ã€ŠNot An Isekai Story [LitRPG]ã€‹


 Book 1: Prologue

    Book 1: Prologue

    You¡ª it was you all along. Why are you doing this? WHY?!

    Shhh¡ª Be careful what you wished for, Is..

    I opened my eyes. Ouch, my head. W¡ª where am I? Ah, that¡¯s right, I¡¯m in my bed. What a horrible nightmare I had; was it because of something I ate? Nah, that can¡¯t be right. Dreams are not affected by what you ate but from what you¡¯ve experienced. Or perhaps something you¡¯re thinking of at that point in time.

    I rose from my bed. Some might call it fancy but it¡¯s just covered with lace along with a thick wooden frame. Nothing to brag about, really. But why do my eyes feel so heavy? I am certain I had a good night sleep. Who was I talking to in my dream? I feel like I am forgetting something; something important but I can¡¯t seemed to remember it, no matter how hard I try. Sigh, alright, no point thinking about it if you can¡¯t remember, time to start your usual morning routine.

    Ahem, you¡¯re probably wondering, why does it sound like this guy is talking to me? I admit, I am not normal. I break the fourth wall on a constant basis and my wife hates it when I do. I know you people are snooping in on my life; you better be careful or I¡¯ll end up reading your mind, heh heh. Nah, I¡¯m just messing with you; or at least you better hope that I don¡¯t.

    Now then, your next question would probably be, what is with the title? Didn¡¯t a certain ¡°Truck-kun¡± ran you over when you were crossing a road? No, that did not happened and I can assure you that was certainly not the case. I did not reincarnate here as I have no memories of my past. I can safely say with certainty that I was born into this world as a baby straight from my mother¡¯s womb. At least, that was what I was told. You see I know absolutely nothing about my parents. I never had the chance to meet them. They were deep down in the dirt when I was young, perhaps when I was about the age of one or two. My grandfather was the one who took care of me throughout my childhood.

    Listen to me rambling to myself, what a way to start the day. Get going, you fool. I stood up and finally decided to head into the washroom to freshen up. Opening the door, a gust of warm wind blew against me. Dear lord, if you are all-hearing, please¡ª make it rain already! Damn it, what is with the weather? It is so hot and humid right now.

    I guess now would be a good time to explain more about this world. The weather department in this world is always having a field day. Sure, we have summer and winter. But the creator probably thought to himself, y¡¯know what? Let¡¯s throw in monsoon and thunderstorms too. And these are only on the continent that I decided to settle in. There is a continent that has hailstorms, burning rainstorms and acid storms too (which we sometimes call it death-storms).

    It is certainly a brutal world to live in, but it is the world that I was born in. While it is not the most ideal world that I might had preferred, I guess it¡¯s not that bad. I found happiness in this world, and a family. Beggars can¡¯t be choosers as the saying goes. Maybe I might end up dead one day and get transported somewhere else. Nah, who knows where I might end up in. Could be worse than where I am right now; despite suspecting that the world might be heading towards an impending doom.

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    I headed into the kitchen to brew my favourite rose flower tea. It is not a delicacy in this world but I really love it. I found it to be the best drink for me to calm myself and it gets me in a relax mood to start my day with. What¡¯s the point in worrying about ¡®what ifs¡¯ when there¡¯s no evidence about it thus far. As I twirled the drink in my cup, I recalled all the memories when this drink was first brought to me. I made sure to have my pinky up as I sipped my tea. Ah, it is certainly delicious, innit? Wait, I''m not British.

    We don¡¯t separate the human race into categories here as we have plenty of other species that co-exist with humanity. Indeed we have dark, fair, yellow or brown skinned humans that live among us. But at the end of the day, we are all still humans. What is the point of separating when we have elves, demons and lizard people. Sadly there are no dwarfs or hobbits around. Now where did I get idea from?

    I headed out to the balcony with my tea and sat on my favourite chair. I spend my time here every morning, recollecting myself and thinking about all my past journey that I had been through thus far. And as usual, I hear the soft pattering footsteps that comes toward my direction. ¡°Daddy!¡±, she screamed as she ran towards me. Ah, my sweet summer child, my beautiful daughter at the age of 10.

    ¡°No need to scream, daddy is here,¡± I said as I petted her head. What an adorable child that I was blessed with. She certainly took mostly from her mother along with most of her beautiful features. She will definitely grow to a beauty one day.

    ¡°Dad, I wanna hear the story about the Sun,¡± she asked me.

    ¡°The Sun?¡± I thought as I rubbed my unshaven chin.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t I told you this story before?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°I don¡¯t remember much of it but I wanna hear it again!¡± her eyes were gleaming with sparkles as she looked at me.

    It is quite a simple story to be honest. It is about how I came into the world and started out my journey. I call it ¡°The Sun¡± because it was how I rose up to become the man I am today. And how I eventually found ¡°it¡±. A very valuable item that shaped the path of my life.

    Truth be told, did I really told her this story before? Oh right, I did. I started rambling to her out of the blue one day when she was about the age of five. Why did I even started telling her that story in the first place? I remembered she grew bored listening to me after a short while. Surprised she actually remembered it.

    ¡°Are you sure you want to listen to it? I don¡¯t recall you were interested before,¡± I clarified with her.

    ¡°Which is why I wanna hear all about it this time. Please, daddy?¡± she whimpered.

    ¡°Alright, let me recollect my memories and think on how to begin,¡± I told her. I guess she wanted to spend more time with me rather than my story. Oh well, I got time to spare anyway. I doubt the world would just implode anytime soon anyway.

    I scratched my head as I thought of how to start. It is certainly not an easy task to suddenly recall your past and turn it into a story. Especially since it¡¯s been about five years ago that I started talking about it. Not to mention I am already at the age of 35 now. Old but not old enough, and I can assure you that my story has not ended yet. Take this as an opportunity to learn about my history before I take on the next chapter of my life. There¡¯s still a couple of days before my next meeting with the guildmasters and rumour has it that they have crazy tasks lined up for me to handle. Guess I should ease y¡¯all in before batshit crazy things happen.

    I heard my wife in the kitchen preparing breakfast. Oh, I have a great idea. I will not be spoiling who my wife is and you all are gonna guess who she is. Pay attention as there are a few hints that will be coming along.

    ¡°Let us start, shall we?¡± I asked my daughter as I got ready to head down memory lane. It is going to be a long story if she wants the whole thing.

    My daughter nodded her head with adorable enthusiasm. I pinched her cheek and started the story.

    Now, roll the music intro!~

    Dang it! I forgot I''m in a novel. Can you turn on some nice Japanese song before proceeding to the next chapter? Got it? Thanks. Let''s go!

 Chapter 1: From Humble Beginning [SUN]

    Chapter 1: From Humble Beginning [SUN]

    Let''s see, how should I start my story? My childhood? It''s a little boring but bear with me. Things will get interesting quite quickly as with most stories.

    What I can recall about my childhood days were mostly training with my grandfather in some forest with a small rustic wooden hut as our home. There is barely any recollection when I was a baby. With that said, seeing as I have no memories when I was a baby or my previous life, it''s safe to say that I did not Isekai here. Hence the title of this story. Hang on, why am I even thinking about reincarnation in the first place? For some reason, the term Isekai is stuck in my head. How weird. As I was saying, normal humans don''t usually remember their childhood memories much which is why I am struggling to recall right now.

    My grandfather was a wise and humble man. He is strict when it comes to sword training but other than that, he is a loving and wise old granddad to me. If I were to sum him up with just one word, ¡°Badass¡± is what I''ll call him. You see, I once saw him beat up 10 thieves in a row when they tried to steal our firewood. All that without even touching his katana which is always at his hip. I¡¯ve only seen it once and man was it beautiful. Being a kid, I secretly sneaked into his room to take a peek at it and he walloped me for it. It is a katana with a yellow blade. The hilt is covered in a light shade of yellow while the guard¡¯s design is exquisite. I once asked him what it meant and he told me that it symbolises a fish that would eventually transformed into a magnificent being. No doubt there will never come a day where I see that happening. Sigh

    He explained as to why I was beaten for doing something foolish. According to him, when he unsheathes it, one must close their eyes immediately, otherwise a bright light will blind you in an instant. Any opponent will be blinded for about 5 or so seconds, leaving them exposed for him to strike. Well, closing your eyes during battle is basically exposing yourself to grandfather¡¯s attack in the first place. Either way, as I would like to keep things subtle, you¡¯re fucked. He once told me of his record where is was able to slay 20 enemies during his prime time within that timeframe. That is some ridiculous Iai-jutsu skills to pull that off. And yes indeed, he tried to beat me into having the same level as him. How does he expect a 10 year old boy to obtain such skills in the first place?

    Hence began my intense sword training at the tender age of 5. Apparently, my parents were known accomplished swordsman or woman respectively. My father was known as the ''Light with a thousand slashes'' while mom was the ''Beautiful Beastly Dancer''. What horrible shitty title did they received. Apparently, nicknames are passed along through gossips which is how they had gotten theirs. But of course, gossips are just gossips, good deeds are where fames arise. Their fame was what resulted them in being called up by their respective guilds to participate in the war with the Demon King. All I was told is that both of them had perished during the war. However, before their deaths, the both of them were able to turn the tide in favour of the opposing force which lead to the defeat of the Demon King. Why did the Demon King decided to wage a massive world war is still unknown to me at this point of time. And yes, this is a little foreshadowing *wink wink.

    Ah, now I remember how I started the last time. The day my life took a massive turn upon discovering more about the world I reside in.

    It was a typical normal day. I held my wooden sword above my head with my sweaty hands and swung it downwards. I¡¯ve lost count the number of times I swung this wooden sword with my petite hands over the course of 5 years now. All I can remember is that I had swung 2000 times today if I counted right which marks the end of my evening swings. As I wiped the sweats off my forehead, a little creature poked its head out of the ground, carrying a letter in its mouth.

    The creature in question is a hedgehog with a soft pink underside belly. These creatures are unique as they were chosen to deliver items or letters to its intended location. They can burrow into literally anywhere and reappear at any surface regardless of gravity or the material they resurfaced upon. Yet, no marks or holes remained after they re-burrow themselves. How does it even works is beyond my understanding. These creatures fulfil their role as postmen and I am happy for it. I reached out to grab the letter from him as rested the wooden sword on my shoulder.

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    ¡°Thanks for delivering the letter, Q. Sorry about trying to hit you before,¡± I apologised to him.

    No name was given to the critter when I was first introduced to him by grandfather. So I decided to call him Q as he often makes these adorable ¡°kew¡± noises. I know what you¡¯re thinking. You¡¯re wondering why I would actually tried to hit such an adorable creature in the first place. Yes, I know. I was a young and foolish lad and was punished for it by grandfather. My arse was sore on that very day from the spanking that I received.

    But hey, at least I found out that these unique creatures are actually indestructible. They are literally immune to all sorts of attack and spells known to man. Sure, they do feel pain but they impenetrable to physical or magic attacks.

    Q burrowed away after making a ¡°kew¡± sound, once again leaving no evidence that he was ever here in the first place. I headed to the well for a quick splash before dinner. I headed in and sat opposite grandfather with a cooking pot in the middle. As always, it is either stew, soup or porridge which I can¡¯t complain when the taste is decent. I bowed my head slightly as I reached out to grab the bowl that was handed to me.

    ¡°You¡¯re 10 now, aren¡¯t you boy?¡± asked grandfather.

    ¡°Yes, Ojii-san,¡± I replied to him as I took a sip of the soup. Ah, warm soup sure hits the spot when cold winds blows into the hut as night approaches.

    ¡°I see, I guess you will be leaving for the city by next year,¡± he looked at me with stern yet warm eyes.

    He told me about this before during out training. At the age of 11, should you wish to become an adventurer, you must head to the city to join a guild. You will start out as a newbie like everyone else but you will choose the path that you wish to take part in.

    Why become an adventurer, you ask? That is because you will earn more than any other professions while not requiring any special skillset than let¡¯s say a merchant, weapon or armour smith, or others. Sure, it¡¯s a risky job where you can die anytime, but that is what most of the people in this world goes for.

    ¡°Any suggestions on which guild I should join?¡± I asked him as I took another sip.

    ¡°Hmm,¡± he put on a thinking face as he stroke his long white beard. I do not know why but it reminded me of something I watched before where it involved martial arts and an old dude would stroke his magnificent white beard in all its glory.

    ¡°Since I taught you in using the ways of the katana, there are two guilds that mainly uses blades as their primary weapons. The first would be the Light guild which your father joined. It prioritises in using Light spells which focuses on buffing allies and more importantly, yourself. Your father was specialised in buffing speed which was how he earned his nickname. The caster will always benefit the most from their own spells, remember that. The other guild would be the Dark Guild which is the opposite of Light. They mostly focuses on de-buffing their enemies whether by using special tactics or spells,¡± he explained after some thoughts.

    Either Light or Dark, huh? Why is it like some decision to become a bad or the good guy. Darth Vader or Luke? Obviously Darth Vader, heh heh. But I guess should check out the other guilds and see what they have to offer before I officially decide.

    ¡°What about mom? Which guild did she joined, if I may ask?¡± I asked him curiously. Her nickname ¡®Beautiful Beastly Dancer'' does not scream that she belonged to any guild.

    ¡°Your mother? She was in the Viking¡¯s guild,¡± he recalled.

    ¡°Pardon my words but your mother was an exceptional brute with tremendous strength despite her slim body frame. I had always wondered who was the one who initiated the relationship. Despite your father being a powerful adventurer, even he could not match the strength of your mother. I truly hope that you do not find such a brute to be your wife, my boy,¡± he warned me.

    Do you really have to say it like that about mom?

    I pondered on the thought about my father being beaten into submission by mom by kicking him in the arse. Now why would I think of something like that, oh great, now it¡¯s stuck inside my head.

    ¡°I¡¯m surprised you did not oppose to their marriage if that was the case, Ojii-san,¡± I chuckled.

    ¡°Haha! I certainly did at first. But I eventually saw the passion in both of their eyes and gave in. They were truly in love with one another and most of all, they loved you with all of their hearts, my boy,¡± he said.

    ¡°When your mother was pregnant, ah, that was the happiest occasion we ever had in celebrating. Their marriage brought both guilds together which is one of the rarest events to ever occur in our history and they celebrated as though the world is about to end. That goes to show how revered your parents were,¡± he smiled as he took a trip down memory lane.

    Seeing as though grandfather was lost in his thoughts, I handed him the letter that was delivered by Q and passed it over to him. He stopped smiling and his features turned grim upon looking at the envelope.

    Strange, I thought. Rarely do I see grandfather changing his expression so instantly like this. Especially since the envelope had no information aside from a fancy looking letter E.

    He took the envelope, tore it and read the contents with a grim expression. My bowl was empty so I decided to refill my soup. A young boy like me is always hungry for more food. As soon as I wanted to take a sip out of my bowl, grandfather spoke.

    ¡°We will be heading out tomorrow boy as it is going to be an eventful day. Wake up early and ready yourself for tomorrow,¡± he said with a forceful smile.

    I nodded to him and we finished up our dinner. It would seemed that grandfather¡¯s mood took a swing as soon as he read that letter. I am certainly curious about the contents of it but I know when to not act foolish. I took grandfather¡¯s advice and retired early to prepare myself for the early rise tomorrow. What happens the next day is an event that I will never forget.

 Chapter 2: This World [SUN]

    Chapter 2: This World [SUN]

    Alright, let me be clear on this before I proceed. For 35 years I¡¯ve been in this world, there had only been a very specific type of magic that existed in this world. Unfortunately, we do not have teleportation, fireball or great spiral ball type of magic. There are a few exceptions to this however, but you will find out more as we delve deeper into the story. What we have are fortification magic or ¡®enhancements¡¯ as we call it. We can strengthen physical items that we wield or our body directly. However, what I can tell you is that despite living here for 35 years, we had barely scratched the surface on what this world has to offer. All around the world there are plentiful hidden treasures or secrets awaiting for someone to discover. So my dear daughter, your adventure is definitely going to be different than what I had experienced. And I can¡¯t wait to hear about them when it is your time to venture out on your own adventure.

    I awoke from the call of the jikentette. They usually make their cockle right before dawn. I sat-up from my futon and yawned. Rubbing my eyes, I was surprised to see grandfather already sitting by the main sliding door entrance. He was wearing a different type of dougi from the usual one he always wore. This looked more suited for combat and mobility. He even had his katana tied to his hip at the ready.

    ¡°Freshen yourself boy, we will be heading out soon. Some considerable distance to cover today,¡± he said.

    I obliged and proceeded to splash my face with cold water from the well. Believe me when I tell you that cold water freshens you up in a completely different manner compared to the hot showers that you people take. I got ready and tied my wooden sword to my hip and proceeded to the main entrance.

    ¡°Ready? Let¡¯s go; we¡¯ll have our meal when we reached our first stop,¡± said grandfather as he stood up. I just nodded and tagged along without question. When grandfather is this serious, all I have to do is follow his lead.

    We reached the first stop when the sun was up. There was a fork on the road that leads to different paths. An wooden arrow signboard pointed the way to different locations. The arrow pointing straight ahead is written ¡°City Of Pines¡± on it. That is where I will be heading to next year. I hope I can reach the city walls before winter approaches. The other two arrows were written ¡°Gosling¡¯s Farm¡± while the other was ¡°Forbidden Forest¡± with the word ¡°DANGEROUS! DO NOT APPROACH!¡± scratched hastily at the bottom.

    Woah, hold up. Isn¡¯t that.. the direction where we came from? We had been living in the forbidden forest all these while?! Is the forest itself dangerous or is it because of grandfather? Or can it be that grandfather scratched those words himself? As I pondered on those thoughts, grandfather made a gesture for us to stop.

    ¡°Let¡¯s take a break and have our breakfast here. Into the shades, boy,¡± he said as he pointed towards the shadows beneath some trees by the side of the road. Both of us sat under the cooling shades when he took out some bamboo leaves wrapping. He unwrapped to reveal some onigiri inside.

    ¡°Wow, you usually hate wrapping these,¡± I muttered to him as I reached out to grab one.

    ¡°Take two and leave the rest for our journey back,¡± he told me as he took out his own onigiri wrapping and began eating.

    ¡°May I ask where are we going, Ojii-san?¡± I braved the question knowing that I might get an answer.

    ¡°We are going to a field in the direction of the city. There is a monster hunting quest that was requested of me to eliminate,¡± he smiled.

    ¡°Monster hunting? What about the adventurers or soldiers from the city? And the guild members?¡± I asked with a bedazzled look.

    Odd that grandfather have to dispose of this monster himself. What is the purpose of soldiers or adventurers if they would require a frail old man to fight? He is in his eighties right now.

    ¡°Ah you see, this monster in particular is exceptionally dangerous. Common soldiers or adventurers have a hard time defeating it without the help of perhaps an army of a thousand men. And that is if you managed to pierce through its thick hide in the first place,¡± he explained with a sarcastic face while stroking his chin.

    I gave him a blank expression. Is he messing with me or something? What he is saying sounded like some fairy tale or some made up nonsense to impress or scare a 10 year old boy. Either way, I will know all about it by the end of the day. If it¡¯s some damn slime or snail monster then I am going to give a surprise smack to him.

    We departed towards the direction of the city and reached our destination probably about late noon. The sun was high up in the sky at this point. We stood at the side of a cliff overlooking an open field filled with tall grasses that had white tips. I just love the grass smell and the way it moves when soft wind blows against it really calms the soul. A part of me wishes to say the words ¡°Winds Howling¡± if it wasn''t for a giant monster fighting with soldiers in the middle of the field right now!

    Let me make things clear. A creature with four legs, have wings and a majestic head is what you call a dragon. A two legged lizard creature with claws at the tip of the wings is what you call a wyvern or some other lizard creatures. There is no two-ways about it, this is certainly a dragon! But damn is it beautiful to look at. With green scales that grew evenly across its body, to its hide that looked as though it can withstand just about anything without a scratch, everything about this mythical being is just alluring to look at.

    The soldiers fighting the dragon were definitely struggling to get their bearings together. Some were trying their best to keep the dragon distracted while they had portable cannons firing at it. I counted about 10 cannons based on the wreakage but only 3 remained, for now.

    ¡°FIRE!¡± shouted the soldier in command. The cannons hit the dragon dead-on. Yet all it did was pushed the dragon backward before it rushed forward to destroy the cannons.

    BOOM!

    Well, there goes all last remaining cannons with a swipe of its tail. The dragon looked unscathed whatsoever despite those cannon balls hitting the dragon''s body. Talk about insane durability to be able to tank cannon shots as though it is nothing. And they are expecting grandfather to fight this dragon?! I mean, sure, I know grandfather is strong and all but still, this is a freaking dragon we are talking about here.

    ¡°Stay right here, boy. Under no circumstances should you move from this spot. Is that clear?¡± grandfather asked with a stern look.

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    ¡°Sir yes sir!¡± I replied with a salute.

    ¡°Keep your eyes opened and see the world that you are about to venture in. The world is filled with plenty of mysteries and adventures awaiting for you to discover. I have the utmost faith that you will make a name for yourself one day. You are his son after all,¡± he smiled warmly at me and leaped off the cliff where we were standing on.

    ¡°Wha..?¡± I could not even finish my sentence as I was surprised that grandfather leaped from here.

    The cliff where we stood was at least 30 meters in height and he just leaped down from here?! He descended rapidly and made a roll upon reaching the ground while using his right hand to stop his forward momentum. Was that a superhero landing? This frail old man literally jumped off a cliff as though it was nothing and here I am at the age of 35 with random aches all over my body just because I stretched too hard.

    He rushed towards the dragon while gripping his scabbard at his hip. From where I stood, it''s about 500 meters from where the dragon is located. He reached closed to the dragon and began shouting to the soldiers to move back. All the soldiers retreated immediately upon spotting him. Many were limping while some were just lying flat on the ground. I guess it''s the afterlife for those that couldn''t make it.

    Alright, what comes next is probably one of the most badass scene to ever spawned. Keep in mind this is an old man fighting a bloody dragon. Not some 1000 year old Shinigami with plenty of fighting experience.

    The dragon took a look at my grandfather and tilted its head. Probably wondering why an old man is here in the first place. Grandfather began exhaling and unsheathed his katana. The dragon immediately crouched low baring its fangs at him as though it knew about the imminent threat that is to come. This dragon casually fought off a hundred soldiers armed with cannons and yet it took grandfather seriously?

    Grandfather held up his katana one-handed above his head horizontally. Just a heartbeat later, a blinding yellow flash shone from his katana. Did grandfather used the reflection of the sun to create that flash? All I know is that even from where I was standing, I had to squint my eyes. The soldiers who were closer to grandfather were definitely blinded and so did the dragon. Grandfather had vanished by the time the flash ended and streaks of blood flew up in the air.

    I panicked. Was grandfather squashed beneath one of the dragon¡¯s huge front legs? To my relief, the blood was from the dragon as it had its underbelly sliced. The dragon started to panic and spread its wings in an attempt to fly but another heartbeat later, there goes the left wing. It was sliced cleanly with a searing mark along its wound with steams rising from it. It looked as though the dragon was being cooked alive. I couldn''t see grandfather among the chaos. The dragon panicked even more as it started thrashing its tail and legs in an attempt to kill grandfather. More blood was spilling from the dragon as time passes. It took 10 heartbeats. Just 10 and the dragon was dead on the ground.

    Grandfather stood atop of the dragon. Such a magnificent scene with the sun shining on his bald head, reflecting it back to its owner. The dragon¡¯s body started disintegrating and it would seemed as though the dragon¡¯s very soul is being absorbed by grandfather. Any moment now and I can see him screaming at the top of his lungs with a ¡°FUS RO DAH!¡±.

    I snapped out of my imagination. What the hell was I dreaming about? My imagination went wild for a moment there. You cannot blame me for going crazy when I am just a 10 year old boy and your senile grandfather single-handedly decimated a dragon with just a katana.

    He hopped down from the dragon and gestured me to come over with a hand-wave. I had to look for an alternate route to descend the cliff. No way am I jumping down from here, I am certain I would not survive the fall if I did.

    I ran over as fast as I could with my little legs and I eventually reached the carcass of the dragon. The soldiers were in awe at the sight of the dead dragon and of course, my grandfather who slain it. Many of the soldiers bowed in respect while the one in command kowtowed to my grandfather, repeating the words ¡°Thank you for saving my men. Thank you so much¡±. Even I bowed to my grandfather as a sign of respect.

    ¡°Ojii-san, never will I look at you the same way ever again. You have my utmost respect,¡± I bowed to him.

    ¡°Ah, it was nothing. It was just a green dragon after all which was the weakest of its kind. That letter had me worried when the type wasn¡¯t mentioned. I am certain you will be able to kill one on your own someday. I have my faith in that,¡± he smiled with a warm expression.

    You put way too much faith into this 10 year old boy, grandfather. But I had realised that on this day, how weak I am in this world. I will really need to get much, MUCH stronger if I were to stay alive and not ending up as dragon poop. Only a year left of training with grandfather before I am to leave and travel to the city alone and hopefully, join a guild.

    Will I die before reaching the city? Will there be other dragons that I will meet along the way? I shudder to think of such possibilities.

    ¡°Let us head home, boy. The soldiers will handle the dragon¡¯s corpse from here,¡± said grandfather.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t a dragon¡¯s body valuable? I am certain every part worths a lot. Isn¡¯t the fangs being used for weapons while the hides for armour?¡± I questioned grandfather as he was not bothered in collecting anything, not even a trophy for all of his hard work that he just did. It was as if he is giving away free money while we ending up drinking soups or stews all the time.

    ¡°The soldiers are aware of who I am, boy. They will be informing the collectors to deposit the funds into my account. There is nothing to worry about. I am certain the soldiers is aware on who called for me to help out. Certainly they won¡¯t be foolish enough to steal anything. Am I right, lads?¡± he asked while turning his head towards the soldiers.

    The soldier in command rushed and kowtowed in front of grandfather.

    ¡°I swear on my life that I we will not be doing anything illegal! You had saved us from certain death! If any of my subordinates steal anything, I will personally execute them and prostrate myself in front of you offering my life!¡± the soldier shouted with sweats streaking down his forehead.

    ¡°See? Nothing to worry about. Let¡¯s go home, boy,¡± uttered grandfather with a soft tone as he gestured me to follow him.

    I nodded and followed after him as we began our journey back to the forbidden forest.

    ¡°Ojii-san, when we reached home, can you train me on how to survive? I do not know how much I can learn in a year¡¯s time and I am worried that I might not make it,¡± I asked him with a shivering voice.

    ¡°What do you mean, boy? I had been teaching you on how to survive for the past few years. Did you really think the training I had been giving you was something a 10 year old should be learning? But, if you are so inclined, I will be giving a more intense training for the remaining year. You better not regret it, boy,¡± he smirked.

    ¡°I am ready, Ojii-san. Please continue teaching me,¡± I bowed to him. I mean, I have to be ready. The world is not going to wait for just one boy to be ready. Hence, began my insane training for an entire year. Did I regret making that request? Maybe a tad bit.

    ***

    ¡°Alright my little pumpkin, time for breakfast before your mom starts nagging us,¡± I said to my daughter who was completely drawn in to my story.

    Not really sure why a young girl like her would be so keen to listen to her father¡¯s story. I bet it is my wife¡¯s tactic to keep her busy so she doesn''t disturb her from her daily chores. Hey, I do not mind helping out with parenting in any way, shape or form possible. Which husband would rather see their wife¡¯s angry or sad face than to help out? I had seen it too many times and I do not wish to see more of it.

    We headed back in. The smell of fresh bread and soup was permeating throughout the living room. Sadly, this world does not have rice to enjoy with a main dish. Rice in this world are usually hard and crunchy compared to the soft and fluffy ones that you eat. We usually use it as a side dish or garnish as it just does not fit into any normal meal.

    I reheated the kettle by the fireplace, making sure there is sufficient water for the three of us. I headed into the kitchen making sure that my daughter was seated at the dining table. Peeking into the wet kitchen, ah, there she is, my lovely wife.

    Too bad all you could see is only her silhouette. Where is the fun in giving away the surprise this early? I gave her a peck on the cheek and carried the tray of food that she had prepared to the dining table. I set the dishes while we waited for her to be seated. No one eats until everyone is at the table, a rule that I decided to implement out of courtesy for my wife.

    We made a couple of small talks while we ate. Mostly about topics like the weather, any upcoming quests by the guild or what supplies we need for the coming months. Obviously my daughter is disinterested with these topics, all the while nudging me to continue with the story. I told her that I will only continue after we had finished breakfast and after she finishes her homework.

    Indeed, we have schools now. While it is not purely educational, it focuses on real-world skills in both theoretical and practical lessons. And of course, swordsmanship included. I figured that it would be beneficial for her to learn things that neither my wife nor I were proficient in. But being in school meant that she can socialise with other children as well.

    ***

    Evening approaches. My wife and I had finished our daily sword practice and were busy preparing for dinner. Life these days are certainly much more relaxing compared to my younger days. It used to be quests after quests to earn money or fulfil the weekly quota. Nowadays, the quests given to me are relatively special but difficult. I had already acquired the highest rank possible just below the guildmaster as there can only be 1 Lord. My wife is obviously the same rank as me too but she barely accepts any quests nowadays. She had chosen to take care of our daughter exclusively. But never did she neglect in her own training. I trust that she is still powerful enough to whoop my ass should she wish.

    I do my part in taking care of my family but being the head of the household, you just have to provide for the family. We finished dinner and as usual, I spend quality time with my daughter. It used to be playing some games with her but she insisted to hear the rest of the story. This is way before bedtime but since there are barely any entertainment aside from books or toys, story is next best thing that we have. Watching fire twirling around the fireplace can only get so entertaining for the first few seconds. And so, I sat my daughter on our wooden couch with cushions made of docket feathers and proceeded with my story.

 Chapter 3: To The City [SUN]

    Chapter 3: To The City [SUN]

    Autumn passed and I am officially 11 years old. After a whole year of harsh training due to my impulsive request, it is finally time for me to head to the city and be an independent boi. I won¡¯t lie, I am really hesitant to go. Why should a youngling be going on an adventure when they can barely even feed themselves. Sadly though, this is how the world works. Either the youngling becomes an adventurer by 11, or they end up with other professions such as merchant, blacksmith, miner or other kinds of typical jobs. Some people do prefer to avoid joining a guild as you need to pass a test before the guild officially accepts you in. The good news is that according to grandfather, they will usually take good care of new recruits to ensure their survival as long as they can. Often accompanied by a team leader of higher rank to supervise them.

    And so, began my graduation ceremony by my grandfather. It is morning time and grandfather had asked me to sit directly opposite of him. At first, we talked about the years we spent together which is approximately 11 years now. He reminiscence the good ol days but today is the day where the young bird leaves the nest. Grandfather smiled at me before placing his hands on the floor and kowtowed to me. I was completely taken aback by his actions and quickly told him to raise his head. He refused and said the following words to me; which I embed in my mind till this very day.

    ¡°My boy, I am so sorry that you are forced to become an adventurer as it is the only thing that I am capable of teaching you. I am unskilled in other trades that may help lead you on a different path and for that, I am deeply sorry. I am fully aware that I am no replacement for your parents, and I have no experience in raising a child properly,¡± he raised his sobbing face. I had never seen grandfather so genuinely sad before.

    ¡°On the day they found you, I was at a loss on what to do with you. You were just a baby. I am so sorry my boy, I am so sorry,¡± he bowed once again.

    I thought I had heard him whispering about something miracle but I ignored as it felt irrelevant. I was obviously sad and tears were naturally flowing from my eyes seeing him acting this way. Deep down, I already knew what I wanted to say to the man in front of me who willingly raised me up. He is extremely old now, possibly at the age of 90 by now.

    ¡°Ojii-san, you had no obligation to raise me yourself yet you did. You could have left me with a foster family or an orphanage, but you chose to raise me instead. You raised me to be man I am today. You might not be my parents, but you will forever be my one and only family that I have today. I promise I will come back every spring to inform you about my adventuring tales. I will make you proud of the boy that you had raised. And for that, I thank you, Ojii-san,¡± I bowed to him the exact same way he did.

    I deeply respected him for willingly raise me for these past years. No doubt I certainly believed that he had held back with his training despite my request, but I do feel myself getting stronger within that one year of insane training.

    We raised our heads and gazed at each other. Both of our faces were a mess filled with tears. I stood up and rushed over to give him a hug. The thought of being separated from him certainly hit me right in the kokoro. He seated me down once more as he was not yet finished with the ceremony. He reached to grab one of the floorboard and pulled out a couple of them. He took out something long wrapped in cloth. He unravelled it and it was a sheathed katana. Wait, maybe not a katana as it looked kind of short compared to the one he is using.

    ***

    ¡°Is this the valuable item that you were referring to, daddy?¡± asked my daughter.

    ¡°Ah, it is not. While technically yes, it is one of my most treasured item, but it is certainly not the one that defined my path. Now, try not to interrupt the story too much as people might get angry, my dear,¡± I told my daughter.

    ¡°What people?¡± she asked while looking around.

    ¡°Uh, just some people peeking in,¡± I told her.

    ¡°Are you ok, daddy?¡± she asked me while tilting her head.

    ¡°Yes, I am fine. Let¡¯s continue,¡± I said.

    ***

    ¡°This kodachi belonged to your father. This was the weapon he wielded when he fought with the Demon King. The guild was able to find it from the battlefield and personally handed it to me. And now it¡¯s yours. Wield it with pride, my boy,¡± he handed the blade to me with a smile.

    I reached out with both my hands and held it. Holy smokes, why is it so light? It¡¯s like I am holding a feather!

    ¡°W¡ª wow.. it barely weigh anything at all. How is this even possible?¡± I said out loud due to my astonishment.

    Not a moment later, the rumbling of a thunder could be heard outside. That¡¯s weird. I was certain the sky was clear earlier. As I felt strange hearing the thunder, I turned to look out the window. There was barely any dark clouds that I could see. It is a bright and shiny day with not a tinge of lightning and it does not look like it will rain anytime soon. I turned to look back at grandfather who was strangely staring at me with close attention. He smiled and nodded to himself as though there was something assuring in the way I behaved earlier.

    ¡°Did something happened, Ojii-san? You seemed to be in a good mood,¡± I asked him while tilting my head.

    ¡°It would seemed that Inazuma had accepted you to be his next owner. Use it with pride, my boy,¡± he smiled.

    Inazuma? This is the kodachi¡¯s name? Is that why I heard thunder earlier?

    I unsheathed Inazuma and took a peek. The blade was green while the blunt portion was darker in colour. The guard was a basic circular shape while the hilt was wrapped in green with a hint of gold around the diamond shape wrapping. A simple yet beautiful blade that I am still using to this very day.

    I proceeded to wear the kimono dougi and hakama that was prepared by grandfather for this very day. It was certainly comfortable indeed as it was light-weighted and easy to move around. Sadly, it does not offer me any form of protection. I slotted Inazuma at my hip and stood at the entrance. Are these the only thing that I will be bringing along for my journey? I thought I would be bringing a backpack with me filled to the brim.

    The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    ¡°Hold up, boy. Here are some coins for you to bring along. You might want to purchase another blade and some armour protection when you reached the city. Try to avoid using Inazuma if possible,¡± said grandfather.

    I understood his concern. The lesser you use your blade, the higher it retains it¡¯s sharpness. Only use your main weapon when fighting with a tough opponent. Use your sidearm for the others. Of course you will still need to maintain it well whenever possible. Oiling your blade is essential for any swordsmen. I opened the pouch to check what was in the content. There were only 12 gold coins inside.

    ¡°Just 12 coins? Can I even afford to buy anything with these?¡± I asked without knowing the value of these. 12 coins does not seemed like a lot of money. I, of course, had not idea about the value of these coins and currency types of this world at this point of time.

    ¡°You will live, my boy. So long as you do not spend it mindlessly. Don¡¯t spend it on women, mind you!¡± he consoled me.

    I had no interest in women at this point of time. 11 years old heading to the city alone with the possibility of living with other sweaty adventurers; not to mention for the next few years. This was my main concern right now. What if my roommate has a bad hygiene? Or some hoarder? Or likes to bring women into our room every night?! I shudder at the possibility. But there is no point in worrying about it. I will face it head on when the time comes.

    ¡°I will be heading out now, Ojii-san. Do take care of yourself,¡± I bowed to him one last time.

    ¡°Do take care, my boy. Be safe,¡± he smiled as he waved me off.

    Hence began my journey to the west. No wait, I meant to the city. Well, the city was technically northwest from my location if my brain compass is accurate. I began my long walk to the signpost that I saw last year when grandfather brought me along to exterminate the green dragon. I seriously hope there is not another dragon there right now. I will close my eyes and run to the city directly for all I care!

    As I was thinking to myself, Q poked his head out from the ground. He was biting another letter in his mouth. I am fairly certain that it was not for me so I crouched down and spoke to him.

    ¡°Q, you have to pass this directly to Ojii-san. I will be heading to the city. Help me keep an eye on him in the future, alright? Do let me know whenever he is unwell or something,¡± I said to him.

    Seemingly understood what I told him, he burrowed back into the ground. Must be an important letter, I suppose. Ah well, onwards to the city~

    As I was getting closer to where the signboard was, I heard some commotion up ahead. There was some loud clashing of metals and people shouting. Just when I wanted no trouble throughout the journey. I quicken my pace to see what the commotion was about. And that was when I met her.

    ***

    ¡°Who? Is it mommy?¡± asked my daughter curiously.

    ¡°One of the potential, you can call it? Let¡¯s not spoil the surprise, shall we? Try to guess who is mommy in this story,¡± I said to her.

    ***

    Now, where was I? Ah yes, that was when I met her. And him. Two individuals around my age were surrounded by a group of adults. The boy had spiky red hairs while the girl had silver silky hair with emerald colour at the tip of her hairs along with a ponytail. An extremely long ponytail mind you. And what is it that she wearing in front of her eyes? It looked like two circular objects tied to some sort of frame.

    I counted the number of adults and there were 5 of them. I sneaked in closer but made sure to remain hidden among the bushes nearby. I do not want to jump the gun and assumed that the adults are in the wrong. Maybe the kids were playing around and caused some trouble for the adults by accident? Even so, there is no need to unsheathe your weapons against kids, right?

    ¡°Hand us your money and we''ll let you live. You are heading to the city to become adventurers, right? I bet you two are loaded,¡± said one of the adults.

    ¡°Oh yea, give us your money and we might let you live. No promise with the elf though. I bet she would fetch a good price for those nasty nobles,¡± said another adult as he licked his lips.

    Alright, my bad. These guys are thugs. No questions about it.

    ¡°Let us go and we won¡¯t hurt you. This is my final warning,¡± said the boy.

    He seemed like a strong warrior for his age. It was not all talk from the way he held his short sword and his calm demeanour. The female elf was quiet as she held her dagger at the ready. Sadly though, she is using it defensively rather than the boy who was ready to strike.

    ¡°Alright, this is going nowhere,¡± said one of the thugs as he grabbed the elf¡¯s arm and started dragging her away.

    Piak!

    He was immediately smacked in the face by the boy who swung his sword using the blunt side. The thugs started to retaliate back. One of them swung his weapon at the boy¡¯s back but he was ready for it. He held out his sword and blocked the axe. But another thug swung his weapon towards the boy¡¯s back. There is certainly no way he can block two weapons being swung at him at the same time.

    Time slowed down at this point. Perhaps it was just from my perspective. I rushed out from the bushes and ran to help out. As I was running closer, I saw the elf girl using her body to protect the boy from the incoming attack. Why isn''t she using her dagger?! Seeing this happening before my eyes, I ran even faster and unsheathed Inazuma.

    Clank!

    A loud clashing sound of metal hitting one another rang through the air. Phew, looks like I made it in time. I was genuinely surprised that I was capable of running such a distance in such a short matter of time. Not to mention stopping the blade before it sliced her. And yes, I blocked the blade using the blunt side of my kodachi. Grandfather made sure to beat this knowledge into my brain.

    When you know full well that you are blocking an attack, always use the blunt side to prevent chipping of your blade. Always remember this as it is extremely important in a life-or-death situation, boy. The sharper blade always wins!

    Yes I remember, grandfather. Your teachings will always come screaming back to me whenever I do something wrong.

    The elf girl opened her eyes and made a squeak when she saw my kodachi¡¯s bladed side in front of her. Making sure she was fine, I turned and glared at the thug who tried to kill her. How could you willingly hurt this beautiful elf? The thug was surprised to see me appearing out of nowhere to block his blade.

    ¡°W¡ª who the hell are you? Do you want to di..,¡± that was all he could say as I swung Inazuma towards his left rib followed by the topside of his neck when he got down on his knees clutching his side. I used the blunt side, of course. I am not some cold-blooded murderer even knowing they are thugs. But man, is Inazuma super light. It is even lighter than the wooden sword that I had been using for training all my life.

    The other thugs were slow to react to my sudden appearance. I guess they were stunned that I appeared out of thin air. The boy took advantage of the situation and retaliated against the other thugs seeing as the elf girl was safe. He swung his sword to the back of the knee of the thug who swung the axe at him earlier. He then smacked his sword on the thug¡¯s back which caused him to faint. 3 down, 2 more to go. Or, so I thought. The other two ran away as fast as they could upon seeing that 3 of their comrades were down in the dirt. Upon making sure that the two thugs had left instead of calling for backup, the boy turned and bowed to me. The elf girl followed suit upon seeing the boy doing so.

    ¡°Thank you so much for saving us. You really saved our hides when we were outnumbered by those damn thugs. We are indebted to you,¡± said the boy.

    ¡°T.. thanks for saving us,¡± said the elf. She seemed like the shy type. Which made me admire her even more for her bravery in trying to stop the blade using her own body.

    ¡°Don¡¯t mention it. I was just passing by when I saw the both of you needed help. It¡¯s nothing, really. Think nothing of it,¡± I responded back with a small bow.

    ¡°Well it is certainly not nothing to me as you saved our lives. Are you are heading to the City Of Pines as well? That is where we are heading. Fancy travelling together if you don¡¯t mind our company? Us youngsters should stick together,¡± said the boy with a warm smile as he held out his hand for a handshake.

    His smile was genuine and really makes you smirk when you see it. I guess I don¡¯t mind some companions.

    ¡°Hey. I¡ª I¡¯m not a youngster! I am already a 110 years old!¡± shouted the elf girl.

    I¡¯ll admit, elves are still a mystery to me even having met so many of them throughout my journey. They have similarities to humans aside from their long pointy ears but their physiology is completely different to us. Meeting humans are like a fleeting memory for them when they can live up to 10,000 years. What is a century for them? A walk in the park? I guess for their species they need to be around a 110 years old to be considered old enough to be an adventurer.

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s travel together,¡± I returned the boy¡¯s handshake.

    ¡°Name¡¯s John Gladiolus, she¡¯s Lily Moonshine. What¡¯s yours?¡± asked the boy.

    ¡°Zen Hawthorn, a pleasure to meet you two,¡± I replied him with a smile.

    I was surprised when their expression changed from joy to fear in an instant. Did I smiled awkwardly or something? Or was it something I said?

    ¡°Y¡ª you¡¯re a Hawthorn? Are you one of the nobles?¡± John questioned me.

    Nobles? I doubt nobles live deep in the forest eating stews or soups. What is he talking about?

    ¡°No, I am not. I live in the forbidden forest with my grandfather ever since I was born. Unless you consider that as the life of a noble?¡± I replied.

    ¡°I¡­ see. I guess you are not one of them. Sorry for being suspicious,¡± said John.

    ¡°Nah, it''s nothing. Think nothing of it. I am a stranger after all that appeared out of nowhere. It is natural for you to be suspicious of me,¡± I said.

    Thankfully we managed to clear the odd misunderstanding because of my name. We left those fainted thugs by the roadside since we did not have any ropes with us. We proceeded to travel together towards the city, chit-chatting along the way until something unexpected happened.

    Hear me out when I say that there are certain things in life that you will never be ready for. And what¡¯s worse is when it sticks to you like a bad trauma. Despite all these years, I still shudder whenever I thought back on what happened the very first day I left my home.

 Chapter 4: Unforeseen Consequences [SUN]

    Chapter 4: Unforeseen Consequences

    ¡°So¡ª which one of you is a Hawthorn?¡±

    We were all stunned by the sudden appearance of this person. Who¡ª is this guy that appeared out of nowhere behind us? There were no sounds to his footsteps, almost like an assassin. Worst of all, I can feel the hair at the back of my neck and forearms standing. Whoever this person is, he is emitting a terrifying presence.

    I turned my head slowly to get a good look at this individual. He had blond hair combed backwards and a couple of scars all across his body. But there was one thing that stood out and it looked like some kind of visor on top of his head. It was translucent and spectral in nature, almost as if the object was not supposed to be there but yet you can see it. It was shaped like a triangle or pyramid which I was sure that he uses it to cover his eyes for some unknown reason.

    ¡°I am not going to repeat myself. Who is a Hawthorn here?! The three of you were talking pretty loudly about it that anyone could hear it within a mile,¡± said the stranger as he lifted his disgusting right eye.

    All of us prepared ourselves for combat against this weirdo. Lily stood behind us while John and I took point and unsheathed our blades. This annoyed him and he was clearly losing even more patience.

    ¡°You think this is a joke? You think this is some fucking joke? You really think the three of you can stand up against me? You better start talking before I murder the three of you,¡± said the stranger as he started emitting some sort of black aura that enveloped us.

    I saw a vision of all three of us getting massacred by this weirdo in a span of a second. What¡ª is this? He is strong. Stupidly strong as a matter of fact. Neither of the three of us are going to make it out alive; even if we ran with all our might.

    We started shaking at the knees. The vision we saw earlier was horrifying and we knew full well that we are about to die. Still, I won¡¯t go down without a fight!

    I held Inazuma steadfast and pointed it towards the stranger. I took a few deep breath and thought about going on the offence but as I blinked, he was gone. He had completely disappeared from my sight. Where did he go?

    I heard John shouting ¡°BEHIND!¡± and I instinctively tried my best to turn my head as fast as I could. The stranger was already swinging his dagger towards Lily. No wait, he was swinging it to cut all three of us with one swing! Inazuma may be extremely light but my reaction speed is just not fast enough to keep up with this stranger. We are all definitely going to die.

    But before I kiss dirt and touch grass, let us turn back time for a couple of minutes before this all these happened, shall we?

    ***

    ¡°So¡ª what is it about me being a Hawthorn? Is there something I should know about?¡± I asked the both of them.

    ¡°Hmm, from where I was from, there was an announcement that all Hawthorns were declared as traitor nobles. Any information regarding them must be informed to the security of City Of Pines immediately. At least, that was last I heard about it like¡ª ages ago,¡± said John as he scratched his head trying to recall.

    He told us that he was from a small town south of the forbidden forest. His route to the city had him pass by the forest where he happened to meet Lily midway. She was staring at the signpost trying to understand which way was pointing towards the city.

    ¡°You looked as thought you were about to cry having lost your way, didn¡¯t cha, Lily?¡± teased John.

    ¡°I did not! I just had difficulty understanding human language. That is all. I would had figured it out eventually,¡± pouted Lily as she folded her arms.

    She can be quite adorable despite being a century old. Cute some might say.

    ¡°Oh yeah? Then let us part ways and see whether you can make it on your own,¡± laughed John.

    Lily ignored him and turned her head away from him. She noticed I was staring at her and she quickly turned to look at the ground immediately. What was that about? Am I imagining things? I thought I saw her cheeks going red. Who am I kidding, I am not handsome whatsoever. Just a short ass skinny boy that doesn''t gain weight no matter how much I ate.

    ¡®So Lily, did the elves heard of anything about the Hawthorns? You were surprised as well when you heard my name,¡± I asked her.

    ¡°Well¡ª news about humans barely makes it inside the elven forest. But there were quite some gossips about your bloodline a couple of years ago. From what I recall, all Hawthorns were to be executed or captured despite a Hawthorn being a war-hero after the Demon War. We were quite surprised for such a renowned hero to have his name desecrated so quickly right after the war,¡± she recalled the gossip while pushing her bottom lip up with her index finger.

    This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    Why is she trying to act cute in front of me? I maybe I am too sensitive about her right now that I am noticing these small things. And I told grandfather that I will not be thinking about girls!

    ¡°I guess I should keep my Hawthorn name a secret from now on then,¡± I smiled at her.

    Her face flushed red to the brim. Alright, that is most certainly a blush, no two ways about it. I swore I even saw steams coming out of her head. I guess I¡¯ll ask her about it if I get the chance. What in the world got her thinking about me this way? In the meantime, I¡¯ll just pretend that I did not see her reaction. Yet my heart is also pumping faster whenever I look at her. Gah, did I seriously have a crush on her?

    ¡°So um.. Lily? I¡¯m sorry if I am stereotyping but don¡¯t elves generally uses bow for combat? Are you perhaps looking to be a merchant or something?¡± I asked her curiously.

    Elves are generally known for their extreme marksmanship and pinpoint accuracy. While this world favours melee combat more so than ranged, that does not mean that elves did not find a way to utilise it in combat. Sadly, this world has monsters and creatures that is coated with thick hides, making it difficult for normal arrows to pierce through. You will have to use the creature¡¯s bones or teeth to craft stronger arrows which you either have to farm or purchase them from a vendor or merchant. But spending money on craftables are not economical for an adventurer mainly due to the high buying rate as opposed to selling them which is about 4 to 1. Even so, it should be fairly common for a starting adventurer to have at least some sort of weapon before heading to the city.

    ¡°Ah, my bow broke during the earlier commotion. I only have a short dagger with me now but I am not proficient in using it. I am not physically strong either to use it in combat effectively,¡± she showed a sad smile.

    How insensitive of me to ask her in the first place. Sadly I do not have any other spare weapon with me currently to give her. I doubt the sword or axe from the thugs would served Lily any better than the dagger that she currently has. Alright, I¡¯ll bring her to a merchant to buy a weapon before we head our separate ways. That is assuming we ended up choosing different guilds.

    It was not until she walked in front of me that I noticed her quiver hidden behind her cloak. What a fool you are, Zen. If only you had noticed it earlier before I asked her that question. I certainly need to increase my perception in order to start noticing things.

    ¡°I have one more curious question if you don¡¯t mind. What is that¡ª thing that you are wearing in front of your eyes?¡± I asked her with utmost curiosity.

    ¡°Oh, this? These are glasses. My eyesight is a bit off so I have to wear them. These are elven made, mind you,¡± she puffed up her chest.

    Does it really matter who made it? I guess she wanted to show off her elven pride to me.

    ¡°I thought elves have excellent eyesights in general,¡± I shrugged.

    ¡°Not everyone is born perfect, Zen. This applies to elves too. Sorry that I am not some perfect elf in your imaginative world,¡± she pouted.

    ¡°I did not say that. Sorry if I offended you in some way. Allow me to treat you to a meal later as an apology,¡± I bowed slightly to her.

    ¡°Y¡ª you¡¯re awfully nice to me,¡± said Lily as she trailed off. I could not hear what she mumbled later on.

    It was late evening when we could finally see city walls. By my estimation, possibly another kilometre or so when the stranger decided to appear behind us. And I am sure you know the rest of the story.

    ***

    Whoosh pak!

    A hand reached out to grab the stranger¡¯s wrist. The dagger was just an inch away from Lily¡¯s neck. Things happened really fast but I quickly regained my senses and pulled Lily away by grabbing her cloak. I immediately recognised whose hand it was as I had been seeing it for the past 11 years. His wrinkled hand gave a clear sign that he was really old but I knew full well that he was still powerful.

    ¡°Now why would you want to attack these adorable children, might I ask you?¡± asked grandfather as he stroke his beard.

    I can feel that he was getting serious as his aura pressuring the air around us. Not even a green dragon got him this pumped.

    ¡°Ho, not bad old man. Your reaction speed is actually fast enough to keep up with me,¡± said the stranger.

    I can see both of them struggling to overcome one another. The stranger was trying to push his wrist forward to cut grandfather while the other was resisting. Grandfather increased the pressure on the grip which made the stranger broke the grip and leaped backwards with a ¡°Tch¡±.

    Damn it, now he is standing in the direction of the city. If only we can knock him out cold or something then we can rush towards the city. Even this assassin won''t be foolish enough to pick a fight with all the city guards and adventurers. But grandfather held out a hand to prevent us from doing anything foolish.

    ¡°Stay behind me, kids. Do not do any rash unless l tell you to,¡± he whispered to us.

    Damn it, I am really nervous right now. Grandfather should be able to handle this stranger, right? He can beat a dragon all by himself. With the both of us, we stand a chance at beating him!

    The stranger leaped forward towards grandfather with the dagger in his hand. Grandfather held out both of his hands steadfast. It would seemed that he had not decided to use his katana just yet. The stranger swiped his dagger sideways in an attempt to cut grandfather¡¯s arm. No wait, it was a feint! He is going for a stab instead!

    Grandfather countered the stab by grabbing the stranger¡¯s wrist and pulling him forward. He then performed an under-leg sweep which usually causes his opponent to fall directly to the ground. The stranger noticed this and immediately released his dagger. His left hand grabbed the falling dagger and immediately tried to stab grandfather even though he was falling head first onto the ground. Grandfather reacted quickly and leaped backwards. Seeing that he missed, the stranger used both hands to balance himself onto a backflip.

    What is with these people? Those are not a typical human reaction!

    ¡°Seems like I had severely underestimated you, old man!¡± shouted the stranger.

    I finally understood what grandfather was doing, by dragging him over to our side, we now have our backs towards the city. We can make a run for it if we can somehow disable his mobility.

    ¡°You three, run towards the city and don¡¯t look back. When I give the signal, run with all your might,¡± whispered grandfather to all of us.

    ¡°But Oj¡­,¡± I muttered but he immediately shouted at me with a ¡°Quiet!¡±

    ¡°Do not say anything and ready yourselves,¡± he said.

    ¡°Oi oi.. you are not planning to make a run for it, are ya? Now you are severely underestimating me. I ain¡¯t just a normal bounty hunter!¡± shouted the weirdo.

    ¡°GO! NOW!¡± he shouted as he placed his right hand on his katana.

    I hesitated. I could not move. How can I abandon my grandfather for my own safety? I want to fight beside him. If the both of us were to perish then so be it. I have nothing else to lose in this world except him.

    Someone grabbed me from behind. I looked back and John was pulling me by my dougi. He was dragging me one-handed with me floating in the air. What in the? I am not as light as Inazuma! How is he doing this?!

    ¡°Put me down! I can run on my own!¡± I shouted to John.

    He released his grip and I ran alongside him while Lily took the lead in front of us. But I disobeyed grandfather¡¯s order. I turned my head and looked back. I needed to know. I need to know that he is going to be safe.

    "You¡¯re not getting away, Hawthorn!¡± yelled the stranger as he began to chase after us.

    Grandfather retaliated and unsheathed his katana, raising it above his head.

    "YOU, SHALL NOT, PASS!" yelled grandfather. Okay grandfather, that was badass. If only you were facing a Balrog now.

    I face my head forward knowing full well what was coming. Even as I ran forward, I could see the god rays flashing in front of my vision.

    Damn it! Please be safe grandfather. Please find me in the city.

    The three of us ran towards the city as fast as our tiny legs could carry us with every step filled with shame and regret. Could I have changed the past if I stubbornly refused and decided to fight the stranger alongside grandfather? I know the past is the past, but you can''t shake the feeling of possibilities that I could had done instead of running. But I knew deep down that nothing would had changed. After all, I was just a scrawny brat at that point in time.

    ***

    Ah, it would seemed that my daughter had fell asleep. I shall resume my story some other time. Moving forward, I shall focus more of the story rather than my daily life as I doubt any of you are interested in such mundane tasks. However, I do have a quest that was assigned to me recently which I will need to carry out soon. I guess you can look forward to that instead.

 Chapter 5: City Of Pines [SUN]

    Chapter 5: City Of Pines [SUN]

    We somehow made it to the city walls. John and Lily were rubbing their thighs or squatting down but I was fine. I faced worse situations during my harsh training so I can still stand properly from all the running. Legs were aching a little but still fine~ *flips imaginary long hair

    Anyway, saying that City Of Pines is big is a huge understatement. It is a gigantic city spanning about ten kilometres, enclosed in 50 metres circular walls in height that closed off the entire city from the outside world. This city can certainly withstand a war despite bombardments from all angles easily. There were four main entrances that you can enter the city. All of them were guarded by soldiers. And when I said soldiers, I meant a lot of them. You would think the common amount of soldiers for each entrance would be about two soldiers guarding them. But there is at least ten in this entrance alone. Are they expecting a war to occur in a moment¡¯s notice? Or did they perhaps made a grudge with some other neighbouring countries?

    I gestured John and Lily to follow as we head into the entrance. I was obviously still worried about grandfather¡¯s safety who might still be fighting right now. I am fighting against my every nature to rush back there to ensure that he is alright, but I know that is a foolish action. Not only there is a chance that I might be running into a trap, I might be dead before finding out what happened to him.

    I need some reinforcements or bodyguards to escort me back there. I am dying to get some answers from the aftermath of that battle.

    We walked closer to the entrance where the soldiers were guarding. Upon reaching closer, I looked up and ''wow'' were the walls imposing to look at. It is straight and steep, making it difficult to look without causing some form of vertigo. I doubt any assassins would be foolish enough to climb this wall without some sort of rope or tools.

    ¡°You three, come quickly. We are about to close the gates for the day!¡± shouted one of the soldiers.

    We quickly rushed towards the entrance. It was late now and the sky was already darkening. I guess I can only return to where grandfather was tomorrow. Damn it.

    ¡°I take it you three are here to join the guilds, right? Head on inside. You might want to visit one of the taverns for a meal and some rest. Best to take your time in choosing your guild. A fresh start awaits you tomorrow! The closest tavern is straight ahead to your left. Look for the sign ¡®Sleeping Daisies¡¯ up front. You won¡¯t miss it,¡± chatted one of the soldiers.

    We just nodded to him and said thanks. He must be bored having stand guard the whole day. And the three of us happened to walk by, giving him an opportunity to talk to someone.

    ¡°Before that¡­ none of you is a Hawthorn, right?¡± glared one of the soldier.

    The three of us shuddered. Is John or Lily going to rat me out? Am I going to face another problem right after another? What is wrong with today?! Why nothing seems to go right? The stars must be so misaligned today that all these things happened on the very same day that I am forced to travel to the city to become an adventurer, saved these two kids, almost getting killed by a stranger and now soldiers are questioning me out of the blue?! All because I have Hawthorn in my name?! Bloody hell I should change my name soon and erase Hawthorn from my ID. Wait, what¡¯s an ID?

    ¡°Aww c¡¯mon Earl, stop scaring the kids like that. There had not been a Hawthorn that came to the city for 30 years now. Chill out man,¡± said a soldier next to Earl.

    Earl, eh? I will remember you. Mark my words.

    ¡°Just doing my job. You know our duties are to question strangers coming in to the city. Queen¡¯s orders, y¡¯know?¡± said Earl with a shrug.

    We walked away as quickly as we could without replying them. Oh lord please, I want this day to end quickly. I want to fall flat on a bed and close my eyes. But before that, I need to find some mercenary or adventurer to escort me to the spot where grandfather was fighting. I need to go there tomorrow otherwise I will never be able to get on with my life. Not when I have no answers about grandfather''s safety.

    As we were walking towards the direction given by the soldier, a pinkish haired man suddenly appeared out of an alleyway and asked us a question.

    ¡°Hey, do you want to know¡­ da wae?¡± asked the stranger.

    He was wearing a knuckle-duster on one of his hand.

    ¡°No thanks, sir! We know where we are going!¡± I said and rushed quickly ahead.

    ¡°Who were you talking to?¡± asked Lily.

    ¡°Huh? Some weird guy was asking whether we needed some directions earlier. Didn¡¯t you see him in the alleyway?¡± I asked her.

    The both of them looked at each other in a confused manner. Was I having a delusion earlier? Wow, I am certainly going crazy with all that had happened today.

    We headed towards the tavern as quickly as possible. I let out a sigh upon seeing the sign ¡®Sleeping Daisies¡¯ located on top of an entrance. That certainly looked like a tavern alright. Lily ran ahead and slammed the door open. She quickly ran to the counter and asked for something from the female innkeeper. The lady pointed towards a direction where she followed. John and I looked at each other with a puzzled look. Was there somewhere urgent that she needed to go? Shrugging off Lily''s odd behaviour,Tthe both of us walked closer to the counter.

    ¡°Ara ara, are you with the silver-haired elf? Did you three just reached the city today to join a guild? Onee-san have some information for newcomers but it might cost you,¡± she winked at us.

    Onee-san? She looked like she is almost in her mid-thirties or so. But something tells me that I should not be calling her Oba-san should I wish to see another day.

    Seemingly read my mind, John decided to defy all odds and did it.

    ¡°Oba-san, what¡¯s on the menu today? I am starving and I want meat!¡± asked John.

    Uhh¡­ does he not sense the impending doom approaching us?

    ¡°Oh my, we have roasted purkette or boofette served with fresh vegetables and fruits along with some bread and soup,¡± said the innkeeper as she held up her kitchen knife.

    There was a death glare she was giving to John with a dark aura emitting behind her. Her knife was glimmered with a shiny *Twink!

    Goosebumps appeared behind my neck and I can literally feel the hairs on my forearms standing. Lily came back to the counter oblivious about to the situation that is about to occur.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± she asked with an upbeat tone.

    ¡°RUN!¡± shouted John as he rushed for the exit.

    Lily who was seemingly calmer now yanked on John¡¯s shirt, halting him in place as he tried to run away.

    ¡°I¡¯ve had enough of running for today. Can we just sit down and eat, please?¡± asked Lily. She seems to be in a better mood now.

    ¡°Where did you go earlier, Lily? You seems to be in a rush somewhere,¡± I asked her.

    She made a surprised look and hesitated. She then placed her two index finger together as though she was trying to think of something. Alright, I think I knew where she went. Forgive me for my terrible perception once again.

    ¡°She probably went to the loo. It¡¯s been a crazy day for all of us with the thugs and stranger trying to kill us. Talk about an eventful day,¡± said John casually.

    THUNK!

    Lily gave John a punch to the head. I chuckled at the interaction of these two. The compatibility of their chemistry is probably the reason as to why they agreed to travel together in the first place. Will they end up together in the future? If things took it¡¯s course then I¡¯ll step back. Now is not the time for me to be thinking about girls. Enough of fooling around, I have a task to fulfil before the end of the day. I sure hope I can find someone to tag along tomorrow. I turned to the innkeeper and asked her.

    ¡°Onee-chan, may I know where I can hire some mercenaries?¡± I asked her bluntly.

    She was taken aback. She thought I would be asking her information about the guilds but instead, here I am asking her about mercenaries. She seemed to be hesitant in telling me. She even placed her index finger on her lips and she thought carefully for some time.

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    ¡°How about.. you order something to eat and I¡¯ll tell you? Deal? I am certain the three of you have some money to pay for a meal, right?¡± asked the innkeeper cheerfully.

    The three of us reached into our pockets to take out a coin. John took out a copper coin while Lily took out a silver one. John was shocked at seeing Lily''s silve coin in her hand. It would appear the innkeeper was impressed as well. Lily raised up her head and placed both of her hands at her hips to show some form of superiority over John. Fu fu was the sneering remarks I heard from Lily. I reached into my coin pouch, took out a coin and placed it on the counter table.

    ¡°Is this enough for me to order a meal?¡± I asked honestly.

    I don¡¯t know why but it felt as though time had stopped. None of them made any movements whatsoever as they stared at the coin I placed on the table. A couple of seconds later, the innkeeper broke the silence.

    "G¡ª g.. g¡ª Gold coin?!¡± she shouted while placing both hands at her cheeks.

    What''s the matter with a gold coin? I turned to look at John and Lily who were baffled, impressed, confused and stunned at the same time.

    ¡°Umm.. Zen? I don¡¯t think a tavern can afford to provide enough change for you if you¡¯re going to pay with a gold coin. A meal usually cost about a copper or two depending on what you order,¡± explained Lily.

    I gave her a confused look as I did not know the value and currency of this world yet.

    ¡°Alright, never mind. Innkeep, food and drinks are on me for the three of us,¡± announced Lily as she handed the silver coin to the innkeeper.

    The innkeeper proceeded to take her silver coin and returned about 47 copper coins. Ah, it would seemed that a meal here costs only a copper. The innkeeper smiled and head into the kitchen to prepare our meals.

    ¡°Zen, you seemed to be confused about the value of your gold coin. Do you really not know the true value of it?¡± she asked me and I shook my head. Any financial related topics are completely unknown to me right now.

    ¡°I never left my house in the forbidden forest before nor did I do any trading or purchased anything before. Would you be willing to teach me?¡± I asked her.

    Alright, ting ting ting. Education time by Lily sensei. Alright, let us put the value of 1 copper coin to be equivalent to 1 USD. In order to become a silver coin, you will need 50 copper coins. Everything clear so far? Now, in order to become a gold coin, how much silver coin do you need? 25 to be exact. So a gold coin is equivalent to 1,250 copper coins. And I have 12 gold coins with me. That would total up to 15,000 copper coins. That¡¯s 15,000 USD baby!

    GRANDFATHER! Why did you give me so much money?!!

    I immediately kept the gold coin back into my pouch and made a mental note to keep it extra safe inside my dougi. I will never ever let go of this pouch in my entire life.

    The innkeeper came back to the counter with our meal. It was roast purkette that she mentioned earlier. I¡¯ll admit, that certainly looked appetising and smells good too. We began devouring our meals as our hunger kicked in. We literally ate at the counter table as we were too hungry to bother finding another table to eat at. Within minutes, our plates were squeaky clean. Wait, hang on, I take that back. Only mine were clean. Both John and Lily still had some leftovers.

    ¡°Lily, why didn¡¯t you eat the bread crust? It is bad manners to leave some leftovers on your plate,¡± I explained to her.

    ¡°Oh, but the crust is too hard to chew and it¡¯s pretty tasteless anyway. I find it pointless to eat it when it takes so much energy just to chew,¡± she explained her reasoning.

    ¡°Then why did you not dip it in the soup then? Wouldn¡¯t that made it softer?¡± I questioned her.

    ¡°But that would ruin the essence of the soup. Why would I ruin a perfectly good soup?¡± she questioned me back.

    ¡°D¡ª don¡¯t be a Garnt!¡± I yelled at her and she retaliated back with a ¡°Who is Garnt?!¡±

    ¡°Sigh, you will never understand the life of eating soups or stews. What about you, John? Aren¡¯t you going to eat your fruits?¡± I sighed.

    ¡°Hmm? Oh I don¡¯t like these fruits especially when there are oranges. Oranges are hard to peel. I prefer bananas to be honest,¡± he replied.

    I covered my face with both hands. How did I get stuck with these two pampered lords and their horrible trash taste. Oh dear lord, if only your everyday diet consisted of either stew or soups, you would be eating just about anything else that tasted good. I tried to hold myself back at my disappointment with these two but I just snapped.

    ¡°Eat your watermelon, damn it!!¡± I shouted at John.

    The both of them were stunned by my sudden outburst. Realising my mistake, I immediately went back to normal and sat quietly at my seat. Both of them began laughing at my sudden outburst. The innkeeper who was looking at us started chuckling too. She probably found us to be some adorable younglings that just arrived to the city, waiting to discover the harsh reality of the world that awaits us.

    ¡°Rick? Do you mind coming here for a sec?¡± she called out a man who was seated at one of the table nearby.

    He approached the counter brimming with confidence. He seemed strong and I can sense that he had some combat experience under his thumb. But I wonder, if I were to fight him, do I stand a chance at defeating him despite our size difference?

    ¡°Now, how can I serve our lovely innkeep lady? Finally asking me out? Please don¡¯t tell me I have to babysit these three kids tomorrow,¡± asked Rick with a horrified face.

    ¡°This boy over here is looking for mercenaries. I was wondering whether you are interested in his offer? asked the innkeeper.

    ¡°Oh ho, mercenary work requires payment. Are you able to afford to pay in the first place, little man?¡± asked Rick.

    There was no malice in his tone. I guess this is how the way he rolls. And I understand that nothing comes free in this world. I am certainly willing to pay if he is willing to escort me tomorrow.

    ¡°Is this enough for your service?¡± I flicked my gold coin and grabbed it.

    I did not care whether I am overpaying for his service. I just need to secure someone to escort me. That is all I care about right now.

    ¡°A¡ª gold coin?!¡± uttered Rick.

    He was taken aback. Perhaps I am overpaying him.

    ¡°W¡ª what are you asking of us for you to be willing to pay us a gold coin for it?? Hunting dragons? Or demons?¡± he shivered.

    Wow. I did not know a gold coin is enough to hire mercenaries to hunt a dragon. Not too sure about demons though. The power of a gold coin is really painting me to be like some rich bastard ordering people around. But the value of coin is not important to me right now. I just needed him to say yes.

    ¡°I just need you to escort me to a location outside of the city. Think of it as bodyguard work. Protect me from any dangers that might entail. It is about a kilometre from the city heading towards the forbidden forest. A round-way trip, if you don¡¯t mind. Deal?¡± I asked him.

    ¡°T¡ª that¡¯s it? Just an escort mission?¡± he was puzzled by my request.

    I can see that he was baffled. Not only am I overpaying him for a simple escort mission, the journey itself would take like half a day at most. He scratched his cheek with his index finger and called over a female member that was seated at the same table. They whispered to each other and she peeked over his shoulder to glance at me. Ah, I think I heard some form of agreement.

    ¡°Alright¡ª we¡¯ll do it. Meet me at the southern entrance in the morning and we will depart from there,¡± said Rick.

    I gave a sigh of relief. Finally good news today. We shook on it as a pact of agreement.

    ¡°Name¡¯s Zen. See you in the morning,¡± I smiled at him.

    ¡°Rick¡¯s the name. And don¡¯t you worry, our party¡¯s motto is ¡®never gonna give you up¡¯ so you can bet your ass that you can count on us,¡± he smiled with a thumbs up.

    I swear I saw a sparkle from one of his tooth. The female member that he was talking to rushed over and gave him a smack on the head.

    ¡°You mean ¡®we will never give up¡¯! Stop changing our party¡¯s motto at your convenience!¡± yelled the female member as she continued to beat him up.

    Rick was beaten swollen on his cheeks as he was being dragged away by the female member. He was waving at me as he was dragged away. Umm.. okay? I definitely do not want a gung-ho female in my party. Lily is not like this, right? I wonder if mom and dad interacted in a similar manner?

    Alright, now that that¡¯s settled, all we need is a place to rest our head for tonight. I head back to the counter table where John and Lily were talking to the innkeeper.

    ¡°I hope I didn¡¯t miss anything?¡± I asked them.

    ¡°Oh don¡¯t worry, I just secured our rooms for tonight and learned some information about the guilds. Rooms been paid. We can spend the night upstairs,¡± explained Lily.

    What? She had already paid? Is she some angel in disguised or something? Why would she even do that when we literally just met today?

    ¡°Y.. you paid for everything? I even told you that I¡¯ll buy you a meal as an apology. I¡¯ll pay you back after I¡¯ve gotten change for my coins, I swear,¡± I told her.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine, Zen. The both of you helped me out a lot today and you did saved my life. This is nothing really,¡± she blushed a little.

    This is not nothing to me. I will repay her for this. It just feels weird to have her pay for everything. I¡¯m surprised that John did not tried to chip in.

    ¡°John, you alright there? You seemed quiet after dinner,¡± I asked him who appeared to be sweating profusely. Is he holding back his poop or something?

    ¡°Oh erm, I¡¯m okay, really. Just¡­¡± he trailed off.

    Something is definitely wrong here. Lily and I looked at him curiously. He turned to face Lily while placing his hands together.

    ¡°T¡ª thank you so much for paying for my meal and room. I do not have enough money to even last a few days inside the city. I am really grateful for this!¡± John bowed to Lily.

    ¡°How much do you even have with you?¡± asked Lily. Woah, how can you ask someone so directly on how much money they have?

    ¡°I have about¡ª 10 copper coins?¡± answered John while he smiled awkwardly.

    ¡°Wow¡ª you can perhaps survive about three days then you will be sleeping outside on the fourth,¡± smirked Lily with her fu fu remark.

    Her sense of pride is off the charts. I can see that John wanted to retaliate but he gave up knowing that she paid for his room. I chuckled at their funny interactions.

    Alright, time to head up to our rooms. Lily passed a key to each of us as we headed upstairs. We went up two levels and were met with a row of rooms on either sides. And there were about two more levels right above us. Wow, I guess taverns really do earn their money through lodging and accommodations.

    ¡°We¡¯ll head out together tomorrow. Don¡¯t you dare leave without us, Zen. You won¡¯t be going alone,¡± warned Lily as we opened the door to our room.

    I nodded to her. I doubt Lily¡¯s sensitive ears missed out on my conversation with Rick earlier.

    I headed in the room and wow, a proper bed, a cupboard and oh, a small wooden circular bathtub on the right side of the room. Now that is convenient. At least we can bathe in our room peacefully. Sadly, I will need to leave the room to find the restroom which is located outside of each floor.

    I removed Inazuma and placed it at the side of my bed. The bed was really comfy compared to the futon that I slept on for the past 11 years. I can definitely get some sleep with this. I heard some rustling sound and I instinctively sat up. It turns out that Q was looking for me and he somehow managed to find me in this room. Why is he looking for me this late into the night? I rushed over to pick him up from his burrow and I noticed he had tears in his eyes. Ah, he must had missed his night belly rub that grandfather used to massage him with. Q must have been waiting at our hut for hours only to realised that grandfather was not coming back. Damn it, now I am even more worried about him when Q is here with me.

    ¡°Q, I will look for grandfather tomorrow. I will let you know when I find him. I promise you this,¡± I told him as I rubbed his belly. He seems to be enjoying the rub and I knew that he understood what I told him. I placed him back on the floor and he burrowed away, once again leaving no evidence that he was ever here.

    As I continued to lie on my bed, there was a knock on my door. I proceeded to open and saw John and Lily outside. I guess I better let them in.

    ¡°Is something wrong?¡± I asked both of them.

    ¡°First things first, we swear to never leak your H name to anyone in the future. We are friends now and neither of us will rat out a friend that saved our lives,¡± said John.

    ¡°That was your grandfather who saved us, right? We will forever be indebted to him. I pray to the Goddess that he is still alive,¡± said Lily.

    Both of them were concerned about me. I guess they did noticed the change in my tone when I was spoke to Rick. I know very well that deep down, I am frustrated, angry and helpless. But I need to keep that in check as those emotions will not help me now.

    ¡°Thank you, for keeping my last name a secret. I really appreciate it. And thanks for checking up on me. I am fine, you don¡¯t need to worry,¡± I gave a bitter smile to try and assure them that I was indeed fine.

    John gave me a bro hug in an attempt to comfort me. We both gave each other a few pats on the back. He then proceeded to head out the door and left the room. Lily came and hugged me after John had left. I too gave her a few pats but there was no sign of her breaking the hug. Perhaps I was tired or not thinking straight but I spoke to her unintentionally.

    ¡°Lily, do you¡ª like me?¡± I asked her without even realising that I spoke.

    It took me a couple of seconds before I registered what I just said to her. I flustered and broke the hug by grabbing her shoulders.

    ¡°S¡ª sorry, I shouldn¡¯t have said that,¡± I said while looking away.

    What was I thinking in asking such a question. What is wrong with me?

    Silence engulfed both of us. Ugh, things are so awkward now.

    ¡°I¡ª it¡¯s probably due to what happened today. I mean, you looked really cool when you saved me. Not to mention you were some distance away yet you were still able to save me in time,¡± she explained.

    ¡°Wait, you knew I was hiding there? Then how did you not hear the stranger crept up on us?¡± I asked her curiously.

    ¡°Strangely though, the stranger made no noise whatsoever. I was surprised as well when he managed to crept up behind us. Very few things in the this world can crept up on elves without them noticing,¡± she confessed.

    I bet that is true. Their long ears are not just for show and tell.

    ¡°I¡¯ll get over these feelings, Zen. Don¡¯t worry about it. It is probably due to some saviour complex. It¡¯ll go away eventually,¡± she smiled.

    That was the saddest smile I ever gazed upon. But I am in no position to be chasing after her or accepting her when I had not accomplished anything in life. Not to mention I am still worried about grandfather right now.

    ***

    ¡°Wait, is this mommy? I don¡¯t remember..¡± asked my daughter but I shushed her before she could finish her sentence.

    ¡°Shhhh.. don¡¯t spoil the story¡± I told her.

    ***

    Lily headed out the door but told me something before she left.

    ¡°Oh, did you know you have letter behind your back inside your clothes? I¡¯m surprised you left it there,¡± she said.

    W¡ª what letter? How did it even get there?

    She left the room and I quickly stripped my dougi to find the letter. When did it get there and not to mention how? I got my answer after reading its contents. It was from grandfather.

 Chapter 6: Outcome [SUN]

    Chapter 6: Outcome [SUN]

    Dear boy,

    I hope this letter finds you well. If you are reading this, chances are I had already departed from this world. Otherwise I would had taken back this letter without you noticing it. You need to increase your perception, boi! It was way too easy to slip inside your dougi without you even realising it.

    Do forgive my horrible handwriting as I lack of time. You are probably wondering why I prepared such a letter. The hedgehog brought a letter to me from the Elementalist who informed me that a certain infamous assassin was seen wandering around the city recently. You are probably not aware about the massacre of the Hawthorn family that was ordered by the Queen of the City Of Pines. Call me paranoid, but I needed to make sure that you made it safely to the city.

    If anything were to happen to me, do not seek revenge. Live your life to the fullest. I''ve already lived a ripe old age with no regrets. Now is your time to explore this world instead. Make your parents proud.

    Your one & only,

    Ojii-san

    PS: Do not expose your Hawthorn name. Forgive me as it left my mind that I should had informed you about it before you left.

    PPS: If you are in need of more money, you know where I hid them.

    PPPS: Burn my secret books, please. DON''T READ THEM!!

    W¡ª what is with the content of this letter? Why was grandfather expecting the worst? Who is this infamous assassin that would make grandfather prepare such a letter in advance? When did he even slipped it inside my dougi? Who is this "Elementalist" that he is referring to? Damn it, so many questions but no answers.

    I crunched the letter as I gripped my fingers tightly. Tears were forming around the edges of my eyes without me even noticing it.

    Damn it, just damn it. Grandfather, this is not the farewell that I had envisioned for you. How can I bring myself to forget about you without knowing your fate? You were the one who raised me and my only family member in this world. No, there is just no way that I can let it go. I need to know who is this infamous assassin and I am counting on tomorrow to get some answers.

    There was still a couple of hours before dawn arrives. I wiped my tears and laid on the bed, wondering if I can actually catch some shuteye when I am feeling so distraughted right now, as though someone is tugging on the strings of my heart. I gripped my chest and closed my eyes without blowing the candles as I was not expecting to sleep.

    But it turns out I did as I had a very strange dream. A white blueish horse appeared in front of me albeit looking all blurry. I could not focused my vision no matter how hard I tried. It was talking to me but the sound was really muffled. Seemingly confused on what to do, I asked what it wanted.

    "Are you trying to talk to me? Who are you? Do I know you?" I asked.

    All I heard was muffled noises replying me.

    "What are you?" I asked louder.

    Once again, muffled mumbling noises replied me again.

    "What do you want?!" I shouted at as I am confused on what it wants from me.

    "WAKE UP!" was what I heard which prompted me to abruptly sat up from my bed. Not a moment later, I heard someone knocking on my door.

    "Zen, are you awake? We''re heading downstairs for breakfast now," said a voice that sounded like Lily.

    I replied her with an "Okay" and dragged myself out of bed. Ugh, my head is pounding right now. I was certain that I had not drank any alcohol or something. I made my way to wash my face using the basin provided and got ready to head downstairs.

    I grabbed Inazuma and instinctively dropped it. Ouch, what was that? Did it just shocked me? I walked closer to Inazuma which is now on the floor and poked it a couple of times with my index finger. Alright, no more electric shock. That was odd, why did it even shocked me in the first place?

    I made my way downstairs and had breakfast with John and Lily. Once again, Lily had paid for our meals. I really need to get my coins changed as soon as possible. And once again they left some leftovers on their plate which I held back in reprimanding them. Emphasis on tried, really hard!

    Alright, let''s focus on the main objective today. What I need to do is to meet up with Rick and head to the designated location where grandfather was. Right, let''s go.

    ***

    We arrived at the southern entrance where Rick and his party was already waiting. Rick noticed us approaching and waved at us.

    "So, are you ready to go? Let''s get this done before noon approaches," he said.

    "Sure, let''s go," I replied as I flicked the gold coin to him which he catch it smoothly with his hand. I am so close to finding out what had happened to grandfather. Just a moment more and I will have my answer.

    So begin the short journey where we reached the location by around mid morning. Nothing interesting happened on the way which built up my suspense even further with every steps. So near yet so far.

    Huh? What''s going on? It would appear that there are a bunch of crowded people in front of us. Seems to be the location where grandfather fought with the stranger. Cold sweats began to formed at the back of my neck. I ran as fast as I could towards the front, pushing aside a whole bunch of adult legs as they were crowding the whole area.

    Oh lord, what in the world happened here? There is blood literally everywhere. Part of the landscapes were crumbling apart with deep grooves everywhere on the ground. The surrounding trees were shattered or destroyed horribly as well. It would seemed that their battle took them deeper into the forest. I hope these are not grandfather''s blood but his opponent instead.

    I took a deep breath to calm myself. A distracted mind will only serve to hide the truth. Follow the evidence that is present here and you will figure out what happened. I opened my eyes and examined the surroundings. Let''s see, there are bloods at several locations and judging from the direction of the splatter, it would seemed that both of them are wounded. Based on the visible footprints, they had proceeded deeper into the forest. Alright, let''s go. Or that was what I thought when I was suddenly lifted into the air.

    "Hey! No stepping on the scene! Who even let this kid in?!" shouted the soldier.

    He was lifting me up by my dougi. I don''t have time to entertain this soldier. The fate of my grandfather is inside the forest, damn it! I turned my head towards the soldier and glared at him. And guess who it was, it''s Earl.

    "Please put me down. I am investigating on what happened to my grandfather," I told Earl. It would seemed that he did not took it well.

    "Oh lookie here, we got a detective in the midst. Listen here Sherlock, if children were to start running the world then adults would be shaking their legs at home. Go play with a ball or something. We are busy investigating here," said Earl as he tossed me to the ground. Ouch! Damn it, Earl! You''ll pay for that!

    "Woah woah.. calm down there, Mister Soldier," Rick rushed over to calm the situation.

    He placed his arm around Earl''s shoulder and began whispering something to him as they turned their backs towards me. I attempted to pull myself up but John lifted me up immediately by the arm. Why does it seemed as though I weigh nothing? Even John can drag or pull me around without so much as batting an eye. And he is around my height and size! I admit that I am small framed and perhaps a little underweight but I am not that light.

    Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

    After some minor whispering, it would seemed that Rick and Earl had come to an agreement. Probably involving some bribing along the way.

    "Alright, alright fine. You can follow me into the forest. Touch nothing and don''t step on any evidence!" shouted Earl as he gestured us to follow him.

    We headed into the forest following after Earl, making sure to avoid the blood splatters on the ground. There were lesser evidence of blood as we headed deeper into the forest which I am taking it as good news. The less there is the better, I thought to myself.

    We reached a site where trees were pushed aside creating a clearing in the middle. A couple of soldiers were crouched around as though they were searching for something. It was then a soldier rushed towards Earl in a hurry holding something wrapped in a white cloth. My heart began thumping as fear and anticipation engulfed me.

    ***

    Zen seems to be getting restless as we headed closer to the site. He was running with the same speed he used to saved me before towards the crowd. I doubt there are many adventurers who could match his speed despite his age and I¡¯m relatively sure that he does not know it himself.

    From what he told me before, he spent all his time in the forbidden forest and that had caged him from the vast knowledge of this world. He will need to learn more. Perhaps I can tutor him. We can meet up together and I can teach him about currencies, languages and the different races of this world. Maybe I can teach him a thing about women too. He was so cute when I hugged him yesterday. His face was flushed when he pushed me away after he asked that question. What am I saying, I''m sure I was blushing too.

    Hang on, what am I thinking? Begone filthy thoughts! I waved my hands above my head to shoo the thoughts away. Meeting up with him would meant that it¡¯ll be a date. I told him very well that I will get over him. Who wants to be hung over someone who is shorter than me anyway. Not to mention way younger than me. Besides, he is a human. I''ll outlive him within a century. Hmph.

    Hey, what the? Put Zen down! What the hell? Did you seriously just threw him on the ground?! Alright, that''s it. Now I''m angry. You are lucky that John is holding me back. Just you wait, Earl! Your time will come.

    Now what are they whispering about? Oh, it would seemed that they had reached to an agreement. Way to go, Rick. I knew we could count on you.

    We headed into the forest after Rick gave Earl some money. Even with all their whispering, I could hear exactly what they were saying. I guess since Rick had received a gold coin, spending a little to bribe Earl is child''s play.

    We stopped at what looked like some horrifying scene. There were a lot of blood splattered all over the area. Not to mention the destruction here could only be described as having two giant monsters fighting with each other.

    The soldiers around were chatting among themselves as they were searching for something. It would seemed as though they have no idea who this belongs to? An item? Or perhaps a body part? I do hope it belonged to that weirdo. Hate that guy.

    A soldier walked up to Earl, holding something in a white covered cloth filled with blood stains. Earl opened for a peek and sighed. He glanced at Zen with squinting eyes. Is he in a dilemma on whether he should show Zen what is underneath the cloth? Oh, it would seemed like he is going to show him. Wait, what is that? Is that.. a hand? Cut right above the wrist too. Ugh, gross. I wonder who''s hand is that?

    Is it just me, or is the air suddenly getting colder? That¡¯s odd. I can feel cold air enveloping me all of a sudden. The hair at the back of my neck is starting to stand for no reason. What is going on? Why is there a sudden shift in temperature? I turned to look around and everyone seems to be fixated on Zen. Everyone, even John is looking at him with their hands gripping the hilt of their sword. Wait, why? What did Zen even do?! Why does it looked as though you all are going to attack him?!

    I focused on Zen and finally understood why they are acting this way. There was dark aura emitting from him. A different kind of aura that the innkeeper emitted but much much worse. This felt sinister and I can¡¯t shake the thought that he is going to kill everyone here. As time went on, my legs and hands started to shiver. I can see cold breath appearing as I exhaled. What should I do? If I don''t do something, everyone is going to kill Zen. Either that or he¡¯s gonna end up killing us instead!

    ***

    I opened the cloth expecting a head. I was totally prepared for the worst outcome. Yet, I severely underestimated the situation. The moment I saw that hand, something snapped inside of me. I knew who''s hand it was the moment I saw it. It belonged to grandfather. Those wrinkles gave it away along with a birth mark that I had noticed a long time ago. My vision began to turn blurry as dark thoughts filled my head. I lost control and something took over. There was someone or something screaming inside my head demanding for blood, demanding me to kill. I must kill whoever did this. I need to kill him. I¡ª NEED¡ª BLOO...

    "ZEN!!!!"

    I snapped back to reality. That shout had brought back my consciousness. I looked around and saw that Earl had moved some distance away from me with his sword at the ready. That¡¯s odd, I swore that he was right in front of me just a moment ago. What happened? And why did he unsheathed his sword and pointing it at me? I continued to look around, wondering what the others were doing. Huh? Everyone else is holding their weapons at the ready too! And they are glaring at me!

    ¡°Uhh¡ª what is going on?" I asked all of them.

    Everyone tensed down after hearing me speak. Did I do something earlier that made them react this way? Hell, even John pointed his short sword at me.

    Lily ran towards me and stared directly at my face angrily. She was pouting and it would seemed that she wants to scold me. On second thought, she is going to scold me.

    "What the hell was that?! Why did you do that?!" shouted Lily.

    ¡°W¡ª what are you talking about? I didn''t do anything. I was just staring at the hand," I explained.

    "You were doing something weird that made everyone freaked out! Everyone almost attacked you out of fear, Zen!" she continued.

    Goodness, she can be loud and noisy when she gets angry.

    "No kidding, I had cold sweats thinking about it. See, my hands are still shaking. That was some crazy murderous intent, Zen," said John with a dry laughter.

    Murder intent? I released that when I lost myself?

    "You''re really something else, kid. To be able to use "that" without learning how to use it. Not even experienced adventurers can use that effectively in combat," chuckled Rick as he came over.

    "Am I the only one here who is confused about what¡¯s going on? I really didn¡¯t do anything. I just¡ª I lost myself for a second there," I explained to them.

    "If you¡¯re done chatting among yourselves, do you mind leaving us alone now? We are just simple soldiers doing our job here, not to experience something like that!" shouted Earl.

    "Ok ok, we''ll be leaving. Is there nothing else you can find around here? I can vouch that the hand belonged to my grandfather. I am certain of it," I said to Earl.

    "There is nothing else we can find here. From the look of things, two powerful people fought here and that''s all we know. Only this hand was left here. Strangely though, there are no footprints leading away from the crime scene so it is difficult for us to trace which way they went," explained Earl.

    It would seemed that the stranger had won. Damn it, grandfather¡ª where are you now? Your body is not here. Why would the stranger even take your body? To bury it or to continue torturing him for information? Both possibilities angered me further. I am just as confused as I was yesterday since barely anything was answered for me.

    We gave our thanks to Earl and proceeded to head back to the city. There was nothing else that we can do here since there is no trail for us to follow. But one thing is clear for me, I have a main objective now and I intend to see it through. No, I won''t be like a certain vault dweller that goes around on side objectives instead of focusing on the main objective. I will focus on it! Unfortunately, I proved myself wrong.

    Main Objective: Gather information about the infamous assassin and grandfather''s whereabouts.

    My first task is to get stronger and choosing a guild is going to help me with that. I will also need to find out who this "Elementalist" is, which seems to have some deep connection with grandfather. Let us see which one comes first.

    As we were walking back to the city, Rick came up and decided to have a chat with me.

    "Hey, little man. You need to learn to control your emotions before you lose control of yourself again, otherwise someone close to you might end up getting hurt. It affects your surroundings, y''know?" said Rick.

    "It''s been a while since I faced with such intense fear. Not to mention from a little kid. Gosh, what has this world turned into?" he continued.

    "What do you mean? Are you telling me that someone had used this¡ª "technique" before?" I asked him.

    "Well, I won''t exactly call it a technique. It is a more like a "state" that causes other people around you to feel what you¡¯re feeling. Not only is it unpleasant, it is even capable of making people lose control. And to answer your question, it is not exactly "someone" who used it. It was more like "something" instead. A demon we encountered before used something similar. Demons are tough creatures that are known for their lust for blood. They can even instil fear even more than a Shadow Knight like me. So much for the pride of Dark Guild in using spells to de-buffing our enemies," explained Rick with a sigh.

    "You''re in the Dark Guild? Really? You don''t exactly give off any dark vibes. Not to mention your clothings are so colourful," I told him. I thought being in the Dark Guild meant that you are gloomy, gothic or emotional.

    "Haha! Clothings and vibes doesn''t represent which guild you¡¯re from, little man. Joining a guild means that you can learn their skills and follow the path that the guild had set out for you. Well, no one is stopping you should you wish to role-play the guild you joined. Oh hey, you should join the Dark Guild since you already have that¡ª "state" in you. Sort of fits your fighting prowess in instilling fear upon your enemies," he said with a thumbs up.

    I have no idea which guild suits me more. My father was in the Light Guild while mom was in the Viking Guild. How did I even obtained this "fear state¡± thingy that everyone is talking about?

    "I''ll consider my choice after I''ve checked out the other guilds," I smiled at him.

    "Well, from what I can see, you''re definitely not fit to be a viking. Your general strength is kind of low with your petite body. What¡¯s next, you''re not using a spear so the Dragon Guild is out of the question. You can forget about joining the Elemental Guild as they have way too many requirements to even be allowed to join them. All that is left is the Dark or Light Guild," he shrugged.

    Damn it, does everyone have to be so blunt in pointing out my height or size? Geez. Alright, from what he explained, there are a total of 5 different guilds. Wait a minute, Elemental Guild? Is that where the Elementalist is? Perhaps I should check out that guild and ask some questions. A glimmer of hope, finally!

    "Oh, don''t you worry about the test. It will be you facing some rookies. It doesn¡¯t matter if you win or lose as what the Dark Lord sees is your growing potential. At least, that is what the initiation test is for when it comes to the Dark Guild. You''ll pass the test, on that I have no doubt about it," he gave me a thumbs up once more.

    He seems to be hell bent in asking me to join his guild. Like some kind of pitch sale which I am feeling kinda sus right now.

    "We can head to the townhouse after this, Zen. They will explain to us on what each guild represents, offer and which is more suitable for us," mentioned Lily as she was ahead of us. Seriously, nothing escapes her ears.

    "Where did you get that information from?" I asked her.

    "Geez, did you forget? The innkeeper told us after we had our dinner. It was on the house after we were done eating. Just some way for her to earn money instead of telling every new adventurers straight up," she said.

    Information at the cost of a meal? I call that a good deal.

    "Oh right, you were talking to Rick when the innkeeper explained to us. Sorry about that," she said with a cheeky smile.

    Damn it, she can be adorable when she wants to be. I think my heart skipped a bit.

    ***

    "Mom! Dad said you were cheeky and adorable!" shouted my daughter.

    "What the hell? Hey! We don''t even know whether Lily is your mother. Don''t get me in trouble, please," I told her.

    ***

    We reached the city''s southern entrance by noon. So much for being a quick journey. We were about to part ways when Rick came up to me.

    "Hey, sorry about your grandfather. From the looks of it, he was fighting someone strong; judging from the condition of landscapes. But since there is no body found, there is still a chance that he is still kicking out there," said Rick as he handed me back my gold coin.

    I pushed his hand back. Not only did he wasted his time following me, I appreciate his effort in agreeing to escort me in the first place. He could had just walked away or just outright running away after taking my coin. I will not overlook his good nature. I can see that he was taken aback that I rejected in taking back the coin.

    "Keep it. You were willing to accept an offer from a kid. And for that, I am grateful. Thank you for willingly escort me to check on my grandfather," I bowed to him.

    Rick along with the gung-ho female and his other two party members rushed over to stop me from bowing. They were flustered by my action.

    "Alright then, we''ll be going now. See you when I see you, little man," he winked at me.

    "Oh hey, if you do end up choosing the Dark Guild, look for me in the tavern. I''ll be sure keep a close eye on you during the test," he added. I just gave him a nod.

    As they were walking away, he shouted "Never give up, Zen! Never give up or lose hope! Hahaha!"

    What a guy. I do hope we can meet again someday. Who knew that we will end up facing each other in combat.

 Chapter 7: Which Guild? [SUN]

    Chapter 7: Which Guild? [SUN]

    We made our way towards the townhouse which was smack dab in the middle of the city. But before we made our way there, I do have a few stops to visit first. Mainly a bank to get my coins changed, and then probably a blacksmith or merchant to purchase weapons and armours.

    I felt really bad for having Lily pay for literally everything so far. I¡¯ll buy her a bow along with something else to make up for it. And a meal. Speak of the devil, a blacksmith store right up ahead. It had an anvil-shaped sign written ¡®Holly Begonia¡¯ at the main entrance. That name somehow doesn¡¯t fit a blacksmith shop to be honest. But hey, I am in dire need of a spare weapon and armour so right now any blacksmith will do.

    ¡°Guys.. and girl, shall we go there? I need to buy a spare weapon and some armour first if you don¡¯t mind,¡± I asked them.

    ¡°Oh, a workshop! I was looking for one too. I need a new bow before I join a guild,¡± said Lily as she scratched her head feeling flustered.

    ¡°What about you, John? Anything you wish to buy before taking the guild''s test?¡± I asked him.

    ¡°Hm? Nah. This short sword is all I need,¡± he smiled as he flexed his arm.

    Is it really though? Is he just overconfident with his strength? Or perhaps he''s just broke.

    We opened the door and a loud ding could be heard above the door frame. How very smart.

    Now, what do we have here? Hang on, wait a minute, is that¡ª a dwarf? What?! I was certain there was no such species in this world. But no, I did not lie. He is not a dwarf at all. Just a short stouty human with some beard that I had mistaken for a dwarf.

    ¡°C¡¯min lads, what can I do fer ya?¡± asked the blacksmith. Is he just roleplaying or is he yanking with me with the dwarf language?

    ¡°A blade and perhaps some armour please. And a bow for my friend here,¡± I pointed my thumb at Lily.

    ¡°A blade, eh? Hm.. a short sword would suit ya better to be honest. Those skinny arms of yers looked like ye can barely even lift a one-handed sword properly. And perhaps a leather cloak fer ya. I doubt you can move around in a metal armour with that small frame of yers,¡± he judged me while studying my body.

    What is with people judging my size?! Damn it! I am going to get bulkier with more muscle. Just you wait, all of you!

    ¡°Ah, an elf, eh? I got just the bow fer ya. Here ya go, a short bow fer yer long-eared friend,¡± said the blacksmith as he passed the bow to Lily.

    A short bow? I was hoping for something far better than just a short bow after all the things she had done for us thus far. Lily held up the bow and tested the strength of the string. She seems to be satisfied with it seeing that she was smiling after testing it. I was not.

    ¡°Hey uh, smithy. I would prefer if you can give us something better, if you don¡¯t mind? ¡° I whispered to him.

    ¡°Well, I do have better guds behind, but¡ª do ya have enuff money in da first place?¡± he questioned me with a raised eyebrow.

    ¡°Will this suffice?¡± I asked him as I showed him three gold coins. His eyes glimmered at the sight of it and started laughing.

    ¡°Ho ho! Why didn¡¯t ya say so earlier?! Let me bring out some good stuffs fer ya. Hold up a min,¡± said the blacksmith as he headed to an area behind the counter.

    While we waited for the blacksmith to return, we continued browsing what available items was on display. John took noticed of a metal armour and lifted it. He seemed interested in it but when I asked whether he wanted it, he told me that the guild he is planning to join generally do not favour wearing heavy armour. A guild that doesn¡¯t favour heavy armour? Got to be the Viking Guild. I tried to lift the armour that John had just lifted. Holy, what the¡ª it weighs like 20 kilograms or so. How did John lifted it with no effort at all?! Am I really that weak in this world?

    I gestured Lily to come over and asked her to try lifting the armour. She was indeed able to lift it but with difficulties. Alright phew, I am fine. I am FINE~ But Lily is a girl. Men are supposed to be stronger in general. I feel so sad right now.

    The blacksmith returned with a number of items in his hands. Now we¡¯re talking. What do we have here? Now that is a good looking bow. Despite not being coated with gold or silver, but it had a beautiful wooden finish and design with a thicker string that looked it packs a punch. What else? Some cloaks, daggers and short sword among the other things that I can see.

    I passed the bow to Lily for her to try out. She hesitated and shook her head as she knew that it is going to be expensive from looking at it. I shoved the bow to her and proceeded to check for a cloak and perhaps a short sword for me.

    Hm, leather cloak, another leather cloak, why is all of these leather cloak? I¡¯m sure I can wear something a little stronger or better than leather, right?

    ¡°Hey smithy, these are all leather cloaks. Got anything with more protection that I can wear? I asked him.

    He put on a thinking face and gave some thoughts. A light bulb appeared above his head and he went to the back to grab something again. I continued to browse the items that he had brought out earlier. Oh hey, that is a nice looking dagger. Looks kind of elvish in nature.

    ¡°Hey Lily, come take a look at this,¡± I called Lily over.

    ¡°What is it? W¡ª what is this doing here? Elven weaponry are not supposed to be on sale. No less inside a human¡¯s shop!¡± Lily was surprised and raised her voice as though she was angry when I showed her the dagger.

    ¡°Hey hey.. some elf sold it ta me a few years ago. Sayin¡¯ sumthin about needin¡¯ money ta go somewhere. I took pity on da fella and decided ta buy it from im. Yer can¡¯t blame me fer helpin¡¯ an elf in need, can ya?¡± explained the blacksmith as the came back holding a black cloak which he handed it to me.

    ¡°How¡¯s it? Suits ya nicely, ain¡¯t it?¡± he asked as he awaited my reaction.

    I inspected the cloak before putting it on. It has a silky texture but there was some weight to it. Not too heavy but not too light either. I pressed my fingers onto the silk. Woah, there are chains woven together hidden underneath the silk. Is this some sort of chainmail hidden as a cloak?

    ¡°Individual chains hidden beneath the silk. Very interesting indeed. What¡¯s the story behind this cloak?¡± I asked the blacksmith. I was certain that someone else made it rather than the blacksmith himself.

    ¡°Diz here is ma masterpiece. Individual carbon steel chains woven together tightly and wrapped with the best silks available in this city. This sucka¡¯ will easily stop a direct stab or a slice from a sword. Will still hurt ya though but at least ya won¡¯t be bleedin¡¯. And probably less effective in blocking a direct strike from a two-handed weapon, so ya still need ta be really careful against large weapons,¡± he explained.

    Okay, guess I was wrong about him making it. But I am certainly liking what I am hearing so far.

    ¡°What about this elven dagger? Is it up for sale?¡± I asked the blacksmith while ignoring Lily. I really like this dagger.

    ¡°It is, which I why I brought it out since ya looked like ya can afford it. Won¡¯t be cheap though,¡± he shrugged.

    I unsheathed the dagger. Should I really call it a dagger honestly? It is longer than a standard knife and almost the length of a short sword. It has beautiful design with yellow hilt and scabbard. It is light-weighted albeit not as light as Inazuma which is perfect for me. I can definitely see myself using this dagger, would love it to be my sidearm.

    ¡°Are you really planning on buying that?¡± Lily came up and asked behind me. I turned to looked at her as I held the dagger. I don''t feel like letting this go.

    ¡°May I? I won¡¯t buy it if you¡¯re uncomfortable with me using it or if it goes against your culture,¡± I asked her.

    Obviously that was a lie. I really wanted this dagger. I showed her a sad face which thankfully worked in my favour.

    ¡°Alright fine, you can buy it. At least it''s better in your hands than being kept in a human¡¯s workshop. You have my permission,¡± said Lily as she made a sad smile. Alright, she caved. Heh heh.

    ¡°How much for all of these, mister?¡± I asked the blacksmith.

    ¡°Hm, let¡¯s see. The bow, cloak and dagger.. 2 gold and 20 silver coins. It is ma best offer including discounts seeing as ya bought so many items so far,¡± he said with a smile.

    ¡°In that case, equip my other friend here with a weapon to make it a solid 3 gold coins. I am in a spending mood today,¡± I smiled back to the smithy.

    He seemed delighted to hear it as he walked towards John who had been browsing the shop looking for a weapon.

    ¡°Wait, hold up. You¡¯re paying for my bow? No way. I never agreed to that, Zen. I am paying for my own bow,¡± Lily pestered me.

    ¡°Nonsense, you paid for everything thus far. It is only fair that I, at the very least, pay for your bow. Consider this as thanks for helping me. Just think nothing of it,¡± I told her.

    ¡°What do you mean nothing? This composite bow costs a lot! It would cost at least 10 silver coins at the bare minimum. I am not letting you pay for it, Zen. Uh-uh,¡± she raised her head and crossed her arms.

    She can be real stubborn sometimes. Cute, but stubborn. Now, how can persuade her. Hmm, I guess I should let my instinct take over. I placed my index finger on her lips. She was taken aback by my sudden actions and she started blushing a little.

    ¡°Lily, you had done so much for me and I deeply appreciate it. At least allow me to return the favour and get you something as thanks. Consider it a gift for everything you had done and for allowing me to purchase this dagger, alright?¡± I lifted my finger away.

    She quickly turned her head to the side with her ears turning red. I noticed she placed her hand on her chest as well. Is she alright?

    ¡°Heya kid, top-up dis here axe fer ya red-haired friend and dis short sword fer ta lovely lady and we¡¯ll call it even. Deal?¡± asked the smithy.

    ¡°You got yourself a deal, mister!¡± I replied as I passed the gold coins towards him. Lily was shocked by the sudden additional short sword for her.

    The blacksmith brought the axe over to the counter which made me looked twice.

    ¡°Uh, John? Are you sure you can wield this? It looks pretty big to me,¡± I stared at John with wide eyes.

    It is an adult sized double-headed axe. It would be very awkward to see a kid holding an adult sized axe and swinging it around during combat.

    "What do you mean? I can even wield it one-handed, see?¡± John lifted the axe with ease. What the blazes? Is this guy superman or something?!

    ¡°Hoo¡ª yer family''s bloodline iz strength-based, eh? Ya should join da Viking Guild then! They value strength over anything else over there!¡± laughed the blacksmith.

    ¡°Yeah that was what I had in mind! You think I can succeed in joining the Viking Guild?!¡± asked John with an excited tone.

    The both of them appeared to hit things off and started chatting about the test and requirements for the Viking guild, among other things.

    ¡°Yer¡¯ll be fine! Just show off yer strength in front of em and they¡¯ll be beggin'' ya to join! Hahahaha!¡± laughed the blacksmith.

    While John and the blacksmith continued their conversation, Lily suddenly nudged me from behind. Seems like she wants me to follow her? But where to? We went behind one of the shelfs that was displaying some armours. What is going on? Ouch. Did she just hit me on my head?

    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

    ***

    This guy¡ª this guy this guy. I was trying my hardest to get over him and yet here he is making my heart flutter like crazy. He even placed his finger on my lips earlier and smiled gently at me. What was he thinking?! Is he trying to give me a heart attack or something? Geez! My heart had been beating non-stop ever since!

    Not to mention he just bought a composite bow and an extra short sword? The composite bow on its own was already expensive enough and he just paid for me. Flaunting around his wealth, is he? Gosh!

    John and the blacksmith suddenly started chatting away non-stop after John showed his strength to him. Now is my chance to talk with Zen. I need to give him a piece of my mind. Alright, seems like we are hidden enough from those two.

    Damn it! Why are you tilting your head all of a sudden?! You look way too cute now! Argh, that does it. Let me give him a light punch to the head for making me all flustered right now. He seems confused by my punch. Good, that''s for toying with my heart. Ugh, it is still beating so hard that I can practically hear it. I hope my ears are not burning red now.

    Oh shoot, I need an excuse for dragging him over here. Umm.. um¡­ oh right. I can use that as an excuse.

    ¡°Zen, in order for you to use that dagger, there is a custom which we elves perform before we pass it to another person. We will need to perform the weapon transfer process before you can use your dagger to its full potential. The weapon needs to know that it is being transferred to a new master, which is you. Now, close your eyes please,¡± I told him.

    Can I even do this properly? My heart is still fluttering like crazy right now.

    ***

    Alright, my eyes are closed. What''s gonna happen now? Huh? Did she just grabbed my hands? What is going on?

    I decided to take a quick peek. Her face was directly in front of me. Our foreheads were touching and the dagger was held in between our hands. If I were to move my head forward, I might accidentally¡ª kiss her. She started chanting something. Probably some elven language that I never heard before. Woah¡ª the dagger is shining! I better keep my eyes shut now.

    Some moments later, it would seemed that the custom is done. She pulled her head and hands back immediately the moment it was done after. When I opened my eyes, she had turned her back towards me. Now that was something else. My heart is still beating loudly even now. I thought she was going to kiss me when she moved her face so close to mine. What was I even thinking?

    John was still talking to the blacksmith. They seemed to had hit it off extremely well.

    ¡°Shall we go? We still have to visit the townhouse today,¡± I explained to John who seem to have forgotten about it. He gasped and started running out of the shop while grabbing his new axe and waved goodbye to the blacksmith. Lily and I waved to the smithy too before we left the store. Farewell you dwarf looking human.

    ¡°Thanks for the axe, Zen. I will repay both of you someday. So, shall we head straight to the townhouse?¡± asked John with a grin on his face. His eyes were practically sparkling right now. I guess the blacksmith had buttered him up nicely.

    ¡°Sure, I hope there is a bank on the way for me to change my coins first,¡± I told him.

    ¡°Um, Zen? The bank is right over there,¡± Lily pointed her finger.

    Well what do you know, it is just right by the side of the blacksmith shop. Probably expecting people to withdraw money to spend on weapons and armours. How sneaky.

    I decided to change 4 of my gold coins into a mix of silver and copper coins, all the while having the receptionist glancing suspiciously at me when I showed her the gold coins. What is wrong that I have gold coins with me? I''m not rich, my grandfather is.

    Counting my remaining coins, I still have four gold coins with me. Useful on a rainy day. Not to mention grandfather had left me with some extra coins at home. You''re wondering why I am not afraid that people might steal it? Nah. In the first place, it''s called the forbidden forest for a reason. Second, it is hidden somewhere you least expect it. Is it above the ceiling? Nope. Under the floorboards perhaps? Nada. It is actually hidden under a tree outside where we had covered the hole leaving no evidence that it had ever been dug.

    Alright, coins changed. Let us proceed to the townhouse. Enough distractions for today and it''s about time we choose a guild for real. As we walked towards the city centre, I noticed that there were completely no stores along the side of the street. You would think that people will be selling their goods right out in the open. Is there some sort of event or festival that is preventing them from opening?

    We reached the townhouse by evening time. Glad that it''s still opened. It resembled a church from the outside. Perhaps it''s to show people that younglings are getting blessed from their knowledge to become better adults.

    As we headed in, we were greeted by a receptionist who was waving at us. I decided to look around first while John and Lily headed towards the receptionist. There were quite a number of kids similar to our age talking to other receptionists. I guess this receptionist happened to be free which is why she was willing to call out to us directly.

    ¡°Well, hello there. Are you three applying to join a guild? Now, let me clarify first before we start. You can join any guild you like but that does not mean that the guild is willing to accept you. Our job here is to narrow down your selections so as to improve your chances in getting selected with guilds that complements your stats. Are we clear on that?¡± the receptionist asked us.

    The three of us nodded our heads in unison.

    ¡°Alright, before I begin, each of you take this scroll and blow on it. Go on, don¡¯t be shy. Everyone does the same when they have to check their stats,¡± explained the receptionist.

    Knowing our stats just by blowing onto this? Really?

    "WOO HOO!!"

    I turned my head towards whoever shouted that. It was John. He seemed to be jumping for joy and showed his scroll to the receptionist with sparkling eyes.

    ¡°I can join the Viking guild with this, right? RIGHT?!¡± he asked with eager anticipation.

    The receptionist was taken aback by his enthusiasm and smiled awkwardly. She gestured John to wait for the both of us before she explained further. Oh well, here goes nothing.

    FUUUU!

    Huh. Not bad, I guess? My stats aren''t too shabby. I took a peek at Lily¡¯s scroll. What the? Her stats are even better than mine!

    Zen

    Strength - 15

    Skill - 10

    Agility - 20

    Constitution - 10

    Lily

    Strength - 13

    Skill - 20

    Agility - 15

    Constitution - 15

    I hid my scroll underneath my cloak quickly. I glanced at Lily who appeared to be chuckling. She definitely saw mine. Geez, how embarrassing. What is the point of doing all those vigorous training with grandfather when my stats are still so weak?! Sigh.

    I handed my scroll to the receptionist where she studied our scrolls. Then she began with her explanation about what each stats meant. Let me summarise for all of you. Strength is the most important stats you need. It determines your attack power and ability to wield heavier items. Skill are sort of useful but the adventurers in this continent rarely utilises skill stats in combat with the exception of the Elemental guild. Agility on the other hand determines your movement speed including your reaction speed while constitution is sort of like your health and resistance towards the types of damage you receive. I guess this means that I will die before Lily then. Goodbye world.

    Next, she explained about the 5 guilds that are available in the city. There are the Dark, Light, Dragon, Viking and Elemental guild. Everyone will start out as a warrior no matter which guild they joined. Then the ranking is as follows.

    Dark Guild

    Swordsman > Fighter > Shadow Knight > Dark Knight [Dark Lord Guildmaster]

    Light Guild

    Paige > Crusader > Templar > Paladin [Paladin Lord Guildmaster]

    Dragon Guild

    Spearman > Lancer > Dragon Warrior > Dragon Knight [Dragon Lord Guildmaster]

    Viking Guild

    Axeman > Great Axeman > Twin Axe > Great Viking [Viking Lord Guildmaster]

    Elemental Guild

    Trainer > Fire Warrior > Shock Trooper > Blitz Knight [Elementalist Guildmaster]

    She continued in explaining about what each guild is specialised in. Dark guild focuses on instilling fear and de-buffing their enemies with spells. Light guild, on the other hand, focuses on buffing your allies and yourself. Dragon guild focuses on utilising range attacks with their spears or halberds combined with their athletic abilities. Viking guild favours strength and uses axes majority of the time. Elemental guild is more of a specialised guild that focuses on using elemental damage such as fire or electric. Hence, the reason why many people are not qualified to join this guild is due to the controversy of those spells. Based on this, she returned our scroll to us with a stamp at the bottom, signifying which guild suits us more based on our stats.

    Zen > Dark or Light guild

    Lily > Elemental guild

    John > Viking guild

    I took a quick peek at John¡¯s scroll to see what is his stats distribution are. Oh my lord, his stats favours strength heavily. No wonder he is fit to join the Viking guild.

    Strength - 30

    Skill - 5

    Agility - 5

    Constitution - 20

    ¡°So, are you satisfied with our explanation?¡± asked the receptionist.

    ¡°I¡¯m¡ª qualified to join the Elemental guild? What are my chances of succeeding in joining this guild? I thought it was a specialised guild?¡± asked Lily. I was surprised as well that she was recommended to join the Elemental guild over the others.

    ¡°Your skill stats are certainly high enough to join the Elemental guild. Elves are generally skilled beings since they practice using bow, throwing spears or daggers when they were young. All three items requires some level of skill to use properly. Which is why your skill stats are so high. However, you will need to be discipline in using your spells. Many houses were destroyed in the past due to some of the members playing with their fire spells. Due to this, the guild decided to impose a strict requirement in order to join them,¡± she explained to Lily with a smile.

    Lily seemed to be contemplating on whether it is a good idea to join the Elemental guild.

    ¡°Excuse me, you gave me an option. Does this mean I can choose either of these two guilds? Do I need to make a decision now?¡± I asked the receptionist.

    ¡°You can decide whichever you wish to join later. Just head over to the guild that you had chosen and pass them the scroll. They will check your stats along with our recommendation stamp,¡± she smiled.

    Guess what Rick said was true. I am suitable for these two guilds. Oh well, sorry about that Luke, Darth Vader calls for me. Heh heh.

    We gave our thanks and bid farewell to the receptionist lady. Lily was quiet after she was recommended to join the Elemental guild. She must still be contemplating on whether she should join the Elemental guild. Is there a reason as to why she doesn''t want to join the Elemental guild?

    ¡°Are you alright, Lily? You seems to be awfully quiet,¡± I asked her.

    ¡°Yeah, you don¡¯t seemed to be interested in joining the Elemental guild, I take it?¡± John asked her too.

    She kept quiet. Is she crying?

    ¡°If¡ª if we joined our respective guilds¡ª we won¡¯t be able to see each other much, won¡¯t we? I don¡¯t want us to separate when we had just met with each other,¡± she sniffled. Ok, she is really crying.

    ¡°W¡ª we can still meet up every once in a while. The ¡®Sleeping Daisies¡¯ will always be there. We¡¯ll meet there every now and then to talk about our adventures. Won¡¯t we, John?¡± I poked John with my elbow.

    ¡°Oh definitely! This is not goodbye at all, Lily. We will still be meeting each other often. Then we will have plenty of stories to talk about. Don¡¯t worry, our friendship will always stay strong!¡± said John as he petted Lily¡¯s head.

    She pushed his hand away after a few pats.

    ¡°Hmph! I¡¯m going to be stronger than the both of you the next time we meet. Then I¡¯ll tell you all about my grand adventures,¡± she said while folding her arms.

    There were still a bit of tears at the edges of her eyes but at least she was smiling now. Great, I never knew what to do to comfort women when they starts to cry, aside from being completely silent. Lily is literally the first female that I had ever interacted in my life.

    ¡°You¡¯re on!¡± shouted John as he flexed his arm.

    Lily held out her pinkie and we responded to her pinkie swear. The three of us made a promise to be friends forever and meet often to talk about our adventures. Sadly, the latter did not come true.

    We headed back to the tavern as it was nighttime now. Another night of lounging and dinner at the ¡®Sleeping Daisies¡¯ it is. Rick was here as he promised. I informed him that I will be taking the test to join the Dark guild tomorrow. He cheered happily and seemed eager to see me in action for the test.

    Our meals arrived and the three of us sat at a table together. We shared a drink to signify our friendship and soon after, retired to our respective rooms which I paid for this round. It was a tiring day today.

    As we made ourselves comfortable in our room, I called out to Q in hopes that he can hear me. I was genuinely surprised when he poked his head out of the ground. I did my best to explain to him about what happened to grandfather. Seemingly understanding every word I just told him, he started crying as though he knew that grandfather might no longer be in this world. I hugged and comforted him; telling him that he can continue with his duty by serving me instead. Seemingly cheered up a little, he burrowed away; not before making a "kew" noise as though he agreed to serve me.

    I had always wondered, if John or Lily happened to saw me talking to Q, would they think I''ve lost it? Not to mention I was comforting him when I was feeling sad myself. It would certainly be awkward to explain to them about Q''s intelligence.

    Before heading to bed, I thought that I should perform some meditation to sort out my troubled feelings. Grandfather always told me that having a clear mind before bed helps with your sleep, which in turn makes you more effective in combat.

    ¡°Finally decided to clear your mind, I see,¡± said a figure in front of me.

    Huh? Who is this? Or more like, why is everything white? Did I fell asleep?

    ¡°I understand that you are confused. After all, this is our first time meeting each other,¡± he continued.

    Oh, it¡¯s the blurry looking horse that I saw the other night. Hang on, is it even a horse? It has a horn.

    ¡°Are you¡ª a unicorn?¡± I asked curiously.

    ¡°H¡ª how dare you! I am Kirin! Not some western mythical being that shoots rainbow from the rear!¡± scolded Kirin.

    His voice rumbled the entire world that I am residing in now. I immediately sat on the floor seiza style.

    ¡°I am sorry, please forgive me,¡± I apologised and bowed my head to Kirin.

    The world suddenly changed to a grassland and I ended up kissing dirt as I was bowing to him. It was but grassland which can be seen for miles. Is this world created by Kirin?

    ¡°More importantly, you lost control, boy! You allowed your bloodlust to consumed your mind!¡± he shouted.

    Gah! This horse is scolding me right in front of my face! Stop shaking this world any further!

    ¡°B¡ª bloodlust? Is that what everyone was talking about?¡± I asked him.

    "Hmph. You are still too young to be using State of Mind effectively. You need to more experience before you start using it. However, you should not be using Bloodlust if you wish to wield me. I favour a calmness over the destructive path. You must learn to control your emotions from now on. Do not forget this,¡± he explained to me with a puff from his nose.

    Is it just me, or is this Kirin acting like a Tsundere?

    ¡°Wield you? Are you inside Inazuma? You, who is a mythical being is living inside my kodachi now?¡± I asked him with genuine curiosity. I thought it was just a plain kodachi in the first place.

    ¡°I am Inazuma. And I am a Celestial Being. What you are wielding is a legendary weapon. I came to this world in hopes of seeing what it have to offer. I decided to become a weapon to see whether there was any worthy being capable of wielding me. Your father, was the first and he wielded me effectively. He was a genius. Capable of achieving greatness before he fell at the hands of the Demon King,¡± he explained. I detected a hint of sadness in his voice. Is he sad that my father died?

    ¡°Can you tell me more about my father? I barely knew him. He was a Hawthorn, right?¡± I asked him. Kirin might be my only chance of getting answers about my parents.

    ¡°I wish I can tell you more but time is short. Your basic meditation only granted you a short amount of time to talk to me. You need to improve yourself in controlling your mind, only then you''ll be able to speak more to me,¡± said Kirin as he started fading away.

    ¡°Hey wait! I am not done yet¡­¡­..,¡± I shouted but everything was starting to fade white.

    ***

    I opened my eyes abruptly. I glanced at Inazuma and decided to poke it. Is it going to zap me? I guess not.

    Dawn was approaching. Seeing that it was pointless to fall back asleep, I decided to perform some basic exercise and sword training. I decided to use the elven dagger for my sword training as Inazuma practically weigh close to nothing. I swung the dagger to test the weight. Not bad at all. I am starting to like this dagger even more now.

    After I was done with my training followed by a quick bath, I knocked on John and Lily¡¯s room, telling them to meet me downstairs for breakfast. We will be going our separate ways to our respective guilds after this to take our test. We gave our last ¡®kanpai¡¯ and headed out. Lily bowed to both of us which we gladly returned. She suddenly rushed towards me and gave me a hug. I was stunned that she was daring enough to hug me in public but I understood her feelings. I petted her head and told her that everything is going to be alright. She smiled and gave a light bow once again before proceeding to her guild.

    Alright, time to head out. To the Dark guild it is. I am going to hold back in visiting the Elemental guild to search for the Elementalist. I doubt he will even bother to see me as I had not made any name for myself. A little fame is all I need to ensure that I can meet him.

    It was not long until I reached the guild. I stood in front of a huge dark coloured building that can perhaps fit thousands of people. Definitely Dark guild material with that colour scheme. Hopefully, I will have a room of my own *fingers crossed.

    I knocked on the main door and peeked in. There was a receptionist waiting to greet anyone who comes in. I greeted her with a smile and handed her my scroll as per the townhouse receptionist''s advice. She opened and read the contents.

    ¡°Are you sure you wish to join the Dark guild instead of the Light? You have an option to choose here,¡± she smiled.

    ¡°Yes, I am sure. Please let me join your guild,¡± I bowed to her. She continued to smile at me.

    ¡°With your word, I will process your application. Please wait here while I submit your application and inform the Guildmaster,¡± she gestured me to sit down. I guess there are paperworks to be done before my test.

    After waiting for a time, she came back and gestured me to follow her. We passed through an area that looked like a cafeteria of some sort. I guess there is a kitchen here for members to eat. As we headed further in, we came to a stop at a small open arena. This must be where I will be taking my test.

    ¡°Do you wish to change your clothing before taking the test? Your cloak is not allowed but your dougi is fine,¡± she informed me.

    ¡°What about my weapons? Am I allowed to use them?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°You will be using a wooden sword. But if possible, try to avoid hitting your opponent badly. The Dark Lord favours those who can control their strength over beating their opponents excessively,¡± she explained to me.

    ¡°Alright then. I¡¯ll just put my weapons at the side here? I¡¯ll remove my cloak too,¡± I said to her.

    ¡°You can just pass them to me. I¡¯ll hold onto them until your test is done,¡± she smiled.

    I passed my cloak and weapons to her and headed into the arena where Rick greeted me on the way in.

    ¡°Yo, give it your best. I will be watching you,¡± he said while tapping my shoulder. Now that is some minor encouragement there.

    I continued into the arena. It was not grand per se. I can see that it is mainly used for training purposes. Not a lot of people watching which I am grateful for. But what stood out the most is the glare coming from someone sitting above the arena. That must be the Dark Lord. He certainly lives up to his title, alright. Black armour, check. Dark glare, check. Evil aura, triple check!

    I stood alone in the arena as I waited for an instruction. A moment later, someone came out holding two wooden swords. He was wearing training clothings. He tossed one of the wooden sword at me which I managed to grab skilfully. Not a moment later, I heard the word ¡°Begin¡± coming from above.

    ***

    Rick¡¯s perspective

    I am so glad that Zen had decided to join us. I can see that he has potential to be strong. I¡¯ve even spoken to the Dark Lord earlier telling him that a special kid will be joining us soon. I hope my expectations does not fail me. Otherwise I¡¯ll be in trouble for sure. The Dark Lord will be giving me terrible jobs for the next few months if Zen ended up failing the test!

    Oh, he¡¯s here. I hope I look cool when I gave him some encouragements earlier. That should persuade him to fight harder. Well well, this guy will be fighting him, eh? Heard he is the strongest rookie we have this year. He is at the rank of Swordsman and is ready to become Fighter rank soon. I wonder how will Zen fare in sparring with him? Ain¡¯t no shame in losing though. The Dark Lord pays attention to many other aspects rather than just winning or losing.

    Huh? What the hell just happened? The strongest rookie is flat on the ground now? When did Zen even hit him? A referee went up to check on the rookie. I guess he is out cold. Woah, that is¡ª amazing. I¡¯m a Shadow Knight and I can barely saw what happened earlier.

    ¡°Next¡± said the Dark Lord.

    Seems like he wants to test Zen¡¯s potential even further. Wait a minute, this guy is a Fighter rank! Is the Dark Lord seriously asking a Fighter rank to spar with a newbie? For real? Next thing you know¡­.

    Pap!

    The fighter rank fell to the ground. What the¡ª hell is going on? Did Zen just seriously defeated a Fighter rank with just a strike? The whole arena was dead silent as the members figures out what just happened. This boy is crazy!

    The Dark Lord seemed to be contemplating on what to do next. Surely the Dark Lord is not stupid enough to¡ª ¡°Rick, how about you head in?¡±

 Chapter 8: Initiation [SUN]

    Chapter 8: Initiation [SUN]

    Rick¡¯s name was called. I guess I will be sparring with him then. But he is a Shadow Knight. The second highest rank in the ranking system. He¡¯ll definitely be different than the two that I just fought earlier. Can I even call it a fight? They barely even moved when I charged at them and hit their shoulder or neck. I swear I did not hit them hard. I swear!

    But¡ª why Rick though? I was certain there are other rookies in the arena. The second rookie I faced earlier was stronger than the first but he didn¡¯t react to my attack either. Odd.

    Rick headed up onto the arena while scratching his head. He asked the Dark Lord to reconsider his decision to which he replied ¡°You vouched for him, didn¡¯t you?¡±. Rick was speechless upon hearing that. He then picked up the wooden sword on the ground and stood ready to face me. I can see that he was reluctant but I, on the other hand, was excited. Time to find out whether my perception was right. Can I really beat him? I raised my hand and Rick was surprised.

    ¡°May I spar with my weapon? I will be using the blunt side as I wished to spar at my best,¡± I bowed to the Dark Lord. He gave me his death stare. Even while looking down, I can still feel his glare piercing into my very soul.

    ¡°You may. What about you, Rick? Do you wish to use your weapon?¡± Dark Lord smirked.

    Rick declined. No doubt he will surely be embarrassed if he were to actually use his weapon against a newbie. The receptionist brought over my weapons to me. I grabbed Inazuma and slotted it at my hip.

    ¡°Rick, I wish to spar with you at my best. I need to know what is my strength level and how I can improve myself. I hope you are willing to teach me as my senpai,¡± I bowed to him. He got flustered and started rubbing his nose.

    ¡°Well¡ª if you put it that way¡ª Alright then,¡± he scratched his head.

    Looks like he is getting serious now. I heard the word ¡°Begin¡± but I did not move. Unlike the two previous rookies, Rick was calm and emitted a dangerous aura. This must be the Fear spell that the Dark guild was infamous for. Makes you think twice before rushing in to attack. I breathed deeply and exhaled twice. Then I rushed towards him and attacked.

    ***

    Rick¡¯s perspective

    Look at this guy getting all cocky. Not to mention getting me all excited over a sparring test. This is just supposed to be an initiation test! Damn. Look at him using his cute starry eyes asking me to teach him. Called me senpai too!

    Damn it, I must have a soft spot for this kid. I¡¯ll teach him alright. I¡¯ll teach him what it means to be in the Dark guild.

    I started with the guild¡¯s signature Fear spell. This will make your opponent think twice before attacking you and if you succumb to it, you¡¯ll lose all morale or even the will to fight. Hm? He¡¯s using breathing technique to calm himself. What a kid. Most newbie would had cowered in fear or ran away by now. You¡¯re really something else. Made me chuckle a little too.

    W¡ª what? He disappeared when I blinked? Woah!!

    pap!

    I managed to block his attack that was aiming for my neck. Geez, how fast is this kid? Oh shit, here comes more.

    pap pap pap pap!

    Holy shit, I managed to blocked them all! This kid is aiming to knock me out as quickly as possible. His swings were not heavy but his speed and his attack speed is unbelievable. He is swinging his blade around like a piece of toy with that skinny arms of his. What do I even have to teach him? My agility is not that fast anyway. Oh boy, here he comes again!

    I am doing everything I can to block his attacks. I am at my wits end here. Blocking is all I can do now when he is on the offensive. If I miss even one, I will be kissing the ground. Good thing he is using the blunt side as he promised. But still, damn it!

    Woah!! I managed to dodge away but he cut some of my front hair. Not the hair!!

    I am panting heavily now and so is he. Wait, is he really? No, he is just panting normally. We exchanged blows after blows and it was mostly me defending myself. Shit, what a joke. And¡ª he¡¯s coming again.

    Bloody hell, his agility is off the charts. Not to mention he is nimble and attack with precision. I am losing control of this fight. So much for being a Shadow Knight when I can¡¯t even beat a newbie. Damn it! I am losing my footing here. Shit shit!

    ***

    Zen¡¯s perspective

    What¡¯s going on, why isn¡¯t he attacking me? I thought cutting his hair would had made him angry but he was surprisingly calm. Not bad, Rick.

    Guess I will have to push the attack since he is being so defensive. So far, all he¡¯s done is block all of my attacks. Aiming for his vitals to knock him out cold isn¡¯t as easy as I thought. I just have to keep pushing until an opportunity arises. There! He¡¯s about to lose his balance. Now I just need to aim for his¡­.

    A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

    ¡°Shadow Strike!¡± Rick shouted all of a sudden. His parry became heavy and it pushed back my attack causing me to be exposed mid-air. Damn it! I fell to the ground, landing on my shoulder as his heavy parry had caught me off-guard completely. I tried to get up as fast as I could but Rick was already pointing his wooden sword at my face.

    Alright, I¡¯ll admit defeat. No point in continuing any further.

    Loud applause could be heard from the spectator¡¯s seats. Since when did so many people came to watch? I must had been so focused on this fight that I had noticed them. Rick held out his hand which I gladly accepted.

    ¡°Geez kid, you¡¯re crazy! To force me to use Shadow Strike in an initiation test, you¡¯re going to be stupidly strong in the future. Ah, damn it,¡± said Rick while panting heavily.

    I just fought at my best. Am I really that strong when I still lost to you?

    ¡°Where did you learn how to fight?¡± asked the Dark Lord.

    ¡°My grandfather was the one who taught me. Today was my first time sparring with someone else,¡± I told him.

    Was that.. a smile? Did the Dark Lord seriously just smiled? That was the evilest smile I had ever seen in my entire life.

    ¡°Initiate Zen, I welcome you to the Dark guild. You will start out as a warrior rank until I deemed fit to rank you higher. Miss Angelica, please escort our new warrior initiate to his room,¡± ordered the Dark Lord.

    Ah well, everybody have to start somewhere, I suppose. Rick seemed to disagree though. He went towards the Dark Lord trying to convince him about something. The receptionist came to me and handed back my things which I gladly receive.

    ¡°Miss Angelica, I take it?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°Yes, that is correct. Do follow me so I can show you to your room,¡± she gestured me to follow her.

    And so I did. All the while praying extremely hard that I do not have to live with a roommate or if I really do, one that is not annoying, filthy or hard to live with.

    To my genuine surprise, I do have a room of my own. While it is smaller than the room that I stayed at the tavern, but hey, as long as I have my own privacy.

    ¡°This will be your room. It looks small but everyone starts out somewhere, am I right? Rank higher and you¡¯ll be able to get a bigger space of your own,¡± she smiled.

    Higher the rank, bigger the space. Time to climb up the ladder in order to get a bigger room. New side quest unlocked.

    Side Quest: Rank higher for the glory of a bigger room.

    ¡°Any rules that I should know of? I asked her.

    ¡°No visitors allowed. I am sure you know what I mean,¡± she winked at me. Um, okay? I am not ¡®that¡¯ horny yet but good to know.

    ¡°Alright, anything else? Will visitors be allowed when I climbed up the rank?¡± I asked curiously.

    Just y¡¯know, some information to know when the possibility arrives. She paused and stared at me. Is she assuming that I am hitting on her? No, it is just a genuine curious question. And by visitors, I meant John or Lily coming to visit. Not bringing women over for naughty stuffs. Although Lily is technically a woman. Damn it.

    ¡°If you reach the rank of Fighter, you can bring over visitors to your room. But don¡¯t think about inviting me though as I am already taken,¡± she winked at me.

    I stared at her bluntly. She certainly mistook what I meant earlier. But hey, just need to rise up a rank and I can invite my friends over. Sounds easy enough, I hope?

    ¡°In the meantime, you can wait in your room for someone to come over to escort you on your first quest. You can leave your belongings here. This room belongs to you now until you shift to another after you ranked up. Then you can get to inviting ¡°visitors¡± then,¡± she chuckled. Her sarcasm in on a other level.

    ¡°Understood. I guess I¡¯ll just wait here until someone comes. I¡¯ll be alone until I get promoted then. Maybe after that I can personally invite you over for perhaps, a wine?¡± I said jokingly.

    Two can play at this game. Huh? Why is her face turning red? I was just kidding. Seriously.

    ¡°I.. I¡¯ll take my leave then!¡± said Angelica as she rushed out of my room. I guess she is weak at getting teased perhaps. Oh well, time to check out my room. Let¡¯s see, a table, bed and some cupboards. That¡¯s about it. No bathtub to soak in or a place to wash up. I doubt it would fit in the first place as the room was pretty small but comfortable enough for a solo guy like me. I guess I will be showering with the others then. Is there even a bathroom inside the guild or do I have to find a public one outside?

    It took me about a minute to finish my room tour. As there was nothing much for me to unpack in the first place, I decided to lay on my bed. Not as comfy as the tavern¡¯s one but it¡¯ll do.

    Should I take a nap first while waiting for whoever it is that¡¯ll be coming? I am feeling a little sleepy after that sparring. I need to get in better shape to increase my stamina and endurance. Oh, speak of the devil, someone is knocking on my door. Let¡¯s see who it is then. I walked towards the only door in the room and opened it.

    ¡°H¡ª hey. I guess I really am your senpai now,¡± said Rick as he scratched his head. Is he going to be my supervisor? Well, I guess it¡¯s better than someone I don¡¯t know. At least I can banter with him if things went unfairly.

    ¡°Nice to meet you, senpai. I will be in your care from now on,¡± I bowed to him.

    ¡°S¡ª stop that. You don¡¯t have to be so formal with me,¡± said Rick as he rubbed his nose.

    ¡°What about your mercenary job? Won¡¯t your party members miss you?¡± I asked him.

    ¡°Oh, them? It is just a side job that I do every once in a while. My main income is still from the guild¡¯s quest-board or from the Dark Lord himself. And since you gave us a gold coin, we were able to split it nicely among us for a favourable amount. You really shouldn¡¯t be flaunting your money like that,¡± he warned me.

    Guess I shouldn¡¯t tell him that grandfather gave me twelve of those and possibly way more back at home.

    ¡°So¡ª when do we meet the other members?¡± It¡¯s supposed to be a party of four, right?¡± I asked him. If my memory served me right, that was what grandfather told me.

    ¡°Ah, you see. You¡¯re kind of a special case. It¡¯s just you and me. You, will be doing the quest assigned to you while I, will be¡ª supervising,¡± he made a pause at the end.

    ¡°Are you seriously telling me to do the quest alone? Is that even proper for a rookie that just joined the guild?¡± I asked him with my mouth agape. It felt like they were sending me to my death rather than being a ¡°special case¡±.

    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry. Rookie¡¯s quest usually doesn¡¯t resort in you hunting or killing monsters. It is usually some trivial quest within the city borders,¡± he explained.

    ¡°If you say so. Alright, when do we start? Anything else I need to know?¡± I asked him.

    ¡°It starts now. Let us head downstairs to check the quest-board. Keep in mind that I am pretty harsh in judging my subordinate¡¯s performance. So, do well or the Dark Lord will be giving me a shit ton of shitty quests if you screw up,¡± he puffed up his chest and crossed his arms.

    ¡°In that case, I should screw up more often then. Let¡¯s go, can¡¯t wait to see what my first quest is going to be,¡± I chuckled.

    ***

    ¡°Alright, the ¡®Sun¡¯ story ends here. You need to go to school and I will be heading out on a guild quest after that,¡± I told my daughter.

    ¡°Ehh¡ª what?! It was just getting good! I wanna hear more, please daddy?¡± she showed me her pitiful adorable face. She really follows after her mother.

    ¡°The story will only continue after you get back from school. Now, get ready to head out while I speak with to your mother,¡± I told her.

    ¡°Oh¡ª kay,¡± she resigned herself with a sad face. Education is important my sweet summer¡¯s child. I headed into the kitchen to search for my wife.

    ¡°Dear? I¡¯ll be sending Daisy to school and then head off to do a quest,¡± I told her.

    ¡°Okay, what is it you need to do this time?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Hunting a yellow dragon not too far from here. It seems like something is triggering dragons to attack settlements and villages outside of the city. We might need to investigate on this eventually,¡± I told her.

    ¡°When that time comes then we¡¯ll do it together. Until then, do take care. You¡¯re probably not as spry as you were last time¡ª even though it seems like you had stopped aging,¡± she placed her hand on my face.

    I held her hand on my cheek. Ah, my lovely wife. You were always understanding and were always by my side. Sadly, you can¡¯t see her as all of you are looking through a window from outside. You can see her hands though.

