confused.
I rubbed my eyes once more and shook my head as I said: "What can I help you with?"
"Ah right, I was wondering if I could get an extra day off¡. My wife, she is to be expecting any day now, and I want to be there for her when she is giving birth." The official lowered his head, but he could not hide the smile on his face. It seemed he was happy he was about to give birth.
"That''s fine. Take as much time as you need. Just let the finance department know. They will give you a bit of extra money. Any official who is expecting gets a small bonus to help pay for things." I replied with a smile, but in truth, my smile was very forced. I feel like I am going crazy.
"Thank you! Your Majesty!" The official seemed really happy. I waved my hand, sending him off, only to have Atollie ce her hand on my forehead.
"You saw a vision just now?" Atollie asked, which caused me to be shocked.
"Mmm¡. What the hell is going on? I have had these off and on for a while now, but they only came to me when I was sleeping, but this time¡." I looked out the window and looked at the mirrored world in the sky and wondered just what the hell did the other me do up there.
"It is natural that you will have such visions if their world is merging into ours, which is a good sign. But Master, you said you always had such visions?" Atollie asked.
"Mmm¡ Every so often." I slouched into my throne and looked up at the ceiling. "Am I going crazy or what? I am not sure if these visions are of the future or of some other me in another parallel world. I once wondered if things were possible, but now things seem to be heading that way. I do not want to have such visions if they are going to start affecting my daily life. What if I am in battle and one suddenly appears? I would end up dead."
"You should just surround yourself with your loved ones at all times. Only then will you be able to push through. Master, I will say that this is the first step in your path to bing someone great." Atollie massaged the top of my head with her fingers, which felt really good. I could feel a warm stream entering my body. It was warm and rxing.
"Thanks, Atollie." Atollie was the only one I could rely on because of all of this. But now that I was rxed, I began to feel slightly hungry. "Let''s head back," I said before standing up and trying to adjust myself. I then turned to Atollie and asked: "If I were to fly into the sky, could I cross over?"
Atollie shook her head as she lowered it slightly. "We can only see and be watchers of what is to happen. Everything thates from the other world will be in the form of energy. There is no way to pierce through the veil of the dimension unless you are a god yourself."
"I see¡. Let''s go. I want to go eat a fox girl and a princess. I am quite hungry." I put a smile on, although semi-forced, but I was trying to lighten the mood a little.
Chapter 434 The Imperial Ball Part 1
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Today was the day of the imperial ball. My wives and even Diablo all went out of their way to make this happen. Diablo had rushed back as soon as he heard about the ball. Sadly for the ones he was powerleveling, they were left to fend for themselves. The same went for Iena''s group as well. But they were all high enough level now and understood the dungeon well, so they could at least continue going up to the boss and then reset.
I changed my armor into a ck dress that wrapped around my body well. I have to say that this arm was quite good. I could shrink it down to a bracelet to wrap around my wrist when I bathe and then turn it back into regr clothing afterward. I could make it look like any kind of wearable clothing or essory, so I never had to really buy anything new. And as long as I never cancel it, I will never have to suffer from the penalty.
My dress was an open back for my wings and tail and hugged just below my shoulders, wrapping around the front to reveal a tiny bit of my cleavage. The dress went down to my ankles and fluttered lightly as I walked. You could say it was more of something a movie star would wear to an awards show. On my head was a silver crown with blue gems that sparkled with white spots making them look like stars in the night sky. I had a matching set of earrings and a ne to go along with the crown. Thurul was kind enough to craft these for me.
Adel wore a white gown that puffed out a bit more and had many frills. To be honest, she looked so cute I wanted to eat her up. But then I remembered I did that already¡. On her head, she also wore a crown with a blue gem. It was slightly different from mine, but it had three exact copies which rested on Sophie and Iena''s heads. Sophie had a ck dress on as well which was puffier than mine and had silver linings throughout the design. It was very pretty on her.
Iena wore a purple dress that contrasted well with her tanned skin and alluring body. It hugged her body quite well, emphasizing her womanly charms. As for Diablo, he had a crown on his head as well, but it was made just for him. It was something a king would wear. On his right ear was a silver earring with a blue gem on it to match the gems on our crowns since his crown did not have such decorations. He wore a ck suit and looked very handsome, especially with the few buttons that were undone, exposing part of his chest.
Like this, we all walked out into the ballroom. I had Adel holding one of my arms while Diablo held the other. We walked out onto the second-floor balcony that looked out over the ballroom floor as one of the servants announced us. I walked forward and looked down at everyone, and smiled. This event was being broadcasted for all to see. "Thank you all foring here today. I know it was sudden, but I did wish to allow those who have worked so hard for me since I took the throne to have a few days of rxation and entertainment for the citizens who are watching this. I wish you could all be there, but sadly our empire does not have a big enough ballroom for so many. But this is why I had the lords of each area set up a festival for you all to enjoy. I know it is not much, but I do hope it will at least allow you all to have a fun time on this night after so many trials and tribtions.
"I will not bore you all with boring words. I hope you all will have fun tonight. Let the festivities begin!" With these words, I could hear the fireworks going off all over the empire. They rang through the air and brought along a colorful spectacle for all to see. I really do not know if I am a good leader. I am trying my best and hope that I can at least make the lives of the people who count on me to at least be a little easier with the things that will being.
As I watch my officials and the noble families chatting away with some of themoners who had no rank whatsoever happily without looking down on them, I feel maybe things are working out. I slowly made my way down the stairs to see Gesel surrounded by a few official''s wives chatting happily and touching her stomach and muscles in great interest."I never knew women could grow muscles so big! If I had such muscles, my husband would be at my beck and call."
"I know, right? I could toss my husband around and make him cough up money for the new purse I want." Hearing themughing and giggling brought smiles to my face. Gesel tummy had grown so big. I can''t wait for her baby to be born. "Gesel."
"Faith!" Gesel called out with a smile. The official''s wives all bowed their heads to me which I waved at them not to stand in ceremony. I was getting used to this, but it still felt strange. "Act normal. Tonight we are all just citizens of the empire, myself included."
"Your Majesty, where did you get this dress?" One of the braver official''s wives asked.
"This is just my armor," I said as I held my hand out and made one of my sleeves disappear and then reappear.
"I wish I had such armor! I would wear it every day!" The official''s wife cried out in surprise.
"It is quite handy. I hope you all are having fun tonight. If you find anything amiss, let me know. I will have someone deal with it. After all, as my guests tonight, I can not inconvenience any of you." I quickly switched the topic because talking about the things that I use is never good.
"Of course not! Everything is fantastic. Thank you for putting together this lovely ball." The official''s wife was able to take a hint and even pulled her friends away so I could speak with Gesel alone.
"So when are you due?" I asked as I walked over and knelt down, and put my ear to her belly.
"Soon. in the next few weeks. You have to be there, or else my baby won''t have a name¡." Gesel replied.
"I will not go anywhere for the next few weeks. I have much to finish up here. After your baby is born, I n to continue my dungeon dive to level up more. I am far from being strong enough." I really was not strong enough. I do hope I can be strong enough one day to finally understand why things are the way they are.
"Even though you are much stronger than me now. I would love to have a battle, but sadly the little one in my stomach would not allow it. Maybe when I grow stronger myself. After watching you fight those powerful people, I realized I have reallygged behind." Gesel let out a long sigh.
"I am sure you will be just as strong in the future."
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 435 The Imperial Ball Part 2
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Gesel shook her head as she looked at me. "Won''t happen!" she said as she let out a sigh. "I am nowhere near being able to grow stronger anymore. I want to, but not until my child is old enough to do her own thing. I want to be a good mother."
I could understand that. Gesel really looked happy when she told me she was pregnant. I can only guess she had been wanting a child for a long time. "As the child''s godmother, I will protect her with everything I have."
"I feel rest assured," Gesel replied with a smile.
We chatted for a little bit longer before I left to mingle with others. I could not just hang out with Gesel since I was the main host of this ball. I talked with my people making my rounds before returning to my seat, feeling a bit tired. The people here were all trying to tter me, but I really could care less for the ttery. What I care about is how hard people work. As long as they are doing their jobs and doing them without viting any rules and still getting things done in a timely manner, then all is well. While I will not fault them for beingte on some things due to unforeseen incidents like what has happened recently but during quiet times, I would expect them to do their jobs in a timely manner.
"You look worn out." Adel walked over and sat next to me. She took a ss of wine and sipped it.
"And you are right at home. As expected of a princess." I teased as she nudged her with my elbow.
"You will get used to it. It does take time. When I was younger, I hateding to these kinds of events because everyone had eyes that were fake. They only wanted to make connections so they could rise up in society. But now that is not possible without proper hard work. I think the current system is much better, and this empire has you to thank for that." Adel smiled as she pushed her ss to my lips. I smiled helplessly and took a sip. It was sweet and tart.
"I was only doing what I could for everyone." I leaned back in my chair. I was not looking the slightest bit like royalty at this time, but well, it didn''t really matter. After my disy earlier, I am sure everyone knows I do not act like a noble. I was born amoner. Well, a noble in name from what I understand but still amoner in my eyes as we lived the same way as everyone else.
"It''s because of you how you felt for everyone that things were able to progress the way they have. Faith, remember you have your family to back you up and handle things when you need to escape. You do not always need to shoulder everything on your own." Adel smiled at me. But as she smiled, her face suddenly turned sad, and the surroundings turned into a destroyed building.
I was still in the same ce, this much I could tell, but the building had been destroyed. Rubble was everywhere. Blood and dead bodies could be seen here and there. And Adel stood in front of me while a sad expression. "Why?"
Tears rolled down her face as I looked down. In my hand was a sword. And the tip of that sword was sticking into Adel''s chest. My mind nked out. I knew this was a vision, but because everything was so real that I did not know how to react. I could only see Adel''s face growing paler by the second as the blood that dripped from her wound pooled on the ground by our feet.
"Why did you? I was so faithful to you. I never thought of loving anyone but you. I killed my own father for you!" Adel''s voice grew louder as the tears rained down faster. I watched as she grabbed the de and leaned forward. She let the de slide across her hand as it pushed deeper into her body as she looked up at me. Her bloodied hand reached up and cupped my cheek. Her face grew closer as she kissed my lips. "Even now¡. I still love you¡."
"Master!" Atollie''s voice broke me out of my trance as I looked at Adel, who was hugging me, rocking my body back and forth. "Master, are you okay?"
"Ye-Yeah¡." I slipped my arms around Adel and hugged her tightly. I can''t believe I would witness such a scene. How could I ever harm the one girl who loves me more than her own life? I buried my face into Adel''s neck. She was not speaking. But I felt something was off, causing me to push her forward. "Wha?"
"Faith¡." Adel looked up at me, her eyes watering up. "I do not know what is going on."
Adel''s white dress was now stained with blood in the same spot I just saw in my vision. I did not hesitate to cast a healing spell on her. But¡. The blood kept flowing. "Atollie! What is happening!?"
"I am not sure! This should not happen." Atollie answered.
"Stop! Rewind!" I cried out, trying to use time magic on Adel, but this still did nothing. Time would not stop, nor would it rewind! "Atollie, do something!"
"I will try." Atollie walked over and tapped Adel''s forehead with her finger. Adel''s eyes rolled back, and she copsed into my arms. The blood finally stopped flowing. "Master, I could only knock her out. I am afraid when she wakes up, this will continue."
"Why is this happening, though? Why is she receiving the wounds from my vision!?" I do not understand what is going on. This whole thing was making my mind a mess. I slipped my arms under Adel, and the eyes of everyone there, I lifted her up into a princess carry. "Atollie, follow me." With these words, I walked out of the ball without a word. Adel was precious to me, so I had to figure out a way to save her. But because of this, I worried about the other girls as well. Is everyone close to me going to suffer from the same fate?
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 436 The Only Option?
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Adel was currently in a deep slumber. If she wakes up at all, she will continue to bleed and die, and this is something I will not allow to happen. Adel has been with me for so many years and has been at my side, helping me, caring for me, and loving me with her entire being. Looking at her current peaceful sleeping face, it breaks my heart to know that she can not wake up until I figure out a way to help her.
"Atollie, is there no way to break the connection between this world and that world for Adel? Is there a way for me to bring back the Adel I love so much?" Tears rolled down my cheeks as I looked pleadingly at Atollie. If I could do anything that would fix Adel''s current state, I would do it in a heartbeat. Adel is what one could call a true friend. Someone who would give their life for those she loves. And I will repay her in kind. "What¡. What if I gave her my life force?"
"No! Master!" Atollie yelled out and shockingly pped me in the face! "Never speak about giving up your life force." Atollie''s eyes were burning with anger. I lowered my head. I know this was not a solution that would make anyone happy, but if it meant keeping Adel alive I¡.
"There is a way, but it is dangerous. If you mess up even a single step, you can shatter this worldpletely. If you want to stop the world collision from happening, you will need to figure out what caused it to begin with. What put this timeline on to the same timeline as the other worlds? If you can find the point that caused this world to intersect with ours, then you can stop this from happening, but¡. If you change the wrong thing, you could cause an even worse scenario." Atollie bit her lip as she told me all of this. She seemed to be having an internal conflict.
"Will I still have the same power as I do now if I go back?" I asked as I looked up at Atollie.
"Master¡. If you wish to keep the same powers and strength, then you can¡. But¡.it might also change the timeline as well¡." Atollie exined. I looked at myself and then looked at the girl peacefully sleeping on the bed and closed my eyes. I feel like I have done this before. "Atollie, how many times have I summoned you thus far?"
Atollie looked at me with aplicated expression. "I lost count¡."
"Then¡ I want to keep all my memories and all my powers. If I am to reset time, then I will just need to do things in a manner that does not veer off course too much, right?" I asked as I looked at Atollie, who seemed to be struggling.
"Yes, but¡. This will just be another timeline like the rest. Everything you have built up here will disappear. Everything. Even if you be the strongest person in all the heavens, this timeline will still continue on. The Adel of this timeline will still be stuck sleeping. She will always be connected to the other world''s Adel. It will not change anything in this timeline¡." I know what Atollie is saying, but what should I do?
"Faith. Do it¡." I turned to see Sophie standing there. Her eyes were red, as if she had been crying. "Try to save her. Even if it is another timeline."
"But¡. We have not tried everything in this one as of yet. Atollie, is there really no other way?" I asked once more. I had to exhaust all possibilities before I made my final decision. Turning back the clock is not exactly a good thing.
Atollie looked at me and shook her head. "No¡ At this point, with my current powers and your own, it will be impossible. Only those who stand above all are able to fix the timelines how they see fit. If you wanted to save her, you would need to be someone who stands above all. But even in her current state, it will only slow the process. I can not stop it forever. And I hate to say it but even if you abandon everything and do nothing but level, the chances of you gaining such power in time is zero. Only by going back will you be able to have a slim chance of adjusting the timeline, but it is still a guessing game. Even I do not know what caused your timeline to split."
So she is basically saying that no matter what. If I wish to save Adel, I will need to go back to the past. I still have many questions, but for now, the most important questions are. "If I keep my current powers and system as is, will I be able to bring you, Iena, Diablo, and the slimes with me?"
"Yes¡." Atollie nodded her head.
"I would keep my memories of this timeline?"
"Yes¡."
"Can I bring Sophie with me¡.?"
"No¡.. Only those who are connected to you will be able to follow you. This includes Miss Grace."
"So I just need to make it, so Sophie is connected to me, right?" I asked, my eyes filled with hope.
"You can but¡. How would¡."
"Hehe¡. Did you forget what race I am? I never wanted to do it, and it is up to Sophie if she is willing, but I can make her a Drakani as well¡." I turned and looked at Sophie, who was standing there, tears rolling down her cheeks. When she heard my words, she slowly lifted her head, staring at me in confusion. "Sophie, my little fluff fluff¡. Will youe with me? To help me save Adel?"
Sophie walked forward and hugged me. "Mmm¡. As long as I can always be with you."
"Of course, but first, I have many things to settle here. Since this world will continue on, I must at least say my goodbyes in my own way. I still wish to see Gesel have her baby. Now that I think about it¡. Atollie, what happens to me if I go back?"
"You and everyone who is following you will disappear and will be forgotten. The only things that will be left are the remnants of the things you had done in this world, but since you are taking your memories and the memories of those with you, there will be no you left in this world."
Chapter 437 Final Decision
Chapter 437 Final Decision
As night fell, Iy next to Adel and held her hand as I buried my nose into her neck. Her smell has always calmed me. She has been by my side for so long that I feel that if she is not with me, then I will be iplete. I reached out and caressed her face as I moved the hair on her neck away. Since I can bring Grace with me because she is connected to me and because I have the ability to turn people, why can''t I do the same for Adel? I will bring her back in time with me. I will make sure she never suffers from anything. I will be her friend and lover for all eternity.
I opened my mouth and let my fangs grow out. I was about to bite down when a hand grabbed my shoulder. "It''s best if you do not do that, or you will bring her back connected to the other world."
I turned and looked at Atollie, who had suddenly appeared with tears in my eyes. "Then what am I supposed to do!? Atollie, if I bring her back and break the connection, wouldn''t this allow her to still live!? If I bring her back in her current state, and allow her to stay by my side, I can watch over her and make sure no harm everes to her. "
Atollie stared at me with a nk expression. What she was feeling or what she was thinking, I do not know. "Master¡. If you bring her back in her current state, she will always be in that state. There is no guarantee that you would be able to help her either. She might forever be connected to the other world if you bring her back as she is."
"Atollie¡. How many times has this happened? How many times have I brought pain to the one I love? How many times have you sent me back? You said before you have lost count. But that is not true, is it?" Everything¡ All my dreams. It seems to me that I have seen more timelines than I could ever imagine.
"You have been stuck in a time loop for over a few million years¡. I can not tell you the exact amount of time." Atollie replied.
"Then¡ what are the consequences of having Sophie going back with me with the same memories?" This was very important. This would allow me to make a final decision.
"It could cause a space-time anomaly that might break the new timeline. I did not say it before because you wished to bring everyone you love, but this is not the first time you have asked this. You have asked me many times how you can bring your loved ones with you. The only exception is Miss Grace because she is blood bound to you in a different manner. She is considered part of you." Atollie slowly exined.
"I see¡." I let out a sigh. I guess this was also for the best. "Atollie, I want my memories and my powers¡.. But Diablo and Iena should be freed. But I am sorry... I wish for you to stay by my side just in case¡."
"My duty is to protect Master and follow your orders. I will do as you say. But Miss Sophie? Will you bring her with you?" Atollie asked. This question pained me the most. I already said I would bring her with me, but for this moment and time, I believe it would be best that I do not. I just need to work hard and find the fox girl back in the city and treat her the same. As for the Adel¡.. I will find her before she finds me. I wiped away my tears and shook my head. "No¡. I love Sophie very much. But I can not bring her with me. I do not want to cause any problems where she might disappear for e¡"
"Then you better damn well find me again!" Sophie suddenly burst into the room. Tears were rolling down her cheeks as she walked over to me and pushed her lips against mine. It was a short kiss, not more than a mere peck, but the look in her eyes said it all. "You are my wife. And I am your wife. If you do not find me again and make me your wife, I will curse you forever!"
I reached up and held Sophie''s face. "I will definitely rescue you again and bring you with me. No matter what, you will be my wife, my friend, and my fluffiest lover."
"Good¡. As for this life. You can entrust me to protect Adel. I will protect her even if I can not remember you." Sophie said as she turned to Atollie. "Can you make this happen?"
Atollie nodded as she said: "You will forget Master, but I can make it so that you can rece her. You will not feel anything out of order."
"Thank you," Sophie said before turning back to me. "Faith, Tonight we''ll be together onest time. And tomorrow¡.. I will forget everything¡."
These words were like a dagger to my heart, but I could only nod my head. That night, Sophie and I made love for thest time in this life. Once she was asleep, I left the room and went to the roof of the pce. "I need to go see Gesel onest time and give her baby a name. And then I want to see my parents in this life onest time."
"Then, once the sun rises, I will send you back," Atollie spoke softly. It seemed she did not like seeing me like this.
"Mm¡ But first¡." I opened my menu to check on Mr. Blobs. His level had skyrocketed to almost level 2000. I looked at the recall button and hit the mass recall, which will recall all slimes back into my menu. As well as a certain fire dragon that I had forgotten about.
"Master¡" Grace''s voice came from my side.
"Grace, because of our link, I can not leave you here. I hope you do not mind." I looked at the girl who should have had a normal life and felt helpless when I thought about how she would never be free from me now.
"It does not matter. Where Master goes, I shall follow." Grace replied with a smile.
I nodded before disappearing. I went first to Gesel''s house, where she was sleeping. I leaned over and ced my hand on her stomach. "Sorry, little one. Your godmother will not be around when you are born. But I can still give you a name. You will be named Hope, whether you are a girl or a boy. You will be the hope of this world and timeline."
I did not stay long. I quickly left and went to my house where my parents were living. They, too, were sound asleep. I did not say anything. I only took a look before leaving. In the earlier hours of the seventh month on the twenty-second day, I, Faith Cyrilia, ceased to exist any longer in this timeline¡.