    ¡°You looked exactly like you were when you¡¯re 20,¡± she stroked my right cheek.

    That is true. It would seemed as though I had stopped aging somehow. I still do not know the exact reason as to why this happened as I was sure that I do not have elf blood flowing within me. I might had stopped aging but that does not mean I can live longer. Only time will tell.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be heading off now and hopefully will be back by evening along with Daisy. Otherwise, can I trouble you to pick her up instead?¡± I asked her.

    She nodded and gave me a kiss before I headed out. Alright, first stop, send Daisy to school. Then to hunt a yellow dragon.

    You¡¯re probably wondering as to why I cut the story short. Truth be told, I am quite embarrassed to tell my daughter about my first quest. Not even my wife knows about it as it was an extremely silly quest. I am still embarrassed to recall about it even after all these years.

    Well, it also marks the end of the Sun story. The next one will be the called Star. Stay tuned.

 Chapter 9: Then VS Now [STAR]

    Chapter 9: Then VS Now [STAR]

    Both of us headed downstairs to the quest-board¡¯s area. Time to see what¡¯s my first quest is going to be. Let¡¯s see, monster hunting with a minimum rank of Fighter, no can¡¯t choose that. Hunting demons with minimum rank of Shadow Knight, no, I doubt Rick will agree to that. Oh, this seems to be the only Warrior rank quest available today. Find missing kettle. Guess this¡¯ll have to do.

    ¡°Seems like you¡¯re going to be looking for a missing animal then,¡± said Rick as he read the same quest paper pinned to the quest-board.

    ¡°It¡¯s the only one available for my rank. Don¡¯t really have a choice, do I? Do I need to inform someone that we will be taking this quest?¡± I asked him.

    ¡°Of course, take the paper and head over to that counter there. They will assign this quest to your name,¡± said Rick.

    Time for me to get the quest registered then. My first quest, how exciting. I rushed towards the counter that Rick pointed. Oh, it¡¯s Miss Angelica. That¡¯s odd, I thought she was a receptionist.

    ¡°Hello there, I would like to take this quest with Rick senpai over there, if you don¡¯t mind,¡± I said to her.

    ¡°Sure, just give me a moment to get it sorted. Congratulations in joining the guild by the way,¡± she smiled at me.

    ¡°Thank you. I guess you are promoted as well? Since you¡¯re working here instead of the reception?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°Oh, no silly. We have shifts that move us around. We alternate between the reception and the quest counter often,¡± she smiled.

    I am glad my previous joke did not affect our conversation. I would hate for things to be awkward since I get the feeling that I¡¯ll be speaking to her often.

    ¡°I see, sorry about my previous joke earlier. I was just kidding by the way,¡± I assured her.

    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry about it. You are not the first to flirt with me anyway. Although, you¡¯re certainly the the first to make my heart skip,¡± she trailed off at the end which I couldn¡¯t hear.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, what did you say? I couldn¡¯t hear what you said at the end,¡± I asked her.

    ¡°Your quest is assigned to you now. You can head out on your quest,¡± she smiled upon handing me the paperwork.

    ¡°Oh, thank you very much,¡± I smiled at her and retrieved the papers.

    Alright, time to head out on my first quest. I won¡¯t lie, kind of excited. I showed Rick the papers and he said that we¡¯re good to go. Onwards and upwards then.

    Side Quest Unlocked: Find missing kette

    We headed towards the location of the quest giver where the address was written at the bottom of the main paper. Hm? Oh, there seems to be some event or festival up ahead. Is that the reason as to why there were no side stores opened yesterday?

    What is it about though? I tried to peek through but all I could see were nothing but trees of adult legs. I lost interest after a few attempts and decided to continue heading towards the address of the quest giver. I was suddenly lifted up by someone. I turned around and saw Rick lifting me up. Wow, the performers were wearing black as well as all the decorations. Is this.. a marching band or something? Perhaps a parade. I asked Rick to put me down before I start to look like Simba. I swear I can already start hearing the ¡°Ahhhhhhh¡±.

    ¡°What is this festival about? Everything seems to be in black colour,¡± I asked Rick.

    ¡°Hm, if I¡¯m not mistaken, legend has it that a young boy wanted to see a marching band inside the city. But sadly, the boy passed before he managed to see one. The father decided to honour his wish and making sure that no children will ever miss the chance to see one. Hence, he decided to throw a parade on this particular date every year. What a father, for honouring his child¡¯s wish,¡± Rick gave a sad smile while being impressed.

    The father must had be a great person for people to carry out his legacy and continue to celebrate the festival until today. Oh well, time for me to carry on. Onwards to the location.

    We reached by evening time and I proceeded to knock on the door. Seeing that Rick is just here to ¡°supervise¡± me most of the time, I have to take the initiative. Not a moment later, a blond haired woman opened the door.

    ¡°Hello miss, I am here to solve your quest that you submitted to the Dark guild. May I ask some questions pertaining to it?¡± I asked her as politely as possible. She seemed like a nice lady.

    ¡°Oh, aren¡¯t you adorable, and handsome too. Here is what I can tell you. My kette went missing a few days ago and I couldn¡¯t find him anywhere. I even used his favourite food to lure him back but he was nowhere in sight. He hadn¡¯t returned for a few days now. Please help me find where he went as I really missed him,¡± said the lady.

    ¡°Rest assured, I will find your kette. May I ask some specific details about your kette? Like how does he looked like?¡± I asked her.

    I am sure there are plenty of kette around the city so I will need more details about her kette. It could be anywhere right about now. I sure how it had not sneaked out of the city¡¯s walls.

    ¡°Let¡¯s see, he has pure white fur all across his body. He is quite picky with his food and usually prefers the more expensive ones,¡± said the lady with a thinking face.

    How does his food palate¡¯s preference help me in searching for this kette? Unfortunately, that detail was the very reason how I managed to find this damn kette. I searched everywhere for it. High and low, wet and dry. I put out flyers and asked houses after houses about it¡¯s whereabouts.

    One week it took me to find this kette. ONE WEEK! I finished my first quest by taking exactly one week. And why? It was because this damn kette was enjoying its life in a fancy kette cafe. Apparently he was the main attraction of the cafe as he knew how to sit on a chair and eat from a plate on the table. I informed the owner after finally finding out where her kette went and she immediately ran towards the cafe.

    Upon reaching, she barged in and found her kette still sitting on a chair. She then started scolding and pointed her index finger at her kette. A waitress in black hair was holding the owner back. All the while, the kette gave an expressionless face.

    ¡°You damn kette! I was worried sake that you were kidnapped or something but here you are enjoying expensive food! You are going to cost me a lot of money, you damn kette!¡± she shouted.

    Rick and I decided to head out as we waited for the lady to finish her scolding. I just need her signature and my first quest will officially be completed. She came out some time after and I quickly asked her to sign off the quest. Glad she was sensible enough and signed off on the spot. Finally done!

    I apologised to Rick as it took me a stupid amount of time to find this damn kette. He sighed and said that it happen sometimes. Things just never to the way you want it to. It is won¡¯t be the first nor will it be the last, he told me. Sadly, this will not reflect well in my portfolio as it¡¯s my first quest but I was doing it alone. There is only so many locations I can search in a day inside this huge city. And who would be expecting a kette to be inside a damn cafe?

    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

    Now you understand why I was not eager to tell my daughter about this? That quest made me hate kettes so much that I refused to keep one at home. Alright, enough about my first quest. Time to focus on my current quest at hand.

    ***

    I left Daisy at her school and headed towards the settlement listed in the quest letter. A yellow dragon, huh? Been a while since I hunted one. Allow me to list down on what dragon types exist in this world.

    The weakest of all the dragons are the green dragon. Although I say weakest, it can still take down a thousand soldiers before falling, not to mention tanking thousands of cannon fire beforehand. Yet grandfather took down one single-handedly if you recalled. But so did I. It was a challenge for me at first but now it¡¯s not too much of a hassle.

    Next, we have the yellow dragon followed by the blue and ending with the red. Both green and red uses fire for their breath attack while yellow uses acid and blue uses ice. Why is red dragon the strongest you ask? That is because they are the biggest, meanest and toughest of their kind. Their fire breath are capable of melting even rocks in just a few seconds. Not to mention fire spreads which causes further overwhelming destructions.

    How strong are these dragons though? Let me put their power in accordance to our guild ranks. Keep in mind that the power of a standard Dark Knight is estimated to be about a 1000 soldiers.

    Green Dragon

    Roughly 1 or 2 Dark Knights

    Yellow Dragon

    Roughly 2 or 4 Dark Knights

    Blue Dragon

    Roughly 4 or 6 Dark Knights

    Red Dragon

    Roughly 6 or 10 Dark Knights

    Until date, I had not single-handedly defeated a blue or red dragon before. I ¡°might¡± be able to solo a blue dragon but it will still be a challenge for sure. I do not wish to measure my full powers on a whim when I have a wife and daughter waiting for me at home.

    I arrived at the settlement. It is clear that a yellow dragon had attacked here recently. Multiple houses were melted along with the fences or nearby trees. Quite an aggressive dragon we have here. I headed into the settlement to see if there were any survivors. I am glad there were a couple of them as I headed in and a few doors opened to see me walking by. Their expression changed from sorrow to delight upon seeing me. I guess I looked much more dependable now as compared to my younger days. I am still wearing a black cloak albeit a more superior version to what the blacksmith at ¡®Holly Begonia¡¯ sold to me years ago.

    The survivors pointed me towards the direction of where the mayor is located. Upon seeing me, he went on his knees and bowed until his head completely touched the ground. He was grateful that I had finally came and begged me to get rid of the dragon that had plagued them these past months. I held his arm and pulled him up. I gave him my word that I will get rid of this dragon when it comes to attack again.

    And here I was hoping that I might be able to finish this quest by noon and be on my merry way by evening. I am sorry wifey, I guess you might have to pick Daisy up from school today.

    I sat on one of the roof of the few houses that had not melted and decided to meditate as I waited for the dragon to return.

    You¡¯re probably wondering as to how such a small settlement was able to afford such a request to hire adventurers to slay this dragon. First, it starts with the settlement or village informing the city about their problems and depending on the severity of the issue, the administration will decide on whether it is fit to create a quest for it.

    Usually a dragon slaying request will be approved after a minor investigation and the reward will be handed out straight from the city¡¯s treasury. Very rarely do such settlement be able to afford to hire such high ranking adventurers in the first place. In the event they do bring in some rewards,then the city will top-up from there. City Of Pines is in a much better state now as compared to how it was previously. More on that later as I can hear the dragon flapping its wings in the distance. It will be coming here soon. I guess it¡¯s my lucky day.

    ¡°Everyone! Hide your cattle and seek shelter immediately! The dragon will be coming soon!¡± I shouted as loud as I could for everyone to hear.

    I headed away from the settlement to look for a clearing. There, seems like a good place to fight. I looked towards the sky and saw the dragon flying towards the settlement. Most probably to steal more food or something. But the forest should have bigger preys for them to hunt than these small cattle. Something must be riling the dragons to hunt food from humans.

    The dragon flew by but ignored me. I will make you notice me, then. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. This is now a common routine for me whenever I prepare myself for combat. I exhaled and opened my eyes. This puts me in a Focused State of Mind. From what I learned in the City of Heliotrope Ixia, this state is called ¡°Ek¨¡grat¨¡" which means to pursue a single object with undisturbed attention. For me, I just call it Concentration. Or to be more exact, Perfect Concentration.

    According to Rose, my eyes starts glowing in this state. Who is Rose, you ask? More about her later.

    Dragons are creatures that uses all their senses whenever they are flying to scan their vast surroundings. This is how they detect presences in their vicinity. Using Perfect Concentration will force its attention on me and solely me. State of Mind affects the surroundings depending on which state I am using, all have different effects.

    Glad it worked or I¡¯ll have to start throwing my weapons at it. The dragon is losing control over its flight path now. It can¡¯t even fly properly now. Come on, come to papa.

    Thuum!!

    The dragon crash landed in front of me. Even from where I stood, I can smell its acid coated breath. Man, it stinks badly. I maintained Concentration and summoned Inazuma with the flick of my right hand. I was about to charge in to begin my attack when the dragon suddenly started talking to me.

    ¡°You¡­. human. Be¡­. ware the¡­. Demon King,¡± spoke the dragon as it struggled to form words.

    I won¡¯t lie, I was certainly taken aback. This had never happened before in my entire life. Did I somehow become a dragonborn? Since when can dragons speak? No less in human tongue. What the hell is going on right now?

    ¡°The Demon King? Isn¡¯t he dead?¡± I replied cautiously.

    ¡°N¡ª not dead¡­ just¡­ sealed,¡± answered the dragon.

    ¡°Why tell me this? Are you asking me to spare your life in exchange for this information? I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t do that as you attacked this settlement and endangered human lives when you can hunt for food inside the forest peacefully,¡± I told the dragon.

    ¡°No¡­. choice¡­ his influence¡­ affects us,¡± spoke the dragon.

    I had met the Demon King¡¯s influence before but I assumed that it was just some fragment of his remnant powers. To think it is strong enough to even affect dragons. Damn it, that is bad news indeed. To think my parents sacrificed their lives just to ¡®seal¡¯ the Demon King. And here I thought they had destroyed him for good.

    The dragon kept shaking its head and trashed about. Is it.. losing itself or something? Perhaps the Demon King¡¯s influence is taking over its mind. I stood at the ready expecting it to lunged me at a moment¡¯s notice, and indeed it did.

    The dragon let out a loud shriek that almost broke Concentration. It lunged at me with it¡¯s mouth wide opened attempting to bite me. I dodged it aside with ease. The beauty of using Perfect Concentration is that it sets your mind to be completely focused on the enemy in front of you. Extremely useful in one-on-one situation, but flawed against multiple enemies. Your mind can only focus so much in this state.

    The dragon immediately followed up with a swing of its back tail. I leaped onto its back to avoid the tail. I immediately jabbed Inazuma onto the dragon¡¯s back as I can sort of predict what it wants to do next. The dragon tried to shake me off by trashing about. I held onto Inazuma as my foothold so I wouldn¡¯t fall off.

    I was fully expecting the dragon to start flying but as it turns out, I was wrong. The dragon stopped moving and reared its head facing where I was. You got to be kidding me, is it¡ª planning to use acid breath? Directly onto its back?! Dragons are no doubt able to use their own specific breath but that does not mean they are immune to it. Sure, they are more resistant to their own breath type but no sane dragon will be crazy enough to actually use it on their body directly.

    I quickly released Inazuma and leapt away from the dragon, leaving Inazuma pierced on the dragon¡¯s back.

    And sure enough, the dragon used his breath on himself. This dragon must had lost its sanity. I should end this fight quickly before things get worse. I quickly resummoned Inazuma by flicking my right wrist again. I ran full speed and slit the dragon¡¯s right front leg, the underbelly and left leg. The dragon roared in pain as it was badly wounded now. Not to mention, its own back is starting to melt due to its own acid breath.

    The dragon spread it wings and took flight. I thought it would flee but it was just hovering above me. Is it planning to body slam me or something? It was then I saw acids building up in its mouth. Not good, the coverage of the breath will level the landscapes.

    I immediately summoned Inazuma¡¯s scabbard and sheathed it. I slotted Inazuma onto my left hips and made an Iaido stance. I need to quickly end this fight before it melts the entire landscapes nearby. With Perfect Concentration still active, my attack power is stronger. Time for me to end this. I shut my eyes and focused power on my right hand. Feeling sufficient power gathered, I opened my eyes and unsheathed Inazuma, performing a diagonal slash towards the flying dragon.

    ¡°Kirin¡¯s Thunderbolt,¡± I mumbled softly. Kirin¡¯s horn is famed for being extremely sharp and capable of generating ridiculous amount of piercing power. I once accidentally sliced off a mountain while using this spell for training. Not to mention with lightning generated from Kirin, not many beings are capable of standing up to this Celestial¡¯s power.

    We had some typical roommates drama in the past but we eventually came to an agreement. I will take care and maintain Inazuma to the best of my abilities while making it my primary weapon. In exchange, he will be lending me his powers directly.

    I used the bare minimum of his powers and yet it still sliced through the ground, trees and thankfully the dragon as well. Massive amount of blood started gushing out from the wound and it fell back to the ground. I did not sliced it in half as there was no need for such an overkill technique.

    I walked closer to the dragon to deliver the coup de grace. The dragon was barely moving at this point and was mostly shaking as it was tried to stand up. The dragon moved its eyes to look at me once again. With its last breath, it spoke to me.

    ¡°T¡ª thank you,¡± it rolled its eyes soon after. I guess there was no need for me to do anything further.

    The dragon is dead now. And with it, comes more troubling news. The Demon King is returning. Even now, his influence is strong enough to affect strong creatures such as dragons. No wonder they started to attack settlements or villages out of the blue. I shudder to think what he is capable of when he returns. Perhaps the four great powers can help out when he officially returns. See, I told you my story has not ended yet.

    Alright, I should wrap things up and return home. I looted the dragon for the heart and some of its claws. Every part of the dragon is extremely valuable but these will have to suffice. The dragon¡¯s heart is the most valuable part of the dragon and there is no way I am not going to haul the entire corpse all the way back to the city. The fangs and claws of the dragon will make for excellent weapons while the hide can be turned into valuable armours. My current cloak is actually made out of red dragonhide soaked in black. I just like roleplaying my guild.

    I left the dragon¡¯s carcass and proceeded to the settlement to have the mayor to close the quest. A company that is known for monster corpse retrieval will be helping me to retrieve it later. This company works closely with all the guilds to help in retrieving items or in my case, a dragon¡¯s corpse. It is usually things that adventurers find it too troubling to haul back all the way to the city.

    Ending my quest, I wrote two letters and tied it up.

    ¡°Q, are you there?¡± I spoke loudly.

    Q poked his head out of the ground and looked at me as he made a ¡°kew¡± sound. Most probably wondering why I suddenly summoned him out of nowhere. Damn, is he just adorable. How cute (O kawaii koto).

    I passed three letters to him. The quest¡¯s letter, news for the guildmasters and the last one for my sensei.

    ¡°You know who to send these to, right? Thanks Q,¡± I said to him.

    He burrowed back into the ground while biting the letters in his mouth.

    Alright, time for me to pickup Daisy from school and head back. I am sure that you have a lot of questions from today¡¯s adventure. Such as, who is Rose? When did I met with the Demon King¡¯s influence? And who is my sensei. I promise that I will tell you all about it as the story goes along. At least I skipped in telling Daisy my first quest. All shall be revealed. Look forward to it.

 Chapter 10: My Precious [STAR]

    Chapter 10: My Precious [STAR]

    Let us fast forward a little, shall we? After¡ª

    ¡°Ehhhhhhh?? What happened to your first quest?!¡± asked my daughter with wimpy eyes.

    ¡°Ah that, nah, nobody wants to hear about that, let¡¯s just skip it, alright?¡± I comfort her.

    ¡°But I wanted to hear about your first adventure,¡± she pouted.

    Sorry kid, but I will be bringing that story into the grave. I petted her head which cheered her up a little.

    ¡°In exchange, daddy will be telling you about the story on how he found his precious item that carved the path for him to be stronger than other adventurers. Don¡¯t you want to hear about that?¡± I asked her while petting her head.

    ¡°Oh, I do! You met mommy after that, right?¡± she asked me with a smirk.

    ¡°Whert? No, no, noo¡ª I didn¡¯t meet mommy. I just met my little sister. Let¡¯s not jump too far ahead. Got to keep the audience interested,¡± I smiled at her.

    ¡°What¡ª audience? There is only me here. Are you ok daddy?¡± she tilted her head with a question mark on her head.

    Ah, right. She doesn¡¯t know about people potentially peeking into my life. Call it a hunch or as I call it, breaking the fourth wall.

    Enough stalling, it¡¯s story time~

    ***

    As I was saying, after a couple more mundane quests, I finally entered the rank of Fighter. The Dark Lord was surprisingly happy with my performance that he deemed me worthy of skipping the rank of Swordsman. Although, when I say happy, I certainly just assumed on that. I did not see him making any smile or any hint of happiness in his eyes when he promoted me.

    I am at the age of 12 now. Surprisingly uncommon for someone this young to achieve Fighter rank but according to Rick, it is probably due to the Dark Lord seeing my true potential being wasted in doing mundane quests. I did almost kicked Rick¡¯s butt during the sparring test. By right, my power level is sort of hovering at the rank of Shadow Knight now. Sadly, I guess I will still need to prove myself further before I can finally attain that rank.

    My current goal is to at least achieve the rank of Shadow Knight before I meet the Elementalist in the Elemental guild. From what I gathered so far, he seems to be the guildmaster of that guild. By attaining the rank of Shadow Knight, I should have some name to myself and if things get ugly during the meet-up, I can at least maybe fight my way to safety. Not that I was hoping for something bad to happen but¡ª y¡¯know, just in case.

    I ¡°could¡± technically ask Lily for help but it¡¯s been months since I last saw her. For the first few months after we successfully joined our respective guilds, we still met often at our favourite tavern to share our stories and have a meal together. But when Lily had to go somewhere else for her special training, it was just me and John that.

    John was ranking up as fast as me. He was already at the rank of Great Axeman which is similar to my Fighter rank. His remarkable strength pushed him further than all the other candidates. I won¡¯t be surprised that he might end up becoming the Viking Lord one day.

    As of now, my current goal is to get promoted before officially meeting the Elementalist.

    Main Objective: Attain the rank of Shadow Knight and request an audience with the Elementalist.

    Sounds easy enough, I hope. Just need to continue doing more quest until the Dark Lord deemed me worthy of getting another promotion. My current room is way bigger than what I had during my Warrior ranking days. A queen-sized bed, a bathtub, and a small kitchen among other things. In terms of size, it was doubled which I am more than thrilled to enjoy the large empty spaces.

    I certainly was not expecting that it would take me two years before I finally attain the rank of Shadow Knight. There were a lot of quests and a tournament involved which I lost before I attained that rank.

    But let¡¯s not get too carried away. I did promise to tell you the story about how I obtained my little precious. No, it¡¯s not a golden ring, mind you. It is something else that helped shaped my path throughout my journey.

    I was 13 at this point. Quests for Fighter are much more interesting as I get to hunt low level class monsters albeit in a group of 4. The group is usually a mix of members from the other guilds. As this world does not have spell-casters or healers, we make up for our weaknesses by having other guild members to fill that role. Aside from the Elemental guild, which is the more secluded one, all the other guilds will send over a member to make up the group of four. This was why I had never met Lily for the past year or two. I won¡¯t lie, I do start to miss her. Not in a romantic way but as a friend.

    ***

    ¡°W¡ª why are you looking at me like that? What is with that look? Are you judging me?¡± I asked my daughter.

    ¡°Daddy is such a playboy,¡± she said with no hesitation.

    ¡°Excuse me? I was not in a relationship at that point. Don¡¯t go judging me when I was still a lonely kid thinking about a little romance,¡± I pouted at her.

    She continued with her judgmental face. Just you wait until you¡¯re older, kiddo. I will not hesitate in looking for any opportunity to judge you when the time comes. Ah well, back to the story.

    ***

    And so here we are travelling on a guild quest in a team of four. A Lancer, a Crusader, a Great Axeman and finally me as a Fighter. Sadly, it was not John who followed me on this quest but I am glad somehow. Otherwise he would not had stopped asking me about my weird behaviour after this quest. You would think that a party of four teenager males would result in high testosterone arrogant behaviour between one another that you would come to expect but thankfully, we were civilised people. The stereotypical comparison between guilds had long passed us by now.

    We came to a stop outside the cave that we will be exploring, but not before a quick lunch. Fighting with an empty stomach is a curse.

    ¡°Sae, what age ar ye? Ye looked verra young,¡± asked the axeman.

    ¡°I¡¯m 13,¡± I replied him.

    All of them gave me a surprised look. What¡¯s wrong with me being 13?

    ¡°Is something wrong?¡± I asked them.

    ¡°Just surprised that you were able to attained the rank of Fighter at that age. All of us here are either 15 or 16 before we could even attain that rank. You must be something else, huh?¡± asked the lancer.

    The crusader kept quiet. It was well-known that the Light and Dark guild having some sort of bitter rivalry over the other. I favour none of that as that kind of typical drama does not help me in reaching my goal whatsoever.

    ¡°Shall we heid in? I¡¯mma itching te swing ma axe,¡± asked the great axeman. Always hungry for combat. I just hope his hunger doesn¡¯t extend to eating monsters in the midst of battle.

    ¡°Let¡¯s us head in,¡± I gestured to the cave.

    ¡°Make sure you stay at the back and let us seniors handle it,¡± said the crusader.

    Ok, guess I was wrong. This guy had not matured a bit. Oh well, take it in the positive way. More meat-shields between me and my enemies.

    We headed in while the lancer and I held a torch each. I stayed all the way at the back as I did not mind being the support. I would also like to avoid trouble with that crusader any further. The three of them took point and walked in front of me as I guarded the back. The cave was wide enough for the three of them to walk side by side. Seeing that things were relatively quiet now, I should take this opportunity to update my quest log.

    Side Objective Unlocked: Hunt the goblin paladin.

    Goblins are opportunist creatures that prey on the weak. Despite their relatively small size, they are actually quite intelligent and cunning. A single goblin is relatively easy to defeat. But in packs, they are absolutely dangerous. They are most certainly capable of defeating adventurers that underestimate them with their cunning and surprise attacks. A goblin paladin is probably their way of imitating the Light guild ranking system to make themselves similar to humans.

    What¡¯s that you say? Sounds awfully familiar to something you read before? Nahh¡ª the goblin¡¯s in this world does not kidnap female adventurers and do weird stuffs to them. At least, that is what I hope so. Otherwise I¡¯ll gladly turn into the slayer myself.

    Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

    After a couple of minutes of walking, some chattering noises could be heard up ahead. All of us stopped dead in our tracks upon hearing it. The crusader took the lead to check on the commotion. He peeked his head out of the corner to see where the noises were coming from.

    ¡°What is it? Goblins?¡± asked the lancer.

    ¡°Not good, they have riders. We will be in a huge disadvantage if we engage them here. We might need to lure them out of the cave,¡± whispered the crusader.

    ¡°My axe will not be effective ere. It wad be better te fight outside,¡± said the axeman.

    ¡°Any ideas? Should we smoke them out or something? Or do we let someone be the bait?¡± asked the crusader.

    I took a peek out of the corner myself to see what they were looking at. From where we were, on our left was a straight line that led further into the cave. We have a clear line of sight of where the goblins and their wulvettes were kept. The goblins are camping in a larger area of the cave where they were lights shining from above.

    The intersection that we were peeking from has a dead end on the right. We can fight here with our backs facing a wall. All we have to do is focus solely on the front. We need to make sure that it is not hollow though. Let¡¯s see, no paladin in sight from what I can see. He must be hiding somewhere deeper into the cave.

    Our main priority is to defeat the paladin. We do not need to defeat all of them to complete this quest. I passed my torch to the great axeman and walked towards the dead end on our right.

    ¡°H¡ª hey! Where are you going? You are going to attract all of them!¡± shouted the crusader softly but I ignored him. It was extremely dark inside the cave and the goblins were busy chatting among themselves while having fun. It is highly unlikely that any of them would be able to see me in this darkness.

    I knocked on the walls of the dead end and pressed my ears to it. Sounds solid to me. Extremely low chance for it to break unless some ogre or troll smashed through. We can certainly fight here. I walked back to the group to discuss our tactics.

    ¡°The dead end is covered in solid walls. We can fight here as all we need is to put all of our focus at the front with low chance of ambush from behind. The path ahead is narrow and by my estimation, only two riders can come through at a time,¡± I explained to them.

    ¡°Too risky. We have two combatants here that requires space for combat. Both of them will be less effective if we fight here,¡± answered the crusader.

    ¡°I beg your pardon but I am fully aware that we¡¯ll be fighting in tight spaces. I had brought some short spears that can be thrown or used for stabbing in these tight spaces. My main spear can also be retracted to be used effectively in here. You do not need to worry about me,¡± answered the lancer. Well prepared with a backup plan, that is good to hear.

    ¡°I can just use my fist ere. Nae complaints, eh?¡± said the great axeman. As I expected from the Viking¡¯s guild.

    ¡°Alright then, seems like we are all prepared for close quarters combat. Are there any in favour of fighting here instead of outside?¡± asked the crusader.

    ¡°If we were to fight outside, we are going to get surrounded by riders from all sides. My vote is to fight here as we have a higher chance of protecting one another when our main focus is only the front,¡± I casted my vote.

    ¡°My vote is to fight here too. Seems like our Fighter has great insights. Pretty remarkable for a 13 year old,¡± said the lancer.

    ¡°Verra smart fer yer age. I vote te fight ere. My fists ar itching for blood nou,¡± replied the axeman.

    ¡°Very well, we shall fight here then. I volunteer to be the one to attract their attentions while the rest of you wait here. Any questions?¡± asked the crusader.

    We gave none. You want to be the bait? Be my guest as it¡¯s none of my business. The three of us proceeded to the right to hide while the crusader went to attract the attention of the goblins. He took out some sort of throwables and threw them at the goblins. It looked like some black powder. Is it perhaps¡ª pepper? He rushed back towards our position after making sure he had attracted the goblin¡¯s attention.

    A couple of them started to sneeze but a few of them charged towards the crusader while a few others attempted to release the wulvettes. It was then we heard something flying at high speed.

    Fuulp!

    The crusader fell face forward to the ground clutching his left knee. What was that? It sounded like an arrow. Where did it even came from?

    I rushed towards the crusader leaving the other two behind. I was right, an arrow had pierced his knee. Is he going to end up as a city soldier after this? Sucks to be him.

    Goblins were approaching closer now and the crusader is in no fighting shape at all. We have to make our stand here while he patched himself up. Sadly though, there is no health potion in this world. As of now, we only have medicine to staunch the bleeding and good ol bandages to wrap the wounds. There are potions that gives you stamina like adrenaline rush but those are fairly uncommon and expensive. Bandages are still the adventurer¡¯s best lifeline in keeping themselves alive.

    Two goblins ran towards me. Time for me to test out my guild¡¯s specialty. I used Fear on the incoming goblins. They immediately halted their advances and started shivering to their knees. Nice, I should take this opportunity to¡ª

    RAWR!!!

    A loud roar resounded throughout the cave. The two goblins snapped out of my Fear spell upon hearing it. Good, he took the bait. Now, where are you, Mister Paladin? There you are, I see you now. Hiding in the shadows, huh? It was indeed him that shot the arrow seeing that he was the only one holding a bow.

    I rushed forward and decapitated both goblins cleanly with a swing from my dagger. Now, how should I play this? Hang back with the others to fight the smaller goblins while giving the paladin plenty of chances to take potshots at us? Or should I rush in to kill it immediately? It is certainly no easy task fighting against the paladin with so many smaller goblins around. Not to mention someone will need to protect the crusader while he patched himself up.

    The other two came to my side. I took a quick peek behind and saw that the crusader was in the process of patching himself after removing the arrow. He will have difficulty in moving so he won¡¯t be effective in combat.

    ¡°Any brilliant idea on what we should do? We are exposed to that paladin¡¯s arrow if we fight out here in the open,¡± asked the lancer.

    ¡°Aye, we ar sitting ducks ere,¡± said the axeman.

    ¡°I have a plan but I need both of your help,¡± I started whispering the plan to both of them.

    ¡°Are you sure? It won¡¯t be easy fighting the paladin one-on-one,¡± said the lancer.

    ¡°I won''t be. The both of you will be supporting me from the side and I hope the crusader will be supporting us with some buffs after he had patched up. Are you two ready? The paladin is not about to wait for us any longer,¡± I told them as the paladin drew his bow.

    The both of them nodded and followed the plan.

    The paladin released his arrow and the three of us dodged it. The lancer stood his position while both the great axeman and I rushed ahead towards the paladin. The lancer will be protecting the crusader while he uses his short spears as ranged weapons. The wulvettes were now out of their cages and charged towards both of us. How many are they? One, two, three¡­ alright, thank goodness there were not too many of them. I certainly hope the great axeman can hold his own against them.

    Slice!

    There goes one of the wulvette¡¯s head along with the goblin riding it.

    ¡°Haha! I can swing my axe ere! Come ere ye little twerts an have a taste of me axe!¡± laughed the great axeman. He is certainly enjoying himself alright.

    My battle, on the other hand, is going to be a lot more serious and dangerous as I come face-to-face with the paladin. I must have looked like a hobbit in front of him. I sheathed my dagger and unsheathed Inazuma. This is not a battle that I am taking any chances with. The paladin threw his bow aside and unsheathed his two-handed sword behind his back. Now where did you get such a large sword from? Even with my chained cloak, I might still be sliced in half if I get hit by it. The paladin was wearing heavy armour but not everywhere. His elbows, knees and neck are still exposed. This will certainly affect his speed and mobility which is what I am aiming for. I activated Fear on him. Damn, seems like there is little to no effect. I guess it is back to the good ol sword-fight then.

    The paladin roared and the smaller goblins started converging on my position. One goblin came in close and leaped at me, but a short spear pierced his skull and sent him flying. Glad the lancer is accurate in his throwing skills. I pulled the short spear from the goblins skull and threw it at the paladin. He blocked it with his armour and rushed towards me with his two-handed sword. From the looks of it, the armour seems to be iron.

    Now this is going to be a tough fight. I took a quick glance behind me. The great axeman was fending off the other goblins along with the lancer. But it won¡¯t be long until he runs out of spears eventually. I cannot drag this fight for long.

    I placed all of my attention on the paladin. He swung his sword horizontally which I dodged by crouching underneath the swing and immediately dashed forward. I slit the paladin¡¯s left knee and maintained some distance away from him. The paladin then turned his body and swung his sword vertically which I dodged to the side and slit his other knee. Great, he should not be able to stand properly now that both of his knees were slit.

    How wrong was I. Seemingly ignoring the pain, the paladin rushed towards me once again with his giant sword in his hand. Out of nowhere, a goblin grabbed one of my foot. I quickly stabbed the little bugger and kicked his hand away. The paladin was right in front of me now attempting to swing his sword. Shit, I might not be able to dodge it in time!

    ¡°Accelerate!¡± shouted someone.

    I felt my speed doubling and was ableto dodge his overhead swing in the nick of time. Talk about close call indeed. Finally, the damned crusader got back up. Time for you to pull your weight damn it. I noticed the great axeman were throwing some of the short spears back to the lancer to restock.

    But I am done playing games. Enough is enough. I am not planning to die today.

    ¡°Oi, goblin,¡± I glared at him. He glared back and grinned. He must had thought he still had a chance at winning since he almost killed me earlier.

    ¡°Now I¡¯m mad!¡± I casted Fear on him again and apparently it worked now. The paladin appears to be shaking and was hesitating to attack me. I quickly took the opportunity and rushed towards him to begin my assault. With my speed doubled, it took me less than a second to reach him. He held out his two-handed sword in an attempt to block my incoming attack but I had never intended to attack him from the front in the first place. Changing the course of my path to his side, lobbed off his right arm from his exposed elbow and quickly leaped behind him. He roared in pain as he held his bleeding right arm. I threw my dagger with precision and it pierced through the back of his neck. He started choking and gagging from his own blood. I rushed in to deliver the coup de grace but instead of just accepting his fate, he did the unthinkable.

    He pulled out my dagger and threw it at me with his left hand. Talk about foolish. He will be bleeding to death even faster now. I swiped my dagger aside with Inazuma and caught it mid-air; the paladin took the opportunity to start running away. Seems like he is running deeper into the cave for some reason but I admire his tenacity for wanting to stay alive. I thought of chasing after him but stopped midway upon noticing something. Where the paladin was running to, the crusader was awaiting for him with his sword at the ready.

    ¡°I am in a lot of pain now thanks to you. Perhaps you can just¡ª die!¡± Shouted the crusader as he rushed in and lobbed off the paladin¡¯s knee. The paladin tried to dodge the attack but his slitted knees made him less nimble than what he hoped for. His right leg fell off and he roared in pain, echoing the entire cave. I really hoped that there are no more goblins inside this cave to help him. The crusader walked closer to the paladin and decapitated his head without hesitation.

    The sudden complete silence was eerie but fortunately, that marked the completion of our quest. Some close calls but all of us are alive. The crusader looted the head of the paladin as a trophy to prove that we had indeed completed our quest. Much easier for a head than the thick ass leg that he sliced off earlier.

    The four of us made our way back outside. No time to celebrate until we are out of here; who knows whether there are more goblins deeper inside the cave. As we were heading out, I saw a sparkle at the dead end of the intersection earlier.

    Huh? What was that? Did no one else saw that? I glanced at the other three and it would seemed that none of them had noticed it at all as they were just talking among themselves. I lowered my pace and allowed them proceed head until there was some gap between us. Making sure they were nowhere in sight, I quickly rushed towards the dead end to inspect what it was. What made that sparkle? I searched all around but don¡¯t see anything at all. Without a torch, I can barely see anything that resembled a jewellery or something.

    Twink!

    There is it again. I looked closer where the sparkle was. Hm¡ª is that¡ª the edge of a chest? You can barely see the chest as it was completely covered in thick solid rubble and what made the sparkle was perhaps the one of two millimetres from the chest¡¯s edge. But it is gold, a golden chest. Hell yeah! This is an excellent opportunity for me as I rubbed my hands together with a grin.

    I always brought along some small tools to help me pry or dig objects. But sadly, there is no way for me to open the chest from this angle. I will need a pickaxe to break all these solid stones covering the top of the chest. This Is going to take some time. I quickly headed back out to avoid suspicion and kept the secret all to myself. This loot will be mine and mine alone. Heh heh.

    As we headed back out, I was praised for my quick thinking and combat abilities by all three of them. Facing the paladin in a one-on-one was no easy task as a Fighter. We don¡¯t have many spells at our disposal with our current rank. I apologised to the crusader for what had happened to him but he admitted that it was his own fault for being careless. None of us were expecting goblins to be using a bow. He will probably be limping his way back to the city until he receives a more proper treatment. The three of them carried along their conversation all the way back to the city but I remained quiet as my mind was fully occupied by the golden chest that was left behind. I must find out what is hidden inside that chest!

    You would think that I will rushing back to dig it out the following day. Indeed I did. However¡ª bloody hell, it took me ONE YEAR to dig out that stupid ridiculous chest! Bringing one pickaxe alone was a huge mistake. The stones surrounding the chest was so incredibly hard and solid which broke my one and only pickaxe after a couple of swings.

    The first time I came back here, my pickaxe broke after about five swings which made me completely speechless. Not only did it took time for me to return to this cave, my damn pickaxe broke after a couple of seconds of using it. This will not do. Is it going to be economical for me to continuously purchase more pickaxes just to dig out this bloody chest? No, money is not important right now. I must persevere! Whatever is in that chest is going to be mine!

    6 months into digging, I contemplated on whether it was wise to continue. I was burning through pickaxes faster than I was drinking water. Sure, a pickaxe is about a copper or two but is the reward for all this hard work worth it at the end? Not to mention I was juggling between quests and all my available free time just to dig this chest out. Damn it, I¡¯ve come this far, I must not give up and until the very end.

    While I was not exactly losing a lot of money since the rewards from doing quests were mostly enough to cover the costs of the pickaxes, it was more towards the effort of digging it up. I still have grandfather¡¯s secret stashed money which had a lot in it. I only took about a quarter of the total gold coins that he had buried. And that was about 50 gold coins! Grandfather had about 200 gold coins hidden underground! Man was he loaded! And yet he decided to live in the forbidden forest and survive on bread and stews.

    There will come a day when I finally dig out that bloody gold chest which would coincide with my promotion, a meeting with the Elementalist, and also the day I finally met her. My little sister, Rose.

 Chapter 11: Truth and Rose [STAR]

    Chapter 11: Truth and Rose [STAR]

    I am officially 14 now and it happened to coincide with the day I got promoted to a Shadow Knight. The Dark Lord knighted me to officiate the ceremony and¡ª that was it. A few claps could be heard but there was no feast or clanking of beer cups. Perhaps in the Viking guild probably. It was not uncommon for adventurers to get promoted but it was rare for someone to become a Shadow Knight at my age.

    Rick was among the small audience who attended the ceremony. He had been a Dark Knight for quite a while now and only goes on special quests assigned by the Dark Lord himself. He came up to congratulate me but I did not expect him to start shedding tears. Getting all emotional seeing your kouhai getting promoted, will I experience something similar one day?

    I won¡¯t lie, throughout the entire ceremony, my mind was completely focused on something else. My main objective today is to gain an audience with the Elementalist and to hopefully get some information about the whereabouts of my grandfather or perhaps who the assassin was. Fingers crossed that I will finally be able to meet him today. Otherwise I will have to ask the other guilds for information about this assassin if my memory description about him still works. Sigh, so much to do today. I should take this opportunity to update my quest log.

    Main Objective: Seek audience with the Elementalist to gain information about the assassin and grandfather¡¯s whereabouts.

    Side Objective Uncompleted: Dig out the bloody golden chest for good.

    Sounds about right. Time for me to head to the Elemental Guild then. I brought along my Shadow Knight badge with me just in case. Best to show some kind of proof to the reception about my new rank. I proceeded to head towards the Elemental guild. I stood in front of their building all flabbergasted. Pardon my language but their building is fucking huge! Doubling the size of what the Dark guild currently have. Is this the reason as to why grandfather was loaded? The Elemental guild had no problem in paying for his expensive services, is that it?

    I headed in nervously, making sure to knock the door for safety measures. Even their main door size is doubled from what my guild have. Not to mention much fancier looking in terms of the designs and quality. Felt like I joined the wrong guild after looking at their building. I heard a ¡°come in¡± and opened the door.

    ¡°Greetings, how may I serve you?¡± asked the receptionist.

    Ermahgerd, she is so beautiful! Hang on, is this due to the fact that I barely made any contact with the opposite sex for these past few years or is it just my hormones acting up? I need to keep myself in check before I get bonked for being horny! Wait a minute, I just only realised that the receptionist is an elf. Shiiitttt¡ª am I just a sucker for female elves now? Did Lily somehow unlocked a hidden fetish in me?

    ¡°H¡ª Hello, I would like to meet with the Elementalist if that¡¯s possible?¡± I asked with an awkward smile. She stared at me and chuckled.

    ¡°Seeing the guildmaster on the same day you got promoted? I thought you would be out there celebrating on your new rank,¡± she continued chuckling. H¡ª Huh? How did she know that I got promoted today? Have we even met before?

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but¡ª how did you know that I got promoted today? Have we¡ª met before?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°Oh pardon me, the guilds always keep track with one another to have a better understanding of the members. Otherwise, some random stranger might declare himself as some high ranking adventurer with a fake badge. Don¡¯t worry, I assure you this the first time we have met,¡± she winked at me.

    My heart thumped. Ah, damn it. I guess I really am a sucker for elven ladies. I smacked my forehead resigning to that fact.

    ¡°So, am I allowed to meet him? Will this badge prove my ranking? I assure you that this is real,¡± I told her.

    ¡°Hehe¡ª no silly, just wait here while I deliver the news to the guildmaster. I believe he had been expecting to meet you some time ago,¡± she chuckled.

    Damn it, are all female elves this adorable? Am I falling for this receptionist now? Don¡¯t you dare, don¡¯t you dare!

    I sat at their luxury looking couch while she went to find the guildmaster. I took the opportunity to calmed myself down and reminded myself that I am here to speak to the Elementalist, not to flirt. After some time, she came back and gestured me to head in. I said my thanks and bowed to her. A member of the guild came and escorted me. Why does it feel like I¡¯m about to meet a King?

    The inside of the guild was remarkable. It gave off a rich mansion vibe. Marbles filled the floor while the ceiling was decorated with exquisite design. You can see plentiful of statues and bust decorating the walkway and throughout the building. The place I was being escorted to was on the ground floor. It would seemed that only members of guild are allowed to head to the higher floors. It should be their own personal quarters. Is that why I hadn¡¯t seen Lily for the past three years? She had been secretly living in luxury all these while? You can spend all your time here and you wouldn¡¯t get bored! Damn it, I should had tried my luck in joining the Elemental guild the last time!

    The escorting member gestured me to enter after he had knocked on the door. I headed in and was immediately confused. Isn¡¯t this¡ª a dining area. A really small one too. There were only two chairs facing opposite one another with a small rectangular table directly in the middle of the room filled with food and fruits. I was fully expecting to meet the Elementalist seated at the top of a flight of stairs asking me to bow to him or something. Isn¡¯t that what guildmasters do? Perhaps it is only the Dark Lord and his ego. I was certainly left stumped by the unexpected venue until I heard someone speaking.

    ¡°Please, be seated,¡± said a voice.

    What a soft and gentle voice yet there was something commanding about it. Strangely soothing to hear without you realising that you are following his command. Not something I was expecting from a guildmaster.

    I took a seat and out came a well dressed man who seated directly opposite of me. The table was small so we can literally see each other¡¯s facial features from this distance. He was an elf with greenish eyes and brownish hair that was long enough to reach his waist. What a fabulous man. He was staring at me for some time before he squinted. I felt goosebumps all over my body as I was not used to being stared at, not to mention by such a pretty man. Please don¡¯t awaken another weird fetish in me, please¡ª I still like women¡ª PLEASE!

    ¡°I was expecting you to see me earlier. Yet, it took you three years to finally be here. May I know as to why exactly?¡± he asked with an annoyed tone and continued squinting his eyes.

    Is he annoyed at the fact that it took me this long to finally meet him? It is not as though I can just stroll up here and demanded to meet with him when I was just some random newbie who just arrived at the city.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t know who the Elementalist was since grandfather only mentioned him in one of his letters. I only confirmed that you were the guildmaster of the Elemental guild after I did some research of my own,¡± I explained to him honestly.

    I honestly didn¡¯t know that the ¡®Elementalist'' was actually the guildmaster until I did a little digging of my own. I knew there was an Elemental guild but someone being called ¡®Elementalist¡¯ could had been anyone or maybe some assassin who decided to call himself that for all I knew.

    He sighed and dropped his head. Is this¡ª fella really a guildmaster? He acts so differently than the Dark Lord who always acted dark and gloomy.

    ¡°As expected of him. Richard was getting old for his age to remember what he needed to tell you. No doubt he had forgotten to inform you to never speak of your last name to anyone,¡± he sighed. Huh? Richard?

    ¡°R¡ª Richard? Who is Richard?¡± I stared blankly at him.

    ¡°Richard Hawthorn, father of Jack Hawthorn who is in turn, your father,¡± he explained.

    Wow, those names sounded foreign to me. Not only do I not know the name of my parents, I didn¡¯t even know the name of my grandfather.

    ¡°W¡ª wow. I never knew any of their names. Thank you for telling me about them. But should you really mentioned the H name so blatantly? Isn¡¯t the Queen¡¯s order to capture anyone at the mere mention of that name?¡± I asked him.

    ¡°Not just capture, mind you. Direct execution on the spot. But have no fear, there are none of her spies here. Contrary to what you see outside of our building, our perimeters are well-guarded. Very few beings can escape the ears of the many elven members inside and outside of this building. But enough about that, let us continue with the topic at hand. Your grandfather is an extremely reclusive man. He went into hiding right after the war with the Demon King and the announcement of the desecration of the Hawthorn family. I was not expecting him to live in the forbidden forest however,¡± he explained.

    I said nothing, I only knew so much about grandfather and nothing about his past. Now that someone is willing to tell me about it, the best thing I can do is pay full attention and listen.

    ¡°I know why you¡¯re here. You wish to know who was the man who defeated your grandfather and whether he is still alive, am I right?¡± he asked and I nodded.

    Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    ¡°I would advise that you give up on taking revenge for your grandfather. That man is known for being notorious in his line of work. He is known as the Silent Assassin. One of the best assassin and bounty hunter to date in this world,¡± he said.

    ¡°He is also part of the group known as Four Great Powers. Are you aware of this title? It only belongs to certain individuals that had accomplished great deeds around the world,¡± he continued. I shook my head as I had never heard of such a title before.

    ¡°Sigh, then I would suggest that you visit the library and seek the book about the Great Powers. You would need to understand that you are no match for him. Even I daresay that I might not be a match for him myself. In a fair fight, perhaps. But his specialty is silent killing which is an extremely coward way of fighting. Humans really go to extreme lengths to gain their fame,¡± he sighed.

    I sighed as well. I guess I need to pay a visit to the library one day. Seems like that is all the information that the Elementalist is willing to provide so I decided to take my leave as to not disturb him any further. I bowed to him and proceeded to head out of the room.

    ¡°One more thing, Mister Zen. As for the whereabouts of your grandfather, you do not have to worry. I am doing everything I can to gather information about where he could be. Richard is¡ª a good friend of mine. I will do anything within my powers to ensure his safety,¡± he assured me as he gripped his fist. I can sense anger in his tone. Seems like the both of them were in good terms.

    I bowed once again and said my thanks to which he returned the bow. I was taken aback that a guildmaster would actually bowed back to me; I don¡¯t think I can ever get used to this. I was expecting him to be more arrogant or something but I was greatly mistaken. Lesson learned, never stereotype that elves are snobbish or arrogant toward humans in general.

    I sighed once again when I was back outside. While I certainly did obtained some information about grandfather and the assassin, I still need to gather more. Time for me to update my quest log again.

    Main Objective Updated: Visit the library to read more information about the Four Great Powers

    Side Objective Uncompleted: Dig out the bloody damn chest!

    Alright! Time for me to head back to the cave and dig out that golden chest for good! I have a good feeling that today is going to be the day. Only a few more centimetres of solid rocks and I¡¯ll finally be able to open it. I ran as fast as my feet could carry me towards the cave, carrying about a dozen of pickaxes just in case. There is no way I am leaving the cave until I finished what I started today. I must open it. My obsession with this chest will finally be over.

    I¡¯ve always been careful heading into this cave at first. I always made sure to check the interior on whether there were any new goblins or creatures inhabiting it while I was away. But after a year, I¡¯ve concluded that there is barely anything that wishes to live here anymore. Good news for me as I can just rush into the cave anytime I want.

    I reached the so called dead end of the cave. I had been seeing this exact view for the past few months, constantly chipping millimetres of solid rocks day after day. I made sure to cover the chest with rocks before leaving to prevent any potential looters from finding it. I pushed all the loose rocks aside and revealed more than three quarters of the chest¡¯s flap. Only a few more hours and I can finally open it. Time for a full hard labour to dig in!

    I¡¯ve lost count on the amount of pickaxes I swapped when it broke. I toiled and laboured with blood, sweat and tears. After a couple of hours of digging, I finally, FINALLY dug out all the rocks that was covering the flap of the chest with about five pickaxes to spare.

    I threw the pickaxe I was wielding aside and hugged the chest. Tears were flowing from my eyes. A whole bloody year of manual labour and I finally dug it out. I prayed to all the Gods above that this was not a fluke. It better not be empty or some shitty common item that can be bought from merchants inside.

    I took a deep breath and with a feeling of excitement, I opened it. Golden light was pouring out of the chest which had me squinting. I reached in to grab whatever it was inside. Hm? Feels like¡ª gloves? Gauntlets perhaps. I held it up with both of my hands and hugged it. It glowed with a shiny dull emerald colour, separated by layers of protective materials atop one another. The build quality was superb. It felt indestructible after I knocked on it a couple of times. This is definitely a legendary item. Hell yeah! All my hard work had actually paid off! I quickly tried wearing the gauntlets as fast as I could.

    Thunk!

    Huh? My right arm fell to the ground instantly. Am I not strong enough to wear it? What is going on? But I can hold it up easily. That¡¯s weird, maybe I should get it identified first. I unfastened the gauntlet and hid it in my back pouch. I proceeded to close the chest and hid it with rocks, making sure to leave some visible portions of the chest so as to fool any potential looters into opening an empty chest. Heh heh heh, yes I am evil. I didn¡¯t waste a year of my life for nothing.

    I hurried back to the city to look for my favourite blacksmith. It was late evening when I finally made it to ¡®Holly Begonia¡¯. I opened the door before he decided to close up shop.

    ¡°Wow, what can I do fer ya?¡± Said the blacksmith from somewhere I couldn¡¯t see. Is this his new way of welcoming customers now? After awhile, he came out from the back.

    ¡°Oh, hey kiddo. Ya rarely come at this hour. How can I help ya?¡± asked the blacksmith.

    ¡°I was hoping you can help me in identifying these gauntlets,¡± I showed him. He inspected the gauntlets and gave an instant reply.

    ¡°Woah! No can do kiddo. Yer going to need an item identifier fer this. Where did ya even get this? It¡¯s really beautiful and its design is out of this world. It¡¯s light too,¡± he said as he lifted the gauntlets.

    ¡°I found it in a cave. Is there any item identifier that I can find?¡± I asked urgently.

    ¡°Hm, the closest one is at the edge of the city. Ya might be able ta make it if ya start runnin¡¯ now,¡± he said.

    I bowed to him and ran with all my might towards the shop in question. I managed to find the shop with the name ¡®Tiny Bittersweet¡¯ located at the front. I knocked before heading in. Glad that it had not closed yet.

    ¡°Well now, how can I help you?¡± A lady appeared from the darkness. Uh, lady or a witch? The shop was eerie and dimly lit. There was only a candle at the counter top.

    ¡°I¡ª was hoping that you can help me in identifying this gauntlets that I found,¡± I showed her.

    She held up the gauntlets and examined it with a magnifying glass. The wait is just killing me with anticipation. After a couple of minutes, she finally spoke.

    ¡°This is going to cost a lot of money, kid. Perhaps a gold coin or two. This is a legendary item you have here. Congratulations,¡± she smiled.

    ¡°Make it happen. I need to know what¡¯s this gauntlets about,¡± I told her.

    She compiled after I had passed her the two gold coins. She took out a jewel or some sort of gem and started chanting. She began to rub the gem on top of the gauntlets as though to stimulate it. Wait, that is just me talking.

    She then took out a scroll and slammed the gem onto it. The scroll started glowing with bright lights and the gem was seemingly absorbed into the scroll. The lady read the scroll and passed it to me.

    ¡°Sorry kid, guess it was pointless for you, after all,¡± she sighed. Huh? What does she meant by that? I studied the contents of the scroll quickly. Hand of the Lightning God is the name of the gauntlets.

    Requirements > 25 skill

    Hidden spell 1 > 30 skill

    Hidden spell 2 > 35 skill

    Hidden spell 3 > 50 skill

    Nani da fuck?! I need skill stats to use this?! But¡ª I barely managed to increase my skill stats throughout my journey so far. Damn it!!

    I asked the lady on whether she had any stats scroll in hand. She did and I bought it from her even though it was pricier than what was available outside. She took the chance to earn more but I didn¡¯t really cared. I blew on the scroll quickly with my fingers crossed.

    Zen Hawthorn

    Strength - 25

    Skill - 20

    Agility - 30

    Constitution - 20

    Damn it. If only the requirements was strength then I can wield this gauntlets right now. I am going to need to find a way to increase my skill stats should I wish to use this. No, I must. I am not giving up now and waste a year of my life digging this up for nothing. But how am I going to do that? I need to find more information on how to increase my skill stats even though it is rarely used in this continent. Are there people who have the knowledge on how to increase it?

    Should I ask the Elementalist or perhaps Lily? The guild is known for specialising in using skill stats for their spells. But I can imagine the Elementalist telling me to search for the information from the library. Alright fine, guess I¡¯ll visit the library tomorrow then.

    I decided to call it a day as I had sort of accomplished all of my objectives today. A brand new room awaits me back in the guild. A bigger and more spacious room, baby~ Today is definitely a good day despite the minor setback. I got promoted, spoke to the Elementalist and finally dug out that golden chest with a legendary item inside. A bit of a bummer that I cannot wear this glove but I will make it happen. Curious to see what are the three hidden spells.

    As I was walking back to the guild, I heard a commotion up ahead. A door swung opened with a little human girl falling to the ground.

    ¡°You¡¯re useless! You can¡¯t even do anything right!¡± shouted a lady that came out of the door. Woah, scary mom alert. But c¡¯mon, you shouldn¡¯t call your child useless. That is not right.

    ¡°You can sleep on the ground outside! Don¡¯t come back for all I care!¡± she continued her shouting. Typical asian parents. I hope she can go in right after her mother had calmed down.

    ¡°Why are you still crying? I¡¯m the one who should be crying having to deal with the likes of you. You can die for all I care! I¡¯ve had it! I¡¯m going to beat you until you learned your lesson!¡± she held up a glass bottle in an attempt to beat the girl.

    Alright, that¡¯s it. I rushed in and grabbed the lady by the wrist to stop her from hitting the bottle on the girl. She was taken aback by my strength and speed that she was speechless for a couple of seconds.

    ¡°W¡ª w.. What do you think you¡¯re doing?! Unhand me before I call the soldiers! This is physical assault!¡± she shouted as she struggled to free her wrist.

    ¡°Calm down, lady. You shouldn¡¯t beat your own child. Not to mention out here in the public. You are causing a scene here,¡± I told her. I have had it with this lady. She shouldn¡¯t be treating her own child this way. It is practically abuse.

    ¡°She is not my child! Just some stupid orphan that the administration decided that I should be taking care of. I would had been happy if she could at least helped with the house chores but nothing she does is ever right. She just can¡¯t do anything right!¡± she shouted at the girl again.

    I couldn¡¯t see the expression of the girl as her long pink reddish hair was obstructing her face. I would assume that she is crying as I heard the sound of sobbing. Hmm, how should I handle this situation?

    ¡°Would it satisfy you if I bought her? Keep her away from you? Is that what you want?¡± I asked her with a threatening tone.

    I would had assumed that it would caused her to think twice as some random stranger was attempting to purchase an underage girl. A normal person would had called me mad or a pervert for offering but I guessed I was wrong about this lady.

    ¡°You want her? Take her for all I care. But you will need to pay a pretty penny for her. She is still young and a virgin. I bet someone like you would be having your way with her as she screamed for help. Hahahaha!!¡± she laughed loudly.

    Something snapped inside my head when I heard what she said. This lady did not cared about this girl at all. All she cared about was greed and nothing else. I am not going to leave this girl with this greedy ass bitch.

    ¡°You want money? Here is a damn coin. Now scram back into your house and stop causing a scene!¡± I shouted at her and threw the gold coin at her face. I held the little girl¡¯s hand and pulled her along with me away from the scene.

    The lady was laughing and smiling at the sight of the gold coin. She did not even bother that the child was being taken away. I brought the little girl as far as possible from that place to calm her down.

    As it turns out, I was the one who needed to calmed down. What the fuck did I just do?! I smacked my head at the thought. I bought her during my rage but what am I going to do with her? I have no idea how to raise a kid properly. Damn it, what am I supposed to do now?

    We stood along some fence facing towards a small river. I can still hear her sobbing. Was she sad that I bought her? Or is she going to miss that lady who she thought was her mom? Maybe I shouldn¡¯t had bought her in the first place, curse my impulse in randomly buying things.

    ¡°A¡ª are you ok? Are you hurt?¡± I asked her calmly.

    She was still sobbing with the occasional hick. I petted her head and gave her a hug. She seemed to calmed down after a while. I noticed that her legs had marks of being beaten. What a rough life she was living in. Maybe I did the right thing in bringing her away from that place. It might not be such a bad idea after all.

    ¡°Do you understand what I am saying? Are you able to talk?¡± I asked her.

    She seemed to understand what I said before. Thankfully she started nodding after wiping away her tears.

    ¡°Y¡ª yes. Thank you, Mister, for helping me earlier. I really appreciate what you did for me,¡± she bowed her head to me. I was taken aback. She appeared to be well-mannered and she can speak properly. Is she really as bad as what the lady said?

    ¡°Tell me, are you okay with me taking you away from that lady? If you wish to return, I do not mind bringing you back there,¡± I explained to her.

    ¡°No, please. I do not wish to return to that horrible place. That lady is a greedy alcoholic that does not care about any of us. All of the fundings from the administration she had either spent them all on gambling or drinking. I don¡¯t want to go back, please don¡¯t take me back¡ª¡± She trailed off.

    I petted her head to calm her down. She was extremely worried that I would be sending her back. I smiled at her which continue stroking her head. Her long hair was obstructing most of her face. I took out a string from my hip pouch and tied up her hair into a ponytail to get a better look at her face.

    ¡°What is your name? If you wish to follow me, you will be staying at my place and help out with the cleaning. Is that ok?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°I¡ª don¡¯t have a name. But yes, I do not mind helping you with house chores. Contrary to what she said, I am able to do chores properly and I can cook as well,¡± she said.

    ¡°No name, huh?¡± I pondered.

    Hm¡ª should I name her? What would I name my own kid if I have one? I unconsciously put on a thinking face.

    ¡°How about¡ª Rose? You hair colour is pink with a hint of red and so is your eyes. Let¡¯s call you Rose as your first name,¡± I told her.

    What about her last name then? Does she even remember her family name? I looked above and an idea came to mind. The moon was shining brightly tonight.

    ¡°How about¡ª Rose Starr? With a double R. Are you fine with that name?¡± I asked her as I pointed towards the star that shone the brightest.

    She looked at me with starry eyes. Tears filled her eyes and she started crying again. Despite her impressive vocabulary, she is still young. I petter her head once again to calm her down. She continued to cry while thanking me constantly.

    After she had calmed down, I introduced my first name to her. I also told her to call me ¡®Onii-chan¡¯ instead. I am not old enough to be called ¡®mister¡¯ nor am I fit to be her father. I guess being her older brother would be more appropriate right now. Hence, on this very day, I found Rose and welcomed her into my life. My one and only little sister, Rose Starr.

 Chapter 12: Four Great Powers [STAR]

    Chapter 12: Four Great Powers [STAR]

    ¡°Yay! Mommy is in the story now!¡± cheered my daughter with a happy face.

    ¡°Not mommy, my little sister! Don¡¯t get mixed up with those two,¡± I said to her.

    ¡°Huh? Then who is mommy in this story?¡± She tilted her head.

    ¡°Who knows? I ain¡¯t giving you any hints. Try to figure out who mommy is as the story progress. You¡¯re going to need to pay attention,¡± I smiled.

    ¡°Aww¡ª alright. I will try to guess who is mommy then,¡± she pouted a little and put on a thinking face.

    ¡°Should I continue then?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°Yes!¡± She gave me a cheeky smile. Daughters seems to have the innate nature of melting a father¡¯s heart. Are we just born to be suckers for daughters? I hope I hadn¡¯t spoiled her due to this.

    ***

    I peeked my head through the main door of the Dark guild. Is there even a receptionist at this hour? I looked around and there was no one in sight. Yosh, the coast is clear. Time to sneak Rose in. Even though I am technically allowed to bring Rose as a visitor, her age would raise questionable eyebrows from the members. She looked like she¡¯s ten which is not a good sign for me. I do not want to be mistaken for a certain bear which is the why I decided to sneak her in instead.

    I gestured Rose to be quiet and enter with me. Tip-toeing our way to the stairs, the sound of a voice made me jump.

    ¡°Ah, if it isn¡¯t Zen. How rare to see you coming back at this hour,¡± said the voice.

    I instantly hid Rose behind me and turned my head see who it was that spoke. It was Angelica. Her timing is impeccable as always, even for situations like this.

    ¡°Good evening, Miss Angelica. Fancy meeting you at this hour. I thought there would be no receptionist when it¡¯s this late. H¡ª How can I help you?¡± I muttered the words to her.

    I was panicking as I wanted to avoid people gossiping about me bringing underaged girls to my room and doing who knows what.

    ¡°You had not taken your new room key so I was waiting for you. I had taken the liberty of transferring all of your belongings to the new room. It¡¯s on the third floor,¡± she handed the key with a smile.

    ¡°Wow¡ª I.. thank you so much. You shouldn¡¯t have, really. Now I feel bad making you wait, not to mention transferring all of my belongings to my new room,¡± I scratched my head.

    ¡°He he¡ª don¡¯t mention it. You can go ahead and have fun with your companion,¡± she chuckled as she covered her mouth.

    ¡°S¡ª she¡¯s not my companion. She¡¯s my little sister,¡± I clarified with her.

    I do not want people gossiping about me that I am some bear. It would make me cover my face every time return to the guild.

    ¡°Y¡ª you have a sister? Since when?!¡± She sounded surprised.

    ¡°Since¡ª a while ago?¡± I trailed off as I scratched my cheek.

    I have no idea where I am going with this conversation. I am panicking so hard right now. Rose came to the front and bowed to Angelica.

    ¡°Nice to meet you, Miss. My name is Rose. I''m Zen¡¯s little sister,¡± said Rose as she bowed.

    ¡°Oh, aren¡¯t you adorable! You¡¯re gonna need to take a bath and a change of clothes. You shouldn¡¯t be wearing rags when you go out. Oh, wait just a moment. I might have something that fits you,¡± she went off to look for something.

    Not a moment later, she came back with a small white dress.

    ¡°Here you go, it is a bit plain looking but it should be better than what you¡¯re wearing right now,¡± she smiled at Rose.

    ¡°T¡ª thank you so much!¡± Rose took the dress but stopped to look at me. Is she asking for my permission?

    ¡°If Miss Angelica said that you can have it then go ahead. Promise her that you will take care of it,¡± I said to Rose.

    ¡°I promise! Thanks once again, Miss Angelica,¡± Rose said with a cheeky smile. She is adorable I¡¯ll give her that.

    ¡°Thanks once again, Miss Angelica. I''m surprised that you had such a small dress with you in the first place,¡± I asked her.

    ¡°It belonged to my younger sister who had outgrown it. I am glad that I can pass it on to someone else,¡± she smiled. I placed my mouth close to her ear to whisper.

    ¡°I would appreciate if you didn¡¯t tell anyone about Rose. I want to avoid any gossips if possible,¡± I whispered and she chuckled in response.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry, Zen. You were always kind hearted and I am sure that no one is going to judge you. And besides, she is acting like your little sister. She¡¯s in good hands,¡± she smiled. Miss Angelica is certainly beautiful. But unfortunately, a certain female elf had stolen my attention as of now.

    ¡°Oh right, if you had not eaten yet, there are some food in the kitchen. You can bring them up to your room,¡± she said.

    ¡°I will. Thanks once again. Good night, Miss Angelica,¡± I bowed to her.

    ¡°Good night, Onee-san,¡± said Rose as she bowed once more before proceeding to follow me up the stairs.

    ¡°Good night, both of you. And here I was thinking we can have that wine together,¡± she trailed off.

    I peeked my head out from the corner of the stairs.

    ¡°Did you say something?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°Oh nothing¡ª nothing. Good night,¡± she smiled and waved at me.

    ***

    I found my room at the third floor. The door alone is so much fancier than what I had during my Fighter rank days. A moment of truth now. I held my breath as I turned the key and opened the door.

    ¡°Wow,¡± I said out loud unconsciously.

    I could not hide my amazement. It is the size of a small apartment. There is a living room and a kitchen in sight from the front door. Although when I said living room, there is only a fireplace, a wooden couch with cushions and a small circular table on top of a rug on the floor. Damn, no television. Wait, what¡¯s a television? Huh?

    I shook my head and focused on the more important stuffs. No bed or bathtub in sight? Oh, there is a corridor. Let¡¯s see, a small room with a bed and cabinet. This is probably the guest room. What¡¯s next? An empty room with no furnitures? Perhaps I can turn this into a storeroom of some sorts.

    Where is the bathroom or master room? Ah, there you are. A king sized bed, a large table along with a wardrobe and cabinets. A couple of windows too. All in all, I love this master room.

    I checked on the last door hoping that it is a bathroom. I opened the door and gave a sigh of relief. Thankfully there is a bathroom¡ª and washroom? Huh?! I rubbed my eyes and rushed in to check. There¡ª really is a toilet here. They actually made waste outlet for each of these room? Wow, talk about a major upgrade from the Fighter¡¯s room that I had. Rose can definitely live here with me. She can even have her own privacy in the guest room.

    Rose was walking around exploring the rooms. I gestured her to come over and showed her the guest room. I informed her that from now on, this is going to be her room. She looked at me surprised with her mouth agape. ¡°A room of my own? F¡ª for real?!¡± she asked loudly. I nodded to her and told her that she can make herself at home. Although, I do expect her to help with chores and cleaning the house occasionally when she¡¯s living here. Share the burden of doing the chores together.

    I gestured her to take a bath while I collected the food from the kitchen. I am certain that the both of us had not eaten dinner even though it was late now. Hunger knows no boundaries. When you gotta eat, you gotta eat. I waited for Rose as I sat at the dining table. So many things happened in a day that it felt so surreal. I got promoted, found a legendary gauntlet, adopted a little sister and now a new spacious room. Things were moving way too fast for me. But I guess that is one of those days where you have to go with the flow.

    Rose came out wearing the dress that Miss Angelica gave her. She looked like a little white angel running towards me. I smiled when I see her looking so happy. Her hair was still unkempt but at least she looked cleaner now. There¡¯s going to be a lot of shopping to be done tomorrow for Rose.

    Even though she was hungry and drooling, all she did was stared at her food and kept looking at me for permission. I cannot imagine the life she had been living all this time but I am glad she can make a genuine smile now. She is going to live a happy life, I promise to make that happen for her.

    After dinner and a bath, I rested on my comfy bed. The comfort of this bed is beyond anything I had slept on. My body melts into the soft bed along with the pillow. So soft~

    I had only noticed that I had a hidden chest in my room. I should keep my gauntlets locked in here until I can officially wear it. But even hitting the basic requirements is pointless. It does not provide me with any stat boost despite being a legendary item. I need to hit the requirements of those three hidden spells for it to be worth it.

    Truth be told, I had not heard of anyone finding an item that provides you with additional spells. Everyone uses spells from their own respective guild. I guess I will be the one to break that curse then.

    ¡°Onii-chan?¡± I heard a voice.

    I quickly sat up and saw Rose standing by the door of my room hugging her pillow. I could only see her eyes as the pillow was hiding the bottom half of her face.

    You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Can¡¯t sleep after a change of bed?¡± I asked her.

    She nodded. I asked whether she want to sleep at my side tonight and she hesitated. I assured her that I won¡¯t lay a finger on her. I was certain that I won¡¯t be doing anything to her as I didn¡¯t have any attraction to her aside from brotherly love. All I wanted to do was to protect her and keep her safe. I noticed that she was shaking. Is she afraid that I will do something to her?

    I got up from my bed and crouched in front of her while giving her a smile.

    ¡°Rose, you are little sister. I promise that I won¡¯t do anything to you. You can trust me on that. It¡¯s your choice if you want to sleep on the same bed with me or your own,¡± I assured her with a smile.

    She hugged me with her pillow in between. I gave her a pet on the head and she proceeded to jump on my bed. It is her first day out of that horrible house that she had been living for God knows how long. Of course she is scared. Not to mentioned this 14 year old idiot decided to buy her out of nowhere. Her mind must had been blown by now.

    She rested herself at my side. I hope she is comfortable enough to sleep now.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go shopping tomorrow. I¡¯ll buy you clothes and perhaps we¡¯ll visit a barber shop to get you a hair cut,¡± I told her and she replied with a simple ¡°Emm¡±.

    Her hair was really long and unkempt. Not something any normal female in the right circumstances will ever ignore. Hairs are primarily one of their main attraction.

    ¡°I will blow the candle now. Good night, Rose,¡± I said as I puffed out the candle.

    Everything was quiet as I struggled to sleep. Is it because I am not used to such a soft bed? I might need to adjust myself to find the right position.

    ¡°Onii-chan¡ª thank you. I will find a way to repay you one day,¡± muttered Rose. Was she sleep talking or is she still awake? I turned to look at her but her back was facing me. At least she was not shaking anymore.

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to repay me, Rose. I will do my best to make you happy and keep you safe. That is what a brother should do,¡± I whispered to her.

    ***

    ¡°Glad you did not give up huh, boy,¡± said Kirin. How long has it been since I last spoke to him?

    ¡°Give up on what? Are you referring to the gauntlets?¡± I asked him.

    ¡°Indeed, how do you think you even noticed it in the first place?¡± He said while puffing up his chest.

    ¡°Are you saying you were the one who showed me that sparkle? You can do that?¡± I asked him curiously. If he can show me hints, what else can he see through my eyes?

    ¡°Why, of course!~ There was a strong frequency emanating from that chest that made me curious. It felt like there was something inside that will be compatible with my powers,¡± he explained. None of that entered my mind, as I had more pressing concerns about what he told me.

    ¡°Oh gosh, I can never have my privacy of my own any longer. There goes my private life,¡± I muttered to myself while feeling down.

    ¡°You think I am interested in your private life, boy?! I only take interest in things that pique my own interest. I am not interested in your everyday life, boy. My spirit is capable of wondering around this world even though you are carrying my physical self,¡± he said with a smug face.

    ¡°Phew. At least there is some assurance there. I am still young and have a whole life waiting for me,¡± I told him.

    ¡°Do what you wish, boy. Just remember that I am your primary weapon and you will use no other,¡± he warned me. Is he jealous that I am using my elven dagger?

    ¡°I don¡¯t see what¡¯s wrong in using a side weapon. It prevents you getting dull from being overused, isn¡¯t it?¡± I asked him.

    ¡°You think I can be withered down by simple wear and tear? You are wielding a legendary weapon, boy. It would take another Celestial Being to even hurt me. Have no fear and use me more often,¡± he said with a hmph face. This Kirin is such a Tsundere.

    ¡°Alright then, you have my word that I will use Inazuma more often,¡± I bowed to him.

    ¡°Until next time, boy,¡± he said as the world he created started to fade.

    ***

    I opened my eyes. The smell of food was overwhelming my senses even from inside my room. I sat up and noticed that Rose was gone. I rushed out of my room to look for her but to my surprise, she was cooking. Odd, pretty sure I did not have any ingredients or utensils to cook with. I approached her to see what she was cooking.

    ¡°Good morning, Onii-chan. You can freshen up while I finish cooking,¡± she said.

    ¡°Good morning, Rose. May I ask where did you get the ingredients and utensils from?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°I went downstairs and borrowed them from the chef. He was willing to lend me these few items and ingredients to make breakfast,¡± she said. Hold up a minute. Did she just said she went downstairs?

    ¡°Um¡ª when you were downstairs, did anyone else saw you aside from the chef?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°Hmm¡ª there were a couple of people who were having breakfast which I greeted them,¡± she recalled back her memory.

    Ah well, sooner or later, Rose is going to be found out by the other members anyway. I¡¯ll just deal with them when I head downstairs later.

    I headed into the washroom to freshen up. I did not take a bath as I am not a morning person. Bathing in the morning without any training would only stimulate my sinus which is going to make my morning extra miserable. I sat at the dining table to see what Rose was cooking. Oh my, looks like a western meal. Hang on, is that what I think it is? Woah, did the chef really?

    ¡°Rose, is that what I think it is? Did you use a golden egg to cook this?¡± I asked her curiously.

    ¡°The chef said that I can use it for breakfast. Is it not to your liking?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Well¡ª I won¡¯t say it is not to my liking but¡ª these eggs are not cheap. It cost about a silver coin each as it comes from an extremely rare jikenettes breed,¡± I informed her.

    These eggs are expensive due to their exquisite taste. Chefs around the city only uses these eggs when they are preparing a lavish meal. And he just gave Rose two of them without knowing whether she can actually repay it? Blimey, I better repay the chef later. That¡¯s two silver coins here.

    She gave me a confused look but I wiped away the thought and gestured her to eat. We dug into our meal. Immediately, both of us were in cloud nine. The eggs were soft and fluffy even though it was cooked as a simple fried egg. Imagine your chicken egg but toppled with truffle and caviar. That is the level of taste that this rare jikenettes breed are capable of producing. Both of us were crying as we slowly chewed on it. This egg alone completely outshined the sausages, bacon and ham combined.

    Rose seemed to be crying even more than me. Perhaps she had not eaten anything so delicious in her life. After we had finished eating, both of us hugged each other as though we had reached Nirvana. It took us about 10 seconds later before we snapped out of that heavenly taste.

    I asked Rose to get ready before we headed out. A couple of things I need to do before we exit the building. First, pay the chef, then look for Miss Angelica. I prepared myself for the inevitable as I walked downstairs. As soon as I placed my foot on the ground floor, there was plenty of cheers and laughter directed at me. Sigh, so many members knew about Rose now and all of them are cheering for me. What were they expecting really? Geez.

    ¡°Yo Zen, finally get yourself a girl, eh? I always thought you would prefer the more matured ones but who knew you preferred the younger and unkempt type, huh?¡± A guild member poked his elbow at me.

    ¡°Congratulations Zen, seems like you¡¯re finally matured now. Hahaha!!¡± shouted another member.

    I sighed and thought of what I am supposed to say. Did these guys really thought that I would lay my hands on such a young girl? I am not some noble that only preferred underaged girls. Geez.

    ¡°Guys¡ª guys, this is my little sister,¡± I said to all of them.

    A whole lot of them spilled or spitted their drinks after hearing what I said.

    ¡°W¡ª what?! You have a little sister?? Since when?!¡± Asked one of the guild member.

    ¡°We never heard you having a little sister before,¡± asked another.

    ¡°Well, now you do. And I would appreciate that none of you are thinking about laying your hands on her unless you wish to have a taste of my wrath,¡± I gave all of them a deathly stare. All of them shivered at the thought and started minding their own business.

    ¡°Your little sister will be a real beauty in the future, Zen,¡± said someone behind me. It was Rick.

    ¡°Hey brother, been a while since the ceremony, how you been? This is Rose, by the way,¡± I introduced him to Rose.

    ¡°Nice to meet you, Rose. I assume the both of you are not blood related seeing that there is absolutely no similarities between the both of you. I am fine by the way, thanks for asking. Being a Dark Knight meant that I¡¯ll be having less quests but better rewards,¡± he laughed.

    ¡°Great to hear. I¡¯ll catch up with you later when I have the chance. Got a couple of errands today,¡± I told him.

    ¡°Ah, no worries, Go on ahead. You know where to find me anyway,¡± he waved as he walked off.

    I headed into the kitchen to pay the chef for the ingredients and returned the utensils. I guess I will have to buy my own utensils seeing that Rose have an interest in cooking. The chef refused but I insisted in passing him the coins. Despite him looking like a colonel, that egg is not something that I should be eating for free. I ain¡¯t taking no for an answer.

    Making sure the chef accepted my coins, I went to look for Miss Angelica who was stationed at the quest counter today. I spoke with her regarding Rose¡¯s horrible experience with the orphanage house and wondered whether there was something that I can do to help the remaining orphans there. She told me not to worry as all she needed was the location of where I rescued Rose from. The Dark Lord himself will be lodging the complaint directly to the administration and they will be taking things extra seriously when it involves a guildmaster. An investigation will be performed by the administration if all the things Rose told us are true, then the lady will be looking at doing community service for the rest of her life. Under her contract to be an orphanage in the first place, she swore to care and protect those children assigned to her with utmost priority. Breaking the contract will have severe consequences under the administration.

    I thanked her properly and told her that I will be treating her to a meal. She rejected my offer and said that taking care of Rose is already a commendable effort on its own. Should I need any help when taking care of her then she is up for it. After all, a man would never understand a woman¡¯s body when they eventually undergo puberty.

    Before I left, I asked Miss Angelica for advice on where I can purchase clothes that can fit Rose. She told me that there were some clothing stores near the library that caters for children. Glad to hear that then. I guess there won¡¯t be much of a detour after all. Time for me to update my quest log for the day.

    Main Objective Updated: Head to the library to study on the 4 great powers. Search for ways to increase my skill stats.

    Side Objective Unlocked: Purchase clothes for Rose and get her a haircut. Get some cooking utensils and ingredients along the way.

    Sounds about right, let¡¯s get this show on the road. I decided to finish my side objectives before heading to the library. As of luck, there was a store that was selling kitchen utensils along the way. I headed in and realised that I had next to zero ideas on what utensils was needed for cooking.My cooking skills were non-existent at this point. Rose took charge and purchased some utensils while I negotiated on the payment. She is dependable and happened to be quite knowledgeable as well. Who says that she cannot do anything right? I ought to give that lady a piece of my mind if I ever see her again.

    With all the utensils we bought, the shopkeeper was willing to send all of them to the guild directly with no additional charge. I am glad that we did not have to double back as I doubt we can continue moving around with all of the utensils that we bought. We continued our journey to the library and yes indeed, there were clothing stores for children and a barbershop too. The library was certainly a huge building. You must be thinking that the people of this world do not fancy reading but books are our main source of getting information in this world. Just imagine cooking something half way through and forgetting the recipe that you thought you remembered from the library. Imagine no Google; wait, what¡¯s Google?

    I decided to bring Rose to a hair cut before buying clothes for her. I was sure with a proper hairstyle, we can determine clothings that suits her more. The barber recommended Rose to have her hair trimmed to shoulder length as her hair was curly in nature. I shrugged and told him that he¡¯s the barber and he knows his trade the best. Not long after, the barber nodded to himself when he was satisfied with the result. Rose hopped off the chair and looked towards me as though she was asking me for a feedback. Oh my lord, she really looked like a doll. Rick was right, she is going to grow up to be a beauty in the future. Her future husband must treat her properly or I will hunt him down with my particular set of skills.

    Alright then, next stop is clothes. Once again, I left it to the shopkeeper to recommend clothes for Rose. There were a couple of dresses or two-piece clothings that suited Rose and¡ª I just bought them all. Rose had only one dress from Miss Angelica so it does not hurt to get her more. Obviously I asked her to throw her rags away. She is a girl and she should be dressing up properly.

    Yosh, all the side quests are done. To the library it is.

    I asked Rose on whether she wanted to head home instead. She said she wanted to tag along as she wanted to visit the library and check out any books that interest her. She knew how to read? Is there anything that she can¡¯t do? She is really smart for her age, possibly even smarter than me.

    As we entered the library, a librarian greeted us with a nod instead of welcoming us out loud. It is a library after all. I enquired her for a book about the Four Great pPowers and a dummies guide to increase skill stats. She looked up her entry book and pointed me to the shelf number. Rose also asked for some particular book that I did not hear as I quickly rushed in to find those two books I came for.

    Let¡¯s see¡ª ah, there it is. Book about the Four Great Powers. Literally the title of the book itself. Now, what about¡ª Oh, found it. Skill stats for dummies. I decided to start off with the book about the Four Great Powers first.

    Let¡¯s see, says here that the Four Great pPowers are not self-declared by the individual themselves. It is a title bestowed by many and agreed upon by the cities and communities. It involves many interaction and fame between the two continents that gave birth to the idea to declare these individuals with the title. Even if an individual killed one of the great powers, without fame or interaction with the cities, that title does not belonged to that individual.

    The first and perhaps the strongest of the member is an elven woman, goes by the name of Ivy Moonshine. Moonshine? Isn¡¯t that Lily¡¯s last name? Please don¡¯t tell me this is her mother or grandmother.

    Ivy Moonshine was an elf that had accomplished many impossible feats. Mostly in building the foundation of many cities or fighting against impossible odds. She is estimated to be around 15,000 years old and remains undefeated by any who challenged her. What? Elves can live that long? Do they even start looking old even at that age? I am really curious if I can meet Ivy one day. I can definitely go all out testing my strength against her.

    Next up is Sladar Slitherman. The second member in the rank of the great powers. He is known for his impressive regenerative abilities that rivals Dragon Kings. Capable of even growing limbs, he is a lizardman who had joined the Dragon guild making him extremely skilled in using a staff.

    The third member is¡ª a human. Is he my target? Oh wait, this person doesn¡¯t seems to be an assassin. Peter Borage is known for leading a peaceful life. He is the founder of the City of Heliotrope Ixia and has lead the people to live a calm and meditative life. But his strength is not something to be trifled with. Known for his unarmed combat, he is capable of defeating any opponent with his fist alone. Underestimating his powers will be your demise. He remained undefeated for over 30 years.

    Last on the list, my target. Tom Snapdragon. A notorious human that is infamous for his silent killing. Capable of killing his targets without leaving any evidence. The target would be riddled with circular holes but upon closer inspection, no weaponry known to man is capable of leaving such wounds. Doctors suspects that he might be using some form of firing weapon such as a musket or a flintlock but since there were no pellets or iron balls left in the wound, the doctors were unable to conclude the cause of death. Many reputable and important figures were assassinated by him which made the cities granting him that title not as a recognition but as a punishment. How does granting him that title considered as a punishment? Ah, they had declared the fourth to be killed on sight all around the world. Painting him as a target with fame.

    So, Tom is his name. An assassin that can kill his target with an unknown weapon. Not to mention his silent killing or movements can even evade elven ears. This is going to be hard. As I am right now, I highly doubt I will be able to kill him. I will need to be at least the rank of Dark Knight before even thinking of fighting him. I had always wondered why he did not try to find me in the city. He should be able to recognise me, John or Lily despite our older age. The Elementalist had also informed me that there were no reports about Tom being spotted in the city for a couple of years now. Hm, that¡¯s odd.

    I wiped the thought out of my mind and proceeded with the next book. Lets see, how do I increase my skill stats. This book is really old and it felt like it doesn¡¯t belonged here. I opened the book and the first thing shown was ¡®Property of City of Heliotrope Ixia. If found, do return it as it is illegal to bring it out of the city¡¯. I immediately closed the book. Did I just committed a crime?! What I am holding in my hands is an illegal item! How did it even get here in the first place??

    I sighed. Now is not the time for righteousness, I must find a way to increase my skill stats even if it meant breaking the law. I will pretend that I did not see the first page. I started reading further ahead. It says here that you do not level up in this world. All your stats are dependent on what you do in your daily life. In order to increase your skill stats, you need to do things that requires you to be skilful. Some examples are fishing, cooking or baking.

    I slammed my head on the table upon reading that. People around the library started shushing me. I am so sorry, but what the actual fuck? Not only did I spent an entire year digging for this bloody gauntlets, now I have to learn how to fish, cook or bake? Lord help me. Please let there be other things that can improve my skill stats. I read further and found out that mining or digging was one of the ways to increase skill but the rate was extremely slow as it focused more on strength. Things that uses your brain are the best way to increase your skill.

    Hmm¡ª oh, here¡¯s something. Doing medicine can increase your skill stats drastically as it would require you to experiment on different herbs, materials and such. Perhaps I should give medicine a try. Who knows, if I¡¯m lucky, I might be the first person to make a breakthrough in medicine and discover healing potions or something useful.

    But where do I even begin? Should I look for a medicinal shop and start knocking on some mortar and pestle? I wonder if the librarian would know of any medicinal shops that are accepting apprentices.

    I turned to look at Rose who was seated at my side reading a book quietly. She seemed to be immersed in reading. Noticing I was staring at her, she turned and asked a question that made my jaw dropped.

    ¡°Onii-chan, can I join a guild?¡¯ she whispered. I turned to see the cover of the book that she was reading. ¡®Which guild is suitable for you¡¯ was the title. Oh dear.

 Chapter 13: Hunting Deer [STAR]

    Chapter 13: Hunting Deer [STAR]

    What¡¯s that you say? The story is pretty boring recently? Where are the actions? Bring on the actions!

    Alright, I understand. A quest was assigned to me recently to hunt a fearsome creature. I will be doing this hunting quest solo so I decided to have Rose tagged along to show her what it''s like to part of a guild. She will need to be hunting creatures or monsters in a party or sometimes even alone, which is what I am assigned to do now. It is not all fun and games when you join a guild. It is either your source of income or your death. Its harsh reality but that is the life of an adventurer.

    Rose seemed to be excited to follow me on my quest. I handed her my dagger as a form of protection for her but I doubt she knows how to wield it properly. She never had any combat experience nor did she even fought with anyone before. She was following me like a little bunny until we reached the city¡¯s northern entrance.

    ¡°Soo¡ª what are we hunting, onii-chan?¡± she asked me curiously with a cheerful tone.

    ¡°We are hunting daarette,¡± I told her.

    ¡°Which way do we go?¡± she asked.

    ¡°In the direction of daarette,¡± I said.

    ¡°Huh?¡± she tilted her head and looked at me feeling stumped. I snapped back to reality when she tugged my shirt. Woah, what in the world just happened to me? I suddenly felt like a dad. How weird.

    ¡°Err, I meant this way,¡± I smiled awkwardly at her.

    According to the quest letter, it is heading north from the city. The area is known to be constantly snowing throughout the entire year. We prepared supplies and winter clothings for the journey. It is currently autumn in the City Of Pines and would eventually be winter soon. The thing is, it does not snow within the City Of Pines. As a matter of fact, most of the places in this continent doesn¡¯t snow. Sure, the temperature will be cold but it is not close to freezing point. I guess this is going to be the first time we will be heading somewhere that actually snows.

    And so, we headed towards north where the City Of Lilies Dahlee is located. The journey there is going to be far as it is right at the border of this continent. We were provided with a carriage to bring us all the way at the expense of the guild. Nothing too eventful happened throughout the journey so I had a chit-chat with Rose midway.

    ¡°Have you ever held a weapon before?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°Hm, I think I sort of remember doing some training with my parents when I was very young,¡± she recalled. Oh, so she do have some form of experience on how to fight.

    ¡°May I ask about your parents? What happened to them? You don¡¯t have to answer if it¡¯s uncomfortable for you, alright?¡± I told her.

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, Onii-chan. If we were to bond closer, you will have to know about it eventually. Both of them perished during the war with the Demon King. They did not make it back. I was left all alone and the administration decided to find someone to be my caretaker. I am sure you had met the ¡®lovely¡¯ lady that was supposed to be my caretaker,¡± her face turned sour at the mention of that lady. Not only did her parents died, she was left at the care of such a horrible person. This made me want to protect her even more now.

    I unconsciously reached out and petted her head. She seems to enjoy being petted like some kette. Oh no¡ª no no, don¡¯t bring back that horrible memory!

    ***

    The carriage stopped to camp the night. As we were midway to our destination, the weather was starting to get colder now. We were exhaling cold breaths as night approaches. We wore our winter clothing but Rose cuddled with me for the extra warm. The coachman was starting at us as he maintained the campfire light with a stick.

    ¡°She your daughter?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Oh no, my little sister,¡± I told him.

    ¡°Glad to see there is still some love in this world,¡± he said.

    Woah, the conversation rolled deeper than Adele could even start singing. I am not used to having such deep conversation with a stranger all of a sudden.

    ¡°May I ask what you meant by that?¡± I asked him politely.

    ¡°Where you¡¯re heading¡ª the people are mostly reserved. The weather made them unwilling to make contact with anyone else. Populations are dwindling there as youngsters would rather go somewhere else. Now, only senior folks live there,¡± he explained.

    ¡°Are you from around there?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Aye, I am. And it calms me seeing the both of you being so closed together. Been a while since I felt the warm from another person,¡± he made a sad smile.

    I did not know how to continue with the conversation. Perhaps his lover or child had passed for some time, leaving him all alone in this world. I decided to get some shut-eye to prepare myself for tomorrow. From what Miss Angelica informed me, the creature I am hunting is no slouch. Daarettes are fearsome creatures known for their strength and speed. Oh right, I had not updated my quest log.

    Side Objective Unlocked: Hunt the murderous daarette.

    What is a daarette you ask? I remembered it is related to venison in some way. I also remembered a certain Cdawg mentioning that daarettes are known as one of the most dangerous animals in the world. We shall see then. Wait, who the hell is Cdawg? Awfully familiar but I can¡¯t quite put my finger in it. My brain is getting weirder and weirder by the day.

    Dawn approaches and we continued with our journey. As we proceeded closer to the city, sunlight was no longer visible. Snows were falling and the skies darken. It was almost like we had stepped into the lands of Narnia or something.

    We arrived at the city in the late morning. Um, city? Should I even call it that? It looked more like a village instead. Unlike the City Of Pines, this ¡°city¡± had extremely worn down walls, no tall buildings or even a proper entrance. You can just hop right in and no soldiers will be there to stop you.

    The coachman also made his stop here. I asked him whether there was any tavern for us to stay and thankfully there was. Only one tavern remained operational in this ¡°city¡±. He guided us to the tavern as he was heading there as well. I checked on Rose whether she can keep up with this extreme weather. She was so excited in seeing snow for the first time. With a fur coat and winter hat, there is no way you won¡¯t find that adorable when seeing her playing with snow. Even the coachman made a chuckle upon seeing Rose running around all excited.

    We made it to the tavern and headed in. It was empty with only a couple of people inside. We took off our boots and headed towards the counter.

    ¡°Hey Darcy, been a while. How¡¯s everything?¡± asked the coachman.

    ¡°Everything is good, Danny. Aside from that damn daarette terrorising everyone, all is fine,¡± she replied.

    ¡°Would it be alright if you tell me more about that daarette in question?¡± I interjected and placed the quest letter on the counter top. Darcy took the letter and read its contents. She made a couple of nods while reading.

    ¡°Sounds about right. What else do you wish to know?¡± she asked.

    ¡°The location of the daarette last seen and the area with the most sighting of this creature,¡± I answered. Classic textbook questions.

    ¡°Hm, the most recent location is where everyone found the dead bodies. Just out of town heading towards the woods. It seems to be guarding the woods somehow which is strange since we had been gather firewoods there for many years now. Either something spooked the daaratte into attacking us or it relocated its way to the forest somehow. Either way, we need those firewoods or we¡¯re all be dead from the cold,¡± she explained.

    Good. Only one location to lure the daaraette out and kill it. Things are looking pretty straight forward so far.

    This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

    ¡°Is there any room that we can spend the night?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°You staying with your daughter? I have a room for two upstairs. Well, pretty much all the rooms are vacant right now since barely anyone comes here due to the weather,¡± she said.

    ¡°My little sister actually, but yeah, I¡¯ll take it,¡± I passed her a couple of copper coins in exchange for the room key. I am so glad that this city uses the same currency as the City Of Pines otherwise I am screwed. I highly doubt there is even a bank here for me to exchange.

    ¡°You¡¯re hunting that daarette?¡± asked a voice behind me. I turned to see who it was and there stood an old looking man.

    ¡°Yes sir, I am,¡± I told him.

    ¡°Be careful youngling, what you¡¯re hunting is a blood thirsty alpha daarette. It hungers for human blood after it had claimed its first victim. Don¡¯t end up like those poor folks. Keep your daughter safe here,¡± he said.

    The room felt colder after his story. All of us stood silent. Darcy was the one who broke the silence.

    ¡°O, that¡¯s just old Dean with his silly story. Try not to let it get to you, alright? Good luck on your hunt, adventurer,¡± said Darcy.

    I wish I could just wiped that story out of my brain but it felt as though it was a premonition waiting to happen. We headed upstairs to store our belongings and tested the bed. Glad to see the room is kept clean despite not having many visitors. Rose was rolling on her bed when I called out to her.

    ¡°Rose, maybe¡ª you should stay here while I hunt the daarette,¡± I said to her.

    ¡°Are you worried about what that man said? I¡¯ll be fine, Onii-chan. You don¡¯t have to worry about me. I can take care of myself,¡± she said.

    ¡°Just a gut feeling, y¡¯know? I am worried that I won¡¯t be able to protect you,¡± I told her.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be fine. Thanks for worrying about me. You¡¯re really are a good brother,¡± she smiled.

    Her words were assuring despite this being her first time on a guild quest. Perhaps things will be fine after all.

    Making sure I brought everything I needed, we headed downstairs and proceeded to the location that the daarette was last spotted. It was snowing much lighter than earlier which is good for me. At least it won¡¯t hinder my vision during combat. It was not long until we reached the site. The snow on the ground still had some hint of red on it. I am certain the people in the city tried to scoop away as much blood covered snow to hide the more gory scene.

    I squatted down to look for some evidence or tracks on where the creature went. Strangely, there were none. With such light snowing, it would had taken a couple of hours to complete hide any prints if the creature ventured here. Damn, now I am concerned that the daarette is no longer around here.

    Some rustling sounds could be heard from behind. I immediately unsheathed Inazuma while Rose unsheathed the dagger. We were in a clearing before the forest so there was not much place for the creature to hide aside from some bushes.

    I glared at what was making the rustling and a red foxette poked its head out of the bushes. Rose jumped in excitement upon seeing the animal. She walked slowly closer to the foxette while pet calling it to come closer. To my surprise, the foxette actually did so. It came close within arm¡¯s reach for Rose to pet it. The foxette seems to be enjoying it which made Rose giddy in excitement as she turned to smile at me. I smiled at their interactions until the foxette started making some weird noise.

    ¡°Ding ding, ahie ahie!¡±

    Why is it making that noise? Is it trying to sing?

    I felt an angry presence appeared behind me. I immediately leaped forward towards Rose and grabbed her aside. She managed to grab the foxette and is now hugging it closely. Even without looking, I knew what the angry presence was. It was definitely the daarette in question. You think the deers in your world are scary? Imagine a buffed up version with extremely sharp horns and tripled in size. That is what I am staring at right now. How it ambushed me without me noticing is beyond me. Perhaps that was how it ambushed the citizens and killed them.

    The horns of this creature were soaked in dark red at the sharp ends. Safe to say that this is definitely my target. No wonder the old man said that this is an alpha daarette. Its size is larger than your standard daarette. Now, how should I play this? Distract it while Rose seeks cover? I need to be sure that she is safe.

    ¡°Rose, get away from here. I won¡¯t be able to fight properly while needing to protect you,¡± I told her.

    ¡°No, I¡¯ll fight with you. I can do it, Onii-chan,¡± she said after placing the foxette on the ground which it scurried away immediately.

    ¡°Rose¡ª this daarette is no slouch. Even I can¡¯t say for certain that I can defeat it on my own,¡± I told her directly. This is not a good time to be arguing with your brother.

    ¡°I¡¯ve fought monsters before. This one won¡¯t be any different,¡± she assured me.

    Huh? Did I misheard? When she said monsters, did she meant those imaginary ones that hides under her bed?

    No time for me to argue now, the daarette started charging directly at us with its horns. I instinctively reached out to grab Rose but¡ª huh? Where did she go? Oh, she had already leaped to the side dodging the charge.

    Not bad, she is nimble and seems to have some combat experience. Maybe she wasn¡¯t lying after all. I quickly leaped out of the way of the charge. The daarette made a quick U-turn and resumed its charge. Now it started swinging its horn frantically while charging at me. I stood my ground and used Fear. Damn it, doesn¡¯t seemed like it is working! I rolled to the side to avoid getting rammed by those extremely sharp horns.

    As I was thinking of ways to stop its movement, Rose leaped in and stabbed the daarette on its left hind leg. Nice one, Rose! Now get out of the way. Hang on, what is she doing? Is the dagger stuck?

    ¡°Release the dagger and leap away!¡± I shouted.

    The enraged daarette used some sort of spell that summoned spiked horns throughout the ground. I leaped backwards several times to avoid those spikes, all the while making sure that Rose is safe. Her battle instincts are pretty good. I¡¯ll admit, she can handle herself pretty well. But sadly now she is unarmed.

    ¡°Stand back, Rose! Wait for an opportunity!¡± I shouted at her and she nodded.

    The spiked horns sunk back into the ground as quickly as it was summoned. The enraged daarette was now glaring at Rose and begun charging after her. I quickly chased after the daarette to attack it from behind. Rose timed the daarette¡¯s charge properly and leaped to safety at the last moment causing it to crash onto the tree behind her. Seeing the daarette was disoriented, I decided to use my new signature spell.

    ¡°Getsuga¡ª!!¡± Hang on, wrong spell. ¡°Shadow Strike!¡± I shouted.

    Black trails enveloped Inazuma and I swung it at the daarette¡¯s right leg expecting to take it cleanly right off. I was wrong. It felt like I was hitting a metal bar. I can feel the vibration of the impact on my fingers as it struck the thick bones of the daarette. I regained my bearing and saw that my fully powered Shadow Strike had only caused flesh wounds on it. Not deep enough to affect its movements. Damn it, daarette have such strong bone density to be capable of deflecting Inazuma? Rose must have gotten really lucky and struck a vulnerable point of the daarette. The dagger was still pierced deeply in the daarette¡¯s left hind leg.

    ¡°What shall we do, Onii-chan? Seems like we need to pinpoint its weak spot to pierce it,¡± said Rose. Not bad, her instincts are good. To be able to analyse and reach the same conclusion as me.

    ¡°I¡¯ve got a plan. But I need to lure it into the woods,¡± I told her.

    ¡°Huh? Are you sure? It¡¯s quite dark inside and we will be fighting in it¡¯s own turf,¡± Rose explained.

    ¡°Will it?¡± I left Rose with a question as I prepared myself.

    The daarette came charging at us with a giant log stuck to its horns. Yikes, need to dodge even further now! I quickly grabbed Rose and tossed her towards the woods. She landed on her back but the snow dampen her fall. She understood why I threw her and rushed into the woods. I followed after her while the daarette charged after me. I managed to dive into the woods just in time for the daarette to be stopped by the other trees in its path due to the log stuck in its horns. Can¡¯t come in, can¡¯t ya?

    It continued to rampage to remove the log from its horns. I took a deep breath and used my second spell that I obtained from latest rank. I used Conceal and vanished from sight. Rose was surprised by my sudden disappearance and started looking everywhere for me. Conceal can only be used in dark places. Completely useless in bright area as there is barely any shadows for me to hide in.

    The daarette threw the log away from its horns and glared into the forest. Rose was sitting on the ground alone and it approached slowly towards her. Trying to savour your prey before going in for the kill? Like hell I am going to let you. I appeared unexpectedly on its left and casted Fear. The daarette must had been terrified by my sudden appearance and spell that it stood up on its hind legs. This exposed it¡¯s underbelly which I quickly stabbed Inazuma through. I reached out my left hand and pulled the dagger with all my strength and tossed it over to Rose.

    ¡°Go for the neck!¡± I shouted at her.

    Rose reacted quickly and leapt in to strike with the dagger. She stabbed the daarette on the neck while gripping the dagger two-handed causing it to pierce deeply. The daarette was spitting out blood from its mouth now that it is heavily injured. Just need to hang on a little longer and it will be dead soon. Rose and I held our weapons tightly trying our best to push it deeper to quicken the process. The daarette let out a loud shriek that made me instinctively leapt towards Rose leaving Inazuma behind. I grabbed her by her clothes and leapt onto the daarette¡¯s back. As I suspected, the daarette used all its remaining strength to summon spiked horns once again. Thankfully my instinct was right that the back of the daarette was the safest spot.

    The daarette started losing balance and began dropping to the side. Shit, where can I go? The horns are still on the ground! I jumped into the air holding Rose and thankfully landed directly on the daarette¡¯s body. The spiked horns did not pierced through its body. Holy shit, we¡¯re alive!

    Upon making sure the horns had retreated into the ground and the daarette was dead, we retrieved our weapons and I took a part of the daarette¡¯s horn as trophy. The red sharp tips of the horn is going to be a clear indication on who it belonged to. Time for us to head back to the village and close the quest. I held Rose¡¯s hand as he headed out of the forest. She was hopping on one leg which I turned to look funnily at her. Why is doing the bunny hop now?

    ¡°Did you hurt your leg?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°I think so. I might had slipped earlier. It just hurts a little bit, you don¡¯t need to worry about it,¡± she said. If it hurts a little, you won¡¯t be hopping right now.

    ¡°Alright, show me your leg,¡± I told her.

    ¡°You want to see my maiden¡¯s leg, Onii-chan?~¡± she acted shy. I knocked her head lightly. Now is not the time for jokes.

    I inspected her leg. It seems to be swollen a little on her right ankle. Perhaps she might had sprained it.

    ¡°Alright, hop on my back. I¡¯ll give you a piggyback ride,¡± I said to her.

    ¡°A¡ª are you sure? I¡¯m quite heavy,¡± she uttered.

    ¡°Geez Rose, you¡¯re just ten. C¡¯mon, hop on so we can get going. Make sure you hold on to your boots,¡± I ushered her.

    She leaped on and we can finally walk back to the city. Thankfully it is not that far to reach the tavern. Rose hugged me tightly and began rubbing her face on my back. What is she even doing?

    After some time, we made it back to the tavern. Danny stood up immediately upon seeing that I¡¯ve returned. I sat Rose on one of the table as I planned to rub her swollen foot. Darcy came over with a towel and a bucket of hot water in her hands. She seems to be well prepared.

    ¡°So¡ª you did it, kid?¡± asked Danny.

    ¡°Sure did. Here is the horn that belonged to that murderous daarette. I believe you can recognise this bloody horn?¡± I showed him.

    ¡°Aye, yes indeed. You really did it youngster. You really did it,¡± said Danny as he placed his hand on my shoulder.

    ¡°Right¡ª who shall I hand this quest letter to? I need it signed,¡± I asked Danny. It is usually the leader or mayor who signs the letter but is there even a mayor here?

    ¡°I¡¯ll sign it, I was the one who raised the request in the first place,¡± said Danny as he took the letter. Oh, so he was the one who raised it? Why didn¡¯t he say so?

    He handed the letter back to me and everything seems to check out. I thought we can head back home today but I decided to stay the night due to Rose¡¯s swollen foot. Food was on the house which made me felt bad. It snows all year round so hunting food in general must be difficult. But Darcy insisted that we eat for free as her way of showing thanks to us.

    After our meal, I carried Rose upstairs to our room. I inspected Rose¡¯s feet once more and noticed that it was subsiding now. We should be able to return to City Of Pines tomorrow hopefully.

    ¡°Onii-chan¡ª can I join a guild?¡± she asked me once again.

    ¡°Any particular reason as to why you want to join one?¡± I asked her. What made her read that book in the first place?

    ¡°I¡ª want to help you. If I didn¡¯t join a guild, I won¡¯t be able to fight by your side,¡± she explained.

    ¡°Helping me with house chores and cooking is also a way of supporting me. You don¡¯t necessary need to be on the battlefield with me, Rose,¡± I explained my reasoning.

    ¡°But I want to repay you more than that. What if you don¡¯t return from a quest one day? I will be left alone again and might be sent to another horrible caretaker. I don¡¯t want to experience that again,¡± she started tearing up.

    Ah, I finally understood what she meant. She needed to make sure that I am able to come home. She would rather have the both of us return home or die together trying. Death was less important to her than feeling alone again. I won¡¯t say that I understand her feelings but I understood her intention. I gave her a hug and petted her head.

    ¡°Alright, you can join a guild. However, before you turn 11, I need to make sure that you are fit enough to join a guild. Otherwise, you¡¯ll be staying at home. Deal?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°Deal! I¡¯ll show you that I am capable of joining a guild!¡± She made a bright smile.

    ¡°You seemed to have a guild in mind? Which one are you looking at?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°I do, I would like to join the Light guild,¡± she said.

    Just as I suspected. The only guild that provides spell buffs to the other guild members. That was probably what she was looking for in the book that she was reading.

    We returned to City Of Pines the following day. Danny brought us back to the city to which we gave our thanks and farewell. Rose gave Danny a hug which surprised both of us. Danny petted Rose at first, then he started tearing up and hugged her tighter. Way to go, Rose. You melted his frozen heart. I do not know what Danny had experienced in his life but I am glad that Rose had gave him a hug.

    We waved Danny farewell as he took his carriage out of the city. We proceeded to walk back to the Dark guild after. Rose turned to look at me and gave me a peace sign. This cheeky brat, she must had overheard the conversation between me and Danny.

    There will come another day where I will start training Rose for her guild initiation. And the beginning of my nightmare to increase my skill stats.

 Chapter 14: Levelling Skills [STAR]

    Chapter 14: Levelling Skills [STAR]

    I started my day trying to learn how to cook breakfast. Rose tutored me on how to cook a day earlier. With a recipe book that I borrowed from the library in one hand and tongs in the other, I felt like some MasterChef. If only enthusiasm can magically make your food taste better. According to Rose, it was somewhat edible compared to what she had to eat last time. That does not sound assuring to me.

    After breakfast, it was my turn to tutor Rose with sword training. I brought Rose to the blacksmith to find a weapon suitable for her to use. The blacksmith inspected her body structure and recommended her to use a rapier as the weight is more suitable for her body type. However, she will need to be a bit older for her to wield it effectively one-handed. Until then, she will be practicing with a wooden sword and occasionally the rapier two-handed to get the feel of the weapon. While I am not familiar in using a thrusting weapon, I will be training her all the same. Swing a set amount of times per day, have a short sparring with me, then continue swinging until your body is exhausted.

    I suspected that Rose¡¯s parents had trained her before since her stamina was pretty good for her age. Her stats were actually pretty good to be honest. She is an all rounder in the stats department which I am curious to see what guild will be recommended to her. She mentioned that she had some recollection on performing basic training when she was about five years old. The other five, on the other hand, were overwritten with the horrible things that happened to her.

    I have faith in Rose that she¡¯ll succeed in the guild¡¯s initiation test despite only a few months of training. I am curious to see if she¡¯s going to end up stronger than me in the future as her stats are so well balanced. As for me, my skill training is going pretty¡ª horribly. Cooking barely increased my skill stats at all. I tried fishing to observe the speed of increasing skill stats but seeing as my fishing skills were absolutely horrendous, I only managed to catch one or two fishes in a week¡¯s time. And it was measly sized fishes. I quickly abandoned the idea of continuing my fishing path. What other options do I have? Time to try baking, I suppose.

    I almost destroyed my kitchen with my horrible baking skills. Rose tapped me on my shoulder and told me to never ever do any sort of baking in my life ever again. I thought of depending on cooking alone but after about a month, my skill stat only increased by one. I certainly need to try something else or it¡¯ll take me a lifetime.

    Time for me to try practicing medicine. What other option do I have left? Cooking alone is just not enough for me. There is another problem though. How and where do I even begin? Is there someone practicing medicine inside the city? I am fairly certain there is someone practicing it, otherwise where do we get our potions from? The thing is, I can¡¯t just kick down their door and demand them to start teaching me on how to practice medicine.

    I decided to seek Miss Angelica for help as she had always been relatively familiar with things around the city. To my surprise, she actually knew someone who does. One of her close relative practices medicine, albeit mostly for curing basic illnesses. He does not create potions or medicines for combat purposes. Hey, I¡¯ll take all the help I can get. Better to start somewhere than nothing. Curing illness is useful when you¡¯re travelling around as an adventurer. It is certainly a good knowledge to have even if I sucked at it. I pleaded her for approval to have her relative teach me in medicine and she reluctantly told me that she needed to get permission from her relative first. Thankfully her relative was willing to guide me and I can head over to his clinic the very next day. I thanked her with some chocolates which I had to insist before she accepts it.

    A new day arrived and I stood in front of the clinic in question. It was small but I was not going to be judge. Small clinics are where it is affordable for the needy. I headed in and was greeted by a male who looked like he¡¯s in his forties.

    ¡°Ah, you must be Zen. Come in, come in,¡± he gestured.

    ¡°Yes sir, I am. I¡¯m here to learn about medicine if you¡¯re willing to teach me,¡± I bowed to him slightly.

    ¡°May I ask why? Just for curiosity sake. You¡¯re an adventurer, right?¡± he asked.

    Should I tell him the truth? Will he be asking me why I am trying to specifically increase my skill stat in the first place when other adventures don¡¯t bother about it?

    ¡°I¡¯m¡ª actually trying to increase my skill stats,¡± I confessed.

    He looked stumped at me and started laughing. Did I said something embarrassing?

    ¡°Are you dating my niece?¡± he asked.

    ¡°W¡ª what? No, I¡¯m not,¡± I was taken aback by his sudden strange question.

    ¡°Ah, in that case, I have no obligation to teach you,¡± he chuckled.

    ¡°W¡ª what?¡± I gave a sad tone.

    ¡°I¡¯m just kidding. Hahaha. Ah, you reminded me when I was younger. Sorry if I gave you a scare,¡± he said.

    ¡°Come closer and let me give you a hint,¡± he gestured me to come in close until he whispered directly into my ear.

    ¡°If you wish to increase you skill stats quickly, you will need to practice alchemy instead,¡± he whispered.

    Huh? Am I going to end up as some sort of witch or wizard now? Is medicinal practice the same as alchemy?

    ¡°W¡ª what do you mean, good sir?¡± I stuttered in asking him as it was so out of place.

    ¡°All you need to do is to purchase as many ingredients as you can from the medical shop and¡ª just start mixing them together. If the end product tastes good, chances are you found something that benefits you. Bad tasting products usually de-buffs you or in the worse case scenario, poisons you. Do be careful in testing the end products yourself. There is a chance where a product ends up being tasteless but that does not mean it does nothing. Sometimes it gives both benefit and de-buffs depending on the product created. Here is a list on what I created before. It is not an extensive list as ingredients are relatively expensive to purchase. I had to abandon it when I couldn¡¯t sustain the expenses any further. You will also need a lot of stat scrolls as you will never know what each end product gives you and those scrolls are your only way of knowing. So, unless you¡¯re loaded, try out doing alchemy,¡± he explained.

    ¡°I do have some spare change to test it out. But if it¡¯s really the best way for me to increase my skill stats then I have to pursue it,¡± I told him with conviction.

    ¡°You certainly reminded me when I was young. So eager to try just about anything. I like seeing your enthusiasm, Zen. Alright, here¡¯s another tip for you since you¡¯re so eager to try it out. Head to this shop and pass her this letter. She¡¯ll probably give you some discounts but do expect the price to remain steep,¡± he warned me as he passed me a paper he scribbled.

    I bowed to him, making sure to thank him properly before heading out. Written on the letter was the shop¡¯s name ¡®Pink Carnation¡¯. I believe I saw it somewhere not too far from the library before. Time to make sure then. I do have a few gold coins with me in my pocket which I hope is enough. Worse case, I¡¯ll dig out the remaining 150 gold coins that I left hidden in the forbidden forest. I hope I don¡¯t run myself dry before achieving the bare minimum skill stat.

    It didn¡¯t take long for me to find the shop in question making sure to knock on the door before heading in. There was an old lady busy sorting out some items on a shelf just behind the counter. She wished me ¡°Welcome¡± without turning to look at me. I won¡¯t blame her really. At her age, I should let her focus on her task in case she forgets or injured herself. I stood by the counter and waited until she decided to serve me.

    ¡°Sorry about that, kid. Thank you for your patience. What can I help you with?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Someone recommended me this place for purchasing ingredients. I would like to purchase some if possible?¡± I asked as I pushed the scribbled letter to her.

    She read the contents of the letter and made a dry chuckle smirking. They must had known each other well enough to earned such a reaction. She went behind the counter and sounds of rustling and shifting could be heard. After a short while, she brought out a decent sized box and placed it on the table with some wrappings.

    This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.

    ¡°This is my starter pack for alchemy, kid. I''ve got no recipes for you sadly so you''ll have to figure that out on your own. Not many people made it far because ingredients are expensive,¡± she said.

    ¡°How much are you charging me for these then?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°Two gold coins. I would had sold them for 3 if it wasn¡¯t for that letter. Count yourself lucky, kid,¡± she smiled.

    Two gold coins for a started pack? Not too bad. I shouldn¡¯t get ahead of myself and start a shopping spree. What is inside this box though?

    I opened it and found a mortar and pester, some glass containers and candles. Oh, there is leather gloves along with some other things that would make me look like a mad scientist. Two gold coins for all of these? I¡¯ll take it.

    I passed her the coins and carried everything home. It was early evening when I made it back home. Rose was preparing dinner when she saw me carrying those bulky items as I came in. She was surprised by the large box that could possibly fit her in and she curiously followed after me into my room to see what it was. The table in my room was long in length but I never had a use for it, until now. I am going to turn this into my alchemy table. Let¡¯s see what the doctor had researched before.

    Fortify Constitution +1

    Grounded jikentette bones + honey + red berries. Boil the bones in about 30ml of water and add honey. Add red berries after honey had melted.

    Fortify Strength +1

    Pounded goblin bones + strong berries. Boil the bones in 20ml of water. Add berries after 30 seconds after water starts boiling.

    Wow, there is a lot of things to study here. Do I even have anything to accurately time with? Oh, there are hourglasses included in the box, labelled properly according to specific time too. This is a good starter pack indeed. I am getting all pumped up in starting alchemy. I will need a notebook of my own to keep track on whatever I had tested. Let me try these two recipes first before getting ahead of myself.

    ***

    Onii-chan came home carrying a some questionable bulky items. I was so worried that he might had killed someone and hid the body in the box. Thankfully it was just some glass equipment and some other things that I had no idea about. He eagerly decorated his table with those strange equipment. I thought that I¡¯ll be bothering him in his new hobby so I decided to continue cooking dinner. Roast jikentette for dinner~ How long have I not eaten this. Seems like the mushroom soup is boiled and ready to. Oh shoot, almost missed out in adding salts. Hm, tastes good now. Everything is pretty much done. I should call him out.

    ¡°Onii-chan, dinner is ready,¡± I called out.

    That¡¯s strange. He usually responds to my call. Did he fainted or went to bed? Let me check on him. His door is closed? That¡¯s odd, he usually leaves a gap opened.

    Best to knock before I enter. I called out to him once more and opened the door. Still no response from him. Why is his room so darkly lit? Is that him sitting by the table?

    ¡°Onii-chan? Why are you hiding in the dark?¡± I asked him.

    Hie! Who is this person with bloodshot eyes wearing goggle? Is this even Onii-chan? I¡¯m so scared right now. What do I have with me? I only have a mitten which is better than nothing. Just throw it at him and run!

    ¡°Rose, what are you doing?! I need to concentrate right now. Give me a moment, please. And stop throwing stuffs at me,¡± he shouted.

    Oh, that is definitely Onii-chan. Geez, why does he have to scare me like that? Not to mention he had covered his hair with some netting too. This brother of mine need to be more aware that I am living here with him. At least he keeps his room clean most of the time. I should light up some candles to brighten his room.

    ¡°Done! Bottom¡¯s up, I guess. Bleh, doesn¡¯t taste good. But I followed exactly what the recipe said. What did I do wrong? Hmm,¡± he put on a thinking face.

    ¡°What are you doing, Onii-chan? Making drinks?¡± I asked him curiously.

    ¡°Hm? Oh no, I am doing alchemy. According to the doctor, it would seemed that this is the best way for me to increase my skill stats quickly. But I need to improve more as I couldn¡¯t even create a potion properly even with an existing recipe,¡± he sighed at the end.

    I guess I should help him out later. Sounds like fun to me. I can use some of my cooking skills to see whether he actually followed the recipe properly.

    ¡°Oh, is dinner ready? Let me check my stats first,¡± he rustled his bag and took out a scroll. He blew on it and suddenly started cheering out loudly. What a noisy brother I have.

    ¡°Look Rose, look! My skill stats increased by one even though I failed at making the potion earlier! But it seems like the potion I made had de-buffed my agility stats. No wonder it tasted so bad,¡± he pouted and started thinking again.

    ¡°I¡¯ll help you out later, Onii-chan. Let¡¯s eat before dinner gets cold?¡± I asked him and headed to the kitchen to set the table.

    ***

    Dinner was excellent. I am impressed by my cooking skills. Onii-chan was devouring the roast jikentette and said it was one of the best meal he ever had. I might had blushed a little hearing that from him. I usually cook dinner and lunch once a while since he said that we should eat out so as to not overwork me with chores. But I am staying here for free and he is paying for pretty much everything. I am really happy that such a kind person was willing to take me in. Which is why I must join the Light guild to be some use to him. I want to help him in whatever way possible.

    It was out of the blue when Onii-chan insisted that he will be cooking breakfast. His food leaves a lot to be desired but it was at least better than what I had compared to the horrible caretaker¡¯s house. I do hope he can improve his cooking soon before I gives up on teaching him. No wait, I shouldn¡¯t think that. He had done so much for me and I should continue teaching him. I must; I am his little sister after all.

    I sighed unconsciously. Oh onii-chan, you really are hopeless whenever something requires you to be precise with your hands.

    ¡°Rose, dinner was¡ª *chef¡¯s kiss. Thanks for cooking today. I¡¯ll be heading back to my room,¡± he stood up and brought his plate to the sink.

    ¡°Onii-chan, you forgot the rules. Whoever cooks won¡¯t be doing the dishes,¡± I said to him with a grin.

    It was his rule that he created so I was just reminding him. I don¡¯t really mind doing chores as I am freeloading here in the first place. I should be doing all these for him as thanks. But I do want to be spoilt once a while. He he.

    ¡°Ha ha¡ª well, I did made that rule. Nothing to argue, I suppose,¡± he said and proceeded to do the dishes.

    I quickly rushed into his room to see he was doing. A paper? Oh, so these are the ingredients he needed for the recipe. Let¡¯s see what he did so far.

    Huh? It says here for grounded bones but these are still in chunks. Is this supposed to be pounded bones? But these are still too large to be considered pounded. Geez, Onii-chan. You really are hopeless without me guiding you.

    ¡°Rose, what are you doing? Those equipment are expensive, y¡¯know?¡± He came to check up on me.

    ¡°Here, taste this,¡± I passed him my potion.

    ¡°T¡ª this.. tastes good. What did you do?¡± He asked me with a confused look. I sighed loudly.

    ¡°Come here Onii-chan and sit down. You don¡¯t seems to understand the difference between pounded and grounded. Here is the difference,¡± I started tutoring him.

    We were so engrossed in doing alchemy until it was late night. My eyes were already droopy now. How is he still so excited? His eyes were practically sparkling right now.

    ¡°Onii-chan, I¡¯ll head to bed. I¡¯m really sleepy now. Good night,¡± I yawned.

    ¡°Thanks for teaching me, Rose. I really appreciate it. You can sleep on my bed if you want,¡± he petted my head.

    I swear he knows that petting me makes me blush. Sometimes I just feel like want to hug him tightly and smell him. It gives me so much comfort that I¡¯ve met this person.

    ¡°I¡¯ll take you up on that,¡± I said to him and jumped on his bed. Ahh.. so comfy~

    ***

    Three months passed and I can officially wear the gauntlets. But I held back as it was pointless for me to wear when it barely gives me anything aside from basic protection. It is the hidden spells that I am looking forward to unlock. My initially thought was that I will be increasing my skill stat with every potion that I made but sadly, I was wrong. Turns out I need to create more the higher it increases. But at the very least I managed to increase my skill stat by 4 points in just 3 months. This is the best method for me by far. And I had gotten the hang in doing alchemy by now. It was certainly tricky at first. Everything had to be recorded down, right to the slightest details such as the boiling time to how much ingredients to add, the type of ingredients and how long to prepare. The slightest mistake will cause the whole end product to change its properties for better or for the worse.

    Not to mention that it is certainly an expensive hobby. They weren¡¯t kidding when they said that; the ingredients purchase alone can burn up to a single gold coin each round. No doubt I purchased in bulk quantities but still, even my current quests doesn¡¯t reward me with a gold coin per quest. I had already retrieved all the remaining gold coins from grandfather¡¯s secret quest. I am happy to report that I had not touched any of those coins yet but I am afraid I might have to start using them soon. Just another 10 more skill stat to go. I can do it!

    ¡°Onii-chan, I think I might be¡ª¡± said Rose out of the blue as she started counting her fingers.

    Huh? Might be what? Why is she counting her fingers? Don¡¯t tell me she is late. Wait, does she even have it yet? Please don¡¯t say you¡¯re P, don¡¯t say you¡¯re pregnant!

    ¡°11 by now,¡± she finally answered. I gave her a blank face. Huh? 11? When exactly?

    ¡°Um, Rose? When exactly is your birthday? Do you recall it?¡± I asked her with a surprised look.

    ¡°O¡ª of course I do. I think it was¡ª yesterday?¡± she spoke while feeling unsure.

    ¡°So why didn¡¯t you tell me?¡± I asked with concern.

    ¡°Huh? Was I supposed to tell you about it?¡± she asked me back with a confused look.

    ¡°Rose, did no one ever celebrated your birthday before?¡± I asked her again feeling more concerned about her.

    ¡°I¡ª didn¡¯t know that birthdays were meant to be celebrated. I usually whipped up a nice meal and eat on my own,¡± she looked down feeling dejected.

    I stared at her. She had always put up a strong and dependable front for me. But deep down, she is still a lost little girl trying to find a place in the world. Was it fate that brought her to me? I am sure there are plenty of other people more suited in taking care of her but as of now, she is stuck with me. I had already accepted that I have to protect her even though she is not related to me. I am all alone in this world as well. Perhaps the both of us can find comfort by being together.

    ¡°Rose, let¡¯s celebrate your birthday. Consider it belated, alright? I want your 11th birthday to mean something before you officially join a guild,¡± I hugged her.

    ¡°Y¡ª you don¡¯t need to do that. It had passed already. You don¡¯t need to trouble yourself with me,¡± she said.

    ¡°Rose, you are my one and only family that I have. There is nothing troubling when it comes to you. So go on, get changed and be ready to head out. Go on young lady, get,¡± I said while pushing her towards her room.

    ¡°H¡ª huh? Where are we going?¡± She asked.

    ¡°We are going somewhere entertaining and will be ending with a feast! So put on your best clothes and we¡¯ll head out,¡± I pushed her into her room and closed the door. I can hear her frantically opening her closet to check on what to wear. I decided to speak with her through the door.

    ¡°Rose¡ª next time, let me know about anything whether it is good or bad news. I am here for you, don¡¯t forget it,¡± I spoke softly. After sometime, I heard her replying me with a ¡°Thank you¡±. I hope she is not crying inside her room.

    ***

    I brought her to a theatre to watch some funny comedy show, then a theme park where we enjoyed some of the local activities available and eventually brought her to ¡®Sleeping Daisies¡¯ where I celebrated her birthday with Rick and John, sinceboth of them happened to be hanging around the tavern. John was dumb folded when I introduced Rose as my little sister but he soon understood that she was not related to me.

    John was already at the rank of Great Viking now. The bastard overtook me in terms of ranking. Damn it, I need to buckle myself and become a Dark Knight soon or I will be laughing stock in my group. I bet Lily is already a Blitz Knight by now.

    Geez, why do I keep thinking about her? It¡¯s not like I didn¡¯t meet with other female members. Why am I so hung up on Lily? Just because she is the first female I met? Or is it because she made me realised my fetish for female elves? I am sure she had gotten over me or had completely forgotten about me and John. Sigh

    ***

    Hachiu!

    Damn it, someone must be talking about me behind my back. Must be John, probably. I rubbed my nose clean with my handkerchief. I hope it is not a sign of bad luck before an important meeting.

    I headed into the meeting room to meet with my guildmaster. I bowed to the Elementalist.

    ¡°You summoned me, my lord?¡± I asked him.

    ¡°Indeed. I have an important task for you. What say you in serving the Viking Lord?¡± he asked.

    I was left speechless.

 Chapter 15: Light Guild [STAR]

    Chapter 15: Light Guild [STAR]

    Rose is officially 11 years old now. I always assumed that we were about four years apart but as it turns out, it was only three. Perhaps it is time for me to fulfil my promise to her seeing that she had delivered on hers. Truth be told, she is what one would call a genius. Capable of doing just about anything albeit not perfectly. Not to mention her stats are off the charts for an 11 year old. You thought John, Lily or even me had good stats? Wait till you see hers.

    We had breakfast together before heading out. I did my very best to whip up a delicious meal for her today and it turned out¡ª pretty good actually. Rose praised the meal that I cooked today. I believe her exactly words were ¡°Pretty good, not great, and nowhere one would call delicious yet¡±. I guess it is way better than the bland ones that I¡¯ve cooked so far. I guess skill stat do affect your daily activities. Or perhaps practice just makes perfect. I am so close to unlocking the first hidden spell now. Just a few more to go.

    I brought Rose to the main townhouse to get a recommendation on what guild is suitable for her. As we were strolling, I noticed that Rose had gained some height. She also does not look frail any longer and gained some weight. I would had been worried if she maintained her frail petite self. And no, I am not saying she¡¯s fat. If you¡¯ve seen her previously then you would be thinking the same.

    ¡°Onii-chan? Why are you walking behind me?¡± She asked while turning her head.

    ¡°Hm? Oh, I was just thinking to myself that you had gained height recently and no longer looked frail and petite like before. You might be hitting puberty soon,¡± I said as I put on a thinking face.

    Rose placed her hand on her mouth and smirked at me.

    ¡°Onii-chan~ Are you perhaps getting interested in your little sister? Heh heh~¡± she said with a cheeky smile.

    Bonk!

    ¡°Get moving, young lady,¡± I told her after I¡¯ve hit her gently on her head.

    We reached the townhouse. It looked exactly as it was three years ago. It certainly brought back memories when the three of us started out. I found it strange that within these three years, I had not seen Lily even once. Where exactly did she go? How is it possible for us to not stumble upon one another by chance? Is she no longer inside the city and moved elsewhere?

    The very thought of not seeing her is killing me. How and when did I get this obsessed with her? I mean, yea she left an impression on me, but how did it turned into this obsession in wanting to see her? Damn it. A part of me wishes that I¡¯ve accepted her that time.

    ¡°Onii-chan? Shall we head in?¡± asked Rose.

    I clapped my cheeks with both of my hands. My face cheeks, mind you, not the other one. I followed after Rose. To my surprise, it was relatively empty. Perhaps it due to the fact that it is still early in the day and not many new adventurers are early birds. Unlike this little adorable angel that is so eager to join a guild today.

    A couple of receptionist were waving at us. I gave Rose the option to decide on which one she preferred. I was surprised when she chose the exact same receptionist as the one that served us. What are the odds?

    ¡°Good day, how may I serve you?¡± asked the receptionist. Aw, what happened to the previous greeting?

    ¡°Hi, pretty lady. I am here for a guild recommendation,¡± said Rose.

    ¡°My, aren¡¯t you adorable? Are you sure you¡¯re 11? I¡¯m just kidding. Allow me to brief you on what services we¡¯ll be providing you,¡± smiled the receptionist.

    She gave Rose a similar briefing that I heard before last time. She had probably memorised everything by now. What I was more curious about was Rose¡¯s stats. The receptionist handed the scroll to Rose and waited for her to blow. I held my breath as I waited for the results.

    Rose quickly rolled back the scroll before it even showed anything. Hey, what?

    ¡°Rose? Why did you roll your scroll without even looking? How are you going to know what is your results?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°I already know what my stats are. No need for me to see it again,¡± she answered.

    ¡°Do you mind if I were to see it then? I don¡¯t know what your current stats are,¡± I asked her with a polite tone.

    ¡°W¡ª why, why would you want to see mine? There¡¯s nothing special about it,¡± she looked away.

    I squinted at her. Something is awfully suspicious right now.

    ¡°Rose?~ You saw mine before, right? Can you let your brother see yours, please?¡± I asked as politely as possible.

    She fidgeted but eventually gave in. She unrolled the scroll to see the results herself as though she needed to make sure. Then she lowered her scroll until I could only see her eyes.

    ¡°Alright, but you won¡¯t laugh, right? Mine is not as great as yours,¡± she squinted at me.

    Why is she comparing with mine in the first place? I am three years older than her.

    ¡°I am not going to laugh at my little sister, don¡¯t worry about it,¡± I told her.

    She handed me her scroll. My mouth flung wide opened as I read through her stats.

    Rose Starr

    Strength - 18

    Skill - 25

    Agility - 20

    Constitution - 15

    Her stats were way higher than mine when I was at her age! And what is with her skill stat? It is even higher than Lily¡¯s. Bloody hell, she had already hit the requirements to wield my gauntlets now. I rolled back her scroll and sighed. Rose looked worried upon seeing my reaction. She must had thought I was disappointed with her stats. I gestured her to come closer. I placed both my knuckles at the side of her head and pushed them together while twisting it. She struggled and kept telling me ¡°I give up, I give up!¡±.

    ¡°You little twerp, how dare you acted like a sweet innocent child earlier,¡± I pouted at her.

    ¡°Huh? What do you mean?¡± She asked as she tilted her head.

    I handed the scroll to the receptionist which she read through. It took her a few seconds to register what she had read as she let out a loud ¡°Ehhhhhh?!¡±. She started riffling through her book. Rose is probably someone extraordinary that she needed to check her book. All her primary stats were way above the level of an 11 year old. I wonder if she¡¯ll be recommended to join the Elemental guild instead.

    ¡°Um¡ª what I can recommend you is the Elemental guild. But seeing as most of your primary stats are high, you are technically allowed to join any of the five guilds should you wish. Do you have a preference in mind?¡± asked the receptionist.

    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

    ¡°I would like to join the Light guild. Please provide me with a recommendation for that guild,¡± bowed Rose to the receptionist.

    ¡°Are you sure? The Elemental guild have special requirements that you fulfil and they don¡¯t simply allow any normal adventurers to join. You have a good opportunity with our recommendation, should you wish,¡± asked the receptionist.

    I sort of understand why she¡¯s insisting Rose to join. I mean, have you seen their guild? If I had forced myself to join the Elemental guild, I would had been set for life. The elves certainly knows how to appreciate their members well.

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m sure. The Light guild is the only one I wish to join or I won¡¯t be join any,¡± answered Rose. Woah, Rose is determined I can tell you that.

    The receptionist hesitated at first but eventually gave in. Is the Elemental guild giving the townhouse some sort of incentives for any additional member that joins the guild? How sus. Well, the decision is up to Rose. She gave it her all and deserves to join whichever guild she wishes. And after this, she¡¯ll have a whole private life to herself.

    The receptionist passed us the scroll and I brought Rose to the Light guild directly. Rose can use her rapier one-handed now as she is finally strong enough to wield it. I will only be escorting her to the Light guild and then I¡¯ll be heading home. I doubt I¡¯ll be invited to watch Rose in her initiation test.

    Rose knocked on the door of the Light guild. I am glad that the building was somewhat similar in size as compared to the Dark guild. With one glance, you will know this is the Light guild as it gave off that vibe. At least I don¡¯t feel inferior after joining the Dark guild. It would seemed that only the Elemental guild gave off the rich man¡¯s vibe.

    A voice called us to ¡°Come in¡± which we obliged. A beautiful lady dressed in white stood at the reception counter. She is beautiful indeed but there is no ¡®doki doki¡¯ feeling unlike the¡ª Ahh, damn it. This pretty much confirms my fetish for female elves. There is no denying it now. Sigh

    ¡°Good morning, how can I help you?¡± asked the receptionist with a smile.

    ¡°I intent to join this guild,¡± said Rose as she handed her scroll for the receptionist to read.

    ¡°O¡ª oh my.. are you certain you wished to join us? You can pretty much join any guild within this city,¡± said the receptionist.

    That¡¯s odd. Shouldn¡¯t you be jumping at the opportunity to have more members in your guild? Especially someone as special as Rose? Or perhaps they are understanding enough to give potential adventurers a chance to change their mind.

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m certain. The Light guild is the only guild that can provide direct support to their allies. Please allow me to join this guild,¡± bowed Rose.

    The receptionist smiled and agreed to proceed with the paperwork. She gestured us to take a seat while she proceeded with the necessary process needed for the initiation test. I informed the receptionist that I¡¯ll be heading out as I would not be able to view the test anyway; I¡¯ll come back later to check on Rose.

    ¡°You¡¯re Zen, right? I believe the guildmaster is interested in meeting with you. Would you be willing to indulge in his request as you wait for a while?¡± asked the receptionist.

    Huh? The Paladin Lord wishes to see me? Colour me intrigued. Did I do something that gained his attention? Perhaps I am famous among the guilds that I am not aware of? Things are getting interesting now.

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll indulge in his request and wait here,¡± I told her.

    She smiled at me and proceeded to process Rose¡¯s application. Rose sat at my side and I noticed that her hands were shaking. I gave her a little pet on the head to try and calm her.

    ¡°You must be nervous, aren¡¯t you? There there,¡± I continued to pet her head.

    ¡°I am actually excited, Onii-chan. This is the first step for me to be able to follow you when you head out on quests,¡± she said.

    Sigh, she is like an overprotective clingy little sister. I hope she doesn¡¯t turn into some Yandere in the future when I start dating someone.

    ***

    ¡°Hold on, is mommy either Lily or Rose, right? Are there some other women in this story that could potentially be mom?¡± Daisy raised her eyebrow.

    ¡°O¡ª of course. I assure you that your daddy is not some playboy. Mommy is definitely either Rose or Lily, okay? Don¡¯t get mad now,¡± I explained.

    Glad she accepted my explanation and calmed down. I guess I need to cut out some parts where I got involved with some other women if I wish to live to tell the entirety of this story.

    ***

    The receptionist came back to deliver the news. She informed Rose to proceed to the arena for her initiation test while she gestured me to follow after her. Guess I¡¯ll be meeting the ¡®White Boss¡¯ after all.

    The receptionist led me along and gestured me to enter some room with a smile. I opened the door and it was an enclosed area with glasses overlooking the arena. The Paladin Lord was alone here. I hope I¡¯m not getting interrogated. Or is he plotting to kill me? I am from his rival guild and it might be a good opportunity for him to get rid of me without other guilds knowing. Perhaps he is going to blame it on some misfortune that I met on my journey which led to my death. Damn it, I was a fool to be led by the carrot here. I am not going down without a fight, I assure you.

    ¡°Ah, you must be Zen. You really looked like your father. Although I thought that¡­¡± he trailed off at the end. What was it that he wanted to say?

    ¡°H¡ª huh?¡± Was all I could uttered out. I was caught off-guard by his choice of words.

    ¡°I have met your father before and we fought together in the Demon War. I can definitely see his features in you. You are really his child,¡± he placed his hand on my shoulder.

    ¡°From what I heard, you¡¯re quite remarkable on your own. Never have I heard the Dark Lord praising an individual this much. Who knew that his son was still alive. Have no fear, the Dark Lord and I will never leak your family name. Your father was a hero to all of us. But the Queen made him a heretical figure and decimated the entire Hawthorn bloodline. We still do not know why the Queen acted this way until now,¡± he sighed as he continued.

    The Paladin Lord looked like he¡¯s in his eighties. Perhaps he really did meet my father before. Since Kirin is so hesitant in talking about my father, perhaps I can gain some information about him.

    ¡°Mister Paladin Lord sir, I would really like to hear more about my father¡ª and mother if possible. I barely knew them and grandfather spoke very little about them,¡± I said to him.

    ¡°Why of course, of course. It¡¯s the least I can do for the son of a war hero. But before we continue, come closer, the initiation is about to begin,¡± he gestured me to come closer.

    ¡°Is that your lover down there?¡± he asked.

    ¡°What? No. She happened to be a little girl that I rescued from a horrible caretaker. I treat her like a little sister,¡± I told him.

    ¡°Huh, I see. Well, you¡¯re not blood related so anything can happen. She is going to be a real beauty when she gets older. You might even start feeling jealous eventually. Heh heh,¡± he chuckled.

    What is he insinuating? That I would eventually see Rose as a woman? I don¡¯t see that happening as I don¡¯t feel any attraction to her at all. If anything, I think of Lily more of a potential than Rose. Damn it, I need to get over her. For all I know, she might be dating right now.

    ¡°I don¡¯t see that happening. She is just a little sister to me and nothing more. I will just be protecting her and treat her like what an older brother should,¡¯ I told him.

    ¡°Hmm, give it time. Let us see what your little sister is made of,¡± he lifted a small glass window.

    ¡°Will the contestants enter the arena?¡± shouted the Paladin Lord.

    I see Rose coming in from the right. Seems like she had changed into a training outfit and is holding a wooden sword. Who is her opponent going to be? W¡ª what the? That guy is freaking huge! Are they seriously expecting her to spar with such a huge dude? As her first contestant too?! Oh lord above, please protect her.

    The Paladin Lord shouted ¡°Begin!¡± and I focused my full attention on her test. A moment later, the match was over. Rose was victorious while the huge dude was lying flat on the floor. The Paladin Lord squinted at me.

    ¡°I see you taught her well. Let¡¯s make things more interesting, shall we? From what I¡¯ve heard, you fought a Shadow Knight during your test and almost won. I wonder if your sister is capable of doing the same?¡± he made an evil smirk.

    ¡°Um, sir? I don''t think that¡¯ll be necessary,¡± I said.

    ¡°Henry, head up to the stage. Feel free to use your spells too,¡± said the Paladin Lord.

    Hey wait, are you crazy? That would give Rose a huge disadvantage! Not to mention that guy looked like Superman too!

    ¡°Excuse me sir, is this really necessary? I won¡¯t stand by idly and watch my little sister getting hurt for your entertainment,¡± I warned the Paladin Lord.

    ¡°The Dark Lord did the same but did you rejected his proposal? No, you faced your opponent head-on despite knowing that fact. You saw her stats. You think your little sister is weak because you saved her from the caretaker. But I can very much assure you that your little sister is going to be the one protecting you in the future,¡± he glanced at Rose.

    ¡°Begin!¡± shouted the Paladin Lord.

    Rose readied her stance. She knew her opponent is strong so she shouldn¡¯t rush in blindly. Her opponent began chanting and shouted ¡°Accelerate¡±. A spell that doubles your speed, will Rose react quickly enough to block his attacks?

    ***

    Since when was Onii-chan so chummy with the guildmaster? Now he¡¯s staring at me from above. I¡¯ll show you what I¡¯m capable of doing today, Onii-chan. I will show you that I am fit to stand by your side.

    The guildmaster called someone called Henry to the stage. This person is strong and handsome. I suspect he is the same rank as Onii-chan. Perhaps I can finally test and see how strong I¡¯ve gotten from my training. Alright, enough of talking to myself, time to focus on my opponent.

    He seems to be chanting some spell. I should ready myself. The guildmaster did say he is allowed to use any spell he wishes which means I am in a huge disadvantage. I really need to be careful and only attack when there is an opening. Henry chanted ¡°Accelerate!¡± and got ready. Here he comes.

    Huh? He¡¯s¡ª gone? I blinked and he is no longer there! Don¡¯t panic Rose, don¡¯t panic. Remember your training with Onii-chan. Breathe, breathe¡ª your opponent will always aim for your vitals. There!

    Clank!

    I managed to block his attack. This guy was aiming for my collar bone. That would had hurt badly if it hits me, even with a wooden sword. He leapt back and rushed in for another attack. Look at his smug face, he thinks he¡¯s going to win since I could barely block his attack. I¡¯ll show you what I¡¯m capable of. Onii-chan¡¯s speed is way faster than you. He can even run fast on snowy terrain until my eyes couldn¡¯t even follow. I will parry your next attack. Bring it on!

    Clank clank clank!

    He started attacking me from all angles, aiming for my vitals with speed. But my eyes can follow his movements now. I am gaining more combat experience the longer I¡¯m fighting this person. Fighting a stronger opponent is forcing my body to react faster. I just need to hang on and find an opportunity to catch him off guard.

    There! His movement had slowed down! His spell must have ended. Now is my chance to attack him. His side is exposed!

    Clank!

    Damn it, he blocked it! I wasn¡¯t fast enough! There he is looking all smug again with his handsome face. Why you¡ª I¡¯ll show you! Eat my leg sweep!

    He lost balance and fell to the ground. Now''s my chance! I was tempted to beat him up but held back. I don¡¯t want the guild or Onii-chan to be terrified of me when they see me going apeshit. I should just point my wooden sword at his face.

    ¡°Yield!¡± I shouted at him.

    ***

    ¡°Hahaha! Your little sister is ferocious indeed. Henry was certainly not expecting a leg sweep from her. Her tenacity to win is incredible, which is going to make her a dangerous opponent. Keep that in mind when you train with her in the future.¡± said the Paladin Lord.

    ¡°You might have heard people calling you a genius. But your little sister, ho, she¡¯s a prodigy. This is the first time I had ever seen any human with such high stats for her age. She is going to powerful,¡± he continued.

    I was speechless. Rose actually won against her strong opponent. Although I was fairly certain that her opponent caught off guard and wasn¡¯t going all out on her. Her quick thinking was fast enough to catch her opponent off guard. Rose is definitely strong.

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ve made my decision! Rose Starr, starting today, you are officially a member of the Light guild. Come up here and we¡¯ll talk more,¡± shouted the Paladin Lord.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure you wouldn¡¯t mind waiting for your sister? You don¡¯t really mind if I speak of your story with her presence? I believe she should be allowed to know about your history at the very least,¡± asked the Paladin Lord.

    ¡°Of course, I am fine with it. Rose have every right to know about my story. Let us wait for her,¡± I bowed to him.

    ***

    Rose arrived with her normal clothing. I approached her, placed my hand on her left shoulder and gave her a thumbs up. She made an awkward smile.

    ¡°Now then, take a seat the both of you,¡± said the Paladin Lord.

    ¡°Guildmaster, with all sincere respect, I have only one request, now that I''ve joined the Light guild,¡± she bowed to the Paladin Lord.

    ¡°Ho, and what would that request be, young lady?¡± he asked.

    ¡°For any quest that involves party members, I wish to follow Onii-chan in all of them those,¡± said Rose. What the hell did you just say, Rose?

 Chapter 16: My History [STAR]

    Chapter 16: My History [STAR]

    Rose¡ª what the hell did you just say to the Paladin Lord? You will only do a party quest where I¡¯m in it? How absurd. You do understand that this is not a request you can ask right after your initiation test! Rose, what has gotten into you?

    "Ho ho¡ª and may I ask as to why you would make such a specific request?" asked the Paladin Lord.

    His face feature changed. It seems like he is taking this request seriously. I guess I should keep quiet and let Rose handle it.

    "The main reason as to why I¡¯m joining the Light guild is because I want to be by his side and support him. He means everything to me and I want to be there to make sure that he comes home safely. I do not wish to come home one day just to hear the news that he is no longer in this world. I¡ª would rather die than to let that happen," answered Rose as she held her hands tightly.

    I didn¡¯t know she thought about me that much. But she is being way too clingy by saying this. Will the Paladin Lord even consider her request based on her response?

    "I see you¡¯ve been through a lot despite your age. In your eyes, you do not want to sit around waiting for news. You would rather take action and die than to receive another bad news. However, you¡¯re still young. No doubt, you¡¯ll still receive bad news throughout your life no matter what you do," said the Paladin Lord.

    "I am sorry. I cannot indulge in your request fully. However, I am willing to make an exception. For any party quest by the Dark guild that your brother is in, I will put you as the first recommendation. But for party quest from the Light guild, you will need to follow what the other guilds decide. You¡¯re still young, dear Rose. If you just follow your brother, you won''t be able to carve your own path nor will you be able to see the potentials in other people. You do not want to be in the shadow of your brother forever. See the world through your own eyes instead. Would that suffice?" asked the Paladin Lord.

    I turned to look at Rose. Is that enough for her? I do agree with the Paladin Lord. If she only chooses to follow me, she will not be able to grow on her own. By following other people, you can think differently in tactics or strategies that will be useful when you¡¯re faced in various situations. Thinking differently can help you improve yourself in ways that you¡¯ve never even thought before. I hope Rose is willing to keep an open mind to understand what the Paladin Lord wants for her. I hope she is willing to accept his proposition.

    "Thank you, guildmaster. I accept your offer," Rose bowed politely to the Paladin Lord. Phew. I¡¯m so glad that Rose is sensible enough to understand his intention.

    "Oh right, I almost forgot. Rose Starr, I shall grant you the rank of Crusader starting today. I hope you can make me proud," he said. Hang on¡ª did I just heard wrongly?

    "I''m sorry, Paladin Lord sir? Did you just granted Rose as a Crusader rank? You''re giving her three hops in ranks?" I asked him.

    "Well, she did managed to best one of my Templar member. I don''t see why not. I¡¯m different from your Dark Lord who is old thinking. Don''t compare me with him," he waved his hand sideways.

    But¡ª aren¡¯t you older than him? Unless the Dark Lord had found ways to keep himself young despite his age? No, that is just not possible. How can an 80 year old looked as though he is in his mid thirties? That just doesn¡¯t make sense!

    "Now, you wish to hear about your father, right? As for your mother, I only knew so much about her based on her interaction with your father. Truth be told, I wouldn''t really say I knew your father well but we did interacted before. I guess that is better than nothing?" asked the Paladin Lord.

    ¡°Yes, that would suffice. Before that, Rose, there is something I need to tell you. I don''t believe you will rat me out after seeing you so determined to support and protect me. My full name, is Zen Hawthorn. My father is Jack Hawthorn. The war hero from the Demon King¡¯s war," I confessed to her.

    ¡°I¡ª see. No wonder you never told me your last name before. I always knew there was a reason why you kept it a secret but I didn¡¯t want to pry, hoping that you would tell me one day. Thank you for telling me, I won¡¯t break your trust," said Rose as she bowed lightly to me. I gave her a pet on the head and gestured the Paladin Lord to start his story.

    "Jack was¡ª a genius. He was very similar to you, to be honest. He was what you would call, a great and powerful leader. Speed was his forte and when he used "Accelerate", not many were able to follow him. He was actually the next in line to be the Paladin Lord but alas, the war came. When he met your mother, we were all confused as to why he would end up choosing her. Jack was always fond of female elves more so than humans. Every time you see him wondering around or relaxing in a tavern, he was always surrounded by elves," said the Paladin Lord as he recalled his memories.

    I smacked my head. Damn it. So that fetish was because of you, father? Geez! Even Rose is judging me with squinted eyes. It¡¯s like she¡¯s interrogating me with those glaring eyes of hers. I am so glad Lily is not around, otherwise I don¡¯t know what will happen if these two ever met. So glad I don''t have the guts to ask the receptionist from the Elemental guild on a date.

    "Ah, but when your mother was pregnant, it was a celebration to behold. It was such a festive day. Both the Light and Viking guild pulled together to make a grandiose feast. I was there on that day and it was¡ª momentous. Liquors and beers were emptied by the barrels. Mostly due to the Vikings and their drinking habits. But the joy and laughter we shared that day was certainly a sight to behold. Although, there was a strange rumour about you. But seeing that you¡¯re here, safe to say it was a baseless rumour indeed," said the Paladin Lord as he stared at me.

    I wonder what rumour was that? Is it related to my parents? Should I push it? But he seems to be certain that it was a baseless rumour.

    "Your father is certainly a great man, Zen. Both your father and mother fought zealously against the Demon King. They fought with tenacity and skills unseen by humans today. I doubt even the current guildmasters can match both of them in combat. You would do well to make him proud. For you are his son after all," he smiled at me. I stood up and bowed to him which Rose followed the same.

    "Thank you so much for telling me about them. I can finally feel some closure with my parents. Glad I understand more about them now," I told him.

    ¡°I¡¯m glad that I finally got to meet the hero¡¯s son. I wish both of you well," he bowed lightly and proceeded to head out.

    Rose and I headed back to the Dark guild. She needed to retrieve her items from my room to her new place. No doubt it¡¯s going to take her time to transfer things over seeing that she had been buying a lot of clothes recently.

    "Are you sad that I won''t be staying with you anymore, Onii-chan?¡± she asked.

    ¡°I''ve been living alone before you came along, Rose. I''ll be fine," I assured her with a smile.

    "I''ll come by often to cook dinner. I won''t leave you high and dry. Your head chef will still be cooking for you. He he. With that said, you don''t mind if I leave some of my clothes at your place, right? Since I''ll probably be staying over often. Unless¡ª you¡®re planning to invite some female elves to your place?" said Rose with a scary red-eyed glare. Geez, that¡¯s some murderous intent there.

    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

    "You can do whatever you like, Rose. I doubt there¡¯s any female member that would be willing to stay with me anyway. But just knock before entering, just in case, alright?¡± I told her.

    "Fine. I just hope I don¡¯t see you on top of a female elf when I open your door. I definitely don¡¯t want to see the sight of that," said Rose as she crossed her arms.

    And so, Rose officially left my home to live by herself with the Light guild. She still visits me from time to time but I really hope that she had made some friends of her own. I won¡¯t lie, my room felt a little empty without Rose around. I didn¡¯t expect a year of her presence would make me feel this way. Either way, I still continued increasing my skill stat with alchemy and cooking. I am definitely aiming to unlock those two bloody hidden spells from the legendary gauntlets.

    ***

    Time flies by quickly. I am 15 now and close to 16. Rose is hovering between 12 and 13. She is officially a Paladin now while I was still stuck in my rank. Now I know what you''re thinking. The Dark Lord refuses to promote me in an attempt to force me to work harder than I¡¯m supposed to. Quite the contrary actually. The Dark Lord had actually been pushing for my promotion to the Queen in an attempt to knight me. Going so far as to not promoting another Shadow Knight until I am knighted by the Queen.

    My very first attempt had me bowing to the Queen and waited for her to knight me. All was going well until the Queen saw my face. She looked at me as though I¡¯m some disgusting being and told the Dark Lord that she will never knight me until the day she dies. Is my face that disgusting? Geez!

    The Dark Lord informed me that the Queen has never acted this way before. She had always knighted anyone from any guild no matter the reason since she rarely bothered herself with the adventurers guild. He interrogated me on whether I did something horrible to offend her but I had never met the Queen before in my entire life until the knighting ceremony.

    "Perhaps there¡¯s something amiss we had yet to uncover. I will get to the bottom of this. Rest assured," he told me.

    Truth be told, becoming a Dark Knight was the least of my concerns. If the Queen is not going to knight me, I''ll just find other ways to become stronger. My skill stat is close to 35 now. Just a few more and I¡¯ll be able to unlock the second hidden spell. So near yet so far. As for the final spell, that¡¯ll probably take a lifetime for me to achieve so I''m going to leave that aside. 50 skill stats is not something I can achieve overnight so I¡¯ll just set it as one of my end goals.

    ***

    I was having breakfast with John and Rose when we were suddenly summoned by the guild to attend a meeting. We were busy discussing as to why I am the only one who had not reached the highest rank. John had met Lily recently and confirmed that she is at the rank of Blitz Knight now. He also highlighted that she had grew up and looked extremely beautiful now. Both the Elemental and Viking guild have a mutual bond with one another, hence the reason as to why John was able to meet with Lily.

    The Viking guild have a tradition that requires them to attend a ceremony to meet with the Underwater Dragon King in the City of Underwater Marrydia. It is customary for the Viking Lord to prove his worthiness to lead the guild every five years. Failing to do so will result in his death. And the next potential Great Viking will have his chance to prove himself worthy of being the next Viking Lord when he or she meets with the Underwater Dragon King.

    Why would the Underwater Dragon King be willing to indulge in such a tradition is beyond me. And since it is underwater, the Elemental guild excels greatly with their lightning spells. Hence, this is where the mutual bond comes into play. The Elemental guild provides support to the Viking guild in their tradition while the Viking guild in turn provides full support to the Elemental guild with their needs.

    I was tempted to ask John on whether Lily has a partner of her own but seeing that Rose is here, I held back. Rose in turn was insulting the Queen for not knighting me. She was saying that she did not even smiled once during her knighting ceremony and all she wanted was to stick her rapier down the Queen''s throat. Both John and I quickly closed her mouth with our hands when some of the guild members came over and summoned us to a meeting. We were confused by the sudden invitation and turned to look at each other as though any of us knew about it.

    We reached the place in question and it was a grand meeting place. It looked like some sort of hotel but we only have taverns here. We headed in and was greeted by an unusual scene. Inside this meeting room, four of the guildmaster were seated together with a large table in between. Only the Elementalist was not here. How strange to see all the guildmasters to sitting together and chatting with each other.

    ¡°Glad to see you¡¯re here. Please be seated. We¡¯ll begin shortly," said the Paladin Lord.

    What¡¯s going on? I am fairly certain that they didn¡¯t invite us to talk about our relationships. Or did Rose offended the Queen earlier with her remarks? But it was guild members who escorted us and not soldiers. Hm, something fishy is going on here. I just hope it¡¯s not related to me not being able to be knighted by the Queen.

    "Let''s get started. The four of you are chosen to uncover the mystery about the recent disturbance in the Northern continent. You will be given three days to prepare yourself for the journey. A carriage will be transporting you to the City Of Lilies Dahlee and you will be ferried to the Northern continent from there. Any questions?" said the Dark Lord. Straight to the point as always.

    Wait, four of us? Who is the last member? Oh, looks like there¡¯s a Dragon Knight member here with us. Guess we¡¯ll be travelling together then.

    "What are we looking for? This quest is too vague for all the trouble to send us there. We require more information otherwise we have no idea on what to look for," asked the Dragon Knight.

    "More information will be provided to you by your guide. We do not know much about the quest ourselves but it was a request from someone that we could not refuse. Keep in mind that this quest is top secret. You are not allowed to inform anyone outside of the four of you," said the Dragon Lord.

    "Are we to only uncover the mystery or eliminate the disturbance itself?" I asked them.

    "We ar no expecting ye te face an army o demons yourself. Ance ye figured oot what is causing the disturbance, ye can return an summon more backup," said the Viking Lord.

    Gosh, I really hope John doesn''t start talking like this if he ever becomes the Viking Lord one day. My brain hurts trying to understand what he¡¯s saying.

    "Do not take on the role of being heroes in this quest. As you all are aware, Demons are resilient creatures. We will provide support to the four of you. Although we are hoping that demons are not coming together to start another war," said the Dragon Lord.

    "That is absurd. The only Demon capable of such a feat was the Demon King. I do not believe any random Demon is capable of rallying the others to start a war. They are practically fighting among themselves all the time," objected the Paladin Lord.

    "Whatever it is, do take care of yourselves over there. Find the answer to the mystery and come back. No hero business," said the Dark Lord.

    The four of us bowed to the guildmasters. This was not something any of us could refuse. We were chosen for a reason. We were chosen because all the guildmasters had the utmost faith that we can accomplish this task.

    We all headed out to have our own meeting. We settled on our favourite tavern, ¡®Sleeping Daisies''. Of course we did not mention a single word of our secret quest. Our discussions was more towards self introduction and what is needed to prepare for. The three of us introduced ourselves to the Dragon Knight.

    "My name is Pietro Borage, nice to meet all of you. I take it the three of you are acquainted with one another. That would make me the oddity of this group," said Pietro.

    "You won''t be the oddity. Let''s get along. Cheers," I raised my cup.All of us cheered together.

    Our meals arrived and we devoured it to our heart¡¯s content. I can see that John is no longer the picky person he used to be. Truth be told, his weight had gained significantly. Not to mention he is drinking beers when he¡¯s just 15. But no one would dare to poke fun of him. Everyone knows that Vikings are ridiculously strong and you would not want to get punched by them when they are drunk.

    ¡°Let us move to the more important topic at hand. Who will be the leader of this group?" asked Pietro.

    Rose immediately raised her hand. We were all shocked that Rose wanted to be the leader until she said that she is voting for me to be the leader. John also agreed that he do not mind voting for me. I turned to look at Pietro and asked him.

    "You seemed to be older than all of us. How bout you be the leader instead?" I asked him.

    "It is true that I am oldest here. And I do have experience in being the leader of a group a number of times. But your other teammates would like you to be the leader instead. Who am I to deny that from them?" answered Pietro.

    "I insist. I would like you to be the leader instead," I smiled at him.

    ¡°Well¡ª if you insist. Take note that when I¡¯m leader, my orders are absolute. Hesitate and all of us might end dead. Is that clear?¡± he asked all of us.

    "Alright, but I would appreciate if you allow us to give opinions. You will make the final decision on whether to follow our opinions and such," I told him.

    "Very well. But opinions are not allowed during combat as every second counts. We will meet in the morning, three days from now at the Northern entrance. Don¡¯t be late," warned Pietro as he stood up and walked away.

    I guess that concludes our meeting. But John and Rose decided to have a talk with me instead.

    "Zen onii-chan, is there a reason why you decided to make him leader instead? I¡ª don''t really like that guy much," said Rose.

    "Indeed. He gives off a sort of bad vibe," explained John.

    "I see. I do get the feeling that he had been assigned with some other mission aside from ours. Which is why I decided to make him the leader. I want to see his intention. And I don¡¯t want him to feel left out seeing as he¡¯s the only oddity in our group. But remember, act on your instinct. He might be the leader but we are still our own person. No one''s orders are absolute from my point of view. Do what you feel is right,¡± I said to both of them.

    They nodded and understood my intention to make him the leader. By doing so, we can figure out what¡¯s his role in this quest.

    ***

    Three days passed and the four of us met at the Northern entrance. Each of us had a backpack filled with supplies that might last us for a week. We do not know how long we¡¯ll be over there and I hope there¡¯s a town or village that we can stay. Rose brought along her trusty rapier while John was wielding an axe that was even larger compared to the one I bought for him previously. His strength should be off the charts now. Pietro brought along his long spear and a couple of small ones. As expected of what a Dragon Knight will be using.

    I thought of bringing along my gauntlets but after much consideration, I decided not to. I was suspicious of Pietro and was not about to reveal one of my most important equipment to him.

    It took us about a day and a half before we arrived at the City Of Lilies Dahlee. Good thing we brought along some winter clothings as it was snowing heavily. It would take us another day until we reached the port as we got lost due to the heavy snowing. Upon reaching, a lizardman was there to greet us.

    "Greetingsss. I am Kronk, I will be your guide sss," introduced the lizardman. Wait what? Did he just say¡ª Kronk is his name?

    "Excuse me, did you just say your name is Kronk?" I asked him with disbelieve.

    "Indeed sss. I am a mixed between a reptilian and a human sss. My father have such horrible naming schemesss," said Kronk as he shook his head. Oh well, who am I to judge? If Kronk is his name then Kronk it is.

    We boarded the boat and the four of us turned our gaze towards the Northern continent. Otherwise known as the Demon continent. From afar, we can already see a storm brewing over there. All of us braved ourselves as we headed towards the unknown.

    "I hope the four of you are ready sss," said Kronk.

    "Yes, we¡¯re ready," I replied. How wrong was I.

 Chapter 17: Demon Continent [STAR]

    Chapter 17: Demon Continent [STAR]

    Remember the type of storms that I mentioned before? Majority of them are from this continent. If you''re unlucky, you¡¯ll be bracing the death-storms until you melt to your bones. Upon reaching the Northern continent, we were immediately embraced by a burning rainstorm. Our guide advised us to stay inside the cabin area until it passes. We can literally see steams rising from where the rain droplets landed. We would have been cooked alive if we were to walk outside now. The cabin was getting extremely hot from the inside as the temperature rises around us. The guide had prepared some ice which he took out from his cooler box. He probably had gotten them from the City Of Lilies Dahlee before arriving here. We used these ice to cool ourselves as much as we can to prevent our body from overheating or dying of a heat stroke.

    For the guys, they can strip their shirts and expose their top half. But for Rose, it was just not possible for her. Maybe if it was only me then she might have stripped her top but seeing as there were three other males in the cabin, she is definitely hesitating. I gave some thought and gestured Rose to come over. I told her to sit behind me and face the corner. That way, she can at least strip partially and I would be blocking the others from seeing her. She agreed and proceeded to do so. The extreme situation makes your mind impervious to embarrassment. I am sure everyone is praying for the storm to end rather than thinking of lust currently.

    It took about an hour before the storm subsided. All I can think of is our survival rate out there. In this continent, not only will you be bracing the elements, we will also be in danger from the demons. This will be the hardest quest assigned to me thus far. Like some optional quest that I foolishly insist on doing even though it¡¯s not my end goal. Thankfully, we have a guide with us. Without him, we would had been dead before putting a foot on this continent. All of you reading will be pressing F to pay respect to my coffin right about now.

    All of us disembarked from the boat after making sure it was no longer raining. The temperature was still hot but thankfully the cool winds from the sea helped to cool our surroundings. Our guide gestured us to hurry towards the closest town. Storm usually comes twice in a row on this continent. We ran as quickly as we could with our bags. Thankfully, the closest town was not far from the port that we disembarked from. Or should I say, some wooden planks that turned into a jetty. A small town was in sight right after we climbed up the stairs of a small cliff. And the guide was telling the truth. We could definitely see another storm approaching us soon based on the formation of the dark clouds. We definitely have to leg it before we get cooked alive.

    We ran as fast as our legs could carry us. Our guide ran the fastest. Like a basilisk lizard running on top of the water surface; he glided his way atop the sandy terrain. He is definitely a local here seeing that he is so knowledgeable about the Northern continent. We arrived at the small town and thought that everything was safe. All of us were panting and my legs were starting to cramp. I am not used to running on such soft sands. But our guide shouted at us to seek shelter immediately. Once again we had to high tail and followed after him, where he led us into what looked like a mud house. We rushed our way in and found ourselves in a tavern. All of us sat on the floor panting and too tired to move. None of us cared that people were watching us. Wait¡ª people? I looked around and found that all of them were lizard species. Oh, so reptilians are native to the Northern continent it would seemed. I should have studied more about the Northern continent before coming here.

    Not a moment too soon, we heard loud crashing sounds outside. I peeked out a window and saw that it was raining hails now. A hailstorm right after a burning rain? Geez, what is with this continent?! But surprisingly the interior was warm despite having no fireplace around. Seems like mud is a good insulation hence the reason why they used mud to cover the buildings.

    Wait, what about the burning rain earlier? Wouldn''t they be cooked alive from the heat as it was retained inside?

    "Welcome to Sliddy''s bar. It''s been a while since humans visited my bar sss," said a female reptilian.

    Now I know what you''re thinking, and don''t you dare start with all that rule 34! Reptilians are basically lizard like creatures that happened to walk bipedal. While that is technically true, they resembled humans much closer than I thought. While some have long shaped mouth, some of them have mouth that is closely similar to humans. The way they walk is similar to us as well. One thing that stands out is their signature scaly skin all across their body and their tail.

    "Sliddy! How are you sss?" asked Kronk.

    "Oh, you old goat sss. We just met a few monthsss back. I see you brought these humans along with you. Isss there something going on?" she asked him.

    "They are here to investigate on the disturbancesss by the demonsss," he said.

    "O that is good sss. We are used to fending off a couple of demonsss on our own. But lately, more and more of them were coming into town causing problems for usss," said Sliddy as she wiped a glass cup.

    "Is there any idea what would had provoked the demons into attacking this town?" asked Pietro.

    "We have some general idea sss.. It is usually a new demon that had gotten powerful enough to rally the other demonsss together," she explained.

    "Demonsss are always fighting among themselvesss for power. It is their nature to be the strongest sss. However, every once in a while, there are some demons that inherited the demon king''s influence sss," said Kronk.

    "So, we are to determine whether there are any demons that is strong enough to rally their brethren, is that correct?" asked Pietro.

    "Perhapsss.. we shall see," said Kronk.

    I asked Kronk on whether we should settle in with this tavern or somewhere else. He told me we don¡¯t really have much of a choice as there are only two towns available on this entire continent. The other town is far to the east. If we were to travel from the Eastern continent, then we would have to settle down in that other town. And he also recommended Sliddy¡¯s bar as she is used to meeting humans. He couldn¡¯t promise us that the other taverns might have lizard people hunting us for meat at night. I couldn¡¯t tell if he was joking or being serious.

    Alright then, here''s hoping that there are enough rooms for all of us. Thankfully there are. But¡ª there is a problem. This continent uses different currency from the West. There is a bank in town where we can change but it was still raining hails outside. Kronk decided to book for us in advance. He said we can repay him later after we visited the bank. Kronk¡ª my man. I will always remember you brother.

    Each of us got our own room. It wasn¡¯t exactly the best, but better than sleeping outside with burning water or hails assaulting you. I heard stories that the Demon Continent was an inhospitable place but to think there were actually some sort of civilisation here. These reptilians make do with what they have living here while facing constant assaults from the demons. Well, you can technically say that reptilians are a sort of demon race themselves but at least they are civilised enough to create their own society rather than constantly fighting each other.

    I sat on the bed and turned my gaze out the window. We certainly need to be prepared for what¡¯s to come. I do not wish to be caught off guard by the weather if I can help it. The sooner we figure out what¡¯s going on, the faster we can leave this continent. Easier said than done since I don¡¯t even know where to start? I heard a knock on my door and I asked whoever it was to come in. It was Rose.

    "Onii-chan, are you okay?" she asked me. Hm? What did I do that made her worried about me?

    ¡°Yeah, I''m fine. What made you think I¡¯m not?" I asked her.

    "Because your eyes were bloodshot earlier. Let me see them," she said as she sat in front of me.

    What? My eyes were bloodshot? Is it due to all the running? Or perhaps it was from the heat vapour rising from the ground? The thing is, I don''t feel any pain on my eyes at all.

    "Hmm, it looks better now. You might need to get some rest. According to Kronk, this hailstorm might last for a couple of hours," she told me.

    I got a good look at Rose while she was staring into my eyes. She is definitely getting more matured now. Her hair is a little longer but I believe she maintained it at shoulder length. Short hair definitely suits her more. Not to mention she is getting taller. I can finally see what the others are saying that she will be a beauty in the future. Perhaps she will be. Am I going to end up as the shortest? Geez.

    "Then, let¡¯s get some rest. We might not know when we will be able to sleep peacefully once we head outside with such unpredictable weather," I told her.

    She nodded and headed back to her room while I rested on the bed. I am still bothered about Pietro. Was I mistaken that he has some sort of hidden agenda in coming here or am I just being paranoid? Either way, we will know once we head out later. Here¡¯s hoping there won¡¯t be any more surprises for today.

    ***

    A couple of hours passed and we can finally visit the bank to get our coins changed. The currency here is smaller in value than the Western counterpart. One copper coin is worth five stone coins, while a bronze coin is worth five copper coins. According to Kronk, some stores do accept Western currency but it is better to get it changed so as to not get ripped off.

    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    We were about to head out of town but¡ª where are we supposed to go? Where do we even begin searching when there are practically no recognisable landmarks, some portal in the sky or a giant arrow pointing the way? Nevertheless, we still need to proceed somewhere. We asked Kronk and he just shrugged. He said that if there are no demons around then it could be anywhere in this continent. Ahh geez, without any waypoint, we might be spending an entire month or longer on this continent. I shuddered at the thought. Come to think of it, time to update my quest log.

    Side Secret Quest Unlocked: Investigate the disturbance in the Northern continen¡ª

    Crash!

    Something huge landed behind us as we were walking out of the town''s entrance. All of us turned our attention to what caused the commotion. A menacing creature; standing with two legs, two wings and a long tail. It has a single horn in the middle of its head, small wings that seemed to defy all logic and long elongated arms. And those nails¡ª wait, those are claws. And those are some mean looking claws.

    ¡°D¡ª d¡ª d... demonsss!," shouted Kronk as he ran away to hide.

    The four of us unsheathed our weapons and stood ready. The demon was looking around as though it was smelling for something. It then turned its head towards the four of us but decided to ignore us and walked ahead.

    Is it going to just walk away? Should we ignore it and proceed with our mission? But the town will be in trouble if we left this demon roam freely here. Who knows what destruction will it wreak.

    All of a sudden, it stopped moving and turned it¡¯s gaze at us once again. Its eyes suddenly turned red and it leapt towards us. No wait, it is aiming at me!

    I stopped its claws from sinking into my flesh with Inazuma. I am being pushed out of the town¡¯s entrance. What ridiculous strength does this demon have? How is it even flying with such small wings in the first place?!

    A large spear pierced the demon''s back. Pietro threw his spear and it hit home. I can see John chasing after us with his giant two-headed axe ready to swing. Rose was all the way at the back chanting a spell. The demon turned its head to look at his back, either at the spear or who threw it at him. Now''s my chance.

    "Shadow Strike!" I slashed the demon''s torso.

    Nice. Inazuma was able to slice through its thick hide. It flew upwards with the spear still attached to its back. Seriously, how is it flying with those ridiculously small wings? Red blood was spilling from its torso but it didn¡¯t seemed to bother. Is it me, or is the wound¡ª healing? The demon pulled out the spear and threw it at Pietro which he dodged it. It then landed on the ground and adjusted its neck. Is it underestimating us? Are we just some fun amusement for you?

    It let out a roar that triggered us to attack it. All three of us charged towards the demon. Rose finished her chant for "Accelerate" which boosted all of our speed. We thought we were able to finish off this demon but we were all thrown back by his arm swing. Wait, what the hell just happened? Why were we even charging blindly at it in the first place?

    The demon roared again and this time, it readied its claws. I was thrown far back so I was not affected. I saw John and Pietro charging in once again. Even Rose was charging in right now. Shit, how do I stop it?! They are going to be torn apart by those claws!

    I looked around for something and found that I had my dagger with me. I quickly threw the dagger at the demon and thankfully it pierced through its mouth. This somehow broke the spell and the three of them came back to their senses. All three of them leaped back instantly as they realised they were in such close proximity to the demon. However, it would seemed that all of them are still in a daze as they kept shaking their heads as if to regain their bearings. That spell must had messed with their heads.

    The demon turned its gaze towards me and glared angrily. It tossed my dagger aside and walked slowly at my direction. I prepared myself for the inevitable close combat. Even though evening was approaching, it was still too bright for me to use Conceal. I only have Fear and Shadow Strike at my disposal now. The rest will depend on my combat abilities. I knew demons were tough creatures but not like this. I used Fear on the demon as it approaches me. It seemed unfazed by the spell and tilted its head as though mocking me and my spell.

    The demon initiated the battle with a roar and swiped its right claw at me. I dodged by jumping and tried to slice its hand off but I couldn¡¯t get through the thick bone. It swung its left claw to which I swerved myself back to the ground. I was prepared to rush in for a counter when all of a sudden I was hit by its left leg. The damn demon kicked me. It predicted that I would dodge his attack by swerving myself back to the ground, and it took the opportunity to counter me. My right arm was burning with pain as I flew some distance away from the demon due to the power of that kick. I tried getting back up but the concussion and pain was getting to me. Am I down for the count this quickly?

    ***

    My head feels muddled. What did the demon do that cause all three of us to lose control? I need to focus¡ª Need.. to... focus...

    "Argh!" I heard someone shouted which snapped my out of my daze. Wait¡ª that sounds like¡ª Onii-chan?!

    I quickly regained my senses and saw him flying some distance away as the demon kicked him on his right arm. Oh gosh, is his arm broken?! That is going to take months to heal!

    This demon is going to pay for what it did to him. I can see both Pietro and John was also regaining their consciousness and rushed to protect Onii-chan. John took point and rushed-in to attack the demon while Pietro covered him from the back. I rushed to check on Onii-chan. He is hurt¡ª very hurt. I can see his right arm bruised badly. But upon inspection, it seems like his arm is still intact. I¡¯m glad that it¡¯s not broken. Perhaps his chained cloak helped in mitigating some of the damage.

    I should help out those two. As much as I want to help Onii-chan patch his wound, I should quickly end the pathetic life of this demon first. John was fighting the demon at the front. Any attack the demon tried was blocked by Pietro from behind. The both of them seems to be experienced with each other¡¯s strength and weaknesses. I readied my chant for another spell.

    "Light Blessing!" I casted.

    This spell increases your defence and attack power. Although I am the one who receives the highest buff, at least all three of them still receives a percentage of my spell¡¯s buff. I wished there was a spell that can heal wounds though. Onii-chan was moaning in so much pain but there was nothing much I could do for now. I need to stay focused. This demon is in the way and it must be eliminated.

    John¡¯s face was smashed by the demon¡¯s horn. He wasn¡¯t expecting a headbutt from the demon. I rushed in quickly to help both of them. My rapier attacks fast but lacks in attack power. With ¡®Light Blessing¡¯, it should enhance my attacks to be strong enough to pierce its hide. The demon was now pushing back John and Pietro''s assault. John¡¯s nose was bleeding but that only made him grin. His bulky body made him the perfect tank. Pietro, on the other hand, was unharmed.

    I stabbed the demon with a couple of my swings. The demon swung its left arm backhanded which I dodged low to avoid it. I placed all my strength on my left foot and lunged at the demon. My rapier pierced through the demon''s side torso which made it roared in pain. Pietro also lunged and pierced his spear into the demon''s torso from the front, pinning him in place. John finished the demon by swinging his axe and decapitated the demon. It is finished now. Thank God!

    I rushed back to Onii-chan to check-up on him, leaving Pietro or John to recover my rapier. Both of them were panting when the demon¡¯s body finally slumped to the ground with a loud thud. Pietro approached the body to recover his spear when he suddenly shouted ¡°Shit¡±.

    It was then I heard clanks of weapon being tossed to the ground. The demon¡ª was still alive? I turned to look behind and the demon had removed our weapons from its body, picked up its head and stuck it back on its neck. It then adjusted its head and gave us an evil smile.

    Shit, I am unarmed now while Pietro only have his short spears. Are we able to reach our weapons in time to help John in this fight? How do we even kill this thing?

    ***

    Ouch¡ª damn demon! That freaking hurts. Can I still move my arm? Alright, I can move it, but it hurts like hell to even move an inch. I was fading in and out of consciousness when a familiar voice woke me; a voice that I had not heard in a long time.

    "Aim for the brain, boy!" said Kirin.

    I opened my eyes and noticed that Rose was crouched next to me. The three of them were looking towards the demon seemingly adjusting itself. Is that, Rose and Pietro''s weapons on the floor at side of the demon? What happened? Did the demon disarmed them or something?

    This fight has been going on for too long. We need to end this. I thought I would not be needing to use my secret items so soon but I guess we don¡¯t have no choice now. I took out two potions and a pill from my hip pouch. The pill is to numb the pain while each respective potion increases my agility and strength. Sadly, I had not found the recipe to create the perfect potion that increases all stats, but still, better than nothing.

    I whispered to Rose telling her to use all her spell buffs. She said that "Light Blessing" is still on cooldown but "Accelerate" is ready now. I informed her to use it when the time is right.

    I got up and held Inazuma with my right hand. Even though the pain was numbed now, I can still feel my right hand not responding exactly how I want it to be. No matter, this will only fuel my anger further. I am angry that this demon had caused me so much pain. One demon and we are already struggling this much? How strong are the other demons on this continent? And how stupidly strong is the Demon King to be able to unite all of them?

    I placed my full attention on this demon. Focusing on how I must defeat it. I performed my usual breathing routine to calm myself before a fight. After a short while, I unleashed Fear on the demon. Perhaps it was due to night approaching us that caused Fear to have an effect on the demon. Its hands started shaking a little which I took advantage of. John followed suit but was unable to match my speed. I reached the demon first and swung Inazuma with an uppercut. The demon leaped back but it reacted too slowly. I sliced it¡¯s front chest and it was now bleeding.

    The potion must had given me the surprise advantage. I continued pushing my attack towards the demon and performed a downward strike. The demon blocked with its arm expecting the blade to get caught in its bone again but it had not realised that my potion had boosted my attack powers. I sliced through the bone and its arm fell off. The demon roared in pain and retaliated with a swing of its right claw. Rose timed her spell and chanted ¡°Accelerate" which I dodged to the side and rushed behind the demon. John had made it to front of the demon now and was ready to strike with his giant axe.

    "Aim for the brain!" I shouted.

    John immediately changed his swing into a downward strike while I went for a stab. Both axe and blade hit the mark. John''s axe pierced the demon''s skull from above while I pierced it from behind. The demon¡¯s eyes rolled, slumped on its knees and fell flat to the ground. Pietro having finally gotten back his spear came and stabbed the demon''s head a couple of times for good measure. After a couple of minutes in making sure it¡¯s dead, we all fell to our knees.

    Geez, what a tough fight. Just one demon and all of us were struggling this much. How are we supposed to fight so many of them out in the open then? Kronk rushed towards us to help out.

    ¡°You guysss! I can¡¯t believe you all managed to beat a great demon sss!¡± shouted Kronk.

    ¡°Great¡ª demon? What do you mean? Explain,¡± asked Pietro.

    ¡°That just now wasss no ordinary demon sss. It was a great demon sss,¡± said Kronk.

    ¡°Whatever it was, it¡¯s dead now. Can we please focus on mending our wounds and get Onii-chan some medical treatment, please? Kronk, can you help with his wound?¡± asked Rose.

    ¡°Let¡¯s head back to the tavern sss,¡± he lead the way.

    Upon reaching the tavern, Sliddy was surprised in seeing us back so soon while being wounded when we were supposed to be heading out of town. Kronk informed her that we had defeated a great demon to which she was amazed by it. She quickly brought some bandages and ointments. For normal scratch wounds, the ointment worked wonders. It seemed to close the wound but with a searing effect. Small steams appeared after applying the ointment. But for my arm¡¯s case, it required some cooling gel and sticks wrapped with bandage. I won¡¯t lie, it felt like my wound was getting better by the minute. I need to know what recipes to make these healing items! Why don¡¯t we have anything similar in the West?!

    Rose seemed to realised my amazement and she went to talk with Sliddy to ask how she made them. Hopefully some girl talk can help persuade her into lending us the recipes. I headed back into my room to rest since I can barely move my right arm with the bandages. I was careless. I thought I was ready but what a joke. To be injured without stepping a foot out of town. I seriously need to prepare even more than what I have right now. Perhaps I will need to find a medicine or alchemy shop first to do all the necessary preparations.

    Rose came to my room to show me what ingredients were needed to make those healing items. Sliddy said it was not a closed secret as reptilians used this on a common basis. Reptilians in general have better healing factors than humans but only the legendary Sladar Slitherman is capable of healing almost anything at insane rate. Let¡¯s see what it says.

    Healing Ointment (suitable for minor wounds)

    Dragon¡¯s blood + Fire snail or fire slug¡¯s slime + purkette fat. Boil them for around 15 minutes until they coagulate.

    Cooling Gel (suitable for internal bleeding)

    Dragon¡¯s blood + Ice plant¡¯s seed + boofette fat. Boil them for around 15 minutes until they coagulate.

    D¡ª dragon¡¯s blood?! Are they seriously using such premium ingredients to make these? I clarified with Rose that what they were using was it indeed using real dragon¡¯s blood as in those flying mythical beings. As it turned out, I was deeply mistaken. It was actually from a native tree that they called it Dragon¡¯s Blood tree. It is the sap that is being used as the ingredient. Even the fire snails and ice plants are all native here.

    Phew, now that is good news. And here I thought I will have to go on a dragon hunt just to create these alchemy. If these ingredients are native, perhaps I can purchase them from a merchant or medicine shop here. Sliddy did say that they use it on a regular basis so hopefully there are some ready made ones that I can buy.

    No wonder I had no luck in getting any sort of breakthrough trying to create any sort of healing items no matter how many or what combinations I tried. Who knew all you needed was ingredients from other continents to make them. I will probably buy a couple of them before heading back to the West. Any healing items is better than plain old bandages.

    Since the currency here is of lower value and I brought along my alchemy equipments, I will make more potions and healing items for everyone before leave this town. I won¡¯t take any chances with this continent any longer. To the alchemy shop I went.

 Chapter 18: Disturbance [STAR]

    Chapter 18: Disturbance [STAR]

    Two days passed and there was nothing else I can do any further to prepare us for the journey to investigate the disturbances. My wounds had miraculously recovered fully by now. I am amazed with the effects of the cooling gel. I bought a couple of healing cream and cooling gel which I distributed to everyone. I also given them some agility and strength potion along with a secret weapon the local alchemist taught me. It will be invaluable in the upcoming battle with the demons.

    Kronk did not sit by idly for the past two days as well. He figured out the direction where the great demon came from and pointed us the location on the map. He also explained to us about the different types of demons and their ranks.

    Lesser Demon > Great Demon > Greater Demon > Demon King

    Lesser demons in general are pretty weak. They do not have healing factors that other higher forms of demons have. If we were to encounter a group of lesser demon, we can easily take them out. Greater Demon, on the other hand, are powerful beings. Powerful enough to be on par with a blue or red dragon. Some even surpasses the strength of dragons but not quite strong enough to be a Demon King yet. There had only ever been a Demon King that ever existed and it almost caused the entire destruction of this world. Humans, elves and reptilians all fought together in the war just to bring him down.

    I asked Kronk whether he knew about the strange roaring spell that the Great Demon used on us. All of us lost control of ourselves and rushed in blindly to attack it. He explained that the roaring spell was one of their signature move. It is something like a taunt that makes you lose control of yourself. Stronger demons can even cause their opponents to enter a frenzy state with their bloodlust. Should we encounter such a demon, we better pray that our minds are disciplined enough to block it. Otherwise, all of us will be dead without realising it.

    We proceeded towards the location pointed to us on the map. Kronk was bringing along a¡ª staff? A walking stick? All I know is that he is uses it for walking and never let it go even once. The location brought us south of the continent. The town where we first arrived in was located southwest.

    Truth be told, I am really glad we have Kronk to guide us. Without him, chances are we¡¯ll be dead by now. He was always the first to predict the weather or any incoming attacks. So far, we had not encountered any death-storm thankfully. Most of the time, it was burning rainstorms where we were able to shade ourselves by hiding in caves. There were certainly a lot of caves in this continent, most of them made by the reptilians as temporary shelter. Demons are capable of withstanding all the weathers here but sadly, reptilians were not resistant to it. I asked Kronk on why they used mud for their houses when burning rainstorms occured more frequently. He said that reptilians in general are able to expel their heat much easier than humans. By using mud, they can retain the heat in the building while their cold-blooded body expel it naturally. No wonder they can live in this continent and survive.

    The enemies that we encountered so far were stray lesser demons which we disposed of easily. There was no need for us to aim for the brain like the Great Demon that we fought. These demons were small and weak in nature but still had the tenacity to attack anything on sight.

    Ah, I completely forgotten to mention that the flora here were extremely dangerous as well. Giant sundew and venus flytraps exist in this continent, waiting to turn some unexpected humans or animals into plant poop. Like I said, Kronk saved us more time than I could count. Pietro nearly became plant food when he almost stepped on a giant sundew¡¯s hidden leaves.

    Two days after we departed from town, we only made it halfway to our destination. We camped in another cave that we stumbled upon when night approaches. We are certainly encountering more demons as we approached closer to our destination. We are on the right path but I am getting worried that there might really be a demon that is capable of rallying the other demons together.

    Tonight was my turn along with John to take point for lookout. I saw Pietro sleeping in one corner while Rose slept at another. I guess it should be safe for me to bring up a conversation with John.

    ¡°Do you still think Pietro is hiding something?¡± I whispered to John.

    ¡°Can¡¯t say. I can¡¯t shake the feeling that he¡¯s up to something. But we had not made any detour elsewhere nor did he gave any unreasonable orders thus far. Maybe we should cut him a little slack,¡± he replied.

    ¡°Perhaps. He is stern but that doesn¡¯t warrant suspicion. I¡¯ll continue to keep an eye on him, just to be safe,¡± I said.

    Silence engulfed us momentarily. Was John always so distant with me? I don¡¯t remember this happening before. While it did seemed like Lily was the one holding us together, I had plenty of talks with John before, not to mentioned we ate often together and spoke just about anything. Did something happened? I tried to strike more conversation with him as this is just awkward.

    ¡°John, you met with Lily, right? How is she? I hadn¡¯t seen her in ages,¡± I said to him.

    ¡°Hm? Oh, she¡¯s doing great. She¡¯s a total babe now. You won¡¯t recognise her for sure,¡± he chuckled.

    ¡°Haha. I¡¯m sure I can recognise her signature glasses. Not many elves wear those anyway,¡± I told him.

    ¡°You¡¯ll be surprised. She¡¯s changed a lot now. Who knew that elves would only hit their growth spurt and start looking more mature after a century. But one thing still remains though¡ª¡± John stopped and looked downwards.

    ¡°She¡¯s still into you. You should meet up with her for old times sake,¡± he continued. What? Lily is still into me? On what basis?

    ¡°You¡¯re just messing with me, aren¡¯t you? There¡¯s no way she¡¯s still interested in me after such a long time. I¡¯m certain that she''s met with many other dudes for the past five years. Did you even hear her say it directly?¡± I questioned John.

    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m fairly certain. When I asked her about you, she feign ignorance and asked who you were. ¡®Who? Oh, that Zen¡¯, then she began talking nonsense while being flustered. It¡¯s quite obvious she¡¯s still into you,¡± said John. Why do I get the feeling that John is disappointed or feeling down?

    ¡°John¡ª are you¡ª perhaps..?¡± I stopped at the end.

    ¡°What are you boys talking about?¡± asked a voice behind. Both of us turned our heads quickly to see who it was and saw Rose. Was it time for our shifts?

    ¡°Is it time already? Felt like we only sat not too long ago,¡± I asked her.

    ¡°No, it¡¯s not time yet. I just woke up and saw the both of you chatting so I thought I should join in,¡± she said. I hope she had not overheard our conversation about Lily. She can get overly jealous when I talk about other girls. Like some over protective little sister that is hung up on her brother.

    ¡°Hey John, I¡ª am so sorry,¡± I apologised to him.

    ¡°Hm? Oh¡ª it¡¯s nothing. It¡¯s not your fault, anyway. I blame myself for feeling this way. It¡¯s probably due to the fact that we hadn¡¯t met in such a long time that I was stunned by her drastic changes. You don''t have to worry, I¡¯ll get over it,¡± said John.

    This deep conversation is really affecting the mood. I didn¡¯t know that John had feelings for Lily. Had she changed so much that even John fell for her? I must steady myself if I do meet with her since I know very well that I am sucker for female elves. I felt sorry for John though. Surprised he did not try to whoo her or something when he¡¯s feeling this way.

    ¡°Who are you guys talking about?¡± asked Rose.

    ¡°Um, we¡ª were.. talking about John¡¯s elder sister! That¡¯s right¡ª John hadn''t met with his sister for such a long time and was surprised by her changes. Ha ha ha,¡± I tried to talk my way out of it.

    ¡°Yes, we were talking about my wonderful and genuine elder sister that most certainly exist. I certainly met her recently and was surprised by her. Har har har¡± muttered John. Brother, you suck at lying.

    Rose squinted at the both of us but we avoided her gaze. She then proceeded to sit on the log beside me and rested her head on my shoulder.

    ¡°Are you sure the both of you are siblings? From what I¡¯m seeing, you two looked like lovers more than anything. Hahaha!¡± John laughed.

    ¡°Oh please, she¡¯s just an overly attached little sister,¡± I said bluntly.

    ¡°As long as I am at Onii-chan¡¯s side, I don¡¯t care what he says,¡± retaliated Rose.

    ¡°You can¡¯t stick with me forever Rose. You and me, we¡¯ll be getting our own partner one day. But you can come over to visit, anytime,¡± I explained to her.

    ¡°Until then, I¡¯m going to stick with you. So bear with me,¡± she said as she held my arm tightly.

    ¡°Rose will be a beauty when she¡¯s older. I¡¯m certain there will be plenty of guys gunning for her. Haha,¡± chuckled John.

    ¡°John¡ª I would rather you go for Lily than my little sister. Let me warn you right now,¡± I warned him.

    ¡°Who¡¯s Lily?¡± asked Rose.

    ¡°Er¡ª John¡¯s elder sister. That¡¯s right,¡± I said without thinking.

    ¡°That doesn¡¯t make any sense!¡± shouted Rose.

    Both John and I started laughing while Rose pouted as she waited for us to answer. Pietro awoke from his slumber due to the commotion and it was time for us change shift. John and I headed into the cave to rest when he decided to whisper in my ear.

    ¡°I won¡¯t touch Rose or Lily, don¡¯t worry. I owe you that much. But you, on the other hand, would have to decide,¡± he whispered to me.

    ¡°What are you talking about? I¡¯m not choosing my little sister as I don¡¯t even see her in a romantic way,¡± I explained to him.

    ¡°Dude, seriously? Even a dense guy like me can see that Rose and Lily is into you. Even if Rose is not aware of it now, when you start dating other girls, she is going to get jealous for sure. You are her hero, Zen. Are you going to be okay if Rose started dating other guys? Think about it,¡± he said as lay down on his sleeping bag.

    Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    Will I be ok if Rose starting dating other guys? I mean¡ª sure? I guess? I don¡¯t even know what to feel right now. I still see her as nothing more than my little sister. As for Lily, I had a crush on her but after this long, I have no idea what to feel when I see her again honestly.

    I just rested on the sleeping bag and closed my eyes. Now is not the time to think about romance. Tomorrow is going to be a dangerous day. I should focus on getting more sleep and prepare myself. I pray to the above that Kirin doesn¡¯t disturb me tonight and talk about girls. Please don¡¯t.

    ***

    Dawn embraced us and we prepared ourselves for the inevitable journey. Kronk had already scouted ahead and from what he discovered, we should be able to find the reason as to what is causing all these disturbances after we climbed up that hill in question. Great, once we find out what it is, we can call for reinforcements and head back to the Western continent.

    After a quick breakfast, we packed up and proceeded towards the hill in question. We thought that we¡¯ll be needing climbing gears but Kronk had already prepared a rope for us to climb to the top. How did he even climb up there in the first place? Is our guide not afraid of being ambushed or attacked by demons? I mean, sure, he can predict the weather and foresee incoming attacks; but still, what if he met another Great Demon? He literally ran at the sight of it the last time.

    We took turns climbing up. It wasn¡¯t easy but there were footholds on the rocks that we used to easy our climbing experience. Good thing the hill was not too steep or our arms will be too sore move once we reached the top. John and Pietro climbed first then I followed suit. I asked Rose to head up before me but she insisted that I will be staring at her butt so she pushed me to climb ahead first.

    Upon reaching the peak, we were greeted by a vista with huge clearing for miles. Staring into the distance from where we stood, we saw what we were looking for. There were numerous demons flying around the central area. And smack dab in the middle of it all was a menacing looking demon. Is that a Great or Greater demon, I wondered?

    Kronk was the last to make the climb. He joined in to see what we were staring at. He pointed out that the demon in the middle is definitely a Greater Demon. But from the looks of it, he is not capable of controlling many demons just yet. It¡¯s demonic influence is not at the level of a Demon King who can control all the demons in the entire Northern continent. But it does seemed like he is preparing for war. While not exactly a huge army, I counted an estimated amount of a few hundred demons under his control.

    The Greater Demon raised his arm while holding something. Is that¡ª a katana? Huh? Why would a demon be wielding a human weapon? That¡¯s¡ª weird.

    Inazuma started rattling on my hips. Is Kirin feeling excited or something? Never did Inazuma rattled this way before. The greater demon unsheathed the katana and pointed towards a direction. Wait, that direction is¡ª the town where we came from! Is it planning to wage war with the reptilians? Would the reptilians even stand a chance?

    I turned my gaze towards Kronk and he was definitely panicking. It looked as though he wanted to run away or perhaps head back to town to help out. What are our options then? Technically, we are sort of done with our quest and can fallback to call for reinforcements. But will they reach in time to help in protecting the town? I highly doubt they can make it in time.

    Another option is to leave the reptilians to their fate. But I am not so cruel when they showed me such great hospitality thus far, even though we are not the same species. I continued to rack my head to find other alternatives when Pietro raised a question.

    ¡°Kronk, if we defeat the Greater Demon, would the demons disperse upon its death?¡± he asked him.

    ¡°All the demons will break free from his influence for sure. But if they were to reach town before that; it would be for naught. The demons will still wreak havoc in the town while fighting with one another,¡± said Kronk.

    ¡°So our only option is to defeat it quickly before those demons reaches the town,¡± said Pietro.

    ¡°I do not agree. We should hurry back and help out the reptilians instead,¡± said John.

    ¡°We wouldn''t make it in time. Even though there were more demons that couldn¡¯t fly, there was still a considerable amount that could. We just won¡¯t make it in time to save the town,¡± said Pietro.

    ¡°You do remember the four of us nearly died fighting with a Great Demon. If it was not for Zen¡¯s quick thinking, the four of us would have been dead,¡± answered John with a raised tone.

    ¡°But now we are all well equipped, aren¡¯t we? We found their weakness so we are more than capable now. As the leader of this group I say we fight the Greater Demon,¡± said Pietro.

    ¡°This is madness. Our deaths wouldn¡¯t serve a purpose in protecting the town whatsoever. We stand a better chance in helping the town instead of throwing our lives for nothing,¡± John retaliated.

    Both of them raised some good points. It is certainly better to eliminate the Greater Demon quickly to wreak havoc on the demon groups. But if we were to fail, it would be for nothing. The town would be destroyed along with our deaths. From that perspective, it would certainly be better to just help the town directly. The four of us had fought with a Great Demon and we were almost beaten by just one of them. Who knows what¡¯s the power of a Greater Demon.

    Both of them continued to argue as I pulled Rose away from them to have a discussion of our own.

    ¡°Any idea on what we should be doing? We are running out of time,¡± I asked her.

    ¡°I think we should¡ª¡± Rose paused as both of us heard a loud ¡®shuu¡¯ noise that sounded awfully familiar.

    A moment later, a huge bang erupted. Was that¡ª a firework? I turned around to see what just happened and saw Pietro holding a circular container with smoke trails from the top. He must have pulled the rope to fire the firework.

    ¡°W¡ª why did you do that? You just doomed us all!¡± shouted John.

    A wind pressure slammed in-between us and John¡¯s side. Something sliced the hill we were standing on. I quickly turned my gaze towards the clearing and saw another one coming straight for us. This one sliced the hill behind us instead, causing the side where Rose and I were standingupon to crumble. The hill is falling apart!

    John¡¯s side seems to be stable but ours was crumbling. We are losing our foothold here. I thought of jumping to the other side where John, Pietro and Kronk was, until I heard Rose screaming. I quickly turned to look behind and saw her falling towards the ravine. Without thinking, I ran and jumped after her on instinct.

    Both of us were on a free fall now. I was able to reach Rose which I instinctively hugged her. Shit shit¡ª I got no parachute here! How am I going to break the fall and land safely?!

    Should I stab Inazuma into one of the tree trunks to stop the fall? What if it breaks? Kirin is going to kill me before I even reached the ground. Wait¡ª what is that coming at us? Are those that¡ª giant venus traps?!

    A few of the leaves were homing directly at us with their mouths opened. These plants must have thought we were easy prey that would fall directly into its mouth. But this is a good opportunity for me. I shouted at Rose to hang tight and she responded by hugging me tightly. I spun our bodies to avoid the leaves aiming directly at us. A couple of them knocked onto each other to our favour. I avoided the last one attempting to trap us and quickly unsheathed Inazuma with my right hand. I jammed the blade into the soft stem of the leaf that was aiming at us making sure the blunt part was facing the bottom. My right arm was burning with pain as I gripped Inazuma one-handed while holding Rose with my other. We were slowing our descent with the help of the soft stems thankfully. We came to a stop just short of touching the ground. Phew, we somehow made it safely. The leaf split apart and fell sideways. Sorry about that, but you did try to eat us.

    Damn it. What the hell just happened? Where did the wind pressure even came from? Was there someone strong enough to slice a chunk of a hill apart?

    It took me a moment to realised that Rose was still hugging me tightly. I held her shoulders to see if she¡¯s alright but only then did I noticed that she was shaking. Was she afraid of something? Is that why she didn¡¯t reacted much when the hill was crumbling apart?

    I thought we could finally have a breather but a loud crash suddenly erupted behind us. It would seemed that something large have landed nearby. I braced the thought and prayed that it was just a huge rock from the hill. Unfortunately, it was the Greater Demon that we saw earlier. It had two horns, large blue colour body but slimmer as compared to the Great Demon we fought. Those elongated arms and claws of theirs are gruesome to look at but at least this one has giant wings that are more logical tucked behind its back. And that signature katana; a shiny purple katana that looked like a legendary item. This is bad, really bad.

    Rose recollected herself after the sudden loud crash and I told her that now is not the time to be scared. She need to prepare her spells and if opportunity arises, drink our stats enhancing potions. We will certainly need everything in our disposal including my secret weapon if we stand a chance at beating it.

    ¡°You,¡± the greater demon pointed at me.

    Huh? They can speak the human tongue? Since when? I was expecting it to say something like ¡°Ahhh, fresh meat¡±

    ¡°You¡ª know of me?¡± I answered.

    Perhaps an opportunity did arise. I hid Inazuma behind my back. Rose caught on immediately and quickly rustled through her bag.

    ¡°Your features looked¡ª familiar. Just like the human that fought the Demon King. I recognised those features,¡± said the greater demon.

    Did I looked like my father so much that anything can recognise our similarities? I should try and drag this conversation longer for Rose to prepare.

    ¡°You are mistaken, I am only fifteen years old. It¡¯s not possible that I fought the Demon King,¡± I said to the demon.

    ¡°No¡ª you did not. But perhaps your ancestor did. Yes¡ª you are probably related to him. The resemblance is uncanny. I shall kill you and become the next Demon King. I will succeed where he had failed,¡± said the demon as he raised his tone.

    ¡°Who are you? Do you serve the Demon King?¡± I asked the demon.

    ¡°Served him, I did. No longer. I was the first lieutenant of the Demon King. The sole survivor of the great demon era! I will reunite the demons and become the next Demon King!¡± shouted the demon as he raised both his arms.

    ¡°Really? Seems to me that you are just a remnant of the past clinging on to a glimmer of hope. You can barely even control a hundred demons yourself. I doubt you¡¯re able to succeed where he failed,¡± I insulted the demon.

    Rose tugged my cloaked from behind to signal me that all is ready. Good, it might be tempted to attack us soon after I insulted him so.

    ¡°I do not like your words, human. I am a Greater Demon from the great era. You will cling onto life while I deliver your body to the other demons. They will acknowledge my strength while we devour your warm lifeless corpse,¡± said the demon.

    Ugh, I doubt I even taste that nice. But play time is over. Time is of the essence if I wish to save the town from utter destruction.

    I checked Inazuma¡¯s blade to make sure. Alright, Rose did an excellent job coating it. Talk No Jutsu is over, time to roll.

    I made the first move and rushed towards the demon while Rose stayed closely behind. The demon had already prepared himself for our attacks. I was expecting it to take a swipe at us with the katana or its claws but it suddenly roared. Shit, is he using taunt technique already?

    Both Rose and I were being pushed back by the roar and braced for the inevitable. Huh? Seems to me that it was just some normal roar. That¡¯s odd. I made a small nod to Rose to which she understood and hung back. I ran up to the demon and prepared to defend myself. Odd, it¡¯s not attacking me at all. I came up to its right where it was holding the katana. I took a gamble and decided to attack the demon since it barely even moved. I used Shadow Strike on the demon¡¯s right arm. I managed to cut through the meat but not through the bone. I pulled Inazuma back to further the cut on the wound. Steams arises from the wound. Can¡¯t heal, can ya?

    The reptilians had managed to discover the perfect recipe to prevent demons from healing quickly for a short period of time. It is a sort of wax coating that you need to coat across your blade. Limited effect and uses, but better than nothing. But¡ª why is this demon not attacking? Things are getting really sus right now. Should I hang back to see what''s its next move?

    Just as I finish that thought, the demon started attacking¡ª albeit slowly. It is trying to swing the katana but it seemed as though the demon was having difficulty wielding it. I only just noticed that the katana¡¯s bladed tip was always touching the ground. It took some time and great difficulty but the demon eventually finished the swing.

    BOOM!!!!

    Yikes! I¡¯m glad I dodged it! It sliced the entire landscape at the side of me! Holy shit, I must never get caught by any of the swings or I¡¯ll be decimated to smithereens. As I was still in disbelieve from the extend of the attack, Rose rushed in to attack the demon on her own. She took a few stabs at the demon¡¯s torso and used her signature Holy Strike which pierced through the demon¡¯s body. Rose is really good at finding the opponent¡¯s weak-points. I also noticed that demon¡¯s are generally more vulnerable to piercing attacks rather than slicing.

    The demon swung his left hand towards Rose. Much quicker than his katana attack but nothing Rose cannot handle. She dodged low, pulled out her rapier from the torso and stabbed at the demon¡¯s foot. She leaped back to regain her bearings. Steams were also appearing from where she stabbed. Good, she coated her rapier with the wax too. My attack earlier was starting to heal now albeit really slowly. Now it¡¯s my turn to push the attack.

    I went in close to the demon. It noticed me but once again it did not react much. I decided to attack behind the demon to slice both knees. Even though I couldn¡¯t slice through the bones, I can still cut through the flesh. The demon grunted and tried to swing the katana again. I did an uppercut and somehow managed to sliced off the demon¡¯s right wing.

    ¡°You¡¯ll pay for that human!!¡± shouted the demon.

    The demon once again wanted to swing the katana towards me. I must dodge it. Just as the demon almost managed to complete his slow swing, Rose came in to stab the demon¡¯s arm. The demon grunted in pain and released the katana which fell to the ground with a massive loud thud. Holy shit, how much does that thing even weigh?! The demon looked pissed off now. It swung its left arm at Rose again which felt faster than before. Shit, is Rose going to get pulverised?

    ¡°Accelerate!¡± chanted Rose.

    She managed to dodge it at the last moment. The demon rushed towards her in attempt to punch her. It is moving much faster now compared to the sluggish movements that it was doing earlier. Was the katana weakening the demon? I threw my dagger at the demon to gain it¡¯s attention.

    Thung!

    It hit the back of the demon¡¯s head but it did not pierce through the skull. The demon turned its attention to me wanting to strike back. Rose quickly reacted by grabbing the falling dagger and pierced the demon¡¯s throat. Nice, quick thinking Rose!

    The demon roared in anger which caused a huge shock wave. Rose and I flew some distance away due to the waves. It tossed my dagger aside and rushed to grab his katana. Can we win this? Can Rose and I beat this demon together? The demon reached the katana and attempted to lift it. It seems to be struggling to lift it with one hand. Now is our chance.

    Both of us rushed in and pierced through the demon¡¯s torso forming an X with both of our weapons. The demon roared in pain but seems dead set on lifting his katana. Realising that it couldn¡¯t lift it one-handed, it decided to grab it with the other hand. I¡¯m not going to let you lift your katana. I quickly reached into my back pocket to grab my strength potion. I can hear Rose already chanting her other spell.

    ¡°Light Blessing!¡± shouted Rose just as I finished drinking my potion.

    Time to slice this moron. I pushed Inazuma forward from where I pierced. I roared as I used all my strength to push my blade forward and thankfully managed to sliced it all the way through the demon¡¯s left arm. Rose instead aimed for the demon¡¯s head in an attempt to pierce through the skull. Hopefully we can kill it if we destroy the brain.

    The demon dodge Rose¡¯s attack with a spin and hit her with its left wing. I leapt back to regain my bearings and see what the demon will do next. Seems like Rose managed to block the wing attack earlier. We can do this, both of us can defeat this demon.

    The demon roared even louder this time. What? It¡¯s healing all of its wounds. Even the wing and arm that was sliced off is regrowing now. Not good, all that hard work is going to be for naught. And it seems like our wax coating are getting lesser on our blades with each strike. If it attacks us without the katana¡¯s de-buff, both of us are not going to make it out alive.

    Rose quickly took out a potion and drank it. The demon rushed to attack her and she somehow managed to barely dodged it. It must have been the agility potion she drank as the Accelerate spell should had worn off by now. The demon really hates Rose as she did many things that angered the demon. I rushed to help her while picking up my dagger from the ground. The demon moves nimbly and fast. Rose is getting cornered by its attack. I might not make it in time to help her.

    What? Why did Rose stopped moving all of a sudden? Is that¡ª her foot is stuck on a giant sundew?? Shit, the demon is going in for the kill with its claws.

    ¡°ROSE!!¡± I shouted as I tried to run even faster after the demon.

    A small axe and spear pierced through the demon¡¯s torso and face. This made the demon stopped its attack and leapt back. Rose quickly sliced at the sundew¡¯s sticky tentacle coils before it grabs her in. Oh, thank the above. Just the thought of seeing Rose die in front of my eyes made me realised that this is not some fun and games. This is a life or death situation.

    John and Pietro appeared out of the trees to join us in battle. About fucking time you two showed up. Kronk was nowhere to be seen though. Perhaps he went back to the town to help out with its defences. I quickly took out the cloth that had the wax coating and wiped it across Inazuma. You want a fight then I¡¯ll give you one. Time for you to face the four of us in round two.

 Chapter 19: Power Overwhelming [STAR]

    Chapter 19: Power Overwhelming [STAR]

    John took point as his main role is to be the tank of the group. All of us knew our roles when we were in a group battle. I will be the one attacking while providing de-buffs, Rose will provide buffs while looking for opportunities to attack the opponent¡¯s weak-points while Pietro will support John by blocking attacks with his spear and attacking from range. The four of us can cover each other¡¯s weak-spots, which is probably the main reason why the guilds agreed to work together in a group of four. If only the Elemental guild is willing to join in on the fun.

    Rose stood behind while the three of us took point. Her Accelerate spell should be ready by now but her Light Blessing might still be on cooldown. I doubt my Fear spell would have any effect on this greater demon which was why I didn¡¯t bother about it. I should focus all my energy on attacking instead.

    John used his Combat Fortify spell which increases his attack powers but sadly, it doesn¡¯t affect allies. He rushed in head-on towards the demon with Pietro following behind. I followed along heading closer to the demon but waited for a better opportunity to support both of them. John swung his giant axe in a downward strike. He must be aiming for the demon¡¯s head directly. The demon dodged backwards only to find Pietro¡¯s spear going straight for the demon¡¯s eye. The demon lunged into the air trying to fly away from the attack but it was too late. Before it managed to fly high enough, I was able to jump high enough onto its back and attempted to slice off both of its wings. The demon reacted quickly and spun its body mid-flight, causing one of its wings to strike me in my left arm; but I was fast enough to slice off its right wing. For me to sliced it off this easily, it must have been cartilages instead of bones within the wing.

    The demon fell back to the ground but immediately dashed towards John with a shoulder charge. John took the unexpected attack head-on and flew some distance away. It then slashed its claws towards Pietro which sliced through his spear and injured his chest. That attack did not even made contact with the spear yet but it was able to slice through? It rushed towards me with both claws extended. This demon is reacting much faster than before when it was using his katana. I focused all my utmost attention on the demon to predict its movements while ignoring the stinging pain in my left arm.

    Before it even reaches me, it took a swipe at me with its claws. I dodged as I knew the wind pressure alone was strong enough to dice me apart. Four straight marks dug into the ground. It then took another swipe at me sideways to which I have to leap up into the air using a tree trunk as foothold. Another four straight marks sliced through the other tree trunks and all of them started collapsing. The demon leaped towards me now in an attempt to sink its claws into me directly.

    ¡°Play time is over, human,¡± shouted the demon.

    Too bad for you, I had already predicted your intentions when you could not hurt me with your wind pressures.

    I shouted at Rose and she casted Light Blessing. A short spear and a small axe flew and hit the demon on the back. Pietro and John did not miss their opportunity with the blessing. Having drank a strength potion earlier, I swung Inazuma towards the demon¡¯s claw that was extended towards me. I sliced in-between the fingers and through the arm¡¯s bones. I held Inazuma two-handed and swung it sideways towards the demon¡¯s head. I put all my powers into that swing hoping to slice through its thick skull along with the brain.

    Whoosh

    Did I do it? Did I manage to sliced through? Huh? The demon lifted its head at the last moment which causes me to decapitate it instead.

    ¡°Shit,¡± I grunted. The demon knew full well that it won¡¯t die by having its head removed.

    I fell back to the ground and got ready for its next attack. The demon had already reattached its head before touching the ground. What ridiculous healing factor even with my wax coating. How did we even win the war against these demons on the battlefield.

    It focused its attention on me. I can hear Pietro and John coming in close from behind me. Rose shouldn¡¯t be far behind as well. If we continue to push the attack, we might stand a chance be at winning. I took a quick opportunity to glance behind to check on John and Pietro. John had bruises all over while Pietro was bleeding from his chest. He was holding the sharp end of his main spear which was sliced apart. This means that he can no longer support as effectively as he did before. We need to strike with more precision now before the fight drags on.

    The demon turned its body to glare at us. Steams were flowing out of its mouth while its eyes began to turn red bloodshot. What¡¯s it trying to do?

    Thump thump, thump thump

    Huh? What was that?? I held my head and my chest. All the others followed suit. I can hear whisperings in my head. I tried my best to focus on the demon but dark thoughts were filling my mind. It is telling me to kill, to hunt for blood. Blood is the only thing that I need. We are all losing our consciousness. Cold breaths were forming when I exhaled.

    Pietro rushed towards John with his broken spear and stabbed John in the arm. John retaliated and swung his axe. Pietro tried to dodge away but he still received a cut on his torso. Damn it! They are going to end up killing each other in their frenzied state!

    Even Rose is starting to look real juicy with all that blood inside of her. No, snap out of it! I need to help those two but I am close to losing conscious myself! This must be the Bloodlust state that Kronk was talking about.

    Shit, Rose is charging towards me now with her rapier held straight. I tossed Inazuma away and leaped towards her before I succumbed to the frenzied state. The last thing I recalled before losing consciousness was hugging Rose.

    ¡°Using bloodlust against these humansss. You had certainly gone weak sss¡± said a voice.

    All of us regained our consciousness. The first thing I saw was a white shoulder on my left vision. I am glad that I did not attacked Rose and ended up hugging her instead. Ouch! My left flank hurts. I moved back a little and Rose¡¯s rapier dangling on my clothes. She must had moved her stab aside before she lost control of herself and ended up dealing a glancing blow on me instead.

    I turned to look at Rose and her face was pale as she shivered. It was as though she could not believed the fact that she had attacked me. I quickly assured her that I am fine and it was not her fault at all. I held onto my wound to try to lessen the bleeding. After a quick glance at the situation, I noticed that the demon was blocking Kronk¡¯s staff with its arm. Kronk had seemingly saved us from killing each other but he is risking his life in order to help us. We need to support him as best as we can. What happened to the other two by the way?

    The both of them were bleeding in several places but they were still standing. Did they really fight due to the frenzied state or were they just mad at each other? But at least they had stopped fighting and readied themselves to support Kronk. Are they even able to fight with those wounds though?

    ¡°W¡ª what are you doing here? Why are you here?!¡± shouted the demon.

    ¡°Why should I not be sss? I am from this continent after all sss,¡± said Kronk.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you supposed to be in another realm by now?! Why is the Second Great Power here?!¡± the demon shouted.

    W¡ª what? Second Great Power? Kronk is¡ª Sladar Slitherman? For real?!

    ¡°I am just a lowly reptilian sss. Your small eyes must had mistaken me for someone else sss,¡± said Kronk? Sladar? I no longer understand what¡¯s going on.

    The demon leaped back. I can see that it was still using bloodlust as steams were coming out of its mouth along with bloodshot eyes. Sladar¡¯s eyes, on the other hand, were glowing. He told us to stay back as this is his fight now. We certainly cannot beat it in this form.

    ¡°And here I thought all the remnants of the Demon King¡¯sss army was hunted down to the last sss. I am surprised you were able to evade our detectionsss for ssso long. You must have cowered in fear and hid like the pathetic insect sss you are,¡± said Sladar.

    The demon roared and regenerated its wings. Even the left arm that I sliced off had regenerated back. Sladar readied himself with his staff. Will that flimsy looking stick be able to withstand the demon¡¯s attack? The demon lunged at Sladar in an attempt to slash with its claws. Sladar parried the slash and struck back at the demon¡¯s head immediately. The demon continued to attack with a flurry of slashes. All of them are either dodged or countered by Sladar¡¯s staff. The demon is being cornered by him.

    The demon then used wind pressure from its claws. Sladar dodged them skilfully like an acrobat. The demon seems to be panicking now and started swinging its claws in every direction. The terrains and landscapes were being destroyed from the wind pressures. Claw marks were appearing everywhere. We need to stay way, WAY back now! Thank the above that none of us were struck by it!

    Among the flurry of attacks, Sladar found an opportunity and leaped in with a Falcon Kick to the demon¡¯s torso. He then struck his staff on the ground and used it as a pole to deliver another kick to the demon¡¯s face. Is it me, or is Sladar actually enjoying himself?

    The demon is definitely getting overwhelmed by Sladar as it could barely even touch him. Feeling the dire situation, it decided to take flight and escape.

    ¡°Hey, get back here sss!¡± shouted Sladar.

    Is Sladar going to fight the demon mid-air? How is he planning to do that without wings?

    Sladar leaped from the ground to chase after the demon with his tail wrapping around the staff. He then used his staff as a foothold to propel himself in mid-air. How is that even possible?! The strength of his tail must be insane to be able to pull that off. The demon was not expecting that Sladar was able to give chase and took a punch from Sladar. Shockwaves appeared from where Sladar struck the demon. Why does it look like I am looking at Superman fighting with Zod now?

    The demon struck back with its claws and wind pressure. Sladar tried to avoid as much as he can but his mobility is limited while he is in the air. One of the wind pressure sliced off Sladar¡¯s left arm below the bicep.

    ¡°Ah, I must be getting rusty sss,¡± said Sladar as he instantly regrew back his arm.

    So this is the ridiculous regeneration that made him number two. If only all reptilians had such regeneration capability. No, wait, scratch that idea. That would make them the strongest demon then. Might be worst than fighting against demons if that was true.

    Sladar leaped in towards the demon while nimbly dodging the wind pressures. He readied his staff and struck the demon on the collar bone. Shockwave appeared again which rumbled the surrounding landscapes, or what¡¯s left of it. The demon started to fall but Sladar did not miss his opportunity to deliver more pain. He used Fury Strikes on the demon which is a technique by the Dragon Guild. It starts with two strikes, followed by four, eight, sixteen all the way to 128 strikes.

    The demon fell to the ground with Sladar¡¯s foot stomping on its face. No mercy by the Second Great Power indeed. Hard to believe a reptilian having regeneration power that even Greater Demons couldn¡¯t rival. Sladar was about to deliver the killing blow when it decided to plead for mercy. Most of the must had been shattered by now as it can barely even move.

    ¡°P¡ª please.. let me go¡ª I¡¯ll stop the attack on the town¡ª It won¡¯t be harmed any longer¡± grunted the demon.

    ¡°Really? You do that then sss,¡± said Sladar. I can hear sarcasm in his tone.

    ¡°Done! The demons won¡¯t be attacking the town anymore¡ª please, let me go,¡± pleaded the demon.

    ¡°Ah¡ª you see, I would like to sss. But I just don¡¯t trust sss a demon from the Demon King¡¯sss army. You made it personal by attacking my town sss,¡± said Sladar with commanding tone.

    ¡°Screw your inferior race! You were never one of us! Your kind does not fit in this worl¡ª¡± the demon was cut short by Sladar.

    Sladar slammed his staff onto the demon¡¯s skull which shattered like an egg. He stood there for a time before turning to look at us. Was he checking to see whether it would regenerate itself or something?

    ¡°Well, now that that¡¯sss settled. Let us return sss,¡± said Sladar.

    All of us lifted our hands. There was no way any of us are beating a member of the Four Great Powers. Not to mention he is number TWO. Is Tom this powerful as well? Sladar¡¯s display of power made me realised how weak I really am right now. Revenge is definitely off the table for the time being. Sladar waved his hands as he asked us to calm ourselves. He has no interest in fighting us when he was the one who created this secret quest in the first place.

    The four of us dropped to the floor with a sigh of relief. We started tending to our wounds before we end up bleeding to death. Rose came over and tended to mine when I noticed that one of her leg had melted flesh. Was it due to the giant sundew¡¯s tentacle coils? I didn¡¯t realised it can melt flesh this quickly.

    I told Rose to tend to her own injuries as I can tend to my own. She rejected my proposal and said that my injury was because of her and it was only due fit that she tended to it. Alright then.

    Upon finishing wrapping my wounds, she got up and thought of heading to another location to tend to her own wounds but I lifted her up and carried her princess style towards a tree trunk. She was caught off guard and started screaming ¡°Put me down!¡± as she wriggled but I ignored her with a dull expression.

    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

    I leaned her against a tree trunk and inspected her wounds. Ugh, even her boots had melted. That is going to take some time to remove all the melted leathers. Thankfully her wounds were not too serious. A little healing cream and it will start the healing process. Rose pulled her skirt lower and pouted. She thought I was trying to take a peek at her underwear? Why would I even want to do that? I ignored her and started smearing the cream on her foot.

    ¡°Onii-chan, this is embarrassing. Please, just let me do it,¡± she covered her face with her hands.

    ¡°Nonsense, you tended to my wounds so I should tend to yours. Make things fair,¡± I told her.

    She began easing up as I smeared the cream on her. At one point I noticed that she was lifting up her skirt a little. I stared at her with a confused look and noticed that her face was flushed. Even though the others couldn¡¯t see us directly, she really shouldn¡¯t be doing this. I quickly stood up and sighed as I had finished tending to her wounds. Was I mistaken in thinking that Rose was trying to seduce me?

    We waited for the others to finish tending to their wounds. I noticed that Sladar was staring at the demon¡¯s corpse from a distance. Hm? There was¡ª a small aura or some sort of spirit that seems to be floating above the body. Sladar walked closer to inspect. The spirit suddenly started speaking.

    ¡°Sllaadddaarrr¡ª sttiill tthhee peerrssiittanntt iinnsseecctt yooouuuu aaarrreee,¡± said the spirit.

    ¡°And you still clinging to life sss. When will you finally die sss¡± said Sladar.

    ¡°Yyoouu¡ª Hhaawwtthhoorrnn.. I¡¯ll bbee bbaacckk,¡± said the spirit before dissipating away.

    W¡ª What the hell was that? How did it even know my last name?

    ¡°Um, what was that?¡± I asked Sladar.

    ¡°Hm? Oh just some remnants of the Demon King¡¯s influence sss. Think nothing of it sss,¡± he answered.

    ¡°Should we be worried that the Demon King might return?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Can¡¯t say sss. It¡¯s been yearsss but there is no evidence sss of his return,¡± said Sladar.

    ¡°Y¡ª you¡¯re a Hawthorn?¡± asked Pietro.

    Shoot. I had completely forgotten that Pietro was the only one here who doesn¡¯t know about my secret identity. I¡¯m going to need to do something to keep his mouth shut or I might have to migrate elsewhere.

    ¡°Um, yes. Not many people knows about this. Please, please keep it a secret,¡± I bowed to him as a request.

    ¡°I¡ª see. I¡¯ll keep it a secret. I promise,¡± answered Pietro.

    ¡°You better. Or I¡¯ll come for your head,¡± said John as he grabbed Pietro¡¯s collar.

    ¡°Woah woah hey hey, no need to fight anymore is there?¡± I tried to disperse the fight between them.

    John finally released Pietro¡¯s collar after some time. But Pietro suddenly did the unthinkable. He sat down on the ground seiza style and bowed to us asking for forgiveness. He told us of his reasoning on why he chose to make a decision. On one of his previous quests, he was an indecisive leader and caused the death of many of his party members. He vowed to be decisive in all of his future quests whenever he became the leader. To him, making a decision will always be better than making none.

    Sladar gave praise to Pietro. He said that if he had not attracted the demon with the firework, he would have rushed towards the demon to kill it instead. John, on the other hand, was still in a sulky mood. Wished Lily was here to help out. Their dynamic compatibility always brought up each other¡¯s mood immediately.

    We finally decided to head back after making sure that the demon did not somehow resurrected itself for good. I recalled about the demon¡¯s katana which prompted me to look for it. Rose found it first and tried to lift it. It barely made a budge. John took over and tried to lift it but even he couldn¡¯t move it even a little. No luck for Pietro either. But strangely, I was able to lift the katana with ease to which I quickly looked at all three of them with squinted eyes. Are they trolling with me? The three of them shook their head while waving their hands in front of their face.

    Sladar held the katana but even he had trouble lifting it up. I can see his bulging muscles straining as he lifted the katana so he was definitely not lying. He said that he could technically lift the katana but it is going to be pointless to wield it. Not only will it be ineffective in combat, it was draining his strength constantly. He told me that the legendary weapon had chosen me to be the next wielder which was why I was able to lift it with ease.

    How is that possible? I already have a legendary weapon AND gauntlets of my own. Now I have to carry another legendary weapon? What is going on?

    I slotted the katana in my left hips along with Inazuma. Please get along and don¡¯t fight. I hope these two weapons don¡¯t randomly start making explosions on my hips.

    ***

    On our journey back, I asked Sladar what he meant when he told us that he was the one who asked us to come. Why would he even need us in the first place? He told us his side of the story. Firstly, we are to continue calling him Kronk instead of Sladar. Secondly, he had been in undercover for many years as a guide. His purpose was to keep an eye on this continent for any signs of the Demon King¡¯s return. He volunteered himself after the war and the other two Great Powers agreed. Being undercover meant that the demons were less wary and it will be much easier for him to search for signs. No demon will be willing to flaunt around or resummon the Demon King right out in the open if they knew that the second member of the Great Powers was lurking in this continent.

    At first, he assumed that it was just some random demon that was causing commotion which was why he requested the guild for help. However, when he saw a Great Demon appearing in town, he knew something wasn''t right. Only a Greater Demon is capable of ordering a Great Demon into attacking the town directly. They had always steered clear of the town as there was nothing of interest for them. He actually when to collect his staff upon seeing the Great Demon but we ended up defeating it before he made it back, which he commended us for it. He was surprised that we knew how to defeat the demon for our first encounter. Only Great Demon and higher ranking demons can only be killed this way. The Demon King, on the other hand would, require absolute destruction of its entire body in order to kill it. Sadly though, no one was capable of doing it. Even Ivy was not able to defeat the Demon King during the previous war.

    ¡°Well, I wish I can continue sss with the story but we really need to run for it, NOW sss. A death-storm is approaching us!!¡± shouted Kronk.

    All of us ran with our might seeking for shelter. Good thing we managed to find a vacant cave nearby. It was actually starting to drizzle before we made it to the cave. I can see Rose¡¯s cloak starting to sizzle when the droplets made contact with it. We checked our wearables when we were inside the cave and found a couple of holes in them. Even my chained cloak had holes exposing the hidden chains underneath. Guess I¡¯m gonna need to change my cloak in the near future.

    Although death-storms occured on this continent, it is a usually a rare occurrence according to Kronk. I guess we were lucky, or unlucky if you look at it. Surprisingly though, many flora or fauna had built resistance to the weathers of this continent so majority of the landscape retained itself, even with acids pouring over it. Otherwise, the entire continent would had been a barren inhospitable wasteland by now.

    ***

    After settling down with a small campfire, I continued my conversation with Kronk. Who knew the Second Great Powers was such a sociable character. I even joked with him saying that with his regeneration powers, he could had survived the death-storm if he wanted to. He said he had tried before when he was caught off guard. While he technically could survive for a couple of minutes, his body will eventually give in due to him exhausting all of his energy in regenerating his wounds. He is certainly not keen in experiencing that again.

    I asked him whether he knew of my father or mother. He said that he only knew about Jack Hawthorn during the war. To him, he was just a common adventurer when they first met. Little did he know that Jack would become a hero along with my mother. Surprisingly, Jack was the first to injured the Demon King with his weapon even when the other Three Great Powers could not. I showed Kronk whether Inazuma was the weapon in question and he nodded while requesting to take a peek. I unsheathed the weapon and showed him as he refused to hold Inazuma. He said that any legendary weapon that is chosen by the weapon should not be held by another. Legendary weapons are fickle objects that do not like to be shared.

    After inspecting with his eyes, he knew very well that this was the weapon in question that injured the Demon King. He remembered how the green weapon glimmered brightly as it stabbed through the Demon King¡¯s torso. Even the Demon King was caught off guard by the strength of this weapon.

    ¡°Truth be told sss¡ª¡± he stopped all of a sudden.

    He asked me to unsheathe the katana that was wielded by the demon. I obeyed and tried to show him but¡ª huh? I can¡¯t lift the weapon? What is going on?

    I tried my best to lift the weapon but I failed horribly. What is going on? I can lift it earlier so why can¡¯t I do it now? I slotted Inazuma back at my hips and tried once more. Huh? I can lift it now?

    I quickly turned to look at Kronk and he chuckled. He seems to understand what was going on but I did not. I unsheathed the katana which glowed with a dark purple hue. The scabbard had an even darker purple colour. It certainly had some weight to it but not as ridiculous as earlier. After showing to Kronk, he said that this is possibly the weapon that my mother wielded previously. He sort of remembered the unique purple blade that my mother wielded.

    Is this really what my mother used last time? I thought Vikings preferred to use axes over anything else? Thinking I can find out more about this, I asked him but Kronk just shrugged as he said that he knew very little about my mother.

    Hm, why would a Greater Demon even forced itself to wield this katana? To exert dominance over the other demons that it can wield a weapon strong enough to hurt the Demon King? Perhaps that was why it refuses to dispose of this weapon even though it was weakening itself constantly.

    I decided to change topic and asked Kronk on whether he knew about Tom Snapdragon. He have no idea about the Fourth as he did not participate in the war. Tom was actually not the Fourth during the time of the war. He gained that title after defeating the previous holder and became infamous due to his assassinations. How he actually defeated the previous member, no one really knew.

    I clenched my fist. And here I thought I can finally gain some information about him. Kronk seemed to notice my frustration and decided to call everyone into our conversation. He decided to tutor us on what occurred to us when we fought the Greater Demon today. Should we wish to face stronger opponents in the future, then we will need to understand about the type of powers in this world.

    Firstly, is the body, which is explained by stats. We need to raise our stats according to our needs. No one is capable in majoring every stats throughout their lives. At some point, stats will cease to increase no matter how much they train. Kronk is about a 1000 years now and his stats no longer increased no matter what he did.

    Next up, is our equipment. There is a special spell that is only taught in the Eastern continent which helps in fortifying our equipment. Not only will it strengthen our equipment, it can turn it into a re-summonable object. Kronk forgot what it was called as he had not used it for many years now. He apologised to us that he cannot elaborate more on this portion as his staff had no need for such a spell. He told us that his staff was a legendary weapon which we all questioned on it. It looked more like a flimsy walking stick more than anything else. He confessed that his initial reaction was the same, but it was due to its appearance that it remained unused for such a long time until he came along. It would make for the perfect concealed weapon as no one would expect this flimsy ass stick to be anything more than a walking stick.

    Last but not least, is our mind. What we experienced earlier was Bloodlust which is in the category of Higher State of Mind. He broke down the types of ¡®State of Mind¡¯ as best as he could.

    First, is the Basic State which is called ¡®random thoughts¡¯. This is how everyone¡¯s mind functions everyday. Then, we move on to Focused State of Mind which the East calls it Ek¨¡grat¨¡ or Concentration as I call it. Adventurers that had plenty of combat experience might end up learning this on their own. It is safe to say that majority of the people is capable of learning this if their mind is disciplined enough.

    Next up, is the Higher State of Mind which branches into two categories, passive or aggression. Every living being is only capable of using a single path. Very rarely do adventurers achieve this state on their own. Very selected few beings are capable of achieving this either through experience, training or just sheer luck. Apparently both of my parents were capable of using this. My father favoured the passive path while my mother followed the aggressive path. Oh, I guess I took after my mother seeing that I can somehow use Bloodlust the last time.

    Even selected demons are only capable of using this state. Demons usually favours the path of aggression which is known as Bloodlust. Kronk can also use Bloodlust after figuring out that he favoured the aggressive state. The elven on the other hand had discovered the opposite of Bloodlust which they call it Dh¨¡ra?¨¡ or also known as Focused Meditation. In this state, the elves was capable of fighting toe to toe with the demons.

    My father was also able to learn this and he used it during the war. His close relationship with the elves had given him the opportunity to learn from them.

    Wait, hold on. Was my father close with the elves because he wanted to learn from them or did he just fancy the female elves in general? Kronk shrugged at my remarks. It was not as though he knew my father enough to discover his fetishes.

    Last but not least, is the highest form the mind can achieve which is known as Absolute State of Mind. To date, only two living beings were able to achieve this state. The strongest elf which is also known as the strongest of the Four Great Powers, Ivy Moonshine. She is the only one capable of achieving what they call as Dhy¨¡na which some referred to it as Effortless Meditation. All her accumulative battle experience made her capable of using this state subconsciously. The other living being was the Demon King. His Blood Rage was a fearsome state that even Ivy had difficulty fighting the Demon King alone. At his peak, the Demon King was certainly the strongest this entire realm have to offer.

    I asked Kronk that during our battle with the Greater Demon, the four of us were affected by Bloodlust. But after Kronk came to help us, the affect dissipated. What actually happened? He explained that the demon was caught off guard by his sudden appearance which affected his Bloodlust. Kronk was also using Perfect Concentration on the Greater Demon which helped nullify the affect for us. So does this mean that a lower State of Mind can combat the effects of a stronger one? Sadly, that¡¯s not really the case. Even if one does not know how to use Concentration, as long as the mind is disciplined and strong, the effects can be countered.

    Silence filled the cave when Kronk finished his story. All of us knew full well that our mind was not disciplined enough to fight with stronger demons. I was feeling more depressed after hearing about these states. And here I thought I was close enough to have my revenge but I was naive. I should assume that Tom is capable of at least using Bloodlust, judging by his personality. I certainly need to be much stronger now if I wish to stand a chance in defeating him. The destination of my revenge just seemed so far away no matter how hard I tried.

    We decided to camp the night as the storm went on. I rolled out the sleeping bag next to Rose and lay down. I asked her about the strange terrified state she was in after we fell down the cliff. Was she afraid of heights? She explained that it was more like she was terrified by the idea of falling. The feeling of vertigo made her feel helpless and panic takes over her, making her uncertain on what she need to do. She hugged me and said thanks which I petted her head. I need to be stronger. The thought of losing Rose never occurred to me until today. I should had brought my gauntlets with me which might have helped out in this battle. No more fooling around in the future, I will make sure to prepare myself for any situations, every single moment even if I¡¯m just going for a walk. Always expect the worst this world have to offer.

    ***

    ¡°So¡ª what are the odds that you decided to crawl to my host, eh? How does it feel to be dragged around by a demon? Heh heh,¡± said Kirin.

    Once again I¡¯m in a dream world with Kirin. Who is he talking to? Oh hey, a white tiger! Aww, so fluffy~ Wait, is it going to attack me? It is looking real feral right now.

    ¡°Grr¡ª You don¡¯t even know what it¡¯s like to be forcefully dragged around. You were lucky that the humans found you right after the war while I, was dragged away by that idiotic demon. I had been draining its strength for decades and yet it was strong enough to swing me around like a damn fool. You should be lucky boy, if I had not weaken the demon to this extend, the four of you would had been dead on the spot,¡± said the white tiger.

    ¡°Come now, you think I would let my host die? I intent to keep my chosen alive as long as possible. Unlike a certain being,¡± Kirin said while insinuating something. He seems to be having fun with this white tiger.

    ¡°Jane fought heroically at Jack¡¯s side! Your host perished in the war too! Don¡¯t act all cocky about keeping your host alive when he died as well!¡± shouted the white tiger.

    ¡°Hah! Jack was the one who dealt the first injury to the Demon King while you all barely even scratched him. I remember Jack saving your sorry ass a few times during that fight,¡± said Kirin as a made a fu fu chuckle.

    ¡°Just because you dealt the first damage does not mean you contributed the most. Jane took off the Demon King¡¯s arm which was something you couldn¡¯t do. Your horn can never be as strong as my fangs,¡± said the white tiger.

    ¡°I¡¯ll rip those bloody fangs off you right here right now!!¡± shouted Kirin.

    ¡°Bring it on you damn unicorn!!¡± shouted the white tiger.

    Oh dear lord, stop shaking and destroying this dream world!!

    ¡°Ano¡ª what is going on?¡± I lifted my right hand while sitting on the ground seiza style.

    ¡°Hmm, forgot you were here. I am Byakko and the blade you will be wielding is called Tengu-kaze. It was your mother¡¯s and now it¡¯s officially yours. Wield it with pride,¡± said Byakko as he puffed up his chest.

    ¡°HAR?! Over my dead body! This is my chosen host! Go find your own!¡± shouted Kirin.

    ¡°What better host to wield me than the son of Jane Gladiolus. He had already shown his potential in using the aggression path,¡± said Byakko while being impressed.

    ¡°No, his potential lies in his ability to use the passive path just like his father. He will not be using the aggression path while wielding me,¡± said Kirin.

    ¡°Wait, time out! My mom is a Gladiolus? Is John my cousin then?!¡± I shouted in surprise.

    ¡°On that, I do not know. Such trivial matters is not within our matters of concern. You, on the other hand, is not,¡± said Byakko.

    ¡°You are certainly different, boy. I do not know any other living being that is capable of using both paths. Tread carefully,¡± said Kirin

    There was a moment of silence as I processed what they had just told me. Huh? I can use both paths? Didn¡¯t Sladar just mentioned that each person can only use a single path? How did I ended up with two? Gasp, am I the chosen one?Heh heh. In my dreams, alright. Oh wait, I am in one.

    ¡°Soo¡ª I can decide which path I should follow or something? How does this even work?" I asked both of them.

    "That is for you to discover. In the meantime, focus on the path of aggression. You had already used it once and I can sense that you can use it much easier than the other path," said Byakko.

    "No way! He has been trained to use the passive path since young. That is certainly the right path for him," Kirin complained.

    "Alright, stop, the both of you. I don''t even know how to use any of the paths yet. How about I just hang on to Tengu-kaze in the meantime? No complains about that, right?" I tried compromising with these two.

    "Fine," said both of them simultaneously.

    "Are you two rivals or something? Why do you two keep fighting with each other?" I asked both of them.

    "We came to this lands together. You can say we are sort of like rivals but we meant no ill intention to one another," explained Kirin.

    Really? What was it about you two ripping each other¡¯s fangs or horn earlier then?

    "You can say that we are like water and oil which is why we are always at odds with each other," explained Byakko.

    "What is your element Byakko? Kirin uses lightning, right?" I asked them.

    "My element is using wind. Hence the reason why the demon uses wind pressure when he wielded me. Wind is stronger than lightning, I assure you," said Byakko.

    Lightning and wind. Ah, no wonder they are at odds with one another. This reminded me of a certain ramen topping anime.

    "I beg your pardon but lightning can literally obliterate the opponent instantly. Wind takes their time to even reach their opponent. So much for being stronger," said Kirin.

    Please¡ª kill me now. These two will never stop bickering with each other. Thankfully I can see the world fading before me. This is the first time I cannot wait to wake up from this dream world.

    Upon waking up, I tested the weight of Tengu-kaze. I can finally lift it up without Inazuma at my hip. Was it because the both of them were at odds with one another or that Byakko had not accepted me? Who knows. But I might have to start learning on how to dual-wield if I wish to use both of them together. Perhaps someday but not today.

    ***

    It took us five days to finally reached back town which was perfectly intact. Ah, finally we can travel home. Two weeks in this continent felt like two years. Upon reaching the town, John caved and tried to make amends with Pietro. He told us his side of the story that there was a party leader that always made rash decisions and caused the entire party killed except for John. John was the only survivor for that particular quest and he was thankful that he even managed to make it back alive. To him, live matters and should not be thrown away on a whim. Especially when he was given a second chance by my grandfather.

    Both John and Pietro shook hands that looked like an epic handshake. They had their misunderstandings but there was no right or wrong in that situation. Both sides had flaws yet none was the perfect choice.

    In the end, the three of us were suspicious about Pietro over nothing. We were in the wrong to be suspicious of him in the first place. I guess our instincts were wrong. Or were we?

    We stayed a night at Sliddy¡¯s bar before heading back West the following day. Kronk certainly told his version of the story about how we were able to defeat the Greater Demon to Sliddy. Seems like even the citizens of this town doesn¡¯t know about his identity.

    Kronk guided us back the following day. Once again we took a boat and then a carriage back to City Of Pines. Ah, I would certainly like to stay in the city for at least a year before thinking about going anywhere else for an adventure. How wrong was I.

 Chapter 20: Calm Before the Ocean [STAR]

    Chapter 20: Calm Before the Ocean [STAR]

    Three months passed prior to us returning to the city. We reported our findings to our respective guildmasters and they were all shocked at the fact that there was still a survivor from the Demon King¡¯s army. Not to mention we actually found out about Kronk¡¯s secret identity due to that. He had gone undercover for decades now without anyone finding out his real identity. And he would had gotten away with it, if it weren¡¯t for us meddling kids. Just kidding. He was actually thankful that we helped him out with his secret task and he hoped to see more of us in the future. It felt so surreal that we actually met one of the Four Great Powers. You usually hear about them in legends yet we actually met him as our guide. And to think that I had already met two of the Great Powers by now. I am so glad that Sladar was not out to hunt me unlike Tom. Speaking of which, I had not heard news about him after so many years. Shouldn¡¯t he be actively trying to hunt me by now? Hmm.

    I am officially 16 now while Rose is 13. Rose and I continued our lives by doing quests and trying to improve ourselves in any way possible. We spar often and I felt like I was losing more often than I was winning against her. So much for being a son of the war hero in the face of a prodigy.

    The both of us knew that we had to get stronger should we wish to protect one another. And of course, I continued improving my alchemy during my free time. Getting my skill stats to fifty is painfully slow right now, but I treated it more as a hobby than a chore. I¡¯ve actually made a breakthrough in alchemy where I successfully made a fortification potion that boosted all stats albeit only by one.

    Hey, better than nothing, right? This potion is not even being sold by any merchant currently so it¡¯s my prized possession right now. I also discovered that it was actually way easier to create de-buffing potions. Should I wish to poison someone with these potions? Who knows. There might come a day where I might have to use it. Perhaps I should focus more on making a variety of wax coating to combat different creatures. Or perhaps humans too. I definitely won¡¯t hesitate in using it against Tom when I fight with. I know I will be grinning when I see his skin being seared by my coating.

    I tried out a little on dual-wielding but I quickly gave up on that idea. Sure, it might look fun swinging two blades around but you need to know proper techniques to wield them effectively. And don¡¯t get me started on three swords. Grandfather only taught me using single bladed techniques exclusively. If I were to dual-wield effectively, I will need to seek out a teacher to teach me. In the meantime, single blade it is.

    Rose came to my place one day to ask me out. You¡¯re thinking about a date, aren¡¯t you? It''s actually more like an introduction to her group of friends. Apparently, they kept hearing so much about me from Rose that they wanted to see me in real life. Thank goodness none of them was an elf. Phew, dodged the arrow there.

    I am glad that Rose had made some friends. I was worried that she became too attached to me to even consider making friends with other people. Glad to be proven wrong. Her friends consisted of members from different guilds to my surprise. One is from the Light guild, another is from the Viking guild while the last is from the Elemental guild. All beautiful in their own ways. Reminded me about a certain Hibari Four.

    Her friends teased her often for being a bro-con since she was always so attached to me. Did she not inform them that we aren''t blood-related? One of her friend even tried to flirt with me which made Rose glared at me with the scariest glare I ever seen. It made the Dark Lord¡¯s glare pale in comparison. Thankfully I had no interest in any of her friends. What I reminded myself is to never fool around with your sister¡¯s friends should you wish to not get caught in a war between any of them.

    ***

    It was a fine day when some unexpected news came. How do I usually get news? Why, it is none other than Q doing the papers delivery. Apparently, Q decided to take on additional task on top of his letter delivery. Perhaps he needed more money to feed his family or something but anyway, back to the news.

    The Viking Lord had perished from their cultural tradition that they needed to perform every five years. Apparently, the Underwater Dragon King went on a rampage this year and was unpleased with the Viking Lord¡¯s performance. No one was expecting the Underwater Dragon King to attack with such fury that caused the Viking Lord¡¯s death. He sacrificed his life to ensure that his escorts were safe. The Underwater Dragon King demanded that the new Viking Lord better be worthy of his time or there will be further consequences.

    Yikes, I wished the next person good luck, whoever it may be, if they get chosen to be the next Viking Lord.

    The next news took me by surprise even more than yesterday. It was announced that John Gladiolus was nominated to be the next Viking Lord. Did I just cursed my friend with my remark yesterday?

    But why him? He is not the oldest member nor does he have a huge list of accomplishments in the guild. Is it due to his ridiculous strength that he got nominated to be the next Viking Lord? I am so worried about him after hearing the news. This is my best friend and he might be walking into certain death facing the Underwater Dragon King who is throwing a fit. Maybe it broke-up with its lover or something but you shouldn¡¯t take it out on someone else.

    The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    I fully expected John to seek me out. But a month passed and he didn''t even came to see me once. I went to the Viking Guild to seek him out but the members informed me that he was busy preparing for the incoming tradition and it was not a best time to visit him. Strange, you would think he would at least share this news with his best friend. Wait, am I even his best friend? Did I just assumed on this? Oh no! I should had clarified with him before!

    Hold on, what am I even doing? Why the hell am I giving myself an emotional damage right now? Geez, focus on the task at hand.

    Rose came over to my place to cook breakfast for me. Truth be told, whenever I look at Rose now, I can no longer recognise her as the little girl that I saved a few years ago. Within just three years she has grown significantly and I am sure it has not stopped ever since. She is close to my height now and has grown more beautiful. I wonder if she have guys going after her. Why do I feel like I am going to be the shortest in the entire group? I felt so emotional thinking about it.

    ¡°Onii-chan, you¡¯re staring at me again. Don¡¯t think I wouldn¡¯t notice without me looking behind my back,¡± said Rose.

    ¡°Hm? Oh sorry, I was just deep in thought. Just recalling the first time when I first found you and how different you looked right now. It makes me feel like a dad seeing my child all grown up. Feels so emotional, sniff sniff¡± I said as I wiped my fake tears.

    ¡°But you¡¯re not my dad, so quit it. Next thing you know I might be getting wrong ideas from you,¡± she said.

    ¡°Huh? What wrong ideas?¡± I asked curiously. What is she trying to say?

    ¡°Nothing¡ª just eat your breakfast quietly,¡± she ended the conversation.

    Ahh¡ª the rebellious stage. I get it. She don¡¯t want someone breathing down her neck and telling her what to do. But I never even tried to control her. She was always free to do whatever she wanted. I just told her to meet up with me every once in a while and that¡¯s it.

    Ohh! Is it because she does not want to spend time with me anymore and rather spend time with her lover?

    ¡°Rose~ Did you find yourself a lover?¡± I asked her with a curious tone.

    She immediately spat out what she was eating upon hearing that. Did I hit the mark? Heh heh.

    ¡°Wh¡ª what are you saying? I don¡¯t have a lover! Quit it!¡± she said while blushing.

    Oh ho ho¡ª seems like I found something interesting here.

    ¡°Aww come on, good news should be shared. You know you can tell me anything Rose~¡± I said to her in a polite tone.

    ¡°I don¡¯t have a lover. Please stop. Seriously, I don¡¯t have one,¡± Rose said with a serious tone.

    ¡°Really? And here I thought you don¡¯t want to spend time with me anymore,¡± I put on a thinking face.

    ¡°Oh please¡ª I literally spent time with you more than anyone else. If anything¡ª¡± she stopped midway.

    Hm? If anything? What anything?

    ¡°What were you trying to say?¡± I asked with a tilted head.

    ¡°Nothing. Please stop asking these questions anymore. I don¡¯t like it,¡± she said.

    Am I seeing her blushing? Which is which now?

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll stop. Just to let you know, you¡¯re free to pick whoever you want. Just make sure he is a reliable and trustworthy man. alright?¡± I said to her while smiling.

    ¡°Y¡ª you¡¯re not just saying that, are you? I can really choose whoever I want?¡± she asked.

    So she is interested in this topic. Geez Rose, make up your mind.

    ¡°Yup, of course. I had always given you freedom to do whatever you want, Rose. Just make sure you bring him to see me, alright?¡± I said to her.

    ¡°But the person I want is¡ª¡± she stopped as there was a loud banging on my door.

    Hmm? What is going on? Seems like whoever is knocking on the other side would appear to be having so sort of urgency. I hope it is not some random member wanting to use my washroom. Oh wait, can it be? No, that''s not right. I don¡¯t need to pay rent and I''m not Peter.

    I opened the door to find someone who was not a member of the Dark guild. Who is this guy?

    ¡°I am sorry for disturbing you sir. You are Zen, right?¡± he said as he panted.

    Did he ran all the way here to see me? What''s so urgent that he needed to do that?

    ¡°Yes, I am Zen. How can I help you, good sir?¡± I asked him.

    ¡°I am a friend of John. He had already departed for the City of Underwater Marrydia yesterday,¡± he said.

    ¡°He¡ª left? I was expecting to see him before he left. I was hoping that he would invite me to come along. Maybe he doesn''t see me as his friend or something,¡± I said while feeling dejected.

    I thought both John and I were closer than that. We had been friends for so many years now.

    ¡°You¡¯re wrong! John thought about inviting you many times. But¡ª he was certain that he will be heading towards his death which is why he decided not to invite you. Not only did you save his life, he owes it to you. Which is why he decided to not have you join him when he can''t even be certain that he can make it back alive,¡± said the young chap.

    I can see tears forming at the side of his eyes.

    ¡°Who are you, really?¡± I asked him.

    ¡°Oh so sorry sir, I am Barry. A member of the Viking guild. John had always a good friend to me and consulted me in many ways. Please lord Zen, I am going against John¡¯s wishes because I want him to come back alive. He always said you were much stronger than him and if anyone can defeat the Demon King if he ever returns, it''s going to be you,¡± said Barry.

    ¡°I¡ª see. Well, rest assured. Even if John refuses that I follow him, I will still aid him in any way possible. Trust me on that,¡± I said to him as I placed my hand on his shoulder.

    I was not expecting him to call me Lord when I am not even the guildmaster. I can never get used to that. I never knew John thought of me that way either. And saying that I stand a chance in defeating the Demon King? That is just absurd. If anything, Rose stand a higher chance than me. I turned my gaze to Rose and she nodded. I guess she''ll be following along then.

    The both of us prepared for the journey as quickly as we could. I had already read about the City of Underwater Marrydia as I was expecting to head over there with John. It is smack in between the Eastern and Western continent.

    As for how we are going underwater? Now that''s the interesting part. The only way to enter that city is to wait for a whirlpool to suck you in. I kid you not.

    How is a boat going to survive the whirlpool? Using the elven¡¯s architecture, they had somehow created ships that is capable of withstanding the damage from the whirlpool. Of course, it is not your typical ship that have sails. These ships are built differently with the sold purpose of going underwater.

    I packed both Inazuma and Tengu-kaze along with all the potions, healing items and wax coatings that I have prepared for this day. And I took along my prized possession, Hand of the Lighting God is following me along this trip and I intent to use it. I will not be caught off guard or underprepared unlike my time at the Demon Continent. This time, I am prepared. My supposedly long lost cousin''s life is on the line.

 Chapter 21: Under Da Sea [STAR]

    Chapter 21: Under Da Sea [STAR]

    Rose and I were on our way towards a port located on the east from where City Of Pines is located. Barry did not follow us as he was at a lower rank and it would be too dangerous for him to come along. Reaching the port took us three days even with a carriage. We could technically use this port to sail to the Northern continent but I doubt there is any ship captain here that is willing to travel northward in the first place. Who wants to visit the Demon Continent when it''s so hostile there? I certainly hope that I can make it in time to help John and not mourn over his dead body instead. Please let me make it in time.

    It was late morning when we finally reached the port. Saying the port is huge is an understatement. This is definitely the main port of this continent. Plenty of tradings were going about when we first reached here along with all the hustling and bustling. There were fresh goods that consisted of a variety of vegetables to pristine looking fishes or meat. There were loads of equipment on sale too. Perhaps I can find something for the both of us before we set sail. If I recall, my chained cloak had plenty of holes on it now due to the acid-storm from the Northern continent. But first things first, find a captain that is willing to ferry us to the City of Underwater Marrydia.

    It was certainly difficult to navigate around this port due to the sheer amount of people here that far surpassed my expectations. It felt like there were more people here compared to the city but it is probably my misconception. It is certainly the highest amount of people gathered in one place though. As there were many side stores and main stores opened here including such wide variety of items, no wonder people were willing to travel here to purchase items despite being at the Eastern edge of the continent.

    I didn''t even realised that I had held Rose''s hand so that we don''t get separated from each other. We stopped by a random side store to ask on how much the fresh vegetables were on sale. The grocer told me that any selected basket prepared only cost a copper coin each. Although the basket was not large, there were still quite a number of items in it. That is certainly much cheaper than buying in the city. Another store even offered two baskets per copper coin. What a sale.

    I had to drag Rose away by the arm to stop her from running around checking each stores. Her eyes were practically sparkling from seeing all the fresh goods on sale at such cheap prices. I told her that even if we were to purchase them now, it would be rotten by the time we made it back to the city. Better to purchase them after we officially return from the Viking¡¯s tradition. Talk about being overconfident that we will be surviving the Underwater Dragon King¡¯s wrath.

    I dragged Rose towards the dock. We need to look for a captain that is willing to ferry us to the underwater city. We talked to a few but they told us their ships were not built to sail underwater or survive the pressure. Dang it, it can''t be possible that there are no captains going there now. I can¡¯t possibly be waiting for another day hoping that there will eventually be a captain that is willing to ferry us there.

    My eyes spotted an elven lady standing close to a ship and don''t you dare judge me. From the looks of her ship, it was certainly built differently compared to the other ships that we saw so far. I asked the elf on whether she was the captain of this ship but she said she was not. Her captain was currently inside a bar having lunch. We can find her at ¡®Gardenia¡¯ bar should we wish to talk to her.

    And so we did. We searched and entered the bar to look for an elf looking captain based on the description given to us by the elf lady. Even the interior of the bar was difficult to move around with so many people mingling. Thankfully, it was not long before we found the captain in question. Her captain hat was a dead giveaway. She was drinking as she played some sort of cards with some guys. As we approached the table, it would seemed like she had already won when she tossed her cards on the table while the guys she was playing with stood up and left.

    Hmm, what card game were they playing? Let¡¯s see, some monster cards, humans and elves. Oh, there is a card showing a white haired guy wearing a wolf necklace. Interesting.

    The captain noticed my curiosity at her cards and spoke out.

    "Shall we play a game?" the captain asked with a grin.

    ¡°Sure, how much to ferry us to the City of Underwater Marrydia?¡± I asked as I sat opposite of her.

    ¡°Wow, you¡¯re no fun,¡± she took a sip of her beer.

    ¡°I need to head there quite urgently. Are you willing to ferry us? I¡¯ve seen your ship and it is definitely sturdy enough to survive the whirlpool and underwater. Elven ships are the best after all,¡± I praised her ship as I knew elves took pride in their stuffs more so than humans.

    ¡°Yes indeed. Our elven ships can definitely make the trip to Marrydia. But as of now, I am not planning on heading out anytime soon. Perhaps you should find another captain instead,¡± she leaned back on her chair.

    ¡°I¡¯ve had already asked all of the captains around and none of their ships are capable of surviving the journey. I really need to head there to help out the future Viking Lord in his incoming tradition. It is a matter of urgency, please,¡± I begged the captain.

    ¡°Look kid, even IF I am willing to ferry you, you are just not suitable to follow my ship. Your partner would be fine but you¡ª¡± the captain kept trying to push me away.

    ¡°Is it a matter of money? How much are we talking?¡± I placed five gold coins on the table.

    I¡¯ll take it as an investment and have John repay me back when he becomes a Lord.

    ¡°No, it is not a matter of money. But you sure are loaded for a young kid. You shouldn¡¯t be flaunting your wealth around,¡± said the captain but her eyes were gleaming at my coins. I have you right where I want you.

    ¡°So I¡¯ve been told. Then what''s the issue? If there is something you need, I¡¯ll do my best to satisfy your request,¡± I said. No, I didn''t meant it in some sexual way.

    The captain sighed and kept alternating her sight between me and Rose.

    ¡°Are you two lovers?¡± asked the captain.

    ¡°What? N¡ª¡± I was stopped short after Rose pinched the dorsal part of my hand.

    ¡°Yes, we are. Is that something of concern?¡± said Rose.

    Rose¡ª what are you doing?

    ¡°Can you guarantee us that you will keep your man in check?¡± asked the captain.

    ¡°What do you mean? I don¡¯t believe Zen Oni¡ª I mean, my lover Zen will go on a rampage or something,¡± said Rose.

    ¡°Our ship is an exclusive female-only ship. We only accept female passengers but I am willing to make an exception for the both of you seeing that your lover here seems to have urgency in meeting the Viking Lord. But you will need to keep your promise, otherwise I will hold you accountable for his actions,¡± said the captain.

    Woah¡ª a ship full of female elves? Is it paradise? Or perhaps my worst nightmare.

    ¡°Will tying up his hands and feet suffice? Do you wish to gag him as well?¡± asked Rose as she gave an expressionless face.

    Hey, what the¡ª? What are you insinuating Rose? That I have no self control over myself or something?

    ¡°That won¡¯t be necessary. As long as he don¡¯t make any advances on my crew-mates or cause any trouble, then all is well,¡± nodded the captain.

    She stood up and took my five gold coins.

    ¡°Consider this a special offer of you renting my whole ship along with its special services. Meet me at the ship within the hour,¡± the captain said. I knew she would take the bait on those coins.

    Alright, we managed to secure our travel transport! An hour, huh? Maybe we can get some food and hopefully check out some equipment before that. We decided to avoid having our meal in this bar and headed outside. It would be better for us to eat on the move while we find ourselves a blacksmith or merchant shop along the way. I am actually curious about what alchemy ingredients are available here but perhaps I¡¯ll only have time to check during our return trip. One hour flies by quickly when you¡¯re in the mood for shopping.

    We passed by several side stores but one in particular peaked my interest. It looked like some sort of kebab store. There was a guy playing the accordion while another person was a chef cooking the kebabs. I won¡¯t lie, it smells really good but¡ª dat face. The chef¡¯s face barely made any expressions at all. I quickly bought two kebabs from them and moved further away. But holy smokes, their kebab is really really good. Juicy and tender meat grilled with fresh pepper. I might purchase another two if we happened to pass by again.

    We carried on walking until we found a blacksmith store. We saw a couple of people going in and out of this particular store. Should be a good sign, I suppose. The sign outside read ¡®Charsi¡¯s Blacksmith¡¯. I opened the door and was greeted by a blond woman wearing a black apron.

    ¡°Good day, how may I serve you?¡± asked the blacksmith lady. Now where have I heard that greeting before?

    ¡°Do you have some good quality cloaks that can perhaps replace this?¡± I passed the blacksmith my chained cloak.

    ¡°Wow, what a special cloak indeed. Woven chains hidden beneath the silk, very clever. But I have something better for you. It¡¯ll cost you, but nothing beats a cloak made out of dragonhide,¡± said the blacksmith as she passed me the cloak in question.

    Woah! A cloak made out of dragon hide? Which type though?

    The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

    ¡°Which dragon type is this made of? Green?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Indeed. Not many people hunt dragon on a regular basis so it is definitely hard to come by. Unless you¡¯re able to hunt one on your own then I¡¯ll be able to make one for you with its hide,¡± she explained.

    ¡°I¡¯ll take it. Any chance it comes in black?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°Roleplaying, are we? You¡¯re in luck as I happened to finish one in black. Anything else you need?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Anything you can equip her with?¡± I asked as I pointed at Rose.

    ¡°Hm, she¡¯s light-weight so I doubt she is fit to wear heavy armour. How about leathered shoulder pads or something?¡± asked the blacksmith.

    Rose rejected the idea. What she is wearing currently was protective clothing made directly by her guild. It was thick leather made from one of the toughest creatures in the Western continent dyed in white. Common leather would just not make sense for her to add on. I asked her whether she wanted a cloak instead but she said she was not an emo boy like me. Ouch, do you really have to put it that way, Rose?

    I ended up only buying the dragonhide cloak for three gold coins. It is incredibly light compared to my previous cloak as there were no chains weighing me down. I can use my agility to my full potential with this. Hm, I really wanted to get something for Rose. Something that can really help her in combat or something.

    We passed by an alleyway and I saw a hunched looking dude wearing a black robe. Awfully sus in my opinion but I was curious to see what he was selling. As I approached, he opened the right side of his robe and showed me what was underneath. I was taken aback as I thought he was flashing me but it turns out he was actually selling some items.

    ¡°Whaddya buyin¡¯?¡± asked the robed merchant.

    I browsed his limited selection while Rose kept a look out. Seems like she is not interested in buying whatever this merchant was selling.

    Oh, a ring. Is it just a plain ring or does it have some attributes?

    ¡°Does this ring do anything?¡± I asked the robed merchant.

    ¡°Certainly. This ere is a ring that provides additional constitution with some minor additional attributes,¡± said the robed merchant as he handed me a scroll.

    Ring of Great Constitution

    +5 to constitution

    +1 to primary stats

    Wow. A constitution ring, huh? Not to mention rings are really hard to come by in general. I¡¯ve never even seen a single ring that had attributes throughout my travels before. But is this scroll really tied to this ring? I¡¯m not getting scammed, am I?

    ¡°Can I test out to be sure?¡± I asked the robed merchant.

    He gave me a simple hand gesture to proceed. I took out a stats scroll and passed to Rose along with the ring.

    ¡°Y¡ª you¡¯re giving me a ring??¡± Rose asked in astonishment.

    ¡°It''s not a proposal ring, Rose. Just try it out and make sure it''s the same as what is written here,¡± I showed her the ring¡¯s property scroll.

    She put it on and blew on the stats scroll. Both of us awaited for the result. Seems like it''s true. This is a real ring with constitution attributes. I must have it.

    ¡°How much?¡± I asked the robed merchant.

    ¡°Four gold coins,¡± he said.

    ¡°W¡ª what?!¡± I shouted.

    A dragonhide cloak costs me three while this merchant is charging me four gold coins for a ring?

    ¡°Trinkets are hard to come by, stranger,¡± said the merchant.

    Sigh. He''s right. It most certainly is. I can see Rose trying her best to remove the ring from her finger after hearing the amount but I stopped her. I bought the ring to which the merchant said "Heh heh heh, thank you¡±.

    Constitution can increase her survivability which is pretty much like buying an armour for her. As of luck, it seems like I managed to accomplished on what I wanted to do so far. We continued walking for a short while until I thought of the time. Has it been an hour already? I sort of lost track of time with all the hustling and bustling of this place.

    "Rose, has it been an hour already?" I asked her.

    "I don''t know, I thought you were keeping track?" she asked me back with a concerned look.

    The both of us stared at each other blankly. Immediately we rushed towards the port as fast as we could. Upon seeing the ship was still at the dock we breathed a sigh of relief but we can see that the captain was getting impatient standing at the side of the boarding board. She saw us and it was her turn to breathe a sigh of relief.

    "Matter of importance, huh" she mocked me.

    "I''m so sorry. Was caught up with all the sights," I said to her while panting.

    "Get in, and keep your hands to yourself," warned the captain.

    "Aye aye, captain," I said.

    She looked at me with a dull expression. Guess my joke didn''t land, as we are about to set sail.

    ***

    "Dad, your jokes are lame. Stop it, please" said Daisy.

    "I know Daisy, I know," I said to her.

    ***

    We boarded the ship which immediately felt different for me. The ship was of marquise shape and was pretty large. Upon stepping foot on the ship, there was barely any creak on the wood itself. This must be the famed elven architecture that everyone was talking about. Even the wood itself looked sturdy that it looked almost unbreakable. The captain took the liberty of showing us her ship before departure. I thought we were running late.

    "You are now in one of the few elven ships with the latest design. Made from the trees in the elven forest, this ship is capable of handling any weather and punishment that comes at it. It is even capable of withstand multiple cannon fires without penetrating the hull due to the multiple layers surrounding it. Rest assured, we will get you to the City of Underwater Marrydia, safe and sound," said the captain. I feel safer already.

    We were still on the deck of the ship at the bow section when the ship began to set sail. I won''t lie, I was kind of excited to sail on this ship. This is definitely a different ship compared to the small boat that we sat to the Northern continent. This ship felt extremely stable sailing on the water which made me questioned on its ability to sink under. Curious to see how it is going to submerge in the first place.

    Rose and I stayed on the ship''s deck as we did not want to disturb the sailors. Rose won''t leave my side as she was afraid that I will do something that might cause her trouble. Sigh, since when did she have so little faith in me?

    I am certainly the only male on this ship. The females on this ship are from all races. Even female reptilians were aboard this ship as sailors. There were plenty of female elves aboard which made my heart run wild but I maintained a steady face. I''m sure Rose will slap me the moment I made any weird facial expression. Some of them smiled and waved at me while some looked at me with disgust. All I did was greeted them with a wave. But many of the females are ripped which made me steer clear of them. I certainly do not want any trouble with them whatsoever to avoid getting punched by them.

    We sailed towards east for a couple of hours until the captain gestured us to follow her. She told us we are approaching the entrance of the whirlpool and should head inside the safe room. The safe room was of glass concept. It is located below the bow of the ship where we can see the front of the ship and below as well. Even the floors were made of glass which blew my mind. I could not resist on knocking it with my hand to ensure its durability. Okay, it is certainly durable and thick for sure.

    The captain instructed us to sit on the seats provided and strap ourselves in. There were perhaps about 50 seats available in the safe room but, there were only two of us so we sat at the front row. What we used to strap ourselves was some kind of rope that we had to tie ourselves to the seats. It was not long after we heard announcement from the captain that we will be approaching the whirlpool soon and to have all personnel to their designated stations.

    We were staring straight ahead to see where was the whirlpool in question until we heard footsteps coming from the bottom. Both of us looked down and saw many ripped females taking their positions on what looked like a large cranking systems. So that is why they needed so many muscular females for. It did not take long for me to notice that I can see numerous female cleavages from this angle. No wonder the captain did not like the idea of me coming onboard in the first place. While female passengers can admire the beauty of strength and muscle from their performance, or just to show off, it is certainly a treasure feast for the male eyes.

    I quickly stopped looking bottom and turned to look forward. I slowly turned my head to glance at Rose and she was squinting her eyes at me.

    ¡°Onii-chan, you can no longer look at the bottom or I will bandage your eyes,¡± she said.

    I shrugged and whistled. Damn it, if only Rose wasn¡¯t here. Oh, we can finally see the whirlpool in question now. It¡¯s¡ª huge! Can the ship even survive that?! This ship is like a tiny droplet of water in comparison to the size of the whirlpool ahead.

    Doubts started creeping into my mind. I can see Rose starting to sweat buckets as she saw the size of the whirlpool. She unconsciously grabbed my hand and started hugging me closer. Or did she?

    I took a quick peek at the bottom. I can see that the ladies are grabbing the metal bars tightly. Shouldn''t we be pedalling away instead of approaching the whirlpool? The things I do for you, John Gladiolus.

    The closer we approached, the more nervous I gotten. I can literally feel Rose''s sweats on my palm now, or is it mine, I no longer know!

    "We approaching in 5... 4... 3.... 2.... 1....... Houston, we are sinking," announced the captain.

    I cannot believe she announced that so casually!

    While it was not an immediate drop into the ocean as it took some time to swirl around before hitting the middle spot, but man was it exhilarating. They should had provided us with safety bars in front of our seats for us to hold onto something. No sane couple would be willing to bring your date to what essentially looked like a death trip!

    Are you telling me you would be willing to say yes to "Madame, woulda you like to take a trip in the world''s largest whirlpool?" Even in French I would say hell no!

    Shit, shit shit! We are actually sinking! And extremely fast too! The currents must be dragging us down. How are we even safe from the pressure of submerging so quickly?? I can see the ladies at the bottom started cracking the metal bars. They must be pedalling the ships to make it sink even faster.

    After some point, Rose and I regained our bearings. We stopped being tensed and released our hand grip. I wiped my sweats away and breathed a sigh of relief. We should be safe now. It''s just a straight dive to the City of Underwater Marrydia. Surprisingly, the elves had invented some form of light source that allowed us to see ahead. While lights from the sun can still reach where we are now, having those lights would be impeccable when its pure darkness later.

    Hm? Hang on. What is¡ª that? There''s¡ª something approaching in front of us. That thing is huge and it''s coming straight for us!! What the hell is that giant whale with small tentacles thingy??

    Rose immediately hugged me and screamed which I did the same. Damn it, John! The both of us are going to die because of you!! I don''t see a way out of this. The situation is literally out of my control!

    The captain shouted an announcement "Sea monster approaching up ahead! Prepare for barrel roll on my mark!....... MARK!¡±

    The whole ship started spinning to the left side until we were upside down. It seems like they released some air pressure to evade the sea monster. I won''t lie, I was screaming like a little girl along with Rose. Never was I expecting an underwater trip to be this deadly. And all they provided you was a safety rope to tie yourself. Where are the harness, damn it?!

    The ship spun back to normal direction and all is well¡ª or so I thought. I turned to look at Rose and her eyes were watery. I hadn¡¯t even noticed that she had cried. I slumped back onto my seat and petted her head. She usually calms down when I pet her head. Thinking all was well now, the both of us breathed a sigh of relief. This trip so far have been nothing but death inducing. Please tell me all is fine now.

    "Water currents are lacking now, prepare air turbo on my mark," announced the captain.

    I''m sorry, but what? Did she just said turbo? Since when were you elves living in the future?!

    ¡°MARK!"

    We were hit with a sudden boost of speed. It felt like we were hitting hyper speed. All the while I can hear air being released from the stern of the ship. The ladies below were cranking like their lives depended on it. Perhaps that is true, if they screw up, we¡¯re all dead.

    Pure darkness envelops where we are now. Even with the lights, we can barely see anything ahead aside from some floating planktons or some small glowing organisms. At this point, all we can depend on is our hearings. But there were so many scary noises that we can hear right now! From low rumbling to high pitch noises, all can be heard constantly around us. Not only is this paranoia inducing, I seriously do not wish to know what monsters or creatures are out there around us right now. Rose and I covered our eyes with our hands and rested our elbows on our laps. Please¡ª let it end now.

    It was not long until we saw some light up ahead. Wait, a¡ª light? It''s not what I think it is, right? Ahh, frag. It really is! A giant angler fish is in our way. Thankfully it¡¯s not facing us but just happened to be obstructing our way.

    "Evasive manoeuvres!" shouted the captain.

    Please¡ª STAHP!! Let it end already!!!

    ***

    After an hour or so, more lights could be seen up ahead. Are you kidding me right now? Is it multiple angler fish?! Oh wait, those looked like¡ª buildings on the seabed. Not to mention a giant glass dome smack dab in the middle of those odd looking buildings. It would appear there are something swimming towards us. Are those¡ª yes it is! Mermaids and mermans!

    There were about a dozen of them dragging along what looked like a chained winch with a hook. They secured the winch to the front of the ship. So that¡¯s what those circular metals are for. We were being dragged to the seabed slowly while the merpeople swam along side the ship. Finally, a slow ride where we can enjoy the sights and sounds calmly.

    As we approached closer, I understood why the buildings were odd looking to me. There were no doors at all. As merpeople can literally swim anywhere, all they needed were windows for their entrances. The ship was being dragged closer to the glass dome. That is probably our destination. I reached into my backpack to put on my gauntlets. Must be prepared for anything that comes along. Rose had already worn the ring that I bought for her in her middle finger. Fits her perfectly I would say.

    ¡°Onii-chan, since when did you started wearing gloves?¡± asked Rose as she noticed me wearing them.

    ¡°Oh, I was saving for the opportunity to wear it. Does it fits me? It¡¯s gauntlets actually¡± I said to her.

    ¡°Looks nice and fancy looking,¡± she said as she admired them.

    Sorry Rose, I kept this a secret because I didn¡¯t want people to know that I had another legendary equipment kept inside my personal chest.

    We are close to the glass dome now. The merpeople were doing their best to adjust the angle of the ship so that it fits perfectly into one of the many entrances into the glass dome. Once we¡¯re in, the merpeople waved farewell and exited the entrance from the back. A door behind us closed the entrance and the water was flushed out from this enclosed area. The front door opened and the captain took opportunity to introduce to us this unique city using the ship¡¯s announcement system.

    "Ladies...... and gentleman, I bring you¡ª City of Underwater Marrydia!" she made a paused. I bet she had forgotten about me, didn''t she. Well, it''s fine. She was willing to make an exception and brought the both of us here. I am certainly thankful for that.

    Words can hardly begin to describe the beauty and spectacle of this place but I will try my best to explain. If you thought City Of Pines was a marvellous place, this city supersedes it in every single way. All the buildings here are made of wood for starters. Most probably taken from the elven forest. It had such a rustic feel that you can only find in the countryside, yet it did not feel secluded. That¡¯s not to say that the buildings looked old either as it looks brand new. To be honest, all of them looks brand new. Is it because they maintained it so well or are all of these buildings new constructed, I do not know. Only time will tell when I explore more on this city.

    The captain announced to us that they will be opening the door of the safe room and air pressure will be adjusted. So that¡¯s why weren¡¯t affected by the water pressure. The elves were so advanced now that it makes me wonder why they had not started calling us monkeigh. I certainly felt like a monkey in the face of their superior technologies.

    The door opened and we were free to disembark from the ship. I asked the captain on how we¡¯re going to make our return trip. She said to look for the tallest building and purchase a ticket there. The shipyard will allocate a ship for us to return back to the surface. Things are more systematic here than just walking up to each ship captain and ask for permission.

    We bowed and gave our thanks to the captain for our safe journey and disembarked. Rose made a huge sigh of relief that we had finally made it to dry land, or sort of like it. Alright, time to explore this place while seeking information about where the Viking¡¯s tradition will be taking place. The best place for that is certainly the tavern. Off we go.

 Chapter 22: City of Underwater Marrydia [STAR]

    Chapter 22: City of Underwater Marrydia [STAR]

    Fresh air struck my nose as soon as I stepped my foot on this place. And when I say fresh, I meant like crazy fresh! How is the air quality here even better than above?! There is just the right amount of grassy and woody mixture along with the right amount of cold air that makes you feel so alive just from breathing it. I am literally breathing through my mouth and nose as it was so intoxicating. It was like coming out of a metro for the first time. How are the elves able to grow trees or plants underwater? There must be a lot of greenery here in order to achieve such fresh airmixture down here.

    Come to think of it, why didn''t I settle down here in the first place? Oh right, I¡¯m not an elf.

    You¡¯re probably wondering, why would the elves even built an underwater city instead of staying on the surface? Your guess is as good as mine. I seriously hope it is not due to some discovery about some underwater slugs.

    Rose quickly went around exploring while leaving me behind. The ground was made of pebbles but it was perfectly even to walk on. I followed after her like a father taking his child for a stroll as she was running around looking at everything that piqued her interest. I turned my gaze back to the ship. It was being dragged by the very same chain to somewhere else. Most probably to a shipyard or something to check on its status.

    But wouldn''t that damage the ship by dragging it like that? Alright, my mistake. Not only do they have circular ship pedals, they even have wooden wheels too. Why am I not surprised. I couldn¡¯t see those wheels as they were underwater at the dock in the surface.

    I followed after Rose as she was literally running left and right looking at everything. I gave her a light karate chop to the head and told her that we are on a ticking time bomb here. We need information on where the Viking Lord''s tradition is taking place. I hope that it¡¯s inside the glass dome. But how would a dragon fit in here then?

    As of luck, there was a huge signboard that pointed the way to all the locations. Ranging from parks to forestry and many other attractions. Am I really underwater right now or am I just dreaming? Why does it feel like I''m in some sort of amusement park right now? I ignored all the attractions and aimed for the taverns. We decided to head to the closest one as we were getting hungry after experiencing such death defying experience in order to reach here. Never in my life did I lose so much calories just by freaking out and sweating.

    We headed towards the closest tavern that was written on the signboard. This feels so surreal. Imagine a completely normal civilisation and the only thing that makes you realised that you''re underwater is when you look above. You would think there would be chaos or riot by now when you''re in such a restrictive space but the elves just made it work. It feels peaceful here as we were strolling around. There were children running around playing with what looked like a colourful ball. Random elvish pedestrians were greeting us with a smile. A child even ran up to her father and sat on his shoulder. Yikes, that father is huge! Not to mention he was holding a hand drill.