--AN) Alright, I know some of you may be confused about the current happenings. But if you look back and see how things have progressed so far, you will see the hints of the different timelines. I won''t say more since I do not want to spoil anything.---
Chapter 438 Rebirth Again….
Chapter 438 Rebirth Again¡.
Being reborn for the third time, I guess from what I can remember, is kind of strange. But seeing my mother and father back to their old selves and those around me still alive and well makes me smile. While I do feel sad that I left Adel in the timeline I was in, Atollie told me after I was reborn that as long as I can change that portion of the timeline where Adel bes connected to the other world that she would awaken and live her life normally again. I will also need to take care of a few enemies as well before they do anything to harm those I love.
Atollie had be my nanny. She manipted her way into doing this job, so she has been taking care of me. My parents are the same as always. I think since I have been reborn, my father has been outside sobbing about being kicked out a few times now.
My brother keeps bringing me shiny rocks. Which I am happy about. I receive them with a big smile on my face. As always he is just as handsome as he was before.
Atollie told me that Grace was safely reborn here and also had her memories intact. Atollie goes over and checks on her every so often. She is still the same. I guess her parents are worried about her expressionless face and the fact that she does not look human at all. But with a few tweaks, Atollie got them to ept her without issue. From what I am told, she is enjoying this time she gets to be with her parents but always seems to ask when she cane see me.
As for Adel, Atollie had brought me out in the middle of the night. She is currently in her cute little baby form. But she is perfectly fine so far in this timeline. But to see my current stats at the age of three is a bit crazy. Compared to what I had before, this is just really insane.
[Humanoid Form]
[Name]: Faith Cyrilia
[Age] 3
[Level] 3308
[Race] Drakani Demigoddess
[HP] 1636200/1636200(3636200)
[MP] ¡Þ
[Attack Power] 2147865
[Magic Power] 1118650
[Status Points] 15245
[Strength] 214865
[Vitality] 163620
[Intelligence] 114865
[Mind] ¡Þ
[Agility] 114865
[Skill Points] 2210
[Limit Break( 1/3)]
{Total Domination}
[Skills]
{Appraisal (LVL 10(MAX))} {Military Command (LVL 10(MAX))} {Military Tactics (LVL 10(MAX))} {Business Tycoon (LVL 10(MAX))} {Acting (LVL 1(MAX))} {Charm(LVL 10(MAX))} {Dimensional Transfer(LVL 10(Max))} {Blood Frenzy(LVL 1(MAX))} {Blood Maniption(LvL 10(MAX))} {Shadow Meld (LVL 1)} {Shadow Clone(LVL 1)} {Blood Enhance(LVL 1(MAX))} {The Starry Night Sky (LVL 1)}{Armor of Infinity(LVL 1)} {XXXXXXXXXXX (LVL 1(Max))} {Tracking (LVL 10(MAX))} {Lingual Mastery (LVL 10(MAX))}
[Ultimate Skills]
{Atollie}
Although one skill was removed from my skill list, I can no longer summon demons. While I will miss Iena and Diablo, and I love them both to death, they were both forced into the rtionship by ident. If I am fated to meet them again, then so be it, but for the time being, all demons, including Freidinia, were de-summoned¡.
Two more years passed, and I am now able to do many things, including running around outside by myself. My parents know about my strength and seem to think I got my strength and knowledge from our ancestors. I mean, I started talking when I was born. It shocked them at first, but I had to change things a little since I did not wish to be too restricted.
"Hey, freak!" A very familiar voice yelled out over the fence. I turned to see Trent, the vige idiot yelling at me. I looked at his mocking smiling face and sneered. I stood up and brushed my knees off. Yes, I was ying with a patch of flowers, I am currently a kid, after all. I want to act like a child when I can. But that does not mean I will stoop so low as to name calling like Trent is. I turned and smiled at him with a blooming smile before disappearing and reappearing in front of him.
"You!? How!? No way!? You really are a monster! I will tell my grandpa and have you¡. Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!" I crushed his legs. I figure if I cripple him from a young age, he will not be able to do much of anything. But to make it seem like he did it himself, I decided to drop him off the cliff and gently toss him down. Very gently. Very! Very gently! He won''t die at least... From the fall, anyway.
I picked him up by the neck, pped my wings, and zoomed off to the cliff edge. And then used wind magic to make him tumble down the side so he would have cuts and scrapes all over his body. Once his body hit the ground, I returned home. Whether the vigers find him first or the slimes do, will be up to his own luck. After what he did to my familyst time, I will not allow him to do such things this time. He caused so much hate before. I just want a quiet, rxing ce for everyone. If the vigers do not bother me, then I will not touch them this time around.
But today, I was a bit excited. Why one may ask, and I would tell them because I am about to go see the love of my life! My little princess fairy that needs me to care for her from day one! While I still have my hunger issue, my inventory has enough blood tost a long time. My small body currently does not need much, and a few sips of blood is enough to fill me for the entire day. But once I get older, I n to turn Adel. It is one of the only ways I have thought so far to break her from her original cycle.
I flew out of the house on my own. Atollie was using illusion magic to pretend I was still in the house. She was sitting in the chair next to my bed as she normally did at night. The night sky was crisp. It actually felt quite nice feeling the cool wind spread across my face. I flew towards the capital and slipped through the barrier that was used for detecting people flying around. I went right to the window of my beloved andnded on the balcony that led to her bedroom. The room was dark, and the moonlight that filtered in illuminated the bed where a young girl with golden hair slept.
I was not wearing shoes and only my nightgown as I opened the door and slipped inside. I then walked over to the bed and sat on the edge, looking at Adel''s sleeping face. At this point, I felt like an old pervert who was trying to raise a wife, and I guess this is not too far off, but I swear on my life that I will not do a thing until she is old enough.
"Who are you!?" A voice broke me out of my thoughts as I stared at the wide eyed girl whose purple eyes flickered in the light.
"Me?" I smiled and slipped off the bed and kneeled on the floor, and rested my arms on the bed. "My name is Faith. I heard there was a beautiful princess in the castle. And what do you know, there really was a beautiful princess in the castle."
"I am not beautiful. Everyone whispers about my eyes. They tell me I am cursed." Adel pouted as she patted the nkets in front of her.
"Then we are one and the same. Look at me. Do I look normal? Both my parents are human, but I am like this. They called me a monster and other cruel names." I replied. It was not a lie. People really did call me such things.
"But you are very pretty though¡." Adel replied with a small blush as she looked at me nervously as she yed with her fingers. Only after taking a deep breath and letting it out did she say: "I should introduce myself¡. My name is Adel¡ Faith¡ Will you be my friend?"
"Friends?" I smiled and climbed up onto the bed, and nodded my head. I stretched my hand out to her and said: "Then we are friends. Friends for life!"
"Friends for life!" Adel happily smiled at me. She was nervous at first, but once she started talking, she became like her old self. Talking about this and that andining about all the things she could notin about. Seeing her so lively andparing to the state I left her in before. I was doing my best to hold back my tears. Only when she fell asleep did I leave. I, of course, left her a small note and put it in her hand. This time I will be sure Adel is never lonely. I want her to grow up happily, and when the timees when we are old enough, I will confess to her this time.
Chapter 439 Invited To A Funeral
439 Invited To A Funeral
"Master, how was it?" Atollie asked as I came back through the window.
"We became friends. I will protect her from everything. No harm will ever befall my little princess." I was firm on this. I nned to give her a system stone tomorrow. Then, I will power-level her like crazy. With this, my little wife will grow up much stronger than the rest. I can only hope it will work and not end up just being another shiny stone.
"I am happy for you." Atollie smiled as she rubbed my head. She has been doing that a lot since my rebirth. She has really be a second mother to me.
I slept in a bit the next day and did my normal everyday kid thing. It was only by afternoon that word came of the death of the vige elder''s grandson. I was currently standing in the front yard with my family swaying back and forth as if the things being said did not matter to me. "So how did he die?"
"He fell off the cliff and smashed into the rocks before hitting the ground. He did note homest night, and we searched everywhere. Only when we thought to check the cliff did we find him half-eaten by a bunch of slimes. Everyone in the vige is to attend the funeral." One of the vigers who like to suck up to the viger elder exined.
I couldn''t hold back my snort. This, of course, made the viger mad. "Is there something wrong?"
"Nothing really... It''s just that you want us to go to a funeral of a boy who went out of his way to always pick on me and call me names? Why should we care about such a person?" I asked coldly.
My father patted my head and nodded. "What my daughter said is right. Why should we be attending his funeral? He has caused nothing but problems for my daughter. He is lucky I did not break his legs myself. Seems karma kicked his ass off the cliff and sent him to visit the loweryers of hell."
"You! You dare curse a poor child who just died!?" The viger''s eyes went wide. He was acting like we were the viins. But I can say this, I have no sympathy. Why should my family care about such a thing? He died *cough* on his own. This has nothing to do with my family.
"Hmm¡. I have to ask you, Sander, did you have anything to do with his death?" The viger''s words were loud, causing everyone who came to watch the show to begin gossiping about the possibility.
"Are you an idiot? In all of Wandermere, everyone knows I am an honest guy who never does despicable things. But here you are trying to say I am the cause of that little shit''s death? I wish I was! I would have smashed his head open and tossed him into the vige elder''s house. He has no control over his grandson. And do not think I do not know what you all think of my daughter! I will not allow any of you to look down on my family. Even if you were to gang up and rush over here with pitchforks to try to raze my house to the ground, I guarantee that Wandermere will be missing quite a few households before even a strand of hair on my family is touched." My father is amazing as always.
The way he automatically jumps to his family''s defense is what makes him a good man. I reached out and took his hand, and gave him a smile causing him to calm down a bit. "Mm¡. No one in my family will be harmed, no matter what you try to convict us of. Do you even have any evidence that what you say is true? If you do not, then why are you standing in front of my house, wagging your tongue? We will not go to some stupid funeral for a bastard child who was never taught how not to hate someone."
"Little girls should learn to shut up!" The viger yelled out. I only sneered and waved my hand. A gust of wind suddenly appeared out of nowhere and sent the man flying back towards the vige center. I turned and looked at my parents and said: "We should go finish the cookies!"
"Right! Cookies!" My mother snapped back to reality, but her eyes were locked on to me. "Faith, did you?"
"Hmm? I only crushed his legs and tossed him off the cliff. He was alive when hended¡." I admitted to it. Why would I need to lie? "Who told him to call me names every day?"
"Good!" My father shouted and beganughing. "That brat needed to be dealt with. While I will not condone you killing people all the time, I will say it is fine for you to defend yourself. Mental violence can be much worse than physical violence."
"Your father is right, but next time¡. Faith, don''t be so impulsive¡." My mother sighed as she rubbed my head. I thought I was going to be fine, but before I knew it, my pants were pulled down, and my butt turned red!
"Mother!?" I yelled out, with tears in my eyes.
"Just because we are not mad about it, you still need to have some form of discipline! Do not do such things in the future. Tell us about it first if it is getting to that point! You are five years old and have blood on your hands!" My mother''s red bottom technique seems to have grown in this timeline! Even with my defenses, she can easily make my butt hurt!
That night when I arrived at the castle, Adel was sitting on her balcony waiting for me. Her little face looked as if she would cry at any minute. But when she saw me, her eyes lit up, and she began waving at me frantically. As soon as Inded, she hugged me and pulled me inside. "Faith, I missed you! I wish you could have been with me during the day. But guess what! I saved some snacks from earlier so let''s eat them and talk!"
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Chapter 440 Talking With The King Part 1
440 Talking With The King Part 1
I looked at my chubby-cheeked princess and found her to be as cute as a button. "We will do as you say," I replied with a gentle smile. Adel beamed a smile back and pulled me into her room. It seemed she had been very much prepared because there was a small table with an array of desserts as well as a pot of tea.
Adel walked over, picked up the teapot, and froze when she realized it was not warm anymore. Her lower lip began to quiver, causing me to smile warmly at her. "Here, let me," I said as I walked over and touched the teapot. Soon the tea inside was back to being just the right temperature.
Adel looked at me with shock and amazement in her eyes as she yelled out: "That was amazing!"
"In the future, I will show you many more amazing things. My Little Adel, with me around you will never need to fear being sad and lonely." I said gently as I pulled out the chair for Adel to set. She looked at me with innocent eyes and sat down. I know she did not understand what I meant, but that was okay. Adel was someone I will always stay beside until the day she finally falls in love with me again.
We chatted about this and that, and Adel told me all about the princess training she had to undergo and how boring it was. She told me how much she wished to run away and y with swords and use magic like everyone else. But she was being slowly taught, and in a careful manner, so she was unable to do much of anything.
After snacks, Adel moved to her bed, where she stayed awake a little while longer, asking me all kinds of questions about my life. I, of course, did not hide a thing and answered her questions without any hesitation. "Oh yeah¡." I took a system stone out of my inventory and handed it to Adel. "This is called a system stone. With this stone, you can gain a lot of power."
"A system stone?" Adel looked at the shiny stone in my hand before taking it. Only when it left my hand did her eyes suddenly open wide. "What is this!?"
"It is a system. Hit the yes button." I instructed. Adel listened to me and hit the yes button. Once I confirmed everything was set, I sent her a team request.
"This!? Team invite? What is that?" Adel asked. Her eyes were glowing with curiosity.
"It is so that the two of us will always be connected. No matter the time of day or night, I will always know if you are in danger. And I wille to you no matter where you are." I then took out another item. This was something I painstakingly made over the past five years with Atollie''s help. In my handy two nes. Each one was one side of a heart. "Take this and always wear it. No matter where you are I cane to you instantly, all you need to do is call out my name."
The half heart shaped pendant had tiny inscriptions on it. One of the inscriptions was a tracker. I will always know Adel''s location, and the second one was a teleportation point. So I can always arrive at her side at any time. Andstly, the third would only activate if she called out my name. It would allow us tomunicate telepathically. To turn offmunication, she only needed to say goodbye. I carefully exined each function of the pedant and showed her how, when put together, they formed a solid heart. "This is amazing, so then I can talk to you every day! But¡. Does this mean you will stoping here?"
"Nope. I will alwayse and spend time like this with you every night. I will always be by your side." I answered as Adel reached out and grabbed my hand. She held it tightly as her eyes slowly closed. Not longter, her breathing became steady as she fell into a deep sleep. I slipped out of her hand and walked to the balcony. With a wave of my hand, I set up a barrier around the entrance so that no one other than me could climb in through this window, but it still allowed for the air outside toe in.
I was just about to fly away when I saw a man down below. A very familiar man. I sighed as I pped my wings and slowly floated down to the ground, andnded behind him. I actually expected him to be here. "You do not need to worry."
"Hmmm¡.." The man turned and looked at me. He was none other than my future father inw. "I figured as much since you announced your visit this time. My daughter even spoke about her new friend to me."
"I know. This is why I announced my visit. But you can be reassured that in this entire world, there is one person I would never allow harm to befall, and that is my little princess." I spoke firmly, with my eyes showing my clear determination. I knew I could not get out of speaking to this man like this. Adel was five years old after all. Her tongue would slip. Atollie had earlier sent a message to this man for me, telling him I would be here tonight.
"How can I trust a person I just met? You even cast a barrier on my daughter. Did you think these things would go unnoticed?" The king asked.
"Of course, you would notice. Did you think I did not think that far ahead? Just because of my age, do not look down on me. In this kingdom at this time, there is no one more powerful than me. If I really wanted to harm her, I could have done so without question, but here I am, talking with you and being upfront about things. Your Majesty only needs to know that in this life, Adel is the most important person to me. I would rather die than see harm befall her. Plus, she is a child who needs a friend more than anything. Ie at night and relieve her of her loneliness and allow her to do her duties during the day. A few hours with a friend is nothing, right?" I could tell the king was a little upset. After all, I was talking to him from the standpoint of someone who used to be an empress.
"You really are a strange one¡. Now tell me the other things you mention¡."
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Chapter 441 Talking With The King Part 2
Chapter 441 Talking With The King Part 2
Besides just speaking to him about his daughter, I also mentioned the prime minister. I wanted him to be able to see the man for who he truly was. "I will not go into details because seeing is believing. Just keep a close eye on him. And do not take everything he says as fact. The nobles I spoke to you about are also under him as well. His faction is bigger than you could ever expect."
The king fell into deep thought. He was a smart man, so I knew he would do the right thing. His gaze fell on me for a long time before letting out a long sigh. "Can you tell why you are doing all of this? What is your goal?"
"To protect the people I love and care about," I said firmly. "I can say this now. In this world, no matter if the sky falls, I will protect this kingdom to thest."
The king''s eyes widened as he stared at me. But my words were my true feelings. No matter what, I loved this kingdom. It was the ce I was born and raised and met so many good people. The ce I ruled and never got the chance to officially set on a proper path. A ce that I probably failed to protect¡. "If there is nothing else, I will be back tomorrow. I must not allow my little princess to feel lonely without me."
"Wait!" The king called out to me, causing me to stop only a few feet from the ground.
"Yes?" I asked with a curious gaze.
"Why not just move in here? You can then be at her side all the time." It seems the king trusts me even though it''s only a little.
"No need! I still have my family to spend time with and protect. But¡. in the future, I will ask of you a few things. I hope you do not mind." I said with a smile before waving and flying off. I did not turn back around since I did not wish to be stopped again. Tonight I was not going back home but to a certain ce.
Up in the air above a vige, I slowly descended and arrived at a specific run down house. By the window, looking in, I could see a few fox kin sleeping there on the old floor. "Sophie¡." I whispered before disappearing. I sadly could not touch her. But once we be friends again and then lovers, I will protect her family this time. Even if we do not be lovers or friends, I will still protect her secretly. I pped my wings and disappeared into the night.
It was early the next morning when I heard a soft voiceing from my neck. "Faith! Faith! Can you hear me!?"
"Hmmm? Adel, is everything okay?" I asked, still half asleep. From the sounds of her voice, she was not panicking but did sound nervous.
"Faith! Good morning! Hehe! The ne works. Thank you! With this, I will never feel lonely again." Adel''s cheerful voice woke me up. I rolled to my side as I listened to Adel chatting away. I could hear her maid asking who she was talking to and then her happily saying my name. Just knowing Adel was so cheerful and happy made my day brighter.
It''s funny, really. Before, I never wanted anything to do with rtionships. Then, I had four lovers. But it was not until now that I understood what true love is. True love is when you are willing to just sit and listen to the one you love without saying a word. Allowing them to lead you anywhere. As Iy there listening to my little princess talk about what she had to do today, I could only smile.
After an hour, Adel had to say goodbye, and I could finally go back to sleep. Or so I thought. "Faith! Hurry up ande out here!" My brother''s yell came from the front room. I slowly got up. My white nightshirt fell down to my feet as I sleepily rubbed my eyes and walked out to the front room, yawning. "Brother?"
"There she is, take her!" An old voice yelled out. I looked up to see my father and mother standing in front of me, ring at the men who were rushing over.
"What is going on? Why are people rushing into my house? Do you not realize whose domain this is? You actually dare yap about capturing people in my house? Hey old man, I know you hate demi humans but you need to think of time and ce. No one in this world is allowed to make a scene at my house." My voice rang out as I stepped out from behind my parents in my bare feet and red at the people. "Stop¡." I waved my hand. The three men who were running over froze in ce.
My parents looked at me in a strange manner, but I just ignored them as I walked past the three men to the old man who was standing there with a cane, his face red with anger. I reached out with my little hand and took his cane, raised it, and smiled at the old man. Only then did his eyes begin to show fear as he yelled out: "What do you n to do!?"
"Me? Hehe¡." My smiling expression suddenly turned cold as my killing intent burst out of me. "I am taking care of enemies of my family. My family is not easily picked on. You daree here wagging your tongue like you are some king shit wanting to take me away, disturbing my beloved parents so early in the morning. And you want to ask me what my n is? How about I show you what happened to your shithead grandson."
"Faith your words!" My mother scolded me. I pursed my lips and said: "Sorry, he''s not a shithead grandson. He is a dead shithead grandson. How could I forget he died? I do apologize. I was insensible. I should have chosen my words better. At any rate, since you came, It would not be good if I did not receive you well. Let''s begin, shall we? Oh, by the way, it might hurt. You see, I am cranky when I do not get enough sleep. Hehe¡."
Chapter 442 The Red Bottom Technique Can Even Take Down The Strongest!
Chapter 442 The Red Bottom Technique Can Even Take Down The Strongest!
My words might sound off, but I do not care. I swung the cane in my hand with a big smile. A scream was heard as the old bastard fell to the ground. I kept swinging the cane until I finally saw blood. The old many on the ground cursing and iling about in pain, but I did not care. I didn''t stop until the old man passed out. I wiped the imaginary sweat from my brow and kindly put the cane next to the old man. "Thank you for letting me borrow this."
"Faith this¡. Why did you do that?" My father seemed to still be in a state of shock, but I only shook my head. "No matter what, he would not like us. After all, unless you disowned me and sent me away, he would hate us because I am a demi human."
"This¡." My father turned to my mother, who was looking at me with concern in her eyes. This was not a look of fear or anything like this but pure concern.
"Mother, Father, I know that we own all of thisnd around here. All the farnd is owned by us. I think it would be best to take back what is ours and start our own vige. A ce where hate is banned. Only those who do not mind demi humans should be allowed to farm on ournds and buy our crops. Why should we help people who secretly hate our family?" It may sound crazying from a five year old but this was just how it was. I did not wish for the same thing to happen as before. So this time around, I am taking care of things one step at a time.
Both my mother and father looked at me in shock. They went quiet for quite some time. It was only when my father began to speak that the silence was broken. "Your words make sense. I am not numb to those who despise our family. Those who were once friendly are now keeping a distance, and most of them have leased some of ournds. We will do this. I will send the vige elder back and tell him our family will be splitting from the vige and making our own vige. He can only me this on himself since these farnds belong to our Cyrilia family. But we will need a way to keep unwanteds out."
"Don''t worry I will put a barrier around the property with an inscription stone to control who cane and go. To make things easier for the merchants, I will also set up a teleport at the bottom of the cliff. If they really want to go to the lower vige, they can, but they will need to travel back up the cliff. The token you can give the merchants will only allow them to activate the teleport and nothing more." I could only sneer when the vigers who hated me began to make a fuss about going hungry. Was I being ruthless? I am, so what? Why should I care if they live or die? They all treated my family so badly in the past. If they are toozy to get off their butts and do work, then they can starve to death for all I care.
"Alright, we will do things like this¡. But Faith, what about these guys?" My father turned to the men, still frozen in time.
"Just toss them somece. They will not die in their current state, but they should not stay here stinking up the ce." I replied, pursing my lips.
"Faith, release the spell you put on them." My mothermanded. I turned and looked at her and turned my head. I would not do it! Screw them!
"Let them be. Faith is right. They charged in here and tried to capture her. Why should she be kind to them?" Luckily my father understood the situation better. Without a word, my father dragged all the men and the once again screaming old man out of the house.
Although the burning gaze that was trying to dig a hole in my brain was not going away. "Faith,e with me."
I lowered my head and tucked my tail between my legs as I followed my mother into my bedroom. Atollie tactfully left, leaving me alone with her. "Who are you?"
These were not the words I was expecting. I looked up at my mother with eyes filled with surprise. "I told you from the beginning¡ I mean¡ I came out of you, so who else could I be?"
"How could a child of five years old be so ruthless!? My child would never be¡."
"Mother! I am doing this for us! Our family! Do you think I like this!?" I suddenly yelled, cutting her off. "I do not wish to be looked down upon. If I have the power to protect my loved ones, I will do so no matter what I have to do! Revenge is something thates with this world we live in. If I do not teach those bastards a lesson, what next? Will theye to our house every day? Should I follow them and be crucified!? I might be different from other children my age. I might be more mature and even scary at times, but mother, understand this, I love you and would give my life up to protect you."
Tears rolled down my cheeks. My mother looked at me with eyes filled with regret. She quickly picked me up into her arms and hugged me. "Faith¡ I''m sorry! Mother was just stunned by your actions today."
"It''s fine, but always remember this. No matter how old I am, no matter what mental state I may be in. I will always be your daughter and act spoiled around you. If I have to do things like this again, I will do it outside of your view so you will not worry, but I can promise you this¡. In this world¡. No one is stronger than me." I wrapped my arms around my mother''s neck, kissed her cheek, and buried my face into her shoulder. This time I would keep my mother from receiving too many shocks so she would not end up likest time. This is why I will not be so impulsive anymore and will deal with things in secret.
My mother''s hug became tighter as she nted a kiss on my cheek. "I swear if you evere home injured, I will not let you leave this house until you are old and gray!"
Hearing my mother''s words, I could only smile as my tears continued rolling down my cheeks but my happiness onlysted a few moments when my butt started hurting. "Now let''s talk about you swearing!? When do little girls swear!?"
"Mother, stop! It hurts!" I do not know what is with this red bottom technique but no matter what, it always hurts!
Chapter 443 Trouble Starting Earlier Than It Should?
Chapter 443 Trouble Starting Earlier Than It Should?
The next day I quickly set up everything needed for the barrier and teleportation circles. Auntie Finna was confused by everything that was going on, but after my father exined it to her, she finally understood. But now that all the fields had been blocked off from those who had once leased thend, I am sure the vige below was very hectic. Only those who my father deemed friendly were still allowed to use the fields after he set them up on the stone as long as they only sold his crops to the merchants.
Once again, Wandermere had been split into two viges, and Cyrilia Vige once more rose up from the ashes. As for me, I watched on with a small smile on my face. This was back to being a harmonious ce once again. But this time, I will protect it from any outside threats.
While I could not make contact with Sophie directly, I have been keeping an eye on her. Sadly I need her to go through the things she once went through before, no matter how heartbreaking it is. Atollie also said this was the only way to make sure her path did not deviate from her previous life. All I could do was heal her wounds and grit my teeth. It is hard, but this is all I can do for now.
I was now seven years old, and I was currently stopping in on my nightly visit to Adel''s room. She, as always, was waiting for me patiently. Her smile was as bright as the sun as Inded on the ground. She immediately attached herself to me and pulled me into her room, where she had tea and snacks ready. Ever since I talked with the king, things have been less secretive as now a maid would wait on us until Adel excused her.
As always, I listened to what she had done during the day with a warm smile on my face. This girl who smiled so brightly for me made my whole world be as warm as the sun. But on this night, I nned to stay here until morning. Adel had begged for me to spend the entire night with her so she could wake up and see my face in the morning.
She rolled over and held my hand as she looked up at me with her cute face as she "You asked me to stay the night, so I did. Should I not have?" I asked in confusion.
Adel quickly shook her head. "No, I was just surprised. I am d you stayed."
said: "Faith, thanks to you, my days have be so much brighter and full of meaning. I have decided that when I am old enough, I will marry you!" Adel''s words made me smile as I looked at her. I knew she was only speaking in a childish manner. But this wish of hers was something I do n to make true when we grow up. I pressed my forehead against hers and nodded my head. "If you wish to marry me when we are older, then I will dly ept a cute princess like you."
"Hehe!" Adel giggled as she closed her eyes and slowly fell asleep. I stared at her for a few minutes before slowly falling asleep myself. When I woke, I woke to Adel''s big eyes looking back at me. "You are here¡."
"You asked me to stay the night, so I did. Should I not have?" I asked in confusion.
Adel quickly shook her head. "No, I was just surprised. I am d you stayed."
"Mm¡ but now you should get ready, or you will be yelled at. Then your father might ban me from visiting you." I said teasingly, but it seemed to light a fire under her butt as she quickly jumped up.
"You are right!" Adel jumped out of bed as I yawned and began getting ready. By the time I was about to leave, she had already been dressed up by her maids. She ran over to me, gave me a hug, and whispered: "I meant what I said. The thing about when we get older¡."
Seeing her blushing cheeks as she ran away to hurry to her training made me smile. Only after she was gone did I fly out the window high into the sky. "Little Bell¡"
"Hmmm? Faith, you called me?" Little Bell stuck her head out of my chest, which looked quite weird because the area around her head was glowing and squirting around like some kind of liquid.
"Yes, we will go visit your leader. I want to speak with him." I said softly. Little Bell nodded her head and flew out and parched herself on my head. We then flew to the spirit domain. I did not enter from the front but through the sky high above it andnded at the peak where the leader of the spirits was located.
"Hmmm? Child of dragons? Why are you¡.. Oh?" The spirit leader looked at Little Bell, who was sitting on my head and paused his words. "I see¡. Child of dragons, I believe this is not the first time we have met, but I must warn you, tampering with time can result in many bad things."
"I am only trying to protect those I love and this kingdom. As well as you and your kind. I came here today to greet you. In the future, I will be stopping by again with my future wife. I ask of you to give her a blessing at that time." I wanted the spirit leader to grant Adel a spirit that could help protect her when she needed it the most, like how he granted me Little Bell.
"Oh? It will depend if she can attract any spirits. But I am sure with you by her side, your scent will certainly merge into her allowing her to at least get the favor of one. But this is not something I can force." The spirit leader replied.
"I understand. I thank you. I only came to ask you about this. I am sorry for disturbing you." I bowed my head. The spirit leader was someone I deeply respected, as he was a kind being who overlooked this kingdom.
"You are most wee. In the future, I will see you again¡." The spirit leader''s words were warm. I smiled and said my goodbyes before returning home. But it seems not every day would be peaceful. Because when I came home, a young fox girl was lying on my bed sound asleep. "Sophie!?"
"Master, when I went to check on her this morning for you, I found the vige up in mes. Miss Sophie was the only one who was able to survive. Her parents had her run into the forest. This was all caused by a man with thest name Freedman."
Chapter 444 Sophie’s Return Part 1
Chapter 444 Sophie¡¯s Return Part 1
"This¡." I, of course, wanted to rush over and kill that count but I had to wait. Things might be starting to change, and for now, I need to try to keep myself restrained. I looked at the sleeping fox girl on my bed whose cheeks were covered in soot and tears and felt my own tears welling up. My fluff fluff¡. I couldn''t save her parents even in this life¡. "Atollie, please get me some of my clothes and a bucket and towel I will help clean her up."
"Alright." Atollie quickly did as I asked and got me what I needed.
I sat next to the sleeping fox girl and gently dabbed her cheeks with a warm wet towel. This motion seemed to disturb her as she slowly opened her eyes and looked at me. "Am I dead?"
"Far from it¡." I whispered as I continued to wash Sophie''s face.
"I''m not dead? Then¡ Faith?" Hearing her call my name, I froze. I looked at Sophie, who was staring back at me with eyes full of hope, and did not know how to react. When Sophie turned and saw Atollie, a big smile formed on her face as she jumped up and hugged me. "Faith!"
"Sophie!?" I cried out in confusion. I looked at Atollie only to see that she seemed to be just as confused as I was! "What!? How!?"
"It''s a long story¡ but¡. For now, let me cry¡." Sophie leaned into my chest, hugging me as tears rolled down her cheeks. She was happy one second and then sad the next. She hugged me tightly and would not let go as she began bawling her eyes out. I gently held her in my arms and rocked her back and forth as she cried for who knows how long. I was not counting.
After she calmed down, I washed her face and had her strip down and wash up more before putting on a set of my clothes. Only then did I ask what happened. "So why did Freedman suddenly show up and burn your vige down? You were fine the night before¡."
"So it was you¡." Sophie smiled. She then hugged me again while taking in my scent. A thing she has done many, many times in my past life. After a few minutes, she took a deep breath and began exining things. "Since you were healing me, you know I was being beaten pretty badly. The people Count Freedman was sending out would harass my family and beat me. But because of my knowledge from before, I began fighting back when I could. Until early in the morning, before dawn, when those bastards broke into my home and pushed my father to the ground while stripping my mother.
"I had been trying to stay low so he would not notice me since, currently, my powers are not as strong as before. But I lost it and killed the men. One escaped, and then a few hourster, Count Freedman showed up and began burning my vige. Humans demis he did not care. He killed all of them. My father jumped on Count Freedman when he showed up at our house and told me to run. I wanted to fight, but I knew I would have died. I am nowhere near what I was since I no longer have a system¡
"Faith, that bastard burnt both of them alive¡." Sophie pushed her face into my chest once more as she began crying again. My fists gripped tightly. I wanted to rush over there so badly, but I could not!
Gritting my teeth, I hugged Sophie and said: "You can live here. You can grow up with me. We will get married again in the future. We will always be together. When Adeles to get me when I turn twelve, we will travel together. The three of us will once again be together forever¡."
"Mmm¡." Sophie seemed to have found her sce as she fell asleep in my arms. I looked up at Atollie and sighed. "How could she return?"
"I am not sure¡.." Atollie also seemed confused about this. I could only wait until she woke up again.
A few hourster, and after talking with my parents, Sophie became part of our family. However, I did firmly state that she was to be my wife in the future, which my parents took as a kid''s words. But wait until they get invited to the wedding! Humph! When Sophie woke up, I had her meet everyone before having her eat, and only when she was done did I get a chance to ask her. "So, how did you get reborn?"
"I got an ultimate skill¡." Sophie replied. "After you left¡ Although I should have forgotten about you, I have always felt things were off. I did nothing but dungeon dive, and after solo killing a boss, I came upon an ultimate skill called dreamscape. It would allow me to enter people''s dreams. So, I used it on Adel, and well¡. She still had all our memories. She was sleeping but using her memories of us together to live in a dream world. I only saw it for a few minutes before all my memories came back. It was then that I made up my mind to find a way back. I began digging deeper into my space magic and discovered that space and time are connected. I created a skill that would allow me to travel back in time.
"With this skill, I was able toe back to the past but only in soul form. My body could not move through the spatial tear I had made. But do not worry. Before I left, I ced Adel''s body of that timeline into a space dimensional void." Sophie was about to exin more when Atollie yelled out.
"This!" Atollie yelled out. "You have broken the boundary between nes and used magic way above your being!"
"Yes¡ I paid a heavy price both times. The void was something I created to allow Adel to sleep for all eternity without her ever being able toe to harm. The Adel of that timeline will always be in a happy eternal dream. And they were very happy. At that time, I lost all my hair and eyesight when I put her in the void. Luckily no one had to see me like that because I quickly cast the magic toe here, which stripped my soul from my body. It was a heavy price, and I might not have been able to see you again, but I still wanted to try¡."
Chapter 445 Sophie’s Return Part 2
Chapter 445 Sophie¡¯s Return Part 2
I looked at the fox girl, who was grinning away, and sighed. I reached out and scratched her ears as I said: "You are never to try something like that again¡."
"I won''t, but this time¡. No matter what happens, you can''t leave us again¡." Sophie wrapped her arms around my waist and hugged me tightly. I sighed once more before gently holding her in my arms. My fluff had returned, and it was a good thing, but I still felt sad that she nor I could save her family yet again¡.
"You wille with me tonight. We will visit Adel. She just messaged me and said she got permission for me to bring you along." I asked ahead of time since I did not want to anger the king by bringing someone else along. After all, I nned to marry Adelter on so I will need to stay on the old man''s good side.
Sophie looked up at me and smiled. "So you have been keeping in contact with her?"
"Mmm¡. I wanted to meet with you as well, but I couldn''t. I feared I would have changed your timeline again, but now I realize this was all for naught¡ Sophie, you know in one of my dreams you died. My guess it was one of the timelines that had a big impact on me. This was why I was afraid. But I still couldn''t stand by and do nothing, which was why I healed you. If I did not stay at Adel''sst night, then I might have been able to save your parents." I felt guilty. I did. I might have been able to do something."
"No." Sophie shook her head. "While I am sure you could have, I think it was destined to happen no matter what. From my understanding of time, you must have done something much earlier than you didst time. This somehow pushed events forward. While there will be some simrities, this timeline has already veered away from the previous one. We are on track for our own destinies once more. But there is still a chance this timeline can curve back into the old one as well. But I am not sure if what happened before will happen again¡."
I nodded at this. I also did not know. I still do not know what the trigger was. I just needed to keep Adel from merging with the other world. "Whatever we do¡. I need to stop the worlds from merging. This is why¡. I will do anything to keep Adel and you safe¡."
"Not anything! Faith, if you decide to die or something like that for the sake of us we will both follow you to the grave!" Sophie yelled, causing me to chuckle. "What!? Why are youughing!?"
"I meant we will embark on a new journey. I will not be an empress, I will only do what needs to be done, and that is it. I will leave everything else up to those who came before me. I will whisk you and Adel away and embark on a journey outside thesends. But before that, I must take both of you at fifteen as my wives." I grinned at Sophie, who pouted her lip. She threw her arms around my neck and kissed my cheek.
"I will go where you go," Sophie replied with a smile.
"Here¡" I reached into my inventory and handed Sophie a system stone.
"Thanks." Sophie quickly epted it, and I added her to the team. Of which Adel quickly contacted me and began asking Sophie all kinds of questions. Sophie and I sat on the bed and listened to her talk away until she had to go back to training. To us, just hearing her talk was enough to bring us happiness. We both loved Adel, and Adel once loved the both of us. I can only hope we can stand side by side once more in the future.
That night I hugged Sophie close to me and flew off towards the capital. When I arrived, before I even got to Adel''s window, I saw an old man waiting just below. I floated down and stood in front of him. "Your Majesty, you are going to get sick if you keep doing this."
"Heh¡ I just wanted to meet the girl you were bringing over. But from the looks of it, I had no reason to worry." The king replied as he sized up Sophie. "Your name is Sophie?"
"Mmm¡ I am a space mage." Sophie replied, causing the king to raise an eyebrow. I had told her to say this if we ran into the old man.
"Don''t think about it. Sophie is my fluff and lives with me. I will not let you steal her." I quickly stated, making the king raised an eyebrow.
"Why do I feel you will also steal my daughter in the future?" The king asked teasingly.
"Because I will!" I answered very honestly. I mean, why should I lie?
"Haha! Well, if that doese to be, then I will know she is well protected. I don''t know why you are so keen on my daughter, but as long as she is safe, I am satisfied." The king seemed to have found my words funny.
I grinned and asked: "So you will let me have your daughter''s hand when we turn 15?"
"Sure, why not. As long as she is willing." The king replied with a nod. I grinned and held up a small stone and injected mana into it. "So you will let me have your daughter''s hand when we turn 15?" "Sure, why not. As long as she is willing." it yed the words that were just said, causing the king''s expression to fall.
"You tricked me!" He yelled out.
"I am just making sure I have insurance. After all, I would hate to have the day finallye, and she is willing, but you try to stop it. I now have your word and will make sure to keep this nice and safe. Still have seven years after all." My lips were curled up into a very big cheeky smile which made the king''s face even more sour. I loved it!
"Alright! Go see her. She is staring at us with tears in her eyes. But I will say this. If you''re serious, you need to make sure it is her who wants this in return. I do not want her to be forced into anything." The king''s words were firm. I looked at him and nodded my head. "I wouldn''t want it any other way. After all¡ Adel''s happiness is the most important thing."
Chapter 446 Waiting To Grow Up
Chapter 446 Waiting To Grow Up
"So this is Sophie!" Adel was already fluffing Sophie''s tail. Unlike before, though, Sophie let Adel do as she pleaded.
"She will be living with me from now on, so you can see her whenever you want," I said as I watched Adel from the side.
"Oh? Is Faith jealous?" Adel asked teasingly. The girl was the same age as me but was being taught bad things by the people around her. But seeing her teasing smile reminded me of the old days in the previous timeline. I stuck my tongue out, which caused her to giggle and dive into my stomach, hugging me. "Don''t worry. My promise still stands. When we are old enough."
I chuckled and rubbed the top of her head. This small action alone was enough to cause the girl to fall asleep. Sophie had a gentle smile on her face as she looked at Adel. "She never changes."
"Adel is Adel. We were destined to be together no matter what. That was why I got insurance just now. When we are old enough, I will marry both of you. Notter like before, but early. I will not make either of you wait." I could see Adel''s eyebrow twitch just now, which made me smile. The damn girl was faking it. I picked her up into my arms and carried her onto the bed so she could really fall asleep. Sophie curled up next to me as Iid my head back and closed my eyes. It felt like when we were kids in our past life, the three of us sharing the same bed. Only having each other to be our true selves around. I just hope things will stay as they should for the time being.
---
As the years passed, Sophie, Adel, and I all grew closer together and were basically a single unit now. We shared all our worries and woes like we always have in the past timeline. Atollie watched over us like a mother watching her babies grow. She really had a motherly aura now. I have been leveling the girls up as much as possible. Both girls are now at level 20.
It took a while since I could only kill so many monsters before they went extinct. But that will change today. That is because today, the invasion will happen. But this time, I will not let the Norian Kingdom even cross the border. "You are going?" Sophie asked as she felt me get up.
"Mmm¡ After all, this is not only for us but for the people of this kingdom. While I might not be doing what I did before, I will at the very least protect the kingdom when it is in danger." I replied as I took my clothes off and put on my armor.
"Be careful¡. Things have changed. So you need to be more careful when you are out." Sophie was probably worried that I would. End up fighting some powerful being once again. But well, even if I do, Atollie will be there with me this time around.
I nodded and leaned over, and kissed her cheek. "Don''t worry. I will make sure to end this quickly and let you and Adel soak up the juicy experience points."
"You and your experience points!" Sophie chuckled before hugging me. She slowly let me go, allowing me to leave the room. With Atollie following me, my parents said nothing about me flying off into the distance. They seemed to have gotten used to the new and current me. I guess after eleven years, it was bound to happen. Luckily there has been no change in my mother''s mentality. This has worried me for a while now. Atollie has also been checking on her as well.
I flew out to the border of the kingdom to see the massive army lining up on three fronts. "It''s the same as before¡."
"How will you deal with them?" Atollie asked.
"Well, I can''t act like I am part of the kingdom so¡. Dragon form it is¡." I have not used this form in so long. I closed my eyes and began feeling my body expanding and changing. Before long, I was in my most bestest form!
"Roar!!!!!" I let out a mighty roar which caused the soldiers below to begin to panic. I grinned a huge toothy grin as I flew over the Norian army, took a deep breath, and let my mes flow. In a matter of seconds, I roasted the army they sent to the border before flying off in a random direction away from the Gravos Kingdom, so it looked like some dragon suddenly appeared and got mad due to a bunch of humans gathering. Sorry my dragon friends, but I will make you the enemy of the Norian Kingdom for the time being.