    I still can¡¯t believe that I¡¯m in an underwater city right now. It felt so surreal that I¡¯m finally here. Maybe I¡¯m just dreaming and will wake up at any moment now.

    As we were walking along, it was clear that trees and bushes are being grown here. It certainly had the feeling of a countryside despite being inside a city. Very amazing indeed. Rose was literally smiling all the way. It would seemed that she cannot contain her excitement of actually being here. Alright, if we live to see another day, we can stay here for a couple of days. No point in rushing back when the journey here was so death inducing.

    A small breeze blew against us. Wow, how did the elves even made artificial breeze down here? I turned my gaze towards Rose as she fixed her hair exposing her left ear.

    thump

    Huh? What was that? Did my heart just skipped a beat?

    I quickly turned to look at Rose once more. Hmm, nothing. What was that earlier? I find it hard to believe that my heart would skip a beat for her. Must be all the excitement of being in a new place or something.

    ***

    We reached the tavern and headed in. Wow, almost everyone here are elves. We might be the only few humans that had actually set foot here. I proceeded to the counter to ask what food was available here. Hmm, all of them were healthy foods. Mostly roasted, boiled or steamed meals. Where are the unhealthy meals?! Sigh.

    I ordered two sets of roasted jikenette and realised something too late. Do they even use the same currency as the Western continent? Shoot¡ª I should have visited the bank first.

    Thankfully the innkeeper was willing to accept our currency. She said that it was common for adventurers to rush here upon reaching the city. She was also willing to help us change some of our currency coins into what they normally accepts here. Elven currency had higher value compared to the West but it doesn¡¯t mean that items here are more expensive. Surprisingly, they use paper money and wooden coins here. Talk about potential fire hazards.

    They call their currency as EVC. ElVenCoins or ElVishCoins, I guess? Either way, they have coins that is valued at 10, 20 and 50 which they call it Shil. A single 50 shil is worth a copper coin. This means that one EVC is valued at two copper coins. A silver coin is valued at twenty five EVC while a gold coin is valued at 625 EVC. A little bit confusing I know, but I still gotta eat. I converted some of my Western currency to pay for my meals. I have no desire to stay here for too long so there wasn¡¯t much point in me changing too much of them.

    I won''t lie though, the elves sure know how to cook their cuisine. Their roasted meal is definitely superior to my favourite tavern. The ingredients are fresh and succulent to eat. I won''t be surprised that they even have farms down here.

    After finishing our meals, I spoke to the innkeeper about whether she knew about the Viking Lord''s tradition. I¡¯m glad she spoke the human tongue as all I heard around me were elven language. She told me that it was actually a well known tradition here. It was actually the first Viking Lord that approached the elves to proposed them to build a city under the ocean. They were the first to discover about mermaids and the Underwater Dragon King. Since vikings often travel the waterways more often than any other guilds, it is no wonder they discovered so many secrets of the ocean.

    I asked the innkeep on whether she knew about how the tradition came about in the first place. She explained that it was the Underwater Dragon King that proposed this idea to the first Viking Lord. Legend has it that the Viking Lord at that time had fallen in love with a mermaid which happened to be one of the daughter of the Underwater Dragon King. Should the Viking Lord wished to be with the mermaid, he will need to prove his strength to the Underwater Dragon King.

    This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

    How was it possible for the first Viking Lord to fight underwater last time? From what the legend foretold, the Underwater Dragon King agreed to fight above the surface. It was many decades later that the elves discovered a method to breathe underwater. They made something called the bubble helmet which allowed you to breathe as though you are on the surface. Over time, you will need to replenish your air with a sort of portable pump.

    Well well, seems like there is a method to breathe underwater after all. Which means there is a chance that the tradition could be somewhere outside of the dome area.

    But¡ª what about the water pressure? I doubt a little bubble is going to prevents us from being crushed instantly. She clarified that the entirety of City of Underwater Marrydia and its surroundings are being controlled by the Underwater Dragon King. With his powers, you will not feel as though you¡¯re in underwater at all. You can walk outside as though you are taking a stroll on the surface. No doubt the gravity is still much lower than the surface as you are still underwater.

    Alright. Now all I need is the location of where the tradition is going to take place and when. She told us that the location was at the sacred ceremonial site which is located north of the glass dome and it¡¯s supposed to be taking place right now.

    What?! Now?? Damn it, we seriously need to make our way there on the double. And here I thought I can still enjoy the atmosphere a little bit more. I asked for directions on how to reach the site and she said all I needed to do was head northwards until I reached the northern entrance and then it is a straight way from there. I quickly asked on whether there was any vacant room that we can check-in to store our excess luggage. I am not going to be bringing around all of my other equipment into battle. Not only would I risk breaking them, there¡¯s a chance that I might end up abandoning them altogether if the need to run arises.

    Thankfully there was one remaining vacant room vacant for us. It can fit two person so I said yes and never thought much about it. The innkeeper was kind enough to help us in bringing up our luggage so I quickly left it with them. As we were heading out, she reminded us to make sure to bring along our bubble helmets before we headed out of the dome.

    We ran all the way to the northern entrance while following directions from the signboards. Rose kept reminding me that we do not have bubble helmets yet but that was the least of my concern. It was not long until we reached the supposedly northern entrance. Upon reaching, a huge crowd could be seen waiting around. Now that¡¯s not a good sign.

    Upon enquiring with the gatekeeper, the entrance will only open in 30 minutes time according to their schedule. I told them that it¡¯s an emergency and I am needed at the sacred ceremonial site for the Viking''s tradition. Sadly, they were firm that all entry and exit on foot will only be opened at a fixed interval each time. This is to prevent the water pump and drainage from being overused and maintained properly between each interval. I must also be wearing a bubble helmet if I wish to exit the entrance.

    Damn it. And here I thought I can quickly rush over to help John. And I do not need a bubble helmet since I had made a breakthrough in my alchemy recently. I did not spend that whole month doing nothing while waiting for John to invite me. I guess we have a little bit of time to spare. Might as well purchase a bubble helmet for the both of us to avoid any further delays in the meantime.

    Rose suspected something was up as I did not considered buying bubble helmets as my priority. You would think that getting a breathing equipment would be the main priority instead of rushing outside. I whispered to her that I discovered an alchemy recipe that will change the entire lifestyle of this underwater city. Not only would it possibly rundown the entire bubble helmet company, it completely eliminates the restrictions of being underwater.

    "Behold! The ''Potion of Fish Gill''," I dramatically showed my potion to Rose.

    She made a speechless expression that can only be described as massive disappointment. What? How is she not impressed by this potion? It will be extremely valuable for the upcoming battle, not to mention its one of my prized possession right now!

    "Onii-chan, that¡¯s a terrible name. Why not just call it ''Potion of Water Breathing'' instead?" she asked me.

    Oh, so it was the name that she was not impressed by and not the potion itself.

    "Hm, that¡¯s a pretty common generic name. I was looking for something¡ª a little more unique or ear-catching,¡± I put on my thinking face.

    "Alright, how about¡ª ''Mermaid''s Breath'' or ''Potion of Mermaid''s Breath''?" she asked after giving some thought.

    That sounds¡ª pretty good actually. I might consider it. I passed her a few potions in case she needed to handout to the other adventurers during the battle. I had created a considerable amount as it was not difficult to make nor was it expensive. It¡ª just involves using a lot of slimy and disgusting ingredients that I am certain that many beings aren¡¯t willing to explore. I''ll leave that to your imagination.

    We quickly rushed to the closest merchant store located near the northern entrance. We assumed that we can purchase our bubble helmet here but as it would seemed, it was completely sold out. It is always the merchant closest to each entrance that ends up selling all their stocks first. Why they don¡¯t keep more stock in hand is beyond me. Ah shit, I am getting deja vu like that time at the port on the surface. I told Rose to wait by the entrance and stall them if I ended up not being able to find any bubble helmets nearby.

    I ran as fast as my feet brought me. I am fairly confident in my agility as it was the easiest for me to increase. Maybe I did inherit this trait from my father. I made quick enquiries with a couple of merchant stores and eventually found one that thankfully had some in stock. Good thing it was not too far away from the entrance. Maybe I can check out what other items that might come in handy later. I made the purchase for two bubble helmets, a portable pump and some stats scrolls. Better to purchase them quickly before someone comes along and snatches all the remaining helmets. I did a quick browsing and sadly, there was nothing of interest to me.

    Hang on, what is that? That looks¡ª beautiful. I asked the merchant on what that item was without taking my eyes off it. It looked like a bracelet with a beautiful green gemstone in the middle. I¡¯m not sure why I was so fascinated by this jewellery but I asked the merchant whether there was any magical attributes on it. As it turned out, there were some properties to it. It actually increases the user''s perception and intuition when worn. Aww, I was hoping that it can perhaps turn back time or something. Perhaps it reminded me of Lily''s emerald hair tips and silvery hair. Should I even buy this? It doesn''t even increase stats at all.

    "Would you kindly let me take a closer look?" I asked.

    The merchant was kind and allowed me to view the bracelet closer. It is certainly beautiful. Silver bracelet with an emerald in the middle. It completely describes Lily as a whole. It felt like I was buying on impulse but something was urging me to buy it. Perhaps my guts was telling me something, which made me caved and bought it on impulse. Good thing the merchant was willing to accept some of my Western currencies as I did not have enough EVC to pay fully for it.

    As I walked out of the store, instant regret took over me. What am I even doing? I should be rushing back to the northern entrance quickly where Rose is waiting for me. I sighed as I kept the bracelet in my back pouch, making sure that it¡¯s stored in a safe place. All my consumables are usually kept in my hip pouch for easier access. This is to ensure only important items are kept safely.

    I hurried back to the northern entrance only to make it in time before the entrance opened. Rose was looking worried towards my direction but grew brighter upon finally seeing me in her vision. I passed her a bubble helmet and a stats scroll and as it has been a while since either of us had checked our stats. I sort of stopped bothering to check on my stats ever since I hit 35 skill stats to unlock the second hidden spell. Despite using stats scrolls intensively during alchemy testing, I often ignored the stats portion and focused on the potion''s effects exclusively.

    Both of us blew on the scroll and waited for the result. Wow¡ª seems like our stats had increased significantly compared to the previous time we checked.

    Zen Hawthorne

    Strength - 40

    Skill - 38

    Agility - 60

    Constitution - 30

    Rose Starr

    Strength - 35

    Skill - 45

    Agility - 50

    Constitution - 40

    What the hell? Rose just needs five more skill stats and she can figure out what¡¯s the last hidden spell from my gauntlets. Not that I will let her wield it. I poured a whole year of my life digging this up and I won''t be handing it over to someone else. Not even my little sister!

    Her stats were always well-rounded. Her low strength stat is probably due to her using a rapier most of the time. She also don''t do workouts that improve her strength. Perhaps she¡¯s too dependent on using her spell to boost her strength. But I guess it¡¯s fine. She is a girl after all and there is not much reason for her to have so much strength in the first place.

    Sigh, I never knew how to increase constitution specifically. I certainly need to be more careful when taking damage as I will certainly die before anyone else does. I am certain even Lily''s constitution is higher than me now judging from the initial stats we compared with each other previously.

    Finally, the entrance is being opened now. Time to head towards the sacred ceremonial site and save my potentially long lost cousin. Hopefully he is still alive and not squashed flat by the Underwater Dragon King. I put on the bubble helmet and made sure I was ready. My vision instantly went blurry and nauseating to look at as it gave a sort of fish eye effect. Now all I need is to find a little sister to place on my shoulder. Oh wait, she¡¯s right at the side of me right now.

    I nodded to Rose as we waited for the water to fill up the enclosed area. I closed my eyes as water began to pour in. There will not be anyone saving us today. I am certain that there won¡¯t be any great powers hanging around to conveniently save us this time.

    Today, I am ready for whatever comes at me. This time, I will be the one saving people. I must.

 Chapter 23: Underwater Dragon King [STAR]

    Chapter 23: Underwater Dragon King [STAR]

    Never in my life was I expecting an underwater trip to be so traumatising. And I have to make this trip every FIVE years if I actually become the Viking Lord? That''s just insane.

    We made it to the City of Underwater Marrydia after a heart thumping journey. So glad to be on solid dry land, or in this case seabed. The journey was definitely exhilarating and I respect the elves for being able to sail all the way down here in the first place. I am starving after burning so much calories from all that shouting, screaming and sweating. I''m surprised that Lily acted so much calmer than me. I mean, I know she had travelled down here before but to think she had gotten used to it. And she was the coward of our group of three when we first met.

    Time for us to search for a tavern. I ain''t gonna meet or fight the Underwater Dragon King with an empty stomach. If I were to die today, I would make it so that I have a feast before that. Good thing the food here taste so good. I''m amazed that they are able to serve such fresh food all the way down here. Perhaps they imported ingredients from the port to here.

    Lily was at my side. She was assigned to serve the previous Viking Lord as his shieldmaiden. When she heard that I was voted to be the next Viking Lord, she did not hesitate to volunteer herself to be my shieldmaiden during my guildmaster initiation. I asked her why she would even volunteer herself when she had almost died trying to protect the previous Viking Lord. She said that it''s because she''s my friend that she need to make sure that I remain alive. To think there will come a day where Lily would be serving under me. Would Zen be jealous? Heh heh.

    She felt responsible that she couldn''t save the previous Viking Lord from certain death. It was her duty to keep him safe in the event that the Underwater Dragon King went berserk or something; yet she failed to do so. The Underwater Dragon King proved to be too powerful to hold back even though she was not the only Blitz Knight there. But this time, things will be different. She specifically requested from the Elementalist to bring along some veteran Blitz Knights to help with this round of Viking Lord''s initiation.

    If the Underwater Dragon King wants a war, then she''ll give it to him. Surprisingly, the Elementalist actually agreed on the matter and said that it was a matter of pride for the Elemental guild. If it''s not the Elemental guild who holds back the tide of the Underwater Dragon King wrath, then who else?

    Lily clenched her fist. She must be extremely frustrated in not fulfilling her duties. But I know in my heart, I will make it my utmost priority to ensure she survives today as well. I will not allow her to die when my best friend had not met her in 5 years. Come to think of it¡ª

    ¡°Lily, when are you actually going to meet up with Zen? It¡¯s been five years now. C¡¯mon, aren¡¯t you friends with him at the very least?¡± I asked her with concern.

    ¡°Yes we most certainly are. I¡ª just didn¡¯t have the time to meet up with him after I started serving the previous Viking Lord. Perhaps I should had met up with him since I might not be able to see another day. I do miss his cute looking face,¡± she chuckled.

    Did she just assumed that Zen had a stunted growth?

    Lily is certainly a beautiful elf right now. She had gotten more matured and not to mention her growth spurt was beyond amazing. She certainly had an hourglass figure and she tends to wear clothing that exposes her belly button area which is certain to gain all the gaze from men. I am certain Zen will not be able to keep his hands off her once they actually meet. Hell, she even gave me a crush when I met her again after such a long time. Glad I kept that in check now. Yes sir, I most certainly did.

    ¡°You¡¯ll be fine. I will make sure that you''ll be able to meet with your potential lover. He is definitely more handsome now, I can tell you that. Perhaps you might fall for him once again. Heh heh,¡± I laughed.

    ¡°He is not my potential lover, John. I got over him a long time ago. It was just some heroic crush that I experienced last time when he saved me. I am certain that I have no feelings for him anymore,¡± she said with a hmph at the end.

    ¡°Really now? Are you certain? Are you telling me that there was no member of the opposite gender that approached you to ask you out?¡± I interrogated her.

    ¡°W¡ª well.. there was some. Just a little bit,¡± she poked her index finger together.

    ¡°And you turned them down, right?¡± I asked.

    ¡°O¡ª of course! I don¡¯t even know them well and they are not my type. What I am looking for in my potential partner is¡ª¡± she paused for a while which made me interjected in.

    ¡°Zen, or perhaps¡ª no.. it can''t be¡­ is it, me?¡± I asked with sarcasm.

    ¡°In your dreams, John. Perhaps if you were to slim down a whole lot more,¡± she laughed at the end with a fu fu.

    Oh well, worth a shot. But she didn''t deny about Zen though.

    I noticed the mood in the tavern was a bit sour as we ate. Even the Viking guild members were gloomy. They were all expecting the worst to come which is certainly not the mood that I wanted before we head to the sacred ceremonial site. I refilled my tankard and stood up. Time to brighten up the mood.

    ¡°Everyone¡ª gather round," I paused and waited for everyone to look at me.

    "I can see it in your eyes. All of you. Fear engulfs the lot of you. Fear of your lives taken from you. Fear, that the Underwater Dragon King had instilled on you. But not today. Today, we will prove him wrong! We will prove that he is nothing!! For today, we will face him in battle and give cancer upon his ass!! So have a hearty meal my brothers and sisters, for tonight, we dine, with Hades!!!¡± I shouted to everyone.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you mean Hel?!¡± shouted a member.

    ¡°That¡¯s right!!¡± I shouted with a chuckle.

    Everyone cheered and laughed with me. The mood of the tavern turned a 180 and had brighten up now. Glad that I was able to bring up the mood for everyone. Hopefully they will be more motivated to fight now. Is there even any hope that we might survive for another day? Perhaps not. But better to go down fighting with your head up rather than cowering in fear. Perhaps this was what the Underwater Dragon King was looking for. For Valhalla, I thought to myself.

    I sat back on my chair and Lily praised me with a ¡°Not bad¡±. That certainly made me chuckle.

    ***

    After we were done eating, we proceeded towards the northern entrance. I turned behind to get a good look at the group behind me to see everyone¡¯s faces before we headed to the sacred ceremonial site. There was still fear in their eyes but at least there was determination as well. Good, at least we won¡¯t die as cowards today. The best case I am hoping for is that only for me to perish today. I pray to Odin that he will look over us. We had already purchased our bubble helmets from a few of the closest merchants nearby. To anyone wanting to purchase one, I''m sorry that you have to head further in order to get one.

    We headed into the enclosed area and water started to fill up after the door behind us was closed. It was here that I made Lily promise me that she will do her best to keep everyone else safe should things goes south. She gave me a firm no and said that it is her duty to keep me safe. I told her that this is a direct order from the future Viking Lord which she must fulfil. We argued for some time as we walked to our destination. Surprisingly, we can still hear each other properly underwater even with our bubble helmet on. I told her the life of one does not equal to the lives of many. She countered by saying the lives of others is not as important as the leader himself which she said softly loudly to me. I stopped arguing with her when she shouted "You''re my friend! I care about you and that¡¯s that!". Did I just experienced the married life? Are the male gender fated to lose in arguments against females?

    It took about fifteen minutes before we reached the sacred ceremonial site. Everyone was quiet as we approached closer. We scouted around and confirmed that the Underwater Dragon King was not in sight. I guess we have to start our ceremonial traditional before he actually show himself. As we headed closer, there were clear evidence of destruction caused by the Underwater Dragon King on his previous rampage. Let''s hope that things will not go south this round.

    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    I¡¯ve interrogated a couple of the guild members along with Lily on what triggered the aggression of the Underwater Dragon King before. Neither of them knew what was the trigger. He was complaining about the Viking guild being too lax and not preparing themselves for war which caused the previous Lord to be confused. All the Viking Lord did was asked what war was he referring to and it triggered the Underwater Dragon King''s aggression. Everyone was caught off guard as the Underwater Dragon King never behaved this way before throughout all the previous traditions. There must be something that triggered him to act that way. And it''s up to me to figure it out before he starts to attack this time.

    We brought along a sacrifice to place in the middle of the altar. It had always been purkette or boofette that was given as the sacrifice but this round, I decided to use something else for my initiation. I decided to bring along a daarette instead. One of the largest that I can find from the City Of Lilies Dahlee. I heard from Zen that these creatures were tough to fight and he was right. Speed had always been my weakness and attacking the creature took proper timing when I hunted alone. I can''t tell you the amount of times I almost had my foot pierced by their horn spell. Hopefully, this daarette will be able to appease his mood better than the usual meat.

    The viking members started our nordic chants as it was part of the ceremony. I was never a singer myself but the high and low pitch of the songs always got me in the mood for battle. The elemental guild prepared themselves for battle. I noticed a couple of them were holding bows instead of melee weapons. Lily, on the other hand, was not even holding a weapon. What is she planning to do when the need for battle arise? I stood close to the ceremony and kept a lookout.

    I had a moment to recall about my conversation with my parents and how they reacted when I was previously promoted to the rank of Great Viking. They were so happy that their child was as talented as them. Both of them were part of the Viking guild but has retired now. They told me that the Gladiolus family were always part of the Viking guild due to their immense strength. I never knew my family had such special bloodline in the first place when everyone around me was always strong.

    Sadly, I couldn¡¯t bring myself to tell them that I was voted to be the next Viking Lord. I just could not bring myself to tell them the news when it felt like a death sentence more than anything.

    It was when I met Lily and Zen that I noticed that I was stronger than both of them. They were weaker than me yet stronger in other ways. Strength was never their primary stats but they had other ways that made them stronger than me. Zen had his speed while Lily had her skill. Zen went further ahead and learned alchemy on top of that.

    I never thought I would be able to win a fight against him in the first place, yet he seems to be progressing much further despite being stuck as a Shadow Knight. My first duty as a Viking Lord would be to march to the Queen and force her to knight Zen to become a Dark Knight. That is, if I were to survive today.

    Sigh, why did I have to think of him? I am so sorry, Zen. I thought of calling upon your help many times to join me on this initiation but I just couldn''t bear to bring myself to do it. You saved my life before and I am indebted to you. I just wished I could have repaid that debt somehow before my life ends. I am sure Lily would be thinking the same right about now. The both of us were expecting death by the hands of the thugs that day until you saved us. Now I can only repay you by not asking you to come along. But I promise you that I will do whatever it takes to ensure that Lily survives today. That is my promise to you.

    ***

    A loud roar could be heard approaching closer as we waited for him. It must be the Underwater Dragon King. We need to get ready for his arrival. Everyone kneeled towards the throne as I stood at the front. This is to show that everyone else fears the Underwater Dragon King except me. I could never understand the reasoning behind this but I am not about to defy and suffer the wrath of the Underwater Dragon King.

    Now, where is he? There you are. He looked completely different from the other dragon brethren counterpart on the surface. He does not have wings nor does he have any long legs for that matter. He looked more like a sea serpent than a dragon. Perhaps that is why he can swim so nimbly underwater. But I will not be fooled. That face of is definitely a dragon.

    The dragon peered and stared directly at me. I am probably half the height of his face before he tilted his head.

    "Aren''t you a little too young to be the next Viking Lord?" asked the Underwater Dragon King. His low pitch voice rumbled the entire ocean ground. I have to force myself to stop shaking in his terrifying presence.

    "I¡ª was nominated by all the other Viking members. I hope you would approve of their decision," I said to him.

    "Sigh, this is why I was not happy with the current state of the Viking guild. All the old members are getting too comfortable sitting around doing nothing but getting fat while they are oblivious to the incoming danger approaching us. This is why I needed a Viking Lord that is capable of rallying the humans and prepare them for war. It affects all of us. Though I have to commend you, young one. You stand before me knowing that I had killed the previous Viking Lord. You are certainly brave," he said.

    "Thank you, Underwater Dragon King. Courage and strength was the reason as to why I was nominated. My name is John Gladiolus and I hope you may grace me with your approval in becoming the next Viking Lord!" I bowed to him lightly.

    "Courage and strength alone is not what I''m looking for. But a Gladiolus, huh. There was a couple of previous Viking Lords that were from the Gladiolus family. All died honourable in battle. Perhaps there is some hope. Crab! Inspect him," said the Underwater Dragon King.

    C¡ª crab? What?

    A red crab swam up to me and started inspecting me as he complained to the Underwater Dragon King.

    "I told you not to call me that. I have a bloody name, damn it. You do well to remember that or I will quit my job!" said the crab.

    Uhh¡ª a crab is scolding a dragon. THE Underwater Dragon King at that! I thought I had seen everything.

    "Hmm¡ª this little critter certainly got the muscles but he ain''t got the skills. Doesn''t seemed like he have leadership in him yet either, but there is some potential in him. As of now, it doesn''t seems like he is fit to be the Viking Lord. The kid is still a snowflake compared to the previous one. I told chu not to kill that bugger! I was getting fond of him!" shouted the crab.

    Holy crab¡ª does this crab have higher status than the Underwater Dragon King himself?

    "I had no choice. The previous Viking Lord was too soft and naive for the incoming battle. I needed a better one to champion the war," answered the Underwater Dragon King.

    "War, war, war¡ª that is all you talk about. Don''t you have any other things to do than thinking about war? Perhaps you should start thinking about your wife and family instead. Think about the previous Viking Lord and his family after you killed him. Hmm?!" emphasised the crab.

    All of us were dead silent staring at this crab getting all bossy against the Dragon King.

    "T¡ª this is what I promised to the first Viking Lord. To help out with the surface dwellers in any way possible. A Dragon King does not go back on his promise. This is what I had promised him on his wedding day with my daughter," answered the Underwater Dragon King.

    "Why should you even care?! Life underwater is better than anything they got up there. You should just sit around and enjoy yourself rather than worrying about whatever happens on the surface," complained the crab.

    "This war will affect the entire world. I will not sit by and let the world get destroyed. Not that I can help it!" shouted the Underwater Dragon King.

    Oh boy, he is getting angrier now. We are definitely going to feel the wrath of the Underwater Dragon King. And it''s not even my fault!

    "So what now? Are you going to attack these humans again like you did the last time? Don''t forget who had to clean up your mess after you went on a rampage! I''ve had it with you. If you want something done right, you''ve got to do it yourself," grumbled the crab.

    "Crab! Stop agitating the Underwater Dragon King," I shouted to it as it was hanging on my shoulder.

    "Even you are starting to call me Crab now?! I have a name¡ª Ma name, is Seabas..." I stopped the crab from saying anything further with a "Not now, Crab!"

    "Pft, teenagers, they think they know everything. Next thing you know they''ll be swimming all over me," sulked the crab.

    "Worry not, Viking Lord candidate! I will instil the best traits in you! Prepare for the worst training of your life!!" roared the Underwater Dragon King as the water around us started to darken.

    THIS FUCKIN CRAB!!

    The Underwater Dragon King started to use a spell. Water currents were forming around us. He is trying to box us in!

    "Everyone! Escape from the currents! He is trying to imprison all of us in here!!" I shouted to everyone.

    "None of you shall escape until I deem the candidate worthy! Some of you might have to die for me to teach him!" roared the Underwater Dragon King as he continue casting his spells.

    Damn it! He boxed us in so quickly. There is nowhere left for us to run, but there are still places that we can take cover. Where the hell is Lily? I''ve been searching around but I don''t see her. Wait, the Elemental guild members are all charging towards the Underwater Dragon King. What are they thinking?!

    "Viking members, to me!!" I shouted.

    I can hear roars of response behind me as I rushed towards the Elemental guild to help them. They had already begin fighting against the Underwater Dragon King. Their lightning element is supposed to be effective against underwater creatures but they still have to get close enough to inflict damage on him. Some of the elemental members were using bow and arrows with lightning element infused but none of the arrows were capable of piercing him at all. They were just bouncing off his scales.

    I swung my axe towards the Underwater Dragon King''s body but it was as though I was hitting a steel bar. Even with all my strength I couldn''t inflict any damage on him with my giant greataxe, not even a dent. The Underwater Dragon King laughed and started swimming around nimbly as he knocked the guild members around. It was not even taking us seriously in the first place.

    I saw Lily leaping up and punched the Underwater Dragon King in the face. Who could expect that timid elf to be using her fist in battle. Some electricity could be seen sparkling where she struck the Underwater Dragon King. I guess she had fortified her gauntlets with her lightning spell. She continued striking on the dragon''s body while floating downwards.

    "Ah¡ª the elven lady that tried to protect the previous Viking Lord. I remember you. I can sense your ferocity and anger in not being able to protect him. Perhaps I shall turn things around this time," said the Underwater Dragon King.

    Shit! What''s it planning to do now?!

    The Underwater Dragon King swiped his tail and hit Lily dead-on. She flew somewhat far away into some ruins but it would appear that she''s still conscious. I strained my eyes to see her condition. She was on the ground trying to pull herself out. There was some rubble that fell on top of her but she couldn''t get rid of it to free herself. Damn it, I need to save her!

    I rushed towards her as fast as my legs could keep up. I can hear the Underwater Dragon King trying to mutter something to me as I rushed to save her.

    "It seems like that elf girl is precious enough to gain your attention over me! This is what would happen in a battle. When you don''t have enough leadership to work together, people dies!" roared the Underwater Dragon King.

    I turned my head behind to see what he''s planning to do and I can see that he is accumulating some sort of vortex in his mouth. He must be planning to use another spell. Shit shit! I am not going to make it in time to save Lily! I am still so far away from her!

    The Underwater Dragon King released his breath which released a shockwave from his mouth. It looked like some high speed water pressure and it is going towards Lily! I reached out my hand towards her as she did the same. She could not remove the rubble on her own as it was on her back. I am sorry Zen¡ª I couldn''t keep my promise. I couldn''t even protect my friend.

    BOOM!!!!!

    The high speed water pressure smashed across my vision where Lily was. I couldn''t see anything in front as dirt particles were floating all around blocking my vision. Not to mention this helmet is limiting my vision to a certain extend. Damn it!! There is no way Lily could have survived something that can slice apart even the seabed itself.

    I dropped to my knees. Why am I even doing this? I lost one of my closest friend just because I was pushed to be the next Viking Lord. Why did I not forbid Lily from volunteering to be my shieldmaiden in the first place? Why did I not fight harder against the older members that I am not fit to be the next Viking Lord while they are sit on their asses cowering in fear inside the guild? Why must I be the one who suffer all these while they are not even here to help right now? Screw this tradition! I will put an end to this useless tradition!!

    Anger took over me as I roared in anger. I am starting to lose conscious but I smacked my head and roared. I didn''t even realised that I smacked myself too hard until I saw something reddish floating around me. I thought I saw steams coming out of my mouth but I must had imagined it. I roared and charged towards the Underwater Dragon King, leaping at him with my axe.

    The other guild members steered clear when I charged in. Are they afraid of me or something? I started attacking the Underwater Dragon King with all my might but he was still unfazed. I felt like I was in a frenzy but it was probably due to my uncontrolled anger. However, no matter how hard I hit the scales, it just won''t budge. Neither any of us are doing any damage to him whatsoever.

    BOOOOMMMM!!!

    What the?! What was that? Did a lightning bolt struck underwater behind me? How is that even possible? Or, is it perhaps¡ª Thor coming to help us?

 Chapter 24: Zen Vs Underwater Dragon King [STAR]

    Chapter 24: Zen VS Underwater Dragon King [STAR]

    Rose and I rushed as fast as we could towards the sacred ceremonial site. Even from afar, I can see the Underwater Dragon King resting atop of a stone building. He is certainly huge. Perhaps at least double or triple in length size as compared to his surface brethren. He lowered his head as though he wanted to see something. I hope they are trying to stall him as much as they can until I reached the site.

    As we got closer, I heard argument happening between the Underwater Dragon King and someone. Only the Underwater Dragon King¡¯s bassy voice could be heard from this distance. Is John arguing with the Dragon King? I seriously hope that he''s not that foolish. You really shouldn¡¯t incur his wrath when his mood is already this sour.

    Woah hey!! What the hell is this?! Some strong water currents suddenly appeared and is trying to prevent us from getting closer! Damn it, I might be able to mitigate the damage with my dragonhide cloak but Rose won¡¯t be able to get in without getting sliced apart. I told her to wait here as I try to find a way to disperse them from the inside. As I prepared myself to dash in, Rose tugged on my cloak. She looked really worried that I might die trying to get inside. I gave her a smile and petted her head to assure her that all is alright. I covered myself as much as I could with my cloak and dashed through the water currents.

    Yeouch! It freaking hurts but I¡¯m alive, somehow. I gave a quick body checkup to make sure there were no serious injuries. Alright, seems like just some minor scratches so far. I¡¯ll deal with that later. This dragonhide cloak is starting to be worth the investment. I¡¯m liking it so far.

    Looking up ahead, I can see many guild members battling the Underwater Dragon King. Are they even harming him in the first place? It looked as though he was having fun gliding around cheerfully.

    Woah! Someone just punched the Underwater Dragon King on the face! It must be a Blitz Knight as I can see some electric effects from where he was punched.

    Yikes! That person was bitch slapped by the Underwater Dragon King¡¯s tail and fell on some ruins up ahead. Perhaps I can save this person. Time to move.

    Wait a minute¡ª what are you trying to do there Mister Underwater Dragon King? Why does it look like you are charging up some kind of attack spell? Are you seriously trying to kill this fella with some kind of flashy attack? Isn¡¯t that way too overkill for just punching you?!

    I seriously need to be faster now if I wish to save that person in question. C''mon, focus your mind, focus on what need to do. Breathe¡ª breathe¡­.

    I ran as fast as my feet can bring me as I focused on my breathing. I noticed when I ran at full speed, everything around me felt as though it is moving in slow motion. Is this perhaps something similar to using Concentration? No time to think about that for now. I need to save this courageous Blitz Knight who is strong enough to punch the Underwater Dragon King on the face.

    I reached the Blitz Knight in question who fell into the ruins. Yikes, half of the body was under the rubbles. I hope this person is still alive. What do I do, what can I do?

    Argh, no time to think about it. I swung my gauntlets and smashed the rubbles aside with my gauntlets and it flew aside surprisingly easily. Wow, I didn''t know these gauntlets improved my strength at all. Or maybe it is so durable that I can use it to punch things without hurting my fist.

    Alright, the rubbles are cleared. Time to rescue this person quickly. Oh shit! The Underwater Dragon King is using some sort of breath that looks like some high speed water pressure. And it is heading this way at full speed! Move my body, move faster!!

    BOOM!!!

    Geez, that was close!! I managed to saved this knight by the hair! Good thing this person was light enough for me pull him aside one-handed. Time to get out of this ruins falling apart.

    Damn it, visibility is horrible with all these dirt particles floating around me. Have to get clear. I hope there isn¡¯t another one of his breath attack waiting for me the moment I get out of here.

    Phew, made it! Alright, time to check out the situation properly. Let''s see, it would appear that the Elemental and Viking members are fighting the Underwater Dragon King. Now where¡¯s John? Hmm¡ª oh there he is! He is charging towards the Underwater Dragon King. What is going on? Is that¡ª smoke coming out of him? I hope he''s ok and didn''t get electrocuted by one of the Elemental guild members.

    Alright, a moment of rebreather for me. Come to think of it, I have not updated my quest log in such a long time. About time I updated it now.

    Side Quest Unlocked: Help out my potential long lost cousi¡ª

    ¡°Zen?¡±

    Hm? Oh right. I forgot I was carrying someone since this knight was so light. I didn''t even realised I was carrying this knight princess style! I hope it¡¯s not a guy. Please don''t be a guy.

    Wow, it¡¯s an elf lady. A very beautiful one at that and slender to boot. Wait, did she just called me by my name?

    ¡°Is that you?¡± she asked me.

    Wait, who is this person? I feel like I know her but something feels different. Can it be? I noticed her fringe had a hint of emerald colour on her silver hair tips. Her eyes were practically sparkling looking at me.

    ¡°L¡ª Lily?¡± I asked her to be sure.

    The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s me. You saved me again,¡± she smiled brightly.

    Thump thump

    ¡°I¡ª guessed I did. What happened to your glasses? You looked really different without it,¡± I tried my best to hide the fact that my heart was beating fast.

    ¡°Oh, that? I stopped wearing it a long time ago. The elves had found another way to help with vision without needing glasses,¡± she answered.

    It took me a short while to snap out of the dream like effect and focused on what''s happening around me. Damn, seems like John was right. Lily is certainly more beautiful than I can ever imagine. How many male¡¯s heart had she murdered with her beauty? Even I am trying so hard not to kiss her. My heart is still thumping like crazy right now.

    Lily stood on her feet and checked her body for any injuries. Seems like she was fine. The rubble did not crush her body but was more like preventing her from escaping. And this damn Underwater Dragon King was trying to kill her? That is not acceptable!

    I gripped my hands together and told Lily to stand back. Lightning was sparkling between the gauntlets. I pulled them apart and the lightning was streaking in-between them. Ho ho¡ª I think I can get used to this.

    Time to test out on what these gauntlets can do. You¡¯re going to be my guinea pig, Mister Underwater Dragon King. I can hear Lily being shocked that I''m able to use a Lightning spell. I will explain it to her later.

    First up, let¡¯s test out the first hidden spell. I lifted my right hand above my head and gathered power to it. It was actually more like the gauntlets that was guiding my hand to cast the spell. A streak of lightning came from above and struck onto my right hand. Geez, that was loud and not to mention intense! I can¡¯t believe it was able to reach all the way down here underwater. So much power at the tip of my fingers. It felt as though my right hand were getting hugged by ten thousand lightning bugs.

    I glared at the Underwater Dragon King who was starting at me with full attention. Seems like my little lightning action gained his attention. Time to let you feel what real lightning is. This is for trying to kill Lily!

    SMITE!

    Hang on, I can¡¯t say that. Completely different universe. Hm, let¡¯s see¡ª Ah ok, ¡°Lightning Strike!¡±

    I swung my right hand towards the Underwater Dragon King. Huge streaks of lightning flew from my right hand towards him. It was even larger than the lightning that slammed on my hand earlier. The gauntlets must had amplified the lightning further before releasing it. This will certainly make a dent on him. As far as I know, this is possibly the only ¡°magic¡± aside from our common fortification magic that I discovered throughout my journey. No other spells that I know in existence can be thrown like that.

    The lighting struck the Underwater Dragon King¡¯s head instantly. I can see his body convulsing after being struck by such a strong lightning. He even made an ¡°Ahhh¡± in a sexy low toned voice. Did that just tickled him or something? I can see dark smokes appearing from his body. That should had roasted him somewhat.

    The water currents that were imprisoning us was finally dispersing now. Good, Rose should be able to join us in this battle now.

    ¡°Who is this? I must see this worthy contender,¡± said the Underwater Dragon King as it swam towards me.

    ¡°Well well¡ª what do we have here? Someone worthy enough to carry two celestial beings? But¡ª you don¡¯t look like you¡¯re part of the Elemental guild. Let¡¯s see¡ª a member of the Dark guild, but capable of using Lightning spell? Now that is unheard of. You intrigued me, little one,¡± said the Underwater Dragon King. Damn it, stop insulting my height!

    ¡°You tried to kill my friend here. That was payback for earlier. If you¡¯re willing to let us go, then we won¡¯t have a reason to fight any further,¡± I said to the Underwater Dragon King.

    ¡°Nay, I need to make sure that this new Viking Lord candidate is capable of rallying humanity for the incoming war. The whole world¡¯s fate depends on his capabilities,¡± said the Underwater Dragon King.

    ¡°I''m sorry, but what war are you referring to? There is nothing capable of inciting a full scale war on the world. The Demon King is dead and so are his armies,¡± I answered.

    ¡°Naive! There is going to be an all out war in the near future. Sadly, it is muddled in my foresight but I know for sure that it involves humanity at the forefront. I will keep my promise to the first Viking Lord in helping out humanity any way possible. Making sure this new Viking Lord is ready to lead is my way of keeping that promise,¡± said the Underwater Dragon King.

    ¡°That is very noble of you, Mister Underwater Dragon King lord sir. But how does killing us accomplish anything? Isn''t it better for you to let us go so we can start preparing for war,¡± I questioned him.

    ¡°In every war there will always sacrifices. I am showing this Viking Lord candidate that he needs to learn leadership or more of his subordinates will die,¡± answered the Underwater Dragon King.

    ¡°If you wish to fight then I will be your opponent. Let me show you what the Viking Lord¡¯s subordinate is capable of, in the face of the Underwater Dragon King,¡± I glared at him.

    ¡°Ho ho, you really intrigued me, little one. I commend your courage to face me head-on. Very well then, show me what you got,¡± he smirked.

    I tossed a potion of mermaid¡¯s breath to Lily and drank one myself while still wearing the bubble helmet. Good thing the helmet does not pop when I put my hands through it. Now, the moment of truth. I removed the helmet and took a deep breath through my mouth. Good, air is flowing in instead of water. I can officially confirm that my potion indeed worked even at the bottom of the ocean. From what I timed previously, it should last for at least half an hour. I will need to drink another one mid-way if the battle drags on longer than that.

    Both Lily and the Underwater Dragon King were surprised that I removed my helmet and was breathing without it. It was probably unheard of, huh? I still got more tricks up my sleeves.

    ¡°You are certainly something else, little one. Not even the elves were capable of breathing underwater. And yet, here you are removing your helmet. I wonder what other surprises you can show me. Come, show me your capabilities, little one! I am excited from your potential!¡± said the Underwater Dragon King.

    Rose came over and stood at my side. Seemed like she had drank the potion as well. I nodded to her and she understood what I wanted her to do. She proceeded to head towards the other guild members to pass them my potions so that they can fight with their full potential.

    I rushed towards the Underwater Dragon King and leaped at him. He was ready and roared with might. The whole surroundings shook from the roar. I was almost deafen by it but quickly swerved myself towards the ground. Mid-way downwards, I swung Inazuma on the Underwater Dragon King¡¯s body.

    Ping!

    Holy! His scales are tough. It is like hitting diamonds. I doubt using Shadow Strike would change a thing. Time for plan B then. Sorry Inazuma but, I wish to try the capabilities of Tengu-kaze with such a strong opponent. I sheathed Inazuma back into its scabbard. I can feel it rattling on my hips. Kirin must be furious now but I ignored him. Let¡¯s see what Tengu-kaze can do.

    I leaped a few metres back to gain some distance from the Underwater Dragon King. The potion is really doing it¡¯s job. I don¡¯t feel like I''m underwater at all. The only thing I can do here is jump higher if I put more strength into it. Uh oh, the Underwater Dragon King is charging up his breath again. I need to dodge it!

    ¡°Just swing Tengu-kaze and all will be fine¡± spoke Byakko through my mind. I hope I can trust him.

    The Underwater Dragon King blew his breath towards me at high speed. Nothing to do now but swing it till I wing it, I suppose. I swung Tengu-kaze downwards with all my might. A strong wind pressure sliced through the high speed water pressure apart. I was stumped. Is Tengu-kaze actually stronger than Inazuma? Oh boy, it''s rattling even more now. What a fickle.

    I ran towards the Underwater Dragon King once more. Let¡¯s see how Tengu-kaze fares against the scales of the Underwater Dragon King. I saw Lily leaped from the cliff I was standing on earlier and punched the Underwater Dragon King¡¯s face again. Her gauntlets must be amplifying the strength of her punch. Who knew that Lily would end up as a brawler when she was so timid last time. And it would appear that she had taken the potion that I¡¯ve given to her, seeing that she no longer wears her bubble helmet. She quickly steered clear after punching to avoid getting slapped by the tail again.

    Now¡¯s my chance, I swung Tengu-kaze against the scales of the Underwater Dragon King. Loud screeching sound was heard when I made contact with it. But even with all that wind pressure and the blade itself, it couldn¡¯t make a dent or even a scratch at point blank range.

    I leaped back quickly as his tail swung towards me. I dodged and quickly took cover. What are my options now? I cannot be spamming Lightning Strike alone. I only have five charges and now I''m down to four. I would like to avoid using all the charges in this battle alone when I still have no idea on how to restore it.

    I heard footsteps and people shouting approaching closer to where I am. I guess Rose has finished giving all the other members the potion. They should be able to fight more effectively now that they have free mobility. While they occupy the Underwater Dragon King¡¯s attention, I should consider my other option and prepare myself.

    Rose came and crouched next to me. She was panting a little. I supposed she ran around passing all the potions that I''ve given her. Truth be told, I''m not sure if there''s anyone here that is capable of damaging the Underwater Dragon King in the first place. I doubt Rose could do any damage with her rapier when even my legendary weapons could not. Lily¡¯s punch might had some effect but the Underwater Dragon King was still unfazed after the many punches she delivered to him. I guess I should not hold back then.

    ¡°Rose, cover me,¡± I said to her.

    She nodded and took point. I prepared my gauntlets by gripping it together once more. Time to unleash the second hidden spell.

 Chapter 25: Zen VS Underwater Dragon King Part 2 [STAR]

    Chapter 25: Zen VS Underwater Dragon King Part 2 [STAR]

    I sheathed Tengu-kaze and unsheathed Inazuma with my right hand. The second spell should be more suitable for Inazuma as it''s supposed to have more affinity with lightning. I raised my left hand high up and another bolt of lightning slammed onto the gauntlets. I doubt I can ever get used to having a lightning bolt slamming directly onto my hand. I gripped my left hand on the blade of Inazuma and ran it across the blade all the way to the edge. Lightning was streaking across Inazuma now. Blade fortification is done, I shall call this spell ¡®Lightning Charge¡¯ then. This might be same spell as the Elemental guild where they fortify their weapons with lightning but I doubt any of them are able to call upon a lightning bolt to coat their weapons with it.

    Rose was staring at me with her mouth agape. She must be surprised that I had such a hidden secret that she didn''t know about. I should be prepared for the inevitable interrogation from all of them when this is done.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± I told her.

    Rose snapped herself by clapping her face cheeks. The both of us ran towards the Underwater Dragon King where he was fighting with the other guild members. The lot of them were hopeless against those ridiculously strong scales of the Underwater Dragon King. Nothing was making a dent on him whether it was physical or spells. The Underwater Dragon King was certainly having fun pushing humans around. Did he forget about his purpose for attacking us? So glad that he''s not killing humans for kicks this time around. Hang on, then why did he used his breath attack on me earlier? What if I couldn''t dodge it in time? I would had been split in half!

    Feeling a little pissed, I reached towards my hip pocket and took out my +1 stats potion. It was not significant but every stats counts. Rose will be supporting me with her spells as well. We headed towards a cliff where I will be able to leap off and strike the Underwater Dragon King from above. Rose hung back and began chanting. I removed the potion¡¯s cork with my teeth and quickly drank it. I almost forgot that I was underwater when some of the potion¡¯s liquid flew out the moment I removed the cork. I quickly swallowed its contents before more of it spilled out. I should had drank enough for it to actually boost my stats.

    Almost at the end of the cliff now. I hope Rose timed her spells right. I jumped off the cliff and heard Rose shouting ¡°Light Blessing¡±. My stats should be boosted by at least plus six now. Time to see what Lightning Charge and Shadow Strike combo can do.

    Wait! The Underwater Dragon King was expecting me! His had his jaws opened from where I leaped! Shit, I need to dodge it!

    I spun my body as quickly as I could to avoid getting bitten by the Underwater Dragon King as he slammed his mouth shut. Those fangs of his were extremely long and sharp. Damn it, seems like he''s only serious against me. My bad for taunting him earlier about facing me seriously. Guess I will have to be serious as well then. I swung Inazuma as hard as I can two-handed. I felt some of the scales shatter as blood enveloped across my vision.

    I reached the seabed and looked up to see where I struck the Underwater Dragon King. I had certainly wounded him. It would seemed that my combo works. Loud cheers can be heard all around as we successfully draw first blood on him. Finally, we''re able to wound him. If it bleeds, I can kill it.

    The Underwater Dragon King was shocked that I somehow managed to wound him. He even made a disbelieve remark ¡°W¡ª what?! My beautiful scales!¡±. That''s what you get for getting cocky earlier.

    I should press the attack while all my buffs are still active. I got ready to attack again but the Underwater Dragon King was extremely wary now. He started charging up his breath attack again as I ran towards him. He released his breath and I heard Rose casted her spell ¡°Accelerate¡± which buffed my speed. Nice timing, Rose.

    With my speed doubled, I reached the Underwater Dragon King in no time while dodging his breath attacks along the way. I swung Inazuma again but before it made contact, the Underwater Dragon King roared loudly and I was pushed away from the shockwave.

    He casted his spell to summon some giant water cyclone above him. Water tornados started forming around him and swirled to protect him. From my point of view, it looked as though it''s the end of the world. But no time to dilly dally, my Lightning Charge buff will not last forever.

    John, Lily and Rose regrouped with me. Is that¡ª a crab on John¡¯s shoulder? The other guild members came along as well. Are they trying to support me so I can damage the Underwater Dragon King?

    John placed his hand on my shoulder and said ¡°Go, we''ll cover you! Sock that bastard for me,¡±. I nodded to him in agreement.

    All of us ran together as we started spreading out. I am sure the Underwater Dragon King is more wary about me over the others. He must be getting serious now. I saw something black approaching closer to us. What the hell¡ª is that? Are those fishes? Predatory fishes too! We need to take cover!

    ¡°GO! We¡¯ll cover you!¡± shouted Lily to me. All the elemental members followed after her. Their lightning spells will be extremely effective against those fishes for sure. We continued running towards the Underwater Dragon King as we dodged the bites from those predatory fishes. There were hundreds if not thousands of them which is making things difficult for me proceed.

    John roared which somehow triggered the fishes to start attacking him. Was that¡ª Taunt? I thought only Demons were capable of using that? I thought of helping him but his guild and the Elemental members were helping him immediately after he casted it. He made himself the tank of the group while the other members attacked the fishes. Some of the other Viking guilds members followed John¡¯s example and started using Taunt themselves. Most of the fishes had stopped attacking me and Rose now and focused solely on them instead.

    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    Rose pulled my arm telling me to charge ahead at the Underwater Dragon King. I shouldn¡¯t be wasting my time turning those fishes into sashimi. I obliged and followed after Rose. It was just the two of us now. We were close to the Underwater Dragon King now and I''m sure that he still have some trick up his sleeves. As we ran closer, Rose asked me for my cloak. I found it odd that she was requesting for it out of nowhere but I gave no thought and passed it to her.

    I swapped Inazuma to my left hand. I am going to use Lightning Strike on the Underwater Dragon King before I reached him. It would ensure that he won¡¯t be able to dodge my attack for a while after getting struck. Hang on, why is his body shining? Is he about to use some spell?

    Light rays spewed out from the Underwater Dragon King¡¯s body. I was caught completely off guard. He is trying to kill me for sure. I was expecting fishes to attack me instead of this. Both Rose and I were completely caught unaware by this sudden spell. It was not something that I can dodge without anticipating such an attack. Shit, am I going to get fried by the light rays?!

    Rose rushed in front of me and the beam struck her instead. Shit, Rose! But I noticed that she was covering herself with my cloak before getting struck by the beam. Will she be fine? As I wanted to check on Rose, she pushed me away and told me to keep going. She told me that she''s fine and the cloak mitigated most of the damage. Did she anticipated something like this to happen? Her battle instincts is even better than mine now.

    I decided to follow her request and continued heading towards the Underwater Dragon King. This fight had gone for far too long. I saw another cliff nearby and proceeded to rush up. I got ready to charge my gauntlets and got ready to use Lightning Strike for the second time. As I leaped off the cliff, things went into slow motion. The lightning bolt struck my right hand with a strong force after I leapt which charged my gauntlet. I got ready to swing my right hand towards Underwater Dragon King but I noticed there were plenty of fishes protecting him. Not that it matters, your little meat shield would not stop my lightning from reaching you. My lightning strike arcs from targets until it hits the intended main target.

    I swung my right hand and Lightning Strike was released. All the fishes that were protecting the Underwater Dragon King were burnt to a crisp upon getting shocked by my lightning. Mmm, crispy critters.

    Too bad the Underwater Dragon King was hit by it too. As he was convulsing, I made sure to avoid getting hit by the water tornadoes that was swirling around protecting him and swung Inazuma towards his body once again. I kept swinging with all my might and stabbed Inazuma on his tail when I reached the seabed ground. I was actually surprised that I was actually able to stab through such strong scales easily. Seems like Lightning Charge did not just fortify Inazuma with lightning but enhances its attack powers significantly as well.

    I looked up and saw that the Underwater Dragon King was bleeding throughout his entire body. I quickly pulled Inazuma out from his tail and got ready for his counter attack.

    ¡°Alright, enough,¡± said the Underwater Dragon King.

    Huh? What did he meant by ''enough''? Is he planning to eliminate all of us now? I should prepare another round of Lightning Strike before he decides to kill all of us.

    The Underwater Dragon King swam to the sacred ceremonial site and waited there.

    ¡°Come, all of you,¡± said the Underwater Dragon King. Is this some trickery of his?

    We all cautiously walked closer to the sacred ceremonial site while still being wary of him. This seemed to annoyed the Underwater Dragon King. He started saying ¡°No more fighting, just¡ª come,¡±. He sounded like a father who had lost a fight with his children.

    I sheathed Inazuma as the Lightning Charge buff ended. Glad I did not need to use another round of it. I certainly need to find a way to recover the spell charges for my gauntlets after this.

    All of us gathered at the site. The Underwater Dragon King closed his eyes and¡ª huh? Wait a minute, he¡¯s¡ª shrinking? What¡¯s going on? He¡¯s turning¡ª into a human? A pretty and handsomehuman male too. White robe with long black hair. And his wounds had already fully healed by now.

    ¡°How long has it been since someone was able to wound me like this. Never before had I seen a combination of lightning and darkness used together in such harmony. Not to mention your weapon being so compatible with lightning infusion in the first place. Let me see¡ª¡± the Underwater Dragon King inspected Inazuma with his eyes.

    ¡°Ah, it''s you, Kirin. How long has it been? And I see you have Byakko with you. Very interesting indeed. What is your name, young one?¡± asked the Underwater Dragon King.

    ¡°Zen, is my name,¡± I said to him while keeping my last name a secret. Too many ears here for me to spill that bean.

    ¡°I¡ª see. And you''re friends with the Viking Lord, am I right? You have a lot of potential in you, Zen. Not many beings are able to wound me in my domain. I commend you for that,¡± the Underwater Dragon King bowed a little to me.

    I was deeply surprised by his modest gesture that I forgot to return the bow. What is with the sudden 180 change in his demeanour? What the hell is going on?

    ¡°And you, John Gladiolus. I can see much potential in you. You displayed some amount of leadership during the course of this battle but I hadn''t expected for you to be able to achieve in using Higher State of Mind on your own. That is commendable on it¡¯s own. Very few beings were able to achieve such state throughout their entire lives,¡± explained the Underwater Dragon King.

    What? John is able to use Higher State of Mind already? Which one though? I¡¯m certain it should be the aggression path which would mean using Bloodlust. Ohh, no wonder there was steams coming out of him. Damn it John, you beat me to it once again!

    But John seems to be unaware of it. His confused face shows it all. Perhaps he will need more time to learn how to use it properly. I accidentally used it unknowingly too when I was young and I didn''t know how to activate it again after that incident.

    ¡°I hereby declare John Gladiolus as the next Viking Lord. I hope to see more of your potential in five years time. And I hope that you can change the Viking guild¡¯s prospect towards a more¡ª productive and hardworking one,¡± said the Underwater Dragon King.

    No one cheered. We were all probably still in disbelieve. The Underwater Dragon King suddenly shape-shifted into his human form and changed his demeanour completely. Only a few of his guild members patted John on the back or his shoulder.

    ¡°Hm, I was expecting a little more reaction from you humans. But no matter, you may go. Take heed of my warning. There will be a war coming to all of you, so better be prepared. Crab, come back here and stop sitting on his shoulder,¡± said the Underwater Dragon King.

    John stood forward and kneeled before the Underwater Dragon King. All the other members followed suit along with the Elemental guild members. Only Rose and I continued to stand as we didn''t know what to do. The crab was grumbling as he swam back to the Underwater Dragon King. Please don¡¯t tell me this whole fiasco was due to that crab.

    All of the members proceeded to walk back but I remembered something. The time limit for the potion is about to run out. I shouted to everyone that they should start wearing their bubble helmet again as I don''t have enough leftover potion for everyone.

    As I was searching for my helmet, the Underwater Dragon King came up to me which made me shriek in surprise. He told me that the elves are going to be very interested in knowing about the potion¡¯s existence. I can profit from it easily should I wish to turn it into a business. He also told me to not assumed that I had defeated him. In his dragon form, while his spell casting is stronger, he was more vulnerable to attacks. Should he decide to fight in his human form, I would not stand a chance as he is much stronger and faster in everything else.

    I bowed to him and thank him for not taking the fight seriously. But in my head I was thinking about how arrogant he is for taking me so lightly. But he told me something that gained my attention. He warned me that I will need to prepare myself for what is about to come. He did not give any hints on what it is but just a warning. I took it with a grain of salt.

    I followed after the group in returning back to the City of Underwater Marrydia. I am certain the Elemental and Viking guild will be having a grand celebration as there were no casualties this time around and John is officially the Viking Lord. Finally, I can enjoy myself in this city without rushing for anything. A time to relax is about to come.

 Chapter 26: Love & Prospect [STAR]

    Chapter 26: Love & Prospect [STAR]

    "Why and how are you able to use lightning spells?!" shouted Lily as she stood up from her seat.

    As I thought. I was bombarded with questions as soon as we made it back safely to the city. All of us were hanging out in one of the taverns to celebrate. It would seemed that Lily was holding back in asking questions, until now. I was seated with John, Lily and Rose. As soon as she asked that question, members of the Elemental guild came up and joined her. Am I going to be stripped and dissected?

    "Um¡ª my gauntlets provided me with those spells. You''re not going to confiscate it, are you?" I cautiously clarified with her.

    All of them were left speechless. I supposed none of them had ever thought that it was possible. It''s my most hidden secret and I was not about to babble it to everyone I know when I couldn''t use it yet.

    "I¡ª see. As you know, lightning are the Elemental guild''s most favoured and exclusive spells. We take pride in being able to use fire and lightning ourselves. To think that there was an item that can give you lightning capabilities. Not to mention superior to our own," said an Elemental member.

    "You guys are not going to tell me to stop using it, are you? I put years into finally being able to use this," I warned them.

    "We won''t stop you, Zen. Just that we''ll be informing our guildmaster about this discovery. I take it that he will want to speak with you soon," said Lily.

    Sigh. I can''t catch a break, can I? Is that the warning the Underwater Dragon King was telling me about? War with the Elemental guild over my treasured gauntlets?

    "You really surprised me, Onii-chan. I lived with you for such a long time and I did not even know you had this," said Rose as she pouted a little that I had been keeping secrets from her.

    "Oh, right. Rose, how''s your wound? I''m really sorry you had to block that beam with your body. I was so worried that you might be toasted by it," I asked Rose.

    "It''s healing. It''s not that bad, really. Only my right arm that took the brunt of it hurts the most, but it''s alright," answered Rose as she showed me her wound.

    It was seared but it''s healing. I guess the green dragon''s hide is not strong enough to mitigate all the damage from the beam.

    "I''m sorry, Zen. But¡ª is this your sister? You never told us about her before," asked Lily.

    Just when I wanted to tell her about Rose, John quickly whispered something to Lily instead. She even made an "Ehhhh?!" loudly at some point. They continued to whisper for quite some time and the conversation ended with Lily squinting at me excessively.

    "W¡ª what?" I asked her as I sipped my drink.

    "Nothing," answered Lily as she continued squinting at me.

    "Well, I was surprised that you were even able to make a potion that can breathe underwater. What are you planning to do with that, Zen?" asked John.

    "Truth be told, I don''t even know myself. I am wondering whether I should even sell these in the first place. I don''t feel like giving monopoly to a single shop if possible," I answered with a thinking face.

    "In that case, why don''t you meet the founder of this place? I am sure he''s interested in knowing the existence of such a valuable potion," said Lily.

    "Are you familiar with him? Can he be trusted though?" I asked her.

    "Hm, why don''t you pay him a visit? His door is always open to visitors," answered Lily.

    She seems to be quite knowledgable about this place. Perhaps she came here before.

    "Sure, why not? We can head over after we¡¯ve done eating," I told all of them.

    "So, Rose. Have you checked out the place around here? Why don''t we take a walk?" asked John.

    "Huh? We did walked a little before finding you," answered Rose with a confused look.

    "There''s plenty more to see. C¡¯mon, let¡¯s go," said John as he pulled Rose by the arm.

    She was kind of reluctant but John dragged her along with some of the other Viking members. I thought about helping her but I understood John''s intention. He was giving me some alone time with Lily. He knew that we won''t be able to talk properly with Rose interjecting between us.

    There was a moment of silence as we were left alone. I did not know how to start a conversation with her after had not meeting her in such a long time. I pondered on what topic to even start with.

    "So¡ª how you been? Were you having fun with your little sister?" asked Lily. Uh oh¡ª I sense a trick question in that. I should answer carefully.

    "I''m doing great, thanks for asking. Still stuck as a Shadow Knight though. Everything''s normal with Rose," I said. Did I dodge the arrow there?

    ¡°Hmph¡ª to think you would adopt a little sister out of the blue. Were you that lonely without me around?" asked Lily as she crossed her arm and legs.

    ¡°Well, someone refused to meet with me after such a long time. I even went to the Elemental guild to look for you but you weren''t there," I sulked.

    ¡°Haha¡ª sorry about that. I was transferred to another location for training under the Elemental guild. It was something all the members had to go through. And when I finally came back, I was selected to be the shieldmaiden for the previous Viking Lord. From then on, I was just so busy ever since," explained Lily.

    "Really? Are you sure you weren''t avoiding me instead? Last I recall, someone had a crush on me for saving her life," I giggled.

    ¡°T¡ª that was a long time ago!" shouted Lily.

    I laughed at her response which made her laugh as well. After not meeting her for such a long time, I¡¯m so glad we can converse normally again.

    "Hey, thanks for saving me again. I really thought that I¡¯ll be meeting my maker when I couldn''t get out of the rubble. I even saw my life flashed before my eyes. I didn¡¯t even noticed you were trying to save me from behind. All I remembered was reaching out to John even though he was still so far away from me. I really thought that was it. I guess I am fated to be saved by you, huh Zen?" she smiled.

    I didn¡¯t know how to reply her so I just smiled and played with the drink in my cup.

    ¡°So¡ª what¡¯s your impression of me after seeing me again in such a long time?" she stared at me with gleaming eyes expecting an answer from me.

    She was giving off a sexy vibe as she asked me. And she even combed her hair behind exposing her long beautiful ears! I was so enchanted by her action that I almost forgot to say anything.

    Beautiful was not the only word to describe her. She definitely made my heart thumped like crazy when I finally realised it was her. She has matured significantly and don¡¯t get me started on describing her body structure. All I can say is¡ª I am still attracted to her in ways I never thought of before.

    "Truth be told, I didn¡¯t even realised that I was saving you, Lily. And I certainly did not recognised you as you weren''t wearing your glasses. But you had grown beautiful indeed, Lily. You changed so much since the last time we¡¯ve met five years ago," I smiled at her.

    I noticed that she was blushing. She probably forgot how direct I was. I always felt I can be honest with Lily, since she always made me feel at ease.

    Oh right, I almost forgot about this. I reached into my back pocket to find the bracelet that I bought. Glad that it¡¯s still there. I pondered on whether I should give it to her but what the heck, right? I''ve got nothing to lose anyway.

    "Lily, I''ve got something for you. I sort of bought this bracelet on impulse when I saw it because it reminded me of you. I¡¯m sure it suits you if you wear this," I showed her the bracelet.

    Lily was taken aback by my sudden gift. She was hesitating to accept it as she knew very well that it¡¯s an expensive gift. I pulled her right hand closer and wore it on her wrist. It fits perfectly somehow. Glad I followed my instincts in buying it.

    ¡°Y¡ª you¡¯re seriously giving this to me? W¡ª why? What about Rose?¡± she asked me as she stuttered.

    ¡°Huh? What about her?¡± I answered with a puzzled look.

    ¡°You don¡¯t give trinkets to friends, Zen. You give them to someone special,¡± said Lily as she curled her lips.

    ¡°Well, you are special to me which is why I am giving it to you. Consider it as a reunion gift or something,¡± I smiled as I stared at the bracelet. It really fits her like a glove and it¡¯s not just the size.

    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

    Lily stayed silent for some time as though she was pondering on some thoughts. She suddenly stood up and pulled me towards the back of the tavern. Where is she bringing me to?

    ***

    We were at an area where there were little foot traffic. She placed both her hands on my face and stared at me. Hang on, I just realised something. Lily is taller than me! Damn it, I really am the shortest in the group now. I started crying internally after knowing that fact.

    Lily continued to stare at me with sparkling eyes. What is going in her mind by staring at me so intensely?

    "Lily, what are you doing?" I asked her as she continued pressing her hands on my cheeks.

    ¡°Are you really not dating Rose? Do you really have no interest in her?¡± she asked.

    ¡°No, I¡¯m not dating her. And she¡¯s my little sister,¡± I assured her as I continued to stare into her eyes.

    There was a short moment of silence before Lily started talking.

    "When I thought I was about to die, what came to my mind was not my parents or anyone else. I thought of you, and how I regretted in not meeting you again because I was afraid that I might¡ª fall for you again. But you saved me again and I felt over the moon. You were really cool and I instantly knew that it was you who saved me. Not to mention you were even carrying me princess style," she said as she started blushing. Her cheeks and ears were burning red now.

    I locked into her eyes as she did mine. It was as though we were staring into each other¡¯s soul. I can hear my heart thumping loudly in my ears. It is usually at times like this where you take noticed of things that you wouldn¡¯t normally notice. Like how she had a mole hidden on her left eyebrow or some imperfection on her skin. But none of this took away her beauty from me. Like what she said before, no one is born perfect.

    ¡°I¡ª don¡¯t want to lie to myself anymore,¡± she said all of a sudden.

    What does she mean by that? Wait¡ª is she.. going for a kiss?! Hey wait, I¡¯m not ready!

    ***

    My daughter covered her mouth with her hands. I was so absorbed in my story that I completely forgot that I was telling this story to her. Glad she didn''t start calling her mom over at this point.

    ***

    We kissed for a couple of seconds but it felt longer than that. Her lips were so soft and somehow addictive. I can¡¯t believe that Lily would be daring enough to kiss me out of the blue. And we¡¯re not even dating yet! I noticed that she was blushing when she looked away after we pulled our lips apart but her soft body was touching against me. Oh lord help me, she smells so pleasant as well. I wanted more. I placed my hands on her chin and guided her so that we can kiss once more. Our lips was about to touch once again when I heard Rose¡¯s voice suddenly calling out for me.

    ¡°Onii-chan? Where did you go? We should be heading towards the founder now if you wish to speak with him," said Rose as she looked around for me.

    I turned my gaze back to Lily and sighed. I lost myself in the moment and almost made a mistake. We are not even dating and yet I was asking for more. I told Lily that I will be heading back first and she can follow after. She tugged at my cloak refusing to let me go but I told her that we can talk again some other time.

    "You won''t be avoiding me anymore, right?" I asked her and she nodded with her reddish face.

    I took a couple of deep breath before heading out to meet Rose. She asked me where I went and I told her that I went to the washroom. We can start our journey to meet the founder right about now. My heart was still thumping like crazy despite my breathing method. I¡¯m certain Lily was feeling the same and is trying to calm herself. I cannot believe that she was bold enough to do something like that. What¡¯s gonna happen to us now? Are we even going out? Are we still friends despite having such a passionate kiss?

    We were waiting outside the tavern for Lily when she finally came out. She probably freshen herself seeing as she is acting all normal now. Oh, she¡¯s still wearing my bracelet that I gave her. Shoot, Rose is quick to notice things. How many seconds will it take for Rose to notice it?

    ¡°That''s a nice bracelet, Lily. You weren''t wearing it earlier," said Rose as she squinted at the bracelet directly. Wow, that took like no time at all.

    As usual, Rose is just too perceptive for her own good. She seems to be amazed by the beauty of the bracelet. I hope that¡¯s all she¡¯s looking at.

    "Oh, a friend of mine gave it to me as a gift. I¡ª really like it so I decided to wear it," answered Lily with a smile.

    "A friend?" Rose asked as she turned her attention and squinted at me. I pretended to not hear anything and just continued walking next to John.

    Rose came over and hugged my arm like she usually does. I no longer take notice of this as I was used to it by now. But it would seemed that a certain someone is certainly taking notice of this.

    "Rose, do you really need to hug your brother while you walk? I don''t think he¡¯s comfortable with it," asked Lily.

    "Hm? Oh, Onii-chan is used to it by now. And besides, it¡¯s not like he thinks of me anyway," answered Rose.

    "What you¡¯re doing is reserved for his lover, specifically. You are showing the wrong message to others," said Lily firmly.

    I turned to look at John with a face that screams HELP ME! but John replied with a face that can only be described as I don''t know how!

    "Oh, that¡¯s fine. I belonged to Onii-chan anyway. And besides, since he bought me, I am practically his slave," said Rose as she raised her nose.

    ¡°S¡ª slave?!" shouted Lily with a surprised look. I gave Rose a bump to her head.

    "What the hell, Rose?! I never treated you as such before. I only treated you as my little sister. Don''t go telling people something I never did to you before," I scolded her.

    She pouted and started sulking but continued to follow behind. Lily came up to my side and gave Rose her signature fu fu smile. I can see that, Lily, even though I wished I didn¡¯t.

    ***

    We finally reached the founder''s building. Honestly, it was surprisingly modest. It was just a two-storey wooden building that looks very homely from the outside. But this should be an office building rather than a home. No one would be willing to welcome strangers into their home for business purposes if they can help it.

    I knocked on the door and heard a voice calling me to come in. Upon opening the door, there was a receptionist seated at the front desk. She bowed as I approached her and asked how she can help me. I told her that I would like to speak to the founder of this place to show him something extremely valuable. She told me that any direct selling is not allowed and should be done with a merchant and such.

    I clarified with her that she got the wrong message. What I want to talk to him is to venture on a business prospect about a potion. Should he wish to venture in that prospect, then we can proceed further. Otherwise, I''ll just be on my merry way.

    I showed the receptionist the potion in question and she brought it to the other room. We waited for a short while and was granted permission to meet with the founder. He was an elf but he looked matured. How old is he to even start looking like this? We greeted him with our human tongue while Lily greeted him in elvish. She seems familiar with him. Turns out he is part of the Moonshine family. Just how large is the Moonshine family anyway?

    ¡°Now, is this the rumoured potion that I kept hearing about? There were reports from people saying that they saw people fighting the Underwater Dragon King without wearing any bubble helmet," asked the founder as he remained seated on this chair.

    ¡°That''s right. Behold, the potion of mermaid''s breath that allows you to breathe underwater for about thirty minutes. And it removes all restrictions of walking underwater as well," I explained to the founder.

    "Colour me intrigued but, where did you get this exactly?" he asked.

    "I made it myself. I am quite versed in alchemy and I completed it after knowing that I''ll be coming here," I replied.

    ¡°And¡ª how long did it took you to make this breakthrough?¡± he asked.

    "About a month, I suppose?" I said.

    ¡°Sigh¡ª you made this alone in a month? I have an entire team in research and development trying to create something like this for years and yet you made this in a month" he explained with a depressed tone.

    ¡°I¡ª don''t really know what to say," I answered with an awkward smile.

    "Let''s cut to the chase, you want to sell your recipe to me, right? Yes, I am interested. What say about¡ª a hundred gold coins, your currency?" asked the founder.

    To your average person, that might had sounded a lot. But for me, I still have at least a hundred gold coins myself thanks to grandfather. You can''t sway me with such a small amount. Heh heh.

    I gave him a thinking face as I pretended to consider the offer. But I had already made up my mind on what I wanted to do with my potion recipe.

    "How about 150 gold coins? Or 175? You won''t get a better offer out there, I promise you,¡± said the founder as he started to sweat.

    I can see that the other three were drooling at the sound of how much was being offered. I, on the other hand, was unfazed by it. Is he starting to panic? I didn¡¯t even say anything. Or maybe he¡¯s afraid of losing the opportunity to persuade me and that I would rather sell it to someone else instead.

    "Let me tell you what I have in mind. I will give you my recipe, for free," I smiled.

    I can see the look on their faces of the three person behind me. ¡°What am I even talking about? Why should you give the recipe for free?¡± they must be thinking.

    "But in return, no one will have complete monopoly in selling my product here. Instead, I want to collect money in the form of royalty instead. For every bottle sold, I want 30% of the profit," I explained to the founder.

    He was taken aback by my proposal. I am sure that 30% is quite a huge profit margin as he will also want a cut of his own when selling the potions to all the merchants. But I can foresee that this will be a hot selling item. Seeing underwater directly with your very eyes is nothing short of amazing. I am sure the elves will be throwing their money to buy it any chance they get.

    "How about¡ª 15% instead?" he asked cautiously.

    ¡°Well then, I guess I''ll just sell this to someone else instead," I told him as I waved him farewell and proceeded to walk out the door.

    "Wait, wait!" he shouted to stop me from leaving.

    He brought out his calculating tool which looked foreign to me. How do you count with such an odd tool? After a short while of calculating and wiping the sweats from forehead, he nodded to himself.

    "Alright, 30% is a deal. It will be a monthly profit and will be sent directly to your account on the surface. Would that suffice to conclude our deal?" he asked as sweats continued to form on his forehead.

    "Deal," I extended my hand to him and we shook on it.

    But of course a deal is nothing without proper paperwork. A contract must be established in order to guarantee that both sides will honour their side of the deal. A person of high ranking was present when we signed three copies of the contract. One for the founder, another for me, while the last is for the city councils where all contracts are kept safely. If they don¡¯t have a copy, there¡¯s a chance your contract is either invalid or declared as a fake.

    But what if the city officials lose your contract? They will also keep a record in their official book of records for this official date. It will take much longer for them to confirm your contract legitimacy using this method but better than outright declaring it as invalid.

    After handing the recipe to the founder, he was stumped that the ingredients were actually cheap and the process to make was pretty easy. But he understood why they couldn¡¯t create this potion in the first place. All of the ingredients listed were things that one would not likely to touch voluntarily.

    According to the city council, I am to remain in this city for about two days in order for them to ensure that the recipe is in fact real and the potion tested properly.

    Two days in this city, huh? Nothing to worry about as there are so many attractions here for me to explore. I¡¯m certain Rose would be very happy to hear that.

    When all is done, the three of them questioned me on why I chose this method rather than outright selling. I told them that the potion is definitely going to be a hit. It¡¯s something completely new and I¡¯m certain there will be many rich elves who is going to take advantage of this. I bet there will be some filthy rich elves that is going to purchase my potions in bulk and resell them at a higher price. Works for me as all I need is 30% of the profit. Doesn''t matter who purchased it as long someone make the purchase.

    ***

    It was getting late now and we had our dinner in the tavern that we first arrived here. I''ve already booked a night and it would be a total waste if we do not stay the night. Lily was shocked that Rose and I will be staying in the same room together and she immediately asked the innkeep whether there was another room available. Surprisingly, there happened to be another single room with two beds. I guess I''ll be staying in the same room as John then.

    Once we checked-in our rooms, I was actually dreading to sleep. I can already predict what¡¯s gonna happen tonight. Kirin is gonna be angry while Byakko will be laughing his ass off. I tried my best to stay awake but fatigue overcame me. John was already snoring when I decided to blew off my bedside candle and prayed for a peaceful night.

    ***

    When I came to, I was sitting on the floor seiza style while Kirin was glaring at me. Byakko was sitting on a rock yawning.

    What the hell? Am I being convicted here?

    ¡°For you to actually use Tengu-kaze over me, I¡¯m so disappointed in you,¡± sighed Kirin.

    ¡°What can I say? Using me is better,¡± answered Byakko with a smug face.

    ¡°Quiet, I¡¯m talking to the boy,¡± roared Kirin.

    ¡°It was not like I can only use only Inazuma, right? I should be allowed to have the option to use another weapon depending on the situation, isn¡¯t it?¡± I asked.

    ¡°And you think using Tengu-kaze was any better?¡± questioned Kirin.

    ¡°Well, he did managed to slice up the high speed water pressure from the Underwater Dragon King. Inazuma doesn¡¯t have any specialty aside from being light-weighted,¡± I explained to them. Silence engulf all of us. It was Byakko who broke the silence by laughing out loudly.

    ¡°That¡¯s a good one, boy!¡± said Byakko as he continued laughing. I didn¡¯t think what I said was that funny.

    ¡°D¡ª did I say something wrong?¡± I asked genuinely.

    ¡°Nothing at all, boy. The reason you can use wind pressure from Tengu-kaze is because I was willing to share some of my powers with you. As to why Inazuma does not feel special is because Kirin deemed it so as you¡¯re not worthy in using his powers,¡± answered Byakko.

    ¡°I¡ª never said that. I just thought that he should earn his right before I lend him my powers, Kirin explained.

    ¡°And¡ª when would that be? I almost died a couple of times while fighting with the Underwater Dragon King today. If it was not for the Hand of the Lightning God, who knows what would had happened,¡± I squinted at Kirin.

    ¡°And it was because of me that you found that very gauntlets in the first place,¡± he retaliated.

    ¡°Excuse me? All you did was pointed out the location of the gauntlets. You weren¡¯t there to help me dig it out for a year, and after that I had to increase my skill stats in order to use it, which took another three years. If anything, it was more like through my own efforts that I survived today,¡± I answered with a pissed tone.

    He wanted to say something but he stopped. I¡¯m guessing he had nothing to retaliate with.

    ¡°You know what, if you¡¯re unwilling to lend your powers to me after all that we¡¯ve been through, maybe I should make Tengu-kaze as my main weapon instead seeing that he¡¯s more generous,¡± I said firmly.

    ¡°Oh ho, I¡¯m liking the sound of that,¡± smiled Byakko.

    ¡°Now wait just a moment, you shouldn¡¯t act so rashly. You are more used to wielding Inazuma over any other weapon,¡± said Kirin.

    ¡°I can use either weapon just fine. If anything, I was getting the hang of using Tengu-kaze with my right hand,¡± I shrugged.

    If you¡¯re gonna act like that, then I¡¯ll do the same. I have the right to choose a legendary weapon that is willing to lend me their powers.

    ¡°Byakko-sama, I shall officially make Tengu-kaze as my main weapon starting today,¡± I announced to Byakko.

    ¡°OSSU!¡± shouted Byakko as he saluted me with his paw.

    ¡°Wait, WAIT!¡± shouted Kirin as he tried to stop us.

    ¡°Ahem¡ª alright. I''ll start lending you some of my powers from now on," he said softly as he looked away to the side.

    Just how much of a Tsundere can you get?

    "Are you sure? You''re not just saying that, are you?" I squinting at him.

    "I don''t go back on my words. Although, you wouldn''t be able to fully use our powers as of yet. You need some time to get acclimated in using our powers," explained Kirin. I turned to Byakko and he nodded. Seems like what he said is true.

    "Alright then, I look forward to working with the both of you then," I said while giving the peace sign. I can feel myself waking up which was why my vision was starting to turn white.

    ¡°Hey¡ª wait!" shouted Kirin as he tried to stop me from disappearing.

    ***

    I opened my eyes and smiled. Never in my life did I ever thought that I¡¯ll win an argument against Kirin. Feels oddly unsettling. But that didn¡¯t last long at all.

    Happiness turned to horror immediately as I turned my head to the side. I saw Lily''s face directly in front of me with her eyes closed. She was sleeping right next to me. What the hell happened last night when I was asleep?!

 Chapter 27: En-Tour-Age [STAR]

    Chapter 27: En-Tour-Age [STAR]

    ¡°Pfft¡ª HAHAHAHA!!!¡±

    Lily was laughing loudly as we walked our way downstairs towards the tavern''s dining area.

    "Not funny, Lily. And here I thought we gave John a nightmare that he¡¯ll never want to see," I told her.

    "Were you expecting something to happen?" she placed her index finger on her lips and winked at me.

    "Even if things were to happen, there¡¯s no way I¡¯m doing it with John sleeping in the same room," I explained to her.

    "I was just messing with ya. I saw John eating downstairs so I thought of giving you a scare by laying down next to you," chuckled Lily.

    Good thing she didn''t went as far as to strip down just to tease me. Ever since that kiss, it would seemed that something was unlocked inside of her. It''s like a floodgate of feelings that she¡¯s been keeping all those years had finally been released. Say goodbye to the shy Lily Moonshine.

    We saw John and Rose chatting as they were having breakfast at the dining area. There was another food bowl on the table. Is that mine? How thoughtful of them to order for me in advance.

    "That took a while for you to use the washroom. Is everything alright?" asked Rose as she saw Lily approaching.

    "Hm? Oh. I went to wake Zen up. Sorry it took so long," said Lily as she smirked.

    Rose squinted at me. She must have suspected something happened. I''m innocent I tell you! Glad I didn¡¯t give her the bracelet instead. Her perception had always been over 9000! Giving her more might cause the universe to implode on itself.

    So much for being thoughtful. That meal was actually Lily''s. She must have ordered it and then came up to mess with me. Sheesh. Guess I¡¯ll need to order my own.

    "Why didn''t any of you woke me up earlier? We could had eaten together," I asked as I sat down on an empty seat.

    "Disturb the only individual capable of hurting THE Underwater Dragon King? Who would be crazy enough to do that?" chuckled John.

    "We just wanted you to rest as much as you needed, Onii-chan. After all, you were the one who saved all of us yesterday," answered Rose.

    As I thought of raising my hand to order some food, a waitress came and placed some food in front of me. Oh, it would seemed that they did ordered for me in advance. Thank you, my kind thoughtful friends.

    "Rose, how''s your wound? It didn''t look that great yesterday when you showed me," I asked her.

    "Oh, it''s certainly getting better now. The cooling gel worked miracles honestly," answered Rose as she showed me her wound. It was definitely healing up nicely.

    "Cooling gel?" asked Lily as she tilted her head.

    ¡°It''s just some healing items we found when we were at the Northern continent. Too bad you weren''t there, Lily. The demons were really crazy to fight against. We even fought a greater demonthere too. I''m still amazed we made it back alive that day," answered John as he smirked to himself thinking about it.

    "You guys have healing items? Isn''t that like, even more valuable than the water breathing potion? I want some healing items too!" said Lily as she slammed her fists on the table lightly.

    Both Rose and John turned to look at me. Why are they asking me for permission? I don''t own the rights to those healing items. But¡ª thanks for telling me that my most prized possession doesn¡¯t even compare with a common healing item from the north. I appreciate your honesty, Lily. That didn¡¯t make me feel dead inside at all.

    "If you want, I¡¯ll make some for you later," I sighed.

    "Making potions and healing items, someone is trying to be the indispensable from the group. Is there anything you can''t do, Zen?" asked Lily as she smirked at me.

    ¡°Plenty, to be honest. Don¡¯t get me started,¡± I explained.

    We finished our meal but stayed for a chat as we had not planned anything for today. I have to stay within this city for two days and I¡¯m sure Rose won''t leave without me. Not sure about John or Lily though, will they will be staying or leaving after this?

    Just then, Q popped out from the ground to pass me the daily newspaper. How is he able to find me all the way down here?! I wished I knew either. I took the paper from him while Rose picked him up to pet him. He always loved his belly rub from Rose.

    "Seems like you made the front news, John," I showed him the paper.

    Written on the front page was his name and hand-drawn face with the title ''New Viking Lord appointed! Survived the Underwater Dragon King''s carnage''.

    "Will you be going back today to establish yourself as the new guildmaster? You made it, John. You should be proud of yourself," I said to him.

    "Who knew that the little boy that asked me to follow after him to the city would end up becoming the Viking Lord. Congratulations,¡± chuckled Lily.

    "I think I''ll put it on hold for the time being. I wanna enjoy myself to the last second before I officially take on the role of a guildmaster. Two days, right Zen?" John asked me and I nodded to him.

    "What about you, Lily? Going back with your Elemental guild?" I asked her.

    "Huh? They already went back yesterday. I told them I''ll be staying here until you officially leave here. It''s been so long since I met you. I want to take this opportunity to hang out together. And besides, if the Viking Lord is still here, I can''t leave without him." she explained.

    ¡°W¡ª What? Then what about the Viking members? You''re not going back with them, John?" I asked him.

    "They went back along with the Elemental guild yesterday. Didn''t you know about it?" he asked me back. Of course I didn¡¯t know about it because no one told me about it!

    "So, y¡¯all are telling me that you three had already decided to stay here with me for the next two days? And no one is planning to tell me until I asked?" I confronted all of them as I rubbed my temple.

    "We thought you knew," all three of them answered simultaneously. Wow¡ª I¡¯m completely speechless.

    This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    "Well then, let''s go enjoy ourselves for the next two days," I stood up ready to head out.

    ***

    We visited various places around the city. From a farm, a forestry to even a park. Underwater! I can''t tell you the number of times I was mind blown that such things actually existed down here. I have a deeper respect for the elves now for actually being able to pull such an insane feat themselves.

    I asked Lily on whether she knew about the history on why the elves were actually willing to help the Vikings to build this underwater city in the first place. She informed me that the elves were intrigued by the idea of doing the impossible. It was actually the Underwater Dragon King that made it possible in the first place. Without his help, this city would had never existed. Perhaps it was him trying his best to help his daughter in making things work with the first Viking Lord. Without this city, it was practically impossible for mermaids to meet with humans without getting captured or poached. Mermaid kidnapping was notorious before the first Viking Lord made it illegal. This city is living proof that merpeople, humans and elves can co-exist together and live in harmony.

    How romantic. I never expected the Underwater Dragon King to be so idealistic. But he is certainly an honourable being, seeing that he¡¯s still willing to keep his promise to the first Viking Lord. He must have loved him like his own son.

    We decided to head to the tallest building in the glass dome. It¡¯s a shipyard where all ships are kept or being serviced. Every ship must be inspected properly before heading back to the surface. The elves made it an absolute rule that they will not be any accidents or deaths whether it is from the journey down here or back to the surface. Until date, there is zero deaths thus far. There were some accidents in the early days when they were still testing on ships and such but the merpeople were kind enough to help out to ensure that all of them do not ended up drowning themselves.

    We bought our tickets earlier to ensure there were seats for us to return back to the surface in two days time. I asked the receptionist on whether I can refund or change the date in the event that the city council doesn¡¯t allow me to leave in two days time. She said that if I can show proof that I am staying here due to a contract waiting duration then I can change the date. No refunds are allowed sadly.

    ***

    The following day, we decided to head outside of the glass dome. But before that, I told them that I wanted to find a way to restore my gauntlet¡¯s spell charges. Those spell does not restore by itself after usage despite a day had passed. I went to numerous blacksmiths and merchants and none of them knew how to restore those charges. They didn¡¯t even know that it was possible for an item to contain spells in the first place. One of them recommended that I check with the priestess instead. Anything "magical" or mysterious are usually handled by the priestess in the city.

    Doesn''t hurt to check out. We don''t have much to do today anyway. On our way there, I asked Lily on why she decided to be a brawler. I always thought that she would end up using a sword or a bow instead. She came closer to me and held my right hand but it was hidden behind my cloak. She told me that during her training, she tried out numerous weapons but she excelled in none of them. It was her instructor that passed her these gauntlets for her to test out. She said that the words of the instructor will be forever etched in her mind. ¡®Punch as hard as you can¡¯ was what he told her.

    Even though the gauntlets increases her strength and defence, she was actually quite proficient in using it which was a complete surprise. Hence, the gauntlets was given to her as a parting gift which she still uses it now.

    A female that can punch you hard enough to send you flying. Not to mentioned getting burned or electrocuted in the process. I better not mess with her if I really do end up going out with her.

    We arrived at the priestess''s location. I was confused with the signboard hanging outside as I couldn¡¯t make out on whether it read as Akara or Adria as the wordings were ridiculously cursive. Either way, this should be the right location based on the bizarre items that I can see inside the building. I opened the door and the amount of mystical items and such were on full display from the entrance to the counter area. I talked to the priestess as the other three browsed the shop. I asked her on whether she knew of a way to restore spell charges to an item. She said that she had heard of such a thing before but it was purely based on a research. Thankfully she is willing to test it for me.

    I passed her my gauntlets for her to inspect. She warned me that it could be quite costly to perform. In the event that it¡¯s not successful, I will only be charged a small service fee. But if it ended up being successful and depending on how much I used, it might cost me around five to ten gold coins to restore all the charges.

    Yikes, that is certainly expensive! I seriously hope that my potion royalty would start hitting off soon, otherwise I¡¯ll be eating grass due to the expenses of my gauntlets alone. I checked my pockets for how much remaining money I have with me. Thankfully I still have enough since I only spent a small portion out of the total amount that I brought so far. There was no reason for me to bring so much in the first place when I have no idea if I was going to survive the Underwater Dragon King¡¯s wrath. My will states that I will be giving all my possessions to either Rose or Q should anything happen to me. Obviously Q is unaware of it.

    I told the priestess to proceed after I showed her that I had enough to pay her. Good thing she accepts Western currency as payment. She brought out some tools and some shiny looking stones or gems. I asked her on whether it would take long but she said that it will take around ten minutes at the most. I can wait for that.

    I headed to check on what those three were browsing. John was alone checking out some weird looking artefacts. As I walked closer to Lily and Rose, I could hear them talking about a ring. Is there another enchanted ring here? I am definitely eager to buy another one if there is. But it turns out their conversation was about Rose''s ring. Lily was asking Rose on who bought it for her and she said it was me. When Lily was about to ask on whether it was a proposal ring, she quickly shot down the idea and said that it was just a constitution ring that boosted her stats.

    Huh? The ¡®Rose¡¯ that I know would had taken the opportunity to boast about it but she quickly cleared up the misunderstanding with her. What¡¯s going on?

    I decided to hang with John instead as I don¡¯t want to be caught in between the conversation of two ladies. It was not long until the priestess called out to me to inform on the success of the charges recovery. As I did not use too many of the spell charges, it ended up costing me six gold coins in total. Still painful, but thankfully not the full payment.

    I asked the priestess on whether there are other locations in different cities that would be knowledgable enough to perform this charges recovery. She said that all the major cities should have a priestess that can perform this. She will be teaching her findings on the upcoming meeting with all the other priestess.

    Wow, I didn¡¯t even know that priestess had their own gathering to discuss about new things. Perhaps it is due to the mysteries of using magic which was still foreign to us even after all these years. We had only unlocked fortification magic and nothing else thus far. I am sure someone out there are finding ways to unlock magic to its full potential.

    I curiously asked on what gem or stone was which she used to recover the charges. I hope it¡¯s not a gem that contained souls or something. She told me that she used a stone that contained the soul of a dying child screaming on the brink of death.

    I gave her the most worried and concerned look to which she said "Just kidding". I was not expecting priestess to joke about that. She said that it¡¯s a rare stone that contains magical properties in them. It is certainly rare but not impossible to find. Perhaps I should find out more about this stones in the library one day. Hopefully there is a book about it.

    I gave my thanks to the priestess and we left the store. Onwards to our underwater tour! We decided to head to the Southern entrance instead. That was where I saw the merpeople''s building and houses when we first came here.

    Rose walked up to John who was ahead of us and pulled on his arm. Huh? What¡¯s going on? Since when did Rose have romantic interest in John? Perhaps something happened that I¡¯m not aware of.

    The idea of Rose and John being together? Not the worst I can think of. John is a Viking Lord now and he is certainly my best friend. Yes, I had confirmed with him. I would not deny them should they wished to get together.

    Lily took the opportunity to get close to me. She wanted to hold my hand but I asked her whether we should really be doing this when we are unclear on our relationship status. She was taken aback by my words but nodded lightly. I would prefer to know where we stand before we started going all lovey-dovey or something. I proposed to her the idea about a date when we returned back to the City Of Pines. She agreed immediately to that idea. Until then, we just kept close to each other as we walked to our destination.

    The underwater walk was certainly a sight to behold. There is something captivating in being able to walk, breathe and see clearly underwater. Between the fishes swimming around you and the merpeople, it was¡ª breathtaking indeed. Some of the merpeople noticed that we weren¡¯t wearing any helmet and immediately rushed in to check on us. We told them everything is fine and they would be knowing more about it on the news, hopefully by tomorrow. I really hope nothing goes wrong with the recipe and potion. I want to go back to the surface.

    Right, so do merpeople get to visit inside the dome? Sure they do. They are capable of breathing air directly. Their only limitation is movement on land where they have to slither. But there are free rides for them where they can sit in to reduce their slithering movements.

    No matter how much I looked at it, I just can¡¯t get used to seeing a building without a door. There is something unique yet feeling strangely wrong at the same time for a building to only have windows. We enjoyed walking around while keeping track of the potion¡¯s duration with an hourglass. I really should start thinking about finding other ways to estimate time properly. We garnered a lot of attention from the merpeople and some elves that saw us walking without a bubble helmet. We told them that we¡¯re not at liberty to discuss about the details of it. Should they wish to know more, the city council will be telling them in details soon.

    We reached a famous site where we stood on top of a cliff overlooking the city from above. We can see the entirety of the city from here. We sat down for a moment to enjoy the scenery. Lily rested her head on my shoulder. I decided to allow it as we are enjoying the moment. I already denied her the chance of holding hands together earlier, I should give her some leeway IF I wished to stand a chance at dating her.

    We decided to call it a day when John¡¯s stomach started rumbling loudly. As I was standing up, Lily gave me a peck on the cheek and went on ahead. That certainly made me smile a little. John came up beside me and whispered.

    ¡°You¡ªmight want to start treating Rose better after this,¡± whispered John.

    ¡°Huh? What brought this on? I had never treated Rose badly before,¡± I explained to him.

    He just tapped my shoulder and walked away.

    Damn, something must be going on and I need to get to the bottom of this or my name is not Watson.

    I walked up to Rose and asked her on how she is faring but she was tight-lipped. She is definitely not acting her usual self. I really don¡¯t like when things are awkward between us and I don¡¯t know the reason. What did I do wrong? What exactly happened when I was asleep? Is it possible for Kirin or Byakko to affect my friends or something?

    ***

    Another day arrived and the moment of truth approaches. Did the founder successfully created the potion based on my recipe or did he failed? I''ve written down every single detail, down to the measurements and preparation method inside the recipe for him.

    We met the founder at his office along with a city council member waiting there. When I walked up to him, his expression turned a 180 and he started smiling as he held out his hand which I took it. He shook my hand with extreme excitement. He was smiling and laughing like a little boy receiving his first toy. I¡¯ll take that as a sign that the recipe is a success. The city council handed out a scroll for the founder to sign which he gladly signed it. His signature is required to confirm that he had indeed succeeded in making the potion and he cannot make any turn-back in saying that he made changes to the recipe which might cause a dispute to not pay me because of that. As I was the one who provided the main recipe, any changes or addition to the recipe does not affect the contract as I am still the one who provided the original recipe. Unless he can prove that he is using a completely new recipe with different ingredients, then that¡¯s debatable.

    Until then, I am entitled to my royalty profits. My luxury life awaits me back in the City Of Pines. All the things I can buy or do when I am rich! I can even buy my own property should I wish! Once again, how wrong was I.

 Chapter 28: Dilemma [STAR]

    Chapter 28: Dilemma [STAR]

    "Are you seriously just gonna give him up?" asked Olivia. She¡¯s one of my friend from the Viking guild.

    "I wouldn''t had given up on him even if he was in a relationship with that elf girl. He looks so yummy," said Elia. She is my other friend from the Elemental guild.

    "Ladies, I think we should be giving her some better advice instead," answered Clara. My good friend from the same guild as me.

    I met up with my friends after we came back from the City of Underwater Marrydia. The journey back was thankfully much safer than the journey heading there. I will forever have nightmares on that.

    I was complaining to them that Lily was sticking to Onii-chan like a bee to a flower, the moment they met back together. It was like they were long lost lovers or something. I won''t lie, I was absolutely jealous of Lily despite never feeling this way before. Perhaps this was due to him never looking at someone this romantically ever since I knew him. But after I calming myself, I came to realised that Onii-chan will never look at me the same way. Even when I tried my best to get his attention, he just never showed any interest whatsoever.

    After getting to know Lily a little more, I think I can make my peace if they actually started dating. I can be happy for them. She is quite matured and she genuinely cares about Onii-chan. We talked about him when we stayed in the same room back in the tavern. She told me directly that she likes Zen and wishes to go out with him. After coming so close to death, she no longer want to deny her own feelings and lie to herself anymore.

    As she was honest with her answer, I gave her mine as well. I told her that I love Onii-chan. Not as a brother but as a love interest. However, I told her that I am aware that Onii-chan does not see me that way. I wished Lily all the best that if he agreed to go out with her then I won''t stand in their way.

    Lily came over to my side and sat on my bed. I genuinely wasn¡¯t expecting her to hug me. She said that both of us should give it our all and let him know of our feelings at the very least. Should either of us win, the other should concede. She told me that if they really did ended up dating, then I can start calling her Lily Onee-chan as she will be part of our family.She was already giving off an elder sister vibe right now. I told her that I''ll consider it.

    I won''t lie, I am partly excited to have an elder sister to call my own. To have an elder brother andsister, it certainly makes me happy. But I know deep down that my heart will be broken if not shattered to pieces. I never even realised when I started to have feelings for Onii-chan. When we first met, he was this weirdo who bought me out of nowhere and asked me to stay with him. I was horrified at the thought of all the horrible things that this man would be doing to me when I already at my lowest point.

    But as it turned out, he was the complete opposite of what I imagined in my head. He was kind, caring and loving. He gave me a name and lots of head pets which he exploits it often to calm me down even when I don¡¯t want to. He even provided me a personal room of my own and made sure to give me space to acclimate myself. Without even knowing it, I fell in love with him and his warm smiles. Come to think of it, both Lily and I looked up to Zen like some hero who saved us. I wonder if there are any other girls who looked at him the same way as we do.

    "I¡¯ll say, you should start seducing him before they even start dating, Rose," answered Olivia.

    "What?! No way! My body isn''t even that sexy to seduce him anyway. Have you seen my rival? Her body is so ridiculously voluptuous that even I shrink at the sight," I explained to all of them.

    "Rose¡ª can you even bear the thought of your brother dating another woman?" asked Clara. She¡¯s always the levelheaded person of our group. I can always count on her to provide me with the best advices.

    "I¡ª really don''t have the answer for that. On one hand, I am certain that I would devastated. But on the other, it¡¯s not like it¡¯s the end of the world. I would be getting an elder sister to call my own," I explained.

    "Stop thinking about that, Rose. This is war between two tigress on who gets the mushroom. You have to fight for him, Rose!" said Elia.

    "Mushroom?" I stared at her with a confused look.

    "Oh my sweet summers child," said Elia as she gave me a hug.

    "Look¡ª all I can say is, I''ll be fine if Onii-chan started dating Lily. He always had his fetish for female elves anyway. The amount of times he showed his perverted face whenever he looked at a female elf was uncountable. How am I going to compete with that in the first place? Better to have him date Lily than some random elf, in my opinion," I explained to all of them.

    "Think about yourself for once, Rose. Give yourself a chance. Test your luck, and if it doesn''t work out, then concede and continue to be his little sister," explained Clara.

    "But I had already tried numerous times and none of it worked out before. What¡¯s the point of trying even further?" I sighed as I vented my frustration.

    "Mm-mm. You haven¡¯t tried any of our suggestions yet. I say, you try all of our suggestions first before thinking about conceding. How about that?" asked Olivia.

    "Uh¡ª ok, I guess?" I answered. Why did I even say yes to that.

    ***

    I have a date with Lily today. Felt so surreal that I¡¯m finally meeting up with her after five years. I had prepared my best looking clothes and is now waiting for time to pass. I know very well that I¡¯m feeling restless as I¡¯m literally walking around blindly. I screamed when Rose suddenly opened the main door. I didn¡¯t even realised that she was coming over today.

    "Onii-chan, why are you acting so nervous?" asked Rose.

    "Oh, I''m just heading out later. Nothing to worry about," I tried to maintain my cool.

    Rose just nodded with a "Ooo" expression. Did she figured it out? It is really hard to keep things a secret from Rose. The only reason I was able to keep my gauntlets a secret was because I kept it hidden in my room chest and never talked about it.

    She started boiling some hot water and took out some flower petals from her bag. That''s odd, she usually never bring anything whenever she visits me. There was no reason to when she still have some of her clothings and necessities here. Is she planning to stay over or something? Not that she can''t stay but I didn''t feel like explaining to her that I¡¯m going out on a date with Lily later.

    She went into her room along with her bag. I need to stop narrating to myself on whatever she¡¯s doing and just calm the hell down. Ok, just relax yourself. There is still a couple of hours before the meet-up time. Let''s just, read something or do some alchemy. No, if I were to do alchemy with such distracted thoughts, I will only end up wasting those ingredients. Let''s just sit down and meditate then.

    I heard Rose coming out of her room and proceeded to the kitchen. I continued to keep my eyes closed and did some meditation all the while hoping that Kirin doesn¡¯t suddenly appear in my mind. After some time, I heard Rose walking closer I spoke to me.

    "Onii-chan, have some tea," she said.

    I opened my eyes and wanted to take the cup and saucer from her. Hiee! What the hell is she wearing?! Is that¡ª a negligee? I can literally see her undergarments underneath!

    ¡°R¡ª Rose.. why are you wearing this at this hour?" I asked her as I started to panic.

    "Hm? Oh, I tried wearing this once and it felt comfortable. You''re not really bothered by it, are you?" she asked as though she was insinuating something.

    ¡°N¡ª no, I''m not bothered by it. You can wear what you wish," I told her as I started averting my gaze from looking at her. I didn''t really know how to reply to her question. She even asked me with a straight face. If she isn¡¯t bothered by it then I guess I shouldn¡¯t let it bother me as well. But it¡¯s certainly not good for my heart or my hormones.

    I tried to ignore what she was wearing and focused on the tea she made. It was certainly different from what she usually makes. I sipped the tea and was impressed with the taste.

    "Wow, what tea is this? It¡¯s really delicious," I asked her.

    ¡°It''s rose tea mixed with a little sugar and some lemon juice," she said.

    ¡°Wow¡ª I never even knew such a good tea existed. I¡¯m definitely buying more of this. Who knew that rose tea would actually taste this good," I said out loud.

    Rose was taken aback by my remarks. I can see that she was blushing when her cheeks went red. But I wasn¡¯t really complimenting her at all but the tea she made. Whatever works for her I guess. She came over and sat by my side. I held back from staring at her and chose to stare at the wall instead.

    Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

    There was a moment of silence between us as we sat side by side. Since when had we gotten such awkwardness between us. I stood up and thought of heading to the washroom to drench my face with cold water; I needed to clear my head from all the evil thoughts that was appearing. Rose tugged on my shirt and gestured me to sit down. I complied and sat down like a good boy. What¡¯s going through her mind right now? Perhaps she might finally open up on what¡¯s been troubling her since we were in the City of Underwater Marrydia.

    She held my face and turned it towards her. She is definitely embarrassed as her cheeks were extremely red and flushed.

    ¡°Onii-chan¡ª you.. know, right?" she asked as she tried to hide her embarrassment.

    ¡°Um¡ª know what exactly?" I asked her.

    "A¡ª bout.. my feelings for you," she whispered softly.

    Ah shit. Why must she bring this up on the very same day as my date with Lily? Will I even be able to enjoy my date later after such a heavy talk?

    "Sorry Rose, feelings about what exactly?" I asked her to be more specific.

    Rose turned her back to me and clapped her cheeks with her hands. Not the bitch slap kind but the type that wakes yourself up when you''re feeling sleepy. Unless you¡¯re a masochist. She turned around to look at me and place her hands on my cheeks once more. Why do girls need to do this?

    "My feelings for you, Onii-chan," she answered with a firm tone. She seems to be more serious now.

    ¡°I¡ª guess so?" I said to her. I¡¯m trying my fucking best to dodge as many arrows as I can here, dammit!

    ¡°You''re not that dense, Onii-chan. I am asking a serious question now. Please answer me properly, please?" Rose gave a little plead to me. I sighed and took a deep breath. Whatever comes I guess I¡¯m gonna face it.

    "Yes. I¡¯m aware of your feelings for me. Do we really need to talk about this today?" I asked her as I gave her a pleading face of my own.

    ¡°Yes, I want to get this out of the way. You¡¯re gonna see Lily later, right? I¡¯m sure she will be making her move as well," answered Rose. W¡ª what? Lily will be confessing to me as well? No¡ª it can''t be. It¡¯s just our first date!

    "Alright, what do you want to know, Rose? I will answer as honestly as I can. I promise,¡± I assured her. Although I might have to lie so as to not lose my one and only sister.

    "Do you love me?" she started her question.

    "As my little sister," I said.

    "You don''t see me as a woman?" she continued with a serious look.

    "I ¡°might¡± consider under different circumstances," I answered.

    "Are you saying what I''m wearing now doesn''t entice you at all?" she frowned.

    "If I were drunk I might probably pounce on you," I curled my lips.

    "Are you saying I might stand a chance?" her expression turned a 180 at my answer.

    ¡°Umm¡ª Yes and no?¡± I answered.

    "Which is it?!" she suddenly shouted at me.

    "Look, Rose. You¡¯re still young. You¡¯re just thirteen. Perhaps when you''re older then I¡¯ll be able to give you a proper answer. But until then, can you just continue to be my little sister? Please?" I pleaded to her.

    "How much older do I need to get until you''ll consider?" she clarified.

    ¡°Umm¡ª sixteen and above, maybe?¡± I replied softly.

    "Lily would had won you over by then!" she shouted as tears started forming in her eyes. She started crying. I walked closer and gave her a hug as I petted her head.

    "If it troubles you so much then I won''t go out with Lily. I''ll wait until you''re sixteen then I''ll give both of you my answer, alright?" I whispered softly to her as I tried my best to comfort her.

    ¡°No¡ª that won''t be fair to Lily. I confessed to you and you rejected me. Now it¡¯s your turn to give her your answer,¡± she continued to cry.

    ¡°Hey hey, shhh¡ª you¡¯ll still be my little sister no matter what, Rose. It¡¯s not the end of the world or something. Don''t cry," I continued petting her head. Why won''t she calm herself today?

    After some time passed, she finally stopped crying. Phew, glad that¡¯s over. I gave a quick glance at the hourglass and it was almost close to the meet-up time with Lily. I told Rose that I would need to go out soon. She wiped her tears and said ok.

    ¡°Please give Lily your honest answer. If you have feelings for her then do accept her. I¡¯ll be fine,¡± she said.

    I quickly changed my clothes and headed towards the main door. As I held the door knob, I decided that I needed to make sure to speak with Rose properly before I leave.

    ¡°Rose, don¡¯t even think of doing anything stupid when I¡¯m away. And don¡¯t you ever think about killing yourself. You¡¯ll always be my little sister no matter what happens. I will hate myself should anything bad happened to you. Promise me that, please,¡± I told her with a serious tone. I will not leave until she answered me.

    ¡°I¡ª promise, Onii-chan. I won¡¯t do anything stupid. Say hi to Lily for me,¡± she answered before retreating to her room.

    I am sorry Rose. I gave you my honest answer. Please find it in yourself to forgive your older brother. I really don¡¯t see you as anything more than my sister. We¡¯ve been together for so many years now and it¡¯s weird for me to suddenly develop feelings for you.

    I headed out and rushed towards the location where I was supposed to meet Lily. I was surprised when she suggested that we meet at the townhouse of all places. I arrived at the location and looked around for her. I hope I¡¯m not late. That¡¯s odd, I don¡¯t see her. Maybe I¡¯m still early perhaps?

    ¡°Zen?¡± a familiar voice called out to me from behind.

    I turned around and there she was. Holy moly, she¡¯s as stunning as ever. She was wearing a beautiful green dress that finally covered her stomach area. The number of times I swallowed my throat when we were hanging out together back at City of Underwater Marrydia was infinitely uncountable. She had braided her hair which hid her long ponytail. I¡¯m surprised she actually kept that after such a long time.

    ¡°Did an angel graced me with her presence?¡± I lifted her hand to kiss.

    ¡°Oh, you and your compliments. Let¡¯s go,¡± she blushed.

    ¡°Where shall we go, my eminent grace?¡± I teased her.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go¨C there,¡± she pointed. I thought she had things planned out for today.

    ¡°I¡¯m surprised to see you wearing your glasses again. I thought you preferred the other method you were talking about,¡± I asked her.

    ¡°Oh, you meant the contact glasses. Well, those are better when I know I¡¯ll be engaging in battle but it hurts the eyes after a while. And besides, a certain someone said that he only recognises me when I wear my signature glasses,¡± she chuckled.

    It was only then did I realised that Lily¡¯s dress was showing an awful lot of skin on her back area. I was wrong, she certainly had not wore a more proper outfit.

    ¡°Y¡ª your dress is certainly showing a lot of your back area. Won¡¯t you be cold or something?¡± I stuttered in asking her.

    ¡°Well, I was hoping to capture the interest of this dashing guy walking beside me. And good thing he brought along his cloak,¡± she smiled.

    ¡°Oh, this? I¡¯m just being cautious. I make it a habit to always be prepared for the worst. It¡¯s just a precaution for myself in the event I need to protect someone,¡± I said.

    ¡°Is that someone being me?¡± she flirted.

    ¡°Of course I¡¯ll protect my darling angel,¡± I smirked.

    Both of us started laughing as our conversation had too many sarcasm which we played along. We arrived at the location that Lily was pointing at. As it turns out, she really did planned for something after all.

    A gondola was waiting for us. The boatman gestured us to hop on board. I went in first and held out a hand for Lily to grab on to. She happily took my hand but she still slipped. I quickly grabbed onto her to make sure she doesn¡¯t fall. Seems like she¡¯s not used to wearing high heel shoes. Or did she? Maybe she purposefully slipped so that I¡¯ll catch her.

    We sat at the front of the gondola as the boatman pedalled for us from behind. Only two of us was on board. Lily cuddled with me as the boatman rowed the boat slowly. I didn¡¯t even realised there was such a service in this city. The waterways and canals that was used to flow rain water out of the city had now been turned into some romantic "river" cruise. This service must had been very recent as there was no way I never heard of this before.

    We crossed a couple of overhead bridges where people started staring at us. There were surprised that we were sitting on a gondola right inside the city. A few children and adults waved at us as we passed by. I smiled awkwardly as I returned the waving gesture to them. The boatman continued to row slowly towards a destination that I don¡¯t know.

    "Lily, why are people staring at us? Isn''t this some service anyone can use?" I asked her.

    "Hm? What¡¯re you talking about? I arranged this specifically for both of us," she pouted.

    ¡°W¡ª what? You meant to say you hired a boatman to bring us somewhere? How did you even thought of this idea in the first place?" I dropped my jaw.

    "I wanted our date to be special. Just sit back and enjoy the scenery," she said as she continued to cuddle with me.

    It was late evening by now when the boatman finally rowed us out of the city. He brought us to an area where it looked kind of swampy. Are those¡ª mangrove trees? But it had a clear sight of the sun as it was starting to set. Lily leaned her head on my shoulder and held my right hand as I leaned slightly over hers. So this was what she had planned for our first date. How am I going to find a better idea to top this for our second one? Do I need to plan a trip to the moon or something?

    Honestly speaking, I was never a romantic person. But seeing the sunset live with your very eyes can certainly change your views of the world.

    The sun had officially set and was hidden by the horizon. I assumed that we will be heading back but the boatman just sat there staring towards the trees. Are we going to be safe here when it gets darker? Can he even row us back safely?

    Just as I pondered on that thought, I noticed something flew across my vision. It was a spot of light. I was shocked by it and started moving my head to see what it was. More and more of those small floating lights started appearing. It was only then did I knew those were fireflies. So many of them were flying around us. No wonder we sat here waiting even though it was getting darker.

    Lily was staring at the fireflies with amazement. She was pointing around and uttered the word "Wow" a couple of times. I was certainly wowed by her too. This woman had made such elaborate plans for our first date. I am at a loss for words that she would be willing to do this much for our first.

    Lily noticed I was staring at her and we locked eyes. She¡¯s really beautiful. I do not mind being able to date her. She is a keeper and a steal for me. As a certain ginger-haired man once said, she looks perfect tonight.

    I brushed some of her hairs that was out of place. She held my hand and moved closer to me.

    ¡°Zen¡ª I love you. Would you go out with me?" she confessed to me.

    I moved my face closer to her and whispered her name. I kissed her. Our lips entwined with one another. I felt like I shouldn''t let go of this wonderful woman. I should cherish her and make her happy for the rest of my life. I want to be with Lily.

    But sadly, the image of Rose crying suddenly appeared inside my mind.

    My eyes flung opened and I gently pushed Lily back. I gaze downwards as I dared not look at her in the eyes. She seemed to notice something was wrong.

    "Lily, I''m sorry, can you give me a bit of time? I want to think about it a little bit more, please?" I asked as I continued to stare downwards.

    ¡°I¡ª see.. it''s Rose, isn''t it? You didn''t realised that you had feelings for her until now," she replied. I swallowed my throat. Damn it, I shouldn''t have given her the bracelet. She hit my dilemma spot on.

    ¡°I¡ª I''ll give you my answer in a couple of days. I promise. Just let me gather my thoughts for now," I explained to her.

    ¡°Take your time. Let''s head back then," she snapped her fingers to gesture the boatman to row us back to the city.

    I completely forgotten about the boatman being here. Didn''t he feel awkward seeing us kiss? He took out a lamp and lighted it before he started rowing back.

    "I''m really sorry, Lily. You planned such a perfect date and yet I couldn''t give you an answer. I''m really sorry," I apologised to her.

    "Think nothing of it," she answered bluntly.

    Yikes, her mood definitely isn¡¯t good now. And she used my own words against me. We kept silent throughout our journey back to the city.

    ***

    We made it back safely. I thought we would be parting ways now but she told me to follow after her. I assumed that she would be in a bad mood due to my reply but she seemed to have changed her mood again once we were back. I should just follow after her so as to not sour her mood further. We arrived upon a fancy looking tavern and headed in. A table was already prepared for us after we checked-in. As we sat down, food was immediately served. I stared at Lily with my jaw dropped feeling speechless. She just smiled at me and gestured for the both of us to eat.

    What the hell am I even doing? This woman did so much on our first date and I made the mood sour because I was indecisiveness. Damn it, why did Rose even have to confess to me of all days. My mind is absolutely conflicted right now along with my heart.

    Yes, I love Lily, I won''t deny that. But I might had some feelings for Rose too, despite not realising it until today. I¡¯m not at liberty to have two wives. While technically the law doesn¡¯t prohibit me from having multiple wives, it did not sit right with me to have more than one.

    The food was delicious but I didn¡¯t enjoy it. I was stuck in a big dilemma on who to choose and what am I supposed to do. Perhaps I will need to have another deep conversation with Rose when I get back.

    After we were done eating, I quickly approached to where Lily was seated and helped her up while holding her hand. I might not be able to return her love today but it doesn¡¯t mean I can¡¯t treat her well.

    "Someone is being extra gentlemanly all of a sudden," she chuckled.

    I just smiled at her and guided her out of the tavern. Obviously I made sure to pay for the meal as it was the least I could do for the day. She hugged my arm closely which had a soft squishy feeling to it. Oh lord that must be the feeling of her chest. Under normal circumstances, I would have brought her somewhere private by now. But I must hold myself back and get all these feelings sorted out first. Begone evil thoughts!

    As we opened the tavern''s door, we were greeted by a group of soldiers. I was taken aback by their sudden appearance. Soldiers rarely interfere with adventurers unless they were major complains about them causing problems. Or is this part of Lily''s plan to ensure that I say yes to her today? Since I sort of said no earlier, is she going to put me in prison and torture me until I say yes?

    I turned my gaze towards Lily and she shook her head. Seems like she didn''t know about this either.

    "Mister Zen, by the order of the Queen, you are to follow us to the castle," said one of the soldier.

    "This late? Can this be postponed tomorrow or something?" I asked them.

    "Our orders are to bring you in as soon as possible. We cannot delay it any further," answered the soldier.

    "Alright then. I''ll follow, but only I¡¯m required, right? My partner is free to go?" I asked them.

    "What? Hey! I¡¯m following you as well. Bring us to the Queen," answered Lily.

    The soldiers looked at each other and escorted us. I saw a few of them swallowing their throats earlier. She might not be mine now but none of you can touch her. I might not have my weapons with me but my gauntlets in my bag can still fry or beat the living shit out of you should you do anything to her.

    But what the hell is going on? Why the sudden escort? I doubt this is regarding my knighting to become a Dark Knight. Something else must be up. I held Lily closer to make sure she¡¯s safe as we headed towards the castle.

 Chapter 29: Heresy [STAR]

    Chapter 29: Heresy [STAR]

    Lily and I were escorted to the castle. Numerous torches and braziers were lit throughout the castle. If you¡¯re in search for a creepy looking castle in the middle of the night, you got one right here. But why would the Queen want to see me right now? It just doesn''t make much sense. There was only one reason I could think of and I really hope that¡¯s not the case.

    The castle gate opened as we approached closer. I guess they were really expecting me. Should I send Lily away before it¡¯s too late? But knowing her, she will follow me to the depths of hell even if I try to shoo her away. I am certain Rose will do the same in this situation. In the event the worst scenario occurs, I will ensure at the very least Lily is able to escape unharmed. Rose should be safe in my house for now and I¡¯m sure the Light guild will do everything they can to protect and keep her safe. Rose is certainly smart enough to know what to do in this situation.

    As we headed in, I sensed that the soldiers around me were tense. It¡¯s like they are prepared to act at a moment''s notice. Lily sensed it too and gripped my hand tighter. She will have difficulty running while wearing that dress and shoes of hers. I might have to carry her later should the need to run arise.

    We came upon a giant door. The soldiers opened it and revealed a large throne room inside. As expected, the Queen was seated at her throne. Good thing that chair was not made of iron swords instead. I only been here once as I didn¡¯t want to see her face as she always looked disgusted at me. No idea what I did that made her hate me this way.

    Both Lily and I kneeled to her. Silence engulfed us which made things even more awkward now that we are here. I decided to focus all my attention on the little details as I continued to stare downwards. The soldier''s shoe on my right is untied, the soldier on my left is shaking ever so slightly as he held onto his spear, the smell of sweats permeated the entire room. Tension is brewing here and it doesn¡¯t look good for me at all.

    "Do you know why you¡¯re called here?" asked the Queen with her evil voice.

    "No, your Majesty. I know not the reason as to why I¡¯m called here." I answered.

    "Really? And here you are hailed as the genius of our era. Even capable of creating new alchemical recipes where others could not. You think you can keep it a secret but the Queen always finds out. There is no secret that I cannot uncover, Mister Zen," she explained.

    "And what secret are you referring to exactly, your Majesty?" I spat those last words out.

    "Don¡¯t play the fool, Zen Hawthorn! Spitting your name is heresy on it''s own!" she shouted as she spat my last name from her venomous lips.

    What¡¯s with the sudden enragement? As I suspected, someone leaked my last name to the Queen. But who exactly? There is only one person I can think of that might betray me. Pietro Sorrel.

    "I¡¯m sorry, your Majesty, but my last name is actually Bing. Zen Bing is my full name to be exact. I did not wish to reveal it as people would laugh at my last name," I tried to lie my way out of this situation.

    "Do you take me for a fool? I have evidence that you are indeed a Hawthorn. And also, I can recognise your father''s signature feature anywhere. That lazy hair of yours was the first dead giveaway," said the Queen.

    What?! So that was the face feature that everyone was talking about when they said that I looked like my father? It was all because of this lazy hair of mine that refuses to go down no matter what I did? O bloody hell.

    ¡°So what is the Queen planning to do with the son of a war hero? Lock him up in a prison? Or perhaps you will grant him a quick death?¡± I raised my gaze to meet hers as I had given enough pleasantries by now.

    "Oh Mister Zen, you are definitely going to prison until the end of time. You can kiss goodbye to sunlight where you are going. Perhaps if you''re lucky, you might be able to see me every once in a while," said the Queen as she licked her lips.

    Ugh, what in the world is she planning to do to me in prison? I can sense the soldiers around me were waiting for a signal from the Queen. All of a sudden, I can hear some loud tearing sound at my side.

    Huh? What is Lily doing? She was tearing her dress all the way up to her thigh. Is she planning to make a run for it? What a waste of a beautiful dress. I would had willingly carried her to keep that dress intact.

    "Will you be willing to let my partner go free? She¡¯s innocent and just happened to be with me tonight. If you noticed her ears, you will know full well that there is no way she¡¯s a Hawthorn," I explained to the Queen.

    "Hmm, very well. Seeing as I¡¯m in a good mood now, at the very least I will grant you one wish. Your partner is free to go. You should say goodbye to him missy, for today will be the very last time you will ever see him," answered the Queen as she shooed Lily away.

    Lily stood up and pulled my arm to make me stand. She stared into my eyes and I can see conviction in them. I am certain I know very well what she wants to do next. Good thing I brought along my bag with me. However, I will still need a bit of time to wear my gauntlets and cloak. She turned her gaze towards the Queen, bowed a little and smiled. Then she spoke words that I would never thought she would ever say in her life.

    "Fuck you, bitch!!¡± shouted Lily as she pointed her middle finger at her. I won''t lie, I was certainly taken aback when she said that.

    Lily grabbed my hand and rushed towards the exit. The soldiers were already preventing us from leaving. In a moment¡¯s notice, they had already surrounded us with their spears. Damn it, I can wear my cloak quickly but I am still unarmed. Lily might be able to use her spells but there is no way she is punching against solid armour with just her fist. No wait, is she really going to? Lightning was starting to streak along her fist now.

    "That was¡ª some poor choice of words. Arrest them!" shouted the Queen as she gestured her soldiers.

    The soldiers tried to apprehend us. They got closer to us with their sharp spears pointing at us. I thought of swiping away some of the spears to take out some of the soldiers but a loud shattering of glasses can be heard from above us. I quickly turned my gaze upwards and saw two dark figures leaping down. Both of them were wearing some mask. Is Anbu trying to save us? They landed in front of me and Lily which made the soldiers backed off a little. Who are these hooded figures? Are they here to help or kidnap us?

    They tossed a small bag towards Lily and whispered something extremely softly. I am certain her sensitive elven ears caught what was being said. Lily immediately grabbed my hand and turned her gaze at me. She deliberately closed her eyes and puffed out her cheeks. That was¡ª the most adorable thing I had ever seen, but I doubt she is acting this way on purpose. I have to hold myself back from pinching her cheeks as I knew she was asking me to follow her actions without speaking to me.

    A couple of objects dropped from above. Oh boy, I know what those are. Flash and stink bombs were being thrown in batches. I better get a breath of fresh air while I still can!

    The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    Boom boom boom!!

    Loud explosions erupted around us as the bombs detonated. The soldiers who were caught off guard were either blinded or ran away, desperate for fresh air. There is no way they can react properly under such conditions.

    My eyes flung opened when I was suddenly dragged along by Lily. We followed after those two hooded figures who seems to know where they were going. Who are these people? Why are they helping us and how did they know that I was about to be captured? Their timing was impeccable which made me suspicious of them.

    We ran along the corridors of the castle. I felt lost as I never had the chance to explore inside this castle much. I hated the Queen so there was not much reason for me to explore this castle in the first place. Glad these hooded figures knew where they were going. Hang on, do they really? It looked like a dead-end up ahead. There is nothing but a window at the end. Are they expecting us to jump out of the castle when we are a few storeys high?!

    One of the hooded figure threw something heavy that smashed the window apart. Ever tried running and slamming yourself onto a glass thinking that you can break it with your weight? Yeah, that doesn''t really work.

    "Jump out and grab on!" shouted one of the hooded figure.

    Footsteps can be heard behind us. The soldiers sure acted quickly despite the distractions that the hooded figures caused. Lily leapt out of the window first and I followed behind. Everything seems to slow down for me as I leapt out the window after Lily. My brain processor must be running on full load currently as I process what the hooded figure told me. It turns out there was a white rope prepared for us to slide down from above. The people who threw the bombs must had prepared the rope in advance.

    The rope burn hurts like hell as I slid down to ground level but I shook it off. Now, where to? The hooded figures continued to lead us further away from the castle. That was surprisingly easy. We managed to leave the castle without so much as a scratch. Who are these people and how did they planned all of these so quickly?

    ***

    We continued towards the Southern entrance where we stopped by a safehouse. Some of the hooded figures scouted ahead to ensure there were no surprises awaiting for us at the Southern entrance. Although I am pretty certain that soldiers had already blocked all the major entrances by now.

    The safehouse was small. Only a few of the hooded figures stayed with us inside this building. We were hiding inside a small room when Lily approached one of the hooded figure and whispered something. The hooded figure nodded to her and proceeded to head out of the room. What did she tell that person?

    "Close your eyes, Zen," ordered Lily.

    ¡°H¡ª huh?" I uttered. I was caught off guard by her sudden choice of words.

    "Close your eyes unless you want to see me change," she sighed.

    She started stripping without waiting for me. I quickly closed my eyes and turn my back towards her as I sat on the floor with my arms folded. I had already worn my gauntlets and cloak by now. I started thinking about the situation that I¡¯m in currently. If it was really Pietro who leaked my name, why did he took this long to reveal it? Our secret quest was months ago and I¡¯m certain the Queen would not had taken this long to arrest me. Something must have happened for the Queen to find out. It might not even be Pietro that exposed my name. But I don¡¯t have any other suspects thus far. Hmm¡ª

    Lily hugged me from behind which made me opened my eyes. Is she hurt or something?

    "What''s wrong, Lily? You ok?" I asked her without turning my head to look.

    It seems like she had changed to her adventurer outfit along with her gauntlets. Yes, the outfit that showed her belly area. What ridiculously unprotective gear that she¡¯s wearing. I should get her a more proper clothing to protect all the parts of her body.

    "Sorry that your name got exposed, Zen. Now you can¡¯t even live in this city anymore," whispered Lily.

    ¡®What''re you sorry about? It¡¯s not your fault anyway. You didn''t expose my name, right?" I asked her.

    "Of course! I would never. To think that you would even suspect me for exposing your name," she felt dejected.

    "Hey hey¡ª I did not. You said you were sorry which caught me off guard. I never suspected you in the first place. I had other people in mind that I¡¯m suspicious of. Really," I explained to her.

    We kept quiet as we tried to hear the things that were happening around us. Even with my normal human ears, I can hear plenty of commotions happening outside. Soldiers were shouting and running about; innocent people can be heard screaming and seeking cover or hiding in their houses; soldiers banging on doors ordering them to open so they can inspect inside. It was only a matter of time before I¡¯m found inside the city.

    "Where can I even go?" I uttered out loud without even realising it.

    "I''m bringing you to the elven forest. You can seek shelter there until you decide where to go," answered Lily.

    ¡°E¡ª Elven forest? Am I even allowed to go there?" I asked while being surprised by her suggestion. That was the last place in my mind that I was considering to seek shelter in.

    "Perhaps. You alone should be fine. But if you''re thinking about¡ª¡° she was cut short as we heard someone knocking on the main door. That¡¯s odd. Soldiers should be banging on the door instead of knocking so softly. Who is on the opposite side?

    I put all my focus into hearing what¡¯s the commotion about. I think I heard something like "go in" and "she can be trusted" or something. Our room door opened and standing there was Rose with her hugging Inazuma and Tengu-kaze.

    Wait a minute, she can carry them?! I thought legendary items were damnable objects that doesn¡¯t simply allow other people to touch them? No wait, that¡¯s not even the most important question, how did Rose even find me here in the first place yet alone bring my weapons to me?

    She rushed in and handed my weapons to me quickly. I wanted to ask her on how she found us but she shushed me and told me her side story immediately.

    "We don''t have much time. Soldiers are spreading throughout the city looking for you, Onii-chan. The guilds are doing whatever they can to stall them while not exposing themselves. You need to get out of the city before it¡¯s too late," she explained.

    ¡°How¡ª did you know about all of the things that are happening? It was not long ago that my name was exposed," I asked her.

    "The guilds had already caught wind of this before they even brought you to the castle. They already have a plan in place should your name ever got exposed. This plan was just waiting to happen on a moment¡¯s notice, Onii-chan," she explained.

    Wait what? I turned my gaze towards Lily and she sort of nodded. Why am I the only one who didn''t know about this?!

    "Where will you be going, Onii-chan? The Eastern continent?" Rose asked.

    "I was thinking the same but Lily suggested to bring me elsewhere," I explained.

    "I¡¯ll be bringing Zen to the Elven Forest which is south of here. It¡¯s going to be some journey there but if we get a head start and use the cover of the forest, the soldiers should not be able to outrun us or escape our traps emplacements," said Lily.

    "Should he wish to head to the Eastern continent after, that¡¯s up to him. But he will need to use our ships to sneak across safely. Our ship can submerge and sail across without being detected," she continued.

    I certainly remembered the elven ship that brought me to the City of Underwater Marrydia. Who could forget such a crazy experience?

    "Can I¡ª come along? I wish to follow him," asked Rose.

    "I¡¯m sorry, Rose. I¡¯m sure I can bring one person into the Elven forest but I cannot be certain they would be willing to accept two humans seeking shelter there. We elves are quite¡ª secretive about our forest¡¯s secrets," said Lily.

    The both of them stared at each other for a couple of minutes. Rose walked towards Lily and held both her hands.

    "Please take good care of my older brother. He might be a bit useless at a couple of things, but he¡¯s a good person," Rose bowed to her.

    "I will, Rose. Leave your brother to me. I promise that I''ll keep him safe," answered Lily.

    Why does it seems as though a mother handing over her child to someone else for marriage? I¡¯m not being given away right now, am I?

    Rose whispered something to Lily to which she flustered and said "No, no, NO!" out loudly. Lily proceeded to whisper back to Rose in turn to which she gave a loud "Ehh?!" and squinted at my direction. What the hell are these two even talking about.

    "I can''t believe you, Onii-chan. Is there someone else that we don''t know about?" asked Rose.

    "Huh? What are you saying?" I was confused with her question.

    As she wanted to reply, we heard another knocking outside. Lily put her ears against the door to hear. I dragged Rose to the opposite side and gave her a hug.

    "Rose, this is where we part ways for now. I will come back for you. Please¡ª stay with your guild as much as possible and don''t get caught by the soldiers. I shudder to think what they¡¯ll do to you since they know you¡¯re my little sister. You must stay safe," I hugged her tighter as I¡¯m so worried to leave her alone.

    "Don''t worry, Onii-chan. I know what I need to do. I will find Pietro and interrogate him. He¡¯s the only one that I do not trust. Leave it to me, onii-chan. And farewell," she whispered back.

    The door opened and the hooded figures gestured for us to go. I nodded to them and whispered to Rose.

    "Here is some money, take it. Should you need more, you know where to find it. I love you, Rose. Take care and¡ª sayonara,¡± I whispered and rushed out the door.

    The last thing I heard from Rose was an "Eh?" before I left the room with Lily behind. The hooded figures gave a quick check and ushered us out the main door. They immediately started running with us following behind their tails. There were a couple of hooded figures located strategically at some key locations above the rooftops that pointed the way for us or telling us when to stop. It was not long until we reached the Southern entrance. Unfortunately and as expected, it was fully barricaded. Seems like the soldiers won¡¯t be letting anyone out of the city any longer. How do we escape now?

    The hooded figures led us to another area that was quite some distance away from the entrance. We were facing a part of the wall that surrounds the city. Are they expecting me to climb up this wall? How am I going to get down even if I managed to climb? I am not as nimble as Lily to be able to climb a wall vertically with such height. The hooded figures started pushing at the bottom part of the wall. A chunk of a rectangular shaped rock was pushed outwards. It was not tall enough for us to crouch through so we will have to get through by crawling. Lily went first while I followed behind after her. I didn¡¯t even realised that I was looking directly at Lily''s butt. I slapped myself to force myself to focus on the more important things right now. Now is not the time, Mister Zen.

    Once we were on the other side of the wall, the hooded figures asked us to push back the carved rock. He told us that the bushes near the entrance are the only thing preventing us from being spotted. When that¡¯s over, we will have to leg it to the forbidden forest. Once we head over there, they will be some people waiting for us. I told them not to worry as the forbidden forest is my turf. I survived there for so long without even realising that it was forbidden.

    Lily and I sneaked as best as we could using the cover of the bushes until we reached the end of the trail. From here on out, we will have to run all with all our might. The soldiers will definitely see us running and will be calling for reinforcements to follow after us. I turn my gaze back to the city one last time and whispered to myself "Goodbye, Rose" and started running after Lily who had already dashed ahead. Little did I know that I won''t be seeing Rose for a very long time.

 Chapter 30: Exiled [MOON]

    Chapter 30: Exiled [MOON]

    ¡°So, uh¡ª the last few chapters were pretty intense, huh?¡± I asked Daisy.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t know daddy was such a playboy,¡± she answered.

    ¡°Do tell, I didn¡¯t know about so many things either,¡± said someone behind me.

    Gah! It¡¯s my wife. I totally didn¡¯t realised that she was behind me listening to the story.

    ¡°Well um, I might have said a little too much on the details. You¡¯ll forgive me, right? It¡¯s all in the past,¡± I started sweating buckets. I can feel my pants getting wet from all the forming sweats.

    ¡°Oh don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll forgive you. Do continue your story and don¡¯t skip on any juicy bits,¡± said my wife with a scary expression. I might have to sleep on the couch tonight. Please lord, have mercy on my pitiful soul.

    ¡°Alright, the next part story is going to be start of the Moon section. This will be the last part of the story until the very end. Get ready your harness because it¡¯s gonna be a roller coaster ride,¡± I told them excitedly.

    Both of them stared at me with a confused look. I forgot that I start spouting nonsense when I get excited. I really need to keep myself in check and stop blabbering things that doesn¡¯t make sense.

    ¡°Mommy, why does daddy always say weird things that makes no sense?¡± asked my daughter.

    ¡°It¡¯s his curse, my little Daisy. He tend to says weird things that no one seems to understand. Sometimes when I ask him on what it is, even he doesn¡¯t know about it either. I¡¯m glad you don¡¯t have his curse, my child,¡± said my wife as she patted Daisy¡¯s head.

    ¡°Do you really have to put it like that, my dear wifey?¡± I asked with a pitiful face.

    ¡°Are you gonna start your story, or do you want to sleep outside tonight?¡± she smiled dangerously at me.

    Hie! Alright I better start now before my death approaches. But where do I begin? Hmm¡ª

    ***

    I yawned even though it was still morning. Things had relatively calmed down after a few years passed. I still remembered that night when I just enlisted as a soldier the day before. We were all suddenly ordered to search the entire City Of Pines just to look for this Zen Hawthorn fella. But we ended up finding nothing even after many nights of searching. He must had escaped way before we even began searching. According to some soldiers, they saw a couple who fits the description fleeing from the city in the cover of night. But they weren¡¯t the only escapees reported leaving. Despite our best efforts to put the whole city on lockdown, there were still some people who managed to sneak out.

    I am certain that this Hawthorn guy had already left the city a long time ago. Why would he continue staying here when he¡¯s literally the most wanted person in the city? But honestly speaking, why was he even a wanted person in the first place? I asked so many of my colleagues and commanding officers and all them just said ¡°Queen¡¯s orders¡±and shrugged. What the hell are his charges exactly?

    According to all the guilds that the soldiers interrogated, he was just an accomplished adventurer. Some even called him a hero. The Dark and Viking guild in particular was not happy to see us at all. An all out war between the soldiers and these two guilds almost erupted that night. I¡¯m so glad it did not occurred as there was no way we soldiers would not stand a chance against them.

    I yawned once more. There was barely any foot traffic ever since the city went on full lockdown. Many people were avoiding City Of Pines now that the Queen ordered every single person that wishes to enter the city to be checked for verification and their belongings searched. As though he will want to come back here. I most certainly won¡¯t, if I were him. The Queen single-handedly made the city unbearable to visit or enter due to such restrictions in place. Traders would rather head towards the port or other locations within this continent than to come here. Of course the Queen would not allow the city to be devoid of any trading. She ensured that a few of the traders to do their tradings exclusively here by offering them attractive prices compared to anywhere else on this continent. Otherwise, this would be a dead city by now with such horrible economy. All these trouble just for one guy.

    At least the adventurer guilds are still in good business. Blooming in demand, I would say. There was no shortage of monsters at all. As a matter of fact, it would seemed as though more monsters were starting to lurk closer to our city as of late. Maybe the adventurers were not doing their jobs as a form of retaliation. This means that us soldiers would have to pick up their slacks! Hell no, I don¡¯t wanna to fight monsters. I didn¡¯t sign up to fight those things. Those adventurers are nuts for even considering to fight such menacing creatures.

    I yawned out loud once again. What a hot summer. I hope this day would end quicker so I can dip into a nice cold bath at the end of the day.

    ¡°If you yawn once more, just one more time, I swear I¡¯ll sock you in the nuts,¡± grumbled Jim.

    He was my partner today. We were both tasked with guarding the Southern entrance. Not that he¡¯s the only one stationed here though but he happened to the one standing next to me.

    ¡°Sorry, didn¡¯t slept well yesterday,¡± I said to him.

    ¡°I don¡¯t care what happened. If you keep yawning, you¡¯re gonna make me sleepy too, so stop it,¡± he scolded.

    He¡¯s right though. I should stop yawning and focus on my job. I removed my helmet to clapped my face cheeks. Hopefully that¡¯s good enough to keep myself awake. But I don¡¯t know how long that¡¯ll last before I start to feel bored again. I wish something exciting would happen today.

    Just then, someone can be seen walking towards the city from the main road. Is he planning to enter? Not to mention he¡¯s wearing a black cloak. Uh¡ª that¡¯s not good. The person we¡¯re searching for is fond of wearing a black cloak. Please don¡¯t be him. Please don¡¯t be him!