As I looked down at my mass destruction, I wondered if I had changed the timeline by a lot or not. I slowly transform back into my human form and look at Atollie. "Have I done this before?"
Atollie shook her head. "No¡ You have either hid or fought on thends of the kingdom."
"I guess we can only hope this was the trigger then¡." I sighed as I held Atollie''s hand and disappeared. We reappeared in my bedroom, where Sophie was staring off into space. "Faith!"
"How was it? Lots of experience?" I asked with a smile.
"Umm¡ you just gave me over thirty levels! I am not level 50!" Sophie replied with a bright smile. It was good that her level did rise.
"Then we just wait. I will be turning twelve soon, and as the king promised and from what Adel is telling me, she will be leaving the capital soon toe to get us. We will then venture to the capital together after I turn twelve years old. But Adel ns to spend some time here to see where I live first. We will just need to wait for the enrollment test after we reach the capital."
Chapter 447 Onward To the Capital Once Again
Chapter 447 Onward To the Capital Once Again
Just like in my previous life, my birthday came and went with me having mying of age early. And currently, I am walking around Cyrilia vige with two people. One was a cute fox girl who was hugging my right arm, and the other was the princess of the kingdom hugging my left arm.
"I really like it here." Adel looked around at the farming vige with soft eyes. She really did seem rxed just being here. "I think I can understand why you are so great, Faith."
"I am not that great, Adel. I am a person who is selfish and greedy for the things that I want." This was very true. I mean, I am, after all, a person who went back in time multiple times just to save the person I loved. I interlocked my fingers with Adel''s and Sophies. "I would destroy the world itself. If it meant protecting the two of you."
"No destroying the world!" Adel pursed her lips as she stopped and looked up at me. "You can not use innocent lives to save me."
"It depends on what happens," I said softly. I could not promise that I would not destroy the world. I could not promise this at all.
"Humph! Just don''t do it." Adel leaned into me. Sophie was looking over at us with a smile on her lips. Adel was still probably oblivious to her feelings for me. But I could tell that she was already in love with me. Otherwise, she would not be holding my hands and leaning against me as she was.
"Yes, yes¡ I will do as my Adel says." I replied while nting a kiss on her head. This caused her to blush and giggle as she nuzzled into me more. The people in the vige all looked at us and whispered. But they were not saying anything mean. Just saying how cute the three of us looked. Or how close we all were.
We walked the entirety of the vige before returning back to my house. I was now currently in my room with both girls lying on my bed reading a book on magic that I have read many, many times already. "Faith, why are you reading that all over again?"
"Because I always find details that I miss. Unlike just glossing over it to find what I need, reading through it will sometimes prove very resourceful if I pick up something that I missed." I replied as I rolled over.
"I see¡ I guess I should read more then." Sophie went to the bookshelf and began shuffling through it while I could see Adel trying to sneak up on me out of the corner of my eye. I pretended not to notice as sheunched herself on top of me and tried to tickle me.
"You know Adel¡. You can''t tickle me like that, but I can tickle you!" I dropped my book and began my attack. Adel was already shouting for mercy as I wiggled my fingers about on her sides.
We spent our days like this, just enjoying every day until it was finally time to leave. We were now heading to the capital. And this time, I made sure everything that could cause my mother to begin her regression was taken care of. Even the area where the dungeon would appear was sealed off, so no one could ever enter it until I allowed for it.
I did n to go there. After all, it was a ce with technology that could help the kingdom. But that was something I would worry about at ater time. If the dungeons did suddenly appear here again.
I could have done something that would make them not appear but just in case, I was already ready. There was a lot that I still did not understand. About the realm, Atollie came from. The dungeons themselves and the parasitic race that had tried to cause chaos all over the continent. I wanted to try to protect everything without actually getting too involved. After all this time, I really wanted to spend my time exploring this world with these two girls at my side, along with Grace and Atollie.
But our first stop this time around would be to visit the spirits. I wanted to see if any of the spirits would take a liking to Adel. It mighte in handy down the road. It could also be one of the ways to avoid the previous timeline.
As long as both Adel and Sophie were safe, then all was fine. Of course, I still had to tie up a certain count and present it to my fluffy fox girl so she could get her revenge. I sat in the carriage leaning against Adel, who was bbing away about this and that. She never seemed to run out of things to talk about.
While I might be missing the chance to befriend Gesel and Fred this time around, I can always do that at ater time as well. There were many people I could talk with, but I did not n to get too close to too many people this time. Of course, if the dungeons do appear this time around, then I would be making sure to deal with the goblin dungeon along with Azengrade in one fell swoop. But I do wonder if the one who is protecting him will do so again this time. I can only wait and see. For now, things were only just starting. A new life and a new adventure were truly about to begin.
At night we did not stop. Atollie kept the carriage going while Iid in bed with the two girls next to me. Adel was sound asleep, half lying on top of me, while Sophie was staring daggers at me. "Yes, Miss Sophie, what is it?"
"Kiss!" Sophie replied while pouting. I turned my head and leaned down, and kissed her lips. "Go to sleep and get some rest. Tomorrow will be another long day in the carriage."
"Alright¡." Sophie was reluctant, but I guess she was tired because not even five minutester, she was sound asleep.
Chapter 448 The Town Of Belifest
Chapter 448 The Town Of Belifest
--AN) It''s back! About 5 chapters a week!--
When I woke up, I found myself covered in Sophie and Adel. Both girls were half lying on top of me with their faces nuzzled into my necks. It was just that. "Sophie, don''t suck on my neck when I am sleeping¡."
"Tch¡." Sophie clicked her tongue at me. I knew that both Sophie and I had adult minds, but Adel was still young.
"Don''t click your tongue either." I teased as I tickled her with my free hand. She smiled and leaned over to kiss my lips.
"We should be arriving at the first stop." Sophie sat up and stretched her arms. She then got up and went to the bathroom.
When Sophie left, I felt another set of eyes staring at me. I turned to see Adel staring right at me as if trying to see through me. "Good morning, Adel."
"You kissed Sophie¡." Adel pursed her lips.
"I did. Do you want a kiss, too?" I asked while reaching over and petting her head.
Adel blushed and nodded, causing me to raise an eyebrow. I, of course, could not allow Adel to feel left out. I leaned over and gave her a kiss on the lips, too. When my face got close, her eyes clenched tight. It was nothing more than a light peck like Sophie gave me, but it brought a bit smile to Adel''s face.
"Hehe! Faith finally kissed me!" Adel seemed very happy.
I couldn''t help but smile seeing Adel so happy. I loved this girl with all my being. I have repeated the process of trying to save her over and over. Love was something that, when it hit, your entire self would change. Luckily for me, it was this love that has allowed me to understand many things.
There was hope for all. People cane together and work as one to live peaceful lives. While this was true, there always needed to be a catastrophe to bring the different races together. This is what I gained from my experiences in my previous life.
I will not say I am some kind of guardian angel. I will not say I am a hero. I know in myst life, I was seen as such, but I did not mean to be anything of the sort. I had only wanted to help the kingdom that had shown me true kindness even though I was a demi human.
While I would still help this kingdom in the future, it will be on a much smaller scale. I will give the kind the things he will need to bring the kingdom to a brighter future, but I will not take part this time. The king was a smart man. He could do everything I did on his own.
"This town is the town of Belifest?" I asked as we exited the carriage. I never stopped off in this town, but I do remember it on the map.
"Yep. We will spend the day here to have a little fun before heading to the spirit domain." Adel said as she pulled Sophie and me along.
The town was much bigger than Cyrilia Vige, which did not surprise me, but what I did find interesting about this ce was the culture in this town was quite different from others. Artists littered the streets of different kinds, from acting troupes and musicians to just in old painters.
Everyone was in a happy mood, and the city was very colorful. If one had a bad mood whening here, they would quickly perk up and feel much better. This was just how much of a good, fun-filled vibe I got from this ce.
"It''s very lively." Sophie looked around with excitement shing through her eyes.
"It is. Let''s take a look around." I gripped both girls'' hands and began walking down the street, taking the lead.
We walked over to one person who was doing paintings of people. I wanted to get a painting of all three of us together. "Sir, can you paint all three of us?"
"Sure! Sure!" The man seemed to be in histe sixties and looked very energetic. He quickly had us sit down before he went right to work.
It was tough sitting still for so long, but with both Sophie and Adel leaning against me, resting their heads on my shoulder, and my head leaning against Adel, I could hear the people behind us talking about how cute we looked. Little did they know that both of these girls were my wives! I couldn''t wait until I got to shout it out loud. Although the king already knew I would be marrying Adel.
It took almost an hour for the artist to finish. Which actually surprised me since I figured it would take much longer. But I must say, when he turned the painting around, and I saw the image of the three of us together. I began to tear up. Adel and Sophie looked so cute I almost squealed. But I also couldn''t help but think back to my past and the Adel who was left sleeping there.
"Faith?" Sophie must have noticed the change in my mood because she called out to me and squeezed my hand.
"It''s nothing. I just think that this picture will be something the three of us will treasure for a lifetime." I paid the man, took the portrait, and stuffed it into my inventory. I nned to hang this up over the bed in my bedroom at the new house. "Let''s go over there. They seem to be putting on a y."
The three of us, hand in hand, ran over to the next location. An acting troupe was putting on a y. It seemed to be a story about a man who was hurt during a major war and a princess who fell in love with him. A kind of Romeo and Juliet style story about two lovers from different sses. Adel cried while Sophie and I watched on with smiles on our faces, mainly because the acting troupe was a troupe that Sophie and I knew very well.
Chapter 449 Strange Happening Part 1
Chapter 449 Strange Happening Part 1
"Why are you two grinning at each other?" Adel seemed to have spotted the two of us looking at each other, and from the look on her face, I guess she could sense that there was a deep meaning behind it. This might be making her feel left out.
"We are just looking." I pursed my lips and answered while pulling Adel close. This seemed to make her happy because she nuzzled her head into my shoulder while hugging my arm. Unlike before, Adel seemed to understand her feelings more. She even wanted a kiss this morning, which she would never have asked for in the previous timeline. It took her years to even understand her own feelings.
But I guess this also had something to do with the fact that I was more forward with my own feelings toward her. Seeing her smiling so happily every day made me smile along with her. I had both girls at my side, which made me very happy. Grace was also waiting for us in the capital. While this time, things were much different. I nned to have a more rxed life and truly explore this world. I would be dragging Atolie, Grace, Sophie, and Adel along with me as I traveled the world.
To be honest, I was really looking forward to it. But I still had to spend a few years in the capital, sadly. Until we reached the age of marriage, I had to look over my wives and protect them at all costs.
We spent the day having fun seeing the cities and watching the shows. But sadly, all good things had toe to an end. As night set in, we returned to the carriage and began our journey once again. Atolie, as always, stood guard in the carriage while the three of us retreated to bed.
As we got undressed to take a bath, I felt a set of eyes staring daggers into my body. "Adel, do you like what you see?"
"Mhm!" Adel replied with a smile before asking: "Faith, you have such white skin even though you show so much skin all day. How do you not get tanned?"
"You forget I am a dragon girl, my dear Adel. Not to mention that my level is also very high. There is no way a sun could easily burn me unless I was standing in its mes." It was not easy to exin since I always had white skin in my previous timeline as well. Even at a low level, I never tanned. So there was no real way of exining it, so a small white lie wouldn''t hurt anyone, I guess.
"So unfair. Look!" Adel bounced over to me and pushed her arm in front of me. It was slightly red.
I smiled and kissed it gently. "Even if you were to be fully tanned from head to toe, I would still be with you."
"Hehe." Adel giggled as she hugged me and looked up at me. "Kiss!"
"Yeah, kiss!" Sophie joined in and hugged me as well. I looked at the two girls who were staring up at me and chuckled before leaning down and giving both girls a kiss on the lips.
"Standing here naked is not a good idea. Let''s get in the bath." I did not want them to catch a cold after all.
I wrapped my arms around both girls, lifted them off their feet, and carried them toward the bath. Of course, they both let out surprised gasps, which I found cute as well. The three of us cuddled together in the bath, holding hands as we soaked our bodies. "We should reach the spirit domain the morning after tomorrow. Adel, I do not know if you will be able to get a spirit, but I will see if one is willing to follow you."
"It''s fine. I do not mind, even if one does not follow me. After all, I have both you and Sophie by my side. You both have given me something I have long wished for. Faith, the thing I worry about the most is losing the both of you. So no matter what happens, do not worry." Adel snuggled up next to me, rested her head on my shoulder, and closed her eyes. Hearing Adel brought back memories of our times together in myst timeline. She was always like this. She would follow me through anything. She was someone I probably did not deserve, but I will be damned to allow what happened before to happen again.
I squeezed her hand gently. It was also at this time I felt something soft on my neck. It seemed Sophie decided to use this chance to give a sneak attack. I pinched her palm to tell her to behave herself. I know she what she wanted but I could not give it to her yet. However, I did n to give in once we got to my new home. I mean, I had to fluff my fluff when she was asking for it. I turned and leaned over, and whispered: "Just wait."
"Mmm¡." Sophie pursed her lips. I really wish this girl was not so horny all the time. I was already restraining myself as well. Trying to be a good dragon girl!
The next morning, we stopped at a small pond just off the main road. It was a ce that many travelers stopped at during their journey. I looked at Atolie, who was roasting meat, and said: "Atolie, I can cook¡"
"No!" Sophie quickly spoke up and pulled me back. "Please do not make Adel hate you."
"Is my cooking really that bad!?" I kind of wished I did not answer that question because both Atolie and Sophie nodded their heads without any hesitation! I thought I had at least progressed a bit! I could only dejectedly go sit at the side. I could even hear the two of them sigh. They could at least hide their emotions a tiny bit! It hurts, you know!
My thoughts were not meant tost when the ground beneath our feet began to shake.
Chapter 450 Strange Happening Part 2
Chapter 450 Strange Happening Part 2
"What''s going on!?" Adel cried out and hugged my waist.
"I am not sure¡." I really had no idea what was going on. This never happened before in the previous timeline. I could only look at Atolie for answers.
"This is the first time this has ever happened." Atolie seemed to have read my mind. "But all I know is something powerful is about to appear in this world."
"Compared to me and you, Atolie, how powerful?" I couldn''t help but feel nervous. I had just started anew. I was not looking to reset all over again.
"Even if there were ten of me, there would be no matching this power. But I feel it is still in a dormant state." Atolie replied. From her expression, I could tell she was worried about what had just appeared.
"So we have time? Can you tell me how much time we have and where this thingnded?" I could only hope I would have time to grow. I really did not wish to leave Grace, Adel, and Sophie behind¡
"From what I am sensing. This thing is on the other side of the. And I am not sure about slumber time, but I would say at least ten years. You will have ten years to prepare." I wonder if Atolie realized she was giving some rather specific information here!
"How do you know that? Atolie, if you keep leaving me in the dark, it will be hard for me to prepare!" I hated this. There was so much that was being kept from me. I hardly asked anything, but this time, I had no choice but to force it out of her.
Atolie looked at me, her mouth open slightly before she sighed. "It''s called a doom bringer¡. It is a being that, once itnds on a world, will slumber for ten to twenty years. Ten is the safest bet. It is something that even those above dare not touch due to its strength and its strange aura. Just getting close to it will make you be weak. I can say for sure the ce where thisnded was off the coast of another continent. It is now slumbering deep in the ocean. Those who live within five hundred miles of this thing are already experiencing the effects of its aura. Faith, in order to defeat it, we will have to work even harder than before."
I could tell my expression was not good. But in order to have a life with Adel, Sophie, and Grace that will not end in tragedy, I will need to work much harder than before. As long as the dungeons spawned, I could level up much faster. "Alright. For now, we will continue as is. We can not do anything until the dungeons appear."
"This is for the best." Atolie nodded, agreeing with me.
"Faith, what do you mean?" I could tell that Adel was very confused at this time.
"You will understandter. For now, enjoy the peace while we still have it and always remember¡." I hugged Adel tightly, lowered my head, and kissed her lips. "I will never let youe to harm."
"Mmm¡." Adel became very meek as she blushed and pushed her face into my chest. Sophie seemed left out, so she came over to hug us both and gave me a kiss before holding Adel''s chin and kissing her as well. This seemed to stun Adel, but she slowly closed her eyes and allowed it to happen.
Of course, we all forgot that we were surrounded by guards as well. But at least they were tactful and turned around. The three of us stayed hugging each other for a while before we finally went about our business. This situation also brought about Adel realizing her feelings for both Sophie and me.
We traveled through the day, and at night, we retreated to our bedroom. It was just this night something seemed to be on Adel''s mind. "Faith, Sophie, can I ask what exactly we are? I know we are friends, but friends do not kiss each other like we do, right?"
I thought for a moment before saying: "Think of it like this. I am the husband, and you two are my wives. In the future, we will get married. We will live our lives the way we want to."
After I said this, I was a bit nervous since this was the first time I brought this up with her. "Are you against marrying me?"
"No! I would love to! I was just unsure since we are doing things that lovers would do. But now that things are clear, I feel relieved." Adel smiled brightly as she walked over and hugged me tightly. "So I am Faith''s little wife!"
"That is right, and so is Sophie. The two of you are the people I love most in this world, and that will never change." I leaned down and kissed her lips. "So we will grow stronger together and defeat anything that stands in our way."
After all, for this girl, I have reset my life many, many times just for her. I still find it funny that I thought love was something I would never care about, but I guess it was fate that the three of us met. After bathing and getting into bed, Adel, Sophie, and I kissed for a long time. I guess Adel wanted to celebrate officially bing a couple once again. She kissed Sophie and me for quite a while. Both girls then curled up in my arms while holding hands and using my shoulders as pillows as they fell asleep.
My family was once again officially together. I just had to do everything in my power to make sure there was no reset this time around. I wonder if I should bring Grace into the circle or not. If she wants to, I will openly let her in. Maybe Atolie as well. But that will have to wait untilter. For now, I will keep things going slowly.
I sighed as I closed my eyes. Ten years¡. This was my deadline to be strong enough to face the monster that appeared.
Chapter 451 Nissei Part 1
451 Nissei Part 1
It waste when we finally arrived at the spirit domain. Everyone got off the carriage to take a break. The sky was clear, and many stars could be seen overhead. This took me back to the previous timeline when Adel had stopped here to let me take a look. It was where I meant Bell for the first time, and she became my partner.
"It''s quite peaceful here," I said with a rxed sigh. I walked over to arge squishy patch of grass and sat down. Sophie and Adel sat next to me, and each decided to take one of my thighs as their own as theyid down. I smiled and ran my hand through their hair. I was happy. I truly was. Things moved along much quicker than before with my rtionship with Adel, but I was fine with this.
"Miss Cyrilia, we will go and catch some prey for dinner." One of the knights came over to me and said. The knights that Adel brought with her were all very respectful toward me. I am not sure if this was the king''s doing or Adel''s, but I was happy they did not seem to be wary of me.
"You do not need to do that." Atolie walked over. She already had hot tes of food in her hand. "I took the liberty to make some food just now."
"Atolie, you are as quick as always." She truly was fast in her work. No matter what job it was, she would have it done in an instant. "How''s Grace doing?"
"She is fine. I went to check on her now, and she is enjoying her time with her family. But she keeps asking me to make sure Master is taken care of. She said she would find a way to kill me if there was even a single hair missing from your head. So I would prepare yourself to have your hair counted." Atolie replied without much emotion on her face.
I could only sigh and shake my head. Grace was as over the top as always. "Just ignore her. I am sure if I gave her a kiss, she would faint and forget about everything."
"I am not so sure, but I do know she is very much worried about you," Atolie had a faint smile on her lips as she spoke.
"As long as she is having a good time with her parents, that is all that matters." I handed the two girls who did not seem to want to move their dinner before taking my own dinner from Atolie. No one was left out, even the knights for good from Atolie, whom they all praised to the heavens. I could understand their praise since Atolie''s food was very good.
"We will go up the mountain tomorrow. So tonight, we will all rest. No need to try to climb the mountain in the dark even if the spirits will light the path." With all our extra stops, we missed arriving here by half a day, which was why it was already dark.
We had stopped off in a few towns on the way just to take in the diverse culture this kingdom had. One of them was mainly only cat kin. There were humans and other races, too, but the main poption was cat kin. From what I was told by a local, the town of Cat Winds was originally a cat tribe that kept growing bigger and bigger until they had a small town going. As other people settled down, the town grew and grew until it reached the size of arge town with tens of thousands of people living there.
What got me most about that town was the construction. Everything had cat ears on it. This included the buildings that had cat ears with windows. To be honest, I found it quite cute.
After a good meal, both girls fell asleep on myp. I could only use magic to lift them up and bring them back to the carriage. While the outskirts of the spirit domain were safe, it was still better to be more safe than sorry.
I undressed the two and put them in bed before undressing myself. I slipped under the covers and took my ce in the middle, and not even a few secondster, they rolled over and clung onto me.
It was early the next morning when we woke that we finally set out. After a light breakfast, we began our march up the hill. Bell came out and sat on my head, showing off her dominance. Adel tried her best to speak to the other spirits, but they kept ignoring her, which made me feel slightly bad. We got halfway up the mountain when I saw a blue spirit that had been following us for quite some time poking its head out here and there.