    All of us stood to attention at the sight of this person. We couldn¡¯t see his face as he covered it with his hood. If this is really him, we are screwed. I can literally see dark aura flowing behind him as he approached us. This isn¡¯t good. Jim started shouting at him.

    ¡°Who goes there? Show your face before approaching any closer!¡± he shouted at the hooded figure.

    He ignored us and continued to walk closer to all of us. We held our spears and sword at this individual approaching us. The situation is getting even more tensed the closer he approached with every step. Damn it, why the hell did I wish for something exciting to happen?! Screw my life!

    All of us could only stare at this individual who continued to walk closer while ignoring all of our orders. He stopped short of our spear pointed end and removed his hood. What the hell, this person is stupidly handsome. This is definitely not the person we¡¯re looking for. All of us held out our hand-drawn poster of Zen Hawthorn. He only has minimal resemblance to this wanted person. There is the lazy hair standing up. But his face features are not even remotely close. This person is also much taller that the person we are looking for.

    ¡°State your business, designation and name,¡± I asked him.

    ¡°Looking for a job with the adventurer¡¯s guild. Designation, Dark Wanderer. Name¡ª Soong Jean-Wuu,¡± he answered.

    This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

    ***

    ¡°Pfffttt¡ª AHAHAHAHAHA!!!!,¡± my wife started laughing uncontrollably.

    Both Daisy and I just stared at her while she continued to laugh.

    ¡°Ahhh yes, YES! I remember you using that undercover name before! Ahahahaha!!¡± she continued to laugh uncontrollably.

    ¡°What¡¯s so funny, mommy?¡± asked Daisy.

    ¡°Ahh¡ª I¡¯m sorry, Daisy. The undercover name that your daddy uses is not a name that we use in this world. We often used flowers, plants or trees as part of our name. But your daddy here decided to use some weird ass name that was completely unheard of. Seriously, why use that name, Zen?¡± she asked as she wiped away the happy tears at the edge of her eyes.

    ¡°H¡ª hey, that is a famous name, alright? He was a cool general who often wore black and could control armies. I just¡ª forgot how to spell his name but I remembered it being something like that,¡± I explained to her.

    ¡°Famous in where exactly? None of us had ever heard of such a name before. He certainly didn¡¯t exist in this world. Are you sure this is not one of your curse again?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Y¡ª yes, I¡¯m sure. It is a famous name that everyone knew. Can I continue with the story now?¡± I squinted at her.

    ¡°Yes, you may. Sorry for interrupting. I just couldn¡¯t help it,¡± she fixed her posture as she almost started laughing again.

    I squinted at her again before I started. How dare you laugh at that name. I worshipped that guy, damn it. Or at the very least, I think so? My mind is getting more and more muddled as I grow older. Old age must have been catching up to me even though I still looked young.

    ***

    ¡°W¡ª what kind of name is that? You¡¯re messing with us, aren¡¯t you?!¡± I demanded him to explain.

    ¡°It¡¯s the name that my father gave me. If you have qualms with it then take it up with him. I am fed-up with people constantly questioning my name. And I¡¯m also unarmed with no weapons with me. Do you soldiers point your weapons at an unarmed man these days?¡± he gave us a scary glare.

    Is it just me or did his eyes glowed earlier? We really shouldn¡¯t mess with him any longer. And it would appear what he said was true, I don¡¯t see any weapons on him.

    ¡°S¡ª sure. You don¡¯t look like the person we are looking for so you may enter. Do not cause any trouble while you¡¯re in there,¡± said Jim.

    ¡°I won¡¯t. Once I¡¯m done, I¡¯ll be leaving here soon,¡± he replied.

    He walked past us and I swear I can literally see dark auras leaking out of him. All the hairs on my forearm and behind my neck was standing when he walked by me. He could had taken all of us out if he wanted to despite being unarmed. I certainly do not want any trouble with this person. The further he is from us, the better.

    We thought he would be going straight to the adventurer¡¯s guild but he stopped at the information board and stared at a specific scroll hung up there. He grabbed the scroll and came running back to us. Why the hell are you coming back?!

    ¡°Is this tournament still available for registration?¡± he asked us.

    ¡°I thought you said you¡¯ll be leaving as soon as you are done with the adventurer¡¯s guild?!¡± questioned Jim.

    ¡°Y¡ª yes, the registration is still available and you can register yourself at the townhouse. It¡¯s in the middle of the city that looks like a church,¡± I stuttered.

    ¡°Thank you, I won¡¯t bother you guys any longer,¡± said the wanderer. After he walked away and out of sight, Jim came up to me and shouted at me.

    ¡°Why did you tell him how to register?! I wanted him out of this city immediately!¡± shouted Jim.

    ¡°You should be thanking him instead. That guy gives me the creeps. The further he¡¯s from us the better. Good thinking there lad,¡± said one of the other soldier that was stationed with us.

    I heaved a sigh of relief. I really hope that guy wouldn¡¯t be causing any trouble at the tournament. I do not want to try and apprehend that guy or even go near him.

    ***

    Onii-chan, what are you doing right now? I miss you. It¡¯s been so long since you left this city. You told me you''ll come back for me but it¡¯s been close to four years now. Even Lily is back inside the city but you¡¯re still nowhere to be found. Just¡ª where are you right now?

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Rose? Deep in thoughts?¡± asked Lily.

    ¡°Y¡ª yeah. You know the reason why, Lil¡ª I mean Daisy,¡± I sighed.

    Lily came back to the city about a year ago. I was fully expecting her to return with a big belly or holding a child; telling me that it belonged to my brother. But surprisingly she came back looking all fit. She changed her identity and her face features. She wore her contact glasses exclusively, cut off her long ponytail and dyed her hair completely blond. Even I was surprised when she suddenly tapped on my shoulder one day and whispered to me on who she was.

    Her guild had helped her in modifying most of her details and records that it was next to impossible for the soldiers to identify her. She is now under the guise of another daughter of the Moonshine family. We now have to address her as Daisy Moonshine as part of her undercover. And we are best friends, almost like my real older sister. I interrogated her when she revealed herself to me, asking her what they did together during those three years and whether they are officially dating. She explained that they only trained together for two years before he went and left to the Eastern continent. But she did not elaborate on what they did together during the two years. Although she promised me that they are certainly not together. I guess I should be able to trust her on that.

    ¡°He¡¯s fine. Don¡¯t worry about him. He¡¯ll be back any day now. I hope,¡± she smiled awkwardly.

    ¡°So you say. But at least you were with him for two years. Me, on the other hand, had not seen him in four years,¡± I sighed out loud.

    Lily returned to the city because there were a few things she needed to do. She explained to me that my brother was not just in hiding and sitting idly for the past four years. I should prepare myself for what¡¯s about to come. But damn it, where the hell are you? You¡¯re not even dating Lily so are you fooling around with other women? I am officially 17 now. You told me you will give me an answer when I¡¯m 16. I¡¯ve grown more matured and I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll lose to Lily in terms of sexiness. And what¡¯s the meaning of your last words to me before you left? Is it your way to ensure that I shouldn¡¯t find someone else or something? I¡¯ve turned down so many men that approached me with the intention of dating. Argh!!

    I unconsciously started pulling my hair while Lily was staring at me with an awkward smile.

    ¡°Rose, you¡¯re in the tournament as me, right? Let¡¯s check out who are the competitors this year,¡± said Lily as she tried to comfort me.

    I sighed loudly and stare at the list. Hmm¡ª just the usual competitors so far. Nothing worth noting. I was the running champion for two years until Lily came back. She beat me after catching me off guard. I was not expecting her to be this strong after just three years. I didn¡¯t slack off in training myself for the past four years, but her growth in strength was tremendous. I¡¯m certainly curious on what training she underwent while she was away. Is Onii-chan even stronger than Lily? So much for being called a prodigy.

    ¡°I won¡¯t lose to you this time, Daisy. You better be ready,¡± I declared to her.

    ¡°You bet, I¡¯m definitely looking forward to sparring with you again, Rose,¡± she smirked.

    I turn my gaze to the list again and spotted something. Hmm? What¡¯s this? An outsider? It had always been exclusively between the adventurer guilds every year. Who is this outsider that is willing to enter this city when it¡¯s still under lockdown and not to mention, participate in this tournament?! This is way too suspicious.

    I called Lily over and asked her about this outsider. She squinted her eyes and scratched her head. She whispered to me that this is most probably my brother in disguised as no one else can think of such a weird name. After spending two years with my brother, I¡¯m certain she had experienced her fair share of weird things that he can think of. Soong Jean-Wuu was the name written next to his Dark Wanderer designation. My brother is finally back in the city and the first thing he does is participate in the tournament without even searching for your little sister first?! I¡¯ll show him tomorrow. You don¡¯t abandon your sister like this!

    ***

    The following day arrived and I have bags under my eyes. I barely even slept properly as all I thought of the whole night was him. Lily was getting concerned over me but I told her not to worry. I can spar my best today after finding out who this outsider is.

    All the competitors sat together but I still don¡¯t see him. Only those in round one and two have to get ready. I sat with Lily as it was not our turn yet. Having been champions, we have the luxury of competing with only the victor of today. This means that I will only need to spar with the victor and should I win, I¡¯ll be able to spar with Lily after having lost to her last year. While it¡¯s not really fair for the newcomers, it is more grandiose to those who are watching. Lily made the whole arena roared with cheers having beaten me even though she had been sparring with the others from the start.

    This outsider will be competing first as he is not part of any guild. He will have to compete with more opponents since there are no guild that assigning him the best person to compete with. This tournament is mostly for the spectator¡¯s entertainment rather than showing your full strength. That is the sad reality check here.

    Oh, here he comes. A guy wearing a black cloak. That¡¯s definitely him! Pull down your damn hoody, Onii-chan! I know that¡¯s you!

    However¡ª this person is tall. He might even be taller than me. Onii-chan had always been the shortest among the four of us. This might not be him after all. I whispered to Lily asking her about what she thinks but she was confused as well. The last time she saw him, he was still shorter than her. Hmm.

    His opponent is a member of the Viking guild. Nothing noteworthy of him but he is at the rank of Twin Axe. Let¡¯s see if this outsider is really Onii-chan. This person should be a piece of cake to win if it¡¯s really him. I wonder if John is watching this tournament as well. He should be sitting among the guildmasters in some glass room above with a clear view of the arena.

    ¡°Ladies and gentlemen! I bring you¡ª the 75th annual battle tournament!!¡± shouted the announcer. He was holding a large megaphone which amplified his voice.

    ¡°In this corner, we have Balgruuf who is at the rank of Twin Axe! He is known for his aggressive style which continuously attacks his opponent with his signature two axes!¡± shouted the announcer.

    ¡°And in this corner, after a long time, we finally have an outsider who wishes to challenge the adventurers guild!¡± he continued.

    Roar of applause can be heard throughout the arena. There is certainly more spectators here compared to last year. This is must be due to Lily beating me last year and a lot of them wished to see me fighting her again.

    ¡°Are you ready, folks? Because it does not matter, as it starts¡ª right¡ª now!!¡± shouted the announcer as he rung the bell that went ding ding ding.

    I was fully expecting Balgruuf to charge towards his opponent like what he did with both me and Lily. He was always really aggressive with his attacks. However¡ª he¡¯s not moving. In fact, it looks as though he is shaking. What¡¯s going on?

    The crowds had stopped cheering and started wondering what was happening. The entire arena was silence as the both of them stared at each other. You can literally hear the crickets chirping in the background.

    ¡°Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!¡± screamed Balgruuf as he suddenly ran off the arena zone.

    W¡ª what in the world just happened? Balgruuf had always been fearless yet he ran away screaming like a little girl? Who the hell is this guy?! Did he used Fear spell on him? But he is at the rank of Twin Axe! There is no Fear spell that is that intense to scare off such a strong opponent.

    The arena remained quiet despite what happened. Even the announcer was speechless at what just happened. It took all of us a couple of seconds to fully understand what just happened.

    ¡°T.. our winner is the outsider! What flawless victory he obtained by scaring off his opponent without even lifting a finger!¡± shouted the announcer.

    Some applause could be heard throughout the arena but it was barely audible. I am sure the spectators were expecting something a little more¡ª exciting but instead, one of them ran away like a coward. There is no entertainment value in that.

    ¡°Will this outsider be the champion for this year? Or will Daisy Moonshine maintain herself as the running champion? What about Rose Starr? Will she make her comeback this year and reclaim her victory over Daisy?! Stay tuned folks as we bring in the next round of competitors!¡± shouted the announcer. But his megaphone was snatched by the outsider. What in the world is this person doing?

    ¡°Now that was rather anti-climactic, isn¡¯t it folks? To all the guildmasters listening from up there. How about we spice things up a bit?¡± said the outsider.

    ¡°Send in three of your best adventurers and I¡¯ll fight against them together. Should I win, I¡¯ll fight with both previous and current champions at the same time. How about that folks?!¡± he shouted to the crowd.

    W¡ª what the hell did he just say? Is this outsider insane?!

 Chapter 31: Outsider [MOON]

    Chapter 31: Outsider [MOON]

    Is this guy stupid or something? Who does he even think he is? You think the guildmasters will even entertain your selfish request? This guy is definitely not Onii-chan. He¡¯s not that foolish. This guy is just beyond help.

    ¡°No¡ª this is something that he¡¯ll definitely do,¡± uttered Lily.

    ¡°W¡ª what? Are you serious? Onii-chan has never acted so arrogant before! This cannot be him. I¡¯m ain¡¯t believing this is him until I see this face. This person is not acting like him at all,¡± I crossed my arms.

    ¡°One thing I didn¡¯t tell you, Rose, is that your brother is insanely strong right now. Even while we were training in the elven forest which is my turf, I had never been able to beat him even once. It was like something changed in him after being exiled. Who knows how much stronger he had gotten after two years in the Eastern continent,¡± explained Lily.

    ¡°Yet you beat me with ease as well. I guess I can hand over my prodigy title to him now. Har har,¡± I laughed with sarcasm.

    ¡°You just need the right teacher to bring out your full potential. You might need to travel elsewhere to search though. I doubt there is anyone in this continent is good enough to teach you,¡± she continued.

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s get back on topic. How certain are you that this guy is him? He looked unarmed. I don¡¯t see him carrying any weapons at all. If this is Onii-chan, did he abandoned all his weapons? His precious legendary weapons?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°Hm, that is odd indeed. Zen always brought along his four weapons no matter where he went. Inazuma, Tengu-kaze, his gauntlets and the elven dagger that I blessed for him,¡± answered Lily with a thinking face.

    ¡°You¡ª blessed the elven dagger for him? Did you like, sprinkle some water on it for him or something?¡± I chuckled.

    ¡°Oh no, I just needed to hold his¡ª ahh, never mind. It was just a simple process. Think nothing of it¡± she smiled awkwardly. Hmm, like what Onii-chan used to say. Very sus indeed.

    I wonder what the guildmasters are going to do. Will they actually entertain him or will they ignore his request? Ah, someone opened the window of the guildmasters glass chamber. It would appear they have a megaphone of their own too.

    ¡°Outsider, if you¡¯re that confident in yourself then we shall honour your request. You shall be fighting with three of our selected adventurers. Should you win, then you can challenge our two great champions. However, should you fail to claim victory in any of the match, you will be barred from this city forever. We do not tolerate such arrogance inside this city and there will be consequences for it. However, should you win all the matches, we will kneel before you as a sign of respect of your strength. What say you, Mister Outsider? Dare to pick up the challenge?¡± smirked the Paladin Lord.

    I am surprised that my guildmaster would be the one announcing. You would think that John will be the one speaking as he¡¯s the youngest among them. But hold up, what did he just say? They are actually entertaining his request? How absurd.

    Who¡¯s gonna be sparring with him then? Fighting three strong opponents at the same time is not an easy feat on it¡¯s own. Not even I can do it. You¡¯re talking about elite veterans that had served the guild for many years. Their combat experience alone is enough to deter many into thinking about fighting them one-on-one. I am certain that all of them, at the very least had experienced in fighting a dragon throughout their length of service.

    Looks like the first veteran is up. Wade, huh? As expected. He gave me quite a bit of trouble when we sparred last time. His spear can lengthen and shorten at will which catches you off guard easily. Along with his unpredictable combat style, he was certainly troublesome to fight with. Who¡¯s next then? Ah, Jorge from the Viking guild. I thought John would had been tempted to join the sparring as he was always looking for tough opponents but I guess that would be too entertaining for the crowd. Jorge is definitely one of the strongest in the Viking guild. He is the perfect tanker that can really take on a lot of punishment. He¡¯s probably one of the very few person that can actually withstand Lily¡¯s punches. He¡¯s also one of the few Viking that doesn¡¯t use an axe exclusively. He favours using a shield and a small axe instead. His shield certainly gave mesome problem as it was pretty large and difficult to pierce through but once you figure out his weak-spots, it was easy to avoid it. Who¡¯s the last person then?

    W¡ª wait, what? Rhododendron is the last person? He was the running champion before I took over his position. This outsider is in for a trashing of his life. Who knew that a Dark guild member would be a long running champion for many years until I took over from him. He is strong for sure. Certainly the toughest Dark Knight I ever fought against. He really showed me the reason why he was reigning champion for such a long time and not some fluke.

    The announcer came on stage but the three members waved him away. They asked for his megaphone instead.

    ¡°Last chance to surrender, lad,¡± said Jorge.

    ¡°You sure are tough, I¡¯ll give you that. Never did I seen Balgruuf running scared at anyone before. Not even my Fear spell can send him packing like a little girl,¡± said Rhododendron.

    The outsider yawned at them. Are you being serious? There is a limit to how cocky you can be. You better not be my brother in disguise. I don¡¯t have such a disrespectful brother!

    ¡°Let¡¯s start. I¡¯m itching to beat the shit out of this outsider,¡± said Wade as he threw the megaphone back to the announcer.

    The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

    All three of them got their weapons ready. The next few milliseconds were unbelievable. The outsider literally vanished from my sight as I blinked. The next moment, he gave a palm strike to Jorge¡¯s shield which was surprisingly strong enough to push him out of the arena ring. I might have been mistaken but I thought I saw a familiar gauntlets appearing on his fist. The next moment, he gave an elbow strike towards Wade which he managed to block but was not expecting a successive punch that came along with it. He too flew out of the arena ring. Rhododendron was the last one standing but he didn¡¯t managed to react in time to save them. He finally start to move and swung his sword towards the outsider with his Dark Slash spell. But the outsider had already predicted the move and blocked with his gauntlets and slammed his palm onto Rhododendron¡¯s face. Ouch, that got to hurt. What is happening to his gauntlets? One moment it was there and the next moment it was gone. All it took was three heartbeats and he took down three of the most elite adventurers. Just one heartbeat each. This outsider is ridiculously strong. I doubt the spectators even understood what just happened. How the hell did this guy beat all three of them while being unarmed? Onii-chan, are you really that strong now?

    I turn my gaze towards Lily with a surprised pikachu face. How are we gonna beat this guy?! She responded the exact same as me with her mouth opened. The both of us sighed at the same time. I guess we better get ready to head down then. And here I thought that we can compete with each other to figure out once and for all who is stronger. So much for preparing myself during that one year. But perhaps I can take it out on this outsider. I hope we don¡¯t suffer as much humiliation as those three. I thought the outsider was just being cocky but who knew he would actually be this strong.

    ***

    Both Lily and I got down to the arena. She had changed her gauntlets to a much stronger one after she returned back to the city. I definitely don¡¯t want to get punched by her as it¡¯ll hurt real bad. Even a glancing blow from her punch cuts through my flesh the last time I sparred with her. I shudder to think what a direct hit would do to your bones.

    I had upgraded my rapier to a superior version too. This one was made with a much stronger steel that is capable of piercing through rocks or tree trunks with ease. While it might not be able to pierce the Underwater Dragon King¡¯s scales but it is certainly much stronger, durable and lighter than my previous one.

    ¡°Are you all ready folks? What an unexpected turn of events! To think both champions will be showing this outsider his place. Will he actually win or will he finally allow us to resume our regularly scheduled event? Let us show this outsider that he doesn¡¯t mess with our adventurer guilds! Rose and Daisy, show him everything you got!¡± shouted the announcer. Geez, he sure is noisy.

    We both readied our stance. I still cannot see his face clearly as he pulled down his hood really low. How can he even see anything? I thought Lily would had rushed to attack him but she seems to be taking extra caution against him.

    ¡°W¡ª would you mind taking off your hood?¡± I asked him.

    ¡°Hm? Oh, how about you make me instead?¡± he smirked. Arrogant bastard, I won¡¯t have mercy on you!

    I thought of rushing towards him with my rapier but I stopped myself from doing something rash. He decided to show us his eyes now. It¡¯s¡ª glowing. Is that¡ª no, it can¡¯t be¡ª Concentration? This guy can use Concentration?! Shit, this isn¡¯t good. I tried learning it myself but I had no idea where to even begin. John seemed to have skipped this and went straight to using Bloodlust but even he was just getting the gist of using it. He couldn¡¯t explain how he even managed to achieve his Higher State Of Mind. All he remembered was feeling sorrow and anger at the thought of Lily¡¯s death.

    Hang on¡ª what is that behind him? What is with that aura? That¡ª is scary. I can¡¯t stop shaking myself. What the hell is going on?!

    I turned my head slowly to see how Lily is faring. One of her hand was shaking uncontrollably but she held it with her other arm. This is not your normal Fear spell, this is like the end of everything. No wonder Balgruuf ran away. Every inch of my soul is telling me to run away!

    Calm yourself, Rose. Calm yourself! This is all just an illusion. It¡¯s not real. But shit, I still cannot stop myself from shaking. My mind is registering that it isn¡¯t real but my body still refuses to listen to me. I can feel my legs giving way and the entrance to the exit is starting to look really appealing now.

    Slap!

    W¡ª what was that? That sounded at my side. I turned my gaze towards Lily and it would appear that she had slapped herself. She continued to slap herself a couple more times and shook her head rapidly. She then performed a few breathing routine similar to what my brother usually does and got herself ready with conviction. I decided to follow after her. I need to keep calm and focus myself if I wish to defeat this outsider.

    The outsider was staring at our reactions to his spell. Is he concerned about us? He even looked like he wanted to help us earlier. We don¡¯t need your help, Mister Outsider. Wait, is he smiling now?

    ¡°Not bad, you two. Not bad at all,¡± he smirked. What an arrogant idiot.

    Lily got ready and dashed towards him. She is definitely not hesitating now. She started with a left hook to which the outsider dodged within a hair¡¯s breadth. Her fists are leaving shockwaves every time she punches. That is one heck of a punch. She then continued with a punch with her right fist. He dodged skilfully once again. He is nimble, I¡¯ll give him that.

    But what he doesn¡¯t know is that I didn¡¯t waste four years of my life doing nothing. I discovered a method to cast two spells simultaneously. By criss-crossing certain words during the chant, I¡¯m able to cast two spells at the same time. I will cast both spells quickly and provide Lily with some backup.

    As I was chanting my spells, it would seemed that he had taken notice of it. He was still dodging Lily¡¯s punches effortlessly. He suddenly grabbed one of Lily¡¯s punch and tossed her towards me. I was not expecting that!

    We collided with each other. Ouch, that hurts! This damn outsider is toying with us. Lily lifted me up by the arm. It seems that she is taking things more seriously now. Maybe I should too. This guy is treating us like a fools instead of the champions that we¡¯re supposed to be. I quickly finished my chanting and casted both Accelerate and Light Blessing at the same time. Lily should be much faster and stronger now but I will be the one that received the highest buffs from both spells. Let¡¯s beat the living shit out of this damned outsider.

    I nodded to Lily and rushed towards our opponent side by side with her taking the lead. Once again Lily¡¯s punches were avoided by him expertly even with my buffs. There, I can see his gauntlets now. It looked as though it¡¯s fading in and out of existence. But I recognise that gauntlets anywhere. This is definitely Onii-chan¡¯s favourite legendary gauntlets. But what¡¯s happening to it? Why does it looked so differently now?

    Lily continued with her punches of fury as I came in to strike his weak-points. How is this guy avoiding all of our attacks?! He casually avoided or guided Lily¡¯s punches away from him while he constantly avoided my fast strikes within a hair¡¯s breadth. At some point, Lily even started using her fire spells. When she swung her arms, there were trails of flames from it. If this hits your eyes, there is a chance you can go blind, which is why the Elemental guild was so strict on their members. I also started using my spells against him. Double stab along with my signature Holy Strike. But none of our attacks are hitting him at all!

    Damn it! This guy is like a cockroach constantly avoiding all of our attacks. We need to stop his movements somehow. He¡¯s not even taking us seriously while I¡¯m fighting him with all I¡¯ve got. Fine then, I will do something stupid that even he won¡¯t be expecting it. I leapt at him and caught his leg. This should immobilise him for a time. Lily didn¡¯t hesitate and went in for a punch fortified with lightning straight to his face.

    What happened next was, once again, unbelievable. The finger tips on his left hand started to glow with purple fire. He lifted it to his right shoulder and shouted ¡°Rend!¡± to which he swung it across his body. Swung? It looked more like he tore through something unreal. A semi-transparent purple cloak draped across his body. It was a very¡ª odd looking cloak. He lifted his left hand to block Lily¡¯s attack. Is he nuts? Lily¡¯s punch is going to break the bones in your arm!

    I was fully expecting to hear bones breaking from the impact of the shockwave but there was absolutely no sound whatsoever. I lifted my gaze and saw Lily¡¯s punch made contact with his arm but¡ª nothing happened? What¡¯s going on?

    ¡°Retreat!¡± shouted Lily.

    I leapt back to a safer position with Lily. What¡¯s with this guy? How did he stopped Lily¡¯s punch as though it was nothing? I don¡¯t believe this. As I tried to figure out on what to do next, he disappeared in a blink of an eye and appeared directly in-front of us as he placed his palm on my stomach. What happened in the span of two seconds was instantaneous. He whispered to us as I can feel his cold palm on my stomach.

    ¡°Very interesting, Rose. Seems like I have something to learn from you. Lily, you have much to improve. You should had followed me to the east instead,¡± whispered the outsider. He then sent both of us flying across the arena zone.

 Chapter 32: Zen Hawthorn [MOON]

    Chapter 32: Zen Hawthorn [MOON]

    O¡ª ouch ouch ouch. That hurts! How can a palm strike have so much force behind it? What happened to Lily? Is she still in the arena? I turned to look around and saw her at my side clutching her stomach. If this person is really Onii-chan then I¡¯m gonna give him a scolding for hurting two beauties! Wait, it¡ª doesn¡¯t hurt anymore? I can stand up now. Odd, I was certain it was painful a moment ago.

    The both of us stood up. We turn our gaze towards the outsider who was standing at the edge of the arena ring smirking at us. He held his hood with his right hand and pulled it backwards to reveal his face.

    W¡ª who the hell is this handsome fella?! There is no way Onii-chan became this handsome in just four years! This person doesn¡¯t even look like him at all!

    ¡°L¡ª Lily? I think we¡¯re mistaken, aren¡¯t we?¡± I uttered to her.

    ¡°Daisy, you meant. But no, I don¡¯t think we are. This is your brother,¡± she explained. How?!

    Sure, this outsider have black hair like Onii-chan, and it would seemed that his signature lazy hair is still there. But¡ª for him to had gotten taller this much? And not to mention with a completely different face that can make any girl¡¯s heart flutter? This is just not him at all.

    It was then all the guildmasters came down to the arena area. All of them stood in a row sideways and kneeled towards this outsider. The outsider bowed back to them in return. John quickly stood up and gave him a brotherly hug. It caught the outsider off guard but returned the hug moments after. Seems like John realised who this person really is.

    ***

    We were gathered in Onii-chan¡¯s room in the Dark Guild. I kept this place clean in the event he returned unexpectedly. I¡¯m so glad the Dark Lord was willing to keep this place occupied in my brother¡¯s name. It feels so surreal that he¡¯s finally back here. For the past four years, every time I opened the door to his room, I prayed to the above that he¡¯ll be there greeting me with a smile. But now, he really is here and not my fickle of my imagination.

    ¡°Thank you, Rose. For keeping my room clean while I was away,¡± he smiled at me.

    This is definitely him. I remembered that warm smile of his that made me fell in love with him. I thought of scolding him or even hitting him for trashing Lily and me earlier. But tears began to form around the edges of my eyes and I started to shed tears uncontrollably as rushed towards him. He accepted my hug and tears as he petted my head. He really is back.

    ¡°Sorry for making you wait so long, Rose. I¡¯m back as promised. You had grown so much over these past four years. You even grew out your hair,¡± he said.

    I cried in his embrace for some time before I recollected myself as I wiped away my remaining tears. Lost myself for a moment there.

    ¡°Welcome back, Zen,¡± smiled Lily. She had shed a bit of tears as well. Is it because of our reunion scene that she was spectating earlier?

    ¡°I¡¯m back, Lily. Thanks for helping me out for the past two years. I really appreciate what you did for me,¡± he bowed to her.

    Lily approached closer to Onii-chan and they embraced one another. For a moment there I thought they were about to kiss.

    ¡°You¡¯ve stopped wearing your glasses? I¡¯ve gotten used in seeing you wearing that for the past two years. I really missed that look of yours,¡± he said.

    Hm? Glasses? Can it be?

    ¡°I can¡¯t wear them, silly. I¡¯ll get recognised immediately. It was your idea to wear it that time,¡± chuckled Lily.

    Ahem!

    I unconsciously coughed out loud which caused them to break their embrace.

    ¡°Are you planning to stay here for long, onii-chan?¡± I asked him.

    ¡°Perhaps just a week then I¡¯ll be leaving. All the plans should be set in motion by then. Come along to the meeting with the guildmasters tomorrow. You should know about the upcoming plans,¡± he explained.

    ¡°Before that, how did you get so handsome? And you grew so much taller in just four years. Did you experienced some growth spurt or something?¡± I questioned him.

    ¡°Oh, this? I¡¯m actually wearing a mask. I can¡¯t reveal my real face unless I want to be caught. And I looked taller is due to these customised shoes. Not good for running though. What¡¯s wrong? Is there something wrong with the mask?¡± he asked as he showed me his shoes.

    ¡°Do you really have to choose one that would gain the attention from any females? Is it not enough that you have both Lily and me?¡± I squinted at him.

    ¡°Huh? Um¡ª Lily was the one who chose this mask,¡± he smiled awkwardly.

    I turn my gaze towards Lily and she started whistling. No wonder. Lily certainly have high taste in men for her to choose this face mask for Onii-chan.

    I heaved a sigh of relief. And here I thought he had modified his face or something. His height didn¡¯t bother me too much though. Guys are generally supposed to be taller anyway.

    ¡°Can I see your real face? I¡¯ve not seen it in years. I miss seeing that old face of yours,¡± I smiled sadly.

    ¡°Hm, you¡¯ll probably get to see it before I leave the city. The thing is, if I were to remove it now, I won¡¯t be able to put it back. It is a one-time use as it''s really delicate,¡± he explained.

    ¡°Alright fine, you win,¡± I sighed.

    He came and petted my head once more before heading towards his room. But I stopped him before he went further.

    ¡°Onii-chan, can I¡ª expect an answer?¡± I asked him curiously.

    He stared at me looking all confused with my question. A light bulb appeared above his head as he smack his palm with his fist. He then proceeded to count his fingers to which he finally realised what I was talking about.

    ¡°Oh, right! You¡¯re seventeen, aren¡¯t you Rose? You''re¡ª really more beautiful and matured now. But¡ª I don''t think I can give you an answer now. I¡¯m really sorry,¡± he sighed.

    I wanted to question him further but Lily placed her hand on my shoulder and shook her head. Is there something going on that I''m not aware about?

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    ¡°Sorry, Rose. I promise that I''ll give a clear answer to both of you when all is done. I need to focus on what needs to be done before I start finding happiness,¡± he explained.

    ¡°And what''s that?¡± I asked.

    ¡°My vengeance,¡± he gritted his teeth.

    ***

    Onii-chan was inside his room doing alchemy. Seems like he needed to create something urgently. Lily, on the other hand, was hanging around in the living room. She said she wanted to stay the night here with us. But where is she going to sleep? With onii-chan? Ain''t no way I''m gonna let that happen.

    ¡°Lily, how about you stay in my room tonight. I can sleep in his room with a futon,¡± I told her.

    ¡°Hm? Oh, no need. I''ve been sleeping at your brother¡¯s side for two years and I''ve pretty much gotten used to it by now,¡± she explained.

    ¡°W¡ª what do you mean? What relationship did you two have? I thought you told me that you weren¡¯t dating him??¡± I questioned her.

    ¡°Um¡ª we¡¯re.. friends? Maybe a little more?¡± she blushed a little.

    ¡°And what do you mean by that?¡± I squinting at her.

    ¡°Rose, you¡¯re sleeping in your room. Lily, you can sleep in mine. I¡¯ll be sleeping on the couch!¡± said Onii-chan as he quickly opened his door.

    Why does it feel as though we¡¯re his harem or something. I¡¯m surprised that he even heard what we were talking about when most of the time, he can barely hear anything when he closed his door unless I shouted to call him.

    ¡°I guess I¡¯ll head out to buy more groceries then. Don¡¯t do anything naughty when I¡¯m not around, Onii-chan,¡± I squinted at him.

    ¡°I won¡¯t. Don¡¯t worry,¡± he sighed.

    I squinted at him as I slowly closed the main door.

    ***

    All of us had our dinner at the dining table. It was dinner time and I cooked us up a feast. Think of it as some sort of reunion dinner or something. All of us ate quietly. No feedback on my food at all? Eating my food again after four years and barely any comment? Hmph!

    I alternated my gaze between the both of them. Is this how it would be like if Onii-chan were to date Lily? The three of us having a meal together? Honestly, I like it. To have an elder brother and sister at my side, I can get onboard with that idea. But I know deep down, I¡¯m gonna be extremely crushed by that fact. I love him, even after all these years. But I¡¯ll be fine¡ª I¡¯ll be fine. I have options waiting for me anyway. I can get over him.

    ¡°Is this something that is gonna occur often if the both of you started dating?¡± I asked both of them.

    Onii-chan spitted his food. Lily started blushing as she lowered her head and bit her chopsticks.

    ¡°W¡ª what the hell are you saying all of a sudden, Rose?¡± he flustered.

    ¡°I mean, if the both of you started dating, Lily will be eating with us often, isn¡¯t it?¡± I asked them.

    ¡°Um, I guess so? But I¡¯m not dating her though,¡± he clarified.

    Both of them were feeling flustered. Something must had happened within the two years they were together and I want to find out.

    ¡°You two sure are acting weird. Something happened between you two, isn¡¯t it? I can sensed something changed here. Onii-chan, you didn¡¯t force yourself on Lily, did you?¡± I interrogated him.

    ¡°O¡ª of course not! I didn¡¯t lay a finger on her. It was actually the other¡ª¡± he stopped.

    ¡°Hm? Other?¡± I questioned him.

    He sealed his lips. Something is up with these two. Lily was drooling as she flustered uncontrollably. What the hell? Is she remembering something or imagining naughty stuffs? I should push them further.

    ¡°You slept with her, didn¡¯t you?¡± I squinted at both of them.

    ¡°I¡ª We didn¡¯t!¡± he flustered.

    Lily was covering her face completely. Steams were literally leaking above her flushed head.

    ¡°There¡¯s no way the both of you can keep your hands to yourself. Honestly speaking, I was fully expecting Lily to return with a big belly or holding your child,¡± I spoke bluntly to him.

    ¡°Nah, if that was really the case, the child would had been about two years of age by now,¡± he replied casually.

    ¡°Zen!!¡± shouted Lily with a flustered face.

    Onii-chan covered his mouth. He must have blabbered it out without realising it.

    ¡°Y¡ª you have a child with Lily?¡± I asked with disbelief.

    ¡°No! I don¡¯t have a child with her. Seriously, I don¡¯t. We¡ª don¡¯t have one, right?¡± he seemed unsure at the end and turned to look at Lily.

    ¡°Of course we don¡¯t!¡± shouted Lily.

    ¡°But you did slept with her, didn¡¯t you?¡± I questioned him.

    ¡°Uh¡ª Y.. yes,¡± he answered softly.

    ¡°So why are you two not together then?¡± I squinted at them.

    They didn¡¯t say anything. What the hell is going on with these two?

    ¡°Is it because you love me as well?¡± I asked him.

    He clapped his face cheeks with both of his hands and took a couple of deep breath. He often does this to calm himself whenever he knows he¡¯s about to enter combat.

    ¡°Yes, I love both of you. You two¡ª are equally precious to me,¡± he announced with a serious face.

    ¡°Are you planning to marry both of us then?¡± I stared at him with a blank face.

    ¡°That idea did come into mind,¡± he lowered his gaze.

    ¡°Are you being serious right now?¡± I stared at him speechlessly.

    ¡°Of course I¡¯m not! I¡ª can¡¯t decide this right now. Not when I have something imminent that I must do. Can you please let me do that? It¡¯s¡ª something I just have to fulfil before I can fully move on,¡± he answered with a sorrowful face. That depressed face of his makes me want to hug him.

    ¡°Lily, are you really okay to continue waiting for him even after this long?¡± I whispered to her.

    ¡°Rose, your brother, he¡ª you weren¡¯t there when his grandfather saved us. I won¡¯t say that I completely understand what your brother is feeling right now but I definitely support what he had planned. If it works out, your brother can finally continue to stay in this city, rather than being an outcast and hunted forever. Think a little from his perspective on what he¡¯s currently going through perhaps?¡± explained Lily.

    ¡°Y¡ª you¡¯re right. I got ahead of myself. I¡¯m really sorry about that, Onii-chan,¡± I bowed to him to which he just smiled and waved it aside.

    ¡°Alright, perhaps a change in topic? What have you been doing for the past four years? What were those powers that you were using during the tournament?¡± I asked him.

    He started his story on the time he spent the first two years training in the elven forest with Lily. They taught him how to become more flexible and nimble with his body, along with better proficient in using his weapons. He tried to achieve using Higher State of Mind but he just couldn¡¯t. He sparred with Lily often but she couldn¡¯t defeat him no matter how hard she tried. Even though the elven forest was Lily¡¯s turf, she couldn¡¯t take him down even with the help of the other elves. Zen could take all 10 of them without breaking a sweat.

    He explained that he knew he was close to using Focused State of Mind while training in the elven forest but it was just imperfect. It improved his self awareness of his surroundings to a higher extent. Possibly close to the level of an elf¡¯s ear but of course nothing can top that. With what he learned, all he had to do was keep alternating his focus between different opponents on the fly. It was certainly not perfect as there were a few times where he was struck by arrows or by stray knives. It was then he showed me his scars of those incidents. Feeling restrained that he couldn¡¯t learn anything further, it was then he decided to head to the East to the City of Heliotrope Ixia. where he learned a heck loads of things there.

    After sneaking over to the East with the help of the elves, he wasn¡¯t expecting someone to waiting for him on the other side. Especially when it was none other than the founder of City of Heliotrope Ixia, Peter Borage himself; the Third member of Great Powers. He was surprised that Peter welcomed him into the city. He heard the surprising news that a Hawthorn individual was being hunted in the West and was genuinely surprised by it. To add to his surprise, he didn¡¯t expect it to be the son of the war hero himself. There were obviously suspicions that it could be a trap or false rumours but after meeting with Zen, all doubts were removed for Peter. He personally ended up teaching him on how to use Focused State of Mind properly along with some unarmed techniques.

    I continued asked him on what was happening with his equipment. His gauntlets were literally fading in and out of existence and he summoned a purple semi-transparent cloak out of nowhere. He explained that the armour summoning was a closed secret from Peter. That technique is called ¡®Rend¡¯ and what it does is that it pulls an armour from another dimension. The armour is the one that chooses the bearer. For him, it happened to be a cloak. To use Rend, all he needed to do was to focus his left hand to summon the purple flames on his fingertips. A lot of skill stats were needed to learn and perform this spell which thankfully he had been raising them. Upon achieving that, all he needed to do was to place his left-hand in front of his right shoulder. From there, he will tear through the fabric of reality and summon the chosen cloak by pulling it across his body.

    The armour from that dimension are virtually indestructible save for other people using weapons or armour from that similar dimension. Does this mean that Onii-chan is practically invincible now? That¡¯s not the case though as the cloak can only protect certain parts of his body. There shouldn¡¯t be anyone who can fully drape themselves with such an armour. However, it is entirely up to him on how he utilises the cloak to protect him from incoming attacks.

    There is another weakness in to this technique too. As he is not yet proficient in using this technique, it can only last for ten minutes per use and the maximum amount of times he can summon it is three times per day. Peter told him that the limit of that technique should be about thirty minutes and five times a day. Seeing as he¡¯s the master of that technique, I should take his word for it.

    This brings us to our next technique. ¡®Sunder¡¯ is the technique you use to summon or de-summon your weapons. A special ceremony is needed in order to send your weapons to the other dimension. He had sent both Inazuma and Tengu-kaze to the other dimension along with his gauntlets. He had their permissions from both of them before sending them there as they were eager and curious to discover what¡¯s in the other dimension. Now, all he has to do is to flick either of his wrists to summon whichever weapon he wants to his side. His weapons are considered indestructible unless he¡¯s fighting with another user who can use Sunder. He decided to not send his trusty elven dagger as he preferred to have a weapon with him at all times. Always hidden from sight behind his back by his favourite black cloak. Does he even wash it?

    Now comes the part where he talks about his arch-nemesis. I noticed that Lily was uncomfortable when he started talking about Tom Snapdragon. I¡¯ll admit, I was not there to experienced what they been through so I¡¯m not at liberty to judge either of them. Onii-chan told me about his grandfather possibly sacrificing himself to ensure their survival. Lily did her best to suppressed the memories of that event while John, on the other hand, don¡¯t recall much of it. Only Onii-chan had somehow etched that event deeply ingraining it into his memory. So much so that he is able to recall even the slightest details about Tom in order to gain more insights on him. Onii-chan recalled that Tom was able to use Rend which is why he needed to learn these two spells. He is certain that Tom can use Sunder as well. He suspected that he uses a bow and arrow which is why he¡¯s able to leave circular marks on his opponent and vanishing his arrow after. Very clever way of performing assassination without leaving any evidence behind.

    Onii-chan was serious in re-enacting his vengeance. So it would seemed that he¡¯s gonna hunt Tom and kill him. The two of us should be able to help him out. John might be eager to help out too. But after hearing his story, I felt so weak compared to all of them. I wonder if Lily is also capable of using Concentration too. I should had followed after him during those four years.

    ¡°So, you¡¯re just gonna hunt Tom, right? That¡¯s your plan?¡± I clarified with him.

    ¡°Yes and no. He is definitely part of my whole revenge plot but he¡¯s not the only one. The reason why Tom was hunting for me in the first place was because of a certain someone who set him out on that contract,¡± he explained.

    ¡°W¡ª wait, are you saying you gonna kill the Queen as well? You want to assassinate her?!¡± I stared at him with my mouth agape.

    ¡°Not exactly, while doing that might make me feel better, there are other matters of concern when it comes to her. Come along to the council tomorrow, and you¡¯ll hear the extend of my plans,¡± he explained.

    ¡°Which is?¡± I raised my eyebrow.

    ¡°Enacting war with the City Of Pines,¡± he smirked.

 Chapter 33: Just As Planned [MOON]

    Chapter 33: Just As Planned [MOON]

    Sleeping on the couch is certainly not a pleasant experience. Wooden frame with cushions are a lot to be desired. However, it beats sleeping on solid ground indefinitely. The amount of times I had to sleep on the ground with only grasses and stones is not something I wish to relive again. It hurts the back after a number of times.

    It was close to dawn now and I was partially asleep. Think of it as though your eyes are closed, your brain is partially asleep but you can still hear things happening around you. I heard someone opening a door and was walking around. Maybe one of them wanted to get a glass of water so I just continued to keep my eyes shut. But something unexpected happened. I felt someone creeping on the cushions that I am sleeping on. I can feel the cushion getting depressed from someone''s weight. Is it Lily? I told her we shouldn''t be doing anything naughty after that one time. I want to focus on settling my problems before engaging in any relationship.

    I opened my eyes and almost said Lily''s name out loud but I was shocked. In front of me was Rose staring at my eyes. Is she.. wearing glasses?! And what is she wearing?? Her matured body with those sexy clothings and long hair are definitely making my little brother react. Calm down you moron, CALM DOWN!

    "Rose, what are you doing? Why are you wearing glasses and those clothes?" I asked her softly as to not raise a ruckus.

    "It is one of your fetish, isn''t it? You told me that you loved me before you left the city. But then you went and slept with Lily after that. And now you told me that you love both of us. What are you trying to do to me, onii-chan?" she whispered to me.

    "What do you mean? I really do love you, Rose. But now is not the right time to be dating with either of you," I said softly.

    "That is not fair to me or Lily. We can''t be waiting for you forever. I had turned down so many other guys that approached me because I told myself that you will might come back and choose me. Yet... you went and sleep with Lily. Why am I such a fool? Why did I think I stand a chance?" she said as tears started to flow from her eyes.

    I used my fingers to wipe away her tears and placed my hand on her left cheek.

    "You''re right. I am selfish indeed. I should have stopped it from happening. I am so sorry, Rose. I really am," I said to her.

    "No.. you are not sorry. You had your fun with her and yet you still didn''t have the guts to choose her. I had already resigned to the fact that you will choose her over me. Yet you remained indecisive even after four years!" said Rose.

    She was getting much louder now. I placed my finger on her lips to remind her to be quiet. Out of nowhere, she started to lick my finger. What the hell is she doing?!

    "Rose, stop that," I said while pulling my finger away.

    "No, I won''t. Lily had her fun, I want to have mine too. Give me something for making me wait for so long," she said.

    "You.. want me to sleep with you? Are you for real?" I asked her.

    "Maybe not to that extend. Maybe.. just... a kiss" she moved her face closer as she was finishing her sentence.

    I never thought there would be a day that I would kiss my little sister. I am sure you would be screaming ''INCEST!'' but she is not blood-related to me in any way possible. She was just a little girl that I happened to save on that fateful night.

    We did a little bit more than kissing but I stopped myself from going too far. Perhaps Rose was wanting more but I do not wish to repeat with what had happened with Lily. I am so glad Rose did not forcefully jumped on me like Lily did.

    I gave her another passionate kiss before I headed out her room. I''ll be cooking breakfast for today as I am confident with my cooking skills now. A proper meal is sorely needed before heading off to an important guild council meeting that will be held later.

    ***

    I cooked a decent meal for breakfast. Lily was never an early riser which I found out after being with her for two years. She came out of my room with a messy hair and sleepy eyes. It was not until Rose pointed out to her that she fully awake herself and rushed into the washroom to get herself ready.

    I sat on the couch while waiting for Lily to get ready. Rose was sitting on the dining chair while playing with her long hair. I¡¯m surprised that she was willing to outgrow her hair as she had always kept it at shoulder length. Perhaps she wanted to look more matured by keeping it longer.

    Q appeared from the floor to deliver the papers. How long has it been since I saw him. Ever since I left City Of Pines, he had been delivering them to Rose instead. Time to give him a belly rub after such a long time. Rose came over to take the papers while I was busy giving Q his belly rub. So soft and chubby~

    ¡°Rose, when are you going to remove your glasses. I think you had your fun by now?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°If it bothers you that much then how about you remove them?¡± she said.

    What the? Is she being spoiled right now? Someone is in need for some spanking.

    I approached her while she pointed her face at me. As I removed her glasses, her eyes was practically sparkling. I know what that sign means. I moved closer but gave her a peck on her cheek instead. No reward for spoiled brat.

    Just then, Lily came out from the washroom after putting her face on. It is always amazing what females can do with time and some makeup. As I was planning to set the table seeing that Lily was done, Rose yanked my hand, grab my cheeks and kissed me on the lips directly.

    I was caught unaware and it took me a few seconds for my brain to register. I pushed her back with a "What the hell?!". She then looked at Lily and said "Now we''re even". Lily just sighed. What is going on with these two.

    I squinted as I looked at the both of them. I need to set some ground rules from now on.

    "No more kissing or doing anything romantic with me until I resolved everything that needs to be done," I said to the both of them.

    "Bold of you to assume that we are part of your harem, Onii-chan," said Rose.

    "Who was the one who kissed me out of the blue just a few seconds ago?" I said while squinting at her.

    "Alright, you two naughty siblings, let''s eat," said Lily. I am surprised she was acting so calm. Almost like a mother. Wait, she is not, is she?

    We finally sat down and ate our breakfast. I received praise for the meal I cooked. According to Rose, it was a huge improvement from what she ate the last time. I certainly had been polishing my skills from my time with the elves and at the Eastern continent. Lily had been eating my prepared meals for two years so all she said was "it''s good as always". She was lucky that she weren¡¯t my guinea pig in the early days.

    I took the opportunity to tutor them about what Peter Borage had taught me about the effects of using the types of State Of Mind. It would appear that Sladar had just glanced over that topic at the Demon continent. Focused State Of Mind AKA Concentration increases one''s spell power and efficiency. It also increases all your stats by five to ten depending on how efficient you use it. This is called the imperfect version.

    The perfect version on the other hand is where you are able to force an enemy to target you. It is similar to the Taunt spell but that one is short-ranged and targets a few enemies to target you while losing themselves. This perfect Concentration reduces the amount of stats and spell efficiency in exchange for forcing an enemy to target you. The beauty about Concentration is that it only affects one target and does not affect your surroundings unlike the Higher or Absolute State Of Mind. While you can keep alternating your Concentration between a few targets, it would be better to use the imperfect version when fighting a crowd of enemies so as to maximise all your buffs.

    Moving on to the Higher State Of Mind. Similar to Concentration, both aggressive and passive path increases the spell''s efficiency and stats to a higher degree. However, Bloodlust causes the surrounding enemies to go into a frenzy state while Focused Meditation on other hand, affects the surrounding allies by calming their minds. While it does not sound like much, a calm mind is more effective in combat over a rash one. Unless you are a demon.

    Lastly and perhaps the most unexplored one, is the Absolute State Of Mind. According to Peter, if it wasn''t for Ivy Moonshine fighting alongside the opposing force, everyone would had succumbed to the Demon King''s Blood Rage. Blood Rage drastically increases the intensity of the frenzy state while also giving a minor Bloodlust effect to other demons. From what Ivy told him, Effortless Meditation do indeed calm the mind of all the allies but with an extra twist, any surrounding allies will receive buffs that is similar to using imperfect Concentration. This gives the opposing forces some edge to win the war. She spent centuries in perfecting her Effortless Meditation that she can constantly use it without straining her mind now. Think of it like her body is so adapted in combat that it moves automatic without needing to use her brain.

    All these can be countered IF you have stronger willpower and mental fortitude. Easier said than done but that is just the way it is. Which is why I am thankful to Peter for willingly teach me on how to use both perfect and imperfect version of Concentration. Sadly, I am not able to use any Higher State Of Mind. Peter was indeed surprised that I am able to use both path. It was certainly unheard of but he was willing to teach me on how both ways worked. All that is left is how I unlock it myself.

    Rose mentioned that she tried to learn it on her own but was unsuccessful. She did not have any tutor to guide her on how to even to begin to use Concentration. Lily on the other hand only managed to learn the imperfect version during the time we spent in the elven forest. Strangely, she had never managed once defeated me in sparring combat even though the both of us was using the imperfect Concentration. She said that my speed was ridiculously too fast for her to follow. She regretted in not being able to follow me to the Eastern continent but she had things she needed to do in the City Of Pines. A certain someone had tasked her with a number of important errands to set things in motion for the plan which I am certainly thankful for.

    Rose wanted to ask about what the plan is all about but I told her that the discussion will be held later. No point in discussing twice. Well, I guess it is time for us to prepare for the council and head out. It was located in a hidden basement in one of the West building close to the wall. This secret hideout had been serving all the guilds whenever there were any questionable things to discuss about.

    We arrived at the hideout while hiding our identities. Rose and Lily was wearing a normal leather cloak while I had my beautiful red dragonhide cloak that was gifted by none other than Peter himself. Soaked in black, of course. He was absolutely fond of my parents and treated me like I was his child. Warm, loving and caring is what I would describe Peter despite being number three in the four great powers.

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    Come to think of it, I had not given my green dragonhide cloak to a new owner. Perhaps I will gift it to either Rose or Lily after deciding on who I want to go out with. Provided any of them still wishes to date me after I am done with my revenge plot.

    No, wait. I should pass to Lily instead as she always wear her outfit that exposes her belly and thighs. She said it¡¯s to allow her better mobility and movement but I told her that it exposes you to direct injury as well. Will have to find the right opportunity to pass to her.

    "Brother, it''s been a while," said John while he gave me a bro hug.

    "You are awfully fit now, brother. What crazy workout did you undergo to achieve this?" I asked him while returning his hug.

    "The brutal kind, I assure you. Not to mention it was necessary for me in order to use Bloodlust properly. I cannot even begin to tell you how hard it is to control that amount of power and ensuring that you don''t turn your allies into a frenzy state instead. Humans are not meant to have such power I tell ya," he explained to me.

    I pat him in the back telling him that he is the strongest among us now. He denied and said that I am still the owner of that title. Even using Bloodlust, he was still not strong enough to break through the Underwater Dragon King''s scales. I am still the only one that could do it.

    I told him that perhaps his new axe will change that for him. His new axe is one of the few legendary weapons that he had the privilege of choosing from the Viking''s secret weapon vault. Surprisingly he opted for a one-handed axe unlike his previous two-handed one. But his new axe is something to envy about. Gold and silver plated, shiny and made from the scales of a legendary sea-serpent, it is certainly a sight to behold. I asked John on what''s its name and he said that it is called ''Colossal Axe''. Hm, I wonder if it has the same capabilities of a certain flying hammer.

    "You are here, Zen. Let us begin. I am certainly intrigued by your plans indeed," said the Dark Lord.

    I walked up to him and gave him a hug. He was taken aback by my action but returned a pat on my back. Despite his scary look, this man was the sole reason on why and how both Lily and I managed to escape the city so easily that fateful night. He was the one whole initiated all the plans in the event that my name was ever exposed. With all the help of the other guildmasters, he personally hand-picked the best members to sneak into the castle and which route is the best to escape in.

    It certainly took me some time to finally find out that it was actually him that made all those plans. Did not even knew that he cared about me so much.

    ¡°I¡¯ve read what you showed us so far. I would say, this is a very interesting report that you showed us. Glad to see that you did not let your feelings cloud your judgments,¡± said the Paladin Lord.

    All the guildmasters are here save for one. The one that has the highest possibility in exposing my family name to the Queen. The Dragon Lord who suspiciously started serving under the Queen just a few days after my name was exposed. According to the other guildmasters, the Dragon Lord had never showed any interest in serving the Queen before. Some foul play must be at work for such drastic changes in the Dragon Lord. Thankfully he did not exposed the escape plan when Lily and I was escaping from the castle.

    There is plenty of lookouts and guards around this building to ensure that the Dragon Lord does not invade or place spies this secret meeting. Only trusted members are allowed entry into this building itself.

    I spent four years in uncovering everything that I needed to know. From the histories on what the Hawthorn bloodlines did to why the Queen hated the Hawthorn bloodline in the first place. Was there some sort of trigger that caused all these to happen?

    Firstly, I asked the elves and the Eastern continent as to what atrocities did the Hawthorn bloodline had done that could incur the Queen to force such drastic measures in the first place. None of them had any answers on it. Even Peter Borage himself was furious about the Queen¡¯s sudden verdict and action to commit genocide on the Hawthorn bloodline.

    He was amazed at the fact that there was even a Hawthorn bloodline still alive, kicking and living in the Western continent without getting caught. Not to mention the son of the war hero himself. He tried his best to rescue as many Hawthorn families as he could but sadly, most of them lived on the Western continent. And when the order was executed, it was too late.

    The Queen had planned everything while keeping her agenda a secret. On the day of the announcement, many Hawthorn families were dead before news even reached the Eastern continent. As the Hawthorns were mostly nobles, most of them lived in the city. Only those that lived outside of the city managed to escape but there were too little. Today, only a handful of Hawthorn family remained in the Eastern continent. And by handful, it can be counted both hands in total.

    Peter marched to talk with the Queen and demanded to know why the Hawthorn family suddenly deserved such verdict when they were heroes in everyone¡¯s eyes. The Queen said that the Hawthorn bloodline had long been doing corruptions and atrocities to other families. In order to celebrate a new era after the war where there is joy and happiness, bad weeds must be exterminated. She also pointed out that the only deserving hero in the Hawthorn family was Jack while the others are schemers, rapists or criminal mastermind. In order to ensure that Jack¡¯s glory is retained throughout time instead of overwritten by any potential criminal acts from the other family members, it would be better to eliminate them before any of it happens.

    Peter was taken aback by her verdict. While it was true that the Hawthorn families were not perfect and some of her accusations were not without merits. But to order the entire extermination of the Hawthorn bloodline is unthinkable.

    Peter very nearly declared war with the Queen that day but his advisors stopped him. To incite another war right after the Demon War will not only incur more deaths but both cities will no longer find peace and will forever be at odds with one another.

    So, what am I suppose to do with this information? So far, what I know is that the Queen hadcommitted genocide based on a rash decision. There must be more to this story than meets the eye. Peter thought the same and did some investigation on why the Queen behaved this way. She had never ordered her soldiers to commit such drastic massacre in her entire life nor did any of her predecessors. The Queen had always been known for her kind and gentle nature but immediately after the Demon War, her attitude turned for a 180.

    There can be only one thing, an impostor had replaced the Queen. Such atrocity should be ejected into the void. But no matter how much investigation he conducted, there was no evidence that she was being replaced or anything. Even an ¡°accident¡± in spilling a face removal solution on her face yielded no result.

    But one strange information was that the Queen did not seemed to age at all. She revealed to the public that she had elven blood running in her veins. This aroused suspicion as there was no evidence or record that her family bloodline had married or had relationship with the elves before. The royal bloodline had always been pure and only pure human royalties can even dream of asking a hand in marriage with the princesses. Can the Queen be the result of a hush-hush relationship between the previous King and an elf?

    Either way, Peter is certainly willing to wage war with the Queen seeing as the hero¡¯s son was almost killed by her orders. This completely contradicts her remark that Jack was supposedly a hero in her eyes. Here is the direct bloodline of Jack himself and yet she still declared me as a traitor. But that is not the sole reason as to why Peter wishes to overthrow the Queen of City Of Pines. The city had always been a thorn to the City of Heliotrope Ixia. Always demanding for unreasonable trading prices, secretly ordering bandits to intercept high value commodities or people and demanding ransom from City of Heliotrope Ixia. While this does not mean that the Queen is involved, the odds of normal bandits or thieves knowing the exact location and day of those events taking place is low. Yet it has been happening way too frequently for the past many years. All of this adds up and the city¡¯s economy has been going downhill due to the unreasonable demands from the Western continent.

    The Eastern continent does not have fertile lands hence it was very dependent on the West for a lot of their food supplies. What they have are minerals or valuable materials that they can use for trading. It used to be sufficient enough as the City Of Pines was never as demanding before. It had always been fair trade before. Imagine a ship full of fresh goods and only costing a barrel of valuable minerals. Now, it requires up to five barrels just to have half a ship of fresh goods. It is certainly not inflation but downright greed. City of Heliotrope Ixia would not last another decade if this goes on.

    Alright, so I have the entire might of City of Heliotrope Ixia behind my back. Who else can I depend to backup if we wage war with the City Of Pines?

    Peter and Lily requested an audience to meet with the elves. Ivy Moonshine to be specific. However, she was not in this realm. Another high ranking Moonshine took upon her role to discuss on the possibility of going to war with the City Of Pines. The elves were not keen on waging war with the humans. Elves had always preferred peace over conflict. But after many days of discussion and persuasion, a few of the elven families were willing to help out. Peter was disappointed that the elves were not willing to provide more help. If Ivy was here, she would had said yes immediately. The bond between the three great powers are much thicker than blood. All three of them fought together for many years whenever there was a threat too great for anyone else arises.

    Seems like I have enough fighting force to wage a war now. But I needed something more. Some kind of damning evidence that deserves to wage war with the Queen and not just based on a grudge. While what she did to the Hawthorn bloodline was downright terrible, I was not there to experience it. I am not so noble as to declare war just because I am a Hawthorn myself. The only thing she did was kicked me out of City Of Pines and exiled me. I shouldn''t declare war just because of that, right?

    I discussed with Peter about the possibility that the Queen might not be who she seemed. Can it be some mythical being or something had replaced the Queen after the Demon War? I brought up the idea that the Underwater Dragon King was capable of shapeshifting into a human. Peter seemed intrigued by the idea. But it would be much harder for us to uncover that secret as opposed to just wearing a face mask. Years of planning and insider information is sorely needed.

    I am not sure why but I had a hunch that Sladar might know something. One thing to know about Sladar is that he is ridiculously resourceful and his information gathering is second to none. A request was sent to the Northern continent to request for Sladar to come to the Eastern continent for a meeting. Within a week, Sladar arrived.

    I was genuinely surprised when the both of them gave each other a bro hug after they were away from prying eyes. Seems like the only outcast within the four great powers is the fourth member. Perhaps if I''m able to kill Tom then I''ll be able to take over and be the fourth member. One can only dream.

    I asked Sladar on whether he had heard or uncovered any secrets about the City Of Pines. Surprisingly, he brought up an incident that aroused suspicion for him. It was common for the Western continent to do some trading with the two towns of the Northern continent but both towns was located on the southern side of the continent. However, once in a blue moon, a ship from the Western continent will sail to the northern part of the Northern continent. There is absolutely nothing noteworthy there for the ship to set sail to except for demons. Sladar once tracked the ship and was surprised to see a few reptilians disembarking from the ship.

    He tried to tail them but they disappeared quickly. He waited for them to return but it was demons who boarded the ship instead. How odd as the ship is supposedly heading back to the port at the Western continent directly. There is no way those demons will survive upon disembarking at the port. There are elite soldiers and adventurers stationed there 24/7. Unless, they have figured out the ability to shape-shift. That would be grave news indeed if that was the case. Not only will that be a wake-up call to all the continents, you cannot even distinguish who is a demon in disguise. Sadly, there is not enough solid evidence to support this. But the fact remained that demons are taking ships to somewhere.

    Peter was surprised at the fact that Sladar did not inform anyone about this. This would have warrant a major investigation from all continents if they were capable of shape-shifting. However, Sladar had no evidence to support this. It could be that he is mistaken and the demons are perhaps just sailing around the continent itself.

    Alright, so how do we investigate on this? Simple, we assign someone at either Western continent ports and monitor for any unusual departure. Mainly reptilians that are going towards the Northern continent. Highly doubt anyone will be able to use the elven port located at the elven forest. After that, send a ship that is built for fast sailing towards the Northern continent town and release a firework to warn Sladar that a ship will be going towards the north side. Sladar will then confront the reptilians and question them on why they choose to disembark in the middle of nowhere. What Sladar choose to do after that, I¡¯ll leave it up to him.

    The plan took almost no time at all to sort out. The problem was waiting for that secret ship. A slip of the tongue from anyone can cause the whole plan to fail or perhaps that ship no longer existed. We were all waiting for the plan to fail at a moment¡¯s notice. Days turned to weeks and eventually months. I was closed to calling off the plan as more than half a year had passed without any news whatsoever. So much for looking for solid evidence.

    With a stroke of luck, news came eight months after the plan first initiated. Sladar came to deliver the news himself. He informed us on his shocking discovery. Upon confronting the reptilians that were on that mysterious ship, they attacked him immediately. They rushed at him with the intend to kill. He had no choice but to kill all of them even though it left a horrible taste in his mouth. He had never killed a member of his own race before. However, upon the death of the reptilians, their bodies started to morph into the shape of a demon. A very unusual demons, he highlighted. Never before had he seen such slim looking demons that does not have wings or elongated arms but twisted face and flexible bodies.

    He scoured the ship for any information whatsoever but there was barely any paperwork or records on-board, save for one. The scroll was written in a foreign language that even Sladar did not understand. However, one thing was clear. At the bottom of the scroll was the signature and stamp of the Queen.

    Finally! A jackpot that I have been looking for. An evidence that show the Queen is in cohorts with the demons in some sort of way. Whether she is a demon in disguise or serving them, we will only know after we confronted her.

    I handed the scroll in question to all the guildmasters in the room. All of them inspected the scroll. The reports they were reading was from Peter Borage himself. Now an evidence from Sladar is in our hands. Two of the four great powers have vouched on this. Normally, we would had brought this to the board of councils as evidence that the Queen is in cohort with the demons. However, we do not even know who are the demons in disguised in the first place. The diplomatic way will not bring us the results that we desire.

    Assuming we go for the peaceful proper method, perhaps the Queen might be arrested. But there is a high possibility that the Queen can just end up morphing to someone else and ending up escaping. Perhaps the guard that arrests her are demons themselves. Too many possibilities of her escaping which we cannot afford. Declaring war ensures that she will remain in power until close to defeat.

    What we will be doing is to declare war with the City Of Pines firstly. This is before we bribe or persuade some soldiers to leave the city or abandon their post. These soldiers will be tasked with rescuing civilians flee instead. Those that remained loyal to the Queen, we will have to consider them as casualties of war. The guilds will also do their best to lead civilians to safety.

    We are certain those demons in disguised will protect the Queen so as to not foil their long term plan whatever it may be. We will also assign spies to ensure the Queen does not escape during the midst of the war. Perhaps some demons might escape but those cowards will be slain by their own Demon brethren. Cowardice is never something tolerated by the demon race.

    All these will be taking place on the same day. This is to minimise any of the potentially disguised soldiers from informing the Queen. I will personally be declaring war with the Queen myself while the others will handle the other tasks assigned to them. By doing this, I paint myself as the main instigator for the war. I do not want the City of Heliotrope Ixia or the elves to be main targets instead.

    Everything is in place now. No turning back.

    ¡°Your plan seems solid. But there¡¯s one thing. How are you going to escape from the castle? I doubt that you can pull off the same plan that the Dark Lord had planned for a long time. You will need to find a way to escape on your own. Are you able to do that? Do not forget, you are the one pulling all the strings for this war,¡± said the Elementalist.

    ¡°Yes, I am aware of the dangers but I am no longer the same Shadow Knight that you once knew. I am fairly certain that I will be able to escape the castle. You all don¡¯t have to worry about that,¡± I said to him.

    ¡°Very well, I am in favour of this plan. While inciting a war is not something that guildmasters should be doing, I do not wish to serve under a Queen who could potentially be a demon or serving under them,¡± the Elementalist said.

    ¡°Count me in, I¡¯ve never liked the Queen anyway. Consider this an opportunity for me to have some fun trashing the throne room,¡± said John.

    ¡°I am in favour as well. I suspected something was wrong when the Queen acted so differently right after the Demon War. To think she might be a demon in disguise. What say you Dark Lord? Your most favourite member is about to start a war. Do you wish to support him?¡± said the Paladin Lord.

    ¡°If I am not then I won¡¯t be in this meeting. Zen Hawthorn, you are the mastermind for this war. All deaths and decisions will lie in your hands. Act wisely and make the Dark Guild proud. Make me proud,¡± said the Dark Lord after he thought for a while.

    I felt touched after he said that. I finally felt like I belonged somewhere. I saluted him with all my respect.

    ¡°Thank you all for your support. I will forever be grateful for all your help. With this, I shall declare the potentially second Demon War to commence in a week,¡± I bowed to everyone.

 Chapter 34: Calm Before the War [MOON]

    Chapter 34: Calm Before The War [MOON]

    John invited to the Viking guild. He told us that we can use his training arena for the week. It was just yesterday we had the council meeting. You would think I would be here teaching Lily and Rose on how to use Concentration. But John decided that he wanted to spar with me first before I trained the both of them. I guess he wanted to know who is stronger between us after four years. Sounds good and all but I doubt his ¡°spar¡± involves using wooden swords. We agreed to stop ourselves if we are sure we might hurt the other person. Since when did that ever worked out before.

    We stood opposite each other in the arena. It was only the four of us. John made it specifically so that only the four of us are allowed in here for this sparring. He had his trusted members guarding the entrance in case of prying eyes. John was holding his colossal axe while I was bare-handed. I didn¡¯t mind sparring with him as I wanted to test out my strength on a strong opponent. How much stronger did I improve myself over the past four years.

    I felt like a hobbit in front of John. He had gained weight and muscles over the years. He is possibly around 185 centimetres in height while I was stuck at around 155 centimetres. I could not grow any taller which means I am the shortest in the group. What a shame I have to live with. How did I even ended up attracting the attention of two female members is beyond me.

    ¡°Before we begin, none of you heard of any news about Pietro?¡± I asked all three of them.

    All of them shook their heads. It was like he had just vanished into thin air. Or perhaps he was slain by his guild after exposing my name. Whatever happened to him we will never know. I do hope that he is still alive for us to at least hear his side of the story.

    ¡°Hey, let¡¯s wager something to make it more fun, shall we?¡± asked John.

    ¡°Huh? What can we even wager?¡± I said while raising an eyebrow to him.

    ¡°How about.. whoever wins get to date those two beautiful ladies?¡± John laughed while he pointed to where Rose and Lily sat.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think that is us to decide. You might have better luck in asking both of them directly,¡± I said to John while shrugging.

    ¡°What do you think ladies?!¡± shouted John as both Lily and Rose were seated some distance away.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine with it, just don¡¯t kill each other please. Zen will have to train us later,¡± said Lily.

    ¡°A tall muscular man asking me out? Sure, why not?¡± said Rose while shrugging.

    Both of them sure are lax. I am going to torture both of them during their training later.

    ¡°You hear that? The stakes are in, Zen. Hahaha!¡± laughed John. Why is he having so much fun when we are about to spar?

    I just shrugged in return and prepared my unarmed stance towards John. I did my breathing routine subconsciously but held back in using Concentration. Let¡¯s start things slowly. John also prepared himself while keeping his axe sheathed behind him. Seems like he wishes to start off with unarmed combat too. Suits me, I suppose.

    ¡°Lily, mind being the referee for this sparring test to make sure we don¡¯t kill each other?¡± asked John.

    ¡°Alright. But when I say stop, both of you must stop. I don¡¯t wish to see either of you dead due to this sparring test. Now, get ready the both of you,¡± said Lily while she raised her hand.

    Silence engulfs the arena while we awaited the signal from Lily. In front of me is a muscle man that is twice my size in weight and way taller than me. While Peter had taught me unarmed combat to handle heavier opponent, this will be the first time that I can test it out directly. Now, show me how strong you are as the Viking Lord, John. I''m certainly getting pumped now.

    John rushed towards me with a punch the moment Lily swung her arm down and shouted "BEGIN!". I countered his punch by guiding it away and slammed my palm below his chin. But I was not strong enough to push him away. All that muscle of his resisting all my strength to push him even though I am using two hands to push him away.

    I quickly leaped back as I saw that he was going for a bone crushing hug. Doubt he was kind enough to give a brotherly hug in the middle of sparring.

    "Aww, I was just giving you a hug, brother," he said.

    "Uh huh," I replied to him nonchalantly.

    John rushed towards me with a shoulder charge instead. I easily side-stepped him and prepared a counter. He swung his arm behind him expecting me to be behind him but he was wrong. I predicted his move and went all the way to his right side which is now his back. I summoned my gauntlets with a flick of my wrist. I placed my right palm on his back and got my stance ready. I pulled my right hand back and slammed my left palm against his back. My proper stance gave me more power and I managed to push him some distance forward. He rolled himself and got back up.

    ¡°To be able to push me that far, that is some crazy unarmed technique you have there. I guess Peter taught you well, huh?" said John.

    "Nah, if it was him, you would be flying towards to the wall by now," I replied to him.

    "Haha.. I can see the both of us are holding back. I want to see more of your strength, Zen. C''mon lets bring it!" he shouted while he took out his shiny axe from behind him.

    I will need to be caution as I do not know what powers his legendary axe had granted him. What will he do next? Rush towards me and swing his axe? Or perhaps he will leap towards me instead?

    John threw his axe towards me. I was definitely caught off-guard that he will tossed his only weapon towards me. I can easily dodge a simple axe throw. What is he thinking?

    I side-stepped the axe with minimal effort all the while focusing my attention on John. But an eye-blink later, he was gone from my sight. W.. what? John never had such high agility before, how and where did he vanished?

    I turned my head backwards and saw John swinging his axe vertically from above. I quickly blocked his attack with my gauntlets. One hand stopped the axe head from slicing me while my other hand held the wooden stock. What the hell just happened? Did John just teleported to where the axe went? That is some crazy legendary weapon that he have there.

    John pulled back his axe and went for another swing. As I thought of the perfect counter, I realised that his axe was getting bigger by the second. I quickly leaped to the side and it was only then I heard someone shouted "Dodge it!!". The axe head was half my size when it smashed onto the arena floor.

    SMASH!

    Teleportation and size adjustment on the fly. That is an overpowered legendary weapon there.

    "Lily.. Lily, no interfering with the sparring," John said as he swung his index finger and placed it to his lips.

    "You are not supposed to be killing each other!" shouted Lily.

    The two continued bickering while I regained my bearings. A teleporting muscle head with an unpredictable axe size. If John decided to reduce the size instead of increasing he would had sliced my skull faster than I can react. What a surprised. To think that John had gotten this strong. I really wonder who will end up standing if we really fought each other seriously.

    "John, let''s kick things up a notch," I said and activated Concentration.

    "Oh ho ho! Here it is!" John smirked with an open mouth.

    I used the imperfect version to maximise my stats and spell efficiency. Then I casted Fear on him. I never actually know what people see whenever I casted this spell. Lily told me she saw an image of her gruesome death while Rose said that she saw the end of the world. What would John see I wonder.

    John''s eyes started glowing and steams were coming out of his mouth. His eyes were bloodshot now and he casted Taunt spell with a roar. I steered myself to resist both effects. To think you can counter Fear spell with Taunting.

    Things are getting serious now. Here is an opponent that is using a State Of Mind higher than my own. I should be able to resist the effects of Taunt and frenzy but his stat buffs are certainly higher than mine now. Perfect chance for me to test out on whether I stand a chance. My success rate fighting against Tom depends on this outcome.

    I summoned Inazuma with my right hand. John made a whistle to show that he was impressed. I guess it''s time for me to be the aggressive one instead. I rushed towards John as fast as my feet can bring me. My base agility currently had hit the hundred mark. Using Imperfect Concentration should buff it to around 110. John should not be able to react that quickly.

    The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

    I swung Inazuma using the blunt side to John''s ribs. He blocked it perfectly with his axe. To think that he reacted in time. No matter, I will push my speed to the limits then! I started attacking him from all angles. He blocked as much as he could but eventually my hits were getting in. I ended up behind him and aimed for his neck. John reacted and swung his axe towards me. I thought that my blade will reach him first but his axe was coming at me with ludicrous speed. He must have shrunk his axe to the size of a hand axe or something.

    I had no choice but to block his attack instead. As I recovered from the attack, I saw his axe flying towards me. I dodged it as fast as I could and expecting him to appear behind me. John was nowhere to be seen. I quickly turned my head to the front and saw that he was swinging a punch at me. That fist of his is looking awfully huge!

    Guess I have no choice then. ¡°Rend!¡± I shouted as I summoned my purple cloak from another dimension. John¡¯s punch hit my cloak as I used it to block. I flew backwards from the impact. Bloody hell, my cloak could nullify Lily¡¯s punch but John absurd strength was stronger than hers? He¡¯s definitely not pulling his punches, damn it!

    ¡°That cloak of yours is worst than punching a steel beam. You might have fractured my fist, brother,¡± said John.

    ¡°Well, you were supposed to pull your punches,¡± I said to him. I need to finish this fight in the next nine minutes or so.

    John teleported to his axe to retrieve it. His right fist is looking pretty swollen right now. He¡¯s definitely going to need some cooling gel later. Uh oh.. why is he looking at me like that? He is looking really pissed off.

    I readied myself for more of his tricks. John roared with fury. He must be using Combat Fury spell as his body starts to get redder. Blood circulation must be on full strength throughout his body right now. He is going to be tougher and stronger now and not to mention Bloodlust must have strengthen that spell further. I hope I don¡¯t need to use my gauntlet or Inazuma¡¯s spells to beat John. I want to avoid hurting John any further if I can help it.

    He charged at me with fury like a bull. His strikes were heavy. I had to use both hands to block all his strikes. I also need to take notice of when he tosses his axe or enlarges it. This fight can end quickly when either of us slipped up. Among his strikes, I managed to hit some part of his body with Inazuma¡¯s blunt side. Even though it felt like I was doing no damage to him, I had to continuously make contact with him.

    Among his strikes, John enlarges his axe to a ridiculous size and swung it towards my face. I prepared to block it with my gauntlets but his axe stopped right before it reaches me.

    I smirked at him. Inazuma''s passive effect finally took place. After Kirin agreed to lend me some of his powers, one of it was to continuously shock the opponent whenever the blade touches any part of their body or weapon. John should be fighting against the electrical shock that is running throughout his body right now. This effect does not last long so I better take advantage of this moment. I placed Inazuma''s blade on his neck and said to him "Yield".

    "STOP! We have a winner! Pii pii pii!!" shouted Lily while she simulated a whistle being blown.

    I sat down on the ground while waiting for John to recover from the electrical shock. He too dropped to the ground after that.

    ¡°Ahh dammit. You¡¯re still stronger than all of us. And here I thought I¡¯ll be on par with you after training my ass off for four years at the very least,¡± said John.

    ¡°What are you talking about? You nearly whooped my ass there. If you weren¡¯t holding back I will definitely be sliced by your axe. Damn thing is so unpredictable,¡± I said to him.

    ¡°Ah, well. There¡¯s a reason why I chose this axe. It helps me with my low agility and being able to move around quickly helps a lot in battle,¡± he explained.

    ¡°True that. I might have won due to Inazuma¡¯s passive but if you were to shrink your axe during your first swing I would had been dead,¡± I said to him.

    ¡°Result is result brother. Enjoy your date. Haha!¡± laughed John.

    ¡°Ohh.. I¡¯ll enjoy alright. I will enjoy torturing those two ladies sitting there enjoying themselves with my harsh training later,¡± I said while grinning an evil laughter.

    ¡°Uh, brother? The look on your face is.. scary,¡± whispered John.

    ¡°Ladies, get down here so we can start your hellish training,¡± I shouted to them.

    ¡°You can continue using the arena. It¡¯s been reserved for a week. I¡¯ll swing by once a while but I gotta go back to being a guildmaster. Lots of things to prepare,¡± said John.

    ***

    ¡°Alright. Seeing as Lily knows how to use Concentration, I¡¯ll start with Rose first. You need to grasp the basics of achieving the Focused State Of Mind,¡± I said to Rose.

    ¡°Come on, teach me bro,¡± said Rose while she nodded her head.

    ¡°Stop that. I¡¯m being serious here. Now, I need you to focus on one thing and only one thing. Show me,¡± I said to her.

    She closed her eyes then opened it a few seconds later. So far her pupils looked good. No movement so far. Wait, scratch that. She moved her pupils.

    ¡°Rose. Focus yourself and don¡¯t think or look at something else,¡± I said.

    ¡°I.. I¡¯m trying. It¡¯s not easy,¡± she said.

    Hmm.. guess I might need to help her. I walked closer to her and placed my index finger on her temple.

    ¡°Focus on that,¡± I said to Rose.

    She closed her eyes again. Few seconds later, hang on, why is she protruding her mouth? I slammed my fist onto her head albeit not too hard.

    ¡°Geez, Rose! Be serious!¡± I shouted to her.

    ¡°Ok ok, I¡¯m really trying my best here,¡± she explained.

    ¡°Then show me. This is just the basic, Rose. You can grasp this I am sure of it¡± I told her.

    At this point, Lily walked up to my side to look at Rose. Rose lifted my index finger and pressed it on her temple. She could had used her own but that¡¯s fine. Anything to get her to focus. She closed her eyes again and opened them. So far so good.

    Wait, there¡¯s a slight movement in her eyes. I made a sigh without even realising it. Who knew that Rose would have difficulty in focusing herself. And the Paladin Lord called her a prodigy. I guess even prodigies will still need to learn from scratch.

    ¡°Rose, raise your index finger in front of your face and focus on it. I will move on to teach Lily. Continue to force yourself to focus, alright?¡± I said to Rose.

    ¡°O.. okay,¡± she said.

    I moved to another part of the arena with Lily so as to not disturb Rose. As we were walking, we whispered softly to each other.

    ¡°What do you think? Something is not right,¡± I whispered to Lily.

    ¡°I fear the worst. She seems to have difficulty in focusing her mind. It¡¯s like she keeps thinking of something else and can¡¯t focus herself,¡± said Lily.

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s hope that she can at least do that by the end of the day. Never thought someone would have such difficulty in focusing themselves,¡± I said.

    ¡°Not everyone is a genius like you, Zen.¡± she said.

    ¡°H.. hey, it didn¡¯t take you too long to learn the basics either. Don¡¯t say it like I was the only one who could learn the basics so easily,¡± I explained.

    ¡°Sure thing, Mister Genius,¡± Lily whispered directly in my ears.

    Under normal circumstances, I would had grabbed her and kissed her but I refrained. Now is not the time for romance.

    ¡°Alright Lily, learning the perfect version isn¡¯t easy. I won¡¯t hold back,¡± I said as I readied myself.

    ¡°Bring it on, Genius Boy,¡± she said.

    ¡°Stop calling me that,¡± I retaliated.

    ***

    I lost track of time. It wasn¡¯t easy but Lily managed to learn the perfect version within a day. And they call me a genius. It took me three days to learn it from Peter. Lily said my teaching method was easy to grasp but it was exact same method as what Peter taught me. ¡®Never think too highly of yourself¡¯ is what I always told myself.

    Now, let¡¯s check up on Rose. Hopefully she is able to grasp the basics so I can teach her further tomorrow as it is late evening right now. As I walked closer to her, I can see that she was sweating from her forehead. Alright, she really is serious. Hopefully she figured it out.

    ¡°Alright Rose, show me the fruits of your training,¡± I said to Rose.

    She showed me. Few seconds passed and it¡¯s looking good. No, wait, her pupil moved ever so slightly.

    ¡°Rose, you¡¯re still not focusing,¡± I said to her looking concerned look.

    ¡°I.. I know! I am trying my hardest just to concentrate on one thing. But my brain just doesn¡¯t seems to work that way!¡± said Rose while on the verge of tears.

    I can tell that she is not lying. There is no way you can fool around and cause yourself to sweat so much. And she was certainly taking it seriously.

    ¡°Rose, what do you think when you are in combat? Do you focus on your opponent or do you scan your surroundings?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°In combat? I focus on many things to be honest. Like what advantage can I use, what conditions are my surroundings that I can use, what is the opponent¡¯s next move, what is my counter if my opponent does this or that, what spell that I can use that would benefit me at that moment, what is my opponent¡¯s weak point and my percentage of winning the fight if I manage to injure my opponent. Just to name a few I guess,¡± said Rose.

    Both Lily and I opened our jaws. There is something that I need to clarify with Rose first.

    ¡°Rose, what you just explained, is that over the course of the battle or?¡± I asked her with genuine curiosity.

    ¡°Huh? Just in the moment I guess. My brain is always looking for unexpected things,¡± she said while putting on a thinking face.

    ¡°Oh dear.. Umm, Rose? I hate to break it to you but.. you might be one of the few adventurers that might not be able to learn Concentration,¡± I said to her hesitantly.

    ¡°W.. what are you saying? I can focus myself. Just give me a few more hours and I¡¯ll grasp it,¡± she said.

    ¡°Rose, it doesn¡¯t take someone this long to learn the first step. I¡¯m sure even you realised it by now,¡± I said.

    ¡°I can do it. Just give me more time,¡± she said.

    ¡°Rose..¡± I tried to stop her.

    ¡°I can do it! Please!¡± she shouted.

    I placed my middle and index finger on her forehead. I needed her to focus as we do not have much time to learn on things that doesn¡¯t bear fruit. She needed to learn something else instead of something she couldn¡¯t. After she calmed herself, I petted her head while explaining to her.

    ¡°I can be useful to you, onii-chan. Please, don¡¯t push me away,¡± she said as she started to sob.

    ¡°Rose, I am not pushing you away. Your talent lies somewhere else. I don¡¯t want you to waste time learning something that you have such difficulty in,¡± I explained to her.

    ¡°What else can I improve myself? Who else can teach me something that even I don¡¯t know what I can improve on? My growth is stunted right now. Prodigy my fucking arse. I cannot even grasp the basic of Concentration,¡± she said with a sad voice.

    ¡°No, Rose. You are a prodigy to me. You are the only person that was able to learn dual casting all on your own. I truly believe your talent lies elsewhere. That i9 quadruple core of yours can definitely do things that neither me or Lily can do. On that, I have my utmost faith,¡± I said to her.

    ¡°W.. what?¡± she looked at me with a confused face.

    ¡°N.. never mind. Maybe you can look for the Paladin Lord for guidance. Perhaps he can advise you on what you can improve yourself in. As of now, I am not the right teacher to guide you. I am so sorry, Rose,¡± I explained to her.

    Rose drooped her head and walked off from the arena. A big part of me wishes to run up to her and hug her but doing that might not push her to learn something new by herself. I am certainly not the right teacher to guide her as she is different than both me and Lily. She need to find her own path by herself.

    ***

    There was a knock on my door. It was close to midnight now. Who could it be? Hopefully it is not some bad news related to the upcoming war. Better check who it is.

    ¡°Rose Starr, how can I help you? You usually retired to your room at this hour,¡± I said to her.

    ¡°Sorry for disturbing you so late, Ojii-sama. I¡¯m hoping you can lend me your ears and a bit of your time if you would allow me to,¡± she said as she bowed to me.

    Rose is the only one that calls me that. While to the other guildmasters it might be disrespectful, I gave her permission to address me as such. She is my prized pupil of the Light Guild, giving her some leeway is nothing compared to what she had accomplished for the guild.

    ¡°Of course, I¡¯m all ears. Speak as you wish,¡± I said to her.

    She began telling her story about how she was having difficulty in focusing her mind on something. There is always something distracting her from focusing on just one object alone. She said that her brother does not know what else to teach her and said that she needed to find someone that is more suitable to guide her instead. But she does not know what she should be even improving herself on.

    I asked her what she had been training herself on for the past years. She kept quiet but eventually said that she had learned how to dual cast her spells by criss-crossing her chanting.

    What an achievement is what I would like to tell her but I kept quiet until she finishes her story. She stopped her story after mentioning that she had honed all her techniques and skills to the best of her ability and that she had nothing more that she know to improve on.

    I gave it some thought before speaking to her. I can see that she is deeply hurt and emotional having learned that she is not able to use Concentration. She might not be able to use any State Of Mind for that matter. But not learning this is never the end of the world for an adventurer. Especially if you are in the Light Guild.

    I clapped my hand to surprise her. Compliments is what she needed right now.

    ¡°First of all, congratulations in learning how to dual cast on your own. Not to mention in just four years. I am certainly not mistaken in saying that you are a prodigy,¡± I said to Rose.

    ¡°Thank you, but I am certain that there are other people out there who can perform dual casting. I am not the only one in this world who can do it,¡± she said.

    ¡°On that, you are right. However, there was only ever two person that I know in this world that had learned dual casting. The first being Ivy Moonshine. She spent decades if not centuries until she was able to learn on how to dual cast,¡± I said while walking towards my special hidden chest.

    ¡°The second person that I knew was Jack Hawthorn. He was a legend being able to learn dual casting as well as achieving Higher State Of Mind before he perished. But it was Ivy who had taught him on how to dual cast. But you, on the other hand, achieved the impossible by yourself,¡± I said to her while searching for one of my prized possession.

    Rose kept quiet as she listened to me. It looks like her mood is getting better now. Time to wrap things up.

    ¡°The trouble about Jack is that he did not know what he needed to focus on. Whether it was in spell casting or State Of Mind, he was never able to perfect any of them. You on the other hand, have only one option. Are you ready to take on the challenge?¡± I asked her while handing to her a book.

    Her face lit up upon looking at the title. She looked at me with a curious look.

    ¡°As the Paladin Lord, I am technically not allowed to let anyone discover about the existence of this book. However, you are my prized pupil. Consider it an exception. I am not able to teach you on what you can learn but I have my utmost faith that you will be able to accomplish the impossible. Are you ready to become stronger than your brother and perhaps be a legend among the adventurers?¡± I said to her.

    She stood up while hugging the book. She bowed to me and gave me her most sincere thank you. I smiled at her and waved her good night. I am curious as to what she can accomplish with that book. I am certain she will put it to good use. A special book brought down by all the previous Paladin Lords. A book of Forbidden Spells.

 Chapter 35: Jane Gladiolus [MOON]

    Chapter 35: Jane Gladiolus [MOON]

    It¡¯s been days since I last seen Rose. Today marks the 6th day of the week. Tomorrow will be our final day of preparation before I officially declare war with the Queen. Lily and I had been sparring daily and once a while John comes over to spar as well. We certainly had gotten stronger as compared to our younger days. One might say that Lily is the weakest among the three of us but that is not true. Her brawling skill gives her an advantage over speed. Even me or John is not comfortable in taking a direct hit of her normal punch. And that is not even being buffed by her fire or lightning spells.

    I am more worried about Rose. It is sad to say that she is not on par with all three of us in terms of growth. While her dual casting is impressive, she only have her existing spells to test out which is limited in the first place. I hope the Paladin Lord is able to guide her into learning some other spells or find some other ways to improve herself. At this point, stats no longer play the primary role when State Of Mind comes into play. While I have faith in Rose eventually improving herself, getting results in just five days is quite a stretch.

    I sighed unconsciously in the middle of sparring. Lily lowered her hands and approached me. I was unfocused during the sparring and was looking down most of the time. It was not until I saw Lily¡¯s boots that I realised she was standing in front of me. I looked up and she booped my nose. Her face is awfully close to mine which made my heart flutter. She always knew how to approach me while flaunting her beauty.

    ¡°Watcha thinking about, Mister Genius?¡± she asked me while smiling.

    ¡°I told you to stop calling me that,¡± I said while chuckling.

    ¡°Thinking about Rose, am I right?¡± asked Lily.

    ¡°I¡¯m just worried that she is pushing herself too hard or just down in the dumps. Not to mention we have such short time to improve ourselves. Rose had it hard as she could not learn Concentration. I wish I knew where she went so I can check out on her,¡± I sighed at the end.

    ¡°You are really such a sis-con,¡± she chuckled.

    ¡°No, I¡¯m not. Just worried about my little sister, that is all,¡± I said bluntly.

    ¡°Rose is much stronger, smarter and brilliant than all of us. You are probably the only one who doesn¡¯t see that. I believe you still see her as the little girl you saved a long time ago,¡± said Lily.

    Ever since I bought her that bracelet, she is superbly sharp now. Almost the same level as Rose. I reached out my hand and pet her head. Kind of awkward when she is taller than me.

    ¡°I still remember you being a little girl too,¡± I said to Lily.

    ¡°W.. Stop making fun of me! Who is the shortest one here?!¡± shouted Lily.

    Ugh, right in my kokoro.

    ¡°Let¡¯s get back to sparring. I¡¯ll be more serious now¡­ Lily? Yoo hoo?¡± I asked as I waved my hands in front of her. What is she looking at?

    I turned my head behind to see what Lily was looking at. There was someone coming into the arena. It looked like someone wearing white but covered in dirt and soil. Looks as though someone had not shower themselves in days. It can¡¯t be, right?

    As it turns out, it was Rose that walked into the arena. She looked as though she had not slept in days and was covered in filth. I quickly ran up to check up on her. I have never seen her in such condition before. What had she been doing for the past five days?

    ¡°Rose, are you okay? You looked like you¡¯ve been through hell,¡± I said to her.

    ¡°Onii-chan, let¡¯s spar right now,¡± she said to me.

    I wanted to tell her to take a shower and clean herself first but her eyes had a deep conviction in them. She is eager to show me the fruits of her training. I should definitely indulge her lest she feel more rejected than before.

    ¡°Very well, let me warn you that I will be serious. Show me what you got, Rose,¡± I said to her.

    ¡°You better give it your all. Even I can¡¯t promise that I might not hurt you,¡± she said.

    Getting cocky eh, let¡¯s see how much you grown in this past 5 days.

    ***

    I opened my eyes quickly. How long was I laying flat on the arena floor? I quickly pushed myself up to see Rose at the other corner panting herself. She gave the biggest smile and made a peace sign after seeing that I was looking at her.

    ¡°I win, Onii-chan,¡± said Rose.

    I was speechless. No doubt I was not going all out but I did not make myself vulnerable enough for her to trash me to the ground. She certainly accomplished the impossible in just five days.

    I approached her. Upon reaching her, I gave her a pat on the head along with the biggest smile that I can muster.

    ¡°You did it, Rose. I am so proud of you,¡± I said to her genuinely.

    I did not care that she was stronger than me. As long as she can protect herself in this war, I am more than happy about it. I never craved to be the strongest. Only strong enough to defeat Tom had always been my sole purpose.

    Rose started sobbing. She then gave me a hug to which I returned it. What an accomplishment to be able to become this strong in just five days. Could she secretly be a Saiyan? I won¡¯t lie, I am a little envious.

    Lily who was watching the entire scene had her jaw dropped. She came over to the both of us to congratulate Rose. She even declared Rose as the strongest among the four of us. I said that the jury is still out as she had not fought John yet. I am fairly certain that John had not revealed his full strength to any of us. He is the only one who was able to achieve the Higher State Of Mind. Fairly certain he have more trick up his sleeves.

    ***

    It was dinner time and the four of us gathered in our favourite inn ¡°Sleeping Daisies¡± once again. Rose had finally washed up but her panda eyes were getting more obvious now. I told her to take the rest of the day off for tomorrow. She will need to be in tip-top shape before the start of the war.

    I will be going around checking on the guilds tomorrow to make sure everything is in place. By now, we had probably sneak out a small number of civilians out from the city. The adventurers tricked the soldiers that they are bringing them on a tour to sight-seeing animals outside the city. Obviously, the soldiers questioned on why the adventurers were doing a tour with the civilians when the city is still in lockdown but we had proper paperwork. The promise was to just bring them on a short tour outside and will bring them back by the end of the day. Of course that was not the case. The adventurers will be guiding the civilians to another town where they will be safer there. While the civilians will be caught off-guard and will think that they are being kidnapped, we had no choice but to ensure that they are safe. Sadly, I can¡¯t say the same for their belongings and shelter in the city.

    We raised a glass to each other with a clank. This might probably be our last meal together but I pray to any Gods above that it does not come true. All my friends are powerful now and they will survive this war. I am counting on all of them to play their part.

    ¡°To all of you, John, Daisy and Rose, thank you so much for supporting me. And thank you for willing to be my friends,¡± I said to them while bowing.

    ¡°Why you being so sentimental for? I thought we were going to celebrate instead?¡± said John while he rubbed his nose.

    ¡°It¡¯s not the first time he acted this way. He¡¯s always been like that ever since we met him,¡± said Lily.

    ¡°Onii-chan is always sentimental when something bad is about to happen. But sadly he is never thankful enough to officially date any of us,¡± laughed Rose.

    ¡°Wait, am I in the list? How come I didn¡¯t know about it?¡± said John while alternating his look between Lily and Rose.

    ¡°What are you talking about? You are the highest in Zen¡¯s list. You two are practically partners right about now,¡± laughed Lily.

    ¡°Blood cousins to be more precise. Am I right, Zen?¡± said John.

    Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

    ¡°Wait.. you knew? I was never able to officially confirm it,¡± I said to John with my mouth agape.

    ¡°What are you two talking about? Are you saying the both of you are related in some ways?¡± asked Rose.

    ¡°Well, I found out that Zen¡¯s mother was part of the Gladiolus family. Her records were astounding. I am quite envious that both of your parents were such accomplished adventurers, Zen. Makes my parents seemed like they accomplished nothing when they were in the Viking guild,¡± said John.

    ¡°At least you still have your parents around to appreciate. All I have are stories about them and nothing else. Truth be told, I never knew much about my mother. She was always overshadowed by my father¡¯s accomplishment instead,¡± I said to John and Lily.

    ¡°Which is why.. here,¡± John passed a book to me.

    ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± I asked him.

    ¡°It¡¯s your mother¡¯s diary, Jane Gladiolus. Surprisingly it was kept in the Viking Lord¡¯s room. Not sure why her diary would be kept as something secret or valuable. Quite strange really. Sorry I had to read some of the contents to know it was your mother. I only found out when she wrote about your father. I stopped reading after I realised that it was your mother¡¯s diary.

    ¡°And you think it is okay to just give me? Won¡¯t you be in trouble if they found out that you took out a secret book and just handed it to me?¡± I questioned John.

    Rose coughed to interrupt our conversation.

    ¡°Onii-chan, he is the guildmaster. I¡¯m pretty sure he knows what is best. Don¡¯t worry about it,¡± she said.

    I squinted at Rose and John. These two have some dirty secrets regarding guildmasters. I carefully looked at the diary handed to me and stroke the surface. This book is very old. The edges were rough and the binding holding it together were peeling apart. There was no title written on it. I need to be careful as to not accidentally tear this book. It might be the only direct thing in this world that can bring me some insight and perhaps closure about my mother.

    I flipped the cover to read the first page. I bit my lips as I read the first few sentences. I instantly closed the diary as now here is not the best place to read it. It would be impolite to my friends but more importantly, I was wrong about my mother.

    ¡°If you want to read you can go ahead. You can take your leave y¡¯know,¡± said John.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine, it can wait for later. Spending time with my friends is more important right now,¡± I said.

    ¡°Tell me brother, are you actually planning to date either of these two after the war is over?¡± said John.

    All three of them looked at me. Why is John ratting me out?

    ¡°John, you¡¯re supposed to be on my side. And yes, probably. But after my revenge is over. Not just the war. What are you thinking by asking me that? Are you aiming for either of them?¡± I asked John.

    ¡°What? Nah.. I already fancy someone else now. I¡¯m just curious about you, that is all,¡± he said.

    ¡°Are you saying that me or Rose is not good enough for you?¡± asked Lily.

    ¡°Nah, both of you belongs to Zen in body, heart, soul and mind. I wouldn¡¯t even dare to think about choosing any of you,¡± said John.

    ¡°W.. what the hell are you saying?!¡± shouted both Lily and Rose while John laughed.

    ¡°Hahaha! Both of you should just be Zen¡¯s wives! Why bother fighting over him anyway?¡± laughed John.

    ¡°Ahem, I thought about it but.. honestly, I really prefer to only have a single wife. I feel that you should treasure and love that partner of yours exclusively. Getting multiple wives kind of defeats that purpose of getting married y¡¯know,¡± I said to all of them.

    Both Lily and Rose kept quiet. I know this affects both of them but I wanted to get my message clear. I did not stall in choosing them because I wanted to play around. I really wanted to choose my future partner properly.

    ¡°You do know it is legal to have multiple wives, right? I guess you are dead-set in just having a single wife of your own. Never took you for an idealist,¡± said John.

    ¡°Or a hopeless romantic. You have a beautiful, slutty elf right here ripe for the taking but you¡¯re still delaying the inevitable,¡± said Rose while introducing Lily like some talk show guest.

    ¡°S.. slutty? You should choose your beautiful little sister instead. Besides, how many men out there who would have the chance to lay their hands on their sister? It¡¯s like one in a billion chance!¡± shouted Lily.

    John spitted his drink after hearing that. These two must be drunk or something to suddenly start talking like this. While it is funny to hear them banter, I do not wish for another war to start earlier.

    ¡°Alright, if I have to choose someone tonight then I will choose my mother¡¯s diary to keep me company instead,¡± I said out loud.

    All three of them looked at me in disgust. What in the world are they thinking?

    ¡°I meant reading it. Not what all of you are thinking of. I am not that crazy,¡± I told them.

    All of us started laughing. The alcohol must be getting to all of us. We should call it a day before we get hammered and do something stupid.

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll take my leave first. Can¡¯t drink too much alcohol nowadays to keep my body in shape. My partner is waiting for me back home,¡± said John.

    All of us looked at John and thought he was joking. But his face showed no sign of laughter. Wait, is he serious?

    ¡°Y.. you have a partner?¡± asked Lily.

    ¡°Yeah, didn¡¯t I said it earlier?¡± said John.

    ¡°When you say partner, you meant as in romantic partner, right?¡± I asked John.

    ¡°Yeah,¡± he said with a straight face.

    Both Lily and I looked at Rose. She shook her head saying that she had no idea that John was dating anyone despite being in the city.

    ¡°Since when did you start dating and who?!¡± asked both Lily and I.

    ¡°It¡¯s a long story. I thought I told you all before,¡± said John while putting on a thinking face.

    ¡°Oh you are not leaving, Mister Gladiolus. We have plenty of interrogation to do tonight,¡± said Lily as she tried to stop John from leaving but I doubt she will be able to keep him here.

    I guess I should retire for the night too. I want to get started on reading my mother¡¯s diary and find out what she had went through before. Although, the few sentences that I read was so misleading.

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll be taking my leave too. You girls going to continue drinking? Don¡¯t get too hammered and do something stupid alright,¡± I said to both of them as they waved me away.

    ***

    Finally, made it back in my room. Tomorrow will be last day that I will be enjoying this room of mine in the Dark guild. Hopefully my room remains intact after the war. Hate to have all my belongings destroyed.

    Now, as much as I don¡¯t like reading a diary written by my mother, this is possibly the only thing that I will probably be able to find that can bring me some insight on what happened to them. Hopefully I can find as much information about the way they lived and what kind of person they were. First-hand information about my mother or father are hard to come by even though they were accomplished adventurers.

    I opened the diary and scrolled through the pages. There were not too many entries in it. Some of the entries were torn as well. Not sure by mother or some previous Viking Lord. Hopefully it does not contain too much information on those missing entries.

    Oh well, here goes nothing. Sorry mom, if you¡¯re watching me from above. I am going to have to intrude on your privacy a little bit.

    ***

    Entry 1

    I cannot believe that I am actually writing a diary. Who would have thought that a brute like me would even think of doing something so girly. How do you even write a diary? I think I should just write down all the necessary details into each entry. Hang on, do I need to write the date and sign? Ah, never mind.

    My first entry is because of Jack. Who would have thought he would ask me on a date?! While we hang out often together, he always ogled at those big-breasted elves like they were Freyja herself.

    I daresay that I won¡¯t lose to those elves in terms of sex appeal but I¡¯ll admit that my body is not slim and frail like them. My body is muscular all around due to my heritage. Which is why I am completely surprised that Jack is even willing to ask me out on a date.

    Wait, am I being mistaken here? Maybe I assumed too much and perhaps he is just asking me to accompany him somewhere. I must be getting ahead of myself. Jack is not into me. I should play it calm tomorrow and act as though I am just following him. But why am I getting so excited! What should I even wear tomorrow?!

    Entry 2

    Kyaa! I was not mistaken! Jack really asked me on a date! I¡¯m so glad I wore a nice dress today. Jack was flabbergasted when he saw me in this dress. Not to mention this dress enhances my cleavage to a certain extend. I can¡¯t even hold my excitement right now and felt the need to write before I even change. Hang on, maybe I should. I shouldn¡¯t crumple this dress that my mom gave me.

    There, I changed back to my normal clothes. Which is same type of clothes that I always wear that exposes my abs and muscles. Will Jack go back to being normal if he sees me in wearing the same thing? Maybe I should buy more girly clothes tomorrow. That should change his perspective about me.

    Entry 3

    We are dating. HOLY THOR AND ODIN WE ARE OFFICIALLY DATING!!

    I cannot even believe myself that I said yes to him!

    Who would have thought that he would confess to me out of the blue?! I had to keep my cool in asking him questions. I made very sure to question him about his elf fetish. He said that he will keep it in check.

    I asked why he was willing to confess to me when there are plenty of other big-breasted female elves that flaunt over him. Why choose a brute like me?

    To my surprise he actually told me that he had his eye on me for quite some time. Ever since I gave him a trashing at the tournament, he started taking notice on me.

    I never knew Jack was such an M. Maybe his masochistic trait supersede his elven fetish? Should I be proud about that right now? Jack chose me because I was a brute that gave him a trashing. Not as a feminine female. Can¡¯t believe I feel so sad at the end of this entry.

    Entry 4

    Jack had complete mastery over his sword. The way he handled it with his movement was so extravagant that I swear I saw glimpses of Valhalla a couple of times. It was such a rough and lovely night that I think Jack might have brought out more feminine appeal in me than I ever thought I had. I think both of us went the opposite of our usual attitude. To think Jack was such a brute when I showed him my shy feminine side. I think I might be pregnant by the amount of times we did.

    ***

    I slammed my head on the table. This is exactly what I was dreading to read. I do not wish to peek into their love life and figure out how I was conceived. But sadly, I must press on.

    Ugh, my brain is starting to hurt from reading the latest entry. The image of my father being rough with my mother is not something I wish to picture in my brain. I went to splash my face with some cold water and got myself a glass of wine. I don¡¯t really fancy alcohol that much but I felt that I needed it to push through this diary. Not too many entry now. I can finish this!

    ***

    Entry 5

    I was right. I am really pregnant. It started with me feeling disgusted with some of my favourite food and vomiting after a meal. I thought I had food poisoning or something but the doctor said that was not the case. I really am pregnant. How am I going to tell Jack? We are not even married and it was because of my high¡­ ahem drive that I ended up pregnant.

    Will Jack push me away after I tell him? I am so scared right now. I fought with plentiful dangerous monsters and beings but the very idea of Jack abandoning me right now is making me shiver with fear. O Lord Odin, please help me. I am just sixteen.

    Entry 6

    I was surprised that Jack was so happy when I told him that I was pregnant. Despite being a noble, he was the most sensible and responsible man that I have ever met. He gave me a hug as he saw that I was turning pale and started shivering when I told him. He knew that I thought of the idea that he might leave me. I felt so loved by this man. He said that he was equally responsible for this baby as he shot plentiful of his cannons inside me the other night. He knew it was only a matter of time.

    But the bastard became a brute after knowing that I was pregnant. He even said ¡°You¡¯re already pregnant, you won¡¯t get pregnant twice,¡± jokingly. I thought I was the one who had high sex drive but it turned out that he was even worst!

    Entry 7

    I got married today. I can¡¯t really believe it but I AM MARRIED. Take that, Mom and Dad in not believing that your brute daughter would end up getting pregnant and married! I sure showed them!

    I thought it would be a simple ceremony yet Jack went out of his way to invite everyone from the Viking and Light guild. I swear I even saw guild members from all the other guilds joining in.

    Jack was so handsome when he took my hand and swore to take care of me forever. I told him that he can have his big-breasted elf that he craved so much as his second wife. There is no law that prevents him from having another so I resigned to that fact. But he swore in front of everyone that he will only have one wife. I shall hold onto him on that promise.

    We celebrated so much today that it felt like I was in a festival. Ah how I wish today would never end. My stomach is getting a bit bigger now and I have never felt so happy.

    ***

    Ugh, do you have to write so many unnecessary details inside here, mom? I am getting a headache trying to finish reading this diary. It seems like entry 8 and 9 has torn off. Only one entry remaining. Hopefully I can get an idea on what happened to them.

    ***

    Entry 10

    I woke up in an infirmary. I cannot believe I survived the war. I was hurt badly that I can barely even move but I am very much alive. From what I heard, Jack died fighting the Demon King. It was so chaotic that I suspected as much when the Demon King unleashed his fury.

    I am so sad right now. I am crying as I am writing this entry. To lose my son and him together, I cannot bear the thought of it being on my own. I need you Jack. I miss you so much.

    ***

    Huh? What? Did mother wrote wrongly? Did she thought that I died or something? That can¡¯t be right. Otherwise, how am I here? Was she too sad and not thinking straight after hearing that father had died? Or maybe there was some fake news that she heard that I perished during the war? Something just doesn¡¯t fit here. Let¡¯s read the last entry.

    ***

    Entry 11 and possibly the last

    The fucking Queen has declared that all Hawthorn are traitors! She is literally committing genocide right now and no one is fucking preventing it from happening! I will not sit by as she sully on the memories of Jack. My husband gave his life to defeat the Demon King and here she is suddenly issuing this statement out of the blue.

    If I do not write any further entries after this it would mean that I died fighting the Queen. I do not care if she is the fucking Queen. I am going to kill her!

    ***

    I slammed my fist on my room table which cracked it a little. I thought both father and mother perished during the war. As it turns out, my mother survived and was possibly killed by the Queen.

    I won¡¯t lie, I felt bitter when I wanted to start this war. There were many times during this week that I thought of calling it off. The deaths of many was not something that I wished for.

    But now, the Queen just made it fucking personal. I am going to avenge my mother by torturing the Queen and I am going to enjoy it.

 Chapter 36: All Sneaky Like [MOON]

    Chapter 36: All Sneaky Like [MOON]

    Here I am in the familiar white world. I meditated for a long time sacrificing my sleep because I needed to meet with the both of them. Thankfully they answered my call. Both of them can be quite fickle-minded to be honest.

    ¡°You should be sleeping right now,¡± said Kirin.

    ¡°I needed an audience with the both of you. Please indulge in my request,¡± I said to both Kirin and Byakko as I bowed to them.

    ¡°Speak your mind,¡± said Byakko as he sat on his favourite rock.

    ¡°Byakko-sama, were you aware that mother survived the Demon War?,¡± I asked him.

    He put his paw on his chin as he needed some time to gather his thoughts.

    ¡°Sorry kid. From what I remembered, there was some sort of explosion where I was separated from your mother. I called out to her through our mental link but she did not answer. Perhaps she was unconscious. I thought she had died but it would seemed that she survived the war, based on her diary. I won¡¯t blame her for not looking for me as she did not know where I was. The bastard demon who took me went to hide in the Demon realm. A coward demon who thought himself worthy to wield me. Bah,¡± spat Byakko.

    ¡°I see. I am not blaming you, Byakko-sama. You need not worry. What am I requesting is that the both of you to lend me your full strength in this war,¡± I said while glaring at them.

    ¡°Careful boy, your anger is spilling out from you. Control yourself,¡± warned Kirin.

    ¡°Sorry, but that might be difficult. To discover that the Queen had a hand in murdering my mother just fills me with uncontrolled anger,¡± I explained to them while gripping my fingers tightly.

    ¡°Let the boy be, Kirin. Even I am furious that this Queen murdered my previous host. By your grace, I wish to see it through with him in seeing the Queen dead,¡± said Byakko as he lowered his head to Kirin.

    Wow, that was surprising. To think that Byakko would actually bow his head to Kirin. I certainly did not expect that to ever happen. But I do understand his position. Kirin is technically the rightful celestial that chose me first. Byakko just happened to tag along, but recently the both of them were getting more accustomed to one another. Thankfully they no longer bicker among themselves unlike the first time they met after a long time.

    Kirin sighed and looked at the both of us.

    ¡°Boy, during this war, the both of us will certainly be supporting you. However, we are not at liberty to lend you our full powers. Your body as of right now is not capable of handling the full force of our powers. I would say not even half of our full strength,¡± explained Kirin.

    ¡°Is it because I had not learned any Higher State Of Mind?¡± I asked.

    ¡°That is one of the factor. Another is that your body had not grown accustomed to our powers yet. As you wield us more, your body will be able to tap more of our powers. Take note on that. There is a reason why I kept insisting that you use wield me more. But.. I¡¯ll grant an exception this time. Feel free to use either of us. I won¡¯t say a word,¡± he said.

    To think the tsundere Kirin actually gave his permission? It felt as though we were all growing up. Kind of strange to be saying that when these two mythical beings existed beyond time.

    I gave my last bow to them as the world was starting to fade. I should get some sleep before the big day. Tomorrow will be the day that I will be meeting the Queen face to face.

    ***

    I opened my eyes. Gosh, my head is hammering. Where am I? Oh right, I¡¯m crashing at Lily¡¯s place. Why were we drinking so much for? Sigh, I better freshen myself before I end up puking.

    I knocked on the washroom door, just in case. Someone replied from the inside asking me to come in. Huh? I am certain this is the washroom and not Lily¡¯s room. I might be hammered but I am still aware on which room is which.

    I opened the door to peek in and saw Lily wearing a tank top, an underwear and a towel covering her shoulder. It looks like she is washing away her blond dye which was used to conceal her silver hair. I might still be a little drunk but I can see why onii-chan is so enamoured with her. She is voluptuous and slim in all the right places. Not too muscular or thin either. No wonder he slept with her. I might have considered it too if she suddenly pushed me down. Wait, what am I saying? I must be drunk right now. I sighed unconsciously as I walked closer to the sink.

    ¡°Did you say something?¡± asked Lily as she swung her hair aside to look at me.

    Why is there sparkling effects? And why is she looking so beautiful? Something is wrong with me right now!

    ¡°Marry me¡±

    Huh? Who said that? Wait, I said it! Oh gosh what is going on with me? I can¡¯t think properly now because my head is spinning. Oh crap I am going to puke!

    I rushed to the bowl to puke out the excess alcohol and some undigested food. Lily came over to rub my back.

    ¡°How are you fine? I remember you drank more than me,¡± I asked while feeling horrible.

    ¡°Well, elves have higher alcohol tolerance in general. And our wine have much higher alcohol percentage than the beers we were drinking,¡± she explained.

    I wanted to ask more but I ended up puking again. Ugh, I feel miserable. Not even onii-chan saw me like this before. Who knew vomiting will be this exhausting. But at least I feel much better after removing the alcohol from my body.

    ¡°You good? I¡¯ll make you some tea then. Please flush your vomit away before coming out,¡± said Lily.

    ¡°D.. don¡¯t tell onii-chan,¡± I pleaded to her.

    ¡°I won¡¯t, don¡¯t worry,¡± she chuckled as she headed out.

    ***

    Ahh.. nothing hits better than a warm tea after a hangover. Not that I wish to relieve it again. Onii-chan should be meeting the Queen right about now. Yet here I am recovering from a hangover. What a horrible little sister I am.

    I sighed loudly. Lily was watering her plants on her balcony. What a luxury room she has. The Elemental guild certainly did not held back in constructing their building ensuring that it was spacious and fancy looking. I might regret a little in not choosing the Elemental guild. But if that were the case, I would had never discovered a method to improve myself further. The book that was given to me was a Godsend but I can see why it was a sacred book. Who knew that there were so many powerful spells that the Light guild declared as forbidden. Understandably in the wrong hands, we will be an incredibly difficult opponent to fight against. Even I was surprised that I managed to beat onii-chan in the sparring. I know I caught him off-guard and he was certainly not using his full power but still, I felt happy that I accomplished so much in just five days. I should have seek out the Paladin Lord much earlier for his advice.

    Lily came back into the living room after she was done watering her plants. She no longer has her ridiculously long ponytail but her silver hair with greenish tips were certainly enchanting. I checked my long hair that I had kept for the past four years. It has grown really long now. I should cut it to prevent it from distracting me during combat.

    ¡°Lily, may I borrow a scissors? Would like to cut my hair before we headed out,¡± I asked her.

    ¡°Oh sure, let me help instead. What style are you looking for?¡± asked Lily.

    ¡°Someone is in a good mood. A war is about to start but here you are smiling. Did something happen between you and Zen yesterday?¡± I asked her without showing any hint of jealousy.

    ¡°Hm? Oh, nothing happened yesterday. Nothing at all. I guess I am happy that the war is finally happening after years of planning. You can say I am happy for Zen, to be honest,¡± she explained while she started laying some papers on the floor.

    ¡°You are probably the only one who is in such good mood for wanting a war to happen. Something did happen yesterday, isn¡¯t it?¡± I asked her while I set the chair in the middle of the papers and sat down.

    ¡°If you followed Zen after he left the city, you will understand why I feel this way. He had nowhere to go and he has no family except for you, which is in this city. But he was exiled for just being the son of the war hero. Yet waging war was always the last thing on his mind. Hopefully we can win this war and he can finally start to call City Of Pines as his home. And¡­ he also gave me his old cloak,¡± she explained and started cutting my hair.

    ¡°You really think a lot about him. And here I am still wondering why the both of you are not together. He even gave you his cloak rather than her little sister¡± I said.

    ¡°It¡¯s.. complicated. And he said it was protect myself as I expose a lot of skins during combat¡± she confessed.

    ¡°The both of you had literally slept together. What else do you need to seal the deal? And I do agree, you certainly expose a lot of your areas that is supposed to be protected. No wonder he gave it to you instead,¡± I said while chuckling.

    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

    ¡°Actually, it was more like I was the one who pushed him down. He did struggle to free himself at first but he eventually gave in. I don¡¯t know what had gotten over me that night. I¡¯m sorry that it happened, Rose,¡± she apologised to me while giving me a hug from behind.

    ¡°Lily, it¡¯s alright. I¡¯m glad it was you and not some other elf woman. To me, you are like an older sister that I never had. I can¡¯t hate you no matter how hard I tried,¡± I told her honestly.

    ¡°Aww Rose, you¡¯re my little sister too,¡± she said as she patted my head.

    ¡°Which is why, should anything happened to me, promise me that you will take care of my brother,¡± I asked her.

    ¡°Rose, what are you insinuating? I sense something else¡± she questioned me.

    ¡°What I¡¯m trying to say is, date my brother, marry him and take care of him. You have my full support and permission,¡± I pleaded to her.

    ¡°Then, what about you? Your own feelings?¡± asked Lily.

    ¡°I¡¯ll find someone else, don¡¯t worry. You¡¯re the best person for him and I want the both of you to be happy,¡± I turned to look at her and smiled.

    She kept quiet and continued cutting my hair. A moment later, she grabbed a mirror and showed me her hair-cutting skills. Wow, how did she cut it so well? It looked as though I just came out of a barbershop.

    Lily gave me a hug while I was still sitting down.

    ¡°I promise you that I will take care of him should anything happen to you. But I cannot promise you that I will date him. In the end, it is up to your brother to decide who he wants to date with,¡± said Lily.

    ¡°Besides, I am not sure whether I want to date him anymore. I never realised that he often mumble out weird things that makes no sense. Even his sleep talk makes no sense. Hahaha,¡± laughed Lily.

    ¡°You are the only one that ever heard him sleep talk. Accept your fate and date him. Haha!¡± I laughed as well.

    ¡°No! I¡¯m changing my mind now! Hahaha¡± shouted Lily as she laughed.

    ¡°Moving back to the topic, what do you mean I show a lot of skin? All the right places are protected,¡± she said while she checked her clothing.

    ¡°Lily, your exposed abdomen and your thighs are a clear examples of them. How had you not noticed the amount of stares that you get from guys who kept looking at your stomach area?!¡± I explained to her.

    ¡°B.. but.. I can move easier like this. And I did not know that humans were so infatuated with the stomach area. Ohh! That would explain why Zen kept looking at it! Why didn¡¯t I realised it sooner?¡± she smacked her own head.

    I started laughing excessively at what she just said. Lily had always acted human so it did not cross my mind that elves have a different way of thinking as compared to us. She joined my laughter when I could not stop laughing.

    A firework went off which halted our laughter. That was our cue to begin the evacuation. There will be a festival today that many people is certain to be attending. Perfect for us to guide them out of the city without them realising it. The Queen and her soldiers will certainly be busy preparing for war than to bother the festival. Let¡¯s rescue as many civilians as we can before cannon balls starts flying. I hope onii-chan had made it safely out of the castle by now.

    ***

    It is in the wee hours of the morning. Before I headed to see the Queen, there was someone that I needed to meet-up first. The meeting place was in a secluded area away from prying eyes. Someone in a brown cloak was already there. I walked closer to this person and carefully handed some paper to him. We never look into each other¡¯s eyes directly. He carefully read through the report with a cigarette in his mouth. A couple of minutes later, he gave a huge sigh.

    ¡°Who could have thought the little kid that I let into the city nine years ago would end up inciting a war,¡± said Earl.

    ¡°I have my reasons. At first it was because of the Queen¡¯s involvement with the demons, but now it just got personal,¡± I told him.

    ¡°Your report looks solid. And you said that two out of the four great powers vouched on this? Damn, this is way above my pay check,¡± he lighted another cigarette.

    ¡°Who would have known that the Queen is in cohort with the Demons. I never signed up for this,¡± he gave a huge sigh once more and took a puff.

    I didn¡¯t reply him as there was nothing much to say. Earl was the only soldier that I trusted with this information. Perhaps the other guildmasters and other adventurers have more direct contact with soldiers as compared to me.

    ¡°I guess I¡¯ll be taking my leave then. I will be bringing along a few of the soldiers that I trust to lead the civilians out of the city. Hopefully none of them are demons. You can count on us to act when someone is acting way more suspicious than they should,¡± said Earl as he began to walk away.

    ¡°Thanks Earl, I knew I can count on you,¡± I said to him.

    ¡°Send the Queen my regards,¡± he waved while walking away disappearing into the crowd.

    Now that that¡¯s done, time to meet the Queen. Hope I am prepared for this. I will need all my sneaking skills to go in and out undetected.

    ***

    ¡°My Queen, we have reports that some soldiers had gone missing or disappeared. A number of them are not at their designated post. We also have reports about civilians going missing. It was as though they had vanished overnight. Should we call upon the adventurer¡¯s guild for help in the possibility of a monster inside the city?¡± asked a soldier giving his report.

    ¡°No need. Someone is planning something and I will personally find it out myself. Whoever it is, I will personally execute him. Dismissed, soldier,¡± ordered the Queen as she waved him away.

    The soldier left the throne room. The Queen stood up and walked towards a highly decorated soldier in full body armour. This soldier must be the Captain of the soldiers and her most trusted side-kick. She whispered something to him and he walked off. There is about four soldiers left stationed in the throne room now. Should I wait for them to leave during their shift to ambush the Queen?

    She sat back on her throne. She suddenly started looking around. Is she.. sniffing the air?

    ¡°Guards, be ready. Someone is here with us,¡± said the Queen.

    Awfully sus. For the Queen to have such pinpoint smelling abilities, she must be a Demon. I doubt even dogs are capable of smelling me hiding in the shadows. The thing is, what demon is she? Is it the same as what Sladar saw on the ship or some other worldly demon? Let¡¯s see.

    I appeared in the middle of the throne room after cancelling my Conceal spell and deactivated Concentration. The guards freaked out at first but stood ready with their spears. I have no intention in fighting them. My purpose today is to just talk with the Queen.

    ¡°Well well, look who it is. I knew I smelled someone in the room with us. Who knew you would voluntary pay me a visit, Zen Hawthorn?¡± she said.

    ¡°Who knew the Queen had such powerful smelling abilities. Almost as though you are not a human,¡± I insinuated to her.

    She knew it was me even with my face mask.

    ¡°Nonsense, elves always had powerful smelling ability on top of hearing and sight. Did you not know about it?¡± she explained herself while mocking me.

    ¡°How odd, I¡¯ve spent two years with many of them yet none of them have your smelling capability. I wonder who are you trying to bullshit here? Me, or the soldiers?¡± I asked her.

    The Queen started laughing with a hand on her face. Was it really that funny?

    ¡°State your business, Hawthorn. I do not believe you are here to talk about this. For you to risk yourself coming here, I am certain it is not because you want to be my slave, are you? O, the things that we can do together. And you¡¯ve gotten even more handsome over the years,¡± she said as she licked her teeth.

    Is this really something a Queen should be doing? I am surprised the soldiers here are still willing to serve her. Perhaps some of them here are demons in disguised. I removed my face mask. No reason to keep it on any longer.

    ¡°I am here, to declare war upon the City Of Pines and more importantly, upon you,¡± I said while glaring at her.

    Silence engulfs the throne room. It was the Queen who broke the silence with her evil laughter. What a villain.

    ¡°You? Declaring war upon the City Of Pines? You¡­ alone? AHAHAHA!! Oh, my stomach,¡± she said while continuing with her laughter.

    ¡°Ah, Mister Zen. And here I thought you were planning to assassinate me or something. To think you would be making a joke instead. Your father will be rolling in his grave knowing that his son became a court jester,¡± she said.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know about my father, but I am certain you know about what happened to my mother,¡± I said.

    ¡°Your mother?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Jane Gladiolus was my mother,¡± I spat the words at her.

    She gave a thought with a hand on her chin. I guess she murdered so many that she no longer knew who she killed.

    ¡°Ahh.. that brute of a woman. Now I remember. It¡¯s been so many years now. To think that brute is your mother,¡± she said.

    ¡°What did you do with her? Knowing you, you would had her executed on the spot,¡± I said.

    ¡°Executed? Now, why would I do such a thing? She barged into the throne room and demanded me to stop the extermination of the Hawthorns. She even had the guts to approach me with a weapon. My captain was the one who removed her head before she even reached these very steps,¡± she pointed towards the bottom of the stairs.

    ¡°And what did you do with her body?¡± I gritted my teeth as I asked.

    ¡°Her body? Most probably crushed and turned to fertiliser or something. Her skull on the other hand, I thought you would had noticed when you passed through the castle gate. Those skulls hanging above the gate belonged to traitors who attempted to murder the Queen. If only I knew that she was your mother then I would had personally hung her skull in my throne room instead,¡± she said as she started to chuckle.

    I closed my eyes. Every cell in my body is demanding me to kill this bitch of a woman right now. While that might be what I want, giving her a quick death is not something she deserves. I want to enjoy torturing her when this war is over. Another reason is because her captain is hiding somewhere in this throne room. He came back and thought I wouldn¡¯t notice. But his battle aura was a dead giveaway. This captain is no ordinary human. Fairly certain he is a demon in disguised. No human can emit that kind of aura. The captain is strong, very strong. I guess my mother was caught off-guard and perhaps not fully healed to fight with this captain.

    I said what I needed to say. Time for me to escape from here before I get caught.

    ¡°To any soldier listening here who do not wish to die, I would suggest that you escape from the city while you still can. This war is to bring the Queen down. Your death is unnecessary. And it is pointless for you to die for a demon,¡± I said loudly for all the soldiers to hear.

    Mummers can be heard. I am certain there are many soldiers outside of the throne door behind me, all of them waiting for the Queen¡¯s order.

    The Queen¡¯s eye bend downwards after I mentioned the word demon. Did she think that she can keep up this farce for so long?

    ¡°You made this personal for killing my mother. Wait here while I tear apart your precious walls and castle. I will personally come back here to take your head along with your precious captain,¡± I declared to her.

    ¡°And you think I am going to let you escape again? How arrogant of you to come in here and spout nonsense. Guards! Off with his head!¡± she shouted.

    Just then, a soldier opened the main door and shouted.

    ¡°Armies! Armies are approaching from the East and South!¡± shouted the soldier.

    That is my cue. Thanks for opening the door for me. I instantly activated Concentration casted a spell. Now that I am a Dark Wanderer, a new and final spell was taught to me. In the East, adventurers learn a different path. The West focuses on strength while the East focuses on skill. Since the Queen decided not to knight me to become a Dark Knight, I was knighted in the East and became a Dark Wanderer instead. Aside from Dark Slash that was taught to me, the other spell was Illusion. With the buff from imperfect Concentration, I can cast Illusion on anyone who is looking directly at me.

    The Illusion spell I casted was to trick everyone¡¯s vision that it was going dark. Then I casted Conceal so I can hide myself in plain sight. As this is a defensive spell, it is perfect for me to sneak away. Not useful during combat unless before the start of the fight.

    The captain rushed out of hiding and ran towards me at full speed like a ninja. His speed was ridiculous for someone wearing full metal armour. But too bad, Conceal spell finished before he swung his sword at me. Now I can run away while everyone¡¯s vision was still seeing darkness. Hopefully the captain is also affected by it otherwise I would have a tough time escaping.

    ***

    Phew, I was able to sneak out the same way that I came in. So glad my rope is still here. I had surveyed the castle based on the layout plan that Peter had provided me. There was a few windows that was in the blindside of the guards which was perfect for me to sneak out. After that, all I had to do was stay in the shadows. But my time is limited. I doubt that captain would just let me sneak out of the castle so easily. By now he would be rushing towards the castle gate. Too bad though, I won¡¯t be going out through the gate. I will be taking the waterways out of the castle instead. To think the elves were able to build something like a personal submarine made of wood where you can breath underwater and propel yourself forward. They really are living in the future.

    ***

    I reached my destination. Glad that I was able to sneak out successfully. I can hear the sound effect of me achieving my Sneak level to 100. It certainly put a smile on my face. I am outside of the city now. Using the waterways and sewers, it was easy to go in and out without the soldiers discovering. Not to mention I was submerged the whole time. But of course my clothing smells badly now. I made sure to keep all my important clothing in a waterproof bag made of some snake monster¡¯s leather.

    Someone reached a hand towards me just when I wanted to pull myself out of the water. Who is this person? The sun was shining behind him and I could only see his silhouette. That¡¯s odd. I told very little people on where I will be right after I escaped from the castle. After a moment of looking at his hair style, I knew who this was and reached out my hand to him.

    ¡°Fancy seeing you here, Rick. Did the Dark Lord told you where I will emerge?¡± I said.

    ¡°Indeed. He told me about this super secret task that can only be assigned to me. He also said that my very naughty pupil decided to start a war in the City Of Pines. Who knew the little kid from that time would be so daring,¡± said Rick.

    ¡°Haha.. never assume you know the person until they show their true colours. So, what did the Dark Lord assigned you to do? ¡± I smiled at him.

    ¡°He told me to ensure that you are safe throughout this war. Should I need to, I will need to be your meat shield as well,¡± he told me.

    ¡°What? Don¡¯t throw your life away on me. Besides, I can handle myself. Don¡¯t you worry,¡± I said.

    ¡°Oh I certainly know. I saw you fighting in the tournament. To think you were able to defeat both Daisy and Rose at the same time. Someone is getting cocky,¡± said Rick.

    ¡°I doubt I can do that anymore. They are both strong now. Not to mention Rose just kicked my ass recently. Heh heh,¡± I said.

    I started walking towards East while Rick followed me behind. I need to meet-up with Peter to update him that everything was according to plan. Hopefully the guild members and defected soldiers are helping us to evacuate as much civilians as possible before the war starts. I am certain the Queen and her soldiers are busy preparing themselves for war to even bother to check on the civilians.

    ¡°Soo.. are you dating Daisy or Rose?¡± asked Rick.

    ¡°Why? Why is everybody asking me this?!¡± I shouted to the heavens.

    ¡°I.. I¡¯m just curious. That is all. No need to be so dramatic about it,¡± said Rick.

    ¡°Sigh, you¡¯re interested in either of them?¡± I asked him.

    ¡°Well.. both of them are gorgeous and not to mention Rose had grown up significantly ever since I last saw her. Daisy was stunning when she beat Rose last year. To think I did not heard about her before. Any men will be looking for an opportunity to mingle with either of them,¡± he confessed.

    ¡°Rick, under no circumstances will you bring up Daisy or Rose anymore during the course of this war unless it is necessary. If you bring them up again to talk about dating or ploughing them then you will feel my wrath, do you hear me?¡± I glared at Rick with red eyes.

    ¡°O.. of course sir! I won¡¯t mention them ever again!¡± said Rick as he cowered in fear.

    ¡°Geez, someone sure is enjoying himself with two beauties,¡± he continued.

    ¡°What was that?¡± I squinted at him.

    ¡°N.. Nothing! Let¡¯s go faster!¡± Rick gestured me to walk faster.

    It is going to take a long walk to the East. Unless there is a caravan that is coincidentally heading towards that direction, it will take me a day or two to reach Peter. From where I am, I am not able to see the army approaching towards the city yet. Only from the height of the wall surrounding the City Of Pines that you can view the armies approaching from both sides. Let¡¯s not delay further, Peter awaits. No wait, might need to delay a little to wash myself first. Can¡¯t present myself with such filthy smell.

 Chapter 37: So It Begins [MOON]

    Chapter 37: So It Begins [MOON]

    Rick and I met up with Peter within a day. The army was moving much quicker than I anticipated given that were cannons and barriers involved. Rick was flabbergasted upon meeting Peter and bowed excessively. Peter calmed him and told him ¡°We don¡¯t do that here¡±. I shook Peter¡¯s hand and handed him mother¡¯s diary.

    ¡°Change of plans, I¡¯m now waging war for revenge as it got personal for me¡± I told him.

    Peter looked at me confused but proceeded to read the diary as we walked along. You would think that the founder would be sitting inside a carriage dragged along by horsettes but Peter had always been humble. He is the closest being to what I would call a Saint.

    Rick followed along with the rest of us heading towards the way that we came. It won¡¯t be long now until we are in sight of the city. We will need to be cautious for any unexpected cannon fires or potential ambush from the soldiers. We need to be ready at a moment¡¯s notice.

    ¡°I never knew Jane made it out alive after the war. To think she confronted the Queen directly. What a shame that it ended this way,¡± said Peter as he closed the diary and handed it back to me.

    ¡°Nothing shameful about it. Because of her death, I now know that the Captain is a dangerous foe, potentially a powerful demon in disguised. We will need to be wary of this captain,¡± I said.

    ¡°True indeed. It¡¯s a shame that I cannot participate in this war directly. Otherwise I could personally beat the living life out of this captain and the Queen,¡± Peter replied.

    Peter could not join this war directly as assaulting the city directly would lead to an all out war between the two cities. Not only will both cities be forever at odds, City of Heliotrope Ixia would lose their main source of food supplies from this continent. Hence the reason why I had to sneak in alone was to become the instigator for this war. This is to prevent the Queen from severing ties from the City of Heliotrope Ixia should we lose this war.

    All the army provided to me had no banner or stripes to link back to the Eastern continent. We made sure that there was absolutely nothing that can link back to the city or Peter himself. If anything, I¡¯ll just say that I hired them as mercenaries for the war. As I have plentiful amount of coins earned from my royalty, it is not a stretch for me to say that I can actually afford to hire enough mercenaries to start a war.

    Same for the elves. There are mercenary elves that work for money and I¡¯ll just say that I hired all of them. Sadly Sladar could not join this war as he had to be stationed at the Northern continent. He said that there is some disturbance going on over there that he needed to investigate. Is it just a coincidence or did the Queen planned that far?

    ¡°We are within sight of the city. The forces are yours to command, Zen. Make full use of them,¡± said Peter as he proceeded to hide among the soldiers.

    There is an experienced soldier that Peter had assigned to help give me advice in this war. I will be relying on him for guiding me over the course of the war.

    ¡°Mr Wick, are we in effective range of a siege battle?¡± I asked the soldier.

    ¡°Master Zen, we should proceed closer for our cannons to be in effective range. In this distance, there are chances our cannons might not be able to hit it¡¯s intended target,¡± said Mr Wick.

    ¡°Let us head closer then,¡± I made the gesture to ask the army to move closer to the city.

    ¡°Messenger sighted!¡± shouted one of the soldier.

    That soldier who shouted must have eagle eyes to be able to spot the rider at that distance. Even I couldn¡¯t see the messenger that far away. That is certainly a messenger coming to negotiate with us alone. What a guy, the chances of him dying is extremely high. To come alone and negotiate with certain death is a job no soldier would ever wish for. Seeing that I am in a good mood today, I shall let the messenger return alive.

    ***

    ¡°Zen Hawthorn, by order of the Queen, you are to surrender your forces and submit yourself to the Queen directly. Failure to do so will guarantee that anyone close to you to be declared as traitors and will be executed on the spot,¡± announced the messenger.

    Wow. You call that a negotiation? That was nothing more than a demand. I struggled hard to not say out the words ¡°All your base are belong to us¡±. So the Queen thinks that she will be able to survive this war? Not on my watch.

    ¡°Mister Messenger, I commend you for coming all the way here to deliver the message. I believe you aren¡¯t expecting to return alive, am I right?¡± I said to the messenger.

    The messenger furled his lips. He was sweating excessively from his forehead and I am certain that it is not due to the heat alone.

    ¡°P.. please. Spare me Master Zen, I have a family waiting for me back in the city. Please let me go,¡± muttered the messenger softly.

    ¡°Go back to the city, check on your family and bring them out of the city after you defect from your position. Bring along as many soldiers and civilians with you if you all wish to survive. My qualms is with the Queen and her alone,¡± I said to the messenger.

    ¡°And there is a chance that she is a demon,¡± I whispered softly to him.

    He gave a surprised shriek. He looked down on the ground for a few seconds and then looked at me and moved his lips to the words ¡°I will do that¡± without saying it out loud.

    ¡°Oh, right. As to the demands of the Queen, this is my answer for her,¡± I snapped my fingers to the signal the soldier on my right.

    One of the soldier caught my meaning and fired a cannon towards the city. It hit the wall and a portion of it started crumbling.

    ¡°Better start riding back as fast as you can if I were you. Raise the barriers!¡± I told the messenger and shouted to the soldiers.

    The messenger immediately started riding back towards the castle at top speed. The soldiers in the city are surely stumped by our sudden shot. This should give us some time to set-up our metal barricades to protect our soldiers and cannons. Going good so far.

    ¡°Demons! Demons coming from the north!¡± shouted one of the soldiers.

    What? How is that possible? Is the north compromised? Sladar should had made sure that no demons were able to come over from the North. What is going on?

    ¡°Mr Wick, take command of the cannons. I will fight the incoming demons. Foot soldiers, to me! Cannon bearers, focus fire on the walls and bring down their cannons!¡± I shouted as loud as I could and started running towards the approaching demons.

    If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    I can only see some demons flying towards us. Whether there is any demons on foot I could not see due to the surrounding trees. I hope there are not too many demons that made it here. I must fend them off and protect the soldiers.

    ***

    The war has officially started. Casualties on our side was absolutely minimal due to our metal barricades. It protected us from the many cannon fires from the city. Their wall still stand strong despite our many barrages of cannon fires. No wonder they were so prideful about their walls. No matter, it is only a matter of time before either the wall falls or all their cannons destroyed.

    What worries me more is the constant assault from the demons coming from the north. At first we thought there were only a few of the demons attacking us but as it turned out, they just kept coming non-stop to our position. Is the City Of Lilies Dahlee destroyed seeing as the demons kept coming from that direction? I wish that I have time to investigate on what happened to them but I have a war to finish. Is there no end to the demon¡¯s assault? Good thing only lesser demons attacked us so far.

    ¡°I wonder, is the north compromised?¡± said someone behind me.

    I turned to look and it was Peter. It seems like came out of hiding and was concerned about the situation.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Did Sladar failed to prevent some sort of demon outbreak? With their relatively small numbers assaulting us right now, I can still prevent them from causing much harm to the soldiers. But if more were to come, I doubt that I can stop them from tearing us apart here. We are relatively sitting ducks here,¡± I explained to Peter.

    ¡°It is only a matter of time before some of the adventurers within the city start to help us incapacitate the cannon bearer soldiers after the civilians are evacuated. But I am concerned as to why demons kept coming over from the north,¡± said Peter.

    ¡°Stay with the army and continue the assault on the city. I will check on what is happening on the north. Perhaps something happened to Sladar that caused him to hold back the tide of the demons,¡± Peter continued as a soldier handed to him a cloak.

    He headed towards the demon¡¯s direction with a handful of his trusted soldiers. Hopefully they can stall the demons for us so that I can finally concentrate on stopping all the cannons bombarding at us. I really hope those adventurers can help us soon.

    ***

    It¡¯s been a couple of hours now and the cannon fires from the city showed no sign of stopping. What is going on? Are the adventurer¡¯s inside compromised as well? We won¡¯t last in this battle of attrition. The city will win due to their walls and supplies in the long run.

    Is there no way for me to check on what is going on inside? Am I able to sneak over to the south and check on the elves? I certainly won¡¯t survive a direct cannon hit if I were charge headlong directly into the city. One does not simply walk directly into a city while under constant cannons firing.

    ***

    Nightfall arrives and the cannons fire lessens. We made sure to use as little fire as possible for our light source to survive through the night. Demons have stopped coming to attack us at this point. I really hope Peter was able to find out the reason as to how the demons were coming in from the north.

    I looked towards the City Of Pines. It was brightly lit. Fire and smokes be seen lighting the sky. The city itself is in disrepair but still standing. Their prided walls still stand even after a full day of bombardment from us. I hope the adventurers are taking advantage of the darkness and help us to incapacitate those cannon bearers. I had come so far and I do not wish to see my plans ruined because of those cannons.

    Before entering my camp for the night, I consulted with Mr Wick on our chance of outlasting the siege battle with the city. He said that we might be able to last for another two days at most before we start run out of cannon ammunition and the metal barriers start giving way. No doubt the barriers are sturdy and strong, made from the best materials of the east, but it will not last forever with constant bombardment from the cannons. He also said that two days is including salvaging the cannon balls that was scattered around the battlefield.

    Not good, hopefully there will be less cannon fire tomorrow and we can finally charge onwards towards the city. And I can finally reunite with my friends.

    ***

    Dawn approaches and the cannon siege begun once again. There was no sign of the cannons firing lessening from the city. In fact, it felt like there was more firing at us now.

    I racked my brain. Do I head towards the south to check on the elves for status update? I cannot do anything here aside from giving the occasional orders. There is no walkie talkie or radio waves that I can use. No wonder they said that getting constant information is key for winning a war. I have to make a decision now.

    ¡°Mr Wick, can I trust that you are able to handle things from here?¡± I asked him.

    ¡°What do you have in mind, Master Zen?¡± he asked me back.

    ¡°I plan to sneak over towards the south to rendezvous with the elves. I need some information from their side and how they are coping. I will come back here by today or send someone to inform you about their status there,¡± I told him.

    ¡°Very good, Master Zen. As of now, there is no further insight to be had here. All we can do is continue our cannon assaults on their walls and hoping that we are able to breakthrough. The demons had stopped coming so it¡¯s best that you go now. I won¡¯t let you down, sir!¡± saluted Mr Wick.

    I saluted him back and tapped his shoulder plate. Peter trained his soldiers well despite him being a pacifist but he is also a realist. No doubt war will always happen whenever humans are involved.

    I pulled up my cloak over my head and moved as quickly as I can with the cover of the barricades. Once I am out of the barricades, I will have to run at full speed using the cover of trees and bushes towards the south. I told Rick to stay behind but he insisted on coming along. I told him that I won¡¯t be able to protect him should there be any stray cannon balls flying at us. He told me not to worry and just focus on what I have to do. Oh well, here goes nothing.

    ***

    It took me about an hour or so to finally reach the south. Running at full speed sure takes a toll on my legs for such a long duration. Rick was barely able to keep up but he managed. He was panting heavily as we reached the southern entrance. Something is off here. There seems to be no sound of cannon being fired here. Did all the cannons moved to over to the eastern wall?

    As I approached quickly, a few of the elves shot their arrows at me as they heard someone approaching them. I skilfully grabbed the arrows shot at me mid-air before it hits me or Rick.

    ¡°Friendlies!¡± I shouted.

    The elves lowered their bows as they saw me approaching them. I quickly lowered my hood and revealed myself to them.

    ¡°Mister Hawthorn, your skills had improved tremendously to be able to catch our arrows so easily,¡± said one of the male elf.

    ¡°Thank you, but please, call me Zen. I need a situation report for this entrance. Can anyone lead me to whoever is in charge?¡± I asked them.

    ¡°Right this way, Mister Zen,¡± said one of female elf as she gestured us into the woods.

    ¡°Your reaction speed is crazy, Zen,¡± said Rick softly.

    I just responded to him ¡°Don¡¯t I know it¡± and focused at the task at hand.

    What a difference in topology between the east and the southern entrance. The east had barely any terrain covers and is a wide opened field. Without the metal barriers, we would had been sitting ducks from the cannons. The south had plenty of trees before the entrance which was favourable for the elves. Is that why the Queen moved the cannons toward the eastern wall instead as it was pointless here?

    ***

    I was brought to a small camp where the elf¡¯s commanding officer was located. As I entered the camp, there was only a table in the middle of the camp. Talk about minimalist. There was only two elves inside. A male and a female elf. I wanted to greet them but was stunned by the appearance of the female elf.

    ¡°L.. Lily? What are you doing here? Shouldn¡¯t you be inside the city?¡± I asked the female elf.

    ¡°Lily? Ah, you have mistaken me for my younger sister, silly,¡± said the female elf.

    ¡°You¡¯re Lily¡¯s elder sister?¡± I asked while being surprised.

    They looked extremely similar except for the fact that she was wearing different clothings and no gauntlets. Otherwise it was like God decided to copy paste between the both of them.

    ¡°Violet Moonshine, at your service. This here is Noah Moonshine, my brother,¡± said Violet while she bowed politely. Noah on the other hand was squinting at Violet. That¡¯s odd.

    ¡°Wow, I did not know Lily had an elder sister and brother. She barely told us about her family at all,¡± I said with genuine surprise.

    ¡°Ah, that is normal. We don¡¯t exactly tell strangers about our family unless we are in a relationship or married. The family line can get extremely complicated so we avoid telling everyone about our families. The downfall of being able to live that long. Don¡¯t take it the wrong way,¡± said Violet while she bowed a little.

    ¡°None taken. To think that both her elder sister and brother are spear-heading the elves in this war. I am certainly thankful for it,¡± I said my piece and bowed to the both of them.

    ¡°You must be Zen. Lily told us much about you and pleaded to us for help directly. You are exactly what she described you to be,¡± said Noah.

    ¡°Indeed he is. I can see why she is infatuated with him. If you prefer much older women, I am available,¡± said Violet while she place her index finger on my chin.

    ¡°Violet, please,¡± sighed Noah.

    ¡°Just kidding! He is rather handsome though,¡± said Violet as she licked her lips.

    ¡°Can I get a situation report, please?¡± I pleaded to the both of them.

    Noah gestured me to come closer to the table. It was a huge map of the city along with its borders. Noah told me that it started with cannon firing yesterday but it was swiftly cut off by the elven marksmen. The soldiers that were manning the cannons we sniped off one by one reducing their effectiveness significantly. They thought that they could assault the city after stopping the cannon firing but soldiers with heavy armours and shields came out to defend the entrance. Their shields and armours were surprisingly strong enough to withstand their arrows and weapons.

    They could technically breakthrough by using their cannons but that would incur casualties on the soldiers. Lily made it very clear that unless necessary, they should try to minimise the death of soldiers. Otherwise by the end of the war, there would be no one to protect the city.

    Damn it. If we were to defeat these armoured soldiers, the entire army can enter through this side and start claiming the city. I am also dying to know what is going on from the inside. I am certain that there are plentiful guild members that could had helped us with the cannons but somehow, it would seems that no one is helping us on that. Should I just forfeit the lives of these soldiers that is defending the southern entrance?

    ¡°How many armoured soldiers are defending the entrance?¡± I asked both Noah and Violet.

    ¡°Perhaps around two hundred of them are guarding the entrance tightly,¡± said Noah.

    ¡°Did no soldiers came to attack directly in the forest?¡± I asked them.

    ¡°None so far. They were extremely defensive and is only guarding the entrance,¡± said Violet.

    Something is not right. What is the point of dragging out this war? You do not win a war by being defensive. My gut is telling me there is something else is going on inside the city and this is all to delay my advance.

    I closed my eyes and gave a heavy thought. Is my Fear spell strong enough to scare two hundred soldiers? What are my other options? Using cannons should be my last resort. I do not wish to kill these soldiers if possible. C¡¯mon brain, think! I am sure there is something else that you can use. THINK!

    Surprisingly, a light bulb did appear for me. How did I not thought of using this as a weapon before? I use this all the time and I had never thought of weaponising it. I smacked my head and started to chuckle. To think that something I use often would end up helping me right now.

    Rick, Noah and Violet was confused by my odd behaviour. I opened my eyes and greeted them with two questions.

    ¡°How certain are we that there are no cannons firing at us?¡± I asked both of them.

    ¡°Fairly certain. We engaged in melee with the soldiers and no cannons fired at us. But it was tough to break through because the soldier¡¯s shield. Not only are the shields tall but their armour does not leave any openings for us to injure or incapacitate them,¡± said Noah.

    ¡°No matter, we do not need to injure them. Now for my last question, do you happen to have alchemy ingredients and equipment?¡± I asked. Who knew alchemy would come in handy whenever I am in a pinch.

 Chapter 38: Storm The Front [MOON]

    Chapter 38: Storm The Front [MOON]

    No one would believe that I am holding a mortar and pestle in the middle of war. While it was not the most efficient way for fast alchemy creation, it was certainly better than nothing. Good thing the elves brought with them some alchemy equipment for me to use. And they brought along some alchemy ingredients that had I needed to make my bomb potion. Jasmine, Lavender and Snake plant was all I needed.

    All of the elves looked at me curiously at what tactics I was planning to use to break through those armoured soldiers. I told them that I will be making a sleep bomb potion. All of them had their eye raised when I told them about it. I had always used this when I had trouble sleeping albeit in small amount. I use mine as a candle and the effects were quite effective. For my bomb, all I had to do was make it more potent and the soldiers will be sleeping on the ground. I will be making it in liquid form so that it can be absorbed through the skin. Of course there will be odours as well but for faster effect it would be better to just rain it on those soldiers. Fingers crossed that this would help us to break through all those soldiers.

    Thankfully there was just enough ingredients to make around twenty potion bombs. I will do my best to reduce some soldiers first and then the elves will toss the potions and shoot them mid-air. Some of the elves helped me in creating the bombs which sped up the process. Time is of the essence here while we sat around doing nothing but glare at those soldiers.

    I sent Rick back to the east to inform the soldiers to come over to the south instead. No point in continuing the siege battle when we can just storm in right after I incapacitate those soldiers.

    ***

    It took me about two hours to finally get all those bombs completed. As much as I want to rush alchemy, a slight mistake can end up creating something with a completely different effect instead. Imagine it ended up being a nuclear bomb instead of a sleeping bomb. While it might not be that drastic but it is not something that I am willing to risk.

    All is set, time to set things in motion. I walked out of the forest towards the armoured soldiers alone. Some would call it ¡°Likka boss¡± but I like to keep things modest. I had Concentration activated just in case a cannon ball started flying towards me. I would have enough time to react with Concentration active.

    The soldiers noticed me and stood ready. No wonder the elves had difficulty in breaking through. All of them were heavily armoured and wielding a great shield. They look like some metal robots. There is definitely some mechanical support helping them to move otherwise there is absolutely no way those human soldiers are strong enough to move even an inch. That is just how big and armoured they are. The height of those armours are perhaps around 270cm as I walked closer to them. Their shields are even taller. Perhaps only John can move without mechanical support while wearing that armour.

    All of them stood closer to one another blocking the entrance entirely. Not even a small gap remained for you to squeeze through. I definitely would like to know who created this suit of armour. It is definitely one of the most effective way to defend the city.

    I stood in-front of them and tilted my head. Are they.. not planning to attack me at all? Is their only objective to prevent anyone from entering? Why though? I deactivated Concentration begin negotiation.

    ¡°Soldiers, take me to the Queen. I surrender,¡± I held both my hands up for them to see.

    Silence was the only answer I got. Are they even humans in those armours or did the elves mistaken these as just a mechanical armour?

    ¡°Soldiers? Aren¡¯t you going to arrest me? I¡¯m unarmed here. Do you want me to get down on my knees and tie my hands?¡± I asked them.

    Again no response. I was starting to think there was no humans inside. In that case, using cannons to break apart this mechanical armours is the least of my concerns. I was close to giving the signal to ready the cannons to fire upon them until I heard someone coughing and another person sneezing.

    ¡°I am here on my knees with my hands held up to you. I would suggest that you take this opportunity to capture me and end this war. Who knows when the elves might decide to shoot cannons at you guys. Even with all that armour, I doubt any of you can survive constant barrage of cannon fires,¡± I said to all the soldiers.

    ¡°Will really come peacefully? No tricks, alright?¡± said one of the soldiers.

    ¡°No tricks, I promise,¡± I said while still sitting on my knees.

    The soldiers started easing up. They were still cautious but the formation was dispersing now. One of them walked slowly towards me in an attempt to bind me. How he is going to do with his huge shield and armours is beyond me.

    One of the soldier stood in front of me while I was still sitting on my knees. It was like God looking down upon me. That is the size difference between me and these armoured soldiers. The soldier kneeled down in an attempt to tie my hands. I can hear the groaning sound of the mechanical screeching when he kneeled.

    ¡°No tricks,¡± he said.

    ¡°Yes, no tricks¡­ only spells,¡± I activated Concentration and casted Fear.

    The soldier in front of me fell backwards while screaming. There were a few other soldiers at the back that tried running away but started tripping and falling. Those armours were certainly not meant for running. Another soldier despite being scared still managed to shout the words ¡°E¡­ Enter formation!¡±. A number of them were trying to get back in position. I must not let them.

    I stood up quickly and summoned Tengu-kaze with my left hand. I concentrated power on it and swung it horizontally. I used wind power instead of pressure to knock the soldiers off-balanced with the strong winds. A lot of them lost balance and fell to the ground. I am certain they will need time to push themselves up.

    I quickly gave the signal and leaped backwards. Immediately potion bombs started flying towards the soldiers with arrows hitting them with pin-point accuracy before it landed on the ground. This would ensure that the sleeping fluid will rain on those soldiers and absorbed through their skins. It will be much faster than just the smell alone. Soldiers were dropping like flies. Those that were able to push themselves up ended up falling again or were rocking around like a timber ready to fall. Anytime now more of them will be falling over.

    Success! We had broken through these armoured soldiers and can finally push into the city. Both Noah and Violet came over to pat my shoulders. Seems like they are impressed about my tactics. However, no time to celebrate. I need to check what is going on inside the city.

    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

    I told Noah and Violet that I will head in first to check on the status of the adventurer¡¯s guilds. All they needed to do was to incapacitate the remaining soldiers that were miraculously still standing and tie all of them up. Then they can finally storm into the city to help out. Hopefully Rick had made it to the army on the east and inform them to come over to this entrance instead. Then we can officially begin the war inside the city.

    I covered my nose, held my breath and jumped over those armoured sleeping beauties armoured that were lying on the ground. To inhale even a little would start to make me sleepy and that is not what I need right now. I need all the adrenaline in my body to push myself through this war. My first stop, the secret hideout located in the west.

    ***

    Something is definitely not right. Why are there so many dead bodies of civilians, adventurers and soldiers? There was absolutely no need for the adventurers to act so aggressive and start killing soldiers when they are strong enough to incapacitate them easily. Then what about the civilians? I don¡¯t like the look of this. I need a situation report ASAP.

    I kept to the dark alleys and shadows to get a bearing on the situation. There were many people arguing with each other. Some were threatening others to stay away while those who were too scared just hid in the corner and shivered. And these were just civilians behaving this way. I didn¡¯t see much of soldiers or adventures around. Where are they?

    I reached the hideout and took a peek. There were two person guarding the entrance. Wait, is that Lily and Rose? Why are they here? I approached them cautiously with my hands up.

    Both of them saw me approaching and were surprised but immediately changed their expression.

    ¡°Stop right there, Zen. Answer the question truthfully, before coming closer. Please,¡± said Lily.

    ¡°What is going on? Why are there so many dead civilians, soldiers and adventurers around? It¡¯s like the city is in complete chaos,¡± I asked both of them.

    ¡°Answer the question, please! When was the first time we held hands together?¡± Lily asked me.

    I was caught off-guard by such a question. But I am certain something bad is going on that required them to ask me such personal question.

    ¡°When you blessed the elven dagger for me,¡± I answered truthfully.

    Rose looked at Lily to which she gave a sigh of relief and nodded to her. They wanted to come greet me but I stopped them. Now is my turn to verify.

    ¡°Now it¡¯s my turn. How far had I gone in relationship between the both of you? Go,¡± I pointed to Rose.

    ¡°H.. huh? Umm.. we.. kissed?¡± answered Rose which I then moved my finger to point at Lily.

    ¡°We.. slept?¡± answered Lily while she covered her face.

    I gave a sigh of relief. I guess these two are the real Lily and Rose. Strange for them to be guarding the hideout though when they should be doing something that is more important.

    ¡°Geez, onii-chan. This is serious! Not the time for jokes!¡± shouted Rose.

    ¡°So am I. I am the instigator of this war. The worst case scenario now is that I ended up getting stabbed in the back by my little sister. Now, give me a sit-rep of what is going on with the city,¡± I said to them while walking into the hideout.

    There were barely any adventurers inside. Too little as a matter of fact. As I approached the underground guildmaster hideout and saw John and the Elementalist inside. John immediately stood up with amazement. The Elementalist on the other hand remained seated with a smirk.

    ¡°Zen, you made it! H.. How did you manage to break into the city this quickly? Wait, you are Zen, right?¡± asked John while he kept looking between Lily and Rose to which they nodded.

    ¡°The elves helped me tremendously in breaking through from the south. Now, can someone tell me what is going on with the city? Why are they so many dead bodies of adventurers, soldiers and even civilians? I was expecting the cannons to stop firing by now but it seemed like that went to hell. What is going on?¡± I looked between the four of them.

    John started by mentioning that everything went well during the initial evacuation. Adventurers brought a lot of the civilians to the safe zone. It was not until some of the adventurers started killing civilians that all hell went loose. Even civilians were attacking one another. The adventurers had to kill those adventurers and civilians that went made. Then the horror appeared when the body morphed back into demons. They were among us from the start. It was then that chaos erupted. Adventurers were killing each other as well as civilians. No one were able to trust one another in fear of them being a demon in disguise. All throughout the city deaths were either occurring due to mistaken identity or fear of being stabbed in the back.

    I made a small thump on the table with my gripped hand. No wonder there were no adventurers who helped me with the cannons. They could barely even get a grip on who is what. They can only trust themselves and not even their companions or loved ones.

    I asked about the status of the Paladin and Dark Lord. The Elementalist mentioned that both the Paladin and Dark Lord are going around the city to help out in identifying those in disguised. It is not easy and takes a lot of time to identify but they have some spell that can help them. It is going to take them forever to sort this out seeing as the city is in such disarray and not everyone are demons.

    I slumped back on a chair. There was a moment of silence as I looked between the four of them. I can see the reason why John and the Elementalist are here trying to sort out a plan and figure out what they can do.

    Damn it. The Queen had planned this all along. No wonder she did not bother about her soldiers and was just stalling us. All she wanted was for us to kill each other instead out of fear. At the end of the day, humans are the one losing their lives more than the demons. Even if we invade the city, the army is going to start killing themselves as well. I need to stop the army from coming into the city before it is too late.

    I looked at Rose while I was racking my brain. She was reading a book while leaning against the wall. Is it really the right time to be reading a book right now? Oh, she cut her hair shorter. Reminds me on how she used to look. Lily had washed away her blond colour and it¡¯s back to her silvery green hair colour. Ah, I miss that silky hair of hers.

    Damn it, Zen! Keep it together and focus on the important things right now! What other way is there to bait the demons or reveal them quicker? There must be a way.

    Wait a minute, the Queen. If we all attack the Queen, the demons will surely come to her rescue. Why didn¡¯t I think of this before? The Queen is the most important piece of this war and I am certain the demons will do anything to prevent her from dying or captured. With that said, it would mean that there should be plentiful demons inside the castle defending her. Damn it, my army is outside of the city now and I can¡¯t bring them in if we can¡¯t figure out a way to expose those demon imposters. I continue figuring out a way when Lily told me something that sent chills behind my back.

    ¡°Zen, I know now is not the time but I feel you should know this. I am sorry if you don¡¯t wish to hear this but¡­ we found Rick. He.. didn¡¯t make it,¡± she said with a sad expression and tone to me.

    My eyes widen. I immediately rose up from my chair and grabbed her by the arms.

    ¡°Lily, are you one hundred percent certain that it is Rick?!¡± I asked her hastily.

    ¡°W.. we checked the body and face. I am fairly certain it is Rick,¡± he muttered.

    ¡°You are certain it is a human and not a demon disguised as him?¡± I pestered her with more questions as I started to panic.

    ¡°On that I am extremely certain. I know he means a lot to you so I made sure that it was really him,¡± she answered with a serious look on her face.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on, Zen? You don¡¯t look like you are grieving over his death. You are panicking over something,¡± asked John.

    ¡°Shit, shit shit shit.. I¡­.. I had an imposter following me around without me even knowing it? How¡­ did that demon even know where I will be after escaping from the castle? Did the Dark Lord not know that the Rick was an imposter and told him that information or did the demon somehow found out that information through some other way? He said that the Dark Lord ordered him to protect me in this war. What else does that demon even know?!¡± I started grabbing my hair unknowingly.

    ¡°Calm down, Zen. This is what the Queen is trying to do to you. To ensure that none of us can trust each other and distance ourselves. Run us through on what is troubling you,¡± said the Elementalist with a soothing voice.

    ¡°What if you are an imposter as well? I do not even know whether you are the real Elementalist talking to me. That Rick imposter was so real. He was asking questions that the real Rick would be asking. He acted the exact same as Rick. Just asking questions alone is not enough to prove that you are an imposter,¡± I started to panic and move closer to the wall.

    As I looked between the four of them, my mind started to think of the possibilities. What if all of them are demons in disguised? Asking questions alone does not prove that you are not a demon. I started to sweat profusely and hyperventilate. How much do the demons know about the plans for this war? Was that why the Queen was so confident that she is able to win this war easily? Information is key in winning a war and the demons had the most advantage with their deceptions. Damn it, I can¡¯t even think straight anymore.

    John and Lily started to walk closer to me to calm me but I stopped them. I told them that no one should getting close to each other under any circumstances until we are certain that none of us are demons. They retaliated and ensured me that they are not but I argued back and told them that I was certain that the imposter was Rick with the way he acted. We continued to argue back and forth.

    BOOK!

    Someone closed a book loudly. Is that why we call it a book? Because of the sound effect of shutting one? It was Rose. She had closed her book one-handed and glared at me. She then walked straight towards my direction without any hesitation. I told her to stop coming close to me but she ignored. I unconsciously took out my dagger hidden behind in the back and pointed at her. She lifted her hand and I thought that she wanted to slap me. I closed my eyes and braced for the slap but both of her hands clasped my face cheeks instead. We looked at each other directly which made me look noticed her face features and imperfection. She looked so much more beautiful now after four years but she still had that small mole on her neck. She then gave me a passionate kiss which lasted longer than it should have.

    The kiss was awkward and out of sync. It was the exact kiss we had before. This calmed me somehow and Rose smiled at me. She looked as bright as the sun to me.

    ¡°Onii-chan, do you really think a demon is capable of kissing you so passionately? I¡¯m your little sister, don¡¯t you recognise me? Don¡¯t let the Queen get into your head. We must not let her win. You can beat her. You are Zen Hawthorn, my onii-chan,¡± Rose said to me while still holding my face with her hands.

    I stared into her eyes. Her pink coloured eyes were unmistakable. This is indeed my little sister, Rose. I gave her a hug to calm myself further. After some time, she continued with her explanation.

    ¡°And besides, I just happened to find something that can give us an advantage to win this war. Time for us to turn back the tide of the battle,¡± Rose held out the page of the book that she was reading. Written on the page was ¡°Revelation¡± on it.

 Chapter 39: Tide of Battle [MOON]

    Chapter 39: Tide of Battle [MOON]

    We were able to come up with a new plan after a thorough discussion. Rose and Lily will be casting the Revelation spell. Where exactly will they be casting it? The spell¡¯s description was to reveal your true nature over a wide area. How wide is it going to be, we do not know. We ended up settling for the centre of the city to hopefully at least cover the whole city. I asked Rose on whether she knew how to cast it in the first place and she said it was only a matter of chanting it. Is it really that easy? Why is this spell declared as forbidden? Maybe it is due to it being quite useless in general combat. Very specific usage which is what we are facing right now.

    John and the Elementalist took on the role of confronting with the Rick imposter and stop the army from approaching into the city until we resort the issue with the demons in disguised. The both of them said that dealing with Rick is their responsibility. What do they mean by that?

    I really hope that demon is purely on reconnaissance. I shudder to think that it had slaughtered the entire eastern army by now. Something that is capable of fooling me is no ordinary demon. I told them that it is of utmost importance that the demon does not survive. It knows way too much information along with Peter¡¯s involvement and the elves. This imposter must die no matter what.

    As for me, I will be heading towards the castle to cause havoc there. It should be well-guarded with soldiers and heavily barricaded. I will need to be careful to not get surrounded, especially when the captain is involved. I doubt I can fight solo with that demon.

    I told all of them to direct any reinforcements towards the castle to help me in stopping the war. Whether they are demons or humans, all will be revealed once Rose casted her spell. I need help in bringing down the castle as I am not some overpowered hero. Maybe Rose is able to if there is some area of effect spell in her book.

    I had a short opportunity to talk with Lily and I thanked her for asking her siblings to spear-head the elves for us. She looked at me all confused.

    ¡°My¡­ siblings?¡± asked Lily while tilting her head.

    ¡°Yea. I met them outside of the city before coming in. Your sister looked exactly like you,¡± I told her.

    ¡°What did they say their name was?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Violet and Noah,¡± I responded.

    She smacked her head and gave a big sigh. ¡°That¡¯s my parents¡± is what she told me to which I responded with a big ¡°Ehhhhh??!!¡±.

    Those two were her parents?! And Lily told her parents about me? Yikes.

    ¡°They looked so young,¡± I muttered out loud.

    ¡°My mom flirted with you, didn¡¯t she?¡± I glared at me.

    ¡°Umm.. maybe?¡± I answered hesitantly.

    ¡°I knew it!¡± shouted Lily.

    Rose called us over to where John and the Elementalist is.

    We did a team huddle hand stack before saying our farewell to each other. The Elementalist shook my hand while John gave me a brotherly hug. Lily and Rose gave me a hug and wished me safe. I told them not to worry as I will not be holding back upon reaching the castle. I truly wished to see the utter destruction of that castle even if I have to rip it apart piece by piece.

    Before we left, Each of us made a secret specific mark on our body hidden by our clothes at different locations. This is our plan B in case the spell doesn¡¯t work. There is nothing left for us to discuss, time is of the essence for all of us.

    ***

    I had never seen onii-chan acting that way before. From the day he took me in, he had always been calm, cool and foolish. He had never showed himself in such a panicked state before. He looked so vulnerable, confused and¡­ adorable? Wait why did I think that was adorable? What¡¯s more surprising was neither John nor Lily knew how to calm him down. The both of them were just trying to talk to him down without any action. I guess being his little sister comes with perks. Why did Lily not thought of proving herself with a kiss? Perhaps she did not know about it. Elves have a different way of thinking. A kiss can prove yourself quite easily and I highly doubt any demons would want to kiss onii-chan ¡°that¡± passionately. He still had his signature distinct awkward kiss that is like his signature now.

    Stop thinking about the kiss, Rose! Focus yourself! We are in the middle of war and we have to make it to the center of town for me to cast the spell. I really hope this spell does not take a toll on me as it covers such a wide area. Should I climb somewhere tall before I cast it?

    ¡°Thinking about the kiss, are you?¡± asked Lily as we ran side by side.

    ¡°I wiped that off from my mind already,¡± I answered.

    ¡°How sneaky of you to kiss him after he had placed that rule. But thanks for calming him. I never seen him acting that way before. To think the Queen was able to spook him this badly,¡± said Lily.

    ¡°I did not expect the Queen to use Rick as bait. Rick is a Dark Knight. It won¡¯t be easy to kill him in the first place. May he rest in peace. Thankfully onii-chan didn¡¯t start grieving or feeling upset after hearing the news,¡± I explained.

    ¡°I think your kiss wiped that off his mind until the end of this war,¡± said Lily as she starts chuckling.

    Gah! Enough about the kiss already! I¡¯m already feeling embarrassed hearing about it now.

    We were coming onto the main road. What is the situation so far I wonder? We stopped just shy of the main road and took a peek. There was a lot of dead bodies but nobody around. That¡¯s odd. Where did everyone go?

    We decided to just head towards the center of town. Thankfully there were some people as we headed closer. They were some adventurers that were still leading some civilians to safety. We spoke to them briefly that they should head towards the castle after they had guided the civilians and bring along any other adventurers that they can find.

    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    We acted accordingly and continued our journey. They were a couple more adventurers that we met but we decided to just announce loudly instead to save time. ¡°To any available adventurers, please head towards the castle!¡± the both of us shouted the exact words simultaneously. Who knew we share the same brain cell? No wonder she felt like a sister to me.

    We were stopped halfway to our destination. A few soldiers stood in our way preventing us from going further. They had their weapons ready with murderous intent. My best bet is that these soldiers are demons. Should I go for the kill or do I try to incapacitate them?

    Just as I was deciding, Lily rushed ahead and gave a palm strike to one of the soldiers. He fell to the ground and in a split second revealed his demonic face to us. It must had been caught off-guard and accidentally exposed itself. No reason to hold back now. Time to kill them all!

    Lily was brawling with two of the soldiers while I faced the remaining. These demons were certainly not pushovers. They had some fighting skills to hold us here. That is, if we were not being serious. I used Accelerate along with fast casting. I no longer need to stand and chant my spells now and can chant it while running at full speed along with reducing the chanting by a third of the time needed.

    The sudden boost in speed gave me the advantage. I stabbed one of the soldier through the eyes and brain. That should ensure that the demon is dead. The other soldier swung his sword horizontally which I avoided by ducking low. I lunge myself back up and stabbed the soldier below the chin and through his skull. Two down, one more to go.

    This soldier back-off and roared himself. His eye was bloodshot now. Shit! This demon can use bloodlust? That is not good!

    I prepared myself to use some forbidden spells that I had learnt. The soldier ran towards me with his weapons up ready to swing at a moment¡¯s notice. I readied myself to parry his attack. Before his blade reached my rapier, a fist flew above my head and slammed on the soldier¡¯s face.

    Lily did not let up and followed her attack with a punch to the sternum which made the demon drooled like a fountain. Then she gave a super punch to the head which smashed his head completely.

    Yikes! Never get on Lily¡¯s bad side. No wonder onii-chan did not stop Lily from jumping on him. He had been seeing her destroying things with just her fist for the past two years. I am sorry for doubting you, onii-chan. I completely forgive you now. Even I am afraid of her.

    After making sure all the enemies were dead and were indeed demons, Lily swung her hair and looked towards me and smiled. She said ¡°Let¡¯s go¡± which I could not even register. I have no idea why I started seeing flowers around her. I muttered ¡°I love you¡± without even realising it again to which Lily said ¡°What?¡± while looking confused.

    I immediately slapped myself a couple of times and ran towards her. I am not gay¡­ I AM NOT GAY! She is just too attractive!!

    ***

    The Elementalist and I decided to stop the cannons that were located on the eastern wall. It will be fairly faster than going out from the southern entrance and meeting up with the army on the east. According to Zen, Rick should be informing the eastern army to approach the south but judging as we can still hear cannons being fired, I doubt he informed anything. I informed the other adventurers who were in the hideout to head towards the south to inform the elves to not approach the city until Rose had casted the spells. The all have their secret hidden marks so they will have some way to identify themselves until then.

    We reached the wall and proceeded to head into the in to wreak havoc. The Elementalist took the higher levels while I took the lower ones. The amount of soldiers that ran at the sight of me was astounding. I did not even use bloodlust against them as it was overkill. Maybe it was just my size that frighten them and the inside of the wall was fairly dark. I did not even need to use my axe. Just my fist alone was enough to incapacitate them. Some even tripped over something and fainted. I never knew that I was ¡°that¡± scary. Maybe the Dark guild was actually my calling.

    It took the both of us about an hour to officially stop all the cannons firing. It was oddly unsettling when things went quiet. The silence was quite eerie. There were a few demons that morphed back to their original form after they were incapacitated to which I rip their heads apart and stomped on their brains. No mercy for the wicked. Sadly I cannot just randomly incapacitate any adventurers I come across to see whether they are demons. I will be fighting for my life when more adventurers come over to fight me.

    I waited for the Elementalist to open the gate which was located at the higher floors. Not a moment later, the gate can be heard opening with a loud screeching sound. Oh hey, the Elementalist is stronger than he looks. It is going to be a pain to climb all the way back down. I peeked out of a window and saw that it was directly below the gate. Guess I¡¯ll be jumping out from here.

    Geronimo!

    I landed on my two feet steady as a tree. The impact blew up some dust and knocked soldiers that happened to be nearby where I landed off their feet. They were shouting and arguing on why the gate suddenly opened. The moment they saw me, some started screaming and ran away while others just stared at me with sweats pouring from their forehead or soiled themselves. I am not that scary! I even have a partner who told me that I am manly and handsome!

    Something landed at the side of me but it felt light. I turned my head and it was the Elementalist. Seems like he had the same idea as me. All that is left is to knock the heads of the soldiers around us and head out to find this Rick imposter and inform the army to not come into the city until the signal. Somehow, I had a feeling that I know who is the one in disguised. I hope that I am wrong about it.

    ***

    I took my sweet time walking towards the castle. No point in rushing when I will be fighting against an army of soldiers on my own. Hopefully there will be some adventurers that can help me before I start the destroying the castle. You would think that stopping the war is the main thing that I should be focusing on. But my stupid damn head just won¡¯t stop thinking about the kiss that Rose gave me earlier!

    It was the same awkward kiss that we had before. I wonder why she kiss that way? To think she would actually kiss me in front of everyone just to calm me down and prove herself. My heart is still racing right now thinking about it which is why I am taking my time to calm myself! Her face right after kissing me was so adorable, cute and beautiful. I thought I had known who I will choose but Rose threw me right off! Damn it!!

    I am close to the bridge that leads to the castle. Am I still blushing? I crouched behind some bushes of love and slapped myself a few times and took some deep breath. Alright, focus on the castle. Not the kiss. As soon as I thought of it, the image of Rose smiling made my heart race again. I pulled my hair and thought of jumping off the bridge and submerge myself underwater.

    I heard someone talking from a distance that made me snap out of my thoughts. I peek out of the bush that I was hiding and saw two soldiers approaching the bridge and stopped before it. These soldiers must be patrolling around. One of them had a horn hanging from his hip. Let¡¯s be as sneaky as I can before causing a commotion.

    I crossed the bridge at a normal pace. The two soldiers were still chatting away and did not noticed me walking closer to them. I wanted to give them a scare. I waited for them to notice me which surprisingly took longer than I was expecting. Aren¡¯t the two of you supposed to be on guard duty?

    After I was about a third of the way across the bridge, one of them finally took notice of me and was in a panic to blow the horn. I appeared in front of them the instant they blinked with a ¡°Surprise Motherfucker¡± and knocked both of them to the ground. Was I quiet enough to be undetected? I crouched low and looked around. Seems like I am safe. See, I can be sneaky if I want to. I am Kommando, I am purple, I am all sneaky like~

    A loud horn sound can be heard from above. Ah well, play time is over. Time to get serious.

    I swung Tengu-kaze towards where the sound of the horn was heard. The wind pressure just graced the castle walls. Wow, I guess I will need stronger wind pressure to tear this castle apart. I peeked through the front-gate and only saw a handful of soldiers inside. That¡¯s odd, shouldn¡¯t there be more soldiers protecting the Queen? Perhaps a lot of the soldiers had defected and not many is left to protect the city and the Queen.

    I stood in the middle of the gate and shouted a stern warning to the soldiers ¡°I wouldn¡¯t stand there if I were you!¡±.

    I gathered power to Tengu-kaze and lifted it above my head. I can feel strong wind gathering around the blade. I swung it vertically downwards and a loud boom can be heard. The amount of destruction Tengu-kaze caused was astounding. Not only did it rip apart the entire gate, it even sliced into the castle wall itself. I am definitely going to use Tengu-kaze while running around in the castle for maximum destruction.

    ***

    I did not know where to go so I just headed towards the throne room. There were still some soldiers around albeit not many and they certainly aren¡¯t strong enough to stop me from reaching my goal. I need to play my part right. I do not believe I stand a chance in fighting the captain alone. If things goes south, I should prepare myself to use Illusion and Conceal spells to escape. Although I had a feeling that they had found a way to counter my spells by now. I am certain the Queen will not let me escape so easily again.

    I used my unarmed techniques to incapacitate the few soldiers that were chasing after me and those protecting the entrance to the throne room. I stood there for a couple of seconds to decide on whether I should go somewhere else or should I just kill the Queen and be done with it? A moment of truth now, I decided to stake my life and confront the Queen. I took a deep breath while holding the door handle. The endgame is inside this room. Let¡¯s just kill Thanos and go back home.

    I entered the throne room. It was eerily quiet. I was expecting the captain to come charging at me immediately but he was nowhere to be seen. I do not sense him nearby either. But the Queen is definitely here. She is talking to a few soldiers at the bottom of her throne with her back facing towards me. Who knew the Queen would actually come down from her throne. The soldiers noticed me and readied their weapons but the Queen stopped them and told them to go. I guess they were assigned to do something else.

    ¡°Zen Hawthorn, I knew it was you the moment you opened that door. To think the son of the great hero would end up causing me so much trouble,¡± she said without even turning to face me.

    I kept quiet as I did not come here to talk. Her decapitated head was what all I needed. No doubt I do not wish to grant her a quick death, too many lives were lost because of her. Announcing her death will demoralised the soldiers making it meaningless to continue this war.

    ¡°You are the only person who had actually escaped me twice. That will not happen again,¡± she started walking up her throne steps. Her high heels and red dress with corset was on full display. A perfect example where a beautiful woman does not necessary capture a man¡¯s heart.

    ¡°All these deaths, all these destruction. And for what? Revenge for your mother? She¡¯s been dead for years! I had thought you had grown matured but you are still a scrawny brat. All the lives lost in this war is because of you. You instigated this war. Did you even think of the consequences of your actions?!¡± shouted the Queen as she sat down on her throne cross-legged.

    I closed my eyes and gave a deep thought. But only one thing appeared on my mind.

    ¡°I don¡¯t care. You killed my mom,¡± I spat those words, immediately summoned Inazuma and rushed towards her at full speed with full intention to kill her.

 Chapter 40: Tide of Battle Part 2 [MOON]

    Chapter 40: Tide of Battle Part 2 [MOON]

    We finally made it to the centre of the city. The townhouse was thankfully still intact to be our landmark, otherwise we would had lost our way with all the chaos that is happening around us. Soldiers were everywhere and not all of them were demons. We had to fight with so many soldiers on the way which slowed us down. Sadly there were a number of adventurers that were either too afraid to do anything or just doesn¡¯t trust anyone. I told them if they wish to avenge or stop this war, just head over to the castle to help out. If they still had any semblance of rationality, they should do what is best for themselves. My main goal is to escort Rose to the city centre and here we are. What does she need to do to cast it?

    She looked up the townhouse and sighed. She said that she will most probably need to climb the townhouse to reach the highest point which is the bell tower. This would maximise the coverage of the spell as she does not know what how the spell would spread out. I told her to follow her guts and do what she needed to do while I fend off anyone that comes close to the building. Rose nodded and rushed into the townhouse to climb up.

    A few of the adventurers and soldiers came charging at me as though they knew what we were trying to do. Strange, demons usually do not have such intellect. Is there someone leading them nearby? Or perhaps they are just attacking anyone on sight now.

    I stood at the entrance of the townhouse and fought the enemies. I was not in a position to pull my punches so if there was any humans fighting with me here then may you rest in fist. I was swinging my punches and kicks more now. Why does it feel as though there were endless of them? I made a quick glance and noticed that a lot of them were demons in disguise so I pressed on in fending myself.

    There was a loud roar that caused the soldiers and adventurers to back-off. A soldier was walking towards me in a calm manner. He threw his weapon away and started morphing. Is he.. changing back to his demon form? I guess it is pointless to remain in disguised now. This demon was blueish in colour but had no wings. It looks slim but definitely have the muscles to rip me apart. His claws is extremely long alright. This must be a great demon that the three of them kept talking about. Now I have to fight this one alone. Do I stand a chance? I get the feeling that it is imperative that I use Concentration against this strong opponent.

    I took a deep breath and activated imperfect Concentration. The demon roared as it starts charging towards me. It made a leap and wanted to take a bite at me. I dodged to the side and avoided the bite but held back in giving a counter. I do not know what this demon is capable of. It took a swipe at me but I ducked low. It then tried to kick me which I took advantage of. I did a minimal dodge and punched hard on the demon¡¯s knee, shattering the bones. The demon roared in pain and held on to the broken knee. I pushed my advantage and continued attacking the demon. There is a wax that Zen created which prevent demons from healing quickly but it is useless for me. That wax is only useful for bladed weapons but I am a brawler.

    We traded some blows but the demon is healing quickly. Even his shattered knees had healed by now. I need to end this quickly. The demon tried to stab me with it¡¯s claws. I dodged to the side and arm-locked its arm. Then I gave a punch that broke its arm resulting it in a flabby mess. The demon pulled back its arm roaring but I gave no quarters. I gave a kenpo double punch to the demon¡¯s stomach and sternum. The demon was spewing blood from its mouth. Now to aim for the head. I rushed in to deal the finishing blow but a blade suddenly pierced through its skull from behind. The blade twisted and sliced through the skull.

    Who¡¯s blade is this? Is it from an adventurer? The demon slumped to the ground and stood there was Rick. He performed a chiburi before slotting his katana back into his scabbard. He walked closer to me but I remained wary of him. I was certain I saw Rick¡¯s dead body in that alleyway. He was either ambushed or assassinated by someone powerful enough to kill a Dark Knight. This demon is going to be harder than the Great Demon earlier. But why did it kill its own kind?

    ¡°Pretty crazy, isn¡¯t it? This war has gone to hell. I¡¯m surprised to see you here in the middle of town. What are you¡­ doing here?¡± asked Rick.

    Wow, even his voice and mannerism is exactly like Rick. What is John and the Elementalist doing? I thought the both of them were supposed to be hunting Rick but here he is. I guess he does not know that his cover was blown. No matter, let me just play the fool then.

    ¡°We got lost and fought our way here. And then I was ambushed by all these soldiers, adventurers and suddenly a Great Demon appeared. Thanks for helping me back there,¡± I said to him with a smile.

    ¡°I see. Well you better get out of the city while you still can. City Of Pines is lost now. There is no saving it anymore. I will be leaving too as soon as I found Zen. Do you happen to know where he is?¡± he asked me.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I thought he was still outside of the city trying to find his way in. Weren¡¯t you tasked to protect him?¡± I asked him.

    I looked up at the townhouse and saw Rose finally made it to the roof. She is close now. Just a few seconds more and she will be able to climb her way up to the bell tower. I turned my head to look for any other soldiers or adventurers that might be heading my way. I was shocked to see a cannon being pushed here. The cannon bearers were readying themselves to shoot at Rose!

    I rushed towards the cannon but I felt a murderous intent behind me. I quickly turned myself to block Rick¡¯s blade. This bastard is stopping me from destroying the cannon.

    ¡°How did you know about my secret task? No one was supposed to know about it. Unless, he told you himself,¡± said Rick as he pushed his blade stronger against my gauntlets.

    Damn it. A slip of the tongue. I need to destroy that cannon before it fires at Rose!

    BOOM!

    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

    Shit! They fired so fast? I turned my head and saw Rose leaping towards the ladder that she needed to climb to reach the top of the bell tower. The cannon ball destroyed the portion of the roof that she was running on a second ago.

    Nice one, Rose! Now they will need some time to reload before firing again. I wanted to rush towards the cannon but Rick was pressing his attack now. His attack was precise and fast. This is no ordinary demon. I might have to use Concentration just to fend off his attack.

    I heard the sound of a cannon ball being loaded in. Argh, I need to destroy that cannon but this bloody demon is not letting me! I made a quick glance at Rose. She was still climbing the ladder. The cannon is going to fire before she make it to the top. This demon is taking all my attention just to block his attacks. I am going to need to use Concentration to defeat this demon quick. I focused myself to use Concentration but was suddenly hit in my stomach. Where did that attack came from? It took opportunity of me trying to focus and attacked me.

    I clutched my stomach due to the pain. I was starting to hear signature ¡°tssss¡± sound which can only meant that the cannon was about to fire at any moment now. I pushed through the pain and dashed to the where the cannon was disregarding my safety. But deep down, I knew that I could not make it. Rose will not be able to avoid the cannon ball while she is climbing. She might have to jump away to safety but without reaching the top, is the spell effective enough to cast? I can sense the demon¡¯s blade aiming for my neck behind me. But I have to try. I have to save Rose. Zen will not be here to save me like he did before.

    Something can be heard flying behind me. The cannon that I was staring at misfired and did not fire. That¡¯s weird. The fuse fell off the cannon which puzzled the soldiers. It was then the Elementalist appeared behind them and incapacitate them by slamming his dagger hilt on their temple. Thank the goddess the Elementalist made it in time! I turned my head behind and saw John blocking Rick¡¯s blade with his axe. Finally the both of them are here. About time they started doing the job assigned to them.

    I looked up and saw Rose reaching the top of the bell tower. Finally she can start casting her spell. I can finally focus on beating the shit out of this imposter.

    ¡°After Rose casted her spell, go to the castle to help Zen. The Elementalist and I will fight this imposter,¡± said John.

    ¡°What are you saying? You will need all the help you can get in fighting this imposter. This demon is strong!¡± I shouted at John.

    ¡°Zen is all alone in the castle right now. You two must help him! Who knows what other strong opponents he will be facing alone. Go, both the Elementalist and I will handle this. Keep your future husband alive,¡± pleaded John.

    "Damn it John, I''ll be coming back to punch you for that. Don''t you dare die on me!" shouted Lily as she headed towards the bell tower.

    Rick leaped back as he saw the Elementalist walking over to my side. Seems he is wary in fighting two guildmasters at the same time.

    "You can stop your foolish disguised now. We know who you are," I warned the imposter.

    "What are you talking about? I''m Rick. I don¡¯t understand why two guildmasters are picking a fight with me," pleaded the imposter.

    "I had a clear view of you trying to kill Lily. Cut the chatter and bring out your halberd. It''s your favourite weapon anyway," I said to him.

    Just then, a bright ray of light engulfs all of us. I embraced the light as it was warm and calming. The Rick imposter on the other hand was screaming in pain as his face mask was searing. He quickly removed and threw his mask revealing who he was. It turns out my suspicion was entirely correct.

    ***

    I reached the top of the throne in a blink of an eye. Just a swing from Inazuma and the Queen will be dead before the captain can even react if he is hiding somewhere. It will all be over in just a second.

    PING!!

    No, the sound effect was not because of network latency. The Queen stopped Inazuma with her raised index finger. How is this even possible? Inazuma can slice through many things and fingers are absolutely one of them. How strong are her flesh and bones?

    I pulled back Inazuma, did a pirouette and attempted another slash to her neck. This time she stopped my blade by gripping with her index and middle finger. It felt as though Inazuma is stuck in-between her fingers. Not good, I had thought she would be at the rank of a greater demon but she might even be stronger than that. I hope she is not the actual Demon King in disguise.

    I summoned Tengu-kaze with my left-hand as Inazuma was stuck and swung at her. Before it even reaches her, she kicked me with her high-heel on my stomach and sent me flying all the way down to the bottom of the throne steps. Bloody hell that hurts.

    As I was clutching my stomach on the floor, I saw a sharp heels in front of my vision wanting to stomp me from above. I quickly rolled aside and stood up powering through the pain. How is this woman jumping around while wearing heels and a big corset. Demon or not, I am impressed that she was able to pull such a stunt in the first place.

    The Queen was smirking and had her hand on her hips as she stood there waiting for me. Trying to taunt me, is she? I smirked back. If she were to die so easily after all the trouble she had caused me I would had been left unsatisfied. I closed my eyes and did my breathing routine.

    I activated imperfect Concentration to face this bitch. I de-summoned Tengu-kaze and focused on using Inazuma as I had not learned how to dual-wield properly. I charged at the Queen full speed and attacked from all possible angles. I couldn¡¯t hurt her no matter how hard I swung Inazuma. She was blocking all my attacks with just her hands and arms. I¡¯m surprised that her skin and bones were this tough.

    Seeing as I was doing no harm, I summoned my trusty gauntlets Hand of the Lightning God. Say goodbye to your roof, Miss Queeny. I lifted my left arm and a lightning struck through the castle from above to charge my gauntlet. I ran it across Inazuma making sure to coat it properly. The Queen had a more serious look on her face after seeing what I showed her. I am able to destroy the Underwater Dragon King¡¯s scales with Shadow Strike and Lightning Charge combo. Now with my upgraded Dark Slash, let¡¯s see how your skin and bones fare with this combo.

    I lunged at her with maximum speed. The Queen leaped to the side to avoid my attack. Trails of lightning can be seen as I readied to swing Inazuma. Turns out she is afraid, huh? She scratch one of her palm with her index nail causing it to bleed. Then out of nowhere, a bluish looking dagger covered with thorns emerged from her hand and she tossed a couple of them at me. Does she have blue blood? I dodged them skilfully avoiding every single one of them. We were now fighting among the pillars of the throne room. Just as I had hoped.

    As she continued throwing her daggers, I hid among one of the pillars and used Conceal. The Queen started looking around due to my sudden disappearance.

    ¡°I can still smell you, you know? Playing hide and seek with me is useless,¡± she said out loud as she continued sniffing around.

    She walked closer behind one of the pillars and summoned more daggers at on her hands. Upon reaching my hiding place, she threw all her daggers that she summoned. All of them hit the wall instead. She had mistaken the scent of my cloak and assumed that I was hiding there.

    I appeared behind her holding Inazuma with both hands. I spun myself for more momentum sliced at her. The Queen reacted quickly and leaped backwards but I was faster. I sliced her right hand below the elbow cleanly. She looked at her wound and shrugged it off. Strangely, there was no blood spilling out of that wound.

    I kicked her severed arm away nonchalantly and pointed Inazuma at her.

    ¡°Your head will be next,¡± I warned her.

    She smirked and just laughed while walking away from the pillars. She is now standing in the middle of the room and taunting me to attack her. I quickly collected my cloak and wore it back. I obliged and ran towards here with full intention to decapitate her head. However, I was stopped midway when something grabbed my neck from behind. It was her severed arm! She can move it even after I severed it?? The arm swung forward and attached itself back to her body while still gripping my neck. I can barely move from her grip. I tried trashing around but I was running out of oxygen to slice her hand off with Inazuma.

    She brought me out of the throne room through her balcony while chocking me with one hand. This location is where she give her speeches to the people overlooking from above. Now it is going to be my execution ground. She easily lifted me higher with one hand and brought me over to the edge. I continued to struggle to break free from her grip but I just couldn¡¯t think straight right now.

    Just then, a ray of bright light showered ran through my vision. Rose did it. She casted her Revelation spell. I squinted my eyes as it was bright and noticed that the clothes of the Queen was searing and she was changing her features. Now I can finally see her true form. She is a demon with a seductive outfit, green eyes, horns and had wings that looked like a skirt.

    ¡°H.. hey.. you¡¯re¡­. not¡­ as bad as you look,¡± I managed to mutter out those words.

    ¡°Oh my, flattery from a human? I would had considered it if the Demon King had not had his sights on me. I am the Demon Queen. I commend you for being able to sever my arm earlier. Not many beings were able to hurt me in the first place. Remember this as it is the last words you will ever hear.

    She took a deep breath and released her grip. I thought I will be free falling from what looked like 30 storeys high. But I was greeted with a loud scream. I lost consciousness while I was sent flying.

 Chapter 41: Tide of Battle Part 3 [MOON]

    Chapter 41: Tide of Battle Part 3 [MOON]

    Rose was panting after she finished casting her spell. I guess that took a toll on her but she insisted it was due to all the running and climbing that she did. Having said that, we are now on our way to the castle. John assumed me that he will be fine as the Elementalist will be helping him out. The both of them seems to know who that imposter is. Was I wrong to assume that it was a demon? I am more worried about Zen though. He is all alone fighting in the castle and who knows what powerful soldiers are there to protect her. I can see Rose getting anxious about her brother as she kept increasing her speed as she ran. Zen should be fine, he is strong. Have faith in that, Lily. But why do I keep feeling a bad premonition?

    We crossed the bridge and is close to the castle now. No time to waste fighting soldiers. We will need to charge through instead.

    BOOOOMM!!

    W¡­ what was that? Did something just exploded at the top of the castle? Something flew but it was too fast to catch what it was. Was someone screaming loudly earlier? That place seems like the location where the Queen gives her speeches.

    Rose looked as though she had saw a ghost. She went pale and started rushing into the castle. Did she saw something that I couldn¡¯t?

    There was barely any soldiers in the castle. Some adventurers were here and we told them to stop any soldiers from coming through. We rushed through and headed to the throne room. Any soldiers that were unlucky to appear in front of Rose were immediately slammed with the hilt of her rapier to their head. Hopefully they didn¡¯t die from that. I can tell that she is not thinking straight right now. It did not took us long before we reached the door to the throne room.

    I told Rose to stand back as I got ready my stance. I punched the door which caused it to rip apart from its frame. Inside, we saw the demon sitting on the throne. A demon¡­ woman? I never knew they existed. Do demons procreate through male and female? I never knew how they multiplied in the first place. Where is Zen though? I don¡¯t see him anywhere.

    Rose approached the throne and unsheathed her rapier. I stayed close behind her in case of an ambush.

    ¡°Where. Is. Zen?¡± she demanded as she pointed her rapier at the demon woman.

    The demon remained seated crossed legged, resting her face on her hand and her eyes closed. She looked amused at the situation as I saw her smirked but she did not responded to Rose¡¯s question.

    ¡°I said¡­ where is..¡± but was interrupted by the Queen with a ¡°He¡¯s dead¡±.

    Both of us gasp a little. How is it possible for Zen to be dead? He is strong. There is no way this female demon is capable of killing him so easily.

    ¡°Y¡­ you lie,¡± I gritted my teeth.

    ¡°You saw him flying earlier, didn¡¯t you? I was certain the commotion was loud enough for your pointy ears to catch it earlier,¡± she jest.

    Rose charged directly at the Queen but was intercepted by an armoured soldier that appeared out of nowhere. I helped her block the attack from the soldier who was wielding a greatsword. Rose took advantage of that moment and pushed her attack after I blocked for her.

    ¡°OUT OF MY WAY!!¡± she shouted and used triple stab on the soldier.

    The soldier pushed me away with his immerse strength, skilfully blocked all of her attacks and even managed to block counter her. This soldier is very experienced and strong. I doubt we can handle him alone.

    ¡°Bow to your Queen should you wish for an audience with her. Otherwise my captain will discipline those that disobey,¡± demanded the Queen.

    ¡°You are not a Queen!¡± I shouted amidst fighting the captain.

    ¡°I AM a Queen! Feast your eyes upon the Demon Queen. The rightful ruler of humanity,¡± she sneered.

    ¡°So you gave up in ruling demons and decided to rule over humans instead? How low faith you have in your own kind,¡± mocked Rose.

    ¡°We demons are the rightful rulers of this world. The Demon King seek to rule it with an iron-fist through his demon lackeys. But look where that brought him? The God he serves only demands death and destruction. I, on the other hand, rule through deception and intelligence just like my God demands. And I shall do his bidding,¡± she smiled at the end.

    ¡°Your identity has been exposed. You think the humans will continue to serve you? You¡¯re delusional to think that we are that foolish,¡± said Rose.

    ¡°A minor set-back in the grand scheme of my plans. After I kill the both of you, I can restore this city to a higher degree with all the traitors head for the world to see,¡± she made a demonic laughed.

    This captain isn¡¯t budging. He is like a solid rock preventing us from getting closer. Even with both of us attacking him, he is able to block all of them with the occasional counter. Rose tapped on my shoulder to signal me. Time to take this into high-gear. I activated imperfect Concentration and casted Lightning Fortification on my gauntlets. I attacked first, giving Rose the time she needed to prepare herself.

    This captain is strong and his armour feels unreal. Even with his greatsword and heavy armour, he is still able to move nimbly and block all of my attacks. My flurry of punches connects with his sword and armour but he remained at the exact location. Other opponents would be flying about now.

    PING!

    I managed to block his counter despite me bombarding him with my flurry of punches. So that is his fighting tactic, making use of his heavy armour and greatsword to absorb damage while looking for an opportunity to counter or aim for weak spots. Is this soldier human or demon? He must be a demon. No human can take on my punches head-on without moving an inch.

    The captain suddenly started going on the offensive. Is he changing tactics? Flurry of swipes was swung at me at demonic speed. I am using all my strength and speed just to block or dodge his attacks. An attack went for my abdomen. Alright, I get it. My abdomen is one of my weak spot.

    I blocked the attack with my gauntlets and guided my gauntlets to secure the sword with my spikes as it had some holes. Zen told me that my gauntlets looked like a superhero that he once remembered. Something about a guy dressing up as a bat. If that was real, then that ¡°superhero¡± clearly have issues. I secured the sword holding it in place. The captain was trying to pull back but I held on as long as I can. I wanted to pull the blade out of his grip but that is an impossible task with his strength. If the blade was smaller then I could had tried to break it apart but it was just too big for me snap it.

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    I charged up my Lightning Fortification and started shocking the captain. Normal beings would be slumping to their knees now but this captain stood firm. Does my spell not effect him at all? His metal armour and sword are excellent conductors which is perfect for me lightning spell. However, despite all the punches I gave him and now a direct lightning spell at point black, he still looked unaffected.

    The captain suddenly stomped his feet hard and did a heavy pull that dragged me off my feet. I went flying towards him and he took a swung at me. I managed to block it but it hurt my arm while sending me flying backwards. I gripped my injured arm that was spasming now and glared at the captain. How insanely strong is this captain?

    ¡°Any particular reason that you are fighting alone, missy? To gauge your strength or just plain foolishness in the name of honour?¡± asked the Queen.

    ¡°I am not human to follow the honour of fighting alone. I was merely a distraction to allow her to get ready,¡± I smirked.

    ¡°W¡­. what is she?¡± the Queen was looking up behind me.

    Rose is floating above behind me right now with her semi-transparent golden wings. She called it Sacred Wings which not only buffs all her stats and spells, it also gives her extra mobility that exceed even Zen¡¯s obnoxious Agility stats. Sadly, this spell only affects herself.

    Rose flew straight at the captain and performed quintuple stabbed on the captain. Heavy armour meant nothing to her as her weapon is also buffed by a spell called Fa Jin Zh¨°u or something that completely ignores armour and impacts the inner body directly. These two spells was the reason why Zen was knocked unconscious even with his Rend cloak. It is a formidable combo that defies what normal adventurers are capable off.

    The captain was sent knocked backwards from her stabs. Rose did not give in and pushed her attack. The captain reacted quickly and swung his greatsword downwards but was no match for her speed. Rose dodged the swing by sliding across and performed a stab in the gap between the armour. She looked as though she is gliding around with her wings. It was a direct hit and Rose twisted her rapier for good measure. Blood started spewing from the captain¡¯s helmet and his wound.

    The captain swung his arm towards Rose with ferocity but Rose had already leaped backwards. We can win this. I should join Rose in bringing down this captain so we can finally kill the Demon Queen. More blood was flowing from the captain¡¯s wound. We should be able to kill him after this. Aim for his helmet and destroy his brain. Let¡¯s end this.

    Rose gave me a small nod as she was at the opposite end of me while the captain smack in between us. I re-activated Concentration once more and fortified my gauntlets with lightning.We pincered the captain on both sides. There is no way he is able to block all of our attacks.

    Shhhhhrrrrrr!!

    Both Rose and I skidded to a halt before our attacks hit him. Something sharp stopped us in our tracks. Bright red spikes or thorns protruded from his armour. Wait, more like it was wrapped around his armour. Rose and I managed to stop ourselves before we pierced ourselves against the thorns but we still had some minor cuts as it appeared out of nowhere. What is this? Where did it even come from?

    The thorns started to liquify and wrapped around him. Wait.. those thorns were made from his blood? Who is controlling it? It did not seemed like he is the one controlling the blood.

    I took a quick glance to look at the Demon Queen. Bastard, she was the one controlling the movement of the blood. Her hand movement is very clearly showing that she is in control of the captain¡¯s blood. Is that her spell? Things is going to get harder from here.

    Blood started to flow to the captain¡¯s left arm forming to what looked like a bloody shield with spikes. Oh boy, a fully armoured soldier with a giant sword and shield. What is this? Some kind of crucible knight or something?!

    Rose seemed to realised that the Demon Queen was controlling the blood without even turning to look at her. She did the unthinkable and rushed towards the Queen but the captain matched her speed and stopped Rose from going closer. The captain¡¯s speed increased? How? Rose¡¯s speed should be close to the speed of light but he captain was able to catch up? I stood on Rose¡¯s side. Not sure how long her spell can last but we need to end this captain quickly. I get the feeling that we are not going to kill the both of them unscathed. That bloody spiked shield is going to cause a lot of trouble for us.

    ***

    ¡°How interesting, when did you know it was me?¡± asked the imposter.

    ¡°We were looking for you. We know that you were working with the Queen and information gathering was one of your expertise. We are certain that you will want to know things that even the Queen does not. And that is how you fell for our trap,¡± I explained.

    ¡°How does telling Rick factor into the trap? From what I recall, there was nothing from with the message given,¡± he retaliated.

    ¡°We know you will do whatever it takes to gather information. What better way if not to follow the man who instigated the war himself? But in order to do that, you will need to get close to him. So we knew you were aiming for one of Zen¡¯s close friend. So we spread out a message to all of his close friend without him even knowing. We were expecting you to not get the memo,¡± I jested at him.

    ¡°What do you mean? There was nothing of value with the message,¡± he demanded.

    ¡°I believe you remember what the Dark Lord told you right? ¡®Zen will be appearing at this location after he escaped from the castle. If you know what is best for him, I will be counting on you¡¯,¡± I laughed at him.

    ¡°How is that a code? That message doesn¡¯t even tell us anything aside from the location,¡± he sneered.

    ¡°That is because you never actually knew Zen. If you were one of his close friends, you will know that the best thing to do for him was to fulfil your duty assigned to you. Not meeting up with him at that location. That is the memo that the real Rick would had gotten and you did not,¡± I smirked at him.

    All he replied was a ¡®tsk¡¯. Pretty sure he was annoyed at the fact that he was trapped by such a simple code.

    ¡°You were willing to take a gamble that I would not kill Zen before he even comes into the city? How absurd for you all to gamble on his life,¡± he spat.

    ¡°Knowing you, you would rather gather information that you can use instead of just killing Zen. You are a tactician after all. Obtaining a bargaining chip had always been your forte. And besides, if you were planning to kill Zen, he will not die so easily. I trained and sparred with him to make sure that he can take on a guildmaster on his own,¡± I said.

    ¡°Now, what is your end goal? Why work for the Queen all of a sudden? I do not believe that you would be willing to become her henchmen just to gather information for her. You even willingly sacrifice your entire guild just to serve under her. I doubt many guild members of the Dragon guild were willing to follow your decision,¡± I continued.

    ¡°Hahaha! None of you are aware on what the Queen is capable of. You don¡¯t even know what she did for all of us behind the scenes. I was there when she saved me before. And now I am just returning the favour. I do like to thank Pietro for finding out Zen¡¯s identity. It was the right decision to send him on the secret task together with the three of you,¡± chuckled the Dragon Lord.

    ¡°Where¡­ is he? Did you kill him? What the hell did the Queen even do for you that you were willing to sacrifice him? He¡­ had a pregnant wife waiting for him when he went missing. His wife came to me as he had mentioned my name before to her. And I intend on finding out what happened to him!¡± I shouted.

    ¡°On the grand scheme of things, his death meant little. I serve the Queen and her orders are absolute!¡± he answered.

    ¡°Why? What did the Queen saved you from that warrants you to do such despicable thing? You are the guildmaster and your guild members follow your orders and they trust you to do the right thing. But for you to kill them just to obtain information? Just how low did you fall?¡± I gave him a disappointed look.

    ¡°Enough talk. Let¡¯s kill each other,¡± he said as he summoned his halberd to his side.

    It seems that he knows how to use Sunder spell. Can he use Rend as well, I wonder? That is going to be troublesome. The Elementalist tapped on my shoulder and shook his head. I guess even he realised that it is not possible to save the Dragon Lord and change his mind. While the both of us wanted to bring him to justice, we were hoping for imprisonment rather than direct execution.

    The Dragon Lord charged at us. The Elementalist was quiet throughout the whole conversation but he stood ready. His halberd gives him an advantage over range which the both of us do not have. The Elementalist uses two daggers as his main weapons. I threw my axe at the Dragon Lord and he deflected it away. I teleported to my axe and now we will pincer him in between. Both the Elementalist and I attacked him furiously from both sides but he is able to fend off our attacks by using both ends of his halberd. His strength, movement and speed does not match a human. Something is wrong here.

    He managed to cut the Elementalist with the bladed tip and hit me on my stomach. Even with all my muscles, his insane strength hurt me when it looked like a gentle poke. Bloody hell just what is he?

    The Elementalist looked at his wound and shrugged it off. He then started using his spells. He coated one dagger with fire while the other with¡­ ice? Wait what? I thought the only elemental spells were fire and lightning?! It would seemed that he is using Concentration too.

    I followed suit and started using Bloodlust. I withheld from using other spells in the meantime and frenzy as well. Quite pointless as I am certain that the Dragon Lord is capable of blocking it¡¯s effects.

    The Elementalist charged in first. His dual daggers are quick but the Dragon Lord was capable of matching his speed. I joined the fray and poured in my attacks from the other end. The Dragon Lord is certainly being pushed back now. I reduced the size of my axe to that of a hand axe for faster attack speed. We were making wounds on the Dragon Lord now.

    The Dragon Lord was bleeding in several places now. But.. so were we, albeit less than him. He actually managed to injured the both of us despite getting pincered. But his wounds were strangely bleeding more than it should. Those wounds are from the daggers of the Elementalist. Is it because of his spells?

    ¡°Hurt, doesn¡¯t it? How does it feel to be burned, frozen and bleed at the same time? You do well to remember that you should never betray the adventurer¡¯s guild ever again,¡± warned the Elementalist.

    ¡°To waste the blood given by the Queen, how can I face her after this? To be injured like this while only fighting against two guildmasters, I should be punished!¡± he roared.

    He activated bloodlust. Is the Elementalist capable of using Higher State Of Mind? He charged at the Elementalist and used Fury Strikes. I can barely even see those attacks. Such speed were those strikes. The Elementalist somehow were able to block them but subsequent attacks were not so lucky. I rushed in to help him. I increased the size of my axe as large as I can and slammed on the Dragon Lord.

    It left a large sliced crater but the Dragon Lord was able to dodge it. Things are not looking good now. Since when was the Dragon Lord this powerful? And what did he meant by blood given by the Queen?

 Chapter 42: Guildmasters [MOON]

    Chapter 42: Guildmasters [MOON]

    I opened my eyes. Where.. where am I? The first thing I saw in front of me was a huge hole on what looked like a roof of a house. I looked around and saw rubbles around me. I tried to stand up but my whole body was aching. I¡¯m.. alive? How? I am certain that I flew some distance away from the castle and from the looks of it, landed on someone¡¯s house. But there was no way that my body and bones could survive the impact. I raised my left hand to rub my forehead but I saw that it was glowing with purple fire. Did I.. unconsciously casted Rend on myself before I crashed landed? I¡¯m amazed that I can do that. Either way, I¡¯m still alive and so is the Queen. I will only rest when either of us are dead.

    To the owner of this house, I am sorry and I will compensate for your roof. Alrighty, let¡¯s do a body check-up. Other than the pain, nothing appears to be broken. My painkiller potion will help out before I start fighting later. Seeing as my Rend cloak had disappeared, I must had been unconscious for more than ten minutes. Never knew I had such reflexes while being unconscious. I¡¯m not some martial artist that is capable of doing that in the first place.

    Alright, next up, situation check. How far am I from the castle? I walked out of the house through a window as the door was locked. W¡­ what? I¡¯m outside of the city? Just how far did I flew? It is going to take hours before I can make it back to the city even if I were run the whole way through. Let me think, c¡¯mon think! There has to be a faster way to make it back to the castle!

    As I started walking while pondering a better way to reach the city, something appeared in front of me. Or more like, summoned? Huh? It was spectral in nature and semi-transparent while glowing with a whitish blue hue. I.. don¡¯t remember having any spell that can summon a spectral steed. What is going on?

    ¡°Hello, boy,¡± said the steed.

    ¡°K¡­ Kirin? Is.. that you?¡± I asked the steed as I was confused.

    ¡°Yes boy. Hop on as we don¡¯t have time to lose. That Demon Queen is going to pay for trying to kill my host,¡± said Kirin.

    ¡°H.. hold on. You can exist in this world along with Inazuma? Since when can you do that? I thought you chose to exist as Inazuma over your real body. And.. you looked different. Where¡¯s your horn?¡± I asked genuinely.

    ¡°This is just my spectral self. And to avoid questions I took on the appearance of a common horsette. If you wish to ride a real Kirin then be my guest in answering those questions when commoners starts asking,¡± he warned me.

    ¡°Alright I get it. Let me get on top of you. Wait, there is no saddle! How am I going to climb up in the first place?¡± I asked Kirin.

    ¡°Geez, come here boy,¡± said Kirin as he sat down to lower his body.

    I know I am short but without a saddle it is even more difficult to climb a horsette. I hope my family jewel will be fine after this ride.

    ¡°Sit down and stay still boy. Grab my hair if you need to,¡± said Kirin as he started galloping towards the city with great speed.

    Sigh. Wished there was a pretty lady wearing a hood offering me a Honda Accord instead. Oh well, beggars can¡¯t be choosers. Thankfully I am able to ride on Kirin to the city. Will definitely be quicker than me running all the way. Hmm, why didn¡¯t he offered me this before?

    ¡°Kirin, did something changed? Is there a reason as to why you did not offer me this before?¡± I asked him.

    ¡°Something changed in you when you lost consciousness earlier. Somehow, I was able to take control of your body partially while also giving you more access to my powers,¡± he explained.

    ¡°W.. wait, you were the one who casted Rend for me? I thought my hands moved by itself while I was unconscious. Haha!¡± I laughed loudly.

    ¡°In your dream perhaps,¡± said Kirin.

    ¡°Are you.. making a joke? The great Kirin is making a joke?!¡± I was shocked by his remark.

    ¡°I did not!¡± he shouted while blushing a little.

    ¡°Wait wait.. so does this mean that Byakko is able to manifest his spectral too?! I want to ride on a tiger!¡± I asked Kirin with eyes sparkling.

    ¡°You will not! You can only ride me and me alone!¡± shouted Kirin.

    We continued our chatter while riding towards the city. A good way to calm myself before facing the Queen again. I will not hold back this time. Only two more times to cast Rend which equals to 20 minutes. Hopefully I can finish the fight before Rend runs out.

    ***

    Things are not looking good. We cannot defeat this captain on our own. While we are able to fend off his attacks, we just cannot aim for the weak point which is the brain. The Demon Queen kept moving the blood to protect his head. Rose and I were bleeding in several places but thankfully none of it looked fatal.

    The blood moved extremely quickly and attacked at angles that you would not expect. On top of that, the captain is getting even more aggressive now. Fending off two attacks at random interval and angles are seriously difficult. Not to mention that bloody shield can extend the thorns out of nowhere. Even with Rose¡¯s speed, we just couldn¡¯t find a way to push through. Damn it!

    Rose¡¯s Sacred Wings had worn off by now. She is still using her Fa Jin Zh¨°u which is useful but pointless if we cannot make contact with the captain. I was panting right now and so is Rose. This fight had gone on for too long. Is there no support coming to help us? John and the Elementalist had not defeated that imposter? What about Zen? Are you really dead? No, don¡¯t think about this right now, Lily. Don¡¯t make yourself emotional right now.

    The captain seemed to read my emotion and charged over to attack me. I readied myself for his swing until I heard Rose screaming ¡°Watch out!¡±. I was confused as to why Rose shouted that until I felt pain on my right feet. I looked down and saw thorns piercing through my boots. The blood had flowed underneath my foot without me even realising it. Now I am rooted here with no way to dodge the incoming attack. I can only block his attack.

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    The captain swapped to his shield instead and more thorns started protruding from the shield to pierce me. I cannot block that! Shit, I am going to die from the impact and thorns from the shield. Zen, I might be coming to see you sooner than I expected.

    I can see the thorns literally a few inches in front of my eyes now when I heard something smashed from above. A dark figure covered in black cloak dropped down from above and slashed through the thorns which caused it to liquify. The figure then gave a kick on the shield which pushed the captain back. No, that is not right. This is not Zen.

    Another figure dropped from above and this one was wearing white. I can sort of guess who these two figures are. The Dark and Paladin Lord is here to help us. Talk about reinforcements.

    ¡°Well done, Rose. If you hadn¡¯t casted that spell, we would still be running around like a headless jikenette,¡± said the Paladin Lord.

    ¡°Ojii-san, you¡¯re finally here.¡± replied Rose with a hint of relief in her voice.

    ¡°Tend to your wounds, we¡¯ll take it from here,¡± ordered the Dark Lord.

    I punched the thorns that pierced my boots. The blood liquified immediately after separating from the thorns. I pulled out my foot and gosh it hurts. I limped towards both of the guildmasters but they told me to stand-down and tend to my wounds. Rose came over to help me as I suspected that she needed to rest as well. A quick bandage and pick-up is all we can afford here before we need to help the guildmasters against the captain.

    The Dark Lord turned to look at me and mouthed something to me. He said something very softly but I heard it. He is asking us to attack the Demon Queen directly after we had tended to our wounds. Seems like the both of them will be keeping the captain distracted while we fight the Queen.

    Rose removed my boots gently while I pulled out my handkerchief and bit on it. Rose took out her healing cream and looked at me. I can see sweat running down her forehead as she looked at me with concern. I nodded to her giving my approval to apply the cream. She exhaled loudly and began applying the cream. I started screaming while biting the handkerchief. The smell of my skin and flesh being seared is horrible. For small wounds, this effect might be just some minor pain at most. But my flesh was pierced through and the cream is doing it¡¯s best to close my wound to prevent me from bleeding out. Rose had to apply the cream on both sides. By the time she was done, I felt light headed from the pain. Even though the wound is no longer bleeding, it still hurts to move.

    Rose told me to just sit here while she fight the Queen. I told her not a chance and that it is suicide to fight alone. I took out a flask and drank its content. I shook my head after taking a swig of it. What I drank was elven wine which had high alcohol content. That should wake me up and power through the pain. Rose had done applying the healing cream on herself and drank something which looked like water. I doubt she will be drinking alcohol when she is so weak to it. She then took out a cloth and wiped it on her rapier. That must be the wax to prevent demons from healing quickly.

    ¡°Ready?¡± she asked me while smiling at me.

    ¡°Ready¡± I told her while returning her smile. She seemed to have calmed herself. Perhaps deep down she somehow knew that Zen is still alive? She always had faith in him. Rose always pushed me to be with Zen but deep down I felt that she is better choice for him than I can ever be. I hope Zen makes the right choice and chooses her.

    The both of us walked towards the Queen. The captain tried to stop us from going closer but both guildmasters were keeping him tied up. We stood in-front of the Queen and glared at her while she remained seated at her throne cross-legged.

    ***

    Things are chaotic here. The Dragon Lord is trying to separate us so that he can attack us individually. I am doing my best to rush over to help the Elementalist whenever the Dragon Lord attacks him by throwing my axe and teleporting. The Elementalist does the same in protecting me when the Dragon Lord charges to attack me. The both of us are doing whatever we can to fend off his attacks. His speed is definitely inhuman. I know that my agility stats are low but I have seen Zen in action. The Dragon Lord¡¯s speed defies physics. What did he do to gain this unholy powers? Did he sold his soul to the Queen or something?

    ¡°Something is not right here. His powers defies convention means,¡± I whispered to the Elementalist.

    ¡°Indeed, his powers are abnormal. Almost like¡­ a demon,¡± explained the Elementalist.

    ¡°What? That is not possible. Are you saying he is a demon in disguised?¡± I asked hastily.

    ¡°Doubtful, if he really is a demon then his wound would had healed by now. But he is still bleeding albeit less than earlier. Perhaps he has demon blood running in his veins,¡± said the Elementalist.

    ¡°Are you saying he injected himself with demon blood? How does that even work? Last I recall, our ¡°investigation¡± was a failure. The host completely rejected the blood and perished. Did the Dragon Lord made a breakthrough somehow?¡± I questioned the Elementalist.

    ¡°I do not know. But judging by his inhuman strength and speed, it would be safe to assume that he had succeeded in assimilating himself with demon blood. Apprehending him would be in our best interest to further in our¡­ ¡°experiment¡±,¡± said the Elementalist.

    ¡°Then we will need a plan to apprehend him,¡± I said.

    Easier said than done but we were able to come out with a quick plan somehow. The Dragon Lord charged towards the Elementalist but I stood in his way. He swung his halberd at me but I deflected it. I might be thinking things but he seems to be fixated on fighting the Elementalist more than me. I wonder why though. He dashed away trying to get closer to the Elementalist but I used Taunt on him with a ¡°Yo mama is fat,¡± remark. I did not know whether it would actually work on someone who is using Higher State of Mind but somehow it did. Or perhaps the Dragon Lord had lost his rationality. He seems to be driven by Bloodlust alone.

    He leaped at me intending to swing his halberd down on me. I anticipated it and I enlarged my axe to it¡¯s maximum size. The Dragon Lord was shocked and took a defensive stance instead but he was still falling my way. I swung my legendary axe hard with a roar. It broke his halberd and sent him flying.

    Upon landing, he tried to get up but the Elementalist slammed his palm on his forehead and casted a spell. Ice was forming around his body until it completely immobilised him. He struggled to break free but to no avail. We caught him. We actually did it.

    ***

    ¡°How long has it been since we teamed up together? It felt like ages ago,¡± I asked.

    ¡°Certainly a long time. Eyes focused. This ¡°captain¡± is dangerous,¡± said the Dark Lord.

    ¡°You do not need to remind me, lad. I am aware of the strength of this captain. I am amazed that the both Rose and Lily lasted this long with the Queen helping. Well, what do you know, turns out she is a Demon. A sexy seductive one at that,¡± I said as I admired on the Queen.

    ¡°Are you.. admiring her? She is an abomination that must be eliminated. All these chaos and the condition of the City Of Pines that we had been living in is because of this demon. Not to mention we were serving her for years,¡± spat the Dark Lord.

    ¡°Admire your enemy for their strength and beauty. In doing so, you can smite them with fury. That is what I learned over the years. There is a story to everyone even though they are your enemies. Respect them as they respect you in battle,¡± I informed him.

    ¡°I doubt the captain is interested in your story nor is he going to respect you talking,¡± said the Dark Lord as the captain started charging at us.

    We dodged from the captain¡¯s attack. The bloody shield that he had earlier had disappeared. It seemed like the Queen will have a lot on her hands facing Lily and my prized pupil. Both of them are going to be formidable opponents for the Queen. Truth be told, all four of them are. I wonder where did the Dark Lord¡¯s prized pupil went?

    ¡°Youngsters always interrupt their elders when they are talking. The rudeness of this generation,¡± I sighed.

    ¡°I get the feeling that this captain is much older than you,¡± chuckled the Dark Lord. How long has it been since I heard him chuckle.

    Alright, no more fooling around. This captain is going to be a tough nut to crack. I summoned my mace with a flick of my right hand. My blunt weapon is going to break his armour quite nicely. Here he comes.

    The Dark Lord faced the captain. Seems like he remembered our old tactics. The both of them are similar in size. The Dark Lord had a bulky body in the first place and his armour enhances it. Of course it is not just for show as his armour saved his life a couple of times. But his straight sword is going to have a problem in breaking through the heavy armour of the captain. No time to dawdle, time to cast Light Blessing.

    The both of them continued to swing their swords at each other offensively and defensively. I¡¯ve finished casting Light Blessing and proceeded to cast Fa Jin Zh¨°u on my mace. It is my favourite spell which enhances my blunt weapon¡¯s effectiveness even further. I was surprised that Rose had already learned how to use it. She is really a prodigy to be able to cast Revelation and Fa Jin Zh¨°u after just receiving the book a few days ago. She is going to be stronger than me if she becomes the next Paladin Lord.

    I rushed to join the Dark Lord in his fight. I might look like a frail old man but I have plenty of combat experience in my time. Let¡¯s see how this captain fares against fighting two guildmasters. The captain did an overhead swing which the Dark Lord blocked easily. I leaped out from behind and took a swing at his helmet. He leaped back before my mace hit the helmet. Nice reflexes and it seemed as though he does not get fatigue at all despite moving around with those armour and greatsword.

    The captain rushed in again to attack us. The Dark Lord took a quick glance at me and I nodded. We rushed in to meet the captain head-on. The captain swung his greatsword two-handed in an attempt to gut us in half. The Dark Lord blocked his attack and I swung my mace to the captain¡¯s right thigh. Our tactics is to make use of our body size to our advantage. The Dark Lord aims high while I aim low. And we always strike together giving our opponent no time to react.

    The captain lost balance and fell to the ground. We went in for another strike but he rolled away quickly and stood up. His right thigh armour was smashed in and he was bleeding. The captain shrugged off the wounds and came in for an attack again. No doubt if the captain was a demon it wouldn¡¯t be affected by all these flesh wounds. But Fa Jin Zh¨°u does not cause flesh wound. My mace breaks the armour and flesh while Fa Jin Zh¨°u destroys the cells and bones. To be honest I am surprised that the captain can stand up so quickly.

    We continued our attacks until the captain¡¯s armour broke apart revealing what was inside. It was certainly a demon inside but fused to the armour. A part of the armour was dangling from the fused flesh. It was as though his skin no longer recognises his body as his own without the armour. The demon tore off the dangling armour and roared in fury. Steams can be seen coming out from his helmet and we can see red glowing eyes from the inside. Oh boy, things are going to be difficult from here.

 Chapter 43: Turning Point [MOON]

    Chapter 43: Turning Point [MOON]

    ¡°Mommy, I didn¡¯t know you were so strong. Are you stronger than daddy?¡± asked Daisy as she looked at my wife.

    ¡°Well.. stronger might be difficult to compare. For example, Lily is certainly stronger than your father but she might not be able to defeat him in a one on one fight. Rose is stronger than your father as well but who knows if your father went serious on her,¡± said my wife.

    ¡°Mom, why are you saying as though you are not one of them?¡± asked Daisy with a confused look.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, am I?¡± she smiled at her.

    Seems like my wife is having fun teasing Daisy. Guess she don¡¯t want to reveal her own identity just yet. I smiled as I watched their interaction. My wife and I had come really far from where we were in the story. How many years had we been together, going on quests, fighting side by side, getting married and eventually having Daisy. I am so lucky that I chose her to be my wife and I never regretted it. I love her and that is all that matters.

    ¡°Alright, let daddy finish his story. The exciting part is coming up next. Keep your ears opened and pay attention as your mommy is going to be fighting the Demon Queen,¡± I said to Daisy as I clapped my hand to gain their attentions.

    ¡°Yay! I wanna hear it!¡± shouted Daisy.

    And so, let us begin.

    ***

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t get so comfy sitting on that throne if I were you,¡± I said out loud.

    Lily stood with her arms raised in front of me. I unsheathed my rapier and readied myself. If the Queen is not planning to fight us anytime soon then I¡¯m sure Lily is going to charge upstairs. But she is injured and I¡¯m worried it is going to affect her speed.

    ¡°Sigh¡­ FINE, I¡¯ll do it myself,¡± said the Queen as she stood up.

    As much as I hate it, this Demon has curves in all the right places and what is with that silly seductive outfit? You do not need to expose yourself to gain attention. Oh, who am I kidding? This is a Demon and her main purpose is to seduce men. I wonder if onii-chan lost because he was too enchanted with how she looks. He is fine, right? Yes, I am certain he is. Onii-chan will not die so easily.

    The Queen began descending down her throne slowly but remained up top. She grew a sharp nail with her left index finger and sliced across her right arm. Ouch! Why did she do that?! Lots of blood was dripping from her wound to which it began solidifying and wrapped around her arm with thorns. It glowed with an unholy blue colour. Her blood is blue? Demons have so many different colours of blood that I wonder if there is any difference in them.

    So her powers are manipulating blood like some blood bender. I pray to the above that she cannot control our blood directly, otherwise we are screwed.

    ¡°C¡¯mon missies, let me show you how a real woman fights,¡± taunted the Queen with a huge grin on her face.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± said Lily without looking my way. She knew I will always have her back.

    The both of us rushed up the throne steps while I casted Accelerate and Light Blessing simultaneously. Sacred Wings and Fa Jin Zh¨°u has a long cooldown so that will need to wait. I will need to use everything else at my disposal to support Lily.

    Lily initiated the fight with a punch which the Queen stopped it with a grab. Shockwaves erupted from the impact but the Queen was unfazed. Lily then went for her hip with her left fist. Once again the Queen blocked with her palm and raised her knee to hit Lily. I pulled Lily aside and aimed my rapier at the Queen¡¯s eye. She raised her right hand which had thorns to my face as her counter. I had to dodge her attack by swirling to which she kicked me my stomach and sent me flying back to the floor. Damn her heels hurts!

    I was gripping my stomach as I vomited out some blood and undigested food. Fuck! I swore to stop vomiting after that hangover! Lily is holding her own against the Queen but it is clear that she is toying with her. I need to help her.

    Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

    I tried to stand up but my stomach hurts badly. What a joke, Lily is also injured but she is fighting. C¡¯mon body, fight through the pain! I took a quick glance at the guildmasters fighting behind me. They are definitely preoccupied at the moment as the captain seemed to be fighting more aggressive than he was with us. He must have realised that both guildmasters are no pushover. Steams were coming out of his helmet and I believe he is using Bloodlust. Doubt the captain would start smoking out of the blue.

    I should get serious as well. While I do not enjoy the after effects of this spell, I cannot afford to hold back now. I kneeled on one knee, placed my right hand on my face and my left hand behind my back. I began chanting the spell with fast casting but it still takes a while. Hang on, Lily. This spell is going to benefit everyone and make you stronger.

    ***

    Lily¡¯s perspective

    Damn queen is toying with me. My punches that can shatter rocks are being nullified by her. Not to mention my right feet still hurts. The Queen stopped all of a sudden to looked at Rose. She does not even see me as a threat?! You¡¯re gonna pay for that!

    Rose was kneeling on the floor. Light particles were swirling around her while she was chanting. More and more light particles was appearing as she chanted further. I¡¯ve never seen her using this spell before. Seems like the Demon Queen only sees Rose as a threat. Damn it, I know I am not the strongest in the group but to directly ignore me like this is such a slap in the face. Fine, I should take this opportunity to activate Concentration then.

    Rose stood up, lifted her right hand and casted her spell. ¡°Grand Blessing!¡± she shouted. The light particles exploded and showered everyone in the room. It¡¯s.. so warm and it calms my heart. It felt as though I am watching a sunset. I had completely forgotten what I was angry about earlier. Rose eyes glowed with a yellow hue. She had a semi-transparent golden pauldron on her left shoulder. Her right hand had a sort of circle effect on her dorsal side. Wait, I have it too! It doesn¡¯t seemed like it does anything aside from making my dorsal hand glow. Or maybe I have not found out what it does yet.

    I felt light and stronger from the blessing. Not to mention with Concentration activated, my stats should be raised quite high now. Let¡¯s give this bitch a surprise. I leaped at her and not a heartbeat later my fist reached her face cheek. Shockwaves erupted which cracked the floor tiles. The Demon Queen was sent flying downwards the floor. Finally she is off her high ground! I was amazed by my speed and strength after the buffs. I think I¡¯m getting the hang on this.

    The Queen wiped her mouth as it was bleeding. That is what you get for looking down on me. Who has the high ground now? The Queen got up and summoned some blue colour dagger covered in thorns. She wanted to throw at me the daggers but Rose came up behind her and sliced off her wrist with ease. Blue blood spewed from the wound but stopped a moment later. Rose did not hesitate and swung her rapier to pierce at the Queen¡¯s skull. The Queen dodged the stab and used her wing to hit Rose.

    I charged at the Queen again. This time I am going to smash your skull! Rose kicked the Queen¡¯s wrist towards her which hit her face. Nice one, Rose! But the Queen still managed to dodged out of the way and I ended up punching the floor. A huge crater erupted from where I punched. The Queen is certainly wary of us now. Rose¡¯s spell is powerful. I do not know what her spell increased for all of us but I felt powerful. Rose stood at my side. The Queen was holding her dismembered wrist while trying to reattach it but the wound was still searing from due to the wax coating by Rose. I casted fire spell for my left gauntlet and lightning for my right. Let us end this war right now.

    Both of us dashed together. The Queen summoned thorns on the floor to prevent us from coming closer. We leaped upwards together towards the Queen. She started throwing her thorn daggers at us. I clapped my hands together which produced a shockwave that repelled the daggers. The Demon Queen leaped back once again and summoned an enormous of wall of thorns that blocked our way. The wall looked like glass and we could see her smirking from the other side but I had no way of punching it without injuring myself. I hesitated to break it apart which the Queen took advantage of. The wall started shooting spikes at us which we had to dodge them. She started adding blood to her wall which replenished the size. The spikes that shot at us began to liquifying and flow back to the wall. Damn it! We cannot get closer to her even if I am willing to sacrifice my hand.

    Both Rose and I took cover behind a pillar. How are going to get closer without getting injured? It will have to be me. Rose is strong enough to kill the Demon Queen. The most I can do is be her meat-shield. I turned to look at Rose who was at the opposite side of my pillar. I signalled to her that I will charge ahead to break the wall so that she can deal the killing blow. Her eyes widen and shocked her head excessively. She gave me a warning that it was foolish and I should not sacrifice myself for that.

    I sighed and pointed to her that now is not the time for that. Every second wasted is a time limit for her spell. We need act quickly and now. I did not bother waiting for her reply and covered myself with the cloak that Zen gave me. Whether it can actually protect me or otherwise is up to the Goddess. I got ready to run towards the wall. Whatever happens, I just hope that my nostari will forgive me.

    ***

    This captain is very good at protecting his head. Neither the Dark Lord or I were able to even reach his helmet. He is willing to sacrifice all other parts of his body or armour to ensure that his helmet remained untouched.

    Rose casted Great Blessing which helped us tremendously. However she is not going to be able to fight after the spell had worn off. That is the price of giving higher buffs to nearby allies. However, I must admit, she casted it beautifully. Even I do not have the talent to learn every spell in the book of forbidden spells. And yet, she seemed to be able to learn many of them so far. I wonder if Rose is capable of learning those advanced spell in that book? Based on her growth so far, it would seemed that she might be capable of learning it. By then she will be one of the most powerful human this realm can ever offer.

    The captain barely have any armour left aside from his helmet. We destroyed his limbs and armour yet he is capable of regrowing or regenerate it with ease. This fight will not end if we cannot destroy the brain. However, I must say, this Demon is really small in size. I guess that is the price to pay for living in that armour for so long. Even after regenerating his wounds or limbs back, it remained the skinless form which looked really grotesque.

    How much longer do we need to fight until this captain falls? We need to come up with a plan.

    ***

    I charged ahead while covering myself as much as I can. Zen¡¯s cloak helped out a little but there were still some spikes that pierced through and impale my body. I ignored the pain and just charged ahead. I am close now, just a few more metres until I reached the wall of thorns.

    Ouch, did I¡­ tripped? On what? As I was falling down, I saw that my right leg was once again pierced with thorns that erupted from the floor. Shit! Again?! Now I can¡¯t even move and more spikes are coming my way. I don¡¯t think Zen¡¯s cloak is capable of blocking such large spikes. I can hear Rose shouting my name from behind. Mother and Father, I am so sorry, your daughter will be returning back to the Cosmic Tree before you.

    BOOOOOOMMMMM!!!!!!

    A loud sound erupted that shattered the windows behind the throne. What.. is going on? Did a lightning struck nearby? A dark figure leaped through the window with a sparkling gauntlet. It¡¯s¡­ Zen. He¡¯s alive! The Queen did not cover her back with the wall of thorns as she was not expecting anyone to be able to come from there as the throne room was high up.

    Zen slammed his right gauntlet on the Queen¡¯s face and whispered something to her. Then he gave her a point blank electric shock from his gauntlets. The spikes that was flying towards me liquified before it impaled me. He saved my life once again.

 Chapter 44: Reverse Point [MOON]

    Chapter 44: Reverse Point [MOON]

    ¡°Oi, bitch. I¡¯m in a lot of pain, thanks to you. Feel my pain,¡± I whispered to the Demon Queen before releasing Lightning Strike on her face at point-blank range.

    The power was overwhelming and blinding that I had to squint my eyes peek on what happened to the Queen. After a few seconds later, I released my gauntlet¡¯s grip and moved back a little. The Demon Queen was charred to the bone. Black smoke was leaking out from her mouth and ears.

    She should be dead. Her brain must had been fried to a crisp. I¡¯ll admit, I was surprised that all it took was one Lightning Strike to toast her. I thought it was going to take more than that to kill her. She is dead, right? I stabbed Inazuma through her skull for save measures. I looked around and saw Rose close to a pillar while Lily was sitting on the floor. What happened here? What were those two doing?

    I saw blood where Lily was sitting and rushed to check up on her. She looked at me with glittering eyes. Hang on, I¡¯ve seen this before. Did I¡­

    ¡°You saved me again, you bastard,¡± said Lily with some tears at the corner of her eyes.

    ¡°I.. did?¡± I scratched my cheek in response to her remark.

    She gave me a hug while I was attempting to check on her wounds. I only gave her a few seconds of hug before breaking off so that I can inspect her wounds. Rose then came over to hug the both of us while saying ¡°Thank God, you¡¯re alive¡±. Was she saying that to me or Lily?

    The captain rushed over to the Queen¡¯s body. I¡¯m surprised the captain is still alive with all his armour missing. His body looked really grotesque without skins. I kept an eye on the captain in case he goes batshit crazy and start attacking us. The Queen is beyond saving now and he should just surrender. Although I am not sure whether demons would surrender willingly.

    I removed her boots gently to reveal her wound. Ugh, what happened to her foot? She had a scar and is now bleeding profusely again. Rose took out her healing cream and was about to apply on the wound but I stopped her. I had an experimental gel that I wanted to test out.

    ¡°A.. are you sure? Does it work?¡± asked Lily with a horrified face.

    ¡°Well, Rose had the liberty of tasting my horrible food, so it¡¯s only fair that you become my guinea pig in alchemy,¡± I said to her with a smile.

    ¡°G.. guinea pig?¡± asked Lily with a confused face.

    ¡°Never mind, let¡¯s give it a try, shall we?¡± I said.

    Lily was certainly nervous when I applied a little of the gel on her wound. Her whole body shivered as I applied it gently on her wounds. She said the gel was very cold to the touch. But it beats being seared directly on her wounds. Seems like I had successfully mixed both healing cream and cooling gel together. I guess I¡¯ll just call it healing gel or something. No doubt it is not going to instantly heal you right away. The effects are the same as it just stops the bleeding and assist in the healing process. There is still no way to quickly heal broken or fractured bones.

    The captain was kneeling next to the Queen. From my view, it looked as though he is mourning for her. The captain then reached out to her neck and removed what looked like a choker. There was a jewel in the middle that looked like sapphire. The captain placed it on the floor and slammed his greatsword on it. The jewel shattered to pieces. Is that his way of releasing his anger?

    Large red pillars of thorns burst out from the floor. All the blood in the room started flowing towards the Demon Queen. What the hell? How is she not dead yet?! I should had chopped her brain into a million pieces earlier! Blood was wrapped around her body and the captain. Oh boy, what is going to happen now?

    Rose suddenly fainted and leaned on Lily. She must had exhausted herself. Lily looked at me with a concerned look. I told her to go to somewhere safe and bring Rose along. I will have to handle things from here. ¡°Don¡¯t die, Zen¡± said Lily with a worried look. I gave her a pat on the head and assured her that I¡¯ll live even though I can¡¯t be certain myself.

    Strong sharp winds was blowing from where the captain and Queen was. The blood wrapping them was glowing with an unholy red. Both the Dark and Paladin Lord stood at my side. To be fighting with both of them together. Such an honour.

    I took a glance at Lily and Rose and was expecting them to exit through the door. But Lily placed Rose at the corner of the throne room. Wait, why are they resting here? Take Rose and get out from the castle! The Queen¡¯s voice interrupted my thoughts before I was able to shout at the both of them.

    ¡°To think a human is capable of killing me with my limiter. I thought your sister would fare better but you had to interrupt our little battle,¡± said the Demon Queen without revealing herself.

    ¡°Sorry to disappoint you but Rose is not the only one that is strong. It is only fitting for me to put an end to your reign seeing as you caused so much trouble to my family,¡± I told her.

    ¡°I¡¯ll admit, you are his son. Always a nuisance for us Demons no matter where we are. And now, I am going to accomplish what the Demon King could not. The complete annihilation of your entire bloodline!¡± declared the Queen as she revealed herself.

    She had more horns and wings, some armours on her shoulder and what looked like an armoured corset. Her boots had changed as well but still had those spiky heels. Those thing hurts to walk-on, being kicked or stepped on. She is certainly kitted out for battle. Will I be able to defeat her now that her so called ¡°limiter¡± is off?

    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

    The captain now had wings and is more muscular in nature. Horns was protruding out of his helmet. However, he still does not have skins. He is starting to look like some titan now. A greater demon and a Queen versus the three of us. Our odds of winning is ridiculously low.

    ¡°Calm yourself, lad. Panicking now does not benefit any of us. We are here with you,¡± said the Paladin Lord.

    ¡°Can you handle the Queen yourself? From the look of things, the captain is stronger than the Queen,¡± said the Dark Lord.

    ¡°I.. guess so? I will have to use everything at my disposal if I am to fight with the Queen alone,¡± I said unconfidently.

    ¡°You certainly must. This is a war, son. The victory of the humans hang in the balance. Either we win or we lose everything,¡± said the Dark Lord as he reached out for something in his back pocket.

    ¡°I will be casting some support spells to help out. But for this fight, I doubt the both of us are able to help you. Remember that,¡± said the Paladin Lord as he shut his eyes.

    When he opened them, his eyes were completely white. Yikes, what is going on?

    ¡°I¡¯m still alive and conscious, if that¡¯s what you¡¯re thinking. You¡¯ve never seen Focused Meditation before? This is what it looks like once you achieved it,¡± explained the Paladin Lord.

    Is the Dark Lord going to use Bloodlust or something then? Huh? He took out a potion?

    ¡°I¡¯m surprised you did not tell the boy about your special condition,¡± said the Paladin Lord.

    ¡°There was never a need to. But I guess he¡¯ll know about it now,¡± said the Dark Lord as he removed the cork from his potion.

    ¡°Your guildmaster is the same as your sister. He is not capable in using any State Of Mind. However, he found out that he had insane affinity with poison,¡± explained the Paladin Lord as the Dark Lord began to drink the potion.

    He tossed the potion bottle aside and a drop dripped from the bottle and sizzled a hole on the floor. Are you sure it¡¯s poison or acid?! His black silky hair started to turn white while his entire eyes was turning black. Veins was popping out all across his body which looked as though he is seriously pissed off.

    ¡°Prepare yourself Zen, we¡¯ll be starting soon,¡± said the Dark Lord with a much deeper tone. I guess his voice changed as well.

    I took out my potion and drank it. It is definitely not what the Dark Lord drank but it was something that will give me an edge. I¡¯ve finally found the perfect ingredients and method to create a +5 all stats potion. This is my pride and joy as an alchemist and will remain my closed guarded secret until the day I die. I activated Concentration a moment later and did a quick body status check-up. There were still some pain from being blown away even after I¡¯ve drank my painkiller potion but I¡¯ll be able to fight at full potential. I summoned Inazuma at my side. I¡¯ve already coated both my weapons with my special wax against demons. I guess I¡¯ll call it Demonwound wax from now on.

    ¡°Let¡¯s kick their asses,¡± I said.

    ***

    ¡°There¡¯s no use struggling, the ice will not melt or break no matter how hard you try,¡± explained the Elementalist.

    I inspected the ice prison. It is really a block of solid ice with some hint of magic. The entire body of the Dragon Lord is stuck in the ice prison except his head. He can still talk but what can he really do aside from spouting curses and nonsense?

    ¡°Such a disgrace to lose to the both of you. And the Queen even graced me with her precious blood,¡± spat the Dragon Lord.

    ¡°So, why become a lapdog of the Queen? What did she even do for you?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Watch your tongue! The Queen saved my life and turned me to who I am today! I will never allow anyone to insult her!¡± shouted the Dragon Lord.

    ¡°Are you sure it is the same person? I believe the Queen that saved you before is no longer the same person you once knew,¡± I said.

    ¡°The Queen that I was referring to is not the same that you served. You adventurers will never know what she sacrificed for this city. When I get out of this ice shit, I¡¯ll beat the shit out of you two,¡± shouted the Dragon Lord as he struggled to free himself.

    ¡°Uh huh,¡± I replied him nonchalantly.

    The Elementalist showed no interest in his chatter and was looking towards the direction of the castle. Is he capable of looking that far away or is he listening? I turned my attention to the city gates. The East and South gate specifically. The army should be entering the city right about now. All that is left is to overthrow the Queen and the city will finally be under a new management. All will be for the best.

    ¡°What did you meant by the Queen we served are not the same as yours? You¡¯re saying that you were willingly serving a demon?¡±

    ¡°So the cat is out of the bag. Yes, I am serving the Demon Queen. And so should all of you,¡± he said.

    ¡°And why would any of us do that? To serve a demon who caused a great war. What do humans stand to gain from serving her?¡± I spat.

    ¡°Do not compare the Demon King to the Great Demon Queen. Her God had showed her a vision on how to preserve the survival of humanity. What she is doing is for a great cause!¡± shouted the Dragon Lord.

    ¡°And the genocide of the Hawthorn bloodline? You call that preserving?¡± I asked him with genuine curiosity.

    ¡°The destruction of the Hawthorn was inevitable. Their bloodline will be the downfall of humanity if left alive. Their entire bloodline must be erased from existence to ensure that humanity lives unfortunately,¡± said the Dragon Lord with a hint of sadness.

    ¡°Dude, listen to yourself. You are completely contradicting yourself! Wake up and smell the bullshit that the Queen is feeding you!¡± I rubbed my forehead as my brain were starting to hurt from talking to him.

    ¡°Let him be, Viking Lord. He is a lost cause,¡± said the Elementalist while resigning himself.

    ¡°I demand that you release me this instance! The Queen¡¯s vision must be fulfilled¡­¡± the Dragon Lord suddenly went quiet.

    The sudden oddness of silence made me turned my head to look at the Dragon Lord. I was shocked to see what was going on with him. What in Odin¡¯s name is happening to him?!

    His neck was turned to an impossible angle and blood was spewing out of his eye sockets and ears. What the flying fuck is happening to him?

    ¡°Elementalist! Look alive!¡± I shouted to warn him.

    Both of us prepared ourselves for the worst but was unsure on what we should be doing. It looked as though the Dragon Lord is.. morphing into something else. Even though his body was encased in the ice prison, he was contorting and twisting in weird angles. The ice eventually broke apart when wings started protruding out of the Dragon Lord¡¯s left shoulder and right ribs. You would think it would be behind is back instead. His right arm and hand started growing as well while his left started shrinking. He was still growing in size and height until he was twice my height. He is hunched back now with his head turned sideways to the left. Is he even alive?

    ¡°Um, Dragon Lord? You alive there?¡± I asked him cautiously with my axe ready.

    ¡°Huh? Uhhhhh,¡± he replied.

    Ok, he is sort of alive but can¡¯t seems to speak properly I suppose? Does he even understand what I am saying?

    He tried to look around but had to turn his body to move his head. Seemingly annoyed, he suddenly moved his right hand to grip his face and snapped his head upright. The crunch sound of the neck breaking was unnerving. I turned to look at the Elementalist and even he looked uneasy at the situation.

    The Dragon Lord have to be dead now, right? He literally just snapped his own neck. Some rumbling sound can be heard around us. The army must had finally entered the city. The both of us can head to the castle now to help Zen. Things are finally coming to an end.

    The sound of a house door broke apart. I turned to look at what caused the commotion and it was a demon. Must be a stray that somehow survived. I wanted to throw my axe at it but saw more pouring out from that house. The sound of demons can be heard all around us. What is going on? How did so many demons entered into the city?

    The Dragon Lord suddenly roared as his eyes started glowing red. Damn it, how is he even still alive? Now we have to fight him with demons all around us? That is not good! The army better get here fast or we are doomed!

    ***

    ¡°You thought the three of you would only be fighting with the two of us? I see no reason for me to honour any of you in a fair fight,¡± said the Demon Queen as she snapped her finger.

    Some part of the floor in the throne room started glowing. It looked like some circular glowing spell. The floor burst opened and demons started pouring out. Holy shit! What is going on?! Demons can just appear out nowhere now? Is that a.. summoning circle?

    ¡°The Demon King was right. When it comes to humans, you will need to resort to violence,¡± said the Queen.

    ¡°What should we do? We can¡¯t be fighting hordes of demons at the same time with those two. It would be a massive disadvantage for us,¡± I asked both of the guildmasters.

    ¡°Just focus on the Queen. Leave those demons to the adventurers,¡± said the Paladin Lord as he whistled.

    Voices can be heard coming in from behind. One of the adventurers said ¡°That¡¯s the signal¡±. Now it is a race against time to kill this bitch. I highly doubt this is the only summoning circle that she unleashed upon the city. It must be everywhere. How are we going to stop them all?

    ¡°AHAHAHA!! I look forward to watching you all struggle. You wanted a war, Hawthorn? Well you have one now!¡± laughed the Demon Queen.

    ¡°Do your worst bitch, get ready for another round of ass toasting,¡± I smiled with a smirk.

 Chapter 45: The Second Demon War [MOON]

    Chapter 45: The Second Demon War [MOON]

    Chaos ensued around me. It was certainly not a pleasant feeling. Now this is really war. Humans, elves and demons are fighting all around us. Yet all I can do is focus my attention on how to stop this rampaging brute. One swipe from his enlarged right hand and both allies and foes were sent flying. Arrows and blades are unable to pierce or damage his body at all. Not to mention he is acting like a mindless brute attacking anything close to his vicinity.

    There was a couple of cannons that shot at him but the cannon balls were mostly deflected by his muscular tough body. We need to be able to control this guy. The army will have to deal with the other demons while we try to take down the Dragon Lord.

    The Elementalist reactivated his Concentration while I reactivated Bloodlust with Frenzy. Hopefully this would cause the Demons to start attacking their own kind instead. The Elementalist set both his daggers with fire and ice respectively and charged head-on towards the Dragon Lord. I casted both Combat Fortify and Fury to increase my strength, defence and attack power. Not that I like seeing my body turning red but the situation is dire now.

    I threw my axe directly at the Dragon Lord with all my strength. Despite the size being only the size of a fire axe, it hit home. Somehow my axe was strong and sharp enough to pierce his body. I guess that is what a legendary weapon can do for you. The Dragon Lord flinched from the pain and wanted to pull out my axe. I teleported to it and leaped up atop his shoulder after removing my axe. Should I just decapitate his head right now? If I enlarge my axe big enough, I should be able to kill it right now.

    As I got ready to swing my axe, the voice of the Elementalist shouting ¡°Watch out!¡± was heard and I barely dodged the giant hand that slammed on shoulder where I was standing a second ago. The Elementalist slid underneath the Dragon Lord and began slicing on his heel and ankle. The Dragon Lord roared in pain and wanted to swipe at the Elementalist but he hid near the foot area causing the Dragon Lord to miss. The Dragon Lord was furious and lifted his foot in attempt to stomp on the Elementalist.

    ¡°Cannons!¡± shouted the Elementalist.

    Multiple shots can be heard and all of them hit the Dragon Lord directly. The Dragon Lord lost balance and fell to the ground as he was standing on one foot. Cheers can be heard around us but neither the Elementalist nor I missed the opportunity to strike the killing blow on the Dragon Lord. The both of us rushed as fast as we could to look for the head but he was protecting it with his massive right hand. All of a sudden, the Dragon Lord lifted his arm which started growing even larger. I instinctively shouted ¡°FALL BACK!¡±, grabbed the Elementalist by the arm, tossed my axe as far as I could and teleported.

    Not a moment later, the Dragon Lord slammed his even more ridiculously large arm onto the ground which made a huge crater and shockwave. Buildings were shattered by the impact along with humans, elves and demons. Casualties are climbing up. We need to kill this Dragon Lord and fast or there won¡¯t be any army left to help us with this demon invasion.

    ***

    ¡°You think you can take me on alone, Hawthorn? Did you forget how miserably you failed earlier? said the Demon Queen as she was gliding around throwing her blue thorn daggers at me.

    ¡°The way I see it, you failed to kill me as well so I guess we are even,¡± I dodged her daggers while sprinting after her.

    ¡°I won¡¯t make the same mistake ever again,¡± said the Queen as she raised her hand.

    More pillars covered in red thorns started bursting out from beneath the floor. Can she summon these out of nowhere? Don¡¯t she uses blood? Wait, the city is full of blood and she seems to be able to control higher quantities of it after she broke her limiter. She have plenty of blood at her disposal now. Damn it.

    I summoned Tengu-kaze with a flick of my left hand. I channeled power to it and used wind pressure to slice off the pillars obstructing my way. I turned my head around to look for the Queen. She was nowhere to be found. I looked up and she flying with her mouth looking like wants to vomit. I know what you are planning to do!

    She screamed with intensity and it ripped a large hole through the floor. I instinctively leaped forward before the attack reaches and gave a sigh of relief that I dodged that. I do not wish to experience that attack once again.

    Four more charges of ¡°Lightning Strike¡± and two more ¡°Lightning Charge¡± at my disposal. Night is approaching soon with a possibility of a thunderstorm based on the thunder sound I heard earlier. That will work in my favour tremendously.

    I will need to find a way to stop her flight movement for me to deal the killing blow.

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    ***

    This captain is absurdly strong. Is he somehow linked to the Demon Queen? After breaking that jewelry belonging to the Queen, he powered up even further. Even activating Focused Mediation cannot break through his speed and raw power. Both the Dark Lord and I are being pushed back by this captain. I hate to admit it but we might not be able to defeat this captain.

    ¡°Elf girl! Wake her up! We need her help!¡± shouted the Dark Lord.

    Indeed. We need Rose to help close the summoning circle inside the throne room. I am unable to close it as I need to support the Dark Lord to fight this captain. I told the Dark Lord that I am falling back. He nodded as he knew what I wanted to do.

    The Dark Lord started blocking swinging his sword furiously to block all the attacks from the captain. I did a quick chant and casted Light Blessing and Accelerate. I cannot afford to cast Great Blessing as I will be out cold after the duration of the spell. Hopefully this will give us a little edge to hold this captain.

    ***

    ¡°Rose, wake up!¡± I shook her.

    She seems to be completely out cold. I doubt anything is going to wake her up now. What can I do to wake her up? I don¡¯t have a bucket of water with me. I can¡¯t move much either. The adventurers are holding back the demons from reaching us. As much as I want to help them, I can¡¯t leave Rose alone here. Damn it, think Lily, THINK!

    Oh, that¡¯s right. I have my elven wine with me. Maybe, just maybe..

    I removed the lid from my flask and place it near Rose¡¯s nose. C¡¯mon, I hope this works. Please wake up, Rose.

    Cough cough!!

    Yes! It works, thank goodness!

    ¡°W.. what happened? It felt like something was burning my lungs,¡± said Rose as she was still coughing.

    ¡°Sorry about that, I needed to wake you up. The situation is dire right now and the guildmasters need your help,¡± I explained to her.

    ¡°W.. what? My.. help? What is going on? W.. why are demons suddenly around us? How long was I unconscious?¡± said Rose as she was still in a daze.

    ¡°Rose, listen to me. We need your help. Steady yourself as I ask the guildmasters on what they need,¡± I said to her while holding her shoulders. She needed to understand the current situation that we are in.

    ¡°Dark Lord, Rose is awake! What do you need?!¡± I shouted.

    ¡°Tell her page 30!¡± shouted the Paladin Lord.

    ¡°Rose, page 30¡± I said to her.

    ¡°W.. what?¡± she replied while still trying to gain some semblance.

    ¡°Rose, your book. Open page 30,¡± I clapped her face cheeks trying to wake her up.

    ¡°R.. right. My book,¡± she said as she rustled her pouch and took out her book.

    She scrolled through the page quickly and started reading on the page. I took a peek on what the page is about and found out that it was a spell about sealing something.

    ¡°How long do you need?!¡± shouted the Paladin Lord.

    ¡°Just a minute!¡± Rose replied.

    Rose was reading intently while ignoring her surroundings. She must focusing herself entirely in studying the spell. I kept a lookout to ensure that no demons would disturb her. And true enough, some demons came to disturb us. My foot might be injured but I can still fight. The adventurers are getting pushed back against the high number of demons that kept pouring out of the floor.

    I eliminated the demons that attacked us. They are easy to defeat in small numbers. Hopefully Rose is able to study on how to stop the demons from coming out.

    ¡°I got it!¡± shouted Rose.

    She kept her book safely back in her pouch and stood up. I looked at her and she was widely awake now. Good, we need her to win this war. ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± I said to her to which she nodded.

    We ran towards the glowing circle area while avoiding the adventurers and demons that were fighting. Some tried to attack us but we dodged out of the way or just pushed them aside. At some point, Rose jumped up and started stepping on the demons head to run faster. One of them tried to grab her leg but she leaped far away and made it to the circle. I need to catch up to protect her but I can¡¯t run that fast with my injured foot.

    Rose stood close to the circle but hidden behind where the demons are coming out from. Wait, what is she doing? Is she, Y-posing? I almost burst out laughing but held it in. If it was not for the situation we are in, I would had laughed at her.

    The Demon Queen shouted some demonic language which caused majority of the demons to turn their attention towards Rose. She was closing her eyes while chanting in a Y-pose. She won¡¯t realised that she is in danger!

    ¡°Adventurers! Protect Rose like your life depends on it!¡± I shouted as loudly as I could.

    Some adventurers went to protect her while majority of the others ignored my request. I am still some distance away from Rose. Damn it, why is it always distance that is my worst enemy?

    ¡°Protect the White Angel if you bollocks wishes to see another day,¡± warned the Dark Lord using his Fear spell to convey the message. I did not know that you can convey message using the Fear spell. I guess Zen did not know about it.

    Immediately nearly all of the adventurers rushed towards Rose in an attempt to protect her. Not sure whether it was due to the spell, the fear of dying or getting wallop by the Dark Lord that made them rush over to help her. At least many adventurers are protecting Rose now. White Angel, huh? That nickname suits her and I¡¯m certain it is going to stay around for a long time. Much better than my terrible nickname. Geez.

    The hole was starting to close. A yellow semi circle was formed and started to block the hole while the floor was starting to reconstruct itself. Demon that were trying to claw their way out of the hole was halted by the spell and they fell to back wherever they came from. The Demon Queen started throwing some daggers at Rose which Zen knocked all of them away. She then extended the thorns wrapping around her arm towards Rose but Zen sliced one of her wings off, grabbed her horn and threw her to the floor with a loud bang. Zen must be furious that the Demon Queen tried to attack his beloved sister.

    The circle stopped glowing and it was as if the floor had never broke apart in the first place. Rose opened her eyes and was shocked to see so many adventurers protecting her. Does the spell require so much of her focus that she have zero awareness of her surroundings? The remaining demons were slowly being killed by the adventurers. Things were getting more quiet now aside from those three fighting.

    ¡°White angel! Go close the other circles that you can find! There should be many of them around the city!¡± shouted the Dark Lord.

    ¡°Curse that woman. You Hawthorns were always a pain to deal with. Do you even have any idea what you are doing?!¡± shouted the Demon Queen.

    ¡°Ruining your plans obviously. And don¡¯t you dare talk that way about my sister,¡± said Zen. Still trying to deny that you aren¡¯t a sis-con?

    ¡°W.. white angel? Who?¡± asked Rose.

    ¡°That¡¯s you, Rose. C¡¯mon, let¡¯s go. We need to close the other circles around the city,¡± I told her as I started dragging her along.

    ¡°But what about onii-chan and the guildmasters? Shouldn¡¯t we be helping them?¡± asked Rose.

    ¡°Just go! We¡¯ll hold them off!¡± shouted the Paladin Lord.

    ¡°You heard them, let¡¯s go,¡± I said to her.

    ¡°We¡¯ll protect you, white angel. Lead the way,¡± said one of the adventurers.

    The adventurers all started pushing Rose out of the throne room. Some even tried to carry her but she wriggled free and decided to run on her own. I can hear her shouting ¡°I am not white angel!¡± as they were heading out of the castle. I stayed behind for a short while to look at Zen. He is giving his all fighting the Queen. I will only be in the way if I were to join the fight so I¡¯ll be following Rose to make sure she is safe.

    ¡°Please, stay alive. I love you,¡± I whispered softly as I looked at him and not a moment later, I headed out following the group of adventurers protecting Rose.

 Chapter 46: War Never Changes [MOON]

    Chapter 46: War Never Changes [MOON]

    ¡°What a pain, to think it would be this difficult to kill you,¡± complained the Demon Queen.

    The Demon Queen had regrew her wings that I cut off earlier when she tried to attack Rose. These demons really do have amazing regenerative powers. I certainly do envy them that they do not need to care about their wellbeing and can just continue fighting. Only their brain is their weak-point that they have to protect. Imagine if they were to use it for good instead.

    The Demon Queen launched thorns from both her arms towards me which I blocked with Inazuma. As I was getting pushed back, she summoned a pillar of thorns to slam me against. I held Inazuma one handed and used my left hand to summon my spectral cloak to protect me. Rend is my best choice of defence that can protect me fully now. The Demon Queen slammed me against her pillar of thorns which broke apart. I landed on the floor with a smirk on my face.

    The Demon Queen was pissed at my expression. She scratched her wrists and threw her blue blood all over the floor. The blood started to form into many sort of blades and daggers which she launched all of them at me. I crouched low and made sure that my spectral cloak was covering me as much as possible. All the blades and daggers bounced off my cloak. I exhaled a soft ¡°phew¡± beneath my breath. Thank goodness I learned Rend otherwise I would be a pin-cushion by now. It is would had been tough to fight this Queen without Rend and Sunder at my disposal.

    I stood up after she was done. Her facial expression started to grow more pissed off. ¡°Persistent little insect!¡± she spat. I took a short opportunity to shift my focus to the window. It is night now. The interior of the throne room were brightly lit due to the many torches and braziers around. I thought of destroying them but I remembered that the Paladin Lord is fighting here with us. I guess I cannot use darkness to my advantage then. No matter, the weather is still on my side today.

    Loud rumble can be heard approaching closer. The Demon Queen turned her head slightly as though she was paranoid by the sound of the thunder just now. I lifted my hand and she immediately lifted her arms to defend herself. I started chuckling as I managed to trick her. Her face turned dark blue with anger.

    I lifted my left hand once again and this time called down a bolt of lightning. Play time is over, I must lob her head off and end this war.

    ***

    We just can¡¯t seemed take this brute down! No amount of punishment seems to be able to injure the Dragon Lord long enough for us to bring him down. We directed the army to handle the demons that kept coming to attack us. We had to move them as far away from the Dragon Lord as possible to avoid more unnecessary casualties. Only the cannon bearers remained but they were only a few of them. The Dragon Lord¡¯s rampage had destroyed many of our cannons. Who would had known that it would be this difficult to defeat this brute. It would seemed as though the Dragon Lord had retained some of his sanity which made him even more dangerous.

    We are running out of options now. The Dragon Lord had been steadily healing himself from all the damage that he had received thus far. While I am tempted to keep him alive to study his blood, it is just not worth if more casualties arises due to the idea of keeping him alive. How are we going to bring him down?

    ¡°Fire!¡± shouted the Elementalist.

    We are resorting to using cannons exclusively to slow him down. There is one more trick up my sleeve but it takes a toll on my body even with Combat Fury active. I guess we have no choice now as we are running out of ideas to bring him down. I casted Combat Fury once again and walked closer to the Dragon Lord. The Elementalist saw me and wanted to stop me from going closer but understood my intention after I gave him a small nod.

    I focus all my power onto my axe and enlarged it to its maximum size. Swinging this once or twice is fine for me but subsequent swings will definitely be pushing my muscles to its limits. Imagine the idea of continuously holding a heavy weighted barbell and swinging it around.

    The Dragon Lord noticed that I was approaching closer and readied himself to slam his enormous arm on me. But I was ready. I gripped my axe three times my size and swung it at the Dragon Lord. I got a direct hit on him that made him flinched. But that is not going to be enough. I need to bring him down.

    I strained my muscles and went for another swing in. And then a third and fourth. All my attacks are making contact with him but I just can''t bring him down permanently. Even with my enormous axe, all it did was just causing flesh wounds and pushing him aside at the most. None of my swings are capable of dismembering or doing heavy damage to him. My biceps and triceps are screaming right now. I kept telling myself ¡°Just one more swing to bring him down¡± but that did not happen.

    My muscles failed me. I lost grip of my axe and it flew backwards and landed with a huge thud. I have no control over my hands right now as they are shaking and felt like it was burning. The Elementalist took over after seeing that I had strained myself by asking the cannons to be fired once more. After seeing that the Dragon Lord was still unfazed by the cannons, he leaped up and somehow managed to stabbed his dagger into the neck of the Dragon Lord. He tried to cut through the neck but the Dragon Lord grabbed him and tossed him onto a building. Shit! Is he still alive?!

    As I was looking to where the Elementalist landed, the Dragon Lord grabbed me and slammed me onto the ground. Ugh! Blood came out of my mouth as the impact was horrendous. The ground caved in from the impact and I was now in a daze. The Dragon Lord slammed me once again and I felt something snapped. I guess I am going to be a cripple from now on. My beloved, I am so sorry.

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    Shouts of people screaming ¡°Stop!¡± can be heard but I was slipping in and out of consciousness. The Dragon Lord released me and got ready to pound me with his fist. I guess this is the end of the line for me. His fist came close to my vision as I resigned to my death. All of a sudden, the Dragon Lord disappeared completely from my vision. W.. what just happened?

    I tried to gain some semblance on what just happened but it was dead silence. Someone in a brown hood came upon my vision to check on me. Who is this person?

    ¡°Seems like you broke your right arm. Well done, your instinct protected yourself from certain death,¡± he said.

    ¡°W¡­ what?¡± was all I was able to muttered out.

    I was still in a daze and felt no pain whatsoever. I tried to lift my right hand but it was not responding. I lifted my other hand instead to rub my forehead. I can still feel my arm muscles burning but I ignored it. I lifted myself to stand up with the help of my left hand. Thank Odin that I am not a cripple. I had to stop myself from falling unsteadily by gripping on to something. Finally gaining some semblance, the sound of fighting can be heard above me. I had to climb the small crater that the Dragon Lord slammed me into.

    Upon reaching the surface, I saw someone fighting the Dragon Lord alone. He was nimble enough to avoid all the attacks and fought with his fist. He was even capable of bringing down the Dragon Lord with just a palm strike. Is this who I think it is?

    A hooded figure came up to me and asked whether I was alright. Her voice sounds young. I told her that I¡¯ll live and that she should checkout on the Elementalist instead. She told me that someone is already tending to him. He¡¯s unconscious but alive. Now that is a good news that I am willing to take.

    The brown hooded figure was done fighting with the Dragon Lord. I thought the Dragon Lord was dead but I saw him shaking a little on the ground. The brown hooded figure came up to me and said ¡°It is done. He won¡¯t be able to move for some time. Be sure to use tear-resistant ropes and lots of them to tie him down¡±.

    ¡°Are you.. Peter Borage?¡± I asked him.

    ¡°The one and only. I was not supposed to be directly involved in this war but circumstances had changed drastically. I believe the city is currently being invaded by demons, am I right?¡± he asked me and I quickly nodded.

    ¡°Just as I feared. I will need to close the summoning circles around the city. It would seemed that the Queen is no ordinary demon for her to be able to use such powerful spells,¡± he sighed.

    ¡°My lord, as much as I wish to help you, I do not know the locations of the summoning circles. I am sorry to disappoint you,¡± I said to him honestly.

    ¡°Please, just call me Peter. And I can find the summoning circles on my own. I trust that you can handle the situation from here, Viking Lord? Make it the utmost priority to tie up that brute. His paralysis will not last long due to his size,¡± he said. How did he know that I am the Viking Lord?

    He called over one of his hooded henchman and whispered something to him. The henchman was shocked and replied him with a ¡°What? No!¡±. Peter then gave him a simple ¡°There is no time!¡± and the henchman resigned himself to Peter¡¯s request whatever it may be.

    Peter rushed ahead leaving the henchman with me. He came up to me and asked for my orders. I was stunned by his sudden request. I thought he knew what he needed to do. I told him that we needed high tensile ropes to tie down the Dragon Lord and medical care for those wounded. He nodded and called someone over to look at my wounds. I told him to focus on those that is close to the brink of death first as those should have higher priority over other injuries.

    I sighed loudly. I¡¯m so sorry, Zen. I can¡¯t come over to help you. Both the Elementalist and I are down for the count. I hope Rose and Lily are helping you out in the castle with whoever you are fighting with.

    ***

    Rose had closed about three circles by now. It would seemed that she is getting the hang of casting the spell as her chanting speed is getting quicker each time. The adventurers are running all around looking for the next summoning circle as many of them are hidden in places that are least expected. Once found, either they shout as loud as they can or find Rose who is waiting for them to find it in one agreed location. I stayed with Rose as I am in no condition to be running with my injured foot. What I can do right now is to help Rose pinpoint anyone shouting that they found a summoning circle and lead her to where they are.

    Both of us sat on the floor as we were tired from everything that has happened until now. How I wish the war would just end. It had been night for quite some time now and I am craving for a soft comfy bed. While I can see much better in the dark compared to humans, I am still too tired and weak to be able to be on full alert. Just when I thought of that, a hooded figure ran towards our direction. Is it an adventurer? He stopped just short in front of us.

    ¡°Is there a reason for two lovely ladies to be sitting on the floor at this hour and situation?¡± he asked calmly.

    ¡°We are waiting for someone,¡± said Rose.

    ¡°A bit odd to be waiting for someone in the middle of the war. There are demons all around us. Seek shelter immediately. I can see one of you are injured while the other is on the brink of collapse,¡± he tried to shoo us somewhere else.

    ¡°Please don¡¯t disturb us! We are waiting for adventurers to find the summoning circle so we can close them!¡± I shouted. I am tired and in pain now and I do not have the mood nor wished to be disturbed by this stranger right now.

    ¡°Oh, why didn¡¯t you say so? I am on my way to close it myself. Do follow me if you wish. I¡¯ll point one to you where you can close it while I close the another. Two will be quicker than one,¡± he said.

    ¡°Y.. you know how to close a summoning circle?¡± asked Rose.

    ¡°Of course. I was the one who invented the spell in the first place. Come, follow me quickly,¡± said the stranger.

    ¡°Wait, who are you? For all we know you might be some demon in disguised. Identify yourself, please,¡± I said to him more politely now as I was starting to feel that this person is giving off a very peaceful aura.

    ¡°Ah right, where are my manners? I am Peter Borage. Founder of the City of Heliotrope Ixia. And I don¡¯t believe I can be a demon in disguised when someone had casted Revelation some time ago. The spell last for at least twenty four hours and you cannot put on any mask to hide your face. If I¡¯m not mistaken, even beauty mask are affected too,¡± he said as he put on a thinking face.

    ¡°EHHHHHH??!!¡± both Rose and I shouted.

    ¡°Y.. you¡¯re Peter Borage? Zen¡¯s teacher?¡± gasped Rose.

    ¡°Hmm? You seems to know about me and Zen. Ah, hang on, let me take a guess. Ah, you must be Rose. I take it that you were the one who casted the Revelation spell earlier? I suppose you must be Lily then,¡± he said while looking between the both of us.

    ¡°Zen told you about us? What makes you think that I was the one who casted Revelation?¡± asked Rose curiously.

    ¡°He said that you were special. That you were capable of doing things beyond his understanding. And that you were destined for greatness. Based on that, and that fact that he said that you were under the Light Guild, I took a guess and seems to be right. Not many people are capable of casting intermediate spells in the first place,¡± he said with a smile.

    Rose started blushing. Did Zen not told her about that before? To have one of the great powers inform her about this, I am certainly jealous. Zen had never thought of me that way before sadly. He must think that I am the weakest in the group.

    ¡°Enough chit-chat for now, we have an important mission. The fate of the city depends on us. Let¡¯s go,¡± said Peter as he head towards a direction.

    ¡°How do you know where to go? We had been looking for more for the past few hours but we can¡¯t seems to find them even though we tried trailing the demon¡¯s footsteps,¡± asked Rose.

    ¡°Ah you see, I have a.. special condition that allows me to see magic concentration. It sort of highlights through my vision. Even from afar, I can see multiple circles around the city and two powerful beings inside the castle,¡± he said.

    The both of us followed behind him and I raised the question on why shouldn¡¯t he be heading towards the castle to help Zen or the two guildmasters fighting as he knows that there are two powerful beings there? He said to have faith in them. He had taught Zen all that he needed to know about fighting a strong opponent. He will come out on top, on that he had his utmost faith.

 Chapter 47: The Finale [MOON]

    Chapter 47: The Finale [MOON]

    The Demon Queen constantly kept her distance away from me. She refuses to allow any chance for me to get close to her by constantly using her ranged attacks. I am down to only one more chance of using of Rend and Lightning Charge. I need to make it count. There was not much point in trying to use Lightning Strike as she will just dodge it. There is a reason why she kept nimbly flying around.

    The Demon Queen used two of her existing thorn pillars to slam on me but I managed to avoid it. After regaining my bearings, I saw that she had readied a heck amount of blades and daggers to throw at me.

    ¡°This is the end, Hawthorn!¡± she shouted and sent all the floating blades and daggers towards me.

    I quickly summoned Rend as I had no time to dodge. Thankfully I had enough time to cover myself with my cloak. After the last of the blades had bounced off my cloak, I was hit by an impact that I felt awfully familiar. Damn it, she used her scream attack on me once again. The floor beneath me broke and I quickly summoned Tengu-kaze to stab through the floor which is above me now. Geez, almost fell to the lower levels below me. I was deafen so I had to make do with my other senses for now. I quickly climbed myself up, brushed off the dirt from my shoulder and taunted the Queen once again.

    ¡°You were saying?¡± I said as I tilted my head.

    ***

    Do I really need to use Great Blessing in order to kill this captain? So far, the both of us is certainly not capable of eliminating him as his strength or speed had increased to at least threefold. Not to mention he can heal much quicker now that he had his limiter removed. The Dark Lord is starting to pant heavily now that his previous potion duration had ended.

    The captain placed his greatsword on his shoulder and shook his head as though he was not amused. He then taunted us to attack him as though he hadn¡¯t been using his full power. And he might be right, he had not even used his Bloodlust after his limiter broke.

    The Dark Lord turned his head to look at me. I sighed and nodded. We cannot afford to hold back much longer. While I do not enjoy the after effects of using Great Blessings, we don''t really have much of an option now. At least Zen & the Dark Lord can benefit greatly from this spell as well.

    The Dark Lord reached to his back pouch and took out a small vial while I kneeled to begin my chanting. The captain waited for us to ready ourselves. Had not known that demons were so noble, or perhaps he is just arrogant right now. The Dark Lord emptied his vial and tossed it aside. The room was surprisingly silent to be able to hear the sound of the vial rolling. His body started going slimmer and smaller which he had to eventually remove his armour and cape. His hair started turning from black to red while his eye turned eerily to purely white. Complete opposite than the previous potion that he drank. He is only wearing his inner wear now and stood ready. There are two downsides to this elixir but the benefits far outweigh the cons.

    I focused myself and casted Great Blessings. My body was encased with a golden semi-transparent light armour in several places that can protect me against fatal blows. Both Zen and the Dark Lord had partial golden armours that protected their shoulders and knees. My Great Blessing was enhanced by Focused Meditation turning it into the True Great Blessings. This spell will not last long and both the Dark Lord and I will be down for the count in about 15 minutes. We need to end this before the duration ends.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± I said and the Dark Lord nodded. Not willing to speak, eh? I already know the downside of you using that potion. No need to be shy.

    The Dark Lord charged straight ahead. With his smaller body, his speed had drastically improved along with my Great Blessings. The captain was caught off-guard by the sudden boost in speed and tried to block the attack from the Dark Lord but he was too slow. The Dark Lord almost managed to pierce through the captain¡¯s helmet but the captain turned his head at the last moment avoiding the blade from piercing through his brain. Damn, we were so close.

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    Red blood seeped out of the helmet. That attack must have pierced his eye at the very least. The captain roared with anger and activated Bloodlust immediatly. The Dark Lord was now about a third in height compared to the captain and he taunted the captain with his index finger. Like a child making fun of an adult.

    ***

    ¡°This spell again? What a nuisance!¡± complained the Demon Queen.

    I don¡¯t have much time left to maintain Rend. After this, I only have my red dragonhide cloak to protect me. Even with the blessing provided to me, I can¡¯t seems to get into close combat with her when she kept gliding far away from me constantly. An opportunity is all I need. Only about 5 minutes left before Rend expires. Got to make it count!

    I call forth another lightning with my right gauntlet. I have to take a gamble. The roof the castle were mostly broken at this point. The Demon Queen made a ¡°Tch!¡± and moved even further away than before to avoid getting struck by my Lightning Strike once again.

    The Demon Queen raised a huge wall of thorns and pushed it towards me. She must be baiting me to use the Lightning Strike on that wall. I ran towards the wall and smashed through it with my spectral cloak. Then I immediately released Lightning Strike on her. But she had already enclosed herself with a thick layer of blood that my Lightning Strike could not penetrate through. Damn it, she baited me into her trap.

    My spectral cloak started flickering in and out of existence and eventually disappeared. The Queen smirked and started her evil laughter. She must be getting overconfident now that Rend had ended.

    ***

    We are pushing the captain back. However, our spell and potion is only going to last for about another five minutes or so. This demon have insane regeneration after he activated his Bloodlust. Any injuries are being healed almost instantaneously. Even breaking his bones do very little to slow him down. Do they never tire out eventually? We resort to dismembering whenever we can as that takes more time for him to regenerate.

    I took a quick peek at Zen on how he is faring. He was running around seeking cover from the many attacks that the Demon Queen was throwing at him. What happened to his Rend spell? Did he hit his limit? We need to help him!

    The Dark Lord most probably had noticed Zen¡¯s situation as well. He is pushing his body to its limits in attacking the captain. I joined the fray and tried to inflict as many wounds as we can on this captain. We kept a lookout for the possibility of reaching his helmet but there was none. This demon must have decades if not centuries of fighting experience to keep his one weak-point so closely guarded.