I stopped and turned around and waved my finger at it so that it woulde over. It looked at Bell with a bit of fear before slowly flying over to stand in front of me. "Do you want toe with us?"
The blue spirit nodded its head. I smiled and pointed at Adel, "Can you sign a contract with her?"
This time, my question was not answered right away. It looked at Adel with a bit of hesitation. I smiled and pulled Adel to the front of me, and hugged her from behind. "Adel is my wife, and I need someone who can protect her. Can you do that?"
I could see Adel''s cheeks turning bright red. But I also saw the hopeful look in her eyes. The blue spirit still seemed to hesitate for a second, but finally, it nodded its head and flew over to Adel. It raised its little hand and tapped Adel''s head, creating a blue water droplet between her brow.
"Contract is done." I smiled and poked the little blue spirit. This seemed to anger Bell because she began pulling on my hair.
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Chapter 452 Nissei Part 2
Chapter 452 Nissei Part 2
"Adel, you just need to name her name." I put my hand on top of Adel''s as she excitedly looked at the blue spirit in front of her.
"Nissei." Adel reached her hand out and the blue spiritnded in the palm of her hand. It looked up at her and smiled before hugging her finger. Adel looked so happy I felt slightly jealous, but since it was her spirit, then this was normal.
"Since we are here, we should go see the spirit king." I felt it was not right toe here and take one of his kin away without at least talking to him first. I did ask S0phie if she wanted one but she only shook her head. She did find spirits interesting, but she did not seem to want one following her around.
When we reached the top of the mountain, the spirit king sat there staring at me. His gaze fell on Nissei. He did not say a word. It just seemed his aged gaze was very profound. It was only after almost a minute that he finally spoke. "I see a little one has formed a contract. I guess this is also destiny. Little dragon, please watch over this world. I am sure you already know that something sinister has already appeared. Our time is limited."
"I know. And I will do everything I can to make sure that I destroy this threat. My life, yours, and the life of my loved ones are all at stake now. As such, I will not sit by and allow my peaceful life to be disturbed. I will be sure to grow in power. I will be sure to gain enough strength to face this threat head on." I could only hope I had the time.
"If you are really willing, then you may be able to go to that ce. Come back here in two years. At that time, I will send you and yourpanions to a ce. A ce not even your attendant can go. I will exin more the next time you stand before me. For now¡. Go¡." The spirit king looked down at us, and before I realized what was going on, we were standing at the entrance to the mountain.
"Faith? What did he mean to that ce?"Adel asked. But I had no answer.
"I am not sure. Wherever it is, we will go together. We will grow stronger together." I smiled and rubbed her head. This seemed to appease her, so I did it some more.
"It seems we will not be able to live a quiet life anymore¡." Sophie sighed as she hugged my arm. "I had hoped this time we could live peacefully¡."
"As it is, besides Adel, we can not die anyways. But she will soon be on par with us once I bring her into the dungeons. We can only get ready for what is toe." This was the path I had to tread. I could not let this world get destroyed.
"I will follow you no matter where we end up. Even if we end up dying and going to hell." Sophie''s eyes were firm. This was a girl who forced transported herself back in time after all just to be with me.
"Meto!" Adel''s cute little cheeks were puffed out. I guess she felt left out.
"Yes, we will all walk through the fiery pits of hell together," I announced proudly. This brought smiles to the two girls'' faces but strange looks from the knights who were guarding us.
"Please do not go to hell. It is not a nice ce." Atolie suddenly said. She had a look of concern on her face.
"It is just a saying. I would not want to go to hell no matter what." While I do say this, and it is my true thoughts, the fact that I have already killed millions of people does not help my case. I am probably going to be reincarnated as some kind of bug in my next life if I truly die.
We all retired to the carriage for the night. Sophie and Adel were ying a card game, so I went to sit with Atolie. "Atolie, what do you think our chances of winning are?"
"I can not be sure. With all the time I have spent with you, I do know that you have ovee many strong opponents. But this one is different. I have no idea where the spirit from before will be sending you, but if I am not wrong, it already understands the situation. And normally, such beings are not one to joke around. So If we are really able to gain the strength we need in time, we might have a chance." Atolie did not seem too optimistic, but I could tell she was relying on this one chance.
"We will just have to make the best of it." This was all we could do.
"Faith! Come take a bath with us!" Adel called out to me. I smiled and thought for a moment before taking Atolie''s hand. "Come, you too."
Atolie blushed and stood up. She let me pull her with me as we entered the bedroom area. As soon as Adel saw Atolie she got very happy. "Atolie! It''s about time you joined us!"
Sophie came over to me and began helping me undress as she asked: "Are you nning to woo Atolie as well?"
"I am not sure. I did have such a thought, but it would depend if she was willing. Although I do n to bring Grace into the circle. Are you okay with that?" I asked, looking into her dark eyes.
"As long as I am with you, I do not mind what you do. My love for you will never change. You gave up so much for me in our past life. And I am sure you went through a lot in the lives before that. No matter the timeline, I know you will always love those you are close to and protect them with your life. So please, do as you, please. I will always support you."
Chapter 453 Trouble At The Gates
Chapter 453 Trouble At The Gates
Here and now, I am the only one who would be wondering if the future even had a future. But at the same time, my only worry was the future of the people I cared about. I can only hope that once I start my travels after reaching the capital that, I will be able to live a the life I have always wanted.
"So it is decided? We will skip heading to the academy?" I asked the two girls in front of me.
"I will follow you wherever you want to go, Faith," Adel replied. "Although my father might throw a fit."
"The old man always throws a fit, do not worry about him." I snorted. The old guy was crafty. He even tricked me into being queen! I will not fall for such underhanded tricks again! "Alright, we are two days away from the capital. I want to grab Grace, and then we will stop at the castle to tell the old man our ns. If he says no I will nicely ask him again until he says yes."
With our ns set, we continued our travels. And in two days, the gate leading into the capital could easily be seen. The only problem was¡. "Why is the line not moving?"
"I am not sure what is going on, but there seems to be an issue at the gate. Many guards are encircling someone." Atolie answered as she poked her head through the curtain of the carriage.
"I will go take a look. Atolie, protect these two." I left these words and jumped out and flew into the air.
From what I could see, there was a young girl in torn clothes on the ground kneeling in front of the guards. "Please save my mother! The throw you out!" One of the guards yelled.
bandits took her!"
"Look, we already said we can not do anything. We have no idea where they even went. Kid, just get up now, or we will need to throw you out!" One of the guards yelled.
I couldn''t help but frown. I mean, what were the guards doing? Were they not nning to make a report? I flew over andnded in the middle of the circle in front of the young girl. "Can I ask what is going on?" As I asked this, I made sure to put a bit of pressure on each of the guards.
"You! Who are you!?" The guard captain''s expression was not good. I mean, it shouldn''t be. I was altering the gravity on him, making him half kneel.
"I am Faith Cyrilia. I am sure your king has mentioned me?" I asked while tilting my head to the side. Seeing the expression on the guard captain''s face, I could take that as a yes. "Now tell me what is going on?"
"Can you first release the pressure?" The guard captain asked. I thought for a moment before nodding and releasing the guards. I could hear sighs of relief as their gravity returned to normal. Finally free of my pressure, The guard captain finally gave me a proper greeting. "My name is Alex, captain of the gate guards. This young girl''s mother was taken by a bunch of bandits. But she does not know where they went."
"How could I!? My mother pushed me away and told me to run to get help. I only witnessed them stripping and dragging her away! I was also almost¡." The young girl was around fifteen. That was the age of an adult in this world, so she was pretty much fair game. But sometimes, those bandits did not even care about age. If they were too young, they would take them in and groom them to be wives. It was a sick practice.
But from the sounds of it, even if her mother was alive, she would want to be dead by now. I sighed and said: "First things first, you need to give this girl something to cover herself with. Then, second, you need to make an official report instead of a bunch of men staring at a young girl who was desperate to save her mother.
"By wanting to kick her away, you are not only going against thews you have sworn to uphold but are alsomitting a crime of negligence. Just because people might bemoners does not mean you can ignore their plight. If this was some noble girl, you would have quickly acted. Do not think I do not know what is going on in your minds. Or do I need to ask the king himself why his guards are not willing to protect the citizens of this kingdom?" Each of my words seemed to strike a chord with these guards. I know they were not official knights, but they were still sworn to uphold thew and protect the citizens.
"Look, we can not just take every case with bandits. It is impossible to find the bandits now anyway. We can only have the girl go to an orphanage or find her family members." The guard captain did not seem to want to deal with this situation at all.
"I SEE!" A voice suddenly thundered through the sky. Everyone turned to look at the young girl who was standing there holding the him of her skirt up and walking over with puffed out cheeks.
"P-P-P-P-Pri-Princess!" The guard stuttered as he stared at Adel. I could see the beads of sweat forming on his forehead as he quickly knelt down.
"So you know I am a princess. Then, when Faith gave you her name, why did you not kneel or listen to her orders!?" Adel seemed very mad. I guess she did not like people looking down on me. "What was the order my father passed down concerning Faith Cyrilia!?"
"It¡" The guard captain''s whole back was now covered in sweat. "We are to treat her as if we were looking at the king himself¡."
That bastard, old man! Was he trying to make me queen again!? When did such an order get passed down? I only told him to tell the guards and knights who I was so I would not get stopped when flying around! Never good everes with talking with that old man!
Chapter 454 A Surprise Part 1
Chapter 454 A Surprise Part 1
"Since that is the case, then what are you supposed to do now?" Adel was really a princess. She did not show any fear when facing all these guards.
"Do not worry, Princess, we will send out a team to track down the bandits, but¡. We do not know if we will be able to bring her mother back in one piece¡." The guard captain was right about this. With how much time it took the girl to even get here. If the bandits had already taken her mother, then she was either already dead or turned into a toy who wished she was dead.
"It''s fine as long as you can bring some news." I did not want to give these guys too much of a hard time. I just wanted them to do their jobs.
"We will do our best." The guard captain suddenly knelt down and bowed his head to me. I really had the urge to fly to the castle and kick that bastard sitting on the throne.
"Please do not do this. I do not like it when people bow." I really hated it!
"Hehe¡" Adel was giggling away at me.
I sighed and looked at the young girl. I took out a few gold coins and put them in her hand before looking at one of the guards at the side.? "You, take her to get some new clothes and set her up in an inn with decent security. And inform her of any news once there is any. The money I gave her should be good for at least three months."
"Miss Cyrilia, do not worry I will fulfill my mission!" The guard saluted me before quickly helping the young girl up off the ground.
I watched as the stunned young girl walked off clutching the gold in her hand. I hoped she could at least get some kind of news about her mother soon. I turned to the guard captain after the girl disappeared and asked: "If you could, please help that girl find a job somece so she can make a living. I highly doubt her mother will be alive or at least in the right state of mind."
"I already know a ce. I will let the girl rest for a few days before bringing her over." The guard captain should really act like this all the time instead of being asked to do so. If he did, he would quickly rise through the ranks. I could say something but he would need to realize things for himself. Maybe one day he will learn to be a better person.
"Alright, make sure to make a full report to the king. I will ask him about itter." By forcing the guard captain to make a report to the king, not only was I gibing the old man some work but I was also making sure this guard captain did not ck on the job.
"We will go back into line. Please continue with your work." With that, I took Adel''s hand and pulled her along as I flew into the air and returned to our carriage.
When we got back in and sat down I saw Adel''s cheeks purffed out which made me poke them. "What is wrong with my Little Princess?"
"I just feel sorry for that girl. She went through such a horrible experience but there is nothing more than what you did I myself could do for her."
"This is just how this world is. While you could try to snuff out all the bad, but you will end up dying of old age before you can achieve anything. Even if you get rid of one bad person another will appear. It doesn''t matter the race, it would always be the same." This was just the true nature of living beings. Even monsters had the good and the bad. Some were more violent than others and would kill their own kind. It was just nature itself. The art of natural selection.
"I see¡. I guess life really gives you a lot of roadblocks that you have to ovee." I could tell Adel was not happy at all but there was nothing that could be done. I patted her head and let her snuggle up next to me while I looked out the window. I have no idea when it happened but Sophie was already using myp as a pillow.
After about an hour, we finally made it through the gates. The guards did not make us pay a few. After all, the princess was in the carriage. If they asked her to pay a fee, it was basically saying, ''Hey, pay us so we can give it back to youter''.
"We are here."Atolie''s voice entered the cabin. I stuck my head out to see a familiar set of gates.
It was the airship dock that would take us up to the floating ind. I couldn''t wait to see Grace. I haven''t seen her since I started my journey here. Only Atolie would go check on her every few days at night. "Let''s head out, shall we?"
"Faith, can you store the carriage so we can use it when wend?" Adel asked. I nodded and quickly stashed it away after everyone got off.
As we walked towards the VIP gate, many eyes were on us. It was a busy day today. I am not sure why, but there people going up to the floating ind was much more than I had ever seen before. "Adel, what is going on?"
"Hehe!" All I got was a giggle, which meant she was up to something.
"What did you do this time?" I asked, giving her a look that said I know you did something.
"Noooothing!" I guess Adel was not nning on telling me. I could tickle her until she gave in but I did not want to ruin her fun. Adel would never do anything to harm me after all.
Chapter 455 A Surprise Part 2
Chapter 455 A Surprise Part 2
We got onto the flying ship and headed to the floating ind. The boat, this time quite packed with many people. We ended up spending most of our time on the VIP deck since there was no way to walk around the ship with so many on board. Luckily, the flight was short, and we arrived very quickly.
"Quick! Come!" Adel grabbed both my and Sophie''s hands and pulled us along toward the VIP exit. When we arrived, we were met with the one person I wanted to p the most.
Gritting my teeth, I said: "Your Majesty¡." I really did not like bowing to this bastard who always had tricks.
"Hmmm? It''s good to know that you know proper etiquette." The king gave me a mocking smile, which made me want to kick his shin to the new continent. Of course, I could not be outdone.
"It seems Your Majesty is very forgetful. I think I have always had good etiquette. I think the signs of memory loss are pretty bad. I should call the best doctor in the capital toe and check on Your Majesty''s health." I smiled back, but my eyes were not smiling, and neither were his.
"It seems while you were in the care of my daughter, you have taught her many things that should not have been taught. I only happened to hear about an engagement ceremony this morning. But for some reason, the rest of the world knew about it." The king looked at me and then at Adel, who had her hands behind her back and was looking up at the sky as if she had done nothing wrong.
"Adel¡. Exin." I said tly. I have never heard of any engagement ceremony!
"Well¡." Adel finally looked at the two of us and said: "Since we are in love, I felt that the whole world should know so I sent out invitations to everyone I knew and had them invite other nobles and businessmen so that we could hold a public engagement. Oh! Right! I had someone use a griffin and fly your parents and brother here as well."
I facepalmed. This girl! When did she n all of this!? I turned and looked at Atolie, who was now doing the same thing Adel was doing before! She was keeping secrets from me! I sighed and then looked at the king and said: "This is your daughter."
The king''s face did not look good. I am sure he can tell from my reaction that I had no idea what was going on. "Adel¡." The King looked conflicted. But what could he do? This own daughter set everything up. He had no choice but to go through with it. With a long, loud sigh, he finally said: "What''s done is done. It is just an engagement¡. All parties should get ready! Faith, I want to speak to you alone."
"Alright." I nodded and said a few words to Adel and Sophie, and took out the carriage before following after the old man.
I got into his carriage, that was much bigger than Adel''s. I sat down and then looked at the King. "You want to know about the quake just now, right?"
"Yes, do you have any clues as to what caused it?" The king asked.
"It''s a being called the Doom Bringer. It is a very powerful monster that sucks the life from worlds. Its main thing is that it can weaken all powers around it. Right now, I am far from being able to beat it. I will need to grow in strength in order to fight it. We have ten years. But¡.. I spoke with the spirit king, and he will send me and those who will be fighting alongside me to another ce to train. Adel will also be going." I exin. I did not n to hide it. There was no reason to.
"I see¡. Is there anything I can do to help?" The king asked. He looked very troubled.
"Just take care of the kingdom. I will handle the rest. If I am to die¡.. Send everyone from the kingdom to a magic realm as soon as possible. Better yet, prepare to move them to a magic realm in ten years, just in case. It will be a temporary measure in case the is annihted in the process. The battle will happen on the continent on the other side of the world, but you never know what might happen during the battle." I hated to say it but I would rather destroy the world myself than let some monster do it. "Please share this information with other kingdoms. While the kings and queens, emperors, and empresses might be bad, the citizens who are under their rule are innocent. The more lives we can save, the better."
"I understand. If I have to I will make arrangements to allow other kingdoms to evacuate with ours. I will save as many people as I can. Because, as you said, the people are innocent. It is those who govern that make the people under them look like the enemy." The king was in full support of my idea. I was d about this.
"I am d you understand. Also¡. Do not keep this from the people. There will be chaos otherwise. But also give them hope. Tell them there is a special unit trying to figure out a way to get rid of this uninvited visitor. One that will risk their lives to try to stop it." I knew one thing and that was that leaving the masses in the dark was not good. Things needed to be made open to all. This would cause less hysteria when the time came.
"I will be making things clear by the end of the year. I also do not want to cause panic." I knew the king would need time to n out how he was going to say it to the masses. After all, this was not good news. No one wants to know that the world is going to end.
Chapter 456 Getting Engaged Again Part 1
Chapter 456 Getting Engaged Again Part 1
When I walked out of the VIP room, Grace was standing there with Atolie. "Master¡."
"It''s been a while, Grace." I smiled, walked over, and gave her a hug. Grace and I were connected. If I died, she died. That was why she was still the grace from the previous timeline. When I traveled back in time, she did as well.
Grace pushed her face into my neck and hugged me back. I could feel her choking up a little, which made me smile warmly. "We will make it through this time. We will figure out it no matter what."
"Mm¡" Grace nodded. I rubbed her back gently before finally letting her go. It was only then that I noticed something in Atolie''s hands.
"This is?" I looked at the clothes curiously.
"Adel had them prepared for you for today''s event," Atolie replied.
I figured as much, but well, I had to hand it to the girl. She had done all of this behind my back without me knowing. "So, Sophie and I will also be getting engaged, so where are your''s and Grace''s dresses? You both want to get engaged as well, right?"
Atolie blushed, as did Grace, and lowered their heads. I do wonder if they really thought I had not noticed in the past two lifetimes. Atolie was the first to finally speak. "We are only here to serve¡."
"Nope! You are both here as people I love and care for. I know Grace''s feelings, but Atolie, for you to have gone back in time with me so many times and even make it so I would summon you all the time, you can''t tell me you do not have feelings for me beyond a master-servant type rtionship. Atolie, you have long be family to me. If you wish to go beyond what we have now, I am more than willing to. I also will not force you."
"I¡" Atolie expression seemed a little scared and a little happy. I have no idea what we had been in the past, but from what I can tell, we must have had a rtionship in one of our timelines. "If you are willing to ept me again¡."
She says again¡. That proves it. "I am more than willing," I replied with a smile. I took the dress in her hands and then pulled her along with me as we walked to where I was supposed to get changed.
When I walked through the door, Sophie and Adel were already there waiting, all dressed up. "You both look beautiful."
"Hehe!" Adel smiled brightly as she looked past me to Grace and Atolie. "So?"
"If you do not mind, can we add two more for the engagement?" I asked while rubbing my nose. I felt kind of bad since I did not know if Adel had nned for all of this.
"Of course!" Adel smiled and quickly pped her hands. Before Grace and Atolie could react, a few maids pulled them away to get changed. A few more came over to me and began stripping me of my clothes. I swear, I will never get used to this.
We were all dressed in white gowns. Atolie and Grace looked very beautiful. Adel held my hand as we walked up to the main stage that had been built in the middle of the main square. I could see the confusion on the faces of everyone there to watch the show. Adel stepped forward and smiled at the people below. "Today is the day Faith Cyrilia will be getting engaged to her future wives. As you all know, I am Princess Adel. You might be wondering why so many girls are getting engaged to each other. Well¡ It is because we fell in love with the same person. Faith is strong and kind. She is someone who takes care of those around her. She will defend those she loves with her life. She is this kind of person.
"We may be young. We may not seem like we know what we are doing and that this might just be a spur of the moment thing, but our love is something that has been blooming since we were very young. And most of all, my father has long okayed my engagement to Faith. For you nobles who find the fact that I am being betrothed to another girl a sin, I can only tell you, keep your ideas about me to yourself, or you might end up losing your family line." Adel''s words really made a lot of people''s faces turn sour. I watched as the damned king at the side smiled proudly. I could tell he was not happy either, but I think the fact that those bastards from the noble families couldn''ty their hands on his daughter made this event okay with him.
I walked over, held Adel''s hand, and faced the crowd. The aura I had when I had be an empress naturally burst out of me as I began to speak. "Today, with the people I have had by my side for so many years, each one of them will now be tied to me for all our lives. Whether we live for an eternity or whether we all die tomorrow, no matter the timeline we live in, I will always only want these girls by my side. Adel, Sophie, Grace, and Atolie, each of these girls I hold dear in my heart. I will protect them at the cost of my own life. No matter how many timelines I must create to do this. I will do it. If someone dares to try to harm them, I will destroy that person. I do not care if you are an individual, a family, or a country. I have the power to make you regret forever trying to harm my loved ones."