    The captain managed to counter the Dark Lord and hit him with the hilt of his greatsword sending him flying. Now it is just me and him. I pumped myself up and fought hard but every damage I inflict on him would end up healing while mine stayed bleeding or bruised. He eventually gave me a kick to my sternum which knocked me to the ground. Even with the armour from the grand blessings, I was sure my sternum was fractured from that kick. Armour only prevents against stab or slash wounds but not against impact sadly. The captain stood next to me about to deliver the coup de grace. I was fading out of consciousness at this point as the spell was wearing out. The Dark Lord was struggling to stand up himself and was panting hard. I had resigned myself to death as the captain swung his sword at towards my face. I hope Rose would take up the courage to be the next Paladin Lord. A bright flash of light covered my vision followed by a loud rumble that shook the whole castle.

    ***

    I needed to time it right. Only one Lighting Charge is left. I need to lure her to the right spot. The Queen continued her barrage of attacks on me while I hid behind a pillar. It won¡¯t take her long to find my location. She spotted me and I continued her attacks. I threw Tengu-kaze at her and she dodged it with ease. I continued to head closer to the throne with the cover of the pillars. She flew closer and summoned thorn pillars from the ground. The pillars were slithering after me like they had a mind of their own. I resummoned Tengu-kaze and used wind pressure to cut the pillars which resulting in me cutting the castle pillars as well. I¡¯m still amazed at how the castle still remained standing after such destructive battles.

    The Queen continued her chase and barraged me with her daggers once again. I leaped as far as I could behind where she flew and swung a huge gust of wind towards her pushing her closer to the throne. As she was guarding herself from the wind, I tossed Tengu-kaze and it pierced one of her wing. The weight of Tengu-kaze was starting to bring her down but she steadied herself and maintained her flight. Now is my chance!

    I rushed towards her as she tried to pull Tengu-kaze out of her wing while also trying to keep herself afloat. She saw me coming closer and tossed a couple of daggers towards me clumsily. I raised my red dragonhide cloak to keep me protected but some daggers still managed to pierce me despite her clumsy throw. I ignored the pain and continued running towards her. The Queen wanted to fly away but Tengu-kaze¡¯s weight was pulling her down.

    I am still waiting for the right opportunity to strike. C¡¯mon Zeus, grant me something! I saw a flash of white light from out of the throne¡¯s window. There!

    I raised my left hand towards the Queen. She guarded herself but realised that my left gauntlets wasn¡¯t charged. She smirked and was about to say something when a lightning came through the window behind her and pierced through her body. She was stuck getting electrocuted for a couple of seconds as the lightning charged up my gauntlet. The power was insane. A direct lightning from a real thunderstorm is complete different than a summoned one. My dark gauntlet started turning white from getting charged by that lightning.

    The Queen¡¯s body was roasted from the lightning and had a huge gaping hole at her stomach area. I ain¡¯t making the same mistake again. I charged up Inazuma with Lightning Charge quickly and walked towards the Queen. It¡¯s amazing that she is still afloat even after getting her body toasted by lightning. I leaped at her ready to strike. The combination of Lightning Charge and Dark Slash will be enough to finish her now that she is immobilised. I gave a roar as I lobbed her head off from her body. Now that was extremely satisfying.

 Chapter 48: Viva La Vida [MOON]

    Chapter 48: Viva La Vida

    The Queen¡¯s head rolled on the floor while her body fell crashing to the floor with a loud thud. I walked closer to the head and noticed that it was starting to heal from the lightning wounds slowly. Time to deliver the coup de grace.

    ¡°S.. stop! You don¡¯t know what you are doing! Everything I did is for the benefit of all living beings. Can¡¯t you see that?!¡± shouted the head.

    ¡°I have enough of your bullshit,¡± I walked faster towards the head while removing the daggers that pierced me, tossing it aside.

    ¡°W.. wait! My God have graced me with knowledge of the future. Everything will perish if I do not follow through. I am saving humanity as a whole! The only thing that I needed to do was to eliminate all Hawthorns and all will be saved. You have to believe me!¡± she shouted.

    I just gave her a pitiful look. Maybe what she is saying might have some hint of truth but I am not about to risk it.

    ¡°W.. wait.. I was wrong. It was you. You are the one that is the catalyst for our destruction. I.. it was you all along,¡± said the Queen as she realised something.

    ¡°Send my regards to the Demon King,¡± I said to her with a smile.

    The captain started running towards me with insane speed. Obviously doing his best in wanting to save his precious Queen. But he will never make it.

    ¡°Are you willing to live with the consequences? Knowing that you are the catalyst that will end all things?! Are you willing to shoulder¡­¡­.¡± her speech was cut short as I sliced through her skull with a vertical strike. For save measures, I continued with a horizontal slice and then another, and another, until I just started dicing her head into pieces.

    The captain who was closed to me now suddenly fell to the floor skidding towards the Queen¡¯s head. His hand tried reaching out to the head but his body was starting to melt. I guess there was a bond between these two that I do not know off. The body eventually melted into a pool of disgusting flesh material leaving only the helmet and the greatsword behind.

    Is¡­ is it over? I stood ready in case there was any resurrection by either of them. But after a minute or two, all seems quiet. The Queen is finally dead. She is dead. Viva la vida, long live the Queen!

    The Dark Lord was limping towards me. Thank the above, he is alive. What about the Paladin Lord? I went to check up on him. There was a small pool of blood where he was. I feared for the worst.

    Upon inspection, his left arm was dismembered. I gave a quick check on his pulse and there was some heartbeat but it was getting softer by the minute. I quickly took out my healing gel to stop the bleeding. I hope that he will live through it.

    ¡°The captain missed his aim when he was looking at the Queen right after you struck her with lightning. The Paladin Lord will live. Despite his age, he is strong willed,¡± said the Dark Lord with a voice that I was not expecting. His voice sounded like a child.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Zen. You will need to take care of us¡­.¡± the Dark Lord trailed off and dropped to the floor.

    I thought what he was sorry for at first but I found out that I need to take care of both of them. To be honest, I am on the brink of fainting myself but I smacked my face a couple of times to force myself to remain conscious. I checked the pulse of the Dark Lord and the Paladin Lord alternately to ensure that they are alive. The Dark Lord¡¯s body was growing back to normal size. The Paladin Lord¡¯s pulse was stable now despite looking pale. Can I faint now knowing that the both of them are stable? I almost forgot to stop my own bleeding and quickly applied healing gel over the wounds caused by the thorn daggers. It ripped my flesh badly when I pulled it out.

    I shouted ¡°Is there anybody around?! Someone?!¡± hoping there is at least someone around to help. I saw a head peeking through the throne door.

    ¡°Hey you! Come over here and help me!¡± I shouted to the guy.

    He went back into hiding. Damn it, what is he so scared about? A moment later, a couple of them walked through the door cautiously. Ah, no wonder he was cautious. They were soldiers.

    ¡°The Queen is dead, as you can see she was a demon. Lay down your arms and help the wounded. We are all humans here,¡± I said while sitting on the floor.

    They were hesitating on whether to help or to capture us. But for what? There is no one to prosecute us even if you capture us.

    I forced myself to stand up. I had no energy to summon any of my weapons and just pulled out the elven dagger hidden at my back.

    ¡°The war is over. Unless you wish to fight me which I will gladly do so, please help the wounded¡± I glared at them.

    I was lying, I am using all my strength just to maintain myself up and to keep myself awake. I hope I am able to convince them to give up instead of continuing this pointless war.

    One of the soldier threw down his spear with a loud clank. The others looked at him and followed suit. They crouched down and carried both the Paladin and Dark Lord. I tried to follow them but my legs gave in. I was lying flat on the floor breathing hard. The last thing I saw before going unconscious was someone wearing a white coat looking over me.

    ***

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    We met some adventurers on the way. Peter was guiding us to the locations of the summoning circle as though he was the one who summoned them. Perhaps he really does have vision to see magical prowess. They were demons coming to attack us from all directions but it felt as though there were less now. We had closed about a dozen circles by now and I hope there won¡¯t be too many left.

    ¡°Only a few more.. Halt!¡± shouted Peter as he raised his hand all of a sudden.

    All of us stopped at his command. What¡¯s going on?

    ¡°The circles.. they¡¯re powering down. Zen did it,¡± he said softly.

    ¡°He did it? Are you sure?¡± Rose asked.

    As we were contemplating on what was going on, we heard someone ringing the castle bell. It usually meant to signify an announcement, a start or end of a war. Which is it though? I strained my ears to hear whether there was someone saying something?

    We were quite far from the castle so I will need to concentrate and pinpoint the source of the location. My eyes might not be as good as the other elves but I am confident with my ears. A few of the adventurers were chatting away and Peter shushed them. Absolute silence was needed.

    ¡°The Queen is dead! The war is over! I repeat, the Queen is dead!¡± shouted someone from the castle as he continued to ring the bell.

    ¡°Zen did it! He did it! The Queen is dead!¡± I announced to everyone.

    Cheers erupted from the adventurers. Peter raised a hand and they quiet down.

    ¡°We are not done yet. There are leftover demons that are still running inside the city. Let us make haste and eliminate them all. Only then do we celebrate,¡± he said.

    The adventurers sighed due to the sudden mood breaker but accepted the fact that Peter was right. We all followed him leading the way until we heard a loud thud behind us. All of us turned to look at what it was and we saw Rose lying unconscious on the ground. I rushed towards her but realised that even I was starting to lose consciousness myself. I tried to stop myself from fainting but eventually dropped to the ground. The last thing I heard before I lost consciousness was ¡°Bring them to the infirmary. They deserved a good rest¡±.

    ***

    I opened my eyes. W.. where am I? I don¡¯t see a hole in front of me so that is a good sign. I looked around the room. Strange, this is my home. I am on my bed right now. I tried to push myself up but my body was unresponsive. I couldn''t even move a muscle aside from just my eyes.

    Someone knocked on my room door, it sounded like Rose.

    ¡°Onii-chan, I¡¯m coming in,¡± Rose opened the door after she had knocked.

    She brought what looked like a meal to me and placed it on my alchemy table. She got closer and looked at me. ¡°Hmm, still sleeping, huh?¡± she said. What? Can¡¯t she see that my eyes are wide opened?

    ¡°I guess just for a bit. He¡¯s always a dead log once he sleeps,¡± said Rose as she sat on my bed.

    Is she letting me continue my sleep? She¡¯s such a nice person, always taking care of me. She suddenly leaned closer to my face and stared at me intently. W.. what are you planning to do, Rose? Aren¡¯t you letting me continue my sleep?

    ¡°He won¡¯t wake up, will he? He always slept through it,¡± said Rose as she leaned closer and started kissing me. I couldn¡¯t move at all. Only my eyes was staring widely at her as she kissed me for who knows how long. It felt like an eternity when you couldn¡¯t even move a muscle. When she pulled back her kiss, she looked at me with such passionate eyes that I¡¯ve never seen before.

    ¡°I can¡¯t hold back any longer,¡± she said all of a sudden. W.. What do you mean? Hold it back, hold it back!!

    She sat on top of me ready to ride me. What the hell? Is she planning to rape me when I can¡¯t even move? Rose, what the hell are you doing?!

    ¡°I waited for so long and you didn¡¯t even give me an answer. It¡¯s because of your indecisiveness that got you into this mess,¡± she said straight to my face.

    Ugh, she is right. I need to decide soon or I¡¯ll end up hurting both of them. But this is not the way, Rose. This is just not right. I shut my eyes as I did not want to see what she planned to do with my lifeless body. Hmm? Nothing happened after some time. But I still felt her weight on top of me. I took a peek to see what was going on.

    W.. what? It was Lily riding on top of me now. We weren¡¯t having sex per se but it felt familiar. Wait, isn¡¯t this that time where we slept together? Why is this scene happening now?

    ¡°Zen, I can¡¯t wait any longer. I can¡¯t control myself. Something is wrong with me,¡± she said.

    I remembered trying to talk her out of it but she was barely listening. It was as though lust had overtaken her that night. Why am I experiencing this again? Was I that desperate to relive that memory of our night together?

    ¡°We shared a night together but you still refused to choose me. Was I just a plaything to you?¡± she said all of a sudden. Woah, hang on. She never said that before.

    I blinked my eyes and she changed back to Rose. This time Rose was grabbing my face with her hands.

    ¡°You promised that you will give me an answer. You promised! I waited so long for nothing!¡± she shouted.

    I was no longer on my bed. All I can see was Rose gripping my face and dark clouds were brewing in the sky.

    I blinked once again and Lily re-appeared. She was crying sitting on top of me. It was raining and thunder can be heard. She was mumbling something that I can barely hear. I had to strain my ears to hear what she was saying.

    ¡°I am pregnant with his child and yet he did not choose me. What am I doing to do?¡± she mumbled to herself.

    Wait what? She¡¯s pregnant? With my child?! But she said she was not!

    I blinked once more and Rose appeared before me. No, it was Lily. Wait, it¡¯s Rose. What¡¯s going on? They are overlapping each other. Their hands reached out to me and gripped my neck. Are they planning to choke the life out of me just because I was indecisive? Am I going to die by the hands of the two woman that I love?

    ¡°You promised! You swore we will be together for the rest of your life! Now you shall pay with your life!¡± said both of them simultaneously while their grip started to tighten further.

    Ugh! I¡¯m getting being chocked out of my life. I don¡¯t remember saying that I will take care of any of them but what the hell, maybe I do deserve death for playing with two women¡¯s heart. But I know this is not real. This is a nightmare for sure. One that I have no control over whatsoever. Please, let me wake up from this terrible nightmare! PLEASE!

    ¡°Very well, I shall grant you this one wish,¡± said someone that I¡¯ve never heard before.

    ***

    ¡°Ahhhh!!!¡± I awoke while panting heavily. Now where the hell am I? I tried to move my arms, body and legs. Alright, I can move them. And I know where this place is. I am in an infirmary room.

    I turned to look around and saw a vase with a lily and rose flower in it. Way to be discreet, ladies. I pushed myself to sit up. Ouch ouch! My whole body hurts! I don¡¯t remember it was this painful before. Or is this the after effects of using the painkiller potion?

    I leaned against the bed headboard and thought of the nightmare I had earlier. Why was the dream so intense that it felt so real? I don¡¯t believe that either of them would act that way in real life. But I understood the message. It is a sin to play with a woman¡¯s heart yet I played with two of them. After I settled my last revenge I swear I will give my utmost sincere answer to the both of them.

    I heard many voices walked by my room. The infirmary must be extremely busy right after the war. Someone opened my room door and walked in while talking to someone behind. It was Rose and right behind her was Lily. They were busy chatting with each other and did not notice that I was awake.

    Rose turned to look at me and dropped her bag. I raised my hand a little and managed to say ¡°Yo¡± with a raspy voice. Woah, what happened to my voice?

    ¡°Zen, you¡¯re finally awake,¡± said the both of them. They said at the exact same time. Do they share the same brain cell or something?

    The both of them rushed over to check up on me. I am not sure what they were capable of checking when the both of them are not doctors or nurses. They asked me whether I was feeling alright and whether there was anywhere that still felt pain. My brain did not register what they said and I focused on what I needed to tell the both of them.

    ¡°R.. Rose, I am sorry. Please forgive me,¡± I said with my raspy voice.

    ¡°H.. huh?¡± replied Rose with a confused look.

    ¡°Lily, please tell me honestly. You are certain that you are not pregnant, right?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°W.. what? No I am not. I told you before that nothing happened after that night. What¡¯s going on, Zen? Are you trying to imply something?¡± asked Lily with a concerned look.

    ¡°N.. no, I am not implying anything. Both of you, I am sorry. I will give my honest answer to the both of you after I am done with Tom. I promise to the both of you. I hope you can allow me that much,¡± I told the both of them.

    They looked at each other with a confused look. They whispered something to each other which I can sort of guess. They must be worried that I knocked my head or something that is somehow affecting me to say all these things. But I am normal and realised that my indecisiveness is what lead to that nightmare. It is a genuine wake up call for me.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Zen. None of us are rushing you. Just take your time and don¡¯t worry about it,¡± said Lily with an awkward smile.

    ¡°I won¡¯t rush you, onii-chan. Take all the time you need, alright? Are you sure you¡¯re fine though?¡± asked Rose with a concerned look.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine. Thank you both for understanding,¡± I smiled at the both of them. Tears started flowing from my eyes without me even realising it. Both of them were shocked and quickly went to call the nurse but I assured them I was fine. That¡¯s odd, why am I crying?

    I started laughing at the level of their concern and was genuinely happy that they cared so much about me. They just gave me a puzzled look that I suddenly started laughing.

    Rose¡¯s expression changed once again when she noticed something. She was staring at my neck.

    ¡°Onii-chan, what happened to you neck?¡± she asked.

 Chapter 49: Nightmare [MOON]

    Chapter 49: Nightmare [MOON]

    No wonder my voice was so raspy. Somehow that nightmare had affected me in real life. I can feel sweats running down my back and forehead after Rose showed me a mirror for me to inspect my neck. That really looked like strangulation marks.

    I immediately asked Lily again on whether she was seriously not pregnant and she told me to quit asking her that as she was getting embarrassed on answering me. She warned me that if I kept asking this question she is going to make herself pregnant for real with my child. I immediately submitted to her saying that I will not ask her that question forever. But what is going on? Can a nightmare affect you in real life? This is the first time I¡¯ve ever experienced this.

    Changing topic, I asked them how long was I out. Rose told me that I was asleep for about a week now. John and Peter had taken the liberty of reorganising the city despite his injury. He broke one of his arm during the fight with the Dragon Lord. The Dark and Paladin Lord had yet to regain consciousness. Their battle with the captain must had worn them out tremendously. The Elementalist on the other hand was bedridden for now until he fully recovers.

    After the majority of the demons were disposed off, the defected and remaining soldiers came back to help out in the city. They escorted the civilians back and helped out with the reconstruction of the city. The Queen¡¯s body was available for the public to view albeit without a head. I am surprised her body remained but it was charred by my lightning attack. Will people buy that the body is the Queen or will they accuse me or the adventurers guild of mutiny. Either way, I am sure that people will find ways to twist the truth with their conspiracy theories.

    Peter took charge in calming the folks, guiding them on what they needed to do and making announcements to the public when necessary. He made it extremely clear that he will not be taking over the city as he is not the rightful ruler and he is only here to help out. A new order of council consist of humans and elves will be elected to run the city. No longer will the City Of Pines be under a single ruler. The royal bloodline is finished as the previous Queen was the only reported royal blood that remained.

    Lily awoke the following day after she had collapsed while Rose woke up three days later. Lily had to juggle between taking care on the both of us which I thanked her gratefully for it. Will have to treat this woman to a fancy meal later. After both of them had awoke, they started helping out with the city which is to collect the corpses of the fallen. They made it very clear that they do not wish to experience it again as it was a difficult and horrendous job to go through. Lily went to collect Rick¡¯s body and the both of them personally buried his body. They will bring me to pay my respect when I officially discharge from here.

    A doctor knocked on my room door and asked whether it was a good time for him to intrude as he was here to check-up on my condition. The both of them said it was alright and headed out of my room. Rose whispered something to the doctor before heading out. He gave a confused look but nodded in response.

    ¡°Welcome home, onii-chan,¡± said Rose as she paused before leaving left my room. Wow, that hit me with a reality check. She is right though. I finally have a home in the city without any fear of being discovered. Perhaps I can finally buy a house somewhere in the city and start a family. Right, for that to happen, I will need a wife.

    The doctor came in close to check on me. ¡°That was a lovely girl. So how are you doing today?¡± he asked me casually. I told him aside from my body aches and raspy voice, I¡¯m alright. He checked my neck with a ¡°Hmm¡± and wrote something on his report.

    ¡°That¡¯s odd, there was absolutely no sign of strangulation marks yesterday,¡± he mumbled to himself.

    ¡°Mister Zen, is it? Do you have a history of ¡°alien hand syndrome¡± where you have no control over your hands? Those are definitely strangle marks caused by someone¡¯s hands. Unless you wish to tell me that one of those two ladies earlier decided to get rough with you.¡± he asked me.

    I told him no. I do not have any history or evidence of that happening before. The doctor was puzzled by it as strangle marks do not appear out of nowhere. I withheld the information about my nightmare causing the marks otherwise I might be sent to the asylum. I will get to the bottom of this. Makes me afraid of sleeping now. Maybe I did choke myself without realising it when I was sleeping.

    ¡°When do you think I can discharge from here, doc?¡± I asked.

    ¡°A couple of days, perhaps. Provided there are no other marks that appear on your body randomly,¡± said the doctor.

    I might have to ask either Rose or Lily to tie my hands before I sleep. Rose, definitely. She always seemed eager to tie me up before as I recall. Shit, why am I thinking about the stupid stuffs that she will be doing with a rope? And why is my buddy reacting to it?!

    The doctor made it clearly that I do not leave the hospital until I am fully recovered. I was, however, allowed to roam the building. Making sure that this isn¡¯t another nightmare, I stood up cautiously. A quick body check and it would seemed that only my body-ache was the only pain I had. The dagger wounds were healing nicely thanks to my healing cream. I should donate that recipe to as many cities as I can as it helps in saving lives. No point in capitalising on that when people¡¯s lives can be saved.

    There was a mirror in the room where I used to check on my neck wound again. Was this from that time when the Queen were choking me? No, her hand strangled me from behind and then moved to the front while this one was clearly chocked from the front with two hands. There must be some unknown force that did this. But who? Her God? I shuddered thinking about that possibility. If Gods can start killing you in your dream, then we are pretty much screwed.

    I decided to go for a walk outside of my room. Peeking out the door, there were certainly a lot of people around. Too many for my liking honestly. I caused this war and all the people who ended up in the hospital is because of me. I felt guilty to even step out of my room. Did I really do the right thing? Was war really the answer? I did not regret killing the Queen but perhaps we could had just assassinated her? No, we discussed about this. Assassinating her would had earned her innocence and popularity instead. Even if we showed her body to the public that she is a Demon, I am certain that there are people in the city that will hate me no matter the consequences for killing the Queen.

    I braved myself and decided to take the first step out of my room. Rose and Lily was nowhere in sight. Perhaps they were needed elsewhere. Roaming around, I realised that I was instinctively looking for something. What was it? I remember it involves slotting a coin into something big and food or drinks will drop out. Is there no such thing available here? Where did this craving comes from?

    ¡°Zen? Is that you?¡± said a voice from behind which sounded familiar.

    ¡°Miss Angelica, fancy meeting you here. Are you visiting someone?¡± I said with my raspy voice.

    ¡°Oh my, what happened to your voice? Are those.. strangle marks?? Did you upset either of your fianc¨¦es that they decided to get rough on you?¡± said Angelica with a chuckle.

    ¡°Wait.. my fianc¨¦es? With an S?¡± I asked with a puzzled look.

    ¡°Oh don¡¯t act dumb, you. Every adventurer knows that Rose and Lily are unobtainable as their hearts were stolen by the dark caped crusader of the era. That¡¯s you by the way,¡± she explained while continue her chuckle.

    ¡°I.. what? I didn¡¯t even proposed to any of them. How did this false rumour even come about?¡± I asked angrily.

    ¡°Huh? You didn¡¯t propose? But the rumours weren¡¯t without merits. Rose was seen wearing a ring in her middle finger while Lily wears that beautiful emerald bracelet with exquisite design. It was a hot topic in the city at one point,¡± she explained.

    ¡°B.. but.. those were just gifts,¡± I smacked my head with a sigh.

    Seeing I was frustrated, she offered to bring me to the cafeteria area which I agreed. Despite the size of the hospital, it was filled to the brim. Normally I would be concerned that something bad had happened but all I can think of right now is that I¡¯m sorry for instigating the war.

    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

    ¡°Here you go¡± said Angelica as she passed me a drink.

    I said thanks to her. She ordered me a honey lemon drink which helped my throat. How thoughtful of her.

    ¡°So¡­ is there a room for a third wife in your life?¡± she asked out of the blue which made me spat out my drink.

    ***

    I can feel my wife¡¯s death aura spilling out from her body. I quickly calmed her down and assured her that nothing ever happened between me and Angelica. Once again I forgot that my wife was listening to the story now. I need to learn to skip unnecessary plot points.

    ¡°Mommy, are you Miss Angelica?¡± asked Daisy.

    ¡°Hell no, I never liked her as she is a snake that is always wanting to steal your daddy,¡± she said while pouting her mouth.

    ¡°May I continue with the story?,¡± I asked my wife¡¯s permission which she gave a hmph as a response.

    ***

    ¡°W.. what? No, there is only room for one. I am planning to only have a single wife. Not even two,¡± I told her after I calming myself down.

    ¡°Huh? Wait, are you saying that you will only marry one of them? Who is the lucky one? I was just joking by the way on the third one,¡± she said. Again with her jokes. I can never know when she is serious and when she is joking even after knowing her for so long.

    ¡°I.. had not decided yet. I thought I knew who I wanted to be with but things happened and I am back to square one. There is a safer option for me if I really ended up with an inconclusive answer,¡± I confessed.

    ¡°It¡¯s Rose, isn¡¯t it? You¡¯re worried about Lily being an elf with her long lifespan. She¡¯ll definitely outlive you and she¡¯ll end up alone eventually. Am I right?¡± asked Angelica.

    I looked at her with my eyes wide opened and mouth agape. How did she read my mind? It¡¯s true that I was concerned about choosing Lily. My heart goes to her automatically but a part of me is hesitating. I might just a short fling in her life as a human¡¯s life expectancy is so short. I felt it would be better for Lily to choose an elven partner instead of me so that he can be with her for a much longer period of time. As for Rose, I can¡¯t seems to forget about the kiss that she gave me when I was panicking. It was stuck in my head for such a long time and every time I see her, it reminded me of it. I won¡¯t deny that I have more feelings for Lily than Rose. But it is not just feelings anymore for me. I need to think from their perspectives as well.

    ¡°Is there a reason as to why you refuse to marry both of them? You know you can marry a few wives legally right?¡± she asked me.

    ¡°Yes I remember as people telling me about it. I won¡¯t lie that I didn¡¯t thought of marrying the both of them. But¡­ it feels wrong to me. What is the purpose of having multiple wives in the first place? That sort of defeats the purpose of getting married in the first place,¡± I said.

    ¡°To have children together? To be with the one you love? For a woman, marrying the one we love is like our dream come true,¡± she explained.

    ¡°Yes, I understand that. But what about from the woman¡¯s perspective? If men can have multiple wives, why can¡¯t they do it too? You know, all in the name of ¡°be with the one you love¡±. It just feels wrong to me. Getting married should be special and should remain as such. Otherwise I would rather just have flings instead of having wives,¡± I said with a sigh while swirling my drink.

    Miss Angelica stared at me for quite some time. I thought there was something on my face until she started talking.

    ¡°You¡¯re the only man that I ever told me that getting married should be special. I won¡¯t lie, many women discussed about this topic that men having multiple wives is just plain wrong. There are cases where the first wife ended up getting thrown aside and such. It gives men an excuse to fool around with other women even when they are married. You are just so different, Zen. Feels so unreal that a man would think so much about the woman¡¯s perspective. Whoever you ended up getting married to will be the luckiest woman in the world,¡± she said.

    ¡°Now I don¡¯t know about that. I am not perfect whatsoever,¡± I confessed.

    The both of us went quiet and the conversations of other people can be heard. Some people were complaining that the war made things worst while some said it made it better. Some people swore revenge that their close ones had died for nothing. I felt really guilty hearing that. I am no war leader that had lead people to war and think nothing of their deaths and consequences. I am just a normal adventurer that happened to be the target of the Demon Queen. Then I was dragged along in events beyond my control which eventually led to this war. Sigh.

    ¡°Are you here to visit someone?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°Hmm? Oh no, I am here to help out. Remember you met one of my relatives that worked in a clinic? He is here to help out with patients so I decided to tag along. I am not suited in construction or other physical work so I felt that the best place I can help out is here, caring for the patients,¡± she explained.

    ¡°Wow, that is such a noble gesture. Let me thank you on behalf of all the other patients here. Am I taking your time? I am so sorry I did not know you were helping out here in the hospital,¡± I apologised to her.

    ¡°Oh don¡¯t worry, I am on my break now,¡± she said.

    ¡°There you are, onii-chan. Was wondering where you went,¡± said Rose as she walked closer to us.

    ¡°Alright, my break time is over. I¡¯ll take my leave,¡± said Angelica as she stood up and left. I thought she said she was on her break?

    ¡°Thanks for the drink and your time,¡± I smiled at her.

    She whispered something to Rose before she left to which Rose replied with a ¡°Huh?¡±. Rose sat opposite me and stared at me.

    ¡°Is something wrong?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°What were you two talking about? She whispered something really weird to me all of a sudden,¡± she asked.

    ¡°Nothing special really. What did she say?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Hmm, never mind then. Just odd that she suddenly said that to me. Y¡¯know what? Onii-chan, since what she told me is now at the top of my head, may I ask you something¡± asked Rose bluntly.

    ¡°What is it?¡± I replied as I sip my honey lemon. Ah, that hits the spot in my throat. Why did that have to sound so sexual? Geez.

    ¡°Please answer me honestly, are you really really planning to marry one of us? You won¡¯t consider having two?¡± she asked.

    I sighed. What is with today? I felt like I was repeating myself at this point.

    ¡°Yes, I only plan to have a single wife,¡± I told her with a straight face.

    ¡°I see,¡± she said with her eyes lowered. That is not just it, right?

    ¡°You remember the kiss we had before? Back at the umm..¡± she bit her lips as to not say the word ¡°secret hideout¡±.

    ¡°How can I forget? That kiss was even more awkward than the one we had at my place,¡± I chuckled.

    ¡°W.. what do you mean? I was following your lead! It was you who don¡¯t know how to kiss properly,¡± she retaliated.

    ¡°I did not have any issue with Lily. So it is definitely not me,¡± I said while crossing my arms.

    ¡°Are you sure? What she told me was a complete different story,¡± she said to me with a speechless face.

    ¡°What? She told you about our kiss? Why do you two share such things with each other?¡± I asked in disbelief.

    ¡°The two of us share information with each other. So don¡¯t think doing something with her would end up only she knowing. I have powers to dig information out of her,¡± said Rose with a smug face.

    ¡°Ew, even I don¡¯t share such information with John. You girls are weird,¡± I told her.

    Rose started laughing which made me laugh in turn. I had to stop myself once I started coughing badly due to my throat. Another gulp of the honey lemon calmed my throat.

    ¡°That kiss was special to me. I will forever treasure it in my memory,¡± said Rose with a smile.

    ¡°What are you trying to say, Rose? Are you trying to break-up with me?¡± I asked her jokingly.

    ¡°Marry Lily. This is my one and only request that I will ever ask from you, onii-chan. Please honour your little sister¡¯s request,¡± she bowed to me.

    I sighed and gave it some thought. These two girls kept trying to push their rival over the other. Is this their tactic to win me over or something? I had always thought that girls would rather wage war than to give up on the guy they love.

    ¡°Why, Rose? Don¡¯t you want to be with me?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°I do. But marrying Lily is the best for both of us. You¡¯ll get an elven wife and I¡¯ll get a sister to call my own,¡± she said with a straight face.

    ¡°Where is she by the way? Is she still in the hospital?¡± I asked.

    ¡°She¡¯s checking up on the Elementalist. She won¡¯t be joining us so soon,¡± said Rose.

    ¡°Why do you think it¡¯s the best option? Can you explain on how you came to that conclusion?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°If you marry her, she will be staying with you and I can come visit over anytime to see the both of you. And I know that she is your first crush. I also know that you love her more than me,¡± she explained.

    I hate how her brain works. She always seems to understand how my mind thinks accurately.

    ¡°Rose, you do realised that she is an elf, right? She is going to outlive the both of us. She will eventually end up alone after the both of us kicked the bucket,¡± I tried explaining to her.

    ¡°You are going to have children together. She is going to treasure them even without us around. You will have beautiful elven children, onii-chan,¡± she tried to convince me with the elven children.

    I won¡¯t lie, that is certainly appealing. I saw once before of a hybrid elven + human child and she looked phenomenal.

    ¡°Is that what this is? Your fetish to play with elven children? I know you were resisting yourself to play with them back when we were in Marrydia,¡± I said to her.

    ¡°Partly but that is not the full story. If you choose me, we are going to end up a boring couple together. Not to mention we might not be able to see Lily anymore during our lifetime,¡± she explained with a sad tone at the end.

    I sighed. There is some merits to her what she is telling me. Not being able to see Lily hurts in some way. But would that really be true? Her guild is here. We can still meet-up every once in a while. But Lily can end up going on some adventure and won¡¯t come back in a 100 years or more. Or she just don¡¯t want to see my face if I ended up choosing Rose. I gave it some thought but some of Rose¡¯s words stung me. I stood up, gulped the rest of my drink and proceeded to head back to my room. Rose was confused and followed after me.

    Making sure Rose had entered my room, I locked the door immediately. She looked at me confused as to why I locked the door. I pushed her against the wall, placed my hand on the wall and leaned closer to her. Our faces were so close that I can see the patterns of her iris which were beautiful. I leaned closer attempting to kiss her and she quickly shut her eyes.

    But it was all a trick. I did not kiss her and held my face there. I placed my index and middle finger on her neck to check her pulse. It was certainly beating fast. One of her eye peeked open to look at me wondering what was going on as I had not kissed her after some time.

    ¡°Boring couple, you say? Are you sure? I can think of many situations where we can make things extremely interesting if we ended up together,¡± I smiled at her.

    I pet her head and walked back to rest on my bed leaving her there. She suddenly ran to the door, unlocked it and disappeared. Shoot, did I do something wrong? I was only trying to prove to her that we won¡¯t end up as a boring couple. It¡¯s going to end up biting me in the arse later, isn¡¯t it? Sigh.

    ***

    Why? Why why why?! I thought I had steeled myself. I had convinced myself that Lily is the perfect person for him. We can all be together as a family if he marries Lily. But why? Why?! Why does my heart beat so much just by being close to him?! Why can¡¯t I control myself from longing to be with him?

    Tears was flowing even though I was not sad. I tried to hold myself back but my heart just aches. I clutched my heart tightly. I can lie to myself, I can fool myself into thinking that Lily is the best for him. But my heart will not acknowledge that no matter how hard I try. It refuses to listen to my request. It knows deep down that I love him. I love that man who willingly extended his hand to help me during my darkest point in my life. I love his smile, his voice, his personality. I love everything about him and I want to be with him. My denial of my own feelings is what is causing me to cry unconditionally.

    Geez, if I am crying this badly just because I am denying myself, what is going to happen if he really chooses Lily. Will I end up killing myself? My head will be happy for them but my heart is going to shatter. I will probably stay somewhere else as I can¡¯t bear to see them together.

    ***

    I followed her as I felt guilty about my action earlier. I did not expect her to cry like this. Never before did I see Rose crying so badly. I know very well that Rose loves me. Perhaps even more so than Lily. From the day we met, we had always been together. We were inseparable some might say. We stuck together through all the highs and lows throughout our life. She was there for me when I was alone and acted like family to me.

    I wanted to give her a hug. But I felt that if I were to go to her now, I would end up choosing her even when I had not officially decided yet. Damn it, why is it so hard to just choose one? Seeing her cry makes my heart aches. It took every ounce of me to walk away from her back to my room.

 Chapter 50: Aftermath [MOON]

    Chapter 50: Aftermath [MOON]

    ¡°Looks like you¡¯re all fit to discharge now,¡± said the doctor.

    ¡°Yay!¡± I cheered.

    It was three days after I finally regained consciousness. My voice was still a little raspy but it felt much better now. The marks were still there but it was dissipating slowly. The body aches were mostly gone now. The bottom line, I can finally leave the hospital.

    Lily peeked through my door after she knocked. Seeing me acting all spry, she knew that I was fit for release. I began packing up and can finally wear my favourite emo outfit. Hospital gown is not something one wishes to wear for a long period of time.

    ¡°Did you see Rose recently?¡± I asked Lily.

    ¡°Hmm, if not mistaken, it¡¯s her turn to care for the Paladin Lord today. I did not see her much after the day you woke up,¡± she said.

    Ugh, now I¡¯m going to be worried about her.

    ¡°Lily, can I ask you something sensitive? Is it frowned upon for elves to marry humans instead of their own kind?¡± I asked her straight to the point.

    ¡°W¡­. w w w.. what are you trying to say? Are you asking me to marry you now?¡± she stuttered while getting flustered.

    ¡°I meant hypothetically. I want to know what elves think about us humans and to those who chose human as their partner,¡± I asked honestly.

    ¡°Hmm.. truth be told, elves in general prefer their own kind due to our long lifespan. While it is not exactly frowned upon per se, those who chose humans as their partner are usually detested by other elves. Something about pure blood and such,¡± she explained while shrugging.

    ¡°Woah, if that is the case then why choose humans at all? We only live up to a century at most provided we are lucky. Not worthy of being detested by your kind for such a short duration, isn¡¯t it?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°Well.. a certain someone stole my heart when I was young. So I don¡¯t have much of a choice, do I?¡± she chuckled.

    ¡°That the thing, Zen. No one is able to choose who they end up loving or who they have feelings for. Otherwise, everyone will be choosing to love the most perfect, beautiful or handsome person in the world. Oh don¡¯t you worry, my parents had already met you and they are sort of okay if we do get together. They are more open-minded than your typical elves,¡± she continued with a smile.

    ¡°Right, do extend my utmost gratitude to them for willing to help me out in this war. Let me ask something else and this is purely hypothetical by the way, what will you do if I ended up not choosing you?¡± I asked her genuinely.

    ¡°If you want to thank them, they are expecting children, haha! There is a reason why I¡¯m the only child. Female elves have difficulty in getting pregnant in the first place. Higher chance if they have human as their partner but still difficult. Perhaps it is the Goddess¡¯s way of ensuring we do not over populate seeing that we have such long lifespan,¡± said Lily

    ¡°Hmm.. regarding your question, I might go back to the elven forest and spend some time with my parents and my relatives,¡± she placed her index finger on her lips.

    I gave her a sad face. I guess I really won¡¯t be able to see her anymore if I don¡¯t ended up choosing her. Damn it. Feelings aside, there are so many other factors to think of.

    ¡°Oh don¡¯t you worry, I will come over to visit both of you. Can¡¯t miss out in seeing your children with Rose,¡± she smiled.

    I returned her smile and nodded. Lily is so mature. I felt foolish and stupid for sticking to my principal of only having one wife. These two are women that adventurers are dying to even have a chance of asking them out on a date. But deep down I know it¡¯s wrong. One thing I learned is to never play with a women¡¯s heart and never ever make them sad. And that is just one woman, having two is going to be world war, three on the other hand is perhaps the end of the world as we know it.

    We made it to the main entrance of the hospital door. Ah, the sweet freedom of finally able to roam wherever I want. The city is still in bad shape to be operating normally but at least there are no longer any dead body in sight. I almost walked out the door until I realised that I need to inform Rose that we will be waiting for her before I visit Rick. I thought it would be better for us to go together. Lily said that we can just pass the message to the reception counter and they will inform her, which we did. Rose had gotten extremely famous after the war, perhaps even more so than me which is the instigator. People know her as ¡°White Angel¡± even more so than her actual name.

    Lily escorted me back to my home. The Dark guild¡¯s building looked miraculously unscathed somehow. Lily said her guild building was in good condition as well. How odd, did those demons not attack the guilds? Or perhaps there was barely any adventurers in it during the war and there was no point in attacking a relatively empty building.

    ¡°Are you planning to visit him tomorrow?¡± asked Lily.

    ¡°If Rose is willing to come over. I have a feeling that she might not want to see me,¡± I confessed.

    ¡°Why? What did you do to her? I had a feeling something was out of place when you started asking me those questions earlier," she asked me.

    ¡°Nothing bad happened. More like we discussed about possibilities?¡± I put on a thinking face.

    I opened the door to my room. Everything seems to be intact. All the rooms were in good condition and clean. Nice, I can relax and not do any cleaning today. I¡¯ll probably start helping out in the city tomorrow.

    Just then, I heard a knock on the door. Who could that be? It shouldn¡¯t be Rose as she need to take care of the Paladin Lord today. I rushed over to open the door. It was Rose. She made a surprised face when I opened the door when she wanted to knock again.

    This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    ¡°Geez, you scared me, onii-chan,¡± she smiled.

    Hmm? Seems like she is acting normal. I thought she will be acting awkward or perhaps do not wish to see me anymore. I¡¯m glad that she is acting like usual.

    ¡°I thought you will be taking care of the Paladin Lord today. I¡¯m surprised you are here too,¡± I told her.

    ¡°Someone overheard your message when the receptionist was passing it to me. She came over and insisted to take over my role in taking care of the Paladin Lord. She was a trusted person so I caved. Gosh, I hate people calling me white angel,¡± she sighed.

    ¡°The Dark Lord gave you that nickname. You should be honoured that your nickname is not some weird one. Better than my dark caped crusader,¡± I rolled my eyes.

    ¡°Wait, you knew about yours? It was only for a short duration when those gossips appeared. I¡¯m surprised you knew about it when it came about during the time when you were in the Eastern Continent,¡± she said.

    Lily came over to join the conversation after coming out of the washroom. She pretty much made herself at home now whenever she comes over to visit my place.

    ¡°I know, it was when the both of you had gossips that you were engaged to this dark caped crusader,¡± I laughed.

    ¡°Y.. you knew?!¡± both of them shouted.

    Both of them started screaming. It seems like they hated that gossip. They said that everywhere they went, someone would congratulate them. It was getting so annoying that they had to explain to so many people that they were not, in fact, engaged. I asked on whether Lily had a nickname and Rose nodded. However, before Rose could say anything, Lily rushed over and closed her mouth with her hand. I, in turn, dragged Lily away from Rose because I wanted to hear it. Rose gave the most Anya grin and said that Lily¡¯s nickname was actually called the ¡°Silver Head-Smasher¡±.

    ¡°NOOOOOOO!!!¡± shouted Lily as covered her ears crouching on the floor.

    I kept a straight face and tried not to laugh. Lily turned to look at me with teary eyes and asked that I won¡¯t laugh, right? I continued smiling but Rose came and whispered to me the nickname once again. I snorted at first but ended up bursting with laughter. I laughed so much that I was literally on the floor holding my stomach. I just could not stop laughing.

    Lily stood up and had red glaring eyes and bumped her fists together. Even without her gauntlets, her punches still hurt. I had to slap myself a couple of times to stop myself from laughing to prevent Lily from killing me. That nickname is not without its merit. Fuh, alright, no more laughing.

    Lily was glaring at Rose which she hid behind me with a speechless face. Rose suddenly started giggling which triggered me to snort once again. Lily started walking closer to the both of us with killing intent and told us to stop laughing.

    Both Rose and I ended up with a bump on the head. How can you do that to a patient that just discharged today.

    ¡°Are you planning to visit him today? We still have plenty of time and the day is still early,¡± asked Rose.

    I agreed and they led the way to Rick¡¯s grave. We made a quick stop to purchase some flowers from the florist and alcohol from the inn. This gave me an opportunity to check out the condition of the other parts of the city. It was certainly coming along with the repairs. Adventurers and civilians were working hard in rebuilding the city. Some of them waved at us or greeted us with a smile. Perhaps they did not know that the dark caped crusader was me, otherwise they would be spitting at my foot for causing the war. That reminds me, I should visit Peter tomorrow and meet up with the so called appointed Council of New Orders. I fought hard to make sure that the City Of Pines would have a better future and I intend to see that till the end.

    It was noon by the time we made it to his grave. It was¡­ much fancier than I thought. I looked towards the both of them and Rose gave a shrug saying that she used the money from my royalty to honour him with one of the best coffin, cradle grave and stone. I sighed. I was not angry that Rose have full access to my royalty money. It was one of her benefit for leaving her alone for four years. I was just not expecting such a fancy grave for Rick. A modest one would had suited him better. There were already some flowers placed by his grave. I placed my bouquet of flowers on top of the other flowers and said my prayers to him. I opened the bottle of alcohol and poured some of its contents on his stone.

    This man was the person that willingly followed me to check out what happened to my grandfather and the reason why I decided to join the Dark guild. He was my senpai that taught mewhat I needed to know during my early years. We shared a lot of laughters, joy and memories together. To me, he was like a father that I never had. He was always there when it matters.

    I thought I would not cry but tears just started leaking out as I was pouring the alcohol slowly while crouching. Both Rose and Lily comforted me as I started sobbing. It only dawned on me that he is actually gone. I did not had the luxury of actually realising that he was gone during the war as I was too preoccupied with ending it. Not to mention someone impersonated him as well.

    It took me a couple of minutes before I stopped crying. I held the alcohol bottle and resealed it. We will be drinking this tonight as a way of showing respect that we are sharing the last bottle with him. There was nothing else to be said to him. Except..

    ¡°You never did give up in the end, did you?¡± I gave a sad smile as I placed my hand on this gravestone before walking away.

    ***

    ¡°Innkeep! Bring me another pint! As a matter of fact, make it a megapint instead! Haha!!¡± shouted John with a laughter.

    John had been celebrating for a couple of days now. He had gained a little bit of weight after the war and he said that it was due to him unable to lift due to his broken arm. After recovering, he will regain back his shape. I think the reason for his weight gain is due to him drinking like an actual viking for the past few days.

    We finally met his partner. Surprisingly, she was not from the Viking guild but from the Elemental guild instead. She was an elf with a blonde hair colour. Her name is Daffodil Vermouth. She is shorter than Lily but still taller than me. Damn it.

    Lily began asking her on what she sees in John, who was busy cheering away at another table. She said that she had a soft spot for large muscular men. When she first met John, it was love at first sight. He came over to visit the Elemental guild right after he had officially became the Viking Lord. Without realising who he was, she went over to him and asked whether he was willing to grab a drink with her. John was slow to realise it at first but eventually understood that she actually has feelings for him. Daffodil was the one who confessed to him and he said yes. The three of us gave a unamused face to John at the other table and he noticed our stares. He came over eventually and asked what we were talking about.

    ¡°You actually let this sweet little elf girl confess to you? And you call yourself a man?¡± said Lily with an expressionless face.

    ¡°I.. I didn¡¯t know that she was interested in me. I thought she just like my company,¡± said John.

    ¡°Which girl will constantly be asking you out if she is not interested in you?!¡± shouted Rose.

    ¡°I.. didn¡¯t want break our friendship just because I assumed that she is interested in me. You can back me up on this, right Zen?¡± he looked at me with a concerned look.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry brother, I¡¯m not in a good position to be answering that myself,¡± I said while sweating and avoided any stare from Rose or Lily.

    ¡°Geez, guys these days are such herbivores that we have to put extreme efforts in making you all notice it,¡± complained Lily.

    The chit-chat continued for some time. I whispered to John asking him on whether he chose this girl because she was an elf like Lily. He denied on that and said that she does not even remotely resemble Lily. If she was a human, he would had said yes as well. Race was irrelevant to him.

    I took out the alcohol that was used for Rick¡¯s farewell. I poured all of them a small glass and handed to each and everyone. All of them raised their glass and we clanked together.

    ¡°To Rick and his never ending laughter,¡± I said.

    ¡°To Rick¡± said the others.

    We drank the contents and I offered to pour more. Rose gave a firm no after the first cup. The others continued to drink until the bottle was emptied. John was hammered at this point while his partner only had red cheeks. How is she going to carry him back?

    ¡°Zen, how did you come through the window in the throne room? Isn¡¯t it like.. a few stories high in order to reach it?¡± asked Lily.

    ¡°Ah, I was hoping none of you will be asking me on that. I used both Inazuma and Tengu-kaze to climb. It was a matter of summoning and resummoning them after I pull myself each time. Definitely not as easy as it seems when I thought it was a good idea in the first place,¡± I chuckled.

    Lily and Rose looked at each other and started laughing. Yea, I know it is not a good idea but at least it made for with my dramatic entrance.

    ¡°Thanks for saving me again, Zen. I am going to repay you back one of these days,¡± said Lily as she leaned forward while swirling her cup contents. Is she¡­ trying to seduce me with her cleavage? I must be thinking too much.

    I took an opportunity to check the atmosphere inside the inn. Things were getting back to normal from the looks of it. There was a lot of adventurers around. Majority were celebrating while a few were hiding in the corner. Probably some mishap had happened to one of their members or something during the war. The bard was playing a really romantic song. Something about candle and wind. A table at the side of us had three adventurers, talking about going on an adventure.

    ¡°Hey Joe, you want to explore another zombie cave?¡± asked one of the adventurer.

    ¡°No I don¡¯t want to another zombie cave, Joe!¡± replied one of them. Are both of them Joes? Does he have to be so angry about a zombie cave?

    Another adventurer that caught my eye was a lady wearing on what looked like a detective outfit. She had black hair with green highlight and had a detective hat. I wonder if she does detective work as her side job.

    I excused myself saying that I wanted to use the restroom. But I had another plan. I sneaked out the back door and headed to the alleyway that I previously had encounter with. This alleyway is special. On ordinary days, it is empty. But when you have intention on finding something or someone, he appears. I don¡¯t know what triggered him previously but I suspect it was due to me wanting to find out what happened to my grandfather.

    I walked into the alleyway and the atmosphere started changing. It was growing darker and colder as I headed-in deeper. I rustled my pocket and found the poster I was looking for. I opened and showed it to that person.

    ¡°I was hoping that you can show me the way,¡± I said as I lifted the poster of Tom Snapdragon to him.

    A pinkish hair man wearing a knuckleduster appeared from the darkness and grinned.

 Chapter 51: Preparation [MOON]

    Chapter 51: Preparation [MOON]

    I pushed the large door open. It would seemed that the throne had been removed and was replaced with a huge round table in the middle. Is a King going to join the meeting? Oh, what about Merlin?

    ¡°Have a seat, Zen,¡± said Peter as he gestured an empty chair for me to sit.

    I took a seat and glanced over the participants around the table. So these are the members of the New Order. Two out of the five guildmasters were here. John and the Elementalist represented the guildmasters due to circumstances. Oh, did not even realised that the Elementalist had recovered from his injuries. The other members consist of three elves from the elven forest and three reputable humans from the city. Why are elves part of the council? This is because the city is now opened to all races that wishes to live here. Previously under the Queen¡¯s rule, only humans are allowed to stay in the city with the exception of the adventurer¡¯s guild and taverns. Now all races are welcomed to purchase and stay here. Lizard people included.

    ¡°This person here is the sole reason as to why all of you are sitting here today. He slain an imposter that acted as the Queen which had fooled us all, and now we have a chance to be better. To instil unity between all races. And to not allow a single person to have absolute power,¡± said Peter.

    Silence engulfed the room. No one clapped or cheered. Is this what the sound of silence meant? It was John who stood up and embraced me with his one good hand. Only then did the others started clapping. Wow, that was awkward.

    ¡°Zen had made it clear that he will not be a part of the council. This would eliminate any rumours that he was greedy for power and becoming the ruler of this city. All of you will have equal rights and will make decisions based on votes from each of the council member. Your terms will only be limited to two with the exception of the guildmasters as they can be swapped due to the nature of their work. Only two guildmasters are needed to attend the council meetings each time. They will have their own meetings to ensure that none of the guildmasters will be lost in context during the next council meetings,¡± explained Peter.

    Talk about man of words. No wonder this man was the founder of the City of Heliotrope Ixia. He was able to build a city in such harsh environments and made it successful. I wonder what City Of Pines will end up becoming if he was the founder of this city instead. Probably better than Marrydia perhaps.

    ¡°And with that, ladies and gentlemen. I will take my leave. Do announce to the public about your existence and how things will be managed from here on. I will check upon this city for about a year in the event that my guidance is needed,¡± said Peter.

    All of them stood up and bowed to him to which he returned it. I escorted Peter out as I wanted to talk to him. That and he was also my sensei. What kind of pupil will I be if I do not escort and say goodbye to his teacher?

    ¡°Sensei, I have a request if you don¡¯t mind,¡± I asked him.

    ¡°Speak your mind. You are only ever so formal when you wish to ask for something unreasonable,¡± he said with a chuckle.

    ¡°Ouch, do you have to put it that way? You have met with both Lily and Rose, right? What say you in taking them under your wing?¡± I asked while giving him a bow.

    ¡°Lily and Rose, both powerful ladies with great potentials. Are you sure? I get the feeling that they will become stronger than you under my training. Especially Rose,¡± he said.

    ¡°I¡¯m all for it. Please unlock their potential as you did mine,¡± I bowed once more to him.

    ¡°To have you making such a request even when you first turned me down when I offered to teach you. Something must have gotten you spooked. Come, let¡¯s talk as we walk,¡± he said.

    ¡°You won¡¯t write me off as crazy, right?¡± I asked him.

    ¡°Come now, I am way older than you. There are many things that I¡¯ve experienced before. Otherwise, what kind of teacher would I be for ignoring the concern of my pupil,¡± he explained.

    I told him about my dream and how vivid it felt. Even now I can remember the entirety of the nightmare. I also told him about the strangle marks that appeared after it. The marks can still be seen but had lessen.

    Peter confessed that he certainly had not heard of a case where a dream becomes reality. He gave it some thought. I made a joke that it might be the Demon Queen¡¯s God taking revenge on me for killing its vessel. Peter gave me a serious look and said that it might not be too far-fetched. The powers of the Gods are still unknown and Peter had a premonition that the end of the world is when the Gods decided to change this world entirely.

    He gave his permission that he will tutor both of them on the condition that they will come over to City of Heliotrope Ixia to learn. I told him that I will drag them over to the Eastern Continent even if I have to drag their feet.

    ¡°Right before I forget, we will need to meet-up with Sladar one of these days to find out what happened at the Northern Continent. The City Of Lilies Dahlee was relatively safe and sound upon our inspection. It turned out that the Demon Queen had activated a summoning circle north side, not too far from our East location where the army was waging war. What a brilliant way to fool me into thinking that demons were coming directly from the north,¡± he sighed.

    ¡°Just let me know when and I¡¯ll go with you,¡± I replied him.

    ¡°One last thing, don¡¯t let your revenge consume you, Zen. I can see anger and conviction in your eyes. I do hope this won¡¯t be the last time I talk to you,¡± he said.

    ¡°Sorry Sensei, this is something that I must do in order to find peace and hopefully my grandfather as well. Do forgive your pupil for being foolish,¡± I bowed to him.

    ¡°Getting revenge is a way of getting over your past. Not everyone is capable of forgiveness on its own. Even I had my fair share of revenge arc in the past,¡± he confessed with a smile and placed his hand on my shoulder.

    ¡°Farewell, Zen. I hope to see you soon,¡± he smiled before boarding the caravan.

    I passed him a note with the healing cream recipe before he climbed up and he read it.

    Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

    ¡°Ho, and here I thought you wouldn¡¯t part with this without some form of royalty fees. Why the sudden change of heart?¡± he asked.

    ¡°There is enough suffering in this world and I caused a lot of suffering myself. Time for me to give back something to the world,¡± I said.

    Peter placed his hand on my shoulder and smiled before proceeding to board the caravan. His henchmen bowed to me before boarding as well. I trained with them before and we started off in the wrong foot. Now we respect each other. That and the fact that they can longer defeat me in combat after my training with Peter.

    After seeing Peter off, I went straight home. I had planned to enact my revenge in exactly three days time which would require me to make lots of preparations. I wished to have longer time to prepare but sadly, I cannot afford to drag it longer. I need to ensure that Tom will still be in the area when I reached there.

    Time to get started then. I had already purchased all the necessary ingredients needed to get started on my alchemy recipes. Now I just need to immerse myself in creating them. Just when I was about to start, I heard someone knocking on the door. Bloody hell just when I was in the mood to get started. Who the hell is it?!

    I opened the door with an annoyed face. It was Rose and Lily.

    ¡°Onii-chan, we¡¯ll be hanging out with you for a couple of days to celebrate. Is that okay?¡± asked Rose.

    ¡°Umm.. I would really like some rest, Rose. Can you do this another day, please?¡± I returned the question to her.

    ¡°C¡¯mon Zen, we fought so hard for you in the war. Can¡¯t you cut us some slack and let us enjoy your company together?¡± asked Lily.

    I thought hard about it. I only have three days. But if I continue to push them away, they might end up getting suspicious. I planned to do this alone. Should anything happen to me, at least the both of them are safe.

    ¡°Better hurry, or Rose and I might end up jumping on you before you know it,¡± she whispered to me.

    ¡°Alright, fine fine. You can hangout here. Just don¡¯t disturb me, alright? I wish to get some rest for real,¡± I caved to their request.

    ¡°Don¡¯t sweat it, onii-chan. We¡¯ll be quiet. We¡¯ll be so quiet that you wouldn¡¯t even realise that we are staring at you while you sleep, heh heh¡± chuckled Rose.

    ¡°W.. what did you say?¡± I asked her immediately after she said that.

    ¡°Huh? I just said that we will be quiet,¡± said Rose slowly.

    ¡°You said you stared at me while I sleep. When did this happened?¡± I asked her hastily.

    ¡°Never. I had never done that before. The most I did was sneaked into your room and slept at your side. And that was when I was younger. I never stared at you while you sleep before. I swear,¡± said Rose with a surprised face.

    I looked away and started thinking. What did that nightmare meant? There must be some deeper meaning to that dream. Is it a warning or a premonition?

    ¡°I never thought you had such insecurities when you slept, Zen. You didn¡¯t have that issue with me before,¡± said Lily.

    ¡°T¡­ this is different. It is not due to my insecurity. It¡¯s nothing,¡± I sighed.

    ¡°So Lily is allowed to stare at your while you sleep but it¡¯s a big no for me. Talk about favouritism for Lily,¡± pouted Rose.

    ¡°I said it¡¯s nothing!¡­.. Sorry. Let me have my rest,¡± I apologised as I headed into my room.

    Rose and Lily looked at each other with a concerned look but they decided to not bother me which I am thankful for. That dream really had me spooked badly at anything that is remotely related to it. But I know that it meant something. Something that I just can¡¯t seemed to remember.

    ***

    I brought Lily into my room to talk. We know onii-chan is planning to find Tom but we don¡¯t know when he is leaving. He did not tell us about it and we are suspecting that he is planning to do it alone. Is the revenge making him on edge? His sudden outburst at my joke earlier was uncalled for. So this is how you¡¯re going to treat me after I asked you to choose Lily? Geez.

    We followed after him when he said he wanted to head to the washroom at the inn that night. Lily was listening intently to his footsteps whether it matched the same amount of times it took him to enter the washroom. Lily¡¯s ears perked up when she counted more and Zen¡¯s footstep were getting further, softer and eventually out the building.

    We followed him to an alleyway where he walked in alone. We peeked out from the corner to see who he was talking to but there was no one else around. He took out some sort of paper and showed it to someone or something in front of him. I did not see anything with my eyes. I was worried that onii-chan was losing it but Lily¡¯s elven eyes spotted a sort of silhouette that seemed to be there but not entirely visible. While she could not exactly see who it was, she was sure that he was indeed talking to someone or something albeit the both of us could not really see.

    We were certainly concerned about him. We were expecting him to bring us along for his revenge but we realised that he won¡¯t be bringing us after he had kept quiet about it so far. Onii-chan must be hellbent on doing this alone for his grandfather. And here I thought that I was part of your family too. We should at least do this together.

    He should be in his room preparing for his revenge right about now. We certainly won¡¯t be disturbing him as we want him to be fully prepared. The best we can do is to help him in whatever way we can. And also to prepare ourselves to sneak after him.

    ***

    What time is it now? I¡¯ve completely lost myself in alchemy creating the perfect potions to fight Tom. Sadly, I was never able to discover a wax that is effective for humans. Perhaps that is for the best, as I do not wish to fight with any other humans if I can help it.

    My stomach started to rumble. I guess I must had skipped lunch or something. I peeked out the window and it was dark. Perhaps it is going to rain soon. It can¡¯t be night time, right? I¡¯ve just made a few potions so far and it should not had taken that long.

    I went out of my room to look for something to eat. Oh, Rose was removing her apron while Lily was setting the table. Just in time for lunch.

    ¡°Oh great, I was just about to call you out for dinner. You skipped lunch by the way despite me calling out to you,¡± said Rose.

    ¡°D.. dinner? It¡¯s really night now? Damn it, time really flew by too fast today,¡± I said out loud.

    The both of them chuckled at my remarks. Lily made fun of me being a slouch for sleeping the whole day. I just said yeah and smiled awkwardly as I did not want them to know that I was doing alchemy the whole time.

    Lily sat me down while they brought out the dishes to the table. What is with the feast? There were way too many food for just the three of us. And then the both of them sat down which puzzled me. Lily sat to my right while Rose sat to my left. I was smack dab in the middle of the square dining table. This had never happened before. It was always me sitting at either of their side while one of them sat in the middle. Something sus is going on right now.

    ¡°You need to gain back your strength, Zen. That¡¯s why I bought so much food for you. And the fact that we can finally let loose and enjoy ourselves,¡± said Lily.

    ¡°Oh, thanks for that. Let me repay you for the groceries later,¡± I said.

    ¡°I¡¯m not broke, Zen. Come have a taste of this freshly baked fish,¡± Lily fed me some with her fork.

    It¡¯s good. I can see that Rose had not lost her touch in cooking. I turned to look at Rose as she is usually jealous of Lily feeding me. Huh? She is just smiling? Something is not right. Is this another nightmare? I pinched myself to be sure and yes, it does hurt.

    ¡°Onii-chan, I¡¯ve made your favourite roast jikentette. Here have a bite,¡± Rose fed me a small chunk of meat with her fork.

    I looked between the both of them with suspicious eyes. These two are not acting normal. What is their motive for doing this?

    ¡°What is going on? You two are acting awfully weird,¡± I continued to stare at the both of them.

    ¡°What do you mean? This is always how we act,¡± explained Rose.

    ¡°Yeah. You¡¯re just too conscious about the little things,¡± said Lily.

    ¡°I see what you two are doing. You are trying to make me experience the life of marrying the both of you and how normal it will be,¡± I sighed.

    ¡°Umm.. yeah,¡± smiled Lily. Rose just kept quiet.

    ¡°Look, I know you¡¯ll call me a stubborn fool, but I felt that every woman should have a husband of their own. It shouldn¡¯t be shared. Men cannot love things equally no matter how hard they try. So it would be unfair to one of you if I do end up marrying the both of you. I just feel that it should be special to marry someone. I want it to mean something to not just me but to the both of you,¡± I explained to them.

    ¡°We understand, onii-chan. You don¡¯t need to explain any further. Can we just enjoy the moment at least?¡± pleaded Rose.

    ¡°Of course. Let¡¯s eat,¡± I said.

    ***

    Phew. Thank the above that onii-chan was fooled. I knew if we acted suspicious he will start thinking differently. Now he is going to assume that we are here to show him what it¡¯s like to marry both of us.

    Lily was in my room preparing her own equipment and materials for sneaking and combat. She is preparing something that will finally protect her stomach area. I, on the other hand, was reading my book to see what other spells that I can learn which does not come with a side effect. But there were so many spells written in strange language which I do not understand. I am going to need to find someone to teach me should I wish to get stronger. And I know just the right person. The problem is getting him to teach me.

    Just then, there was a knock on my door. I gave a quick look to Lily and she scrambled to hide her equipments and materials. I walked up to the door and opened a small gap to peek outside.

    ¡°Can I help you?¡± I asked him.

    ¡°I need to talk to the both of you. Is it convenient to talk now?¡± he asked while giving a suspicious look.

    ¡°Now.. is not a right time, onii-chan,¡± I said to him.

    ¡°What do you mean? I¡¯ve got great news for the both of you that you¡¯ll be thrilled to hear,¡± he said while giving an even more puzzled look.

    ¡°We are¡­ kind of fooling around right now. So unless you are interested, I would suggest you to inform us tomorrow instead,¡± I told him.

    ¡°W.. what?¡± he said with his mouth opened now.

    ¡°Onii-chan, I¡¯m¡­ sort of.. gay,¡± I blurted out.

    ¡°Uhh¡­ I guess I¡¯ll see you tomorrow then,¡± he said and quickly walk back to his room. Will he be having his alone time thinking about the two of us? Heh heh.

    I closed the door with a phew. Lily was sitting on the floor staring at me with a cautious look. I explained to her that it was just a joke to shoo him away but Lily said that she recalled me saying that I loved her or something. I told her that is not true and I will not be doing anything to her whatsoever. She jokingly said that she should sleep outside in the event that I end up assaulting her tonight which she made it very clearly that she is only interested in men.

    We both chuckled and decided to call it a day. We don¡¯t know when onii-chan will be heading out but what we need to do is to keep a close eye on him. Anytime he sneaks out we will need to follow him. Our covert operation begins now.

 Chapter 52: Round 1, Fight [MOON]

    Chapter 52: Round 1, Fight [MOON]

    The day is finally here. I¡¯ve done all that I could and will have to make do with what I have. I¡¯ve spoken to Rose and Lily that Peter was willing to tutor them on the condition that they were willing to head over to the Eastern Continent. A small price to pay considering that they will be learning directly from one of the great powers. They were indeed thrilled to hear about it and they had considered requesting a favour from him in the first place. I was fully expecting them to head over there immediately but they said that the war had just ended and they wanted to be sure that I was fully healed before heading to the East.

    It was early in the morning and I¡¯m eating a small meal that I had prepared the night before. I wished to be as quiet as possible and head out without them knowing. Q appeared from the ground to deliver the papers. Someone is delivering early today. I took the paper from him and lifted him up.

    ¡°Q, I¡¯ll be going to hunt the person that killed grandfather. I promise you that I am going to avenge him. Please deliver this letter to Rose or Lily if I do not come back in about a week¡¯s time,¡± I said while giving him a belly stroke.

    He tilted his head while looking at me. Why am I talking to a hedgehog? I guess he is the only one that I know who won¡¯t spill the beans. I just hope he doesn¡¯t give Rose or Lily my letter too early.

    I placed him back on the floor and he tunnelled away. I walked as softly as I could to Rose¡¯s door. I wanted to say my goodbye to them before leaving. Hmm? It¡¯s partly opened. I pushed the door as slowly as I could to peek in. I hope I do not see them doing something that I do not wish to see. Rose told me it was a joke, but is it really?

    Thankfully both of them were asleep and not on top of each other or something. Rose was tucked in her bed while Lily was snoring loudly on a futon. I sneaked over as softly as I could and gave a peck on Rose¡¯s forehead. Lily¡¯s hair was messy so I had to brush some aside and give her a peck as well.

    I headed out the door and steeled myself as I headed for the caravan that awaits me at the southern entrance.

    ***

    Why do you have to treat us so equally? And why do you have to do seek revenge alone? Lily and I sat up on our bed while hugging our pillow. Ever since we came back to the city, he had been treating both of us as equally as possible. We spoke between ourselves that if he were to show any sign of favouritism between one of us then the other will back off. But he said his goodbye to the both of us in the same manner.

    Damn it. Lily¡¯s idea is starting to sound good now. Forcing him down and rape him so that the both of us ending up pregnant is starting to sound appealing. In doing so, he will be forced to marry both of us. But we know that he will hate us forever by doing so. Sigh.

    I looked at Lily. She was also in a trance like state, thinking about him while hugging her pillow. But I shook her to snap her back to reality as now is not the time to be thinking about love. We have to follow him before he leaves the city. We quickly prepared ourselves and headed out. The first thing we need to do is to find out where he went. Where exactly is Tom currently residing in, and how did onii-chan know about it? Is it from that weird entity that he was talking to in the dark alleyway that we could not see?

    We came out of the Dark guild¡¯s building but onii-chan was nowhere in sight. We thought of going separately to each of the entrance but to our surprise, Q poked his head out of the ground and suddenly began swinging his head in a cute way. Is he.. pointing to us the direction where he went? From where he is swinging, it seems to be.. south!

    I said thanks to Q and started running towards that direction. Q is smarter than he looks, to be honest and he definitely understands our language. Lily followed behind me as she asked whether it was a good idea to follow the direction of a hedgehog. I told her to trust him as he is no ordinary hedgehog and he is Zen¡¯s favourite pet.

    We saw Zen boarding a caravan heading out of the southern entrance. Thankfully we had planned a few things in advance. We had booked caravans on all four entrances for the entire week. We paid in advance so we do not feel bad if they ended up waiting for nothing. We told them at a certain time of the day that if we did not show up then they are free to go or proceed with another job. We brought along basic supplies and whatever medical supplies we can find. If he loses a limb, we have a tourniquet to prevent him from dying. I just hope it doesn¡¯t hit any of his vital organs as we have no way of curing that.

    Alright, we have done all that we could to prepare ourselves, time to follow onii-chan and find out where Tom is hiding. I look forward to killing Tom who had caused so much trouble for John, Lily and more importantly, my brother.

    ***

    It was night time when I made it to the elven forest. According to the knuckleduster weirdo, Tom is currently residing here. Why though? Who is he hiding from? Is it due to the Queen finally kicking the bucket that he no longer have a place to hide? Or did he failed some assassination that caused him to be hunted? And why are the elves even allowing him to hide here unopposed? Either way, I do not care about his circumstances. If he is here, all I need to do is to interrogate him and kill him. I really hope that he is here though, I paid a pretty penny for this information.

    I sneaked around the forest trying to pinpoint the exact location where the weirdo pointed on the map. It should be somewhere around here. I spotted a small light source up ahead among the trees. I crouched and moved as softly as I could towards the source. Someone was there and from the looks of it, seems to be Tom. That blond hair of his that he combed backwards and those scars of his. Hang on, there seems to be even more scars now as compared to the previous time I saw him. And these are just on his back. I hope there are more scars upfront. Finally, I have you in my sights. Target acquired.

    ¡°Bravo 6, going dark¡± I thought to myself as I casted Conceal. Odd, I swore I heard this before somewhere. Why does my brain keep thinking of weird things that I cannot remember?

    Tom stood up and unsheathed his dagger as though he heard something. His instincts is certainly off the charts to be able to detect me using Conceal in the cover of night where it is at its strongest. And true enough, he had plenty of scars on his chest and other parts of his body. A whole lot of it, to be honest. Is it because he had grown too weak and he is forced to hide like a coward? Let¡¯s not get too carried away, this man is still one of the four great powers. I will need to use everything at my disposal to kill him. I do not have any support from a light guild member that helped me in my previous fight against the Queen. I am on my own.

    Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

    Tom continued to scan his surroundings cautiously. He knows something is nearby and he is aware of it. Should I remain hidden or do I take the first strike?

    ¡°I know you¡¯re here. You can¡¯t fool me with your spell. I¡¯ve fought plenty of Dark Knights before and I know when one is using Conceal. Come on out!¡± he shouted.

    I guess he is called the fourth great power for a reason. Not point in hiding anymore. I shall take the first strike then!

    I appeared behind him and swung Tengu-kaze. Even with my sudden attack, he managed to block it with his dagger almost instantly. His reaction speed is off the charts. No matter, I swung Tengu-kaze once more using wind pressure but he dodged it out of the way skilfully.

    ¡°Another moron trying to kill me, eh? I¡¯ll show you people not to underestimate¡­ wait, I know you. You¡¯re that kid from that time,¡± he said.

    ¡°I am surprised that you even remembered me when we only met for a short while,¡± I told him.

    ¡°I made sure to burn all you brats faces into my brain. Your fucking old man caused me a fuck ton of problems,¡± he raised his voice.

    ¡°Really? That is music to my ears. Now¡­ where is he?¡± I gritted my teeth.

    ¡°Puhahaha!! You think I kept him alive? I took my time torturing him, slowly ensuring his slow death. I do have to give respect to him though, he refuses to budge even under his dying breath. If only he told me which one of you two was a Hawthorn, I would had gladly hunted you down,¡± he spat.

    So he did not know whether it was me or John who was a Hawthorn. Obviously he had ruled out Lily seeing that she is an elf. But what was stopping him from hunting both of us in the first place?

    ¡°Why bother? The Queen is already dead. You won¡¯t be getting any bounty money anyway,¡± I told him with a sarcastic tone.

    ¡°She¡¯s dead? Puhahahaha!! Bitch finally got what she deserves. That sly snake had always been a pain to deal with. Only giving me contracts that is close to impossible to complete yet giving me shitty rewards for it. Humour me, how did she die?¡± he asked curiously.

    ¡°Roasted by lightning,¡± I told him with a shrug.

    ¡°Lightning? A bit overkill for a human, isn¡¯t it?¡± he chuckled.

    ¡°She¡¯s not a human,¡± I glared at him.

    ¡°Hah! I had my suspicion. Only a monster would order genocide on a single bloodline. I would had ordered to eliminate everyone instead! Hahaha!!¡± he laughed loudly.

    ¡°You¡¯re mad, but what would I expect from someone who is willing to take contract from a monster,¡± I said bluntly.

    ¡°Anything for money. Only thing I trust in this world,¡± he said.

    ¡°Such shallow thinking. I guess that is the only thing that you deserved in this world,¡± I spat.

    ¡°Watch your words. You don¡¯t know me and what I had to do in order to survive in this world,¡± he gritted his teeth.

    ¡°Nor will I care. You made me your enemy by killing my grandfather. Now, just await your death,¡± I summoned Inazuma.

    ¡°I look forward to it then, Hawthorn. You are not the first dumbass seeking revenge and died,¡± he said with a smile.

    We clashed weapons. He summoned his bow to stop my swing. His bow is made of metal and had blades on the entire section of the limb. Maintaining close combat is what I must do to prevent him from shooting his arrows.

    As I attempted for another swing at him, he tossed a small looking ball at me. Is that poison? I held my breath and expected the worst. If it can be absorbed through the skin then I hope the antidote that I had crafted works. Smoke erupted from the ball. As I guessed, it is just a smoke bomb. Using poison is not his forte as there was no evidence of him using it in any of his assassinations before.

    I charged ahead ignoring the smoke but Tom was already missing. Such quick reaction to disappear in such a short amount of time. I hid myself as well using Conceal. I must find him. A blue glowing arrow flew right at me and I managed to dodge at the last minute. How did he know where I am? I stopped moving entirely and it was eerily silent. Conceal is supposed to muffle my movements entirely but he can still hear me? Or perhaps he can see me?

    I crouched and scanned the possibility of where he is hiding. Just when I was about to pinpoint his position, another arrow came flying towards me in front of my vision. I parried the arrow and ran to where Tom was hiding with Conceal still activated. He is in a strategic position on top of a tree. I climbed up using the same method I used to climb the castle. It was not long until I reached the top. Expecting Tom to be there, I was greeted by a bomb instead with the fuse about to run out. Shit, it¡¯s a trap!

    BOOOOMM!!!

    I fell to the ground. I landed on my left side which hurt my arm. I hope it¡¯s not fractured or broken as it hurts to even move it. I scrambled to hide myself as Conceal was deactivated after the explosion. I am a sitting duck right out in the open. No arrows came while I hid behind a large tree. He must be repositioning himself. I reached into my potion pouch and took out a painkiller potion. While the after effects are not desirable, I don¡¯t really have much of a choice but to take it if I need to continue fighting effectively.

    I took a peek out of the tree and immediately an arrow came flying. I quickly hid back to avoid the arrow. I need to assume that he can see me using something. Possibility by using heat. Then it must be that weird visor of his. Now, how should I play this? My main objective is right in front of me, it is the final quest.

    Main Objective: Eliminate Tom Snapdragon with extreme prejudice.

    Should I assume that he had set another bomb up top where he is hiding right now? I should assume the worst. Alright then, you¡¯re willing to sit next to a bomb? I¡¯ll make you regret that.

    I summoned my fully juiced up favourite gauntlets and rushed towards where he is supposedly hiding. Arrows flew at me with precision as I ran towards him with the cover of trees and bushes. I deflected the arrows or used the tree trunks as cover. Not too far now and he should be getting ready to run to another hiding spot. Not that I will let you.

    I ran as fast as I could to where he is supposedly hiding and call forth a lightning to my right gauntlet.

    BBBBOOOOOOMMMMMM!!!!

    The explosion was even worst than the previous as the lightning destroyed the entire tree along with the bombs that he had set-up. I hope that had injured him in some way. That is for detonating a bomb in my face. Now, where is he?

    I heard some sort of flapping sound above and looked up. Damn it, he can fly? It looks like his Rend is some sort of armour that gave him wings along with some minor light armour on his chest and hands. And the triangular shaped visor that he is wearing. I will forever remember that damn thing even in my dreams. I launched Lightning Strike at him but he protected himself with his wings.

    So, Rend is capable of blocking a spell from a legendary equipment. No wonder Peter was so unhappy that his treasured spell was being misused by quite a number of beings out there. Who did these people even learned it from? He flew down and took a good look at me. I see a part of him arm had charred a little, possibly from his own bombs. Serves him right.

    ¡°Bloody hell, colour me intrigued. A Dark Knight capable of using lightning? Now that is certainly unheard of. I thought you were joking earlier when you said that the Queen had died by lightning but who knew that it would be you. Now things are getting interesting. I WANT that gauntlets,¡± he said while licking his lips.

    ¡°I am a Dark Wanderer, mind you. As for my gauntlets, you want it? You can only dream of having it when you¡¯re dead,¡± I spat.

    ¡°Oh ho, I will be prying them from your cold dead hands. I am looking forward to it!¡± said Tom as he readied his bow and wings.

    Why do I end up fighting beings that can fly? So troublesome and annoying. Why can¡¯t I fight something that solely plant their feet on the ground? But at least Tom has no regeneration unlike a demon. Perhaps in a battle of attrition, I might be able to win.

    Tom flew backwards and shot consecutive arrows at me. I deflected all of them with Inazuma and charged directly at him. Sometimes I tend to forget that Inazuma being as light as a feather really gives me good reaction speed. Tom tossed several bombs at me but without the element of surprise, I avoided all of them. He then tossed a couple of smoke bombs on his feet but I used Tengu-kaze to blow the smokes away.

    Tom replied with a huge ¡°Tsk!¡± and decided to fly upwards. Damn it, I wish I can fly too! He started spamming his arrows at me which I either deflected or dodged them. He has the advantage of height and range against me. No wonder other beings had difficulty in killing him. With his infinite bombs and arrows, not to mention with Rend and Sunder, it is certainly one of the most bullshit bosses that I ever have to fight. Might as well throw in a large health pool and infinite stamina for him then.

    He drew his bow and held it. I thought he was going to shoot immediately but blue particles started to accumulate at the tip of his bow forming a huge large ball. Then he shot it into the sky and grinned at me. That cannot be fortification magic, that is real magic!

    I started running as I somehow predicted what that ball is going to do. And true enough, shower of arrows started pouring over me. He started chasing after me while flying, adding more arrows among the showers of it. I¡¯m so glad my agility skills are high as it allowed me to dodge and react fast enough to all of those arrows.

    I felt some resistance from my boots. It was as though I had snapped something. Immediately I started hearing loud hissing sounds all around me. SHIT!!

    BBBBBBBBBOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM!!!!!

    Showers of arrows continued to pour on me until the dust settled. I stood up from my crouching position with my purple spectral cloak. Bloody hell that was deafening. Glad I managed to cover my ears before all the explosions occurred. I glared at him above while he made a whistle being impressed. This guy is going to be such a chore to fight against.

 Chapter 53: Round 2, Fight [MOON]

    Chapter 53: Round 2, Fight [MOON]

    The fight carried on with me running around constantly avoiding his arrows and bombs. I need to find a way to bring him down. Why can¡¯t I ever have a proper sword fight recently? Damn it!

    I looked up to the sky. No sign of a thunderstorm tonight. I guess I will have to depend on summoned lightning then. Strange that no elves came to check up on us when there was plenty of explosions happening around me. It looked like there are denser amount of trees coming up ahead. How should I play this?

    I took a quick peek at Tom flying above, he had unsummoned his visor. Perfect, time to make use of the darkness around me. Let¡¯s show him what a Dark Wanderer can do in his turf. I made a sudden leap into the trees and activated Concentration. I reached into my potion pouch and pulled out two potions. The first potion is going to make my spells even more efficient along with Concentration active. The second is my treasured potion that increases all my stats by 5.

    I can hear Tom resummoning his visor to look for me. I used Perfect Concentration to force him to focus on me. Making sure that he was staring at me, I used Illusion on him, turning his vision entirely black. He started panicking and turned his head around trying to see something. Pressing my advantage, I casted Fear on him as well. He made a loud ¡°Shit!¡± and started flying backwards. But I was ready for him. Using both Tengu-kaze & Inazuma for climbing, I appeared behind him and got ready to stab.

    Seemingly acting on instinct, he swung his wing behind and hit me with it. This caused me to lose balance and fall to the ground in a crouched position. But my plan sort of worked. I managed to pierce Tengu-kaze through his wings causing him to immediately crash to the ground. I quickly ran over to try and deal some damage to him but he unsummoned his wings causing Tengu-kaze to fall to the ground with a loud thud. He quickly resummoned them and flew backwards avoiding my advance. I continued chasing after him and threw Inazuma at him which he deflected with his bow.

    Damn it, what quick reaction speed he has. I couldn¡¯t even deal a blow on him after using my spells and potion. What else can I do to bring him down? Force him to keep resummoning his wings? I do not know how long he can use Rend and how many times he can use it. I need to think of another plan quick.

    I felt something pierced my thigh as I was chasing him. One of his arrow managed to hit me, avoiding my spectral cloak through a gap. His arrows must not be strong enough to pierce my spectral cloak directly. But that bow of his must be legendary. I might had mistaken earlier that he can use magic. His bow should be using the same magic concept as my Lightning Strike. But does his bow use charges?

    ¡°Hoo.. finally an arrow hit home! There will be plenty more where that came from. You¡¯ll be a human pincushion by the end of this,¡± he said with enthusiasm as he placed his foot on the ground.

    I reached out to my back pouch and took out my healing gel. I removed the arrow and slapped a hand full of gel on it and glared at him. He was speechless as he started seeing my wound stopped bleeding.

    ¡°You¡¯re certainly full of surprises, Hawthorn. How long has it been since I enjoyed the thrill of battle? I guess it was when I fought with the old man who put me out of commission,¡± he said.

    ¡°I guess my grandfather really put the hurt on you. No wonder you did not pursue me or John after all these years,¡± I said.

    ¡°Bah, it was one thing that I was injured badly for a couple of years, I just felt that it was not worth the chore in chasing after two children as the reward was pathetic. Seeing your old man refusing to give me any information made me respect him in some way. I only attacked the three of you as I happened to overheard you three talking about Hawthorn,¡± he explained.

    ¡°Trying to act noble? You became my sole purpose in becoming strong. And I intent to finish my revenge,¡± I glared at him.

    ¡°Haha! You are not the first Hawthorn. My line of work comes with plentiful of people seeking revenge on me. None of them succeeded and so will you. I am not called one of the Great Powers for nothing,¡± he got ready his stance.

    ¡°Indeed, you could had been something else instead of an assassin. Yet you sully the name of the Great Powers by being one of them. Allow me to overwrite your position since I am in good relationship with two of them,¡± I grinned at him.

    ¡°You don¡¯t know my story. I didn¡¯t choose to this line of work because I wanted to. Everything was set for me on the day I was born. You think I wanted to become an assassin?! You and your old man should not stick their noses where it doesn''t belong!¡± he started raising his voice.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I didn¡¯t come here to listen to your story. I just come here to kill you,¡± I told him nonchalantly with a shrug.

    ¡°You had a happy life with your friends and family. I had nothing but a shit ass father that started beating me into becoming an assassin right after I was born. Don¡¯t you dare rub it on my face, asshole!¡± he shouted.

    ¡°I beg your pardon but you are dead wrong. My family was murdered by the Queen that you served and then YOU murdered my one and only family member that I had left. Don¡¯t put your self-pity as though your tragedy is the worst. You still had a father,¡± I spat at him.

    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

    ¡°Hah! I would rather be an orphan than to live with him. Luckily the graduation ceremony of me becoming an assassin was to kill him. I felt satisfied when I shot an arrow through his heart. It was an ecstasy of joy for me. I guess I should thank him for handing me this bow as well,¡± he closed his eyes as though he was basking in his memories.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry but are we still talking? Because I am getting bored listening to your ramblings,¡± I glared at him.

    He somehow took that personally and made an angry face. He exhaled loudly and readied himself.

    ¡°I see you can only use Concentration. But too bad, if you¡¯re able to use Higher State of Mind then perhaps you stand a chance. But as of now, you lose,¡± he said as he activated his Concentration.

    Hang on, why is his iris changing colour to glowing red? I don¡¯t remember Concentration changes your iris colour and gives you bloodshot eyes.

    ¡°Let me show you the strongest version of Concentration! I call it Maximum Concentration!¡± he shouted as he flew up.

    Once again he drew his bow and blue particles started accumulating at the tip. I got ready and expected him to shoot upwards but he released it towards me. Three large homing arrows started flying towards me which made me started running again. I quickly took cover behind a large tree which the arrows struck. I was forced to run again when showers of arrows started pouring from above. Damn it, he is spamming his spells now! And it felt like his spells were stronger now thanks to his Max Concentration as he called it. Is it due to him not capable of using Higher State of Mind that he had discovered a stronger version of Concentration?

    Rend had ended a while ago during the talk. I only have two more chances to use it. Tom seems to have his wings up for a long time yet it did not seemed to run out of duration. Now that is unfair. How long am I going to keep running from his barrage of arrows?!

    ***

    I rubbed myself with mud that I happened to stumble upon. Surprisingly he is having difficulty finding me right after I used mud on myself. Is his visor using some sort of heat detection? Hmm.

    I hid myself in between the roots of some giant trees. I needed to regain my bearing from all of that running. It would seemed that Rend has ended for him as he had to land. By my estimation, it was around 20 minutes for him as opposed to my 10 minutes duration. Damn it, I am at a disadvantage. The most that I managed to injured him is his arm from his own bombs. For my case, an injured left arm and thigh. Things are not looking good for me.

    Let¡¯s see, his Rend is not strong enough to stop my direct attack on him. Perhaps this is due to him needing to fly hence his armour is lighter. But it was strong enough to stop a direct Lightning Strike. Or can it be that Rend is more effective at blocking spells rather than direct physical attack? Now that is something that I need to test out.

    Keeping Concentration active, I used Conceal to peek out from the roots. I don¡¯t see him around. Where did he go exactly? I climbed out of the roots and stayed in a prone position to look for Tom. All of a sudden, something pierced through the huge tree that I was hiding in just a second ago. What the hell was that?!

    A huge hole appeared in the middle of the tree but it stood firm as the trunk was extremely large. I peeked at the other trees behind the trail and many smaller trees had fallen down. What in the world just happened?

    I started crawling towards the direction of where the arrow came. That piercing capability is insanely destructive. I am not about to test whether my spectral cloak is capable of withstanding that attack. I can hear someone shouting ¡°Come out come out wherever you are~ There¡¯s no use hiding!¡±. That must be Tom and I guess he certainly cannot see where I am currently. Who knew that using mud would work in hiding my heat source. Now I have the element of surprise, I should make full use of it.

    I continued crawling towards the direction of the arrow and voice. I saw a silhouette of someone crouching behind some bushes. I crawled closer in an attempt to perform some sort of steal kill but something was not right, there appears to be two silhouettes. And they appears to be.. much slender and shorter than Tom even though they were crouching. Are these elves from the elven forest on reconnaissance? I managed to sneak up behind them and attempted to cover both of their mouths. Strange though, elves should had heard me sneaking closer to them. Is this some form of trap by Tom?

    ¡°Don¡¯t move, are you two on reconnaissance?¡± I whispered to them as I covered both of their mouth.

    Both of them turned their heads slowly towards me. It was Lily and Rose. What the bloody devil are they doing here?!

    ¡°W¡­ what are you two doing here??¡± I whispered softly to them.

    Lily quickly pushed all of us down as something flew pass us and destroyed more trees. Is that why she didn¡¯t notice me crawling closer? She was focused on whatever that thing was?

    ¡°We followed you here because we were worried about you, onii-chan,¡± whispered Rose.

    ¡°What are you talking about? Get out of here right now! It is extremely dangerous with Tom here!¡± I scolded both of them as softly as I could.

    What were they thinking? The reason I did not want them to follow is because I knew it would put both of them in danger. Tom is one of the great powers that even I had doubts that I could win myself.

    As I dragged them away, I heard something dropped nearby us. It was a bomb. Shit! Tom must had heard our commotion and figured out our location.

    Multiple bombs exploded which was insanely deafening. When the dust finally settled, I can see a blurry vision of Tom walking closer towards me laughing. I couldn¡¯t hear anything as I think my eardrum may have ruptured by the sounds of the explosions. I was in a daze when Tom placed his feet on my left arm. Ugh, that hurts really bad. Did I lose a limb or something from the explosion? I don¡¯t even know whether Rose or Lily are safe. All I remember was tossing them among some trees before the explosions happened.

    Tom was crouched directly on top of me trying to taunt me or something. He was playing with an arrow with his right hand. He poked the arrow lightly on where my heart is located while mumbling something to me which I could not understand. He raised his right hand holding the arrow. Is this the end for me? I couldn¡¯t even kill the guy who murdered my grandfather. No, I refuse to let things end here!

    Something jumped from out of my vision and bit Tom on the arm. It was Q! What is he doing here?! Tom was struggling to pull Q as he bit him tightly. I can see blood dripping from where Q had bit him. Still in a daze, I pulled out a syringe and stabbed it directly at my thigh. It was an emergency solution that gives me a form of adrenaline rush. I snapped out of my daze and quickly unsheathed my dagger and stabbed Tom above the pelvis bone where his spectral light armour did not protect.

    He shouted a loud ¡°Fuck¡± and stabbed Q in the belly area with his arrow. Blood was flowing from Q as I saw him falling to the ground in slow motion with a pain expression. I thought their kind were indestructible. Why is he bleeding? Why is he writhing in pain on the ground? Is Q going to die? For trying to save me? What the fuck am I doing that even Q needed to save me?! Why the fuck am I so weak that I needed my precious pet to save me?!

    I started breathing harder and saw steam flowing out of my mouth. I did not even realised that I was clutching Inazuma was on my hand until it started shaking vigorously. I unsummoned Inazuma and swapped with Tengu-kaze instinctively. I can feel myself losing my sanity as I continued glaring at Tom. He only noticed me after as he was done checking his wounds. He left my dagger in his pelvis as he realised that pulling it out will only make him bleed to death.

    After seeing that I stood up, he started panicking. Perhaps he realised that steam was coming out of my mouth. He leaped back in an attempt to fly backwards but at this point I had already lost my sanity. I had no idea what I did in the next moment but when I finally regained my sanity, I was chocking on my own blood with Lily pressing her hands on what looked like an arrow on the left side of my chest. She was panicking and crying as she called out for Rose who was nowhere to be seen. I tried to call out to Lily but I could not as there was plenty of blood in my mouth. I reached out my right hand to hold her cheek as my consciousness was fading. I wiped a bit of her tears and did my best to smile for her. Then darkness overtook my vision entirely. Zen Hawthorn had died.

 Chapter 54: Death, Is Only The Beginning [MOON]

    Chapter 54: Death, Is Only The Beginning [MOON]

    ¡°Daddy.. is dead?¡± asked Daisy with a confused look.

    ¡°Yup¡± I told her with an upbeat tone.

    ¡°Daddy is really dead?¡± she asked her mother as she turned her head slowly with a more concerned look on her face.

    ¡°Yup¡± replied my wife with the same upbeat tone.

    ¡°T.. then, who is this person?¡± asked Daisy as she started to shiver a little.

    ¡°I¡¯m your daddy,¡± I said with a cheerful voice.

    ¡°H.. huh?¡± Daisy was confused as she began alternating her look between me and her mother.

    ¡°How is that even possible?!¡± shouted Daisy as she placed both her hands on her head.

    ¡°Alright, I think I¡¯ll take over from here, dear. We had our fun teasing Daisy. Let us continue with the story. I doubt you remember what happened after you were dead. I¡¯ll try to remember what the other person told me from her perspective,¡± said my wife with a thinking face.

    I gestured her to continue while I sip on my favourite tea. Ahh, my throat was parched from talking for so long.

    ***

    I opened my eyes. Rose was staring at me. Was she trying to wake me up? What happened to Zen?

    I stood up quickly but was hit with a head rush. As I struggled to gain some form of semblance, I saw Rose holding Q in her arms. It looked pale and it seems as though she had applied some healing gel on him. What is Q even doing here in the first place?

    ¡°Onii-chan is fighting, but.. he seemed different. It feels as though he is just charging towards Tom without any regards for his own safety. I¡¯m scared on what might happen to him, Lily,¡± said Rose as she started shaking while holding Q.

    I noticed that the atmosphere was getting colder. What is going on? This feeling feels familiar. I stood up and saw Zen fighting rigorously with Tom. Indeed his fighting style feels different. Even though he was still avoiding a lot of the arrows, some still managed to grace him or outright hit him. Wait, is that¡­ steam? Since when can he use bloodlust?

    ¡°Did you know that Zen is capable of using Bloodlust?¡± I asked Rose.

    ¡°Huh? No, I didn¡¯t know at all. He did not told me about it,¡± said Rose as she placed Q rested against a tree trunk and stood up.

    Zen was fighting tenaciously. I¡¯m also worried about Zen as he seems to be receiving more and more injuries on himself. But Tom is losing ground. Frenzy must be affecting him somehow when it is even affecting us. I¡¯m surprised that Rose is able to remain calm despite the effects from Frenzy, did she cast a spell on herself or something?

    Zen was swinging Tengu-kaze with wind pressures like a madman which made even Tom afraid. Is he really going to be ok? No wonder Rose was getting worried about him. This is not his fighting style at all. Don¡¯t tell me he lost himself again like that time when we found his grandfather¡¯s dismembered hand?

    Wind was accumulating around Tengu-kaze and Zen swung it towards Tom, destroying even more trees. Ugh, my kind aren¡¯t going to like this. I don¡¯t even know if I am able to vouch for him when the elves comes for him. But more importantly, did Zen finally get him?

    We awaited for the dust to settle. I saw the first silhouette, it was Tom. He had some extra wounds but none as bad as the dagger sticking out of his pelvis. Where¡¯s Zen? I looked around and finally saw him. Wait¡­ wait, is that?

    ¡°Zen!!! / Onii-chan!!!¡± the both of us shouted at the same time and ran towards him.

    There was an arrow sticking out on the left side of his left chest. I hope what I saw was wrong as I began praying to the Goddess that what I saw earlier was not true. Zen fell to the ground when we reached him. My prayers were not answered as he was indeed shot in the area where his heart was. I crouched down to try and stop the bleeding. Rose on the other hand started screaming and ran towards Tom.

    ¡°You got wings too?!¡± shouted Tom. Rose must be using sacred wings to fight Tom.

    What should I do? What do I even do?! If I remove the arrow, he is going to bleed to death. Blood was pooling in his mouth. Nothing in our medical supplies can stop a heart from bleeding.

    ¡°Zen! Zen!! Don¡¯t you dare die on me! Don¡¯t you fucking dare!¡± I shouted to him as I noticed that my voice was quivering.

    I did not even realised that tears were dripping out of my eyes as I put pressure on his wound. He started chocking on his own blood.

    ¡°No¡­ no no no!! Zen!! Don¡¯t you dare, don¡¯t you dare! Rose!! He is dying!! I don¡¯t know how to save him!!¡± I shouted out loud.

    ¡°I know!!!¡± shouted Rose as I can hear her sobbing a little while fighting Tom.

    Shit!! What can I even do?! Healing gel does not work in recovering organs or critical wounds. It only works with flesh wounds. Am I going to just watch him die? Am I going to see Zen die in my arms?

    Zen reached out his hand to my cheek and wiped my tears. He smiled despite knowing that he is dying. Then his hand dropped and his eyes closed.

    ¡°No¡­ no no no!! Zen!!! Nooo!!¡± I shouted while checking for his pulse. There was nothing.

    ¡°Zen? Z.. Zen??¡± I placed my hand on his cheek. My tears were dripping on his face as I felt his body getting cold.

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    ¡°R.. Rose.. ROSE! HE¡¯S GONE!!! I couldn¡¯t save him!!¡± I shouted as hard as I could.

    I did not hear a reply back but I can still hear them fighting. Shit!! Zen is gone? He¡¯s gone? What the hell am I doing? This man saved my life three times and I couldn¡¯t even save him once? No.. No! I refuse to let that happen!

    I dug into my pouch and took out a vial. I can see my hands shaking as I held on to this vial. I do not know whether this will work but I have to try. My nostari, I am so sorry for what I am about to do. Please find it in your heart to forgive your daughter. I will gladly accept any form of punishment if it means saving him.

    I started removing all the arrows that was stuck on Zen¡¯s body. Then I removed the vial and poured the contents into his wound where the heart was. There were only three drops so I had to make it count. After pouring the contents, I sat down and prayed to the Goddess. I even told the Goddess that she can take my life in exchange for his revival as I do not care. Just the thought of Zen dying makes me want to follow him in joining with the cosmic tree itself.

    His wounds started glowing. It is healing. It¡¯s healing! So it does work! Zen can be saved! But he still looked pale and there is no sign of movements from him. I placed my ears to his chest. There.. was no heartbeat. No pulse. Damn it! I quickly removed my gauntlets and started doing chest compression on him. Come on, Zen. Come on!

    ***

    Where am I? This place looks familiar. That bright light looks familiar along with that white ceiling. My vision starts to fade white. I see someone standing in front of me. It is a young woman with red hairs that is close to my age. She was smiling at me. Mom? Is that you? I have never seen her before in my life and now she is right in front of me. There were no words exchanged between us. I just smiled and walked closer to hug her. It was a brief hug but for the first time in my life I finally had some form of closure with my mother that I had never met.

    She stood aside and gestured another woman forward. Who? Who is it?

    It was then that I knew. The person in front of me that I am staring at was my wife to be. I had my decision made all along and this dream is showing me. She was smiling at me with tears flowing down her cheeks. I walked up to her slowly and held up her right hand. I gave it kiss and bowed politely to her. Then I proceeded to hug her tightly as I know deep in my heart that I will never ever let her go.

    ***

    I continued doing chest compression on Zen while blowing air into his mouth. I do not even know how long I was doing this as my arms were burning with pain and aches. I was close to giving up and did not even realised he had his eyes opened. But.. it looked foggy and white.

    He stood up all of a sudden. He was scanning the surroundings. He took a look at me and smiled and gave me a head pat. His eyes looked so unreal with the colours being so dull. He then rushed toward where there were sounds of fighting. Zen is back. He is alive!

    ***

    Fuck! Why is this asshole so hard to kill?! Are you telling me I can¡¯t even avenge onii-chan?! This person sure likes flying so I used sacred wings to chase after him. But even if both of us can fly, he certainly has more combat experience. Even fighting in close combat, he still knows what to do despite being a ranged combatant.

    I was about to use Fa Jin Zh¨°u when he took a quick shot that knocked my rapier off my hand. Damn it! I need to concentrate myself and not let my feelings distract me. I must avenge onii-chan!

    ¡°Why are you attacking me?! I have no qualms with you!¡± shouted Tom.

    ¡°You just killed my brother!¡± I shouted back at him angrily.

    ¡°Oh for crying out loud! One after the fucking other! Why can¡¯t you all just leave me alone!¡± he shouted to himself.

    I dived down to retrieve my rapier. I know that will leave me vulnerable but I had no choice. It is my only weapon. I thought I¡¯ll just perform a quick swipe to pick up my rapier but arrows suddenly landed in front of me causing me to crash onto them. I lost my balance and skidded on the ground. I regained my bearings and looked at Tom hovering above. It was then that I saw showers of arrows coming down from above me. I wanted to dodge it by flying but my wings seemed to be in bad shape after I crashed earlier. The arrows are right above me now and I don¡¯t have enough time to dodge it. Onii-chan, I guess I¡¯ll be following you after all. Please forgive your little sister for not being able to avenge you or your grandfather. I closed my eyes and accepted my fate.

    I felt someone¡¯s hand pet my head. It felt familiar, warm and I knew it was onii-chan. So he came to welcome me into the afterlife. I am so glad that I won¡¯t be venturing alone.

    Numerous loud clanking caused me to open my eyes. Someone was.. deflecting all the arrows away. But how? There were thousands of them showering on us but none of them made its way through.

    ¡°Rose, stay here. I¡¯ll be ending this,¡± said onii-chan as he turned his head a little to look at me. His eyes.. they are muddled. It looks as though he is between life and death with those pale looking eyes. But it is onii-chan, he is still alive. But how?!

    Tom flew down to see what actually happened to his arrows. His face started turning pale and angry after seeing that onii-chan is still alive and standing.

    ¡°What the actual fuck?! How are you still alive?! And how are you able to use Focused Meditation when you were using Bloodlust just earlier?!¡± shouted Tom.

    Focused Meditation? Is that why I am feeling so calm right now? I feel warm and calm when I was feeling distraught, furious and pure anger just moments ago. This is onii-chan, right? I hope I am no dreaming or just some illusion from the afterlife.

    ¡°Tom Snapdragon, your time has come for you to face the consequences of your actions. Today is the day you die,¡± said onii-chan calmly.

    ¡°Just because you can use Higher State of Mind does not give you the right to talk bullshit. You are not the first person that I¡¯ve killed while using Focused Meditation and it won¡¯t be the last!¡± shouted Tom while he drew his bow.

    Blue particles started forming on his bow into a large arrow. This must be what he used to pierced through all those trees. We need to dodge this or we will be killed!

    ¡°Onii-chan!¡± I shouted to him but he stood firmly in place.

    Tom released his arrow and it flew at us with the speed of light. But something miraculous happened. Onii-chan deflected the arrow one-handed causing it to arc back towards Tom. How did he do that?

    A loud explosion erupted directly on where Tom was standing. A silhouette appeared out of the dust to attack onii-chan. Tom used his Rend armour again and flew towards onii-chan trying to grab him. But onii-chan reacted almost instantly to it and smacked Tom¡¯s hand away with Inazuma. Tom then attempted to slice onii-chan with his bow but it too was blocked.

    Lightning started wrapping around Inazuma and he swung with precision. Tom tried to avoid it but ended up bleeding on his chest. He had a semi-circular chunk of meat missing on his ribs portion, possibly due to his own arrow being deflected back at him.

    Tom was panting hard now and decided to fly up high. How is onii-chan going to reach him? I am going to need to carry him up in order to reach Tom. But onii-chan did something unthinkable. He stabbed Inazuma on the ground and leaped on it with one foot. Seemingly as though he was weightless, he jumped straight up directly at Tom with insane speed.

    Tom was certainly caught off-guard at the sudden speed that onii-chan displayed. They fought up above and moved deeper into the forest which I couldn¡¯t see. I deactivated my sacred wings just in case I needed to use it for emergency. Deactivating a spell before the duration ends quickens the cooldown much faster.

    I heard someone running towards me and I knew who it was without even looking. I ran towards the direction where onii-chan went and Lily came to my side. I need to see how this ends.

    More loud explosions can be heard ahead of us along with showers of arrows falling from the sky. Please be fine, onii-chan.

    We reached the location where they were fighting. Tom was covered in new wounds now. How is he even still standing with all those wounds? It looked as though a part of his wings was sliced cleanly off. I did not know that it was possible for anything to destroy the Rend armour when Lily¡¯s devastating punch was nullified by it. Even my Rapier could not penetrate the wings earlier. Is it because a legendary weapon is needed in order to counter Rend?

    They were fighting on solid ground now. Tom is certainly on the losing edge without his wings. They fought until they were at the edge of the elven forest close to the edge of a cliff.

    ¡°There¡¯s nowhere left to go, Tom. Perhaps if you surrender then I might consider sparing you,¡± said onii-chan.

    ¡°Puhahaha!! Surrender? Now that is something that I¡¯ll never thought I¡¯ll hear. But fuck no, there is no way I¡¯ll surrender. It¡¯s not even the end yet!¡± he shouted.

    He summoned a multitude of bombs covering himself with it. Is he planning to commit suicide? Or is he planning to kamikaze onto us?! Onii-chan turned his head look at us, as though he was warning us to step back which we obliged. He summoned his spectral cloak by pulling his left hand from his right shoulder. I can never get over how cool that looked, I want to learn that too.

    ¡°It¡¯s just you and me, Hawthorn! Time for you to choose. About time we end this for the both of us! You attack me, you die. You deflect my arrow back, you die. You do nothing, well, only you die,¡± he grinned as he drew his bow and blue particles started forming a large arrow. It is that penetrating arrow again.

    Onii-chan summoned a scabbard with his left hand. Then he sheathed Inazuma with it and slotted it at his hip. What spell is he planning to use? Dark Slash can¡¯t hit him at this range. Onii-chan can deflect the arrow somewhere else but Tom can continue shooting more arrows at him. Is there some range attack that onii-chan can use? Lightning Strike perhaps, but at this range, the lightning itself will trigger the explosion from the bombs. What can he do? From where he is standing, the explosion will reach him.

    Onii-chan readied himself with an iai-goshi stance. Tom¡¯s arrow was getting even larger than he previously used. Is onii-chan capable in deflecting such a strong attack? Both Lily and I stood as far as we could from both of them while still being able to see what is going on.

    ¡°Let¡¯s end this,¡± said onii-chan calmly.

    What happened next was in a span of a couple of seconds. Tom released his arrow which flew at onii-chan at ludicrous speed. Onii-chan unsheathed his kodachi which at first had no sign of lightning on it, but mid-way of his swing, numerous lightning started arching around it. With a calm voice, onii-chan said ¡°Kirin¡¯s Thunderbolt¡± and a flash of light blinded my vision.

    After gaining back my sight, I saw Tom sliced in half from his pelvis to his shoulder. The arrow that was flying towards onii-chan was sliced in half as well causing it to fly in a different direction. But the bombs did not trigger somehow.

    Tom was falling off the cliff as he was in disbelieved at what happened. He seemed to be mumbling something that I think it spelled ¡°I have not even decided yet¡±. Both Lily and I started cheering as we knew that onii-chan had won the fight. But the explosion happened even though we can no longer see Tom.

    The ground that onii-chan was standing on started giving way and he too was in a free-fall. I did the unthinkable. I knew I had a fear of falling but I ignored it. All I could think of is saving onii-chan. I rushed towards the edge of the cliff and leaped towards him, chanting sacred wings while diving towards him. He smiled as he saw me reaching out to him. I think I heard him saying ¡°White Angel¡± as I reached out for his hand. Now it is my turn to save him.

 Chapter 55: Final MOON

    Chapter 55: Final MOON

    It felt like I was in a dream. I can float around like I am in some third person camera or something. But I could not see my body nor my hands.

    There was someone in front of me. He was getting beaten by a man. The boy tried fighting back but his strength could not match that of a man. The man laughed at him and told the boy that he will need to become stronger than him if he were to survive in this world.

    I blinked and the scene changed. The boy was a bit older now and the man was teaching him how to shoot a bow. Every time the boy misses, he would get beaten for it.

    The man brought the boy to hunt. At first it was to hunt small games, but then it grew larger to hunting boarette and eventually daarette. The boy came close to dying multiple times as the man just stood by watching the boy hunt. He refused to save the boy despite him coming close to death so many times.

    The scene changed once more. This time the boy is a teenager. He had to hunt a human that the man forced him to accomplish. He succeeded but in doing so, he was being hunted for it as the human he assassinated was a very important person in the city. The man congratulated the teenager and told him that this is the life that he will have to take, in order to succeed his own.

    Jump forth to when the teenager became a young adult, the man congratulated him and passed him his bow as a graduation gift. However, he was told that he needed to kill the man in order to take over his position. The young adult hesitated but the man started insulting him and ordering him to finish the job. The man knew that by making the young adult hate him, it would push him over the edge to murder him. This will allow him to take over as he knew that he only had a few years left to live due to a poison that he was forced to drink when he was captured previously. The young adult eventually caved and released the arrow, hitting a vital mark on the man. He is now an official member of the four great powers.

    The young adult grew up to be a man. He was always on the hunt or being hunted himself. He only trusted money as anything else would betray him eventually. The number of times he almost got himself killed were numerous whether it was by women sent to seduce him but plotting to kill him or lords that called him over offering huge amount of rewards but was secretly plotting to capture him. The man knew that he would never be able to live a normal life ever since he killed his first human on that day.

    The scene changed to the man talking to an old man tied up in a cell. The old man was missing a hand. He interrogated the old man but the old man would not budge. The old man offered to give him money in exchange for letting the information go but the man thought it was a trick and refused to believe such lies. Why would the old man offer money in exchange for information when he should be bargaining for his release instead?

    At first the man stood firm, refusing to even give food or water to the old man. Another reason was that he was hurt really bad, causing sleepless nights or on the verge of death due to self treatment on himself rather than looking for an actual doctor for medical treatment. But he eventually caved and began feeding food and water to the old man after he had recovered properly. He took up the offer of the old man and it turned out to be true. There were a lot of money stashed at the location that the old man had mentioned.

    Confronting the old man, he asked him why is he willing to give so much money in exchange for just some information that he was not willing to give? The man was not broke, he had a lot of money himself as there were not a lot of things that he could spend on in the first place. He was not some greedy bastard that would follow money blindly. He just did his job because it was the only thing that he knew what to do in life.

    The old man was surprised. He commended the man and told him that his perspective had changed about him. This caused anger to the man and he was furious that the old man thought so little of him. He kicked the stack of gold aside and started shouting. But the old man apologised to him causing the man to slump to the ground in a confused state.

    The man released the old man but he refused to leave. He said that he wanted to listen to his story on why he became like this. The man refused at first but eventually gave in. He told the old man his entire life story which somehow calmed him. He had never had anyone to talk to that he could trust, not to mention willing to listen to him.

    The old man gave the man a hug and told him to rethink his ways. He was still young and can make good of himself. He was lost but now someone was willing to guide him to a better path. The man pondered in the forest alone. He was torn on deciding which path to take. It had been years since he took up any job and was hanging around the forest for the past few years. He was contemplating on what else he could do in this world besides being an assassin. That was when another man showed up in front of him demanding for his death.

    ***

    I opened my eyes. Rose and Lily were in front of me.

    ¡°He¡¯s awake,¡± said Lily. Who is she talking to?

    ¡°Onii-chan, are you okay? We did a quick check-up on you and did not find any physical wounds,¡± asked Rose.

    I pushed myself and sat up to see what was going on. There were elves surrounding me. Oh boy, am I going to be tried for destroying a part of their forest?

    ¡°We saw your battle from afar. I¡¯ll have to say, we were all certainly impressed by it, Mister Zen. We were having trouble getting rid of Tom in the first place. To think you actually managed to kill a member of the great powers on your own. The world will know of your victory and welcome you as the newest member of the four great powers. Congratulations,¡± said a male elf as he bowed to me.

    ¡°T.. thank you? You can just call me Zen by the way. Is Tom really dead?¡± I asked him.

    ¡°Yes, we are certain. We found his body at the bottom of the cliff where he had fallen. It was in pieces due to the explosions from his bombs but there were several parts that we could identify. Here is your dagger, by the way,¡± handed the male elf.

    ¡°Wow, the dagger survived the explosion intact? I¡¯m amazed,¡± I wowed as I retrieved the dagger handed to me.

    ¡°It was made from genuine elven smithing, what do you expect?¡± said Lily as she placed her hand on her hip.

    ¡°Zen, Rose, I might be away for some time and I do not know when I¡¯ll be able to meet with the both of you. But I promise that I will come back. Please trust me on that,¡± she said while holding both of our hands.

    ¡°Y.. you¡¯re going somewhere? Where are you going?¡± asked Rose in a panic.

    Lily dragged Rose somewhere away from prying ears and spoke for a time. I couldn¡¯t really see much as Rose was blocking me from seeing Lily¡¯s expression. But I was certain that Rose wiped her eyes a couple of times. They hugged and Rose came back to our side.

    Lily gestured me to come over with a smile. Something is wrong. Did she do something or is she being punished for my trespassing and partial destruction of the elven forest? I went up to her with a concerned look.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on, Lily? Is it something wrong that I did which caused you to be punished?¡± I asked her with genuine concern.

    ¡°No, it is nothing like that. As a matter of fact, the elves are actually happy that you eliminated Tom. They are willing to pardon you for the things you did. Don¡¯t worry about it,¡± she smiled at me.

    ¡°Then why are you leaving us? It sounded like you¡¯re being punished or something. Please let me know what I can help,¡± I said to her.

    She shook her head and just smiled at me. She told me there was nothing I could do. There were things that I she needed to sort out with the Moonshine family and the death of a great power. It is something only an elf can do.

    It felt that she was hiding the truth when she gave me one of the saddest smile. I gave her a hug and told her that I will be waiting for her in the City Of Pines and she will be welcomed to my future house whenever she wanted.

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    I whispered something to her which gave her a genuine surprise. She smiled and gave me a hug. I know it was probably not the right time to inform her about it but I have no idea when I will see her again. It¡¯s best that she know of my decision rather than who knows when. I promised that I will tell them when it is over and I intend to do so.

    We walked back to where the others were. A part of me wanted to reach out to Lily and drag her back to the city. But she was determined to stay and sort out whatever she needed to do.

    ¡°We¡¯ll be waiting for you, Lily. Don¡¯t worry about it. Do come and find us once you get back to the city,¡± said Rose. It felt more like a pleading than an offer.

    Lily gave a bow to both of us and left with a few of the other elves. Do I regret not stopping her from leaving? Perhaps a little bit.

    I stood up and did a quick body checkup of my own. There was indeed no wounds at all. What happened during my fight with Tom? I remembered very clearly I had some serious wounds when I fought with Tom. Something must have happened when I blacked out for some time but I have no recollection of it.

    ¡°There is somewhere we need to show you. Let us guide you, Zen,¡± said another female elf.

    ¡°I know. It is where my grandfather is being held captive, right? Lead the way,¡± I told the elf and she made a genuine surprised face.

    I asked Rose to tag along as we headed deeper into the elven forest. She was hesitating to meet him as she was in a bad condition with her clothes and hair being a mess. I told her this might be the only time she can meet him. If grandfather is still alive, he should be at least around a 100 years old by now.

    I have so many questions to ask this female elf who is guiding us. Why did Tom decided to hide in the elven forest? And why did the elves even allowed him to roam in their forest unrestricted?

    ¡°You probably have a lot of questions and I will try to answer them pertaining to Tom. But before that, how did you know that your grandfather is still alive?¡± asked the female elf as though she had read my mind.

    ¡°I had a hunch. And also a dream showed me that he was still alive,¡± I told her.

    ¡°A¡­ dream? You sure are full of surprises, Mister Zen. Allow me to explain why Tom was out here in the elven forest,¡± she said.

    She started her story by saying that Tom had an existing pact with the elves. The pact was carried over from his father which is to allow him to seek shelter in the elven forest. How his father established this pact in the first place was because he helped the elves with a very important task a long time ago. This was when his father was still respectable man. Things changed after he obtained the title of being the fourth great power. He became an assassin right after his wife was murdered, leaving him a child to care for. The female elf warned me of the potential dangers waiting for me ahead when the world knows that Zen Hawthorn is going to be the new fourth great power.

    Tom¡¯s father went on a killing spree ever since that day and the elves were obviously troubled by his sudden change. If the world knew that the elves were giving a free pass to an assassin to seek shelter in their forest then it would give them a horrible reputation.

    So the elves had to take matters into their own hands. They tried denying passage to Tom¡¯s father at first but he knew a few of the high ranking elves that will support him in seeking shelter so they had no choice but to obey. Then came the good news of Tom¡¯s father hitting the grave. Now they can deny passage to Tom as the pact was only applicable to his father.

    Sadly, that was not the case. Tom had leverage given by his father. As it turned out, that pact was actually applicable for any direct descendants belonging to Tom¡¯s father. Such was the strength of the pact given to him. The female elf mentioned that she had no idea what Tom¡¯s father did that gained him such a pact with the elves. Usually it would had taken something extremely noble or some impossible task to warrant such a pact to be given by the high ranking members of the elves.

    And so, Tom had entry into their forest. There were some elves that took matters into their own hands and tried to eliminate Tom but he was called one of the great powers for a reason. Truth be told, Tom had not used his full powers when fighting against me. She had seen what he was capable of doing in the past but that was before he fought my grandfather. Perhaps grandfather had weakened him somehow in ways that helped me with in his defeat.

    Do I regret killing Tom? Absolutely not. The fact remained that he almost killed me, robbed me of my time that I could had spent with my grandfather. I promised to tell him of the tales and adventures that I had been through. It doesn¡¯t matter why the Gods decided to show me his story from his perspective. He was my revenge goal and I had to finish it. Now I can finally move on.

    We reached some ruins that was made of stones. There were a few pillars but there was nothing around to indicate anything aside from.. well, stones. The female elf crouched down to look for something. Rose and I decided to look around the pillars as it had some form of art drew on it. There was nothing fascinating about it but one art stood out among the rest for me. It looked like a sword that was protruded slightly more than the others. I guess you can call it a.. stonesword?

    I stroked the sword and gave a little push just for kicks. I did not expect it to slot in and started making rumbling noises. I turned around to see what other destruction that I wrecked in this forest but a part of the stone floor starting moving aside, creating a sort of secret passage into an underground area.

    ¡°Oh, you found it. How did you know where the trigger is?¡± asked the female elf.

    ¡°I¡­ guess I got lucky? Call it beginner¡¯s luck,¡± I told her with an awkward smile.

    She gestured us both to head in. I asked her whether there was any possibility of traps when we go inside and she said it is up for us to determine on that as her duty was only to guide us to this location. She smiled and wished us luck.

    It was dark going in but thankfully there was an unlit torch close to the entrance. Rose took out some animal oil, poured some over it and lighted it with a flint. Her survival skills had improved significantly from the time I taught her when she was young. How much had she grown.

    I passed the torch to Rose and took a look at her face. She was taken aback by my sudden behaviour and looked away. I moved her face back by grabbing her chin. I took some water out and wiped some of the dirt that was on her face and combed her hair with my fingers as best as I could. I tried my very best to make her look more presentable before meeting grandfather.

    I took back the torch and headed forward. Rose was confused by my sudden caring behaviour and stood confused looking at me. I had to gesture her to follow to snap her out of her confusion. The stairs going down was steep and small so I instinctively held Rose¡¯s hand to make sure she does not slip as she was wearing boots. This once again sent her into confusion mode.

    We came upon a simple room. There was a bed at a corner that was bloodied and ill-maintained, and other wooden furnitures that looked really old. It was minimalist at best but at least the place was clean. There were two doors, one ahead and another to the right. Based on the smell, I suspected the right to be the toilet. I ignored that door and proceeded to the one up ahead.

    Once again it was a flight of stairs leading to another lower level. I braved myself and headed downwards all the while keeping an eye for traps. Thankfully, there were none. Upon reaching the lower level, it was very clear that this was a jail of some sort to keep someone in as there was another door with bars to peek in. Is grandfather inside?

    I assumed the door would be locked but surprisingly, it was not. I opened the door and pointed the torch in. There seemed to be no one around that I can see. I guess grandfather is not here? It took me a second later to see someone extremely frail sitting in the corner.

    I rushed as quickly as I could to that person. I did a quick check on this person while crouching down. His right hand was missing, but his head was lowered. Was I too late? I lifted his head to see whether if it was really grandfather, and indeed he was. I checked his pulse but felt nothing.

    I closed my eyes and look upwards. Fuck, I was too late.

    Rose stood next to me and took the torch from my hands. She shook me rigorously while calling out to me. I opened my eyes and grandfather¡¯s eyes started opening. What is going on? I thought he had no pulse?

    ¡°Ojii-san? Do you recognise me?¡± I said to him while shaking him a little.

    ¡°B.. boy? Is that really you?¡± he asked with a very soft voice.

    ¡°Y.. yes! It¡¯s me, Zen. Let me bring get you out of here!¡± I said while grabbing his arm trying to lift him.

    ¡°N.. no, you don¡¯t have to do that. The above had granted me my wish to speak with you one last time. Now please, tell me all about your adventures. I wish to hear what you¡¯ve been through,¡± he said with a smile.

    ¡°What are you talking about? We can get you to safety for medical treatment. You¡¯re still alive and you can make it. Please don¡¯t treat this as though this is the last time that I¡¯ll talk to you,¡± I said hastily.

    ¡°Onii-chan, his pulse is weak,¡± said Rose as she tugged on my cloak as she checked his pulse.

    ¡°Come boy, I wish to hear your story. And who this lovely lady might be as she called you her brother,¡± he continued as though he ignored me earlier.

    I thought of dragging him out of this small dungeon but something is telling me that in doing so, will ruin my one and only opportunity to talk with him one last time. So I sat down and talked with him. I introduced Rose to him as my little sister that I saved. Then I told him all of my adventures. From the guild I¡¯ve chosen, to the discovery of my gauntlets, and the visit to the Demon Continent where I eventually found Tengu-kaze. I continued my stories about how I met two of the great powers and actually got acquainted with them. Then I told him about the war that I waged with the City Of Pines and eventually killing Tom for revenge.

    All the while he just smiled at me without saying much. It was as though every word from me was precious enough that it deserved no interruption from him.

    ¡°You really had come very far, my boy. Who would had thought that you would end up becoming a member of the great powers. I guess I had taught you well. A shame that Tom did not changed for the better,¡± he said while coughing badly.

    ¡°Your teachings shaped me to who I am today, Ojii-san. And I am forever thankful for it,¡± I bowed to him.

    ¡°Young lady, please take care of him for me. I understand if he is not ideal for you as he is shorter, but please indulge in my request,¡± he said to Rose with a smile.

    ¡°I will. It is an honour to finally meet you,¡± replied Rose while she bowed to him.

    ¡°I am so sorry grandfather, if only I knew you were still alive then I would had came for you. I really had no idea,¡± I apologised to him with a dogeza position.

    ¡°Arise boy, you do not have to be sorry. All I want is for you to be better. Come closer and let me take a look at how much you¡¯ve grown,¡± he said with a smile.

    I obliged and came closer to him while crouching. He placed his left hand on my cheek and smiled happily.

    ¡°I am so happy that you still turned out to be a good person. You really are¡­. a.. miracle child,¡± he dropped his hand.

    ¡°Ojii-san? Ojii-san?!¡± I shook his shoulder and checked his pulse. There were none.

    I punched the floor. I did not even realised I was crying until Rose came over to give me a hug.

    ***

    I kneeled in prayers near a cliff next to a tree. This location is not far from where I stayed in the forbidden forest when I was young. Grandfather loves coming here to meditate as there is a clear view of the sunrise and sunset. Hence, I decided to bury him here as I am sure that he would be happy that he was laid to rest here.

    I placed his katana next to his tombstone that I found in Tom¡¯s hideout hanging on a wall. Was he keeping it as a trophy or something, I do not know.

    Q poked his head out of the ground holding a flower and placed it on grandfather¡¯s grave. I am so glad that he survived. It would seemed that they were not indestructible at all. As it turns out, they have a weak point at one specific location which either Tom happened to know or just got lucky. Who knew that Q¡¯s belly was actually his weak point when he allowed us to rub and tickle it so often.

    I sense my wife to be standing behind me. I stood up and held both of her hands. It was here that I confessed and asked her to marry me in front of grandfather¡¯s grave. She hesitated at first but I told her that she was the only one for me and I had made my decision. Unless she decided to reject me then I¡¯ll end up alone in this cold hard world.

    Giving some thought, she finally said yes. I gave her a tight hug and told her that I will never let her go. Rose started sobbing at my words. I chose Rose and she will forever be my wife.

    ***

    ¡°And that¡¯s the end of the story of how I met your mother,¡± I told Daisy.

    ¡°Yay! Mommy won! But how come I don¡¯t remember it being so long the first time?¡± asked Daisy with a thinking face.

    ¡°I did not finish it previously as you lost interest mid-way,¡± I told her with a speechless face.

    ¡°Then how was I born? I wanna hear that story,¡± asked Daisy with a curious face.

    ¡°Umm.. now that, I will leave it to your mother,¡± I gestured towards Rose.

    ¡°What? Hell no, I am not going to be the one who tell her about that. Your dad is the one who is an expert at it. Let him do the honour,¡± Rose pointed at me.

    ¡°I just told the entire plot of a story. I¡¯m not about to start another,¡± we continued arguing back and forth.

    It has been a long journey but I am glad that things happened the way it did. Speak of the time, I should get ready for the council tomorrow. The guildmasters will throw a fit if I did not show up. Things will be rough moving forward and my gut is telling me that there will many more things to accomplish in life. I guess the peaceful life that I had enjoyed for the past 15 years is about to end.

 Book 1: Epilogue

    Book 1: Epilogue

    I pushed the heavy doors opened. All of the guildmasters were already here. John is still the Viking Lord even after 15 years had passed and he is still going strong. What a guy. Truth be told, all the guildmasters aside from the Dragon Lord had not changed. Even the Paladin Lord with a missing arm retained his position. Just how old is he exactly?

    ¡°Zen, you¡¯re here. Let us begin. Your report states that the Demon King is able to influence dragons directly? Are you certain this is true?¡± asked the Dark Lord.

    ¡°Everything stated in it is as per my observation,¡± I answered clearly.

    ¡°And.. you said you talked to this dragon before killing it?¡± asked the Paladin Lord with a curious face.

    ¡°Indeed, I was taken aback at first but it certainly did happened and not one of my delusions,¡± I answered.

    ¡°That.. is grave news indeed. What else do we have to add on in our list of bajillion problems?¡± asked John to the other guildmasters.

    Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

    ¡°We know you have started a family, Zen. But we are in dire need of your help. We had given you flexibility in doing task for the past 15 years but I¡¯m afraid we cannot hold back the tide any longer. We will need Rose to help out as well,¡± said the new Dragon Lord.

    ¡°I get the feeling that was the case when I was summoned here. Tell me what¡¯s gotten you all spooked,¡± I asked them.

    ¡°Where do we even begin? From a town that had mysterious died in their sleep, to a mysterious organization that had been secretly slaying demons for unknown purpose. And now we have talking dragons to worry about that is presumably being controlled by the Demon King himself. Just to list a few by the way,¡± said the Dragon Lord.

    ¡°We also have the church to worry about. Apparently they announced that they had found a way to cure any sickness, disease or illness. That warrant suspicions on its own,¡± said John.

    ¡°Our church of the Divinity Goddess is free of controversy by the way,¡± added the Elementalist. Gee, way to look down on humans for once.

    ¡°These are dark times, Zen. We usually call upon the help of one of the great powers when we are in a dire situation. Seeing that you are the closest one to us, we humbly ask for your help,¡± asked the Dark Lord.

    ¡°Speaking of Sladar, are there any reports from him so far?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Yes, he reportedly said that things in the Demon Continent had.. taken a strange turn. More flora and fauna started blooming and thriving all of a sudden. Not to mention a tribe of humans had moved to the Demon Continent to start anew. The strange thing is that demons are not attacking them whatsoever which puzzled even Sladar himself,¡± said the Paladin Lord.

    ¡°I would like to add that creatures and monsters are also starting to attack the city walls directly. Not just dragons,¡± said John.

    ¡°And the imminent threat of the Demon King¡¯s return that we all need to start preparing for,¡± added the Elementalist.

    I sighed loudly. There are certainly a lot of things that we need to investigate. No doubt I will need all my closest friends and my loving wife for help.

    I looked at the guildmasters with their gaze gleaming with anticipation. ¡°Where do I begin?¡± I smirked.

 Book 2 - Prologue

    I am sure you all are probably wondering, why is this guy talking to us directly even though he is not an Isekai character. You are right. I am not someone who was Isekai¡¯ed here and I have an entire backstory to cover for it. As to why I know you guys are here? Well, I¡¯ll have you know that my sixth sense are way off the charts. I can hear your thoughts, read them and even talk directly to you. Be warned as you head further ahead into the story.

    Alright, I¡¯ve had my fun. To be honest, I have no idea whether is there anyone peeking in on my life¡¯s story. Ever since I was young, I always felt like I was being watched wherever I go so I ended up talking to myself most of the time. Call it my way of comforting myself in this cold hard world that I was born in. There are people watching me right? Or am I just mad? I hope there are, otherwise I really am talking to myself.

    Right, where are my manners. Name¡¯s Zen Hawthorn, son of Jack Hawthorn and Jane Gladiolus. If you had followed me through my backstory, you would had known that I am officially married now. My wife, Rose Starr, who was also my little sister, fell in love with me and I decided to marry her. Wait, I know what you¡¯re thinking, it is not incest, I swear! We are not blood-related whatsoever and I just happened to rescue her from a horrible caretaker that was treating her badly.

    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re bringing me into the story so early? What happened to hiding my identity as you did with the previous one?¡± asked Rose as she poked her head into the room.

    ¡°There is no way I can do that now. Everything is going to be live moving forward. Every step, breathe, adventure and such is going to be in real time,¡± I explained to her.

    ¡°Uh huh, I¡¯ll just let you talk to yourself as you always do while I finish up some chores,¡± said Rose as she walked away.

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    Right, where was I? Ah yes, I also happened to have a..

    ¡°Daddy!¡± shouted Daisy as she ran up to me.

    ¡°Right on cue. This here is my lovely daughter that is the result of my love with Rose. A precious little being that I will and must protect until my last dying breath,¡± I said as I placed her on my lap.

    ¡°You mean the result of you being horny all the time!¡± shouted Rose from another room.

    ¡°Hey! Daisy is right here!¡± I shouted back.

    ¡°Daddy, what is horny? Are you growing horns?¡± asked Daisy.

    ¡°Uh.. no. Daddy will not be growing horns anytime soon, sweetie. Don¡¯t you worry,¡± I smiled awkwardly at her.

    What else is there? Ah yes, my good brother, John Gladiolus, who could potentially be my real cousin for all I know. He had gotten married to his beautiful elven wife, Daffodil Vermouth and had a child of their own. Despite female elves being known for having difficulty in conceiving, John did a pretty good job in having one within ten years after their marriage. And their hybrid daughter is certainly out of this world in terms of cuteness.

    ¡°Are you saying you regret in marrying me?! I told you to choose Lily but you chose me instead!¡± shouted Rose from another room.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t say that! I have no regrets in choosing you and I standby it!¡± I shouted back.

    Ahem, apologies for that. My wife had grown worse over the years after we had married. Now we are like some old couple that bicker every chance we get. How I wish I can turn back time to when we first started dating. Ah, those memories were sweet and lovely. Now she is just like some old crony that is constantly looking for an opportunity to snap at me every chance she gets.

    ¡°The hell you say about me?! Just you wait mister, you better hope I don¡¯t poison your meal later!¡± shouted Rose.

    Yikes, I am in trouble. Speaking of which, I really wonder where did Lily Moonshine went. She had only visited us once and she did not inform us where she went after that. Rose and I were so worried that we might not be able to see her again in our lifetime when she said her farewell about 15 years ago. Thankfully, she came over to visit both Rose and I around 5 years ago. She had certainly gotten more beautiful over the years but to my surprise, she is still single despite so many years had passed. Is she not beautiful in the elven world? What are those male elves looking at nowadays? Sigh.

    ¡°Are you done? You do realise that you have to take Daisy to school, right?¡± asked Rose as she came over.

    ¡°Oh, is it time already? I was bored waiting for time to pass and just started rambling to myself,¡± I said.

    ¡°Well, now is time for you to go. Go on, get. Before Daisy is late for school,¡± Rose dragged me up and started pushing me.

    ¡°Alright alright, look forward to more of my story,¡± I waved at an imaginary audience.

    ¡°Bai bai,¡± waved Daisy as she followed after me.

 Book 2 - Chapter 56

    I opened my eyes. Where am I exactly? Oh, right. I am resting on the ground underneath a large tree waiting for Daisy to be done with her school. I had a grass in my mouth that I chewed on as I waited for her. Daisy¡¯s primary school is actually inside the city. But somehow Rose insisted that Daisy should attend extra lessons on her day off to learn more about flowers and ingredients. And this school is located outside of the city. Is Rose expecting Daisy to learn alchemy later on in her life? Despite being close to my one and only daughter Rose, I still had no idea what is her interest or what she will end up working as when she is older. How strange that I can¡¯t seems to figure out what her primary interest is.

    The sound of a woman and children can be heard as a door opened. I guess it was dismissal time now. A crowd of parents are hogging the main entrance of the school as they always do. I leaned against this particular tree every single time as I waited for Daisy to be dismissed. Other children are not allowed to leave the school premises without a teacher escorting them except for Daisy. She is a special child favoured by all the teachers in the school for her good behaviour. Hence, she deserves such special treatment. Alright, I am lying. The teachers know full well that I am one of the great powers and they are afraid of me. And besides, who would be willing to kidnap the child of the fourth great powers when he literally murdered the world¡¯s greatest assassin in this world single-handedly?

    Today was different though. The classroom teacher was escorting Daisy out of the premise. Uh oh, did Daisy do something bad and she wishes to talk to me? I have a bad feeling about this. I walked closer to the main entrance and asked to be excused. Some parents were annoyed that I had asked them to make way but they gave themselves a scare as they saw my face. One by one the parents started giving way to me and stopped talking as I walk up to the main entrance where Daisy and the teacher was waiting.

    ¡°Is there something wrong, Miss Aster?¡± I asked the teacher.

    ¡°Yes, I would like to talk to you about Daisy. Can you meet me over there where we can talk peacefully?¡± she asked as she pointed towards a fenced area away from the main entrance.

    I obliged and held Daisy¡¯s hand as she was passed over to me. I met with Miss Aster as we talked over the fence.

    ¡°Should I be worried?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s nothing too serious. Daisy was not the one that initiated the fight today. As a matter of fact, it was Daisy who was getting bullied by her classmate. She just stood up and fought back against her other classmate who was saying bad things about her. So I am just letting you know, just in case the parents start complain that Daisy had hit their child and started the fight,¡± she told me with a smile.

    Daisy was putting up a fight with a bully? That¡¯s my girl. No one messes with my child and gets away with it.

    I crouched down to talk with my daughter.

    ¡°Daisy? Did you fight with your classmate? What did that person do that caused you to fight back?¡± I asked her with a soft tone.

    ¡°He said that I am almost old enough to be an adventurer but I am still coming to school. I told him I am not going to be an adventurer which is why I am learning more things to determine what I want to be when I am older. But then he started teasing my height and such which made me angry. I just knock his head with my fist but then he started attacking me,¡± explained Daisy as she started pouting and crossed her arms.

    I smiled at her and gave her a head pet. Similar to her mother, Daisy loves getting head pets from me.

    ¡°Just so you know, I am not scolding you for it. You are very brave for standing up for yourself. I am proud of you, my little girl. Now, who is this boy that was bullying you? I would like to see him for myself,¡± I asked her.

    She pointed me to the boy. Daisy had some very minor bruises and scratches on her face and around her hands but the boy had it worse. One of his cheek was swollen as though Daisy had punched him really hard. Perhaps she did.

    The parents were complaining to the teachers, asking them on what happened to their boy. The parents turned their head and glared at me but I returned a scary glare of my own with a grin. Their faces changed with fear as they slowly turned their head away while sweats ran down their forehead. If they wish to cause problem to me or my child, they are going to have a tough time. Whether it is power, money or status, I supersede them in all categories.

    ¡°Thanks for informing me, Miss Aster. I do hope that Daisy did not caused you any other trouble?¡± I bowed to her lightly.

    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t you worry. Daisy is a brilliant child with much potential. She does her studies properly and doesn¡¯t disturb her classmates. She is going to be a prominent figure when she is older. Isn¡¯t that right, Daisy?¡± said Miss Aster with a smile on her face which made Daisy smiled back at her.

    I bowed to her once more and took my leave, holding Daisy¡¯s hand as we headed back home. It was not that far from the city but there is no way I am allowing my child to walk back alone when there are reports of dragons and monsters being sighted attacking villages or towns. So far, there was no dragons that attacked City Of Pines directly which I am thankful for. But there was no way I am risking it just because ¡®it had not happened before¡¯.

    I pulled up her hood because it was getting sunny and I pulled up mine as well. I am still wearing my favourite cloak made from red dragonhide dragon given to me by my teacher. It is the best cloak one can have that offers the best protection one can hope for. And yes, I had get it fixed due to the previous intense fights that I fought in .

    I thought of what the boy said to Daisy. What is he talking about? What do you mean Daisy is old enough to be an adventurer? She is just an adorable child. In order to become an adventurer, you must be at least 11 years old before you are qualified. Daisy is just¡­ ten?

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    Wait a minute. Daisy is ten, right? Isn¡¯t she qualified to be an adventurer by next year? But that can¡¯t be right. She looks tiny and she does not have the same height as when I first saved Rose. Even I was taller than her when I was 10 and I am the shortest among my group of friends and family. Not to mention she is not behaving like a 10 year old. Now that I think about it, why was I even telling my backstory to a 10 year old in the first place? I am surprised she is even interested in it.

    Is there something wrong with Daisy? From what I can see, she acts like she is half her age along with her height. Oh dear lord, how did I not noticed this before?! Is Daisy having a stunted growth or something? I should rush home and talk with Rose before it is too late!

    I wanted to run but that would cause Daisy to be suspicious on what is going on. I need to keep my cool. I cannot believe I had never noticed that Daisy was not acting her age. When I was 10, I was already learning sword fighting and retaliating against my grandfather. May he rest in peace. But Daisy is still sticking close to me like a 5 year old.

    ¡°Daisy, you are 10 this year, right?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°Huh? Uh.. yes?¡± she replied me with a confused look on her face.

    ¡°Daddy, why are you sweating so much? I thought your cloak helps to keep you cool?¡± she asked me.

    ¡°Ah, daddy just have a lot of thoughts in his mind. Don¡¯t worry about it, alright sweetie?¡± I told her.

    Obviously I cannot tell her that I am freaking out inside my head right now. The first thing when I reach home is to talk with Rose and figure out what we need to do to help Daisy.

    Commotions could be heard in front of us. It looked as though someone is fighting against.. demons? What are they doing right outside the city walls? While there are demons still running around in this continent due to the war I instigated previously (my bad), but they are too far and few in between to be right out here in the open. Nevertheless, there are demons inhabiting both Western and Eastern Continents today.

    This person fought in a unique way. Dodging with precision when the demon attacked and only attacking when there is an opportunity. But there were a couple of demons that the person was fighting against. I guess I should lend a hand. I made sure Daisy was safe behind me as she tugged on my pants as she always do. I took out my elven dagger and activated Concentration.

    That person fought well but a demon managed to sneaked up from behind and attempted to swing its claws at that person. I threw my dagger and it hit the demon perfectly in the eye. The person swung his blade and sliced the demon¡¯s neck, causing blood to splatter and spill out from its neck like a fountain. I made sure to block Daisy¡¯s vision to prevent her from seeing what happened to that demon.

    We were still some distance away from that person as we walked closer to the scene. He was collecting something from each demon that I could not really see. Then, he sat on a rock as though he was waiting for me to approach closer.

    ¡°Trima kase, Mister Zen. I appreciate the help,¡± said the person as she tossed my dagger back to me skilfully.

    Oh shoot, it was a lady? I did not even realised it as she was wearing a duster hat and coat that covered her face entirely. Her outfit is what you would describe as Victorian style. Wait a minute, how did she knew who I am?

    ¡°Ah, shama shama. Think nothing of it,¡± I said as I caught my dagger.

    Hang on, what the hell did I just say? How did I even know what to reply to this lady? I have never heard of such language before in my entire life!

    ¡°These demons are such a nuisance with their numbers. I am amazed that adventurers are capable of fighting so many of them at a time. You all really amaze me,¡± she said while still sitting down on the flat rock.

    ¡°Right you are. If you¡¯ll excuse me, I would like to be on my way with my daughter,¡± I said as I bowed lightly to her and hurried Daisy to come along.

    ¡°I am afraid I cannot let you leave, Mister Zen. You are a difficult man to find and our chances of crossing path again is rather minuscule. I would like to request a duel, if you do not mind,¡± she said as she stood up preventing me and Daisy from passing through.

    ¡°Please, you do not have to do this. And yes, I do mind because I have my daughter with me. If you would be so kind as to allow me through, I will be waiting here again tomorrow should you wish to duel with me. I would gladly do so without my daughter next to me,¡± I told her.

    ¡°Another day might be the death of me, Mister Zen. I do not know whether I would survive to see another day. Such is the life of a hunter,¡± she unsheathed her blade from her scabbard.

    Her weapon looked.. weird. The hilt was curved as though it is disguised as a cane while the blade is serrated like a saw. Almost like a.. sawblade? This weapon is designed to cause a lot of pain and be as messy as possible, delivering wounds that is difficult to heal. Who are these hunters? How had I not heard of them before?

    ¡°You wish to fight me because of the title of the great powers? I do not think that is a good idea seeing as you already had difficulty in fighting those demons earlier,¡± I warned her.

    ¡°Ah, as you can see, Mister Zen, it does not matter even if we know that we will lose. Because to a hunter, all they must do, is hunt,¡± said the lady as she rushed towards me with her sawblade.

    I held my dagger ready while keeping Daisy behind me. I need to minimise my movements as to ensure that Daisy is safe behind me. I reactivated Concentration to make sure I do not do anything foolish with this person. One wrong mistake and it could cause Daisy¡¯s life.

    The hunter swung her blade which is blocked with my dagger. Her weapon almost pulled my dagger away due to the serrated blade as she pulled her weapon back. What a way to use such a weapon. This lady is certainly skilled.

    She continued her attack, alternating between a forward and reverse grip but I blocked or parried all of them. She raised her left fist which I thought she wanted to punch me but it stopped short before even reaching me. Is this one of her fighting technique? Using feint to fool your opponent? But my nose smelled something that made me react instinctively.

    Bang!

    Pellets flew above my head as I ducked earlier due to the the smell of gunpowder. She has a gun hidden under her sleeves? How did she fired it? Since when were guns so advanced? I was sure we were still using muskets or flintlocks in general. How dare she shoot her gun at me with Daisy behind me. I¡¯m sure my cloak would had protected her from those pellets but still. This shall not stand!

    ¡°Not bad, Mister Zen. The rumours about you having quick reaction speed appeared to be true,¡± said the lady.

    ¡°While I appreciate the compliment, you shot your gun when my child was behind me. I am going to be serious now,¡± I removed my cloak and wrapped Daisy around it, making sure she is fully protected.

    Then I walked closer to the lady and activated Fear on her with Concentration active. I can see that she is starting to quail in fear as she started shivering. With one quick motion, she turned her wrist and slit a wound just below her shoulder. Is she using pain to overcome her fear? Now that is commendable.

    But there is no reason for me to just sit back and let her recover herself. I rushed and met her head-on. I took a swipe and she dodged it aside. She is nimble and her reflexes are quick, I¡¯ll give her that. But when it comes to speed, I won¡¯t lose. I pushed the attack and took another swipe at her which she blocked it with her blade. Just as planned, I released my dagger and crouched low. Then I performed an upward palm strike on her abdomen which sent her flying backwards. I grabbed my dagger before it touched the ground and leaped after her.

    She performed a quick backflip from the ground and got back on her feet but I reached her before she got ready. I took a swiped and sliced through her thick coat. Blood was dripping from her wound and she quickly leaped backwards. The wound was not exactly fatal but she will certainly need stitches. She took out a syringe containing green fluid and stabbed it on her neck.

    Something unbelievable happened. Her wounds were mending itself right before my very eyes. There.. is a way to cure wounds instantly now? Even my healing gel just stops the bleeding and assist in the curing process. It can never heal wounds instantly.

    ¡°You really are as powerful as the legend says, Mister Zen. I doubt I can defeat you in my current state. I will be taking my leave if you don¡¯t mind,¡± she took out two vials of liquid and smash it onto the ground.

    ¡°Jompa legi, Mister Zen. Be seeing you soon¡± said the lady as smokes began to spread all around her.

    What a dramatic way of exiting herself. She could had just asked for my permission and I would had let her leave without using her smoke bombs. But sadly, I did not had the chance to ask her about the fluid that she used to heal herself. I am certainly interested in it. A method to heal wounds instantly is what I had been trying to create with my alchemy for the past 15 years but sadly, I had not made such breakthrough. Perhaps I can ask the guildmasters about it.

    Daisy ran towards me while wearing my cloak, dragging the back portion against the ground. While it was painful for me to watch my cloak getting disintegrated by the friction (an exaggeration), the way she ran up to me all happy and smiling melts my heart entirely. I lifted her up and pulled the hood away. Her eyes were practically gleaming with excitement.

    ¡°Daddy! You were so cool! You sure beat up that lady good!¡± she shouted at me as she pulled on my sleeve.

    ¡°Haha.. don¡¯t tell your mother, alright? Let¡¯s get you something before we head home seeing as you were such a brave girl,¡± I said as I carried her into the city.

    I guess I would have to talk with my wife first about Daisy and this mysterious hunter. I wonder if she knows about it.

 Book 2 - Chapter 57

    I brought Daisy to the marketplace where she is currently choosing what snack she wanted. I promised to reward her for being a brave girl and a promise is a promise. She was having trouble in selecting what snack she wanted as there were so many to choose from. I gave her freedom to make her own decision as I turned around to look at the marketplace. There was certainly a lot of people buying fresh goods and such. While I certainly preferred the fresh goods at the port, it does not justify taking entire day of carriage journey just to purchase fresh goods there and returning back to the city.

    ¡°Look Daddy, apple pen!¡± said Daisy as she tugged on my sleeve.

    ¡°No sweetie, that is a toffee apple. Do you want this as your snack?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°Nnn!¡± she nodded her head with a smile.

    I purchased the toffee apple for her and head on home. Ah, what an adorable child. Apple pen? Now that is certainly something that I can think of. I chuckle at what she said earlier as we were walking back home. Hang on.. that is certainly something that only I should be able to think of. Why is Daisy mentioning it instead? Does she.. have my curse as well?! OH NO!! How am I going to tell Rose?! Not only does she have stunted growth, she also have my curse!!

    ¡°Daddy, you¡¯re sweating again. Are you alright?¡± asked Daisy with a genuine concerned look at me.

    ¡°I am fine. You don¡¯t have to worry. We are almost home,¡± I told her.

    Obviously I am not fine. Every step back to my house is like walking closer to the fiery death of Mordor. I opened the gate into our small garden and Daisy rushed in. I stood outside to admire my house. I bought this house with Rose when I decided to marry her. We did a lot of property searching and decided to settle upon this one. It was not a fancy house mind you, even though I could afford certainly afford a more expensive one. My royalty fees from my Mermaid¡¯s Breath potion had been accumulating for so many years. So much so that my next few generations would not even need to earn a penny from the day they are born. Of course, I wouldn¡¯t allow them to get lazy, I will make sure to lock majority of the money as fixed deposits and will only be opened to them when they reach a certain age.

    This house is just a two-storey house with a small garden located at the front where I grew a tree for shade and other alchemical ingredients. It is the perfect size for a small family and it is not too far from all the basic necessities that we need for our daily life. All in all, I love this house.

    I headed in and saw that Daisy was talking to Rose about what happened earlier. Rose just smiled at her and wowed at her story. Of course she asked why she was eating a toffee apple when dinner was approaching soon.

    ¡°I¡¯m back,¡± I announced to Rose as I removed my shoes and placed it by the entrance.

    ¡°Welcome back. Heard something exciting happened while you were picking up Daisy. Do you.. want to talk about it?¡± asked Rose as she was carrying Daisy.

    ¡°Before that, Daisy, I believe you have some schoolwork, right? Can you head upstairs and finish it?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°Awwwww.. there is still days before I will need to hand it in. Do I have to do it now?¡± she asked me.

    ¡°Hmmm.. I tell you what, if you finish it today, then daddy will bring you over to the playground tomorrow. Deal?¡± I pulled out my pinky to her.

    ¡°Deal!¡± she wrapped my pinky with hers and headed upstairs on the spot.

    ¡°Alright, what is going on? You don¡¯t usually bring her to the playground as you hate people staring at you. Tell me¡­ o-nii-chan~¡± Rose whispered to me at the end.

    Bloody hell, she sure knows how to get me pumped up. We spent countless nights enjoying ourselves because she knew how to excite me. Perks of being my little sister before my wife.

    I brushed her hair aside and stroke her cheek. Rose had gotten older after 15 years. She is 32 now and her looks had gotten matured but much more beautiful. Whenever I bring her out, guys would either stare or take a quick peek at her. That and she had also learned how to put makeup on herself. I wonder if Lily was the one who taught her how.

    I gave her a deep passionate kiss. Our lips parted and she was blushing. Even after all these years, she still blush whenever I give her a passionate kiss. She told me it is because I still look exactly as I did 15 years ago when I confessed and proposed to her. Seeing my face kept reminding her of that time. Yes, I stopped growing or probably had a stunted growth by the age of 20. I am worried that this is affecting Daisy as well. I still do not know why I stopped growing older as it just does not make any sense.

    ¡°Rose, stay calm about what I am going to ask you, alright? Do you think¡­. Daisy has some issues?¡± I asked her with a concerned face.

    ¡°What do you mean? Elaborate please,¡± she asked me with a concerned look.

    ¡°Daisy.. doesn¡¯t feel like she is 10. Isn¡¯t she like.. shorter than both of us when we were 10? And also her demeanour, she is acting like she is half her age. Should we be concerned about it?¡± I asked her with a sigh.

    ¡°Oo¡­ that. I was kind of hoping you didn¡¯t take notice about that,¡± said Rose as she looked away.

    ¡°Rose, what do you mean? You knew about it?¡± I asked her with my mouth agape.

    ¡°I am her mother. Of course I noticed this years ago. I didn¡¯t tell you about it because I did not want you to know,¡± she told me.

    ¡°W.. why? Am I such an incompetent husband that you do not deem me fit to know about the condition of our daughter?¡± I asked her with a sad look.

    ¡°Well, it did took you until today to realise Daisy¡¯s condition, but no. Zen dear, onii-chan~ I didn¡¯t tell you is because I promised Lily not to tell you. If I were to talk to you about Daisy¡¯s condition, you would had linked it to your own condition,¡± she explained.

    ¡°So what is wrong with our daughter? I need to know is there something wrong about her. How come Lily has the right to know when the husband does not?¡± I pressed her for more answers.

    She gave a deep sigh and gave it some thoughts. I stared at her hoping for an answer about our child¡¯s condition. She gave in and eventually tell me about it.

    ¡°Onii-chan, you remember the time when you.. died? Lily was the one who resurrected you,¡± she said.

    If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

    ¡°Yes I am aware of that. You told me before and I gave her my best appreciation when she came over previously. Is it due to what she used on me that is affecting Daisy?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°I did ask her about it when she came over. She refused to tell me what it was that she had used on you. But when she saw Daisy¡¯s condition, she explained that there is a high chance that the item she used on you had somehow affected Daisy as well. So, moving forward, we have to treat Daisy as though she is half her actual age. Capiche?¡± she explained to me.

    ¡°Is.. my stunted growth due to what she used on me as well? Come to think of it, the timeline seems to tally. Didn¡¯t she had to go somewhere right after my battle with Tom? What if she was punished for reviving me?¡± I started grabbing my head with my hands.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, dear. I suspected as much too but Lily refuses give me any information about it. We just have to take it as what it is and hope for the best. Mind you, Daisy is not dumb for her age. As a matter of fact, Daisy is actually really smart and that was why I sent her for extra lessons because she seemed to have interest in doing alchemy like you,¡± she explained.

    ¡°Are we really not allowing our daughter to be an adventurer? She seemed to be interested in seeing me fight earlier,¡± I asked her.

    ¡°And how, Zen? Do you think it is a good idea to send Daisy to join a guild next year when she behaves this way? What kind of parent are we to send a 6 year old to her death? I¡¯ll be damned if I ever let that happen,¡± said Rose with a frustrated tone.

    Whenever Rose uses my name directly it meant that she is serious. And I do share her concern.

    ¡°You¡¯re right, I¡¯m sorry. Come here. Everything is going to be okay. Everything will be fine. We¡¯ll take care of Daisy no matter how long it takes. I promise you on that,¡± I gave her a hug while giving her head pets.

    I did not know that Rose had thought about Daisy¡¯s condition all alone while being unable to consult me. What a fool I was in not noticing our daughter¡¯s condition much earlier. At least the cat¡¯s out of the bag now and we can discuss about it moving forward.

    ¡°Daddy, did you make mommy sad again?¡± asked Daisy.

    We broke the hug as we were surprised that Daisy suddenly came down to talk to us.

    ¡°Did you finish your schoolwork already? That was fast,¡± said Rose.

    ¡°There are a few questions that I don¡¯t understand. Can you guide me, mommy?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Of course. We¡¯ll finish it after dinner then,¡± smiled Rose as she pet Daisy¡¯s head.

    ¡°Oh, right. What about the person who you fought with earlier?¡± she asked me.

    ¡°We¡¯ll talk about that later. Let us get the our dinner prepared first,¡± I told her.

    I followed my wife into the kitchen to help her in preparing for our dinner while Daisy went back upstairs. I was in a dilemma on whether I should tell her that Daisy might have my curse inside of her. I know it is not something Rose would like to hear but.. we swore to not keep secrets between ourselves unless it is really necessary.

    ¡°Rose.. you might not want to hear this, but.. Daisy might have my curse as well,¡± I told her gently.

    ¡°Oh I know. I heard her mumbling about weird stuffs in her sleep before. I was hoping it was just a one time thing,¡± she sighed as she stared at the ceiling.

    ¡°Do you.. regret in marrying me? I am so sorry that all this is happening is because of me,¡± I apologised to her with a genuine sorry tone.

    ¡°What? No no.. Hey, look at me. I do not regret in marrying you. Never once did I think of that. Being together with you is my dream and it came true. Nothing is ever going to change that,¡± said Rose as she held my cheeks with her hands.

    I smiled and gave her a gentle kiss. We resumed with our cooking duties. As always, I helped her in preparing the ingredients while she does the cooking. It used to be using firewood to start a fire for cooking but with the invention of gas, things had become much easier. Of course if we wish to bake or roast something, firewood is still the way to go. Same goes for boiling water as gas is not cheap since it is relatively new to us.

    As I was chopping some ingredients, Rose decided to ask me.

    ¡°Zen, are you.. still unwilling to accept Lily as your second wife?¡± she asked me out of the blue.

    ¡°You know that I am firm with my decision, right? Besides, how would we know that Lily is still single. For all we know, she could be with someone else right now,¡± I told her.

    ¡°I doubt it. Lily will not find someone else as long as you are still alive in this world. I truly believe that is the case. You do realised that she saved your life, right? Shouldn¡¯t you.. you know? Repay her in some way?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Rose, do you think we still be this lovey-dovey if Lily was here? It would be you getting jealous seeing me pamper her and vice versa. Nothing good is going to come out in having two wives. Trust me,¡± I explained to her.

    ¡°Sigh, I do not know why you keep sticking to your principals. Either way, if you decided to change your mind one day, I am fine if Lily joins our family. Truth be told, she is practically a part of our family now for me,¡± said Rose as she started cooking.

    I kept quiet and did not reply her. While yes, I am indebted to Lily for resurrecting me but I do not believe that marrying her is the only way to repay her. There are other methods for me to repay someone for saving your life and it is not just marriage. On that I am certain.

    ¡°Are you heading to meet the guildmasters tomorrow?¡± asked Rose.

    ¡°Yes, I received their invitation. Seems like they are going to get me started on a new task,¡± I said.

    ¡°So did I, let¡¯s go together,¡± said Rose as she showed me her letter.

    ¡°W.. what? Then who is going to take care of Daisy?¡± I asked her with a surprised look.

    ¡°Oh don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ve already asked Daffodil to come over to help out tomorrow. Her daughter seems to click really well with Daisy so I am sure they are going to enjoy each other¡¯s company,¡± explained Rose.

    ¡°Alright. I guess you had everything planned out. Let¡¯s go on a date tomorrow before heading to the hideout,¡± I told her.

    ¡°A date? You do realised that we are already married, right?¡± she asked me with a confused look.

    ¡°Who says that you can¡¯t date your wife after getting married? There is no such rule. I wish to rekindle our relationship further so do allow me to do so,¡± I explained to her.

    ¡°Alright alright. I just love it when you get all philosophical,¡± she chuckled.

    ***

    We had our dinner and Rose was tutoring Daisy with her schoolwork. I was resting on my bed, thinking about what the future holds. There are certainly a lot of concerning reports about strange things happening around the world. I really wonder what is going to be my assignment tomorrow.

    I was transported to a familiar white room. Then the scenery changed to an empty grassland with a flat rock in sight. I did not even realised that I had fallen asleep. What does these two want to talk with me all of a sudden.

    ¡°Hello boy. It has been a while,¡± said Kirin.

    ¡°Yo,¡± said Byakko as he sat on his favourite flat rock.

    ¡°It has been a while indeed. A pleasure to meet the both of you. What can I help you with?¡± I bowed to them.

    ¡°We are here to warn you about the future, boy. We noticed that the.. Ethereal had a lot of disturbance lately. Even us celestial beings are concerned about it,¡± explained Kirin.

    ¡°Indeed. The cosmic beings are growing restless as of late. We do not know what is causing them behave this way, so be careful. I am certain a great battle is about to arise soon,¡± said Byakko.

    ¡°I think I can guess what it is. Most probably the Demon King is coming back and he will be waging war against us. I hope the both of you are ready for your revenge,¡± I told them.

    ¡°Careful boy, we had seen the Demon King¡¯s power and what he is capable of. He is indeed powerful. Truth be told, he is as powerful as a celestial being himself. Sadly, we cannot help you directly in your world in the upcoming battle. But I do not believe that the Demon King is the only thing that you should be worried about,¡± explained Kirin.

    I am certain you are all confused right now so allow me to explain. From what Kirin and Byakko told me, the Ethereal is a place where cosmic beings resides in. Cosmic beings are practically Gods of this world. Each God has a realm of their own in the Ethereal but they do not share with one another. The Gods had made a pact with one another that they cannot and will not interfere directly with this world but only through vessels. I have met such a vessel in the form of a Demon Queen. She is a vessel of a cosmic being that I still do not know of. I had been searching for a way to communicate with cosmic beings for the past 15 years.

    As for celestial beings, they reside outside of the Ethereal. Think of the Ethereal as a house with garden. All the Gods stay inside the house while celestial beings are free to roam the garden like pets. Don¡¯t tell Kirin and Byakko I said that as they will kill me where I stand!

    Celestial beings have a bit more freedom as they can come directly to this world but not in their true form. They can roam these lands as spirits but will have no direct participation in this world. Should they wish to, they can choose to become as legendary items where heroes or champions can wield them with pride. There is a reason why these two are weapons in my possession. However, not every legendary weapons are celestial beings. Such as my gauntlets, Hand of the Lightning God, could possibly be an item dropped by the Lightning God into this world.

    ¡°I am not sure if I am ready to fight him as I am right now but I do hope that Ivy would join us in our battle. She is the only great power that I had not met and introduced myself to,¡± I told them.

    ¡°Ivy? Ah.. the most beautiful elf that I had ever seen. She fought beautifully and tenaciously during the war with the Demon King. I do wish to meet her once more if possible,¡± said Kirin as he closed his eyes taking a trip down memory lane.

    ¡°Wow, I would had never expected Kirin to be praising anyone at all. I never knew you were into elves,¡± I said bluntly.

    ¡°I am not interested in elves with the exception of Ivy,¡± retaliated Kirin with a hmph.

    ¡°Ivy is the only elf that had piqued his interest. I wonder if he would ask her out if he met her again,¡± mentioned Byakko with a shrug.

    ¡°I will not!¡± shouted Kirin.

    I just sat there with an awkward smile.

    ¡°What is wrong with Lily? Isn¡¯t she beautiful as well?¡± I asked Kirin.

    ¡°Ivy is on another level. You will know if you have the chance to meet her,¡± explained Kirin.

    ¡°W.. what? I doubt it. Lily is the most beautiful female elf that I have met so far,¡± I argued back.

    ¡°Boy, what are you arguing for? You didn¡¯t even had the guts to take her as your second wife¡± said Byakko.

    ¡°Well.. I just thought that it wouldn¡¯t be possible for someone to be prettier than her,¡± I said with a soft tone.

    The both of them looked at me with a speechless face. It was probably because the both of them were surprised that I chose Rose in the first place rather than Lily. But now I am defending her instead.

    ¡°You do realised that Lily is just one confession away to be your second wife, right?¡± said Byakko.

    ¡°What? No.. 1 wife is all I need. I am not getting another one,¡± I said firmly.

    ¡°Your wife gave you her approval. It¡¯s quite strange that you didn¡¯t consider her as she a wife potential. Seeing as she took your first,¡± said Kirin.

    ¡°Alright, let us stop here. I already have my wife telling me about it and I don¡¯t need you two as well. Can we get back on topic please?¡± I pleaded the both of them.

    ¡°Just remember our warning, boy. We are always at your side should you need us,¡± warned Kirin as the world started fading.

    I bowed to both of them before the world disappears from my vision completely.

 Book 2 - Chapter 58

    Rose and I were strolling around in the city. It has been a while since I saw my wife wearing her guild¡¯s clothing. Her clothes were mostly white with a hint of orange which granted her the nickname of White Angel. She is definitely an angel from my perspective. A beautiful powerful woman worthy of her nickname.

    Everywhere we went, people greeted her with a smile or welcomed her. But their faces changed upon seeing my face to either terrified or scared. I did not do anything to anyone that deserved such reputation. It was more like they were unfamiliar with me. I had not done anything worthy to be called an achievement ever since gaining the title of the fourth great power. It sort of overwrote my nickname ¡°The Caped Crusader¡± that I had.

    After obtaining that title, all I did was spend time with Rose and brought her over to the Eastern Continent where the both of us trained with Peter Borage for a couple of years. I daresay, my wife is stronger than me right now after and I am fine with that. I never wanted to be powerful. Tom was my main motivation for getting stronger and now he¡¯s dead. I went through with my revenge and I am happy with it. I do not like doing things and giving up halfway. Tom had taken my grandfather from me and I lost 9 years of quality time with my grandfather. 9 years that I can never regain because he had passed away right after my battle with Tom. So yes, I definitely do not regret in killing him for revenge.

    How long has it been since the both of us dated together? We had Daffodil over to help us babysit Daisy. Her daughter, Aloe Gladiolus, is quite attached to Daisy even though she is much older than her. Well, I guess they are technically at the same age if we were to cut Daisy¡¯s age by half. John made it very clear that he did not want Daffodil to continue being an adventurer after she had gotten pregnant. Surprisingly, she actually agreed and now she works as a babysitter every once in a while which we are extremely grateful for. We certainly preferred someone we can trust to babysit our child over some stranger. We were willing to pay for her service but both of them turned down on the payment. We ended up sneaking some coins into Daffodil¡¯s bag whenever we can.

    I¡¯ve already brought Daisy over to the playground as promised in the morning so now it is close to noon as we were strolling around the city.

    ¡°Is there anywhere you wish to go? We still have some time before lunch,¡± asked Rose as she looked towards the giant clocktower.

    The townhouse where all younglings visit to check their stats and get recommendations on their guild choices had recently added a giant clocktower to the side of the building. It was so much easier now to know exactly where the townhouse is if you are new to the city. It is literally the tallest building in the city right now. Well, it has to be if people wishes to know the time.

    ¡°Hmm.. I guess there is somewhere we can go. I wonder if the order I commissioned is done,¡± I said to Rose.

    ¡°You ordered something? What is it?¡± she asked me.

    ¡°Come along and perhaps you¡¯ll see it,¡± I held her hand and pulled her along.

    The city had changed for the better and it is not just my optimism speaking. Everywhere you go, you can literally see different races or species all around. That was not the case before under the Queen¡¯s rule but the war changed that. The war that I incited. The council of New Order did a pretty good job in making the city much better than it¡¯s former glory.

    We passed by a church. Church of the Imperatrix to be exact. A church under the guidance of a being called Imperatrix of Mortal. I had never heard of this being before until very recently. Is it a cosmic being, a human or just some made up nonsense that from the church. As usual, it is filled with people queuing to enter. Not to pray, mind you but to get themselves cured. Apparently, the church had discovered a cure that can heal all illness, sickness or wounds. There were discussions on the validity of the cure but as it stands, there were only a few confirmed cases where it actually worked.

    Rose does not trust this church one bit as they did not release the source of the cure or what they are even injecting you with. Rose warned me to never bring Daisy over to the church in an attempt to cure her. She is fine the way she is and does not need to be cured due to her slow growth. I agree with her entirely.

    There is another church where the elves had constructed within the city. The Goddess of Divinity church they call it. Now I definitely had heard of this cosmic being before. It had been around ever since the elves existed. We visited this church a couple of times before as they were welcoming and we enjoyed their company. We did not go there to pray or embraced their religion but more as to explore the culture of the elves. Rose seems to be keen on understanding Lily¡¯s culture as she told me that Lily is practically her sister and she should know what her culture is all about. There is no controversy with this church unlike the other one. Is there anything human that is not controversial?

    We made it to the place in question. There was no signboard at the entrance which puzzled Rose. I opened the door and a small bell rang from the motion. I gestured Rose to sit down as I waited at the counter. There was no one around and I do not even know whether he is here right now. After some time, an old looking man came out from the back of the store.

    ¡°C.. can I help you?¡± asked the man as he stuttered with his words.

    He adjusted his glasses and changed his tone after realising who I was.

    ¡°Not everyday does a member of the 4 great powers comes to visit me. How can I help? Are you here for your orders?¡± he asked.

    ¡°I was just in the city and happened to stop by. It is fine if it is not ready. It is a new invention after all,¡± I said.

    ¡°Mister Zen, I am the one who created and constructed that clocktower. What a fool would I be if I cannot fulfil your request? Although you do have a knack on asking for new inventions that even I find intriguing. Do you wish to check out your items? You can follow me to the back. Your spouse included,¡± he gestured us to follow him.

    ¡°Wow.. don¡¯t mind if I do. I¡¯ve never been in the back before,¡± I told him as I gestured Rose to come along.

    ¡°Zen? What is going on? Who is this person?¡± asked Rose.

    ¡°This.. is Stein. Do you remember when I told you before, that during the war there were soldiers that wore ridiculously heavy armour and shield that required mechanism to move? Well, I found him. And ever since then I had been requesting him to invent me new things,¡± I told Rose.

    ¡°Oh, what had you been asking him to invent? Nothing too crazy, I hope?¡± said Rose as she chuckled.

    ¡°Hmm, the mechanical arm for your Paladin Lord was one of them. Oh, and the stove that we used to cook too,¡± I told her.

    ¡°Are you.. saying that the stove at our home was invented by him?¡± asked Rose as her face start to grow surprised.

    Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    ¡°Yup. I told him to think of something that can utilise the discovery of gas. While other people was thinking about creating weapons, transportation or other things, I asked him whether it was possible to create something that we can use for cooking. No doubt he was confused at first on why I would make such an odd request seeing as I am a member of the 4 great powers but he understood the application of it. And so.. we are the first person to use gas stove in our personal home,¡± I smiled to her.

    ¡°W.. wait.. are you for real? No wonder I never saw it being on sale or anyone else using it! Oh gosh, how valuable is that stove that I had been using? It is going to cost millions if the blueprint is ever discovered!¡± shouted Rose as her face contorted with horror.

    ¡°Oh don¡¯t worry, the blueprint had already been sold. Very soon the public will access to these. Then, the price of gas will hopefully be lowered to the public,¡± I told her.

    ¡°Ah, I see. I guess that is fine then. You almost gave me a heart attack there. I guess Stein is a genius inventor to be able to create whatever you request of him. I did not even know he was the one who created that metal arm for my Guildmaster. Thanks for thinking of his needs,¡± said Rose as she leaned over to give me a kiss on the cheek.

    ¡°Well, I won¡¯t take all the credit. Mister Zen here is the one who brought up those ideas in the first place and gave a very clear picture on how it looked like as well as how it worked. If anything, he is a genius on his own for thinking outside the box,¡± explain Stein.

    ¡°Zen? A genius? I think that is the first time anyone ever called you that,¡± said Rose as she chuckled.

    ¡°Hey.. my curse have some uses too, alright? While it serves as my wild imagination most of the time, it can help me figure out unexpected things too,¡± I explained to her.

    ¡°Alright then, Mister Genius. Let¡¯s see what your brain have in store when we get home, o-nii-chan~¡± whispered Rose at the end.

    I curled my lips. I knew exactly what she meant when she said that. She is asking for something new for tonight. I can¡¯t recall the amount of steamy sex we had, things that she had never even heard of, thanks to my curse. Now I am running out of ideas figuring out new things for sex. I hope my brain can fork out something new and naughty by the end of the day.

    We walked pass a couple of machineries that I had never seen before. Metal parts joined together that looked like some sort of engine or whole parts that I had no idea what it is used for.

    Strangely, Stein likes to work alone but when the time calls for more manpower, he will request a few of his trusted partners to help out. I guess my order is considered small as it is something that can fit inside a pocket easily.

    Stein opened a door and stepped in. Inside there was a long table and a heck load of cabinets. There was a table lamp right in the middle. That must be where he create new ideas I suppose. And yes, light bulb has been created by him too. Say goodbye to candles as our only light source.

    ¡°I hope you find this to your liking,¡± said Stein as he handed a small wooden box.

    I opened it and wow.. it feels so unbelievable to be able to see it for the first time. I held it up and pushed on the crown in the middle. The hinge flapped open and inside of this device is a mini portable clock that tells the time. Now I can check the time without needing to stare outside the window. No longer do I need to depend on hourglass for alchemy. No wait, I think hourglasses are still better for exact precise timing. Scratch that.

    ¡°Wow.. that looks beautiful. To be able to see the time in such a tiny device,¡± wowed Rose with an amazement.

    ¡°Indeed. When Mister Zen first came to me, he told me that a portable one will be useful during his journey. It was indeed a challenge to minimise such a huge contraption in to such a small device but I made it work somehow. One of my best invention to date I might say,¡± explained Stein.

    ¡°I guess I will be depending on you to tell me the time then, onii-chan,¡± smiled Rose as she admired the pocket watch.

    ¡°What are you talking about? Do you think I would be so selfish to only request one for my own?¡± I said to her.

    ¡°H.. huh?¡± puzzled Rose.

    Stein brought another box and handed it to Rose. She was startled and looked nervous by it as she opened the box. Her face brightened up with a huge smile. I had only saw it once and that was when the doctor told her that she was pregnant. She took out the pocket watch and admired it. She turned it to the back and there was a rose engraving with her full name written on it. It was a special request that Stein was willing to indulge.

    ¡°W.. wow. This is¡­ I am at a lost for words. How can I thank you for this? This must had cost a fortune to create,¡± said Rose with joy in her tone.

    ¡°Nonsense. I do not create new things for the sake of money. I create them for the benefit of the people. And besides, the blueprint¡¯s cost alone will sustain me for decades to come. I just enjoy inventing new things. That and your husband had already paid for it,¡± chuckled Stein.

    ¡°Still¡­ thank you so much. I love this and I will treasure it very closely,¡± smiled Rose as she bowed to Stein.

    I had only seen her this happy a few times before. I am glad that I can see it again.

    ¡°Thanks for the help, Stein. Should I have any new ideas, I will come find you,¡± I said to him.

    As we were walking back to the front door, I remember the hidden gun that was used by the hunter. I wonder if Stein had a hand in that creation.

    ¡°Stein, do you happen to know of the creation of a hidden gun that you can hide in your sleeve? I just saw someone using it in battle against me,¡± I asked him.

    ¡°A hidden gun? Hmm.. while it is technically feasible but how are you going to reload it? It would be troublesome and not to mention difficult to reload such a small weapon. Did you happen to see it with your eyes on how it looked like?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Sadly, no. It was hidden in her sleeve. Perhaps I should tear her sleeve open next time and check out the device. I thought you had a hand in creating it,¡± I said.

    ¡°I am not the only inventor in this world, Mister Zen. I am sure there are other genius minds out there that are more suited to inventing weapons than me. Are you interested in requesting for a new weapon invention?¡± he asked.

    ¡°No. At least, not yet I guess. I do have something that comes to mind though,¡± I said with a thinking face.

    Stein told me to wait as he rushed to the back to grab his notebook. I am not sure why he is always so hyped up whenever I give him ideas no matter how dumb it may sound.

    "Tell me," said Stein as he adjusted his glasses.

    "I am thinking of a smaller version of our stove. One that is portable," I racked my brain.

    "You mean to be able to bring a stove everywhere you go? Is it to cook in the wilderness? But how are you going to bring along the gas when it is kept in such a big container? Hmm.." Stein gave it some thought.

    It was always this way. I give him an idea and we banter on its usage, application and real world usage.

    "I am actually thinking of something smaller. Something that can be used to light up items or to be used as a temporary light source," I continued.

    "You mean something like a match? We already have something like that. What scenario do you have in mind?" he asked.

    "Matches get wet and will not work in times of need. Then we will have to rely on using flint after that. What I am thinking is probably a small container that keeps the gas while we have a flint up top where we can strike or flick to ignite the gas," I continued thinking and just blasting ideas at Stein.

    "Ahh.. I see where you are going, Mister Zen. That is indeed useful. I can see a couple of application being used by it. And you painted a good idea on how to start. Allow me a couple of days to get started and perhaps you can come back in a week or so to check on the progress," he said while drawing something in his notebook.

    "I will be waiting. Let us take our leave so as to not disturb you further," I gave him a bow and proceeded to the front door with Rose.

    "W.. wow. I did not know you were this smart. Perhaps you can retire as an adventurer and become an inventor instead," said Rose as she played with her hair. Is she trying to flirt with me?

    We said our farewell to Stein as we head out the front door. As I was still thinking about the mechanism of the hidden gun, Rose threw herself at me and hugged me tightly while saying thank you with a cheerful tone. She even whispered to me saying that someone is going to get lucky tonight while she twirled her index finger on my chest. I swallowed my throat and prayed that I do not disappoint her when night arrives.

    Alright, let''s not get ahead of ourselves. Where shall we eat? Rose said that it has been a while since we last ate at ¡®Sleeping Daisies¡¯ so she proposed that we have our lunch there. I agreed and off we headed to the very first tavern that I stepped my foot upon when I first came to this city.

    Rose pushed open the door and I was hit with nostalgia. To be honest, I tried to avoid coming here often nowadays. This is due to the reason that every time I opened that door, I am expecting to see Lily, John and Rick to be mingling in here. While I do see John hanging out here once in a while, Lily is nowhere to be seen for a couple of years now. Rick on the other hand, may he rest in peace.

    Rose headed straight to the counter to order our food and beverages while I took a seat at one of the available table. There were not many people around as it was not exactly lunchtime yet. While adventurers do not exactly follow proper timing, a lot of them head out in the morning and usually do not return until about late noon.

    Rose came over, pulled her chair closer to me and sat at my side. I was wondering what she was doing seeing that it was a small round table and she could had sat directly opposite of me. She took out the pocket watch and admired it while she leaned her head on my shoulder. Ah, she wanted to be lovey-dovey I suppose.

    "Onii-chan, I love it. It is really beautiful. I don''t think words can explain how happy I am right now," she said while continuing to admire it.

    "It was supposed to be your birthday gift. I guess it came earlier this year," I chuckled.

    She turned to look at me with her eyes sparkling. This is usually a sign of her wanting a kiss which I obliged. She usually gets shy with public affection but I guess she is really happy right now. We broke off the kiss when our food arrives.

    "Oh my, how rare for the both of you to show affection in public," said the innkeeper.

    The very same innkeeper that served me the very first time. She is possibly close to around 60 now and no longer ask people to call her onee-san thankfully.

    We said thanks to the innkeeper for serving us. Rose started blushing and pulled her chair to the opposite of me and started eating. The food is still as good as it was which I am thankful for.

    After we were done with lunch, it was time for us to head to the guild hideout which was located west of the city. It is going to take some walk until we reached it which is going to help with my belly full of food. Just as we were heading towards west, an alarm started ringing. Someone was ringing the bell tower which was also located next to the townhouse.

    "Monster attack on the western entrance! Any available adventurer, please help out!" shouted an announcer while continuing to ring the bell.

    Rose and I looked at each other and nodded. Protecting this city is one of our responsibilities. Perhaps now I can finally brighten the name of the fourth great power. To the west we went to help out the city.

 Book 2 - Chapter 59

    We rushed towards the western entrance. There were soldiers and a few adventurers trying to fend off the monsters there. Most of them seemed to be furry beasts but I cannot make out what they really are. I had never seen such monsters before.

    "Let''s go, onii-chan!" shouted Rose as the both of us engaged in combat.

    Fighting these beasts were not too difficult but they were ferocious. They looked like some hybrid monsters between a wolf and a bear. Some stood on two legs while others were on all fours. Good thing it was not some chicken-duck-woman thingy otherwise I would be really afraid. I used my dagger as I did not felt the need to use either of my legendary weapons just yet.

    I stabbed my dagger below the chin of one of the beast. It yelp in pain but continued to take a swipe at me with its claws. I dismembered the hand before it even reached me and red blood spewed from its wound. But the blood felt unnatural. It was glowing bright. Like the time I fought with the Queen. Thankfully their wounds did not heal like a demon.

    More and more monsters approached us. I sunk my dagger into their necks but they still fought with tenacity until their dying breath. Why are these monsters so hell-bent on killing humans that they do not even bother dying over? Are they insane?

    I continued stabbing as fast as I could and a few of them leaped at me just as I struggled to pull out my dagger on one of them. I quickly summoned my gauntlets and one of them bit on it, trying to reach me as I did my best to push it backwards. I released my dagger and punched the monster biting my gauntlet. It flew some distance away as I did not held back. I retrieved my dagger and inspected my gauntlet. Thank goodness their fangs did not bite through. These monsters are the most ferocious beings I had ever fought in my entire life.

    Rose casted Accelerate and Light Blessing simultaneously while fighting which affected all of the surrounding allies. She is skilled enough to chant spells in the midst of combat now. Her rapier is soaked in blood as she ran around the battlefield stabbing at the beast¡¯s weak points. Many beasts were starting to target her. She fought beautifully against the wave of monsters but their quantity was limitless. A beast leaped at her from above which I threw my dagger and hit it dead centre in the eye, sending it into a blind rage.

    Things are not looking good. There were too many of them and only a handful of us. I closed my eyes and upon opening them, activated Concentration. I then casted Fear to all surrounding enemies.

    Although I do not know what they saw, the monsters were certainly affected by my spell and many of them ran with their tail tugged between their legs. Any remaining beasts were eliminated mostly by Rose and I. We regrouped as we were expecting them to return but after a couple of minutes, it would seemed that none of them came back.

    ¡°Soldiers, give me a sit-rep,¡± I asked them in general expecting at least one of them to be in charge.

    ¡°Sir, what information are you looking for,¡± saluted a soldier.

    Truth be told, the soldiers had every right to ignore my request entirely. But majority of the soldiers knew who I was and they were certainly not daring enough to disobey a request from one of the four great powers.

    ¡°What happened? Why were there no cannons being fired or more soldiers reinforcing here before they reached the walls?¡± I asked him.

    ¡°Sir, the monsters came at the most unexpected time. We were in the midst of changing shift when they attacked. And they came with such speed that we do not have enough time to ready the cannons or defences. We just do not have enough people, sir!¡± said the soldier as he saluted me.

    I turned to look around, there were a few soldiers and adventurers that did not make it. Is the frequency of monsters attacking us bleeding us dry? I will certainly need to talk with the guildmasters after this. This city must be protected during these dark times at all costs.

    ¡°Thank you, I appreciate your report. I will be conveying your message to the guildmasters directly and hopefully they can persuade the council to add more reinforcements to all the entrances,¡± I told the soldier.

    All the soldiers saluted me as I made my way back inside the city. Some adventurers gave their thanks to both Rose and I. I daresay that Rose¡¯s reputation is on par with mine, perhaps even more. The Church of Imperatrix had been trying to recruit her into their service ever since they first begun spreading their religion. Who does not want the White Angel to serve as their ambassador or something. Thankfully Rose isn¡¯t interested with such things.

    ¡°Aww man, now my clothes are filled with blood splatters. I just washed this,¡± complained Rose as she checked the condition of her clothes.

    I dragged her into one of the alleyway hidden from prying eyes and kissed her.

    ¡°Onii-chan, we are going to be late,¡± chuckled Rose.

    ¡°How long has it been since I saw my wife in action. That certainly aroused me,¡± I said as I continued to kiss her.

    ¡°Geez, stop it. Keep it for tonight. The guildmasters are already waiting for us. We gotta go,¡± she pushed me back but gave one last kiss before heading out.

    ***

    ¡°I see that you are late, as always,¡± sighed John.

    ¡°Well excuse me, princess. Rose and I were busy helping out against the monster attacks in the western entrance,¡± I told him.

    ¡°What? Again? How many times does that make it now?¡± said John as he rubbed his head.

    ¡°What is going on? Why are monsters attacking the city directly? Something must be triggering them to do this,¡± asked Rose.

    ¡°We do not know, white angel. We would like to investigate the source of where these monsters are coming but we are stretched thin unfortunately,¡± sighed the Dragon Lord.

    ¡°Run me through. What are our concerns currently? Why can¡¯t we fortify the city with more soldiers or adventurers? These monsters were smart enough to attack us at a vulnerable time and it is only a matter of time before they pick apart our defences,¡± I asked all of them.

    This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

    ¡°The city is not just our main duty to protect, Zen. There are other locations that need our help as well,¡± said John as he started raising his voice.

    ¡°John, I am sorry if I offended you but I was only asking about the situation that you all are currently facing,¡± I said politely.

    Someone knocked on the table that all of the guildmasters were seating at. It was the Elementalist.

    ¡°Let us calm ourselves and have a proper discussion. Getting hot-headed does not bring us any result. A member of the great power is here to help us. Let us not forget ourselves even though we knew him before he gained that title,¡± said the Elementalist as he bowed to me.

    All the others followed suit and bowed to me. John apologised to me for misunderstanding my intention. To be honest, I never cared about my title whatsoever. I did not want this title in the first place nor am I seeking to be respected for it. Respect should be given both ways.

    ¡°Let us start again, our adventurers and soldiers are limited inside the city due to them being assigned to protect some villages that are around our borders. There are also facing monster attacks on a frequent basis. Not to mention dragons as well. We are just scattered everywhere right now,¡± said the Paladin Lord.

    ¡°Can I propose that we bring them into the city? It would be easier for us to protect them within this walls, isn¡¯t it?¡± I asked them.

    ¡°It is not that simple. Those villagers are not willing to abandon their homes and not to mention we need to think about the logistics of bringing them here. Then we have to think about their lodging and accommodation. We cannot let them stay in the tavern forever. We also need to bring in more food to accommodate all those people. We are talking about costs that we will need to put in just to bring them here, build lodging for them and order more food supplies to cater for them,¡± explained John.

    ¡°Is money really an issue? Just my curiosity,¡± I asked them in the politest way possible.

    ¡°It is going to cost a lot, Zen. We are talking about thousands of gold coins involved,¡± said the Dark Lord.

    ¡°Is the council willing to take a loan? From what I am hearing, money seems to be the main issue here,¡± I asked.

    ¡°No banks are willing to loan the council as it is too risky. They do not trust that we will be repaying them. Not to mention the high amount that we need to loan,¡± said the Dragon Lord.

    ¡°I never said from banks. I¡¯m saying from me. Interest free,¡± I said.

    Rose immediately turned her head at me and stared at me while being surprised. It then turned to horror as her brain registered what I had just said. I assured her that we will have enough for decades to come.

    She does not know how much extra I had earned from the stove and pocket watch blueprint invention sold by Stein. Any new ideas that I¡¯ve discussed with Stein means that I will have a cut of it after being sold to the highest bidder. And those are not small amounts. There are no companies that would pass out in obtaining the rights to start manufacturing new inventions. However, they will only have about 5 years before the blueprints will be made public to other companies. This is to prevent monopoly on a specific products forever. But 5 years is more than enough to earn them millions if not billions of coins if the inventions are sorely needed by the masses.

    ¡°A.. are you for real? You are willing to loan us? We are talking about thousands of coins involved here, Zen. I know you are earning royalty from your potion business but you can¡¯t possibly have that kind amount, right?¡± asked John as he stared blankly at me.

    ¡°Can we put down an exact amount needed as we are in discussion right now?¡± I asked.

    And so, all the guildmasters discussed on what was needed and the estimated breakdown of each costs. The final amount was estimated to be around 8000 plus gold coins. Not too bad, a fraction of my wealth but doable. Rose was tugging on my shirt the entire time but I assured her that everything is fine. I wrote down an amount that they needed to pay me back monthly and they all agreed. John and Rose was speechless. I guess they never knew how much I had earned throughout my journey.

    ¡°It would seemed that the fourth great power himself is not just in name but in value as well,¡± said the Elementalist.

    ¡°Please don¡¯t say as though I am just rich. I have other values aside from having money,¡± I replied with a sigh.

    ¡°Right, if the villagers refused to come over, feel free to use my title or Peter¡¯s. Sometimes we have to threaten them for their own good. Or perhaps threaten to remove all soldiers and adventurers protecting them if they wish to continue staying there,¡± I continued.

    ¡°We can handle that, Zen. Your willingness to help is a value that I had foreseen in you ever since you first joined the Dark Guild. I am proud to have you in my guild,¡± bowed the Dark Lord.

    ¡°Ah, there he goes again. Your guildmaster had been bragging to us ever since you gotten your title,¡± said the Paladin Lord as he rolled his eyes.

    ¡°I deserved pride in raising such a pupil,¡± he answered.

    ¡°Fellas? We are not done with the meeting, please,¡± said the Dragon Lord.

    ¡°Oh right. We have a task for you, Zen, if you don¡¯t mind?¡± asked John.

    ¡°Before that, have any of you heard about the existence of hunters? One of them fought with me over my title a few days ago,¡± I asked all of them.

    I had spoken with Rose about them but she had never heard anything about them before.

    ¡°We had heard of them before but they rarely caused any trouble so far. They were mostly known for hunting demons exclusively. I am surprised that they would take interest in your title,¡± said the Dragon Lord.

    ¡°That is not the best part. Apparently they had found a way to heal wounds instantly on the fly,¡± I said nonchalantly.

    ¡°What?!¡± shouted all of them but only John stood up.

    ¡°This is not one of your imagination, right Zen? You are certain you saw it?¡± asked John.

    ¡°With these very eyes. And Daisy¡¯s as well. The hunter used some green fluid to inject herself after I wounded her. Her wound mended itself right in front of me,¡± I told them honestly.

    ¡°Green fluid? Hmm,¡± said the Elementalist as all of them pondered on the thought.

    ¡°Maybe you can tell me about my task as all you pondered on your thoughts? I suspected as much when both Rose and I was summoned today,¡± I said.

    ¡°Right. Let us get straight to the point. We.. had not heard from Sladar for some time. We are hoping that you can help us to check up on him, if possible?¡± asked the Paladin Lord.

    ¡°You.. want me to find him? In the entire Demon Continent? You do realised how ridiculous that sounds, right?¡± I asked all of them.

    ¡°I believe we had worded it wrong. Your task is to check up on the newly established village located here. Rumour has it that they had never been attacked by demons ever since they had first established there. That was 3 years ago. We would like an update on this village as we do not know about the whereabouts of Sladar. He was always the one who provide updated information about the Demon Continent to us,¡± explained the Dark Lord as he pointed an area on the Northern continent map.

    ¡°Let me get this straight. I am to check up on this village here and see their condition of living there. And should I happen to meet Sladar, then I should ask him for status update. Am I right?¡± I asked all of them and they nodded simultaneously.

    Alright. That is more feasible. Expecting me to find a single lizardman in the entire continent is just not possible. But I guess I won¡¯t be having any guide to bring me over to the northern continent this time. Sladar had always been our guide whenever we head over there. I suppose it is just Rose and me this time. Wait a minute, just Rose and me? What about Daisy?!

    ¡°Umm.. there is a minor setback. You see, I have a daughter that needs to be taken care of,¡± I asked as I raised my hand.

    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry about it, Zen. Daisy can stay with me and Daffodil. I¡¯ve already spoken with her and she gave her permission to allow Daisy to stay over. I promise I¡¯ll keep her safe and sound. Brother¡¯s promise,¡± said John as he pulled out his fist.

    I bumped his fist and said my thanks. I guess we will need to persuade Daisy to stay with John and Daffodil as we head over to the northern continent. I hope she is able to be understanding about it and not make a fuss. Who am I kidding, I am sure she will.

    We were done with our part for the meeting so Rose and I left the hideout and were on our way back home. Rose was surprisingly quiet as we were walking back. I poked her cheek a little to check on her condition but she looked at me with dull eyes and looked forward again. Uh oh, what happened? Did I broke my wife or something?

    ¡°Rose, what¡¯s going on? Are you upset to be apart from Daisy?¡± I asked her curiously.

    She kept silent. I racked through my mind wondering what I did wrong? Is it due to my behaviour earlier at the alleyway? All I did was kissed her and nothing else. What else did I do today that made her behave like this?

    ¡°I¡­ thought I knew my husband well,¡± she started.

    ¡°But on this very day, you were so extremely kind, sweet and caring. You were willing to help the masses and people were calling you a genius. Not to mention you were rich! How did I not even know how much you have?! How much do you really have?!¡± asked Rose as she gripped her head.

    ¡°I feel like I barely even know you anymore. I mean, I always knew you were kind and caring, don¡¯t get me wrong. You were willing to adopt me even when you didn¡¯t have to. But there were so many sides of you that I never even knew about today,¡± said Rose with a sad tone.

    I pulled her to the side of the street and hugged her from behind. I am not sure why she took all of this as something negative rather than positive. I guess I¡¯ll need to calm her down.

    ¡°Rose, there is nothing wrong in learning something new about someone. I mean, as long as it¡¯s not something bad. You don¡¯t have to feel as though you need to know everything about me just because you are my wife. That¡¯s what makes marriage exciting when you thought you knew that person but there is actually something more. Again, as long as it¡¯s not a bad thing,¡± I whispered to her softly.

    She placed her hand on top of my arms and leaned her head backwards. She was crouching a little as she was taller than me. Rose seems to always adjust her angle at the right time to cater for my short height. Her eyes were always beautiful and when she looked at me this way, which makes me remembered the time I first fell in love with her.

    ¡°Zen, onii-chan. I love you,¡± she said with a smile.

    ¡°I love you too, Rose,¡± I said as I kissed her.

    ***

    We made it back home with a takeaway as it was getting late. Daffodil welcomed us into our home and we invited her to join us for dinner along with Aloe. We tried to explain to Daisy that both Rose and I will be gone for a while to complete a task assigned by the guildmasters. She could not grasp as to why the both of us was needed. She even said that daddy can complete it himself while mommy can stay with her. Ouch, kids can be brutally honest at times on who they favoured more.

    Rose took over to explain to her quietly at the couch while I did the dishes. Daffodil had already left with Aloe back to their home. We are expecting to be leaving in about 3 days time as we gathered supplies to head north. Been a while since I visited the City Of Lilies Dahlee. I wonder if Darcy and Danny are still there. I hope they are still alive as I cannot wait to meet up with them again.

 Book 2 - Chapter 60

    Three days had passed and here we are standing in front of John¡¯s house awaiting for Daffodil to lead us in. Way to be subtle guys. Your house is way too big for just the three of you. I am talking about a three-storey house that can perhaps fit at least a 100 people at a time. Who is he expecting to come over? The entirety of his guild?

    ¡°Are you regretting in getting such a modest house when you are richer than John?¡± chuckled Rose as she saw me staring at the size of the house.

    ¡°Not at all. Can you imagine the both of us trying to clean the entirety of this house? That would be an insane task,¡± I told her.

    ¡°I am sure they have maids to help them clean the house and such,¡± she shrugged.

    ¡°Now why would I want someone to intrude in our little love nest? Did you forget the number of times we did it at¡­ unique places in our house?¡± I smirked at her.

    ¡°Wha.. hey! You were the one who came on to me at those places. Don¡¯t blame me,¡± she crossed her arms while being flustered.

    ¡°Uh huh, right. As though you were not the one who seduced me into jumping at you. Don¡¯t feign innocence here,¡± I said as I poked her cheek.

    She turned her head away while I can see her ears getting redder. I was sure I saw steams pouring out of her brain. Most probably remembering the memories of what happened during those times.

    Someone opened the door and peeked at us. I thought it was Daffodil as I waved at the person hiding behind the door.

    ¡°May I help you?¡± asked the lady. Ok, that does not sound like Daffodil at all.

    ¡°We are here to meet with Miss Daffodil. She is supposed to be taking care of our child for a couple of days,¡± said Rose.

    ¡°Your name?¡± she asked.

    What is with the secrecy? Is there some secret that John is hiding in his home? Concubines or Mistresses? Or perhaps slaves?!

    ¡°Rose Starr and Daisy Hawthorn,¡± answered Rose.

    ¡°Oh! Yes, we were expecting you. Let me call out to her,¡± said the lady.

    Who is this mysterious person in the first place? Why does it feel as though she is in control of the house or something? Shouldn¡¯t Daffodil be the boss of this house? Oh, maybe she is John¡¯s mother?

    I heard footsteps running towards the door. Daffodil opened the door while panting and greeted us. My eyes were grew wide opened as I noticed something that I should not be seeing. Daffodil¡¯s cleavage was dangerously exposed and it was right in front of me. I leaned back and Rose slammed her hand on my eyes preventing me from seeing anything further. I had already shut them before she even slammed my eyes.

    ¡°Um, Daffodil? You must had been breast-feeding, I take it? You should adjust your clothing,¡± said Rose with an awkward tone.

    ¡°Oh shit! I am so sorry!¡± shouted Daffodil as she turned away and adjusted her clothing.

    ¡°Ok, it is safe now,¡± said Daffodil as she turned to face us. I just gave her an awkward smile.

    ¡°I am so sorry in showing you something horrible. Please forgive me,¡± said Daffodil as she bowed to both of us.

    ¡°Think nothing of it. It was beautiful by the way,¡± I smiled at her awkwardly.

    ¡°Zen.. you are only allowed to ogle at Lily and no other female elves,¡± said Rose as she glared at me and pinched my hip.

    ¡°Why should I ogle at Lily¡¯s when my wife already have a beautiful pair?¡± I told her straight.

    ¡°What.. what are you saying?!¡± shouted Rose as she started smacking me while being flustered.

    You would think seeing Daffodil¡¯s cleavage would have had some sort of reaction on my little buddy but seeing as Rose had drained me dry for the past 3 days, it was difficult for him to have any sort of reaction right now. Hopefully not forever. And she wanted me to have Lily as my second wife. I will be dead if I were to handle those two at the same time.

    We headed inside while I held Daisy¡¯s hand and brought her in. She was gloomy and pouting without making so much as a peep. I guess I will need to talk with her properly after this. I do hope that she can understand that the both of us are needed to help out with this world¡¯s issues once in a while.

    We took a seat at what looked like a living room. It is massive and had plenty of chairs and couches. A grand fireplace lighted up the room. I am surprised that John had not adopted light bulbs yet. There were numerous decorations of strange items all around including books. Lots of books. Perhaps Daffodil read them to pass the time taking care of her child.

    ¡°Once again, thank you for willing to take care of Daisy,¡± bowed Rose.

    ¡°Don¡¯t mention it. Being able to help the both of you is a blessing on its own. At least Aloe will have someone to play with. I just hope Daisy is ok?¡± she looked at Daisy who was looking really down while sitting on the couch.

    Even when Aloe came over to pull her hands, she made no expression whatsoever. It hurts to see her looking this sad when we don¡¯t really have much of a choice. I sat down on the floor facing her. She barely even made any movements. I moved closer to her until I touched her forehead with mine.

    ¡°Daisy, you are mommy and daddy¡¯s girl, right? You are a very brave girl. Are you ready for your first task given by a member of the four great powers?¡± I asked her.

    Her eyes changed and she looked confused. I guess she had always assumed that she was being punished for not bringing her along. All I have to do is change her perspective.

    ¡°Daddy is going to give you your first task then. Help Miss Daffodil in whatever tasks that she asks of you to help with and be a good girl. If you finish this task when we returned, then you will get rewarded. How¡¯s that sound?¡± I asked her with a smile.

    ¡°Oh oh! What reward is it going to be?!¡± asked Daisy as her eyes started to sparkle.

    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

    ¡°You will know when you finish it. Deal?¡± I raised my pinkie towards her with a smile.

    ¡°Deal!¡± she wrapped my pinkie with a promise.

    Rose came over to hug Daisy and said her goodbye with a sad tone. But Daisy assured her that she is going to be good girl and help Daffodil in whatever way she can. Her smile brightened up the room and my heart.

    Daffodil walked us to the front door. I asked a curious question about Aloe still being breastfed even though she is possibly around 4 or 5 years old now. Rose immediately poked me with her elbow for my insensitivity in asking such a question but I was really curious about it. Daffodil said that elves are genetically different than humans as their age differs from our logical sense despite both species being able conceive with one another. Elven baby will be breastfed until around 10 years old or more depending on their needs. They are built for longer lifespan after all.

    I asked her further that even though Aloe is a hybrid, what is the percentage of her genes over John¡¯s? She said that due to elven blood being stronger than humans, Aloe is basically more like a third quarter elf rather than being a half and half. John is going to need to try his best to make more babies before he hits the afterlife.

    It was time for us to head out. Daisy ran up to Rose for a last hug before we officially left the house. We gave our last goodbye and headed to the northern entrance. I thought of stopping by to check on Stein before we leave the city to see whether he had completed on the portable miniature stove that I had requested. It¡¯s a stretch but it doesn¡¯t hurt to swing by and check on the status when I know that it is going to come in handy in the northern continent seeing that we will hiding in caves most of the time.

    Rose took out her pocket watch from her back pouch to check on the time. It seemed as though she had difficulty in finding the watch as she does not have any pockets on her clothing. We walked by a merchant shop and I thought of an idea. I told Rose to wait outside while I headed in to check on something. Thankfully the merchant happened to sell what I was looking for and I bought it immediately. It was a small chain that can fit into the circular metal at the top of the pocket watch. Now she can hang it from her neck and check it anytime she wants. Once again she gave me a hug for being so attentive to her. She never even thought of considering that as a hassle but who knew that I was always thinking of making her life easier.

    We swung by Stein¡¯s workshop and to my surprise, the portable mini stove was actually completed. Stein said it was due to my complete idea that he had manage to create it this swiftly. We thought of a name and settled on calling it a lighter. Due to the fact that is was lighter than a stove and it creates light? I don¡¯t know, it felt right calling it that. It was small but surprisingly larger than the pocket watch that I have. Stein said that he happened to have this container available so he just used it for this prototype. He will be making changes to it once he thought of a better way to store the liquid gas.

    I flicked the top of the lighter wheel. Sparks flew from the tip but there was no fire. Stein said that a few tries is needed so I continued to flick the wheel until fire appeared at the tip. Wow, this is going to come in handy more so than matches will ever be. Stein said he will hold onto the blueprint until I give my feedback on it. He needed someone to test it on the field as he was not exactly satisfied with its current design.

    We said our farewell to him and officially headed to the northern entrance. Our carriage awaits us to ride us to the City Of Lilies Dahlee.

    ***

    ¡°Who knew it would be this hard to say goodbye to her,¡± said Rose as she stretched up her arms.

    We were inside the carriage heading towards north. She was not wearing her usual guild clothing as she knew that wearing white is only going to bring her trouble at the northern continent. Instead she opted for a different set of colour specially made for her. Who can deny the request of the white angel. She is also wearing a dragonhide cloak given to her by the Paladin Lord. She never told me which type of dragonhide it belonged to. Perhaps it is better than mine? Damn.

    ¡°Oh, I can certainly understand it since I am the one who had to go on quests often,¡± I told her.

    ¡°Oh you. You¡¯re supposed to cheer me up,¡± she pouted.

    ¡°I¡¯ll cheer you up later by carrying your things,¡± I smiled at her.

    We brought along our winter clothings as we knew that the City Of Lilies Dahlee is forever snowing. But those items will not be useful at the northern continent. We planned to leave some of our supplies there and only retrieve them on our way back.

    I peeked out of the carriage. That¡¯s odd. The weather towards the direction of the city is usually dull and gloomy. But why is there no clouds or dark weather at all? Did something changed there? I held my suspense with confusion and curiosity as we headed closer.

    ***

    I dropped the bags on the ground. And so did Rose. There is not a speck of snow anywhere in sight. What is going on? Did our world¡¯s climate changed this much that it affected this entire city? It is flourishing with life. Flowers were blooming all around and trees were bristling with fruits. Animals were walking around inside the city itself. Birds were flying all around dancing with one another. Are we even in the right place? This looked like something straight out of a classical Disney movie.

    ¡°Pinch me,¡± I uttered.

    Rose did not hesitate to do so. Ouch! Oh wait, did that even hurt? I am so confused right now.

    ¡°Onii-chan, I am not seeing things, right? This IS the City Of Lilies Dahlee, isn¡¯t it?¡± asked Rose with a confused tone.

    ¡°I.. I guess so? I am as confused as you are right now,¡± I muttered.

    It was then we saw Danny coming out of a house. He saw us mouth agape standing outside of the entrance. Everything feels so different that it looks almost unreal to be actually standing here.

    ¡°Oh hey, if it isn¡¯t Zen and Rose! What are ya standing there for? C¡¯mon in, you two,¡± smiled Danny.

    ¡°Hey Danny, what¡¯s going on? What.. happened here? What is with the sudden drastic change of weather? Did you all finally managed to burn all the snow or something?¡± I asked him.

    ¡°Haha! The weather changed for the better a couple of months back. It was unbelievable as it happened so drastically. Who knew the world can change this much all of a sudden,¡± said Danny.

    ¡°I am glad you are smiling now, Mister Danny,¡± said Rose as she bowed lightly to him.

    ¡°Wow, how much had you grown, Rose. How many years had it been since I last saw the two of you?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Hang on, are those.. marriage rings? Should I assume that you two are together?¡± he asked with a curious tone.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. We are married and have a daughter of our own,¡± I held Rose hand tightly.

    ¡°Haha!! I knew you two would hit it off! You had always cared about her without even realising it. It was like you were raising a wife to suit your needs, eh?¡± said Danny as he poked me with his elbow.

    ¡°What? No! I only treated her as my little sister and nothing more. Don¡¯t give her any weird ideas,¡± I chuckled.

    ¡°Haha! Come in, come in. Darcy had prepared some meals for us with spares. Let us celebrate on your marriage and daughter,¡± said Danny as he gestured us in.

    We headed into the city. I am still puzzled as to why they still call this place as a city when it was more like a town or village to me. We walked to the only tavern available here. Something black ran from the corner of my eyes. I turned to look at what it was but all I heard was rustling of leaves and nothing else. That was odd, I was sure I saw something short and black ran into the forest. Hmm.

    As I turned my head to the front, I was shocked and surprised to see a young girl holding a teddy bear while wearing a winter coat staring at me. Why is she wearing a winter coat in this beautiful weather? I crouched down to talk to her.

    ¡°Hey, little girl. Why are you wearing a winter coat in this weather? Aren¡¯t you going to be hot?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°You should leave. This place is not safe for you,¡± she said with her cute voice.

    ¡°W.. what do you mean?¡± I was surprised by her words.

    ¡°Zen? What¡¯s wrong? You suddenly disappear on us,¡± asked Rose as she came to me. Both Rose and Danny had walked up ahead when I stopped to look at what was running from the corner of my vision.

    ¡°Oh, I was just talking to this¡­. young girl? Where did she go?¡± I looked around and she was nowhere in sight. Now that is weird. I can feel goosebumps at the back of my neck. Is something really wrong here?

    Rose gave me a confused look and I just smiled awkwardly at her. We headed to the tavern and to my surprise, the tavern was bristling with people. Did this place always had this much people? I am so confused right now.

    ¡°Hey, if it isn¡¯t Zen and Rose! How long has it been? You¡¯ve certainly grown up!¡± said Darcy as she gestured us over to the counter.

    ¡°Hey Darcy. I¡¯m surprised you remembered us even after so long. How you been?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°Oh, who can forget about you two adorable younglings? There is barely any young adventurers that comes out here in the first place. Of course I¡¯ll remember you two helping us with that blood thirsty daarette,¡± she said.

    ¡°Are you planning to stay the night? I just whipped out a nice meal if you¡¯re interested,¡± she continued.

    ¡°Just a quick meal and we will be heading up north. We do want to leave some of our belongings here though. Is that fine with you?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°Why, of course. You can leave some of it here. I will take care of them,¡± she smiled.

    She brought us to a room that seems to be a storeroom. We placed whatever supplies we did not need to bring along in here. I was about to abandon all of our winter clothings but Rose insisted that we bring them along. I asked her why and she said that she had a gut feeling. Seeing as the weather changed so drastically here, I guess I can see why she is being so cautious about it. One thing that you should learn after getting married is to never argue with your wife.

    We ate our meals and headed to the port where a boat and the captain was waiting for us. Danny came to bid us farewell before we boarded the boat and wished us luck.

    It was evening now and we will most probably be reaching the northern continent by nightfall. I hope this captain is familiar with the route as the last thing I wish to worry about is being stranded in the middle of nowhere. I had some conversation with the captain as he was alone and I wanted to get acquainted with him. He was a nice guy to talk to and he have plenty of experience travelling up north. I feel better already after hearing that.

    I decided to take a nap as the journey was still some ways from where we are. Rose came over to snuggle with me while I was resting on the sleeping bag that I rolled out earlier. I told her it won¡¯t fit both of us but she said she did not mind resting on the wooden deck directly. Ah well, her choice I guess.

    ***

    I opened my eyes. It was dark now and relatively quiet. Rose was at my side sleeping. I stretched myself and wondered where we were. Did we reached the port yet? Something feels off. It was way too quiet. And there were no lights at all and there was no engine sound. I reached into my back pouch and took out the lighter. Using my touch senses alone, I managed to find it and light it up.

    I headed to the pilothouse to check on the captain. It was dark and not a single light source in sight. As I approached closer to the pilothouse door, something tapped on my shoulder from behind. I screamed and turned to look at who it was that tapped me. It was Rose.

    ¡°Geez onii-chan, you don¡¯t have to scare me like that,¡± she chuckled awkwardly.

    ¡°Y.. you were the one who scared me, Rose. I am trying to find out what happened and where are we,¡± I said to her with a scared tone.

    ¡°The captain? Shouldn¡¯t he be¡­¡± she trailed off as she realised that the pilothouse was dark.

    The both of us opened the pilothouse door which creaked loudly. My eyes were moving around quickly as the shadows were playing tricks on me. We went in and checked the entirety of the pilothouse which was small in the first place. The captain was nowhere to be found.

 Book 2 - Chapter 61

    Fuck! Where the hell is the freaking captain? Did he seriously jumped overboard or something? Rose and I scoured the entire boat and we do not see him. I pointed the lighter towards the water and I do not see any floating body or even anything. Shit! My worst nightmare literally just came true!

    Rose started chanting one of her spell which illuminated a broad area around the boat. I stopped using my my lighter as it is handy in emergency situations where there were no lights around.

    ¡°What do we do now, onii-chan?¡± asked Rose with a scared tone.

    She was shivering. I was unsure whether it was due to the weather or situation. But at least her Holy Light spell helped brighten up the surrounding area around the boat. I rushed to grab her winter coat and covered her with it. Seems like Rose¡¯s intuition is correct for us to bring our winter clothings.

    ¡°Do you know how to drive a boat?¡± I asked her calmly.

    ¡°No. Never had the chance to try before,¡± she said.

    ¡°Hmm, I took noticed of their driving movements before. Let¡¯s head back into the pilothouse for me to try,¡± I gestured her to follow me.

    ¡°Let¡¯s see, if memory serves me, this is for the throttle while this is the steering. Ah, the keys are in-placed thankfully. This doesn¡¯t make any sense. If the key is here then the captain should had been on board with us in the first place,¡± I scratched my head as things were not making much sense now.

    ¡°Onii-chan, let us focus on getting ourselves to safety first. Can you try driving the boat?¡± asked Rose.

    ¡°Hm, even if I knew, I don¡¯t have the brightest idea on where we are right now. Which way do we even go?¡± I put on a thinking face and racked my brain.

    Rose stepped out of the pilothouse and looked at the sky.

    ¡°That way, onii-chan,¡± pointed Rose.

    ¡°Huh? How can you be so sure?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°That is because the North Star is there, see? Polaris is right over there,¡± said Rose as she pointed towards those stars.

    ¡°Since when did you know so much about star constellation?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you remember? You pointed at the North Star when you first named me. Of course I had study about stars when you literally named me after one,¡± she smiled at me.

    Huh. Who would had thought that Polaris would be here in this world as well. Hang on, what? In this world as well? Why did I think that Polaris belonged to somewhere else? Did it belonged to another world in the first place?

    flash

    I saw an after image of a woman dressed in red on a boat. Who.. who was that? Was that Rose? I held my head as it was starting to hurt.

    flash

    The woman was pointing towards the sky. It was a dark sky and the stars were brightly lit. She then turned to smile at me with her hands behind her back. Her face was blurry but I felt like I knew her. Who is this person? It doesn¡¯t seemed to be Rose or Lily. I don¡¯t remember bringing either of them on a boat vacation before. Who is this person?

    ¡°Look honey, it¡¯s Polaris,¡± said the woman.

    ¡°AAAARRRRGGGHHHH!!!!¡± I held my head as it was burning and throbbing with pain as though thousand of needles were poking at it. What is this pain? What is that vision that I just saw? Who was that woman?

    ¡°Onii-chan? Onii-chan!!¡± Rose came to check on me as I was on the writhing on the ground holding my head.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, onii-chan?! Is your head hurting?! What do I do? What do I do?!¡± asked Rose as she started to panic.

    I could barely register what she was said to me. All I felt was the throbbing pain in my head that overcame all my other senses. I couldn¡¯t do anything at all except to roll on the ground clutching my head.

    ¡°Surprisingly resilient, aren¡¯t you?¡± said someone from far away.

    ***

    I opened my eyes. W.. what happened? As I regained some semblance about what happened, I realised that I was resting on Rose¡¯s lap. Her hand was glowing as she was chanting something. My headache was gone. There was no longer any throbbing pain in my head.

    I sat up to make sure everything was fine. How long was I out? Rose looked a extremely pale and I quickly checked up on her. Her lips were dry as though she had not drank water for some time. Woah, did I pass out for a such long time?

    ¡°Rose? Are you okay? Let me get you some water,¡± I rushed out to grab our bags outside and brought them into the pilothouse.

    ¡°Onii-chan, don¡¯t scare me like that. I¡­ was so worried that I had lost you again. You were screaming in pain as though you were losing your mind. I can¡¯t bear the thought of losing you again. Please don¡¯t scare me like that,¡± said Rose as tears were flowing from her eyes.

    ¡°I am so sorry, Rose. I did not mean to scare you. Really, I swear. My head just started throbbing and hurting really badly all of a sudden. I am sorry,¡± I immediately hugged her to calm her down.

    The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    ¡°H.. how long was I out?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°A couple of hours. I had to continuously chant Mind Wall on you as it was the only spell that was capable of calming you down for a long period of time. I am glad that Peter had taught me more intermediate spells,¡± she said as leaned forward on me.

    Rose must had overexerted herself by casting multiple different spells to try and soothe my headache. No wonder she is feeling so weak now. For her to continuously chant Mind Wall is not an easy task. I reached out for her pocket watch to check on the time. It is close to dawn now. I hope we can reach the Northern continent come morning.

    I set up my sleeping bag and made it as comfy as possible inside the pilothouse. Then I rested Rose on it while I tried to power up the boat with a twist of the key. Alright, it works. Let¡¯s see, Polaris is over there so that should be north. I pushed the throttle forward slowly and the boat started moving a little bit. Ok, so this controls the speed. The steering controls the direction then? Seems like it.

    I continued to accelerate the boat until it was at a comfortable speed that I am comfortable in controlling properly. It was not fast but at least we are finally moving. Rose was out cold so I can¡¯t depend on her to help me cast Holy Light to light up the area. I will have to depend on my instinct and the light of dawn to help guide my way. Which is the main reason as to why I am not speeding like a maniac right now.

    ***

    Okay.. steady.. steady¡­ steady!!

    thunk!

    Yikes, I hit the boat against the wooden port a little but¡­ I made it. I actually drove a boat to safety! And just in time too. I swore I see an indicator that looked like gas with the needle pointing towards E. I quickly leaped out of the boat to secure it to the port, making sure that I tied it as securely as possible despite the knot looking horrible.

    I took a peek at Rose, she was still resting with no sign of waking up. Based on my experience with the Northern continent, it would seemed that there won¡¯t be any storm soon based on the weather. But that does not mean that I should just take my sweet time getting Rose to safety. I grabbed all our bags and hauled it to the port.

    Phew, my body is just not built for manual hard labour. Huh? I rubbed my eyes to confirm myself. Wait a minute, I swore I saw dark clouds over the Western continent where the City Of Lilies Dahlee was. But it was gone, no dark clouds could be seen after I reconfirmed it with my eyes. Something is not right. I will need to check that city again when I return from this continent.

    I carried Rose on my back and disembarked from the boat. She was the last item that I had to carry out from the boat. Did.. I just treated my wife as baggage? I went to make sure that the rope I had tied to the boat is secured enough. Giving some thought, I decided to tie more ropes just to make sure that it is extra secured. I do not care if it looks ugly or impractical with the way I tied. I am not losing this boat.

    I stared at the small cliff that I had to climb in order to reach the town. How many trips would I need to make? What do I even carry first? Rose or our bags? Leaving Rose up there alone would be risky. I guess I would have to carry Rose as the last thing again. Just as I was about to lift one of our bags, someone called out to me from behind.

    ¡°Do you need help?¡± asked a voice.

    I jumped in fear at the sudden request. Who the hell is it when there was absolutely no one behind me earlier? Oh, it¡¯s Kirin in his spectral form.

    ¡°You are offering to help me? W.. wow. If you are willing, then I will forever be grateful. Thank you,¡± I bowed to him.

    Kirin began to carry my belongings up the stairs as I carried Rose behind my back. Ugh, carrying someone up the stairs is no easy task I tell you. Not only does your knee hurts, you have to slant your back forward to prevent the person behind from falling backwards. And Rose is taller than me in the first place.

    I made it to the top. I was panting hard as I rested on the ground after I had leaned Rose against a tree stump. Once again I looked towards the sky and saw no signs of any storm approaching. That¡¯s odd, did the weather changed here as well?

    ¡°Hop on¡± said Kirin as he lowered his body.

    ¡°You do realised I have to carry Rose as well, right? Without a saddle, she is going to fall off. I don¡¯t think I am capable of balancing the both of us while you gallop so quickly,¡± I told him.

    He turned to look around. His head settled on what looked like an abandoned broken wooden wagon. I understood his intention and went to check on it. Let¡¯s see, the wheels are shredded but the wood seems solid. There is also a metal bar at the front of the wagon. Hm, how is this going to work without any wheels?

    Kirin came over and pulled off the rotten wheels apart with his mouth. Then he lifted the wagon by the metal bar and slung it on his back. He bit the metal bar and galloped around, making sure it was sturdy enough for Rose and I. Then he turned his head and gestured me to hop on at the back of the wagon.

    Oh boy, this is going to be a bumpy ride. I am so sorry, Rose, but this is our only option right now. I tossed our bags onto wagon and carried Rose aboard. She was starting to burn up. Are those intermediate spells side effects so brutal that it causes her to have fever? I don¡¯t have much time to lose.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go, Kirin. Rose needs medical care,¡± I told him.

    He started a slow gallop at first towards the only town within our sights. Upon making sure that it was still comfortable, he started galloping faster. But the wagon was still not in a bumpy state. How strong are Kirin¡¯s teeth to be able to stabilise the wagon while he galloped at such speed?

    It did not take long for us to reach the town when Kirin galloped all the way. Kirin crouched lower to allow me to carry Rose easier. I tossed all of our bags to the ground quickly and carried Rose over. I gave my utmost thanks to Kirin and bowed to him. He nodded and vanished into thin air along with the wagon. Did he just.. took the wagon along with him? He can do that?!

    As I wanted to rush towards the tavern, I noticed a couple of lizard people staring at what had just happened. I told them to please keep it a secret and all of them nodded as they welcomed me into their town. It was not the first time that I visited here with my current title, but it was the first for them to see Kirin in his spectral form.

    I pushed the door opened with my foot and rushed into the tavern. Sliddy was chatting with another customer when she saw me rushing in while carrying Rose in a piggyback with our bags around my neck.

    ¡°Goodness! How can I help sss?!¡± asked Sliddy with a surprised look.

    ¡°A room for two, please. I¡¯ll pay after I set Rose down,¡± I told her.

    ¡°Of course, of course. Right this way sss,¡± said Sliddy as she guided me upstairs.

    ***

    ¡°She is burning up sss. What happened? I don¡¯t see your guide with you sss,¡± asked Sliddy.

    ¡°Our boat captain disappeared in the middle of our journey. We do not know what happened to him. We did not see any floating body in the midst of darkness. I was lucky enough to be able to drive us to this continent,¡± I said as I passed her some stone coins.

    ¡°W.. what? Not you too sss,¡± she said.

    ¡°What do you mean by that? Are you saying this had happened before?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°It happened quite recently actually sss. A few survivorsss were travelling from the west sss. They said that their captain vanished into thin air on the way here sss. It was sheer luck that their boat drifted to this continent a few daysss later,¡± she explained.

    ¡°Did they mentioned where they started their journey from? Is it from the City Of Lilies Dahlee? And did they mentioned about the weather changes?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°I¡­ I think so sss. They did not said much on where they came from sss. Just that the incident had spooked them up real good sss,¡± she said.

    ¡°Are they still here perhaps?¡± I asked.

    ¡°No, they left back to the west sss. Hopefully they actually made it this time sss. Alright, enough chit-chat. Let me grab a cloth and some cold water to lower Rose¡¯s fever sss,¡± she headed out of the room.

    ¡°Thanks Sliddy, your hospitality is always the best,¡± I bowed to her.

    I placed the back of my hand on Rose¡¯s forehead. It was hot but it would seemed that the fever had lowered now that we are indoors. I hope Rose is fine. I hate to see anything happen to her when we are in this continent.

    ***

    I opened my eyes. Where.. am I? It looks like I am in a room. My head feels heavy as I tried to sit up. Onii-chan was sleeping at the edge of the bed. Why didn¡¯t he just sleep next to me? The bed was big enough to fit both of us. He always cared about me more than himself. I guess the same goes for me.

    ¡°Hm.. Rose? You¡¯re awake? How are you feeling?¡± he asked me.

    ¡°Much better. Head still feels a little heavy but I¡¯m alright. You actually got us here safely. Talk about a miracle,¡± said Rose as she rested herself.

    ¡°I am not sure if miracle had a role but there is something wrong with the City Of Lilies Dahlee. We will need to investigate more when we returned there,¡± I said to her.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Before I begin, let me tell you what happened back at the boat. I¡­ saw a vision of some sorts. There was a woman that I had not seen before in my life. We were on some large boat and she was pointing towards the sky towards Polaris. It was then that my head started throbbing with pain. I am sorry if I worried you,¡± I explained to her as I held her hand.

    ¡°I see. Perhaps it is some lost memories of yours? Or from a previous life? I used Mind Fortification on you which sort of stopped your pain for a while but after the effects were gone, you started writhing in pain again. So I had to use Mind Wall to continuously keep you calm until you felt better. I was not expecting the side effects to be this bad,¡± Rose smiled a little with her tongue out.

    ¡°I do not know where that vision came from but I certainly hope that it does not return. I hate to see you torturing yourself just to keep me calm. Either way, Sliddy mentioned that we were not the only ones who had their boat abandoned in the middle of the ocean. And I swore I saw dark clouds momentarily at the City Of Lilies Dahlee from this continent. Something bad must be happening there and I wish to check it out. I hope we can complete our tasks here quickly,¡± I said.

    We rested for about two days before we decided to head out. To my surprise, not a storm occured during those two days. It would seemed like the weather here had changed completely as well. Is that what is keeping Sladar preoccupied here? I have a bad feeling that things are going to get worse as I need to search for this human settlement.

 Book 2 - Chapter 62

    ¡°Things had drastically changed in this continent sss,¡± said Sliddy as Rose and I were having our breakfast by the counter bar.

    ¡°There was barely any hails or stormsss recently. They do come every once in a while but it was far lesss and few in between as sss compared to last time. I see that you had brought your winter clothingssss with you. You should bring along in case it comes in handy sss. Even I cannot predict the weather here anymore sss,¡± she continued.

    ¡°Do you.. happened to know where Kronk is?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°Kronk? Come to think of it, it¡¯s been a while since I last saw him sss. I wonder where he went sss,¡± she poundered in her thoughts.

    ¡°Have you heard about the humans that had inhabited this continent? Rumour has it that demons avoided them and did not attack ever since they set their foot here. Is that true?¡± I asked Sliddy.

    ¡°I.. can¡¯t really comment on that as sss it was Kronk who told us about it sss. We had never seen any of those humans sss that wondered into our town so far sss. Aside from the occasional traders or adventurers sss of course sss,¡± she explained.

    ¡°I see. Thanks for all your help, Sliddy. I really appreciate your hospitality,¡± I bowed to her lightly.

    ¡°Oh you.. very rarely do humans sss treat us in such a polite manner sss. You are my best human customers, Zen and Rose sss,¡± she bowed back to us.

    I scratched my head as it was weird to hear someone calling us as ¡°human customers¡±.

    We got ready and headed out to start with our task. I had prepared all that I could including whatever alchemy that I brought over for this trip. Let¡¯s get this over with and hopefully we can return back to the west as soon as possible.

    We stood at the edge of town right before the gate. It was here that we first fought with the Great Demon that wandered into the town. And I got my ass whooped hard. The four of us had difficulties in killing it for sure. May Pietro rest in peace. I really wondered what happened to him. John refused to tell me what happened to him aside from sort of confirming that Pietro had indeed passed.

    Rose told me to wait here while she scouted ahead using her Sacred Wings. She can fly high and look for where the potential human settlements might be. Not long after, she came back and confirmed that the location marked on the map is indeed where the humans might be as she saw smoke trails arising from that direction.

    Rose started walking ahead but stopped as she noticed that I wasn¡¯t following along. I was thinking whether someone would actually be kind enough to quicken our pace. I summoned Inazuma and talked to it, asking for permission and pleading to it. Rose looked at me as though I had lost it. She was checking my head temperature to make sure I was alright.

    A spectral horse appeared which frighten Rose and made her shriek. I told her this is the spectral form of Kirin and we can ride on him to our destination. She was at a lost for words. All these time she had assumed that Kirin and Byakko was just the name of the weapon that I wielded. She always assumed that my conversation with them was nothing more than my curse giving me a dream that I talked to them. Even my wife doesn¡¯t trust me.

    I hopped on to Kirin¡¯s back and extended my hand for her to hop on.

    ¡°Thank you, Kirin-sama for allowing us to ride your back,¡± said Rose as she bowed to the spectral form of Kirin.

    ¡°Hmph, I see your wife have more manners than you,¡± said Kirin.

    ¡°Of course, that is why I chose her. Haha!¡± I laughed.

    ¡°I wasn¡¯t complementing you but your wife,¡± Kirin replied with a speechless face.

    ¡°Any complements to my wife is basically an agreement that I had made a right choice,¡± I chuckled.

    ¡°Really now? I thought you would had chosen Lily instead seeing as she caught your eye first,¡± said Kirin.

    ¡°I thought so too. I wasn¡¯t expecting him to choose me as well,¡± answered Rose.

    ¡°Wait, how did this topic even come up in the first place?¡± I asked both of them.

    ¡°Is that why you are allowing him to have Lily as his second wife?¡± asked Kirin as he ignored what I just said.

    This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

    ¡°I sort of understand that onii-chan had a deep fetish for female elves which runs in his veins. So, rather than him cheating on me with some random elf, I would rather give him permission to choose Lily instead seeing that I am already familiar with her,¡± explained Rose.

    ¡°Excuse me, are you saying you have so little faith in me, Rose? I did not even cheat on you at all,¡± I pouted at her.

    ¡°It is only a matter of time, Zen. Only a matter of time,¡± chuckled Rose.

    I showed her an unamused face. She was already judging me when I literally did not even cheat on her. Hmph, if she has so little faith in me then perhaps I should get together with Lily and make her eat her own words.

    We galloped towards our destination, all the while keeping an eye out on the weather. Things are certainly much different in this continent right now. There was barely any demons in sight nor was there any dangerous monsters or plants.

    ¡°Onii-chan, is it just me or is there more normal looking flora and fauna than I last remembered? asked Rose.

    ¡°It¡¯s not just you. According to Sladar¡¯s report, there had been more flora and fauna recently in this continent. Now it barely looked like some wasteland but more like some rainforest. Where are the demons though? Did Sladar hunted all of them or something?¡± I scratched my head.

    ***

    We reached the settlement within half an hour. There was absolutely no attacks at all from anything. I felt like all my preparations was for nothing. Kirin dropped us off before we reached the location as he was still shy in showing people his spectral form. Both Rose and I peeked our heads out from a tree. The settlement was actually of a decent size. How many humans are actually living here?

    He walked closer to the settlement. A couple of children saw us and waved at us. There are children here as well? We stood by the gate, or I should say a short-fenced gate. There is barely any protection at all in this settlement. Just a hop and you¡¯re in for a human buffet.

    We were greeted by a man who was shirtless but wore a golden necklace with a strange shape. He does not look skinny so they seems to be well fed here.

    ¡°Greetings, I¡¯m¡­¡±

    ¡°I know who you are, Master Zen and White Angel Rose. Only a fool would not know the name and face of the fourth and hero of the war. Welcome to my settlement. I am sure you have questions seeing as you were willing to come all this way to this humble abode. You can address me as Son by the way,¡± he said.

    ¡°Um, thanks. You can just call me Zen actually. Is your real name really called Son?¡± I asked with curiosity.

    ¡°A humble man but I¡¯m afraid calling you by your direct name goes against the teachings of the Imperatrix. Do forgive me. We value title and manners in our teachings. As per your question, it is merely my title. I had abandoned my real name a long time ago,¡± he said as he led us into his settlement.

    ¡°As you can see, we are living in harmony here with plenty of supplies that can sustain all of us. We collect water from rain or directly from underground sources. Animals brought over from the mainland were cared and kept properly as our source of proteins. Crops are also growing well as you can see,¡± he guided us around the settlement where he showed us the farm and barn.

    ¡°Why stay here in the first place? Is the mainland not comfortable enough for you all to stay there?¡± I asked him.

    ¡°It is to test our faith, Master Zen. As per our teachings, a strong faith in the Imperatrix is all we need to overcome all odds. The Imperatrix protects,¡± he made a prayer sign with his hands and bowed to a statue that I presumed is the image of the Imperatrix.

    ¡°So you are saying that all of you came to this continent just to test your faith? Does all your lives matter so little?¡± I asked bluntly.

    ¡°I understand your concern but we moved here to prove ourselves to our Father that faith is all that matters when we worship the Imperatrix,¡± he spat.

    ¡°By Father, are you referring to the priest of the Church of Imperatrix in the City Of Pines?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Indeed, he had lost his ways. Instead of preaching about the glory of the Imperatrix, he chose to follow a different path instead,¡± he complained.

    ¡°As in to cure the people of all sickness? Is that even true?¡± I asked.

    ¡°I have no comments about that. I brought over my flock as I disagree with the direction he was heading. But I had certainly proven myself that faith prevails all. Bless the Imperatrix,¡± said Son.

    Rose was tugging on my cloak. Perhaps she is finding this conversation too annoying for her liking. But it is our duty to check on this settlement. We have to question them about their living condition here.

    ¡°Is it true that there was absolutely no attacks from any demons or other beings throughout your entire stay here?¡± I asked Son.

    ¡°Yes indeed. The moment we stepped our foot on this continent, the weather changed and nature started to change before our very eyes as though to welcome us here,¡± he explained.

    Uh huh. Did angels started flying around or perhaps fairies were sprinkling fairy dust on all of you while birds carried ribbons and place them atop of your head? I rolled my eyes without even realising it.

    ¡°I can see that you do not believe in what we had experienced and I do not blame you. The Imperatrix only bless all that follows her guidance and she rewards those that follows her faith,¡± he bowed once again to the statue.

    ¡°Do you mind if we stay here for a night? Is there somewhere we can spend the night?¡± I asked him.

    Rose started tugging my cloak even harder now as though she is about to rip it apart. I am sorry Rose, we have to investigate this place thoroughly if we were to report back to the guildmasters.

    ¡°Of course, we do have a guest house for anyone that wish to stay over. We will be expanding our compound later as more of my flocks will be arriving in a matter of days. Allow me to guide you to where you will be staying tonight,¡± he started leading us.

    ¡°Right, before I forget. Had you seen a lizard man that had perhaps visit here before?¡± I asked him.

    ¡°Are you referring to Kronk? Yes he had visited us some time ago. It¡¯s been months since I last saw him. I am afraid I do not have any latest information to provide you with,¡± he bowed lightly to me.

    ¡°No, it¡¯s fine. Don¡¯t worry about it,¡± I said.

    He brought us to a small looking house close to the edge of the gated compound. The interior looked comfortable and had all the basic necessities needed for us to survive the night. I thanked Son for his hospitality and he assured us that meals will be provided to us for both lunch and dinner. I wanted to pass him some coins as thanks but he refused and said that coins have no value to him. Rose started questioning my decision to stay the night as soon as Son left.

    ¡°Why? Just why? Do you want to hear more of his ramblings before you are satisfied?¡± Asked Rose with an angered tone.

    ¡°Rose~ You do realised we need to investigate this place thoroughly, right? And I find this place extremely suspicious. Is there really no attacks on them at all? Did this ¡°Imperatrix¡± really blessed this place to welcome them?¡± I said as I started wondering in my head.

    ¡°Oh no, don¡¯t you start talking crazy, onii-chan. Your curse is nothing compared to these fanatic idiots. I had dealt with a lot of them before and I can assure you that talking to them had reduced my half of my lifespan. Nothing good will come from talking to them,¡± sulked Rose.

    ¡°I know, I am not asking you to learn about their religion or even mingle with them. We just observe them for a day then we will head back tomorrow. That¡¯s all. Please?¡± I pleaded with wimpy eyes.

    ¡°Alright fine. We will just be keeping an eye on them. No naughty things today. I don¡¯t want these fanatics to peek in on us,¡± she crossed her arms.

    ¡°So you¡¯re ok with non-fanatics peeking in on us during our naughty time? Rose.. I didn¡¯t know you had such fetish in you,¡± I gasped at her.

    ¡°What no?! Just a slipped off my tongue. I don¡¯t have such fetish!¡± She shouted.

    ¡°You know I wouldn¡¯t say no to outdoor sex, right?¡± I chuckled.

    ¡°We are not having this conversation ever,¡± she sulked and looked away.

    ¡°Only a matter of time, Rose. Only a matter of time,¡± I used her own words against her with a grin.

    Alright, our infiltration job is simple. We just need to keep an eye on this location for about a day. When nightfalls, Conceal is going to help me dig out the secrets of this place if there are even any. I look forward to finding all the dirty secrets of this place.

 Book 2 - Chapter 63

    Here I am hiding in the shadows with Conceal active. There was barely any suspicious activity during the day so I waited for nightfall to perhaps sneak into Son¡¯s house and gather some sort of information about this settlement. Rose will be keeping a lookout from the guesthouse¡¯s roof in case of any unexpected events.

    I moved from shadow to shadow as slowly as I can. I was afraid there was someone as perceptive as Tom here although I highly doubt there is anyone like that here but it doesn¡¯t hurt to be careful. I saw Son coming out of his house with someone else. Rose made the okay gesture to signal me that it is safe to sneak into his house while she will be eavesdropping on the both of them.

    Alright, are there any opened windows? Hmm, all seems to be locked. What about the.. back door? It¡¯s.. opened? The door was not even closed leaving a small opened gap in between. Is this a trap? Why does it smell like it?

    I opened the door while maintaining Conceal active. To the uninitiated eye, it would looked as though the door opened by itself. At first glance, the house extremely dark with barely any lights. Perhaps they use candles here but shouldn¡¯t you light up a few to prevent your house from looking so creepy?

    I sneaked in slowly. First impression, this house is worst than a minimalist. There was barely even anything inside here at all. Is this what Son meant when he said that money had no value to him? But still, this is perhaps the most boring house I ever stepped my foot in. Did I perhaps mistaken this building as his house when it could perhaps be a meeting building instead?

    I checked each room as quickly as I could. All of them were as barren as the Mojave wasteland with not a single furniture in sight. I was down to the last room when there was finally a mattress on the floor along with a table and chair. I felt like I hit the jackpot and rushed in to look for any important documents. I noticed there was a metal container at the side of the table with squarish looking soots. He must be burning confidential documents here. Are there even anything I can find here?

    There was a book with a paper protruding out. I opened the book to check its contents but it looked like a novel of some sorts. The paper caught my eye as there was a symbol that I recognised. It belonged to the Church of Imperatrix. I read through the paper and felt confused. It would seemed like this letter is asking whether Son was behind the frequent monster attacks on the city and he should stop the attacks if he was.

    Son? Leading monsters to attack the city? But how? He seemed hellbent on staying here to care about City Of Pines. We had asked a couple of villages here and they said that Son had never left this settlement ever since he first guided them here. How is he controlling them then? Psychic?

    There was nothing else worth noting so I left the premise. As soon as I got out of the back door, white particles were falling in front of my vision. W.. what? Snow? It¡¯s snowing now out of the blue? What is with going on with this continent?

    I started hearing some commotion towards the direction of the guesthouse and I heard Rose calling out to me. What is going on? Did we get caught? All around me I hear people whispering about bad things. I should get back to the guesthouse quickly.

    I peeked out from one of the houses nearby the guesthouse. It looked like Son and a couple of villagers are talking to Rose. I deactivated Conceal and pretended that I had just went for a walk.

    ¡°Ah, that sure calmed me down. That brisk walk was all I needed. Hm? What¡¯s going on?¡± I asked them nonchalantly.

    ¡°Master Zen, I am sorry but I would have to ask you to leave our settlement immediately,¡± said Son.

    ¡°It¡¯s the middle of the night and you are kicking me out? In this continent no less? You got to be joking, right?¡± I glared at him.

    ¡°I am not. Your very presence here had upset the entire continent itself. You must leave, effective immediately,¡± he said firmly.

    ¡°A.. Are you seriously blaming me for change in weather? Do you even understand what you¡¯re saying,¡± I asked him with disbelief.

    ¡°Non-believers! Leave this place before you kill us all!¡± shouted one of the villagers.

    ¡°It is snowing because of you! This had never happened before ever since we set our foot here!¡± shouted another.

    Rose was grabbing my arm tightly as though she knew that she had to control my anger. I was still in control of myself even though there were plenty of villages shouting at me. But I snapped when someone threw something that hit Rose in the face. I rushed towards the asshole who threw at Rose but she grabbed me tightly with both of her hands to prevent me going on a killing spree.

    ¡°Onii-chan, it¡¯s just a snowball. Let¡¯s just leave. I am fine,¡± she said to me while clinging tightly to my arm.

    Son raised his hand and all the villagers went silent.

    ¡°Please, leave on your own accord. I cannot promise you that my flock will not do something beyond my control,¡± he said.

    ¡°Very well then, it¡¯s been a pleasure,¡± I gritted my teeth as I spat those words.

    I grabbed Rose¡¯s hand and stormed into the guesthouse to collect our belongings. We left the settlement as soon as possible with Rose casting Holy Light as our light source. After some distance away from the settlement, I turned to her and inspected her face. It was a little red but there was no wound, scar or any sign of internal bleeding.

    ¡°Onii-chan, I am fine. Don¡¯t worry about me,¡± she smiled.

    ¡°Rose¡­ I am so sorry. I shouldn¡¯t had suggested we stayed there. I put you in danger,¡± I frowned as I felt stupid.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. We needed to investigate anyway. Otherwise the guildmasters might call us lazy for not checking properly,¡± she chuckled.

    ¡°To hell with that settlement. The plague can take them for all I care. They hurt my wife, they won¡¯t be receiving any help from me at all,¡± I crossed my arms.

    ¡°It didn¡¯t really hurt at all, onii-chan. You worry too much,¡± she chuckled at me.

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    ¡°What kind of husband would I be if I don¡¯t worry about you,¡± I told her as we tried to find an empty cave to spend the night.

    More snows were pouring now and we had to wear our winter clothings. I am glad that had Rose suggested to bring these along or we would be freezing to death about now. We quicken our pace to look for a cave. There! I think I see one up ahead. We rushed towards the cave hoping that it will be empty. There were no lights to be seen so it should be vacant.

    Fuuuooppp!!

    ¡°What the fuck!¡± I shouted.

    Both Rose and I were lifted up by a metal net and we were both trapped inside. One thing after another!

    ¡°Well well, what do we have here? Oh my, we are so sorry. We did not expect to be capturing humans in the dead of night,¡± said a female voice.

    ¡°Not just any humans. Take a look, the fourth member of the great powers. And the white angel herself,¡± said a male voice as he raised a lamp to illuminate us.

    ¡°I am not in a good mood right now. Please put us down before I lose my temper,¡± I warned them.

    ¡°Big words coming from someone who is hopelessly trapped like a rat,¡± said another voice.

    I counted 5 presence among them. I believe I know who these people are and I am not in the mood for them right now. I summoned Inazuma and sliced through the steel net making sure to grab Rose princess style as we landed.

    ¡°H.. hey! I can land on my own,¡± said Rose as she struggled to put her foot down.

    ¡°Hunters, I am giving you my last warning. Leave now or suffer dire consequences,¡± I warned them as I released my murderous intent towards them. I had enough in dealing with humans for today.

    ¡°He.. just sliced apart the steel net,¡± uttered one of them.

    The hunters were debating on what they should do. Is there some rule that prevents them from just walking away? Geez.

    Rose stood in front of me and poked her index finger on my nose.

    ¡°Onii-chan, stand down. You are emitting a very strong murderous intent now and we do not kill humans. I will handle them. Capiche?¡± she warned me.

    ¡°Rose, there are 5 of them,¡± I warned her back but she just smiled at me.

    She walked ahead and faced them. She unsheathed her legendary rapier given by Peter. I can never stop being in awe at its designs. Mostly silver with some hints of red. Apparently it was made from the materials of a meteorite that fell to this world sometime ago. Peter was lucky enough to get a piece of that meteorite and he sent it to a famous blacksmith where he forged this rapier.

    ¡°We humbly suggest you step aside as we cannot claim your title, white angel,¡± threatened one of the hunter as all of them began to unsheathe their weapons.

    What odd weapons they are using. Some of them were holding weapons that looked like saws while some looked like hammers. A few of them held what looked like modified flintlocks. Will Rose be fine?

    ¡°I would suggest you do not underestimate her. The white angel is even stronger than me,¡± I said out loud.

    Rose struck first. She hit one of the hunter on the shoulder causing him to fall. Her rapier¡¯s blade had changed to a silver looking rod. Two of the hunters shot their guns at her but Rose dodged it easily. She casted Accelerate and knocked out one of them with a smack to the back of the neck. The hunters did not panic and regrouped. They readied their weapons and charged or leaped at her. Rose changed her rapier¡¯s blade to an extremely long silver whip and began swinging at them before they could even reach her.

    Using a whip requires a lot of skill stats to wield properly but Rose had 55 skill stats right now. Meanwhile, I was stuck at 48. Just two more to unlock the last hidden spell, damn it!

    Rose was skilled enough to deflect pellets shot at her with her whip. Her versatility in using her new weapon is what makes her strong. Even I had difficulty fighting her with her spells and new weapon. The hunters took out what looked like bombs and began chucking them at her but she parried it beautifully, knocking it back at them.

    The hunters leaped out of the way and explosions erupted. Rose did not hesitate and rushed after them. She found two of them trying to recollect themselves after the blast and knocked them out cold. Only two left. Scratch that, only one left as the other one was slumped on the remaining hunter.

    ¡°We surrender. Please, let us go,¡± said the remaining member.

    ¡°Answer two of my questions then you may leave. What is the purpose of your organisation and what is the green fluid that you use to instantly cure yourself,¡± I asked the remaining hunter.

    ¡°Our organisation is to kill demons and collect their blood. I am not sure what you are asking about on what green fluids,¡± he answered.

    ¡°Don¡¯t play dumb. I saw one of you hunters injecting herself with green fluid and healed her wounds instantly. You are not leaving until I get an answer,¡± I warned him and proceeded to walk closer to him getting ready to cast Fear.

    ¡°Please, let me go. I do not know about what green fluids you are referring to. There are different ranks in our hunters guild. We are of the lower rank which is why we hunt in groups. The hunter you saw was probably a higher rank hence we won¡¯t know what special equipment they have,¡± the hunter was on his knees now begging to let him go.

    Rose came in front and blocked me with her hand to stop me from approaching the hunter.

    ¡°Onii-chan, just let them go. I hate seeing you like this,¡± she whispered to me.

    I sighed loudly to calm myself. I guess I won¡¯t be able to get information from these rookie hunters.

    ¡°You may go,¡± I said while resigning myself.

    ¡°Thank you. I will remember your kindness,¡± said the hunter as we went to wake those who were unconscious.

    Rose and I continued to head towards the cave. Thank goodness it is empty, otherwise I will lose it. We started collecting woods for us to burn. Using my lighter, it was so much easier to start a fire. Rose came to hug me tightly. She said that ever since I unlocked Bloodlust, my temper shoots up drastically when bad things happens. Maybe it due to the reason that I can activate Bloodlust easier than Focused Meditation. Mom¡¯s gene is stronger than my father perhaps.

    She casted her sealing spell on the cave door which prevents any living thing from coming in, unless it is something strong enough to break through the barrier. It should be safe enough for us to spend the night here.

    I lay on my sleeping bed and thought of closing my eyes and call it a day but Rose suddenly came over and straddle me. What the? What is she doing?

    ¡°Onii-chan, I want you to remember this whenever you feel like losing your temper, remember this moment,¡± she said as she begun stripping.

    ¡°W.. wait, Rose. Does your barrier even stop people from peeking in? Calm down,¡± I asked her while I started to panic with her sudden behaviour.

    ¡°Well, you wanted outdoor sex, right? This is the closest you¡¯re gonna get, o-nii-chan~¡± whispered Rose as she started kissing me.

    Oh my lord, what a night to remember. I will definitely remember this, alright. I am sure my little buddy is going to remember it too. And she told me once that we will end up as a boring couple together.

    ***

    I opened my eyes. Ugh, talk about fatigue. How many times did we even did it? I can¡¯t even feel any response from my little buddy now partly due to the weather. I sat up and saw Rose still asleep next to me. She had a satisfied look on her face. Well, she better, after all the crazy things that we did last night.

    I thought about what happened yesterday. Are hunters the reason as to why there are barely any demons here? But why are they hunting in the first place? What use do they have with demon¡¯s blood? Is that green fluid the previous hunter injected herself with demon blood? But that is not possible. There is no evidence that human blood and demon blood is compatible with one another. I made my own little experiment to test out with demon¡¯s blue and red blood yet none of them wielded any results whatsoever.

    I sighed as I looked outside of the cave. I will need to depend on Kirin to ride us back to town as it seems to be snowing heavier now. I really hope a blizzard doesn¡¯t hit us when we start travelling after breakfast.

    ***

    Me and my big fat mouth. Why did I have to think of such a thing? I am certainly glad we have our winter clothings with us right now. It is snowing so badly that I can barely even see anything right in front of me. Kirin said that he is able to determine our current location and will guide us back to safety. All I had to do was grab onto his mane tightly while Rose have to hug me tightly from behind. It was certainly a dangerous journey and I swore I heard avalanche sounds from afar but I had no way of knowing whether it was coming towards us. I had to everything to Kirin to bring us back safely.

    A couple of hours passed and we finally made it back to town according to Kirin. Even though we were supposedly inside the town area itself, I still could not see any buildings around me at all. I decided to tell Kirin to push on until we reached the port. He asked me whether it was a good idea but I had a hunch that something might happen.

    Riding on Kirin as he galloped down the stairs from the cliff was awful. I hope my family jewels remained intact after we reached the bottom. I placed my feet on the wooden plank of the port and turned to look at the weather behind me. Bloody hell, it would seemed that what Son had said was true.

    The blizzard started getting milder and after a couple of minutes later, it had completely stopped snowing entirely. If I put my foot back on the continent, is it going to snow again? I placed my foot and kept an eye for any falling snow. Nothing. I tested moving between the wooden port and this continent¡¯s land but nothing changed. It would seemed that it had stopped snowing entirely.

    ¡°Kirin, is there any celestial being that is capable of controlling the weather like this?¡± I asked him as he was also staring at the weather along with me.

    ¡°Not that I know of. Even so, celestial beings cannot use their power to directly affect this world. Even if there really is one then Byakko and I would had sensed it the moment they set foot on this world. My take is that a vessel of a cosmic being resides on this continent,¡± he explained.

    ¡°You think Son is the vessel? He didn¡¯t feel special or anything,¡± I recollect the details of my meeting with him.

    ¡°I highly doubt it¡¯s him. There is something else here that is affecting this entire this continent. I doubt it is the Demon King either seeing that his presence here is close to non-existence. I am beginning to wonder about his resurrection,¡± said Kirin.

    ¡°Either way, thanks for bringing us back here. You have my utmost thanks,¡± I bowed to him along with Rose.

    He vanished and we started making our way back to the town. I need to get this boat refilled and possibly some boat handling training from some experienced boat captain. Fingers crossed there are any available in this small town. I will also need to prepare myself for the return trip to City Of Lilies Dahlee. Someone is going there and I intent to get to the bottom of it. Those people matters to me unlike Son¡¯s flock here. I hope they are alright when I make it back there.

 Book 2 - Chapter 64

    Alright, gently¡­ gently.. now decelerate and turn off the engine. Oh hey, we made it. I took a peek outside of the boat and saw Rose tying the rope to the dock exactly how those lizardmen captains taught us. A couple of them even offered to bring us over but I turned them down saying that it was not safe at our destination currently. I guess I can officially take my driver¡¯s boat license now seeing that I managed to drive us safely from a continent to another.

    The weather was still beautiful here in the City Of Lilies Dahlee. Is it really possible for the vessel at northern continent to affect the weather all the way to this city? I must investigate here. We disembarked and headed towards the city. Danny came to greet us as though he somehow knew about it. Every single detail is starting to get more suspicious to me now.

    ¡°Hey, you guys are back early. Planning to stay the night before heading back?¡± he asked us with a smile.

    I turned my attention elsewhere and inspected the surroundings of this place while Rose talked with Danny. It felt surreal for such drastic changes to happen in just a few months. Too drastic as a matter of fact.

    I scooped up some dirt on the ground and watched it fall bits by bits from my hand. I did it once again and watched the dirts fall. If Rose were watching me right now, she would had thought I had lost it. I scooped the dirt one last time and made sure to pay extra attention to how the dirt fell. There, I see some discrepancy in the way it falls. Some dirts were falling slower than the others. It would seemed like my suspicion might be right.

    ¡°Rose, do you mind casting Mind Fortification on me?¡± I asked her as I wiped the dirt away from my hand.

    ¡°W.. what, right now? Are you sure?¡± she asked me.

    ¡°Yes. Now, if you don¡¯t mind?¡± I asked her firmly.

    She hesitated a little but began chanting the spell on me. It felt as though my mind was getting lifted from her spell. This is a strong spell that is capable of blocking the effects from Higher State of Mind. Which is why this is considered an intermediate spell that Peter taught her during our training at the east.

    I can feel the warmness of the spell enveloping my head. It is calming and serene and seems to clear my mind of thoughts except for one thing.

    ¡°Ohmigosh! It¡¯s so fucking cold!!!¡± I started shivering horribly as the spell fully protected my mind.

    ¡°W.. what are you talking about?¡± asked Rose as she saw me rushing over to our bags and started wearing all of my winter clothings.

    I did not answer her until I had worn all of my winter clothings properly. Rose was still chatting with Danny wondering what is going on with me. I tossed to Rose her winter clothings telling her to put it on.

    ¡°Onii-chan, are you seriously asking me to wear this right now?¡± she asked with disbelieve in her face.

    ¡°Yes, Rose. Right now. And stop talking to Danny, he is not there,¡± I told her.

    ¡°W.. what are you talking about? He is standing right here. Can¡¯t you see him?¡± said Rose as she swung her hands on where Danny was supposedly standing.

    I walked closer to her and placed both of my hands on her face so that she focuses on me.

    ¡°Rose, listen to me. What you¡¯re seeing is not real. Please, trust me when I tell you to wear your winter clothing now and cast mind fortification on yourself,¡± I said firmly to her and she nodded gently.

    Rose did as she was told and casted mind fortification on herself. And true enough after a few seconds later..

    ¡°Why is everything so cold??!¡± shouted Rose as she started shivering.

    ***

    We sought shelter in one of the houses that was covered up with snow and started a fire at the fireplace. Is this city completely abandoned or something? What is going on? Was what we saw just an illusion? But everything felt so real. Even the food tasted real when we ate the meal Darcy had made. But wait, if it was an illusion, how did the captain even brought us midway and disappeared? Hmm.

    There is limited firewoods in this house for our usage. We have a some supplies from our trip to survive the night but we will need to check for survivors in this city the first thing morning. What happened to everyone? What I am seeing now must be real and not an illusion as Rose had casted mind fortification on us. Rose cuddled next to me as we sat close to the fireplace. Even with our winter clothings the weather was extremely cold right now. We placed a rug nearby that was frozen solid in an attempt to warm it up so that we can wrap ourselves with it. We got to survive the night with whatever we have. I guess it¡¯s going to be meat jerky and cold water for tonight I guess. Maybe I can find a pot to start boiling some hot water. I hope it snows much lighter tomorrow so that we can head to the tavern to retrieve our supplies and start investigating what happened to this city. May the above listen to my small request.

    ***

    Thankfully we were able to survive the night. It was snowing much lighter now so we quickly went out to seek for supplies. Rose will be looking for firewoods while I retrieve our supplies, all the while keeping an eye out for any survivors.

    I stood in front of what is supposedly the only tavern in this city. I only recognised it by the roof¡¯s design as everything else was covered in snow. Goodness, just a few months and the whole city is engulfed with snow up to the roof. I will need to find a way in. I inspected the surrounding snow around the building. Alright, it is not frozen solid but I should expect ice to be formed at the bottom. I stood in front of what I believe is to be the tavern¡¯s front door and summoned Tengu-kaze. Rose is nowhere in sight and I do not hear her which is a clear sign for me. I took a few steps backward and began focusing power on my left hand. Wind element began wrapping around Tengu-kaze and I slammed it on the ground. Strong winds emitted from Tengu-kaze, pushing much of the snows away around me. I fell a few metres closer to ground level. I was right, there was a layer of ice but it was thin enough to not cause me an issue when opening the door.

    I reached out to the door knob, it was frozen solid alright. Good thing I boiled some snow earlier so I have a relatively warm water by now. Time to have some fun splashing the door.

    Yosh, got to quickly¡­. there! Finally got it opened.

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    SMASH!!!

    The hell was that?! It sounded like some glass was smashed inside as soon as I opened the door. I crouched low as I sneaked into the tavern, wary about what just happened. It looked abandoned as far as I can see and I no longer hear anything. I headed to the storeroom where we left our supplies. I really hope it is there despite us walking into an illusion the previous time. I reached the storeroom at the back and noticed a window was broken. I inspected the scene and was puzzled.

    There was just a giant hole on the window as snow was pushing against it from the outside. But what is strong enough to breakthrough a window covered deep in snow? Not to mention it had to burrowed out of the snow from the window. Hmm.

    I decided to ignore it as there is no way I am going to follow the small hole from the broken window just to find whatever it was. I opened the storeroom door and oh sweet mother of lord, our supplies are here! I grabbed all of our supplies quickly and decided to check upstairs for any possible survivors. I came up to the first floor where I believe only Darcy stays at this level as only her room is located here. Guest rooms are at the second floor which is the highest. I knocked on her door and listened for any possible sounds inside. It was absolutely quiet. I checked on the door knob and it was locked. Hm, should I kick it down? No, let¡¯s keep things subtle. I summoned Inazuma and decided to slice through the door near the lock itself. That way, the lock remained untouched but I can open the door without needing to touch the knob.

    I pushed opened the door. Everything is so quiet aside from the winds being blown outside and the creaking sound as I opened the door. ¡°Here¡¯s Johnny?¡± I whispered as I tip-toed into her room. Is she even here? I opened another door which looked like a bedroom. Darcy was on her bed which I rushed over to check her condition. She had pulse and seems to be breathing normally. But she looked extremely frail as though she had not eaten in months. But I can confirm that she is still alive. I couldn¡¯t wake her up no matter what I did so I tried to lift her up but.. what the? How much does she weigh? It seems as though she is stuck to her bed. There is no way I can¡¯t lift such a slim woman. Hm, nothing I can do for now I guess, let¡¯s check upstairs if there is anyone.

    There was a couple of survivors upstairs in the guest rooms while some were unlucky to be found dead all skinny looking. Damn it, what is really going on here? I should check up on Rose just in case. Hate to be separated from her in such a weird situation we are in.

    I heard her calling out to me after I stepped out of the tavern. It did not sound like she was in distress judging by her tone. I met Rose midway as I went looking for her. On her left was a little girl that I sort of recognised. She was the one who told me to get out of town.

    ¡°Hey little girl, I am surprised you are still here since you asked me to leave. What¡¯s your name?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°I am surprised you remembered me seeing as you only saw me for a few seconds. My name is Moi,¡± she said.

    Moi? Now that¡¯s an odd name. Is that even her real name or a nickname she gave herself?

    ¡°Is your parents around? Or are you alone?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°My parents are no longer around. Only teddy is left. He protected me,¡± she answered.

    ¡°Y.. your teddy protected you? From what exactly?¡± I asked her curiously.

    ¡°From the nightmares,¡± she answered.

    Strong winds blew against us as though it was trying to warn us about the danger we are venture to. We thought of seeking shelter in the abandoned house that we spent the night but Moi told us to stay over at her place if we wish to actually wake up tomorrow.

    Rose and I decided to follow the little girl¡¯s advice seeing that she had managed to survive in this place for a couple of months now. Let us make haste and bring over our supplies.

    Moi¡¯s house was.. surprisingly well maintained. How did she even cleaned the roofs of her house in the first place? Very impressive indeed. She gestured us to enter her home which we were astounded by. How is a little girl keeping this place in such a good shape? Everything felt homey and warm when we entered. The fireplace was lit and surprisingly strong enough to keep the whole house warm despite the fire looking as though it is about to die out.

    ¡°You two can sleep here tonight. I have my bed upstairs,¡± said Moi as she pointed towards the two mattress on the floor. Did she prepared this in advance? How did she know?

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to be cold if you sleep upstairs?¡± I asked Moi.

    She replied me saying that she had a mini fireplace in her room to keeps her warm. Wow, why didn¡¯t I think of adding that to our personal room in the city?

    We settled down and had our conversations by the living room¡¯s fireplace. In such a cold weather, it is only appropriate to keep ourselves warm if we are going to have a long chat. Moi brought us some warm tea before we started. I took a sip and was surprised by the flavour, it¡¯s rose tea. Did she knew what my favourite tea was or is this purely by coincidence? Why does it feel as though Moi had predicted so many things accurately so far?

    ¡°I believe we had not introduced ourselves, I¡¯m..¡±

    ¡°Zen Hawthorn and Rose Starr, I know who you are. The both of you are famous in both the east and the west,¡± interrupted Moi.

    ¡°I¡¯m.. surprised that such a young girl had heard about us, not to mention in such a backwater place,¡± I said with my mouth agape.

    ¡°What happened here, Moi? Do you have any idea?¡± asked Rose.

    ¡°Everything was relatively peaceful until one day, everyone failed to wake up from their sleep. I would had been stuck as well if it wasn¡¯t for teddy,¡± she hugged her teddy bear.

    ¡°Are you aware of the illusion being casted here?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°There is something bad inside the city. It makes those people who are asleep thinks they are living in real life. It is as though their subconscious became a reality,¡± she explained.

    ¡°How did you know that teddy protects you?¡± asked Rose.

    ¡°Teddy was the one that rescued me from that dream. Which is why without his protection, we will all be trapped in the nightmare,¡± she explained.

    ¡°Um, can you elaborate on that? How exactly did he saved you?¡± asked Rose with an awkward expression.

    Moi kept quiet as she stared at us. Is there something she doesn¡¯t wish to tell us?

    ¡°Let me refill your tea,¡± said Moi as she stood up.

    I stared at Moi as she headed to the kitchen while Rose adjusted her seat. What.. what was that? How is that even possible? I went up to the mirror that Moi walked by earlier. How is it possible that something walked by the same time as Moi when she is too short to reach the height of the mirror? I checked on the mirror and it seems like a normal mirror.

    ¡°Rose, can you check to see whether there is anything on the mirror when I crouched by?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°W.. what?¡± asked Rose with a confused look.

    I crouched to the height of Moi and moved across the mirror.

    ¡°Onii-chan, what are you doing? You know full well that nothing is going to appear on the mirror at that height,¡± sighed Rose.

    Hm, I was certain I saw something abnormal when Moi walked by. It sort of gave me goosebumps from what I recalled. Moi might not be the little girl that we were lead to believe.

    Moi returned from the kitchen and refilled our tea. She decided to tell us about teddy. What she experienced in her dream was that her brother that she had not met before is now residing in her teddy protecting her. She cannot explain much further as he had only appeared once in her dream and she no longer succumbs to the nightmare.

    ¡°Hm, but if teddy is willing to protect us, then we cannot get back into that dream. We need to help those people. I found Darcy, Rose. She was extremely frail and petite but I cannot even carry her at all. It was like she was rooted to her bed. Any longer and they are going to.. die in their sleep? Hang on, there was a report about this happening elsewhere,¡± I recalled.

    ¡°T.. there was? What does the report says?¡± asked Rose.

    ¡°There wasn¡¯t much information on it from what the guildmasters told me. It just states that some adventurers found a village where everyone had mysteriously died in their sleep. They looked thin as though they had not eaten in a while. It was concluded that those villages died of malnutrition. But¡­ they were living in a place not too far from the city, it was not as though food was scarce for them to not afford or even grow on their own,¡± I explained to Rose.

    ¡°So they were stuck in a dream without realising that they are dying in real life. We need to save them, onii-chan,¡± said Rose as she tugged on my sleeve.

    ¡°Hey I¡¯m up for it, but how? Go back into the dream and try to wake them from there? Is that even possible?¡± I asked the both of them.

    ¡°You need to defeat whoever is responsible,¡± said Moi.

    ¡°W.. what do you mean? Are you saying someone is the root cause for this?¡± asked Rose.

    ¡°Yes. Teddy would be able to defeat it if it show¡¯s itself, but ever since teddy rescued me, that thing had been extremely wary about teddy,¡± said Moi.

    ¡°We will need to lure whoever it is out in the open. I will be the bait, Rose. You stay with Moi tonight. Rose?¡± I asked her as she was staring at something.

    I turned to see what she was looking at.

    *Rustled away

    Holy fuck, what the hell was that!! Something black was peeking in on us through the window. I could only see two eyes, ears and a long nose before it ran. I rushed out the door to see what the hell it was. All I managed to see was a four-legged creature with a white patch on it¡¯s body before it disappeared among the bushes. Was that what I saw before at the corner of my eyes? Something tells me that creature have a role in this.

    I headed back into the house to continue with our discussion. I asked the both of them whether they saw whatever that thing was. Both of them shook their heads and said that they had never seen such a creature before.

    I told Rose what I said before but she quickly stopped me from sleeping alone. She is worried that I will end up getting stuck in that cursed dream and remained trapped there. At one point she even suggested for us to head back home and forget about this place. Moi did warn us that there is no guarantee that teddy can protect all of us so there is a chance we might be trapped in the dream forever. Upon hearing that, Rose started pulling my arm trying to drag me home. What happened to saving these people here?

    I calmly spoke to Rose that we cannot abandon the people here. These are people that we know and I need to help them. These are not Son¡¯s flock that I won¡¯t give a shit about but people we had been acquainted before. Yes, I had thought about the possibility that I might not be able to see Rose or Daisy anymore but I can¡¯t just let Danny and Darcy die in their sleep.

    Moi commended my determination and told me that there is a room in this house where teddy cannot protect me. I guess that is where I will be sleeping tonight. Wait, why am I so hung up about a teddy bear being able to protect me or otherwise? I should count on myself to get out of trouble. It might all be Moi¡¯s illusion that teddy was protecting her in the first place.

    I guess I should spend the remaining daylight with Rose. It might be the last time I will ever see her in real life should I fail. I sure hope it is not.

 Book 2 - Chapter 65

    I opened my eyes. Am I asleep or am I awake? This looked like the exact same room that Moi told me to sleep in should I wish to visit the ¡°dream world¡±. I sat up and looked around. Nothing unusual felt out of place. I opened the only door and exited the room. Where is everyone? I don¡¯t see Moi or Rose anywhere. The fireplace is still brightly lit somehow. Hang on, where.. is the front door? It¡¯s.. missing? Hmm.. where else should I go? Should I should check back the room I came from? Even the stairs to Moi¡¯s room is missing.

    I opened the room I came from and saw Rose sitting on the bed with her head down. I slowly approached closer to her and thought of waking her up. But as I reached out to shake her shoulder, her head fell off from her neck!

    ¡°Rose!¡± I shouted as I rushed to grab her head before it touches the ground.

    I managed to grab her head and quickly turned it over. It was just a wooden head with a wig that looked like Rose. Damn it, I was fooled!

    I turned to look at her body and.. it was no longer there? My eyes naturally wondered to the head I was holding.

    ¡°Geez, what the fuck!¡± I threw the head as what I saw was a decomposed head filled with maggots that still had her face features.

    The head started writhing on the floor and started regrowing her entire body from the top down. I could only stare at the scene as I did not know what to do. Her body was facing forward towards me but her head was not. Her head suddenly twisted forward with a loud snap. Her eyes were not focused and seems out of place. I can see maggots and worms wriggling out of her skins throughout her body and face. She walked slowly to me like some zombie and opened her mouth which had a centipede which replaced her tongue.

    I tried to move my legs but it wouldn¡¯t budge no matter how hard I tried. It was as though I had lost all control of my body. All I could do was glare at this zombie looking Rose as she slowly walked towards me.

    ¡°O¡­ nii¡­ chan¡­. Time to DIE!!¡± her voice suddenly changed to a high pitch and she rushed towards me and bit my jugular, ripping it apart with her teeth.

    ***

    ¡°Ahhhhh!!¡± I shouted as I sat up from my bed.

    I quickly reached out to check my neck to make sure it was intact and not bleeding profusely. As I was panting hard, I noticed there was a chair at the side of me.

    D.. daisy? Her head was twisted sideways and she was bleeding from her eyes, mouth, ears and even her fingernails.

    ¡°D.. daddy?¡± she asked. Her voice had a male¡¯s voice on-top of her own but it sounded like she was scared.

    She suddenly leaped towards me and started biting on my flesh. I was holding her back while sacrificing my arm flesh in an attempt to stop her. Everything hurts to the extreme. From the pain of getting my jugular ripped apart to my flesh getting stripped by Daisy, the pain felt real. But I pushed through the pain and tried to pin Daisy down but she was extremely wriggly and managed to break free from my grips and once again went for my jugular.

    ***

    ¡°Fuck! Fucking nightmare,¡± I woke up and sat on my bed. Bloody hell that hurts. Who said that dreams are painless? It hurts more than it should for me.

    I heard a knock on the door and Rose peeked through the door.

    ¡°Onii-chan? You ok?¡± she asked me.

    ¡°Where¡¯s Moi? Is she safe?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°She¡¯s sleeping upstairs. I heard you screaming so I came to check up on you. Are you okay?¡± she asked with a concerned tone.

    ¡°I guess I¡¯m fine. I think I wish to sleep outside now. I had enough of horrible dreams for today,¡± I told her as I headed out of the room.

    I sat on one of the chairs while Rose prepared something for me to drink. I checked on my body and neck to make sure everything was fine. Even though everything was intact, I can still feel the pain of having my flesh getting bitten and my jugular getting ripped twice. It was certainly an experience that I do not wish to encounter again for as long as I lived. Not to mention my body was feeling fatigued beyond normal.

    Rose passed a cup of drink to me which I accepted. It was her signature rose tea which I took a sip of. Ahhh, it is still the familiar taste only she knows how to make. The fragrance of the tea, the right amount of sugar, honey and the perfect amount of time to brew in order to bring out the flavour of the rose itself. All of that including the wriggling of the worms in my mouth made it¡­.

    puuuuuuuhhhhh!!

    I spat out my drink and threw the cup at Rose which shattered upon direct contact of her body.

    ¡°Onii-chan, I made that specially for you,¡± said Rose as she had her back towards me.

    ¡°Uh huh. I bet you did. How about you knock it off with all these dream sequence and show yourself?¡± I threaten it.

    ¡°And why would I do that? You are stuck here with me for all eternity. I, make the rules here,¡± it said as its voice deepens.

    ¡°Who or what are you? Why are you harming these people in such a backwater place?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Heh heh, you don¡¯t even know what secrets lie here yet you are willing to face me directly. I am Baku, a being beyond your understanding. And you will die here, Zen Hawthorn. Along with your wife,¡± it started changing its form from Rose¡¯s body into a shadowy figure with glowing red eyes.

    A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

    I flick my hand to summon Inazuma. Only to realised there was nothing for me to flick. My right hand was completely missing below my forearm. Great, what Moi said was true. In the dream world, I can only depend on using my mind to combat this entity.

    I took a deep breath and focused my mind. This is definitely a dream. I just need to calm myself and focus on what I need. I opened my eyes and Tengu-kaze was floating in front of me. Better than nothing, I guess. My left hand was still intact so it is the best weapon for me now. Let¡¯s see if my mind is strong enough to fight this entity in his realm.

    I grabbed Tengu-kaze with my left hand and unsheathed it by biting the handle and tossing aside the scabbard. At least I have something to fight with. The formless being was wriggling as though it was trying to morph into something. I started to gather powers on my left hand and swung wind pressures at the entity. The wind pushed aside the formless shadows to reveal someone in the middle.

    W.. who.. who is that? She had long red hairs and a face that I had seen before.

    ¡°M.. mom?¡± I asked.

    ¡°My boy, how you been? I missed you so..¡± I sliced her vertically in half before she finished her sentence.

    ¡°You¡¯re joking, right? I had never even met my mom nor did I interacted with her before in real life. You think showing her in my dream is suddenly going to make me all emotional?¡± I spat as I continued to attack the entity.

    ¡°What a naughty boy. To think you would slice your mother in half. I should teach you a good lesson that you shall never forget!¡± shouted the entity while maintaining my mother¡¯s form.

    Dark shades of thorny objects homed on me. It was difficult to see them as the surroundings were dark in the first place. One of it hit my right arm but I ignored it and swung wind pressures at the entity but it just went through without causing it any harm. Damn it, it would seemed that physical attacks are not harming it whatsoever. What else can I use?

    My right arm started stinging and upon inspection, dark particles was creeping up on it. I placed Tengu-kaze on my elbow and sliced off my bottom arm. Eouch!! I thought I would looked cool by doing that but it hurts like hell to slice off your entire arm!

    But the dark particles did not stopped and continued creeping up on my body. Damn, what else is going to happen next?

    ¡°You may think that dying in your dream is nothing. But you know very well that dreams can become reality,¡± warned the entity.

    ¡°How nice of you warn me but I¡¯ll be fine,¡± I mocked the entity.

    Truth be told, I am not fine. I had no idea what am I going to do to combat this dark particles enveloping me. I can feel that I am losing control of my entire body. Damn it, what can I even do now?!

    A bright light shone high above that made the entity writhe in pain and morphed back to its shadowy form. The dark particles that almost enveloped my entire body was being pushed away by the light. Why did this light suddenly appeared? I regained all of my body parts due to the light. Nice, I should take advantage of this opportunity given to me.

    I summoned my gauntlets and Inazuma with a flick. I thought of activating Focused Meditation but it doesn''t seems to work. No matter, I should use whatever I can for now to deal some damage to this entity. I lifted my right hand expecting to summon a lightning but nothing came. Damn it, what can I even use?! I unsheathed Inazuma and saw that it was sparkling. I hope I can use this well without Focused Meditation active.

    I sheathed Inazuma and got ready to strike. The entity was still in pain from the light but it is trying to attack me by shifting it¡¯s formless body into a large giant hand wanting to squash me flat. It¡¯s now or never, I hope Kirin¡¯s power works here.

    I slashed Inazuma towards the giant hand. Streaks of lightning sliced through the hand. The entity roared in pain but continued its attempt to slam me. But I am not done, whoever told you that lightning only strikes the same location once is lying to you. I gripped Inazuma two-handed and swung it downwards with all my might. The second thunderbolt was much stronger and obliterated a huge chunk of the hand. I call it Twin K Thunderbolt.

    The hand started disintegrating before my very eyes. Did I do it? Did I win?

    Another hand grabbed me from behind without me noticing. Shit! I can barely move now! The hand lifted me closer to its supposedly face and stared at me with glowing eyes.

    ¡°To think you were capable of harming me in my own world. Your mind is strong, but I am stronger. You will not win against me,¡± said the entity.

    ¡°Really? I think I¡¯m doing just fine. You have met your match, whatever you are. Just you wait,¡± I said while struggling to free myself.

    ¡°You really think I am going to release you? You will die by my hands today,¡± said the entity as it tightens its grip.

    I was starting to see a bright light in front of my vision. Am I dying? But it seems like it was the same light that saved me earlier. Perhaps it is trying to help me or something. I sure hope it does as I feel that I am being squeezed the life out of me. More and more of the light engulfed my vision until I can barely see anything but white throughout my entire vision.

    ***

    ¡°Gaaaaahhhhh!!¡± I shouted as I sat up on my bed.

    ¡°Onii-chan! You¡¯re okay, you¡¯re okay.. I¡¯m so glad you¡¯re able to wake up,¡± said Rose as she came to my side.

    ¡°R.. Rose? Stay back. I still don¡¯t know whether you are real,¡± I told her.

    ¡°Hey.. hey, I¡¯m real. I¡¯ve casted Mind Fortification on you. See? This is real life, onii-chan,¡± said Rose as she tried to calm me down.

    I looked around and it is the exact same room that Moi asked me to stay in should I wish to confront the thing that is causing nightmares to the people in this city. I noticed that the room was brightly lit and noticed that Rose had casted Holy Light in the room. Moi opened the room door and peeked in while holding her teddy.

    ¡°You¡¯re awake, Mister Zen. I¡¯m impressed. Welcome back to the land of the living,¡± said Moi.

    ¡°W.. what do you mean by that?¡± I asked her as I tried to stand up and noticed that my right hand was bandaged.

    I checked my neck and it too, was bandaged. What the hell? Did I seriously almost died because of the dream?

    ¡°W.. what happened? Did I self inflict harm on myself when I was sleeping?¡± I asked Rose as I started to panic.

    ¡°Let us head to the living room. I don¡¯t like the atmosphere of this room. It¡¯s giving a bad vibe,¡± said Rose as she stood up and pulled my arm.

    ***

    I sat on the couch while Rose was preparing some hot drink for me. Starting to feel like deja vu to me right now. I warned her not to put worms in my drink and she chuckled thinking I was joking. I showed her a serious face and she assured me that she will make a proper drink. The only thing different so far was that Moi was sitting next to me hugging her teddy bear. Come to think of it, none of my dreams had Moi in it somehow.

    I checked my wounds and realised that there was no pain at all. Should I remove the bandages? I began to unwrap the one on my arm. As I unraveled it, there were certainly some blood in them but¡­ there was no wound on my arm at all. What is going on?

    ¡°Here you go, onii-chan,¡± said Rose as she passed me a drink.

    I stared hard at my cup making sure it was safe. Rose came over and placed both her hands on her hips, assuring me that she did not poisoned my drink. Should I wish to not drink it then she will. We can¡¯t afford to be wasting precious resources in this freezing weather.

    I took a sip as my throat was getting parched. Oh well, bottom¡¯s up. Ahhh~ This is certainly reality. No worms in my mouth for sure. Moi started chuckling from my reaction.

    ¡°Rose, mind tell me your side of the story about what happened? Were you the one who bandaged me?¡± I asked her while showing the unwrapped bandages.

    She was surprised and quickly inspected my arm.

    ¡°B.. but, I was certain you were bleeding,¡± she muttered.

    ¡°Rose? You okay?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°R.. right. Let me explained about what happened,¡± she began.

    ***

    She told me that she could not sleep as she was worried about me. When she came to check, the whole room was extremely dark and it felt as though light sources could not enter. She couldn¡¯t even light a matches in here as it was too dark. She decided to cast Holy Light to brighten up the room in order to check up on me. Once she did, she noticed that I was bleeding from several places. She rushed to the door to take her healing gel but the door was suddenly locked. She scoured the room and was luckily enough she was able to find some bandages. She did her very best to wrap all the parts that I was bleeding from, despite my body being as heavy as a rock. She made the call to cast Mind Fortification on me when my body started convulsing all of a sudden.

    I had no idea that things were that bad for me in real life. Is what is happening in my dream occurring in real life as well? Does this mean that if I were to die in my dream then I will die in real life too? But all my wounds were gone when I woke up. Does this mean that my body perceives what is real depending on the situation? But according to Rose, my wounds weren¡¯t that bad as what I had experienced in my dream. Perhaps it is cumulative instead? Hmm.

    I thought back about the incident that happened to me 15 years ago where I dreamt of Lily and Rose chocking the life out of me in my dream. But the strangle marks for that dream retained in real life even after I woke up. Is this the same case? No, it feels different somehow. That one felt stronger in terms of intensity. Perhaps something stronger than Baku.

    The more I think about it, the more it doesn¡¯t make sense. I decided to check my pocket watch. It was about midnight now. I only slept for about an hour or so and those things happened in that short period of time? Maybe we should let Moi sleep seeing as it is late night now.

    ¡°Moi, you should sleep. It¡¯s getting late now,¡± I told her.

    ¡°No. We shouldn¡¯t sleep tonight. It is a dangerous day to sleep when the full moon is up,¡± she said.

    H.. how does she know? I didn¡¯t even realised it was full moon tonight. Well, I guess it is all-nighter tonight then. Moi is way smarter than she looks which I am really surprised by. I guess she had to grow up fast when she is living all alone here.

    ***

    Holy shit, why am I so sleepy? It was close to 3am now and my eyes are drooping and shutting on their own. I tried to shake it off but it just kept closing. I was not the only one as a matter of fact. Both Rose and Moi were struggling to keep themselves awake. As a matter of fact, I think Moi was already asleep now.

    I stood up to walk it off but I heard Rose sliding and fell flat on the couch. I wanted to wake her but I fell to my knee struggling to keep myself up. This is not normal, it must be Baku trying to force us to sleep with its spell or something. Damn