A threat. I was giving those who might still have schemes up their sleeves a head-on threat. They dare to covet what is mine; I will make them wish for death.
Chapter 457 Getting Engaged Again Part 2
Chapter 457 Getting Engaged Again Part 2
"Ahenm¡." The king walked up behind me and knocked me on the head, causing me to turn and re at him. But he ignored mepletely. "Now then. As you can see, my soon to be daughter inw has a bit of an overprotective syndrome when ites to her loved ones, which allows me to feel reassured that my daughter will be in good hands.
"As you all know, it might look strange for so many girls to be up on this stage, but this is how it is. These three girls and my daughter will all be marrying Fatih Cyrilia. And because of this, from this day forth, Faith Cyrilia will be known as Princess Cyrilia, and he father, who is in charge of Cyrilia vige, will be known as Duke Cyrilia." The king''s words were still burning in my ear, making me want to kick him!
"Oi! Old man! We never discussed this!" I yelled out. I couldn''t hold my anger in.
"Princess Cyrilia, we are in public. Please speak respectfully." The king replied to me through gritted teeth.
"If you want respect, then stop doing sneaky things! I never wanted a royal title! Neither did my father! If you give him one, my father will rage! Plus, don''t you have a fude with him!?" I kindly reminded him that my mother was stolen from him by my father.
Sure enough, the king''s expression turned sour. He red at me and snorted. "Hah! This is what I want! The more he is pissed off, the better!"
"What are you, a little kid!?" I yelled back.
We hadpletely forgotten that we were in public. As we argued back and forth, I could feel the eyes of the citizens staring at us, causing me to finally look over to look at their shocked expressions. "Ahem¡." I cleared my throat. "Anyway¡!"
The king was about to continue when I elbowed him in the side, causing him to re at me. Adel and Sophie were giggling away, while Atolie and Grace were as quiet as always. Adel just found it funny, but Sophie was used to such scenes. In fact, it brought back a bit of nostalgia. The king and I would always argue like this in the previous timeline. Some things just never change.
Adel finally stepped forward after finishing her giggling fit and said: "As you can see, we are quite close in all aspects. I love Faith. I love Sophie, Atolie, and Grace as well. We already have a very close bond with one another. We are already a family. So I hope everyone of this kingdom can give us your blessing and watch over us as we grow together as a family. Our wedding will be held in two years'' time. We will hold it in the lower city and will allow everyone toe to attend. I do not care if you are poor or rich. All are wee.
"Because I believe in this world all of us are equal, even if some of us are having harder times than others. And to celebrate this day, my father will be helping the poormunities of the lower city to establish new housing and work."
So this was why Adel asked me so many questions about what she could do for the people. I had only suggested the things I did in the past timelines since it worked well. Now, the king was the one who would be implementing it! I hope it will go smoothly.
"So once more, I hope you will give us your blessing." Adel bowed to the ground, and so did the rest of us. Even the king himself bowed to the people, which startled many. But this was also what made a good king. He knew when to bow his head to the people and when to keep it raised up. This was what allowed a king to feel less distant to his people.
With that all situated, A maid with a tray that held four boxes on it was brought over. It was time for me to formally propose, but to think Adel even remembered to get rings, and four at that! It was as if she knew Atolie and Grace would be joining.
I sighed and took the first box and looked into Adel''s eyes, which were smiling back and me. "Adel, in this life and all my lives, no matter what happens, I will find you and make you my wife over and over again."
"Mmm!" Adel beamed an even more beautiful smile at me as I stuck the ring on her finger.
Adel stepped back and let Sophie step forward. I reached up and scratched her ears, causing her to close her eyes. "Sophie. You have always been there. And I can not see my life without you in it. So I hope I can make you happy this time around as well."
"Hehe. I know you will!" Sophie smiled and held out her hand. I once again slipped a finger onto her finger. She looked at it and then hugged me tightly. I smiled and hugged her back.
Grace was next, and she looked pretty nervous. I looked at her with a lot of emotion. From what I know, Grace has been by my side in all my lives. Helping me through my darkest times. "Grace, sorry to keep you waiting."
"It''s fine. I am just d you finally realized my feelings." Grace''s normally stoic expression finally bloomed into a smile. It was enough to cause everyone who saw it to be stunned. She truly looked beautiful when she smiled.
After giving Grace her ring, Atolie wasst. She looked down at me as I looked up at her. "Atolie, I do not know what I have done to deserve you. You have always done so much for me. I am unfortunately unable to remember in those times lines when we were together, but I n to make new memories with you that will stick around for all eternity."
Chapter 458 Teasing My Best Friend Part 1
Chapter 458 Teasing My Best Friend Part 1
After everything was said and done, the engagement turned into a public party. Everyone sat around eating, making the whole ordeal seem very peaceful. While I would have preferred to have done this in the lower city, this was fine as well. Many people were here, and with so many royalty it was not easy for them to just let anyone join.
"To think my sister is getting engaged before me and to a girl nheless¡." A drunk young man. Prince Lance, sat next to me whining about his pitiful life.
"Maybe if you didn''t fool around with other girls all the time you wouldn''t have such a problem. Remember you are a prince and the next ruler of this kingdom. You need to straighten yourself out or no girl will want to even look at you." I was not going to go light with my reprimand.
"You!" Prince Lance stared at me with wide eyes. But then he blushed and lowered his head. "Maybe you are right¡"
"Of course she is right. Brother, you need to take a look at your day to day life first. Farther is still waiting for you to finally stop ying around and be a real man. The next ruler. I already have Faith so I do not need some throne. So I will support you with everything I have!" Adel was sitting on the other side of me. Her eyes showed just how determined she was. I knew the two had a strong brother-sister bond. This proved it even more.
"If even my cute little sisters says so then I guess I really need to change¡" Prince Lance put down his mug of ale and then picked up a ss of water. "First I will stop drinking so much."
I smiled and nodded my head. This was the Lance that I knew. "Work hard. Adel and I will be watching from the sidelines. Leave the major things to us."
Prince Lance sighed and nodded his head. "Sister-inw, I hope you can protect my sister on your journey. Please keep her safe and sound."
"Don''t worry. I will protect all of my wives with my life." I have said this so much that I feel it was starting to be a catchphrase.
"Good to hear. I will be going back. Little sister, congrats on your engagement. I hope to see you walking down the aisle in two years'' time just as happy as you are now." Prince Lance smiled and rubbed the top of Adel''s head. Adel pursed her lips and pped his hand away, causing him to chuckle.
After he left, Sophie took his spot with a bit of a dissatisfied look on her face. "Shy did he have to sit next to you!?"
"Is my little fox girlining because she couldn''t snuggle up next to me?" I asked teasingly. Sophie''s ears twitched as she pinched my side, causing me tough. "I take that as a yes."
"So what are we to do next?" Sophie asked. This was something I had yet to decide but thinking about it, it would be good to first take a trip to the elven kingdom. They had the one dungeon that would allow me to level up quickly, as well as those around me. They did, after all, have the dungeon that went by level and was not static.
"The elven kingdom. We need to be ready for when the dungeons appear." I answered. "The dungeon that opened up there will allow me to level everyone extremely fast. But before that, I need to get rid of one dungeon first. So we will just head to the academy for a short period of time. There is someone in that dungeon that I need to get rid of."
"What dungeons?" Adel seemed very confused.
"You will know when the timees. But for now, we will just enjoy our peaceful lives." We spent our time chatting about this and that. Atolie and Grace did not seem to want to get involved and still stood behind me as if they were my maids. I really had to get them out of that kind of habit.
At least at night, we all slept in the same bed. Somehow, I had Adel and Sophie hugging my arms while Atolie and Grace hugged my legs. Even if I wanted to move, I wouldn''t be able to. But I did have to say my first kiss with both Grace and Atolie was not bad. The two girls blushed from ear to ear when I gave them deep kisses.
It is funny, though, I still had the same house as before, and ording to Atolie, I have always lived in this house. Each time I went back in time, I would live in this same house. Just thinking about it kind of amazed me.
But today, I was at the academy by myself. It was not the start of sses yet, but there was a specific reason why I was here. I had already gotten permission from the king to take a single person away from the library here.
I walked through the gates and towards the library. The familiar scenery entered my eyes as I walked the same path I had walked many times before. When I reached the library, I did not enter right away. Instead, I looked through the window to see a young woman silently reading at her desk that was covered in books. "She really did turn into a second me."
I chuckled and walked through the doors. She was so engrossed in her book that she did not even notice me. I snuck around and stood behind her. After giving her a second to see if she noticed me, I drooped my hands over her shoulder and kissed her cheek. "Jen, didn''t you always tell me not to read books so much? And here you are, ignoring me while reading a book. Is this what they call not practicing what they speak?"
Chapter 459 Teasing My Best Friend Part 2
Chapter 459 Teasing My Best Friend Part 2
"Faith, it''s not like tha¡." I watched as Jen''s expression slowly changed. I have done this to her quite a bit in my life on Earth. So I know she would react to this because she would always say the same thing: ''Faith, it is not like that. I was just amused, is all.'' Whether it would be a book I got her into or something else, it was the same answer each time she became engrossed in something.
"My dear Jen, you have turned into me, you know." I grinned as I let her go and pushed a stack of books to the side before sitting on her desk. "Also, if you keep your mouth open like that, a bug will fly in."
"You! You! You! YOU! Faith!" Jen suddenly burst into tears as she jumped on me and hugged me tightly.
"Mhmmm¡. It''s me." I gently rubbed her back. I waited for Jen to slowly calm down before saying: "I have gotten permission for you toe live with me. You will no longer be locked up here."
"Wha!? How!?" Jen cried out. She was told she could only live if she stayed here quietly. Otherwise, due to her powers, she would be executed.
"Because if they did not listen to me, I would destroy the kingdom," I replied with a teasing grin. "Well, besides destroying the kingdom, I am also the fiancee of the princess."
"Wait¡. Hold on! I can not process all of this at once! Stop dropping bombs on my Faith!" Jen cried out. She stagged back and fell into her seat. She looked at me up and down a few times before asking. "First¡. Just how powerful are you!?"
"That is what you are going to ask first!?" I cried out in surprise. "You are not going to ask about me being a lesbian all of a sudden!?"
"Well¡ I kind of figured that would happen when you showed no interest in men." Jen replied tly, which caught me off guard.
It never urred to me that Jen had actually thought I would be a lesbian all this time! I couldn''t help but purse my lips and snort. "What would you have done if I had hit on you? Huh? Miss hot boy fangirl!"
"Hahaha! If you hit on me, then so be it. As your best friend, I would put up with it, but I would never give you what you want." Jen replied with a teasing smile. "Although I think it would never happen since it would have been like to biological sisters doing those things and well¡ not happening."
"Haha! I guess so." I couldn''t help butugh. Then, an idea came to mind. I hopped off the desk and climbed into Jen''sp, staring into her eyes. "What if I said I was willing, now?"
"Pfft!" Jen burst outughing right in my face. This damn girl! "I can''t! You are killing me!"
"Fine!" I snorted and got up. "Anyway, I love my? four wives, so it''s fine."
"Wait what!? Four!?" Jen almost fell out of her seat.
"Yes. Four. Adel, Sophie, Atolie, and Grace." I answered. "Each of them is very special to me."
"To think the bookworm turned into a yboy." Jen shook her head. "So, how does it feel to be in love finally, Miss I will never fall in love with anything but my books!?"
"You know to be honest it was strange at first. I was oblivious to it all, but those girls made me realize what true love was." I exined before sitting back on the desk. "Jen, did you know I have had conversations like this with just the two of us in this library many times?"
"Huh? What do you mean?" Jen asked in confusion.
"I mean we have spoken like this multiple times. Why do you think I knew who you were when you look so much different? Why do you think I came here and made sure I could set you free?" I asked with a small smile.
"Now that I think about it, it is strange. How did you know?" Jen asked in confusion.
"It''s because I have repeated the same series of events more than once. I have kind of done a reset on life multiple times due to losing my loved ones. I have even tried to destroy the world because of it. I do not know all the details. But I know in each timeline, I lost someone dear to me. But this time¡. This time I will not allow such a thing to happen. I will be sure to keep everyone I care about and love safe from any harm. That is why I will grow stronger than I have ever been before." I was not sure if my thoughts were correct or if this would all end up in another reset, but I will be sure to continue forward and walk a path that will allow me to stand proudly next to my loved ones.
"Well¡ While this is quite a bit to take in, after experiencing rebirth, I can say for sure nothing is out of the question." Jen''s way of thinking had always been simple. "So now you are here to whisk me away as well? Just so you know, I will not join your harem!"
"Haha! I know." I smiled and jumped off the desk once again. I walked behind Jen and hugged her neck. "I am just d that no matter how many times I have reset, you are still here."
Jen held my arm and nodded her head. "We have always been tied at the waist. Why make things different in another world? We will always be the same. The nerdy duo who was shunned by all!"
"Hey! I was not shunned! I just did not talk to others!" I replied with a snort. I mean¡ Well¡ Maybe?
"Haha¡ You were cute back on Earth. Sadly, you did not give any guy the time of day since they did not match up to your ideal prince charming. Although I guess it would be princess charming now, huh?" Jen teased. I do not know how it happened but I went from being the one teasing people to being teased!
Chapter 460 Chatting With Jen
Chapter 460 Chatting With Jen
"I do not know about cute or boys liking me, but I do know nothing could match up to what I read in stories. Just so you know, I did have a husband before."? I exined.
"I can guess it. If you really have gone back in time multiple times, I can see you having a few husbands. Must be tough being a slut." Jen replied with a teasing grin.
"Hey!" That hurt! It really did! I am no such thing!
"Haha! I am just joking. You said before that you had your memories erased, right?" Jen asked, to which I nodded my head in answer. "Then you wouldn''t remember the people you fell in love with before, and they would not remember you."
"Yeah." I nodded my head as well. "When I think about such things, I do wonder how I lived each of those lives. I can remember bits and pieces of a few of my lives, but they are all at points where either Sophie or Adel are in trouble. Or moments with Grace."
"That just means your feelings for them are strong. You should embrace that." Jen held my hand and looked me in the eye. "Faith, even back on Earth, you were someone who cared deeply for the people you saw as friends and family. Remember that time I was being bullied by those girls?"
"You mean the time I got beaten up for you?" I could remember that time. It was a painful experience, but I was d I was able to keep Jen safe. Jen had angered a popr girl in school who was known to be a bully to start with. It all happened because a boy the girl liked asked Jen out, whom she quickly rejected, but just by the fact that the boy asked her out, Jen became a target.
I had happened to hear something about Jen being cornered by the girl and quickly ran off to try to help her. I got there right as Jen was about to be punched and took the punch for her before turning around and hugging Jen. The girl was so mad that she kept kicking and hitting me. Only after I was bruised and battered did she finally stomp off in anger since I would not get out of the way.
I think that was the first time I had seen Jen cry so hard. I could only lift my head up and ask if she was okay, which made her cry even harder. Luckily, no one made fun of me when I went to school after taking three days off. The girl ended up getting expelled as well. Her parents tried to fight it but was unable to since someone had actually handed over video evidence. Even the police got involved. This was not on my or my parents, but the school called the cops, and from what I know, she ended up doing a few days in juvenile detention. Luckily, she never caused any more problems after that.
"She ended up not being able to go to school, you know," Jen answered a question I had in my mind. Now that I was thinking about it, I did wonder what happened to her.
"What did she end up doing?" I asked curiously.
"I ran into her once, and we talked. After that day, she did turn her life around. Well, to an extent. She ended up pregnant at seventeen and a single mom after the guy she slept with ran off. She started working on the side while her parents looked after her son. She even apologized to me and cried when she talked about you. She said it was all a real eye opener when she got pregnant, and the world seemed to shun her.
"She became a young mother and worked hard. Having to take care of a life that she had given birth to made her want to change her ways and provide for the child." Jen exined as she let out a long sigh. "Only if she had figured these things out sooner. She still regretted not apologizing to you face to face. She said she could only do it by visiting your grave. She said she made a habit of going once a month. Your mother had mentioned this as well. That someone was always cleaning your gravestone."
"I see¡." It was weird talking about my own death. But I guess this was something one would need to get used to. "I am d she was able to straighten her life out. Being able to do so is a good thing. At least she did not fall into drugs or end up in jail for life."
"That is true. Although if you think about it, that is now basically my life up until now." Jen''s lonely expression almost made me tear up. I hugged her tightly and closed my eyes. "You will no longer be alone. You can live with me in my house for the time being until I need to head off to deal with a few things."
"Deal with a few things?" Jen asked in confusion.
"You heard it and felt it, right?" I know everyone at least felt the earthquake.
"Yeah, so what was that?" Jen looked a little worried. Which I do not me her. This world was full of all possibilities that one would not be able to even dream of being a reality back on Earth.
"It''s called a Doom Bringer. And from what I know, it is very powerful. In ten years'' time, we will have to fight a battle like no other. And I will be at the front." I exined lightly.
"Why you!?" Jen cried out. "Faith, why do you always put yourself in harm''s way? Why must it be you!? You always do this! Just like the time you protected me!"
"Jen¡." I saw her tearing up, and it made me start to feel bad. "It''s because I am the only one powerful enough to deal with it. You will understand what I mean as time goes on."
Chapter 461 Heading To The Undead Capital!
Chapter 461 Heading To The Undead Capital!
It took a while for me to calm down Jen. But to be honest, I also felt warmth in my heart. Jen had always cared about me. Even now, no matter how many times I reset, Jen was still well¡. Jen.
After calming Jen down, I brought Jen back home with me. Of course, this made Adel puff her cheeks out in anger. "There are already four of us! How are you supposed to bring another one in now!?"
"Adel, this is my best friend. Not a lover¡" I said softly while rubbing her head. "She was imprisoned by the academy and your father,"
"Oh¡. Well¡ I guess it''s fine then¡.." Adel pursed her lips and then looked at Jen and gave a princess like curtsy. "I am Adel. Please do not treat me like a princess but as Faith''s fiancee and future wife."
"It is a pleasure to meet you. And do not worry, I do not like girls. I would prefer a cute prince with a buff body who could protect me from the wind and rain." Jen''s delusional dreams wereing out again. Her likes had not even changed since we were young back on Earth! Look, she was even being stared at by the rest with strange expressions!
"Don''t mind her. She is a strange one." I waved off Jen''s sudden day dreaming as her being crazy. Jen used to day dream about hunks all the time.
"Hey!" Jen cried out at me and punched my shoulder, causing me tough.
"You two are really close¡." Adel was starting to slide into her yandere mode.
"Okay, before Adel pulls out a knife and chases Jen around, let''s get her settled in." I chuckled, pulled Adel into a hug, and looked at one of the maids. They nodded and quickly pulled Jen away. As for Adel, she seemed to find it fun to smash her face between my two non existent mounds. I guess that is better than her going yandere.
"Sophie, when does the y start?" I kind of wanted to go to the y since it could be considered a special ce for Sophie and I.
"In a month. We are actually much earlier than before." Sophie replied. Her words would have confused Adel, but Adel was preupied. She loved hugs and head pats, so it was easy to distract her.
"Then we got plenty of time." I pursed my lips and thought for a moment. I mean, there was not much to do at home while we sat and waited for school to open. I had to be around for the wedding, so things were a bit slower than normal. And it will be a while before the dungeons appear. The only thing left would be to go monster hunting, which would not be a bad idea since it would allow me to train Adel up. After thinking for a while, I looked up at Grace and Atolie. "Do either of you know where I can find high level monsters around here?"
"I believe if we go north to the undead kingdom, we can fight wraiths. They are said to be so strong that even the undead king is unable to do anything about them." Hearing Grace''s answer, my eyes went wide with excitement. I did not know why I did not think of that! The undead kingdom was indeed a ce of high level monsters. The king himself was crazy strong, so there would be no way the monsters there would not be the same.
"This will work! Okay, let''s do that. We will rest tonight, then head to the undead kingdom¡.. Ah¡ I should probably go talk to their king first, or else they might not be too happy if we just showed up." I let Adel go, who was a little disgruntled, and went to put on some better, more formal clothes.
Only when I was ready did I leave the house with grace in tow. I had Gracee with me this time around since she had always been excluded before. Her slightly up turned lips showed just how happy she was.
"Grace, when we get there, just be yourself. No need to worry about too much. The undead are actually quite nice." I exined.
"Understood." I am sure she remembered from before, but I still exined it again. You never know since so many years have passed. She might have forgotten.
This time, I did not bypass the barrier. I did not think I should go that far since I wanted to ask a favor from them. I did not wish to cause an international incident. Unlike before, when the kingdom was invaded by the undead, we were at peace, so there was no need for such brute force methods.
"Halt! Why are you two here?" Two skeletal guards asked as Grace and Inded in front of them.
"My name is Faith Cyrilia, and this here is my fiancee Grace Dollen. I am here to visit your capital and speak with your king." I replied honestly. After all, the undead were not bad. They did not bother others, but others looked down on them.
"Faith Cyrilia¡. Are you the new fiancee of Princess Adel?" The skeleton soldier asked.
"That is right. I did not expect word to move so quickly." I was quite surprised that a soldier would know such things.
"Ah. You see, a vige nearby has a few humans who wille and give us some things once and a while since they feel bad that we stand here all day and night. They were pretty nice people for humans, that is." I looked over at the pile of ''offerings'' and realized that the people of that vige were taking these two as gods! I had to bite my tongue in order to notugh out loud.
I forced a smile and said: "It''s good to know that not everyone sees the undead as monsters." While I know it was probably a misunderstanding, it was still good no one came to harass these two.
Chapter 462 A Strange Town
Chapter 462 A Strange Town
"Yes, we are also happy about that. While I do understand where they areing from. We undead, well, some of us are nothing more than rotting flesh. Our world is sickening to those on the outside, which is why we keep to ourselves." One of the soldiers replied. To me, talking to him like this, he was no different from a normal person. After my experiences before, in the previous timeline, I know for a fact that they are just like Sophie and I and just look different from everyone else. Every race has its good and bad.
Some races look the same with no difference at all, while races like the human race have different skin colors based on the area theye from. But none of that matters within their own race. The racial discrimination I see happens outside one''s race. Like some humans discriminate against elves, beastkin, and other so called demi human races.
Even the term demi human was a term to categorize races that were not human. A demeaning term. But at the same time, many races are proud to be these so called demi humans because it makes them seem stronger and more feared by the humans. For me, as long as they are kind and will not harm me and those I care about, they are just people. Not enemies. Not demi humans, humans, or anything else but people.
"That I can not deny. My nose is kind of sensitive. But that will not stop me from seeing your king." I replied with a smile.
"Haha. This we can not fault you for since we are all made differently. You may enter. If anyone gives you a hard time, just tell them that Vogliny said to let you pass. I may just be a guard here, but my family name is well known." Vogliny chuckled lightly as he stepped aside. "Wee to thend of the undead. I hope you enjoy your stay. But I do hope you do not stay forever unless you have died."
Hearing his warm wee, I could only let out augh. He was quite amusing. "I will do my best to only stay when I am dead."
I gave him a smile and my thanks and walked through the only entrance to thend of the undead with Grace. And I will say that the smell was already quite harsh. The gate to the undead still had a small barrier around it, but it did not prevent people from passing through. It only prevented the smell from escaping and the undead from leaving without the proper relic.
"I hope I am not wrong," Grace said softly.
I pulled her close and kissed her cheek. "Even if you are wrong, it''s fine. We will just search elsewhere. I do not believe that in this entire world that there is not a ce where we can level at a decent rate until the dungeons appear. We will find it and get ready for what is toe next."
Grace''s cheeks turned a tinged red as her normal stoic expression softened a bit. I held her hand and intertwined my fingers with hers as we continued to walk. I never got a good chance to see the undead kingdom outside of war. So, I was going to take this time to take a look at things as they should be.
We walked for almost two days beforeing to the first town. It was a small town, but it was bustling with many undead and other races as well. "Hmm, I thought things would be closed off¡?" From what I remembered in the previous timeline, they had yet to start trade with the outside world¡.
The guards at the town gates did not stop us from entering. We walked down the street, where I saw a young human girl standing at a stall selling some goods. I had to ask what was going on since I was so confused. "Excuse me."
"Yes?" The girl turned and looked at me. Her eyes show a bit of surprise.
"I am sorry if this is rude to ask, but when did the undead kingdom start trading with others?" I hope I was not being rude, but my curiosity was really getting to me.
"Ah! No, we don''t. You see, this town, since it is close to the border, it is a mixed town. Like myself, I was once a ve of the Nin empire when I was younger but escaped. I escaped to his kingdom in order to be free. If I ran to any other kingdom, I might have been dragged back. Many of us here are like that.
"This town was built by people like me who wished to be free and live a life where we could be safe. And since this is the undead kingdom, when people who are alive die here, they are reborn as undead. It''s a cycle that continues all the time. My newly adoptive father also died from a disease not long ago, but since he lives here, he was reborn as an undead and is now still protecting me. While he might be nothing but rotting flesh and bones now. He is still the man I look up to the most."? The young girl answered with a big smile on her face. She seemed to really be happy here.
Now that I was looking around, it was the same for everyone here. Some even had metal cors around their necks. They walked around with their own families. It just goes to show that any kingdom, no matter what it is, can be a ce for any race. Just seeing this made me smile from the bottom of my heart.
"I see. Thank you for answering my question. Can I ask what you are selling?" I asked.
"We are selling biorat skewers. They are quite good when you roast them over an open me and put on some put sauce." The girl licked her lips. While it might sound good to her, I was a little unsure about it, but I still bought one just because. And well, I will say it tasted not bad. It tasted like barbeque chicken. Of course, I checked it to make sure I could eat it without issue first.
Chapter 463 Something Strange Part 1
Chapter 463 Something Strange Part 1
"The food here is not bad." I couldn''t help but feel strange eating things like cockroach stir-fry and maggot pasta.? It sounded nasty, but after examining them with my system, I noticed that they were quite nutritious. I am not sure about how they were on Earth, but here, they were pretty good. Just looked ugly.
"Yes, it is unique¡." Grace seemed to have mixed feelings, though.
"We should bring the others here next time. They will freak out." I could see Adel''s face when I handed her a squirming pile of maggot pasta. It would be very interesting, that is for sure, to see how she would react.
"I actually think Miss Adel will find it novel," Grace replied as she took another bite of her food.
"What is this, Miss Adel stuff? Grace, you are now engaged to me along with Adel. This means you do not need to call anyone by their title. You are my wife and also Adel''s wife. We are marrying each other." While I was the main wife. I also wished for the girls to be very close. This was how we could always stay harmonious.
"Sorry. Force of habit." Grace blushed slightly. She was starting to show more emotions finally.
"It''s fine. I am just d we will always be together." I reached out and wiped some sauce from Grace''s cheek before licking it off my fingers. Grace was very cute.
We finished our meal and looked around more. The town was very secure. There were many guard stations, and each one had three guards inside. Whether it be zombies or skeletons, they were all here protecting a town filled with people who came here as refugees.
"It''s already gettingte." I looked up at the darkening skies. "Let''s head to an inn."
"Okay." Grace nodded and slipped her hand into mine. I smiled and walked hand and hand with her as we made our way through the streets to one of the inns in town. This one was rmended to us by a food stall owner.
We had just walked through the door when we heard yelling. "What do you mean it will cost me fifteen silver to stay here!?"
"Hmmm?" I looked over to see a burly human man standing there, staring down the young man behind the counter.
"Sir, We rarely get guests as it is. We mainly only live off our earnings from the bar. As for rooms, they will be expensive no matter where you go in town. In all of the citadel, only this town has the highest prices since we rarely get anyone staying here. The merchants all have homes here. If you do not wish to pay these prices, I can only tell you to go to the next town, which is three days away." The young man was quite calm as he spoke. It seemed he was quite used to these kinds of situations.
"Bullshit! Who the hell will pay such¡." Of course, I did not n to sit around while this manined.
"Can I get a room please?" I asked as I walked over.
"Prices of rooms are fifteen silver." The young man repeated the price.
"No problem." I did not hesitate to take out fifteen silver and hand it to the young man. He turned around, grabbed a key off the wall, and handed it to me.
"Your room is on the second floor all the way to the end. It is the quietest room." The young man said as she smiled and pointed towards the stairs next to him.
"Thanks." I took the key and walked towards the stairs with Grace in tow. But as I stepped on the first step leading upstairs, I turned and looked at the man who seemed to be seething in anger. "Just so you know. What he said was correct. This is an outskirts town. Not many peoplee this way, and it is very rare to get outside visitors. This is why there are only three inns in town. And each is more than any inn in this kingdom."
"You! Shut your trap!" The man seemed blinded by anger as he roared at me. I just ignored him and continued to climb the stairs.
I could still hear the man downstairsining, trying to get a lower price. Why he was so hell bent on trying to lower the price, I do not know. I do know that it seemed strange that this man was even here. The guards had said that Grace and I were the only visitors for a while. There is also only one entrance to this kingdom. "Grace, send a probe downstairs and lock on to that man. I think something is fishy about him."
"Understood." Grace waved her hand, and a small object appeared in front of her. It turned invisible as it flew away. The probe was a special kind of summoning magic that Grace was able to do. It allowed her to connect to the probe and see and hear everything it did. It is basically a broken skill for spying. In any case, it will work out well for this situation.
We entered our room and locked the door. Grace quickly waved her hand, creating a receiver type probe that could connect to the other probe using Grace''s mind. With the two linked, I could see and hear what was going on as well.
"Damn it! That bastard!" I heard the man shout. He was already back out on the streets of the town. He was walking towards the exit.
Grace and I watched as hepletely exited the town and began walking towards a dead forest that had many high rocky areas. It was covered in dead trees and foliage, but it was also a nest for monsters as well. "Why is he going there? There are many other spots he could have gone, but why here? This just does not make sense¡."
I was truly confused. Of all the ces to go to spend the night, why this forest?
Chapter 464 Something Strange Part 2
Chapter 464 Something Strange Part 2
"I think we should follow him," Grace spoke up. She was not wrong. We should follow him and figure out what he was nning.
"So much for a good sleep tonight." I sighed and grabbed Grace''s hand. I then pushed the window open and jumped out. With a p of my wings, we flew off in the direction that the man had gone in.
"That little bastard, making things difficult for no reason." We quickly found him as he stomped through the dead forest, still cursing his head off.
"He seems to be walking a well known path¡." I whispered as we hovered silently overhead.
Grace nodded, and the two of us continued to follow after the man. He walked and walked until he finally came to arge mound of dirt with arge dead tree on top of it. Between the roots, I could just barely make out a cave entrance. The man walked right into the cave entrance, not even checking to see if anyone was following him. I guess no one would since this forest was not the nicest of ces, but I did not understand why no monsters were here.
I lowered us andnded just outside the cave. I looked around and saw that there was a lot of foot traffic here. "Some kind of den?"
I was a little confused as to what kind of ce this was, but I was not going to give up so easily just because the cave was an unknown ce. I a cloaking spell on Grace and I before heading into the cave.
The cave was dark and damp. But after you entered and walked a little way, there were a few light crystals here and there, allowing one to see. The light was dim, but it was enough to at least find your way around.
Looking at the muddy ground, it was quite easy to figure out which way was which. The footprints from the man were still fresh, so even if we had lost him, we could easily still keep track of the direction he went in.
We went through many twists and turns, diving deeper into the cave. The muddy cave floor slowly turned to stone, but by then, I had already picked up the man''s scent, so even if we could not see footprints, I could still follow which way he went.
"It should be here¡. I can smell more than one person here." I frowned slightly since I felt a familiar presence here. "Grace get ready for a fight."
"Okay." Grace nodded and took out a sword. I did the same as we entered arge room. This room was different from the cave room before. It was polished stone and many different pirs rising up towards the ceiling. Not far away was arge throne that had a back that rose up way higher than any throne I have ever seen. And sitting on this throne was a man who had his chin resting on his hand as he looked down at the thirty or so people below him.
These people looked more like statues than people. They did not move at all, nor did they blink. They all kept their heads lowered as the man looked at them. Only the man from before was standing. And even he, when he walked up, knelt down before the man on the throne.
"My lord, I failed to secure a ce. Without properpensation, we can not get anything¡. This world seems to run on a mary system." The man spoke in a calm and clear voice.
"I see¡ So this money is something we need. What if I just take over the kingdom itself?" The man on the throne asked.
"I think this would be the best strategy, but with so many soldiers on their side, it will not be easy. We can start by taking over the small town. I think this would be the best bet. This way, we will have a base we can use." The man replied.
"Good, we will follow your ¡."
*p!* *p!* *p!*
I walked out and began pping my hands. "A worm already wants to spread its wings?" I looked at all the people and sighed. Each one of these people was already taken over. It was no wonder that I felt this man was familiar. Because he was stronger than the others at this time, his parasite was much easier to detect.
"Who are you?" The man on the throne looked at me with vignce.
"Me? I am just your friendly neighborhood dragon girl who just so happens to hate worms with a passion. Did you know? I like to rip them from their host and burn them slowly so that they feel nothing but pain until they die. The euphoric feeling I get when I hear the screams of their little bodies. The smell of their burnt flesh. It sends me to cloud nine." I said with a smile before tapping my foot and standing next to a young woman. I turned my hand into arge dragon''s w and crushed her head, grabbing hold of the parasite.
"What are you doing!? Let go of my kin right now!" The man on the throne yelled out as he stood up.
"Let this worm go? I nned to go fishing. I will let the fish nibble on it until there is nothing left. Don''t you like to eat your hosts? It''s the same thing, just the other way around." The reason I could kill this woman so easily was because the host was already long gone, unlike with the undead. I can not save a human in the same fashion. It was sad, but I could only kill them to get revenge for the host.
"I said, put my kin down. I will not say it again." The man on the throne was walking over, but I could tell he was being cautious. Just to check, I looked at his stats, and well¡. He was much weaker than I had expected.
I smiled at the man before crushing the parasite in my hand, killing it on the spot. "I want to see what you will do."
Chapter 465 Things Are Different
Chapter 465 Things Are Different
"You! You will die!" The man yelled out. At the same time, all the people kneeling before him quickly stood up and turned towards me. I sighed and waved my hand. Bolts of lightning shot forth and fried each one of these people''s brains. I hated the fact that they were once people who had control of their own bodies, but there was nothing I could do to save them. At least I was putting an end to everything.
"So¡ When am I going to die?" I asked, acting confused as I watched the bodies drop down to the ground.
"This¡." The man finally took a step back. I could tell he knew he was no match.
"Now then. Since you understand the situation, let''s have a chat, shall we?" I asked with a bright smile on my face. "If you answer me, I might be willing to let you live."
I watched as the man''s face slowly sank. To make sure he did not scale, I surrounded him in a cage made of lightning. This cation caught him off guard as he stared at me with fear in his eyes. "What are you doing!?"
"This? This is just to keep you from running away. I just want to know how many of you are already on this and where." I asked with a raised eyebrow.
The man''s expression suddenly turned cold. "Heh, you will never get anything out of me!"
"Then die," I said calmly as I shrugged. I waved my hand, and the lighting cage broke apart and shot at the man''s head. He screamed out in pain before turning into char. I looked around and sniffed the air before I smelt something sour.
"It seems there are more." I frowned slightly as I walked over to the throne. I kicked it, destroying itpletely to reveal a staircase leading down. I thought for a moment before turning to Grace and saying: "Grace, you can stay here if you want."
"No, I will follow you." I figured as much, but I also wanted to give her the option to stay put. Grace was loyal and almost like a robot at times. Only when I tease her and give her a kiss does she finally show some emotions. But the dreams that I had of the timelines I have gone through before, Grace seemed more human. I hope that she will slowly be like that.
"Then let''s go." I smiled and started making my way down the staircase. It went down quite far. It took us almost five minutes to reach the bottom. When we arrived, there was arge room with a huge stone bowl in the middle of the room. In this bowl was a green liquid with thousands of parasites. "So this is where they all came from¡."
"I do not understand. Didn''t Azengrade and the others only appear when the dungeons appeared?" Grace asked a good question. Azengrade and the others were supposed toe with the dungeons, but they were here already. This meant¡.
"Grace, we need to take care of this first, then we will be heading to the first dungeon we ever entered before. I hope I am wrong, but I do believe that the dungeons have already appeared." I really do hope that I am wrong. Things seem to be speeding up. Not to mention that a doom bringer had also appeared, which had never appeared before. Many things were starting to change. Whether this is for the good of all or not, I do not know. But I do know one thing. I will be sure to keep my loved ones safe.
After I fried the worms in the hidden room, I opened a portal back to the Gravos Kingdom. The location I chose was right at the location where the goblin dungeon was in the previous timeline. "It''s here¡. But why so early?"
"Faith, I think we should call the others¡." Grace suggested. I looked over to see her face full of worry. It was rare for her to show such an expression.
"You are right. If Azengrade is truly there, then we have to deal with him as soon as possible." Since the dungeon had appeared, we would need to deal with it as soon as possible. I quickly ced a barrier around the entrance to keep people from entering it. But I did not block those from exiting. This was a precaution in case someone else had already gone in. I highly doubt they will be able to live if they did enter, but just in case.
When I arrived home, Sophie and Adel were ying a game of cards while Atolie watched on from the side. "Faith? Why are you back so soon?"
"Why are you two awake sote?" I couldn''t help but smile as I looked at the three.
"It''s not evenst bell!" Adel pursed her lips. She hated it when I treated her like a child, but to me, she still was.
"Okay, Okay. Well, we will be going out now anyway. Besides Atolie, I will give you and Sophie a choice. I will be entering a dungeon. This dungeon might have a very powerful enemy inside of it. If you wish to enter with me, you can, or you can stay here." I was giving both girls a choice. I needed Atolie with me since she was stronger than Azengrade. She was my trump card, just in case.
"I will go," Sophie replied without even thinking about it.
"I will go too. I want to know what dungeons are like." Adel replied, which made me have mixed feelings. If I could, I would protect Adel from everything, but I sadly can''t. She would need to undergo trials and tribtions if she wished to survive in our world.
"Alright, we will go together. I was nning to go tonight, but it is best if we sleep for now." Sadly, I can not rush things. Adel was still too weak to go with out sleep. We also needed to prepare many things as well. Luckily, I can teleport all of us out of the dungeon if need be.
Chapter 466 Face To Face With Azengrade Part 1
Chapter 466 Face To Face With Azengrade Part 1
The next morning, we got up and got our things together. I made sure Adel had multiple protection barriers on her, just in case. When we arrived at the entrance to the dungeon, I did not enter right away but instead turned and looked at everyone. "We will be entering the dungeon. But you all must be very careful. We will be taking the shortcut to the boss room. I do not wish to spend too much time in this dungeon. Of all the dungeons, this one is the one I hate the most. I n to blow the entire dungeon up once we are done. I do not want anyone to evere to this ce, even by ident.
"Azengrade might also be there. If he is, Atolie and I will be the ones to fight him. Sophie, Grace, your job is to protect yourselves and Adel. I will be putting up another barrier around you both at that time, just in case, as well. Any questions?" I asked, looking at the four girls in front of me.
Of course, Adel was the first to raise her hand. "Faith, who is Azen¡ Azen¡ Azenfart!?"
I couldn''t help butugh, seeing how badly Adel got his name wrong. "He is an enemy. My enemy. You do not need to worry about him since I will kill him as soon as I see him. He is a threat to all life on this."
"Oh¡" Adel''s expression did not look too good. But there was nothing I could do about it. I had to be more upfront about what I would be doing.
"Alright, we will enter, let''s go!" I turned and made an opening in the barrier I had set up before and walked through it. The girls followed right behind me. Once they were through, I closed the barrier back up, and we all entered the dungeon.
Theyout of the dungeon waspletely the same. The first room was a safe room, and nothing was out of the ordinary. The only thing I did notice was that I did not see any signs of anyone else entering. This dungeon was a public dungeon. This meant that everyone could enter at any time. Monsters would respawn after a certain amount of time, so it allowed for the flow of traffic to always have something to fight.
"Stay close. Atolie, Grace, I need you two to help Sophie and Adel after I break the wall." It was a long drop, and Sophie and Adel could not fly yet.
"We will make sure they get down safely," Atolie answered with a nod. She was still as serious as ever, but then again, this was a serious situation.
We made our way to the first room, where six goblins were standing in wait. We quickly dispatched them before blocking the door to the room. I went to the wall on the far side and raised my fist. I drew it back and then thrust it forward. With a loud bang, the entire wall shook and cracked open. It did not take long before the boss appeared. Unlike before, where it was going to be a hard fight, I gave it a p and sent it to the floor below.
"Alright, let''s head down." I stepped up on a broken part of the wall and looked down into the abyss below. Taking a deep breath, I jumped down, folding my wings out to slow my descent.
Atolie and Grace were behind me. We slowly flew down to the bottom floor, where we were greeted by quite a few monsters. I dispatched them and then killed the boss, who was hanging around the core of the dungeon. Everything took no more than twenty minutes. Most of my time was spent falling from the floors above.
"Now what¡." I pursed my lips and looked around. I walked over to the core and was about to touch it when a voice came from the side.
"I would not touch that if I was you." The voice was very familiar. I turned to see Azengrade standing there with a slight smile on his lips. He was still looking down on me, which meant he had not checked how strong I was yet.
"What can you do to me if I do?" I askedzily as I reached out and touched the core. Azengrade''s expression slowly changed from a smile to one of a murderous, cold grin.
"I told you not to touch it! If you had just listened to me, I could have let you live!" Azengrade pulled his sword out and went to attack but before he could, he was already dangling in the air. Atolie already had a hold on his neck.
I took this chance to quickly cast a barrier around Adel and the rest before turning my full attention back to Azengrade. "What right does a parasite like you have to tell me what to do? You go around taking over people''s bodies. If they have family, you will even infect them. Azengrade, on this day, you will die."
"Cough! How do you know my name!?" Azengrade struggled to speak, but his eyes showed how surprised he was.
"You can say we have had many run ins now¡. You will die here. Your n to lure people into this dungeon will fail. You will not get to have the fun you wanted. I mean, I already destroyed the base in the undead kingdom. And I will keep finding your kind and destroying them each time. This world will not be consumed by your kind." I answered quite honestly.
"You do not know what you are getting yourself into! If you kill me¡." Azengrade expression changed. I think he realized something was wrong.
"You do know this dungeon is in a space of its own, but whichever god created it, right?" I asked mockingly. "By youing into this dungeon unless the backer who is helping your kind is able to break through the spell cast on this dungeon, you are unable to be rescued."
Chapter 467 Face To Face With Azengrade Part 2
Chapter 467 Face To Face With Azengrade Part 2
I did not know if my words were true or not, I could only hope. But if they were, then Azengrade was now as good as dead, and a big cog in the wheel of things would be wiped out. I could only put up a strong front that my words were true. And the more I spoke, the more Azengrade''s face paled.
I walked over with my sword drawn. My eyes burned with the intent to kill. "Azengrade, you have no idea how many years I have waited for this day. I have waited so very long." As I said this, I raised my sword and stabbed out. With Atolie holding him in ce, I only need to pierce his head.
But sadly, some things were just too good to be true. My sword stopped a hair''s breadth away from his scalp by some kind of ck fog, making me frown. "Who''s there!?"
"Little girl, you should not be so violent." A voice filled the room. I turned and looked into the shadow not too far away. A man in ck clothes slowly stepped out. His eyes were alsopletely ck. Before I could say a word, Atolie had tossed Azengrade to the ground, grabbed me by the waist, and jumped back to where Sophie and the others were currently hiding under a barrier.
"Atolie?"? I looked at her In confusion. I could not really sense this man''s strength, so I could only rely on Atolie to tell me what was wrong.
"He is not human, nor is he a god. He is a thing that everyone fears." Atolie replied.
I was still very confused, but before I could ask questions, the man spoke once more. "That is very hateful. But I guess it is true that even gods fear me. But that is because I am something they knew would form from all the hatred and resentment that spreads throughout this universe. I am the ender of worlds, and once I appear, there is no hope. But do not worry. This is only a fragment of myself. One that I split off before Inded her and fell into a slumber.
"As for this man."? The man stood in front of Azengrade, who seemed unable to move at this time. "His race is very interesting. I would like to study him. So I will be taking him with me."
I gritted my teeth and wanted to say something, but Atolie pulled me behind her. "Take him. Since he is going with you, he will die anyway, so there is no need for us to do anything."
"Very good. I like those who are obedient and ept their fate. After all, your fates are already set. Even if you were to escape into one of these little spaces, I will find you. I never let anyone on a I visit escape." With these words, we watched Azengrade be engulfed in ck fog and, along with the man, disappear.
"Atolie, that was¡." I looked up at her. I had an idea, but I was not sure.
"That was the doom bringer. I did not know it could split a part of itself off and send it down to the below. That thing is something we have to be careful of. But since it has found interest in Azengrade and his race, we can think of them as extinct now." Atolie replied as she let out a sigh of relief. "Just now, if you had made a move, you would have been erased from existence. We need to grow stronger, much stronger. Just that fragment of the doom bringer was enough to wipe out this entire." Atolie''s words were like a ssh of cold water. I was still underestimating just how strong the doom bringer was!
Of course, I should have realized this since the gods themselves will not touch it. This just showed how strong it really was, but in my mind, I was not really thinking this way. I was still thinking I could gain enough strength to deal with it. But now what? How was I going to be able to gain enough strength quickly? Yes, there was the option I was given by the spirit king. But if that fails, then what? How am I supposed to protect those I care about if things go south?
I couldn''t help but worry. My family, my friends, my lovers. All of them are people I? want to keep alive and protect. "Atolie, we are heading to the elven kingdom."
There was no other way. That one dungeon was enough to power level everyone, including myself. With Atolie''s help, we could easily gain levels quickly. But the question was, could we make it in time? Just how many levels would I need to be able to defeat such a powerful foo? I would need to be a god. No¡. I would need to be even stronger than a god. What was stronger than a god? This question puzzled me. Was a god really anything to think about if one doom bringer was enough to make them hide?
"Atolie, what is stronger than a god besides the doom bringer?" I asked out of curiosity.
"I am not sure. But I do know there are more powerful beings. They just do not care about mortal things." In other words, they would not care about a single doom bringer. But since there were beings much stronger than that, that meant I just needed to get to their level.
"Ten years. We have ten years. We can not waste any time." I took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "Adel, I need you to get your father to prepare a few year''s worth of food and clothing.? "We need it for all of us. So make sure there are five portions per person. We will be heading to the elven kingdom first to dive into the dungeon there until are meeting with the spirit king. I can teleport us there, so it will not take long."
Chapter 468 Before Departure
Chapter 468 Before Departure
Inside an office within the castle, I stood there with my hands behind my back, staring down at the man behind the desk in front of me. "She ising with me."
"No, she is not! You are not taking my daughter on some wild excursion!"The king yelled.
"I do not care what you say. Adel needs to grow stronger. There is no other way. If you want to try to stop me, then do it. I am sure you know you can not. I am giving you the respect I should as my father inw by telling you my ns. I know that you, as a parent, are not happy with the fact that I am taking your daughter away from you, but there is nothing I can do. For this kingdom and for our future, those around me need to be the strongest in the entire world. No, they need to be so strong that even the gods will not dare go against them.
"The threat we face with the doom bringer is unlike anything we have ever seen before. Just a small sliver of its being that I met earlier was enough to destroy this world. There is an entire body sitting on the continent on the other side of the world. What do you think will happen in ten years'' time? Is ten years wasted trying to hide her from all the wrongs in the world the right thing to do? Or is her being able to grow strong enough to defend herself the right choice?" I was not trying to be mean. I did not wish to separate Adel from her family either when she was so young, but we all had to go.
"Damn it! Why must you use the end of the world against me!? I know this is for the best. I know, but¡." The king frowned. But he soon sighed in defeat."Bring her back alive. This is all I can ask."
"Don''t worry. This, I promise. In this world or the next, the only ones you do not need to worry about are my wives. If they die, then that means I died before them." Love was a crazy thing. I loved all four girls. I wanted them to live happy lives, even if it meant giving up my life.
"You better keep your promise. Go. I already got the things you requested prepared." The king let out another sigh while waving me off. But I guess the old man had long expected me to win this fight since he already prepared everything.
I was asking for a lot. Five years'' worth of food was a lot, and it was not just for one person. It was five of us. Although Atolie did not need to eat, she still could. I did not wish to see her standing around while we were eating. I would feel bad.
I still had one thing left to do before heading to the eleven capital, where the dungeon was located. I had to make it so my family could go between the capital and my house back in Cyrilia vige with ease.
It was midday when I arrived at the front doorstep of my house. I had the others go visit their families. Only Sophie was with me. Atolie was watching over Adel, and Grace went to her parents'' house.
"Mother!" I yelled out as I opened the door. My brother and father were probably in the fields since I did not see them around.
"Faith? Why are you back so early? You just left not long ago!" My mother came out of the kitchen and walked over to me. She looked me up and down and nodded her head. "You look fine."
"I am going to be leaving for the next ten years. During this time, I will be gone. I want you to have a safe ce to go to in case of emergencies." I said with a smile. I walked over, hugged my mother''s waist, and pushed my face into her chest. The warmth of a mother was something I could never get tired of.
"Stop being so clingy! It''s so hot!" My mother pushed me away, but she was smiling.
"You should know about what has happened, right?" I asked.
"Yes¡. The thing is called a doom bringer, right? That bastard king told your father about it when they had a few drinks." I guess my mother did not like the king.
"I am hoping I can grow strong enough to reach a level that can fight against it. Myself, Sophie Adel, Grace, and Atolie will all be working towards this goal." I exined.
"I see¡." My mother''s mood quickly dropped.
"I will be safe. I promise to return alive no matter what. But you know I am the only one who can do anything about this." I looked at my mother, showing my determination.
"I just hate to think that the weight of the world is being ced on your shoulders. You are my daughter. You are still so young. You should not need to do the things that should be done by adults, but here you are. Going off to be a hero." My mother pouted.
"I am not going off to be some hero. I do not wish to be a hero. I just wish for my loved ones to be safe and live happily. I want my brother to find a girl and make plenty of ground children for you to raise. I am sure you will be plenty busy then. I want you to see me and my wives find a way to give you even more grandbabies. I want our family to have thousands of descendants." I exaggerated, but I was sure I was getting my point across.
"Hah! If you give me a thousand grandbabies, I will put them back where they came from. That is too many! I would be happy with one each from each of your wives."
Chapter 469 Sight Seeing In The Elven Capital Part 1
Chapter 469 Sight Seeing In The Elven Capital Part 1
Myself, Adel, Sophie, Grace, and Atolie all stood in the center of my frontwn outside our estate. "Does everyone have everything they need in their inventory?"
"Everything we could need is all here," Grace replied. "I have dished out everyone''s clothing and food stocks for the next few years. We will need to replenish what we can inside the dungeon. There were a few floors in the elven dungeon that had water on it as well as edible monsters."
"Alright. Then, we will make do with what we have. Everyone is in team, so grab a hand each, and I will teleport us to the location." I was just about to grab Atolie''s hand when she pulled my arm and showed me her neck.
"You need to drink. You have been abstaining." Atolie''s words filled my ears, causing me to purse my lips. I stepped forward and bit into her neck. The refreshing strawberry like taste filled my mouth and soothed my soul. I drank for a while before finally pulling back. "Thank you."
"You need to make sure you drink more often. If you hold out for too long, you will go into a deep blood lust. Your bloodline is not something you can restrain." Atolie reprimanded.
I could only nod. She was right, after all. "I understand. I won''t do it again."
It was not that I was trying to hold back, but with everything that had been happening, I kind of forgot. But now I feel even more energized after drinking. Atolie''s blood was like a strawberry fiesta in my mouth.
With that cleared, we finally teleported to the elven kingdom. I had teleported us right to the dungeon entrance which was located in a noble district within the elven city. We were immediately surrounded. A tall, elven man pointed his spear at me and yelled: "Who are you!?"
"I will answer after you put your weapons down. I do not like it when people point weapons at my loved ones." I said as I raised my head to look at him. "Either put the weapons down, or I will force you to do so."
I released some of my power to show him that I had the means to do as I said, causing the man to frown at me. He lowered his weapon, which in turn, so did the other guards. "They are lowered. Now tell me, who are you?"
"My name is Faith Cyrilia. With me are my fiancees, Adel, Sophie, Grace, and Atolie. And the reason why we are here is¡" I pointed at the dungeon entrance behind the elf. He turned and seemed to have an understanding.
"I can not let you through. No one is allowed to enter until an official investigation is done." The guard replied. "So please turn back."
"Sorry, but I can''t. I can force my way in, and you will not be able to do anything. After all, this dungeon is instanced. Each team that goes inside will end up on different instances ording to their level. Those without a system will end up with weaker enemies and will be able to easily gain a system stone.
"This means your men are in their farming systems stone in order to boost your military prowess, right?" I asked with a bright smile. I could see that the more I spoke, the more the expression on the guard''s face changed.
"You¡.." The guard sighed. "You know a lot about these dungeons?" The Guard asked.
"If you grant us ess so we can go in and level up for two years, I will tell you many things I know. As long as you enter a contract not to hurt my kingdom if you rise in strength quickly." I exined. I had to make sure there were some things preventing anyone from hurting the other.
"I can not make this decision. Can you wait until I speak with my leaders? I can take you to an inn for the time being. Of course, the elven kingdom will pay for it." The guard looked troubled.
I turned back and looked at mypanions. Adel was busy looking around in excitement, so I did not see the harm in taking one day to look around. "I do not see why not. It also seems my littlest wife wants to take a peek around your lovely city."
Hearing mepliment his city, the guard was all smiles and nodded. "That sounds good. I will rmend a few ces for you to check out."
As we walked the guard talked my ear off the entire time. "There is the wood art museum on the second level as well which is a good spot to take your wives. On the third level, there is a nice little restaurant that sells some very good wild herb roasted horned rabbit."
He continued on and on until we reached our destination, Moon Light Inn. The guard walked us in and smiled at the older woman behind the counter. "Elder Siva, these guests will be staying here on the government''s coin."
"Oh? These are not some little girlfriends of yours are they?" Elder Siva asked. Her eyes swept over me and the girls before turning back to the guard. "Rocking the cradle?"
"No! I could never date anyone under eighty!" The guard''s face flushed. Anyone under eighty was like a child to him!
"I am just kidding why are you getting so upset? I already can tell from their auras that they are strong enough to kill you. Anyway, you can leave I will make sure they are taken care of." Elder Siva seemed to really just want this guy to leave!
"Alright. I will take my leave. I will be back tomorrow with word¡. Umm¡ Faith was it? My name is Haldal." The guard''s expression looked a bit awkward, but now that he mentioned it, he never did tell me his name. I guess it didn''t matter since he seemed like someone I wouldn''t talk to much.
Chapter 470 Sight Seeing In The Elven Capital Part 2
Chapter 470 Sight Seeing In The Elven Capital Part 2
"Since the third wheel is gone, I will show you to your room. This is sudden so I can only afford to give you one room. Is that okay?" Elder Siva asked as she turned to grab a small runic rock.
"That''s fine. We may not look it, but we are actually all engaged. Well, they are all engaged to me." I replied with a smile. Elder Siva turned and looked me up and down before nodding her head. "I can see why even girls would fall for you. So young and so strong already. You have a bright future ahead. It is better to indulge with girls than men who could ruin your future. Although I guess I am not one to talk since I got married at seventy years old to my husband."
As a person who grew up as a human and also lived as a human in one of my lives, I am not sure how many I have had now. I can say for sure that this sounded strange to me, but to the elves, it was a normal thing.
"I will take you to your room. Please make sure you buy everything expensive on the menu tonight when you get back from running around the city." Elder Siva really seemed to want to make the government pay her some money. I smiled and happily obliged. After all, the government needed to pay their dues.
The structure of the inn was quite unique. It was built into the tree itself, but it did not seem to harm the tree in any way. The roots outside were not affected and, in fact, seemed to work as steps leading into the inn. The inside waspletely carved out of the tree trunk. The stairs leading to the second floor and even the desk Elder Siva was standing behind was carved from the tree. It was not even a secondary piece, but actually still one sold chunk of the tree and connected to it.
The light, grainy, smooth wood looked very weing and warm. It was definitely a rxing ce. "This is the room. The bed is quite big, so you should all fit." Elder Siva exined as she opened the door. When we walked in, we were met with a well lit room with what seemed to be a luminescent pearl on the ceiling. The bed was monstrous and filled up a good portion of the room.
There was a closet built out of the side of the wall as well. The thing about having such thick wood walls was that it was nice and cool in here year around. If it was not for the type of tree that grew in the elven kingdom, a ce like this would not be possible.
"If you need anything, just let me know I will put it on their tab." Elder Siva handed me the key and walked out. I like how they used runic markings to lock and unlock the door. Unless you have the same magic wavelength in the rune and the correct pattern, it was almost impossible to break into a ce unless you wanted to blow the door off its hinges.
"Faith, should we hang around a bit?" Adel asked as she sat on the bed and bounced up and down a few times.
"Let''s go see the city. I know you wanted to look around." I replied and then looked at the other girls. "What do you think?"
"We will follow you." Sophie, Grace, and Atolie were always the same. If I walked through a pit of fire, they would be right behind me. Luckily, they seemed to understand that I was putting Adel first since she was still young, both physically and mentally. And thanks to my pampering, she was much more young minded as well since she did not have to deal with everything on her own. I am not sure if this was a bad thing or a good thing, but I do know that I wanted her to be happy and grow up properly. As she grows older, she can deal with the adult stuff then.
While I may be the same age as her, I was still much older than her mentally. However, I did get to act spoiled with my mother again, which was not bad. She was still just as strict as before, though. But I guess not as bad asst time. This time, she knew my strength and did not force me to hold back on my training.
We left the inn and headed out into the streets, where we saw a small wooden lift not far away leading to the secondyer. This ce was the main shopping district of the city, and it spread throughout the entire city, so I was kind of excited to see what might be on sale.
When we arrived at the lift, the attendant smiled and gave us a nod. "Word has already spread about you. You can ride for free."
"Thanks." I smiled and got on. I guess strangers being led around by guards in the city was a hot topic among the gossipers, but I had to admit the speed at which word spread was very scary. To think that even the attendant here knew about us in as little as an hour.
The lift was powered by magic and, once activated, allowed the lift to rise up into the air at a slow yet steady speed. It probably could use a bit of work because the speed at which it rose was very slow. Steady, but I think I saw a snail pass us not too long ago type speed.
When we finally arrived at the second level, we got off to see the tree bridges were packed with elves running about doing their daily routines. But what really caught me off guard was the stands that stood as far as the eye could see throughout the bridgeway.
Chapter 471 Strolling Through The Shops
Chapter 471 Strolling Through The Shops
The wooded nked boardwalk that was attached to the side of the tree with many bridges leading to different sections spread throughout the city in awork that resembled spiderwebs. I do believe they took their inspiration from spiderwebs or at least I assume as such.
"Get your sap roasted orns here" Hearing the man yell made my lip twitch. The orn as the name implies was just an acorn back on earth, but here they added two Cs to the name making it kind of cringy sounding.
"Fresh grilled soppel leaves over here!" This was actually something new. They were leaves yes but they turned sweet when put under heat. If you let them sit for too long they would turn sour. But from the looks of it, this elf had no issues. There was a long line of people waiting.
We kept walking and taking a look at everything they had. We stopped in front of one ce that was selling handcrafted hairpins. Elves seemed to have a thing with using sticks carved into different kinds of animals as a way of tying up their hair.
"Oh? Prettydy, something catch your eye?" I looked up to see a handsome elf looking back at me with a yful smile.
"We are just looking. We do not have this kingdom''s currency." I gave the man an apologetic look.
"Haha! No worries, mydy. Everyone here knows everything you buy is on the kingdom. A few guards came to spread the word earlier." The handsome elf replied with a big smile.
I couldn''t help but raise an eyebrow. I could see the greed in his eyes. But that did not mean I was going to spend money. Having a ce to stay for the night was good enough. "Sorry, it''s meaningless to buy something for someone with someone else''s money. It shows insincerity. If you want me to buy something then allow me to pay in silver."
The handsome elve''s expression showed a hint of sorrow and shook his head. "I am sorry. I can not take silver as I will have no way of using it. We elves rarely leave the kingdom and only those who trade with merchants thate will use silver and gold and that is normally only in the border regions. Here in the capital silver is nothing more than a shiny rock to us."
"Well, I guess that is true." I nodded. I understood what he meant. "But shiny rocks are very good too," I replied firmly. After all, I love shiny rocks.
"Yes, Faith loves her shiny rocks." Sophie immediately kicked in. I turned and stuck my tongue out at her. I couldn''t help it! It''s part of my blood line! Dragons just like shiny objects!
"I see. Well¡" The handsome elf reached over and picked up three hairpins. "As they say, when ites to making friends the best thing is to give a gift."
I stared at the hairpin that was shoved into my hands and looked up at the handsome elf in surprise. "This¡ we can''t take these. You worked so hard on them¡."
"Don''t worry. I can make them quickly so its no big deal.? Just think of it as a weing gift to you. Wee to our elven kingdom. I do hope you have a good visit." The handsome man bowed his head slightly. I did not understand why he was doing this but I guess I had no choice but to take the hairpin. I smiled and bowed my head as well. "Thank you for your kindness."
Each of us looked at the new hairpins with pleased expression. Mine was actually a dragon which I found amusing. Adel got a cute little cat like monster. I am not sure of the name of it since I have never seen it before. But I had three tails. Sophie got a wolf. Grace got a bird of some kind. It was cute looking though since it had big eyes that kind of made you go ''awe, cute''. These were the most dangerous type of monsters. As for Atolie she got what looked like a turtle. Not sure why. Maybe he thought of her as their guardian?
We said our goodbyes and began looking at other stalls. The night was quite pleasing to be honest. I haven''t had this much fun in a long time. Just going out, strolling through a city, window shopping. I wonder when thest time I even got to do something like this. I am d I decided to do this.
"Stop right there!" A voice echoed behind us. I turned to see a familiar long eared girl walking over when a red face and breathing heavily. "I found you! Finally. How are you able to move around so quickly."
"Princess Runa I think you got it all wrong. We are not moving quickly at all you are just out of shape." I retorted.
"You know me?" Runa looked at me in surprise.
I smiled and nodded my head. "You can say that. But tell me, why are you looking for me?"
"I heard from my father¡." I quickly interrupted her. "You eavesdropped on your father¡."
"How did you¡ No! I did not!" Runa yelled out but quickly covered her mouth.
I let out augh as Runa puffed her cheeks out. This Runa was different from the one I knew. She still had some baby fat. She was quite cute. "Sorry. I couldn''t resist. But anyway. You were eavesdropping on your father and heard about us right."
"Yes, that! Wait.? No!" Runa stomped her feet. I could hear those around us giggling away. I knew Runa was well loved by her people. But I never realized it was like this. The other elves all looked at her with warmth and love. It was as if they were her parents. But with how she looked and acted I can see why. She was a cute and lovable girl.
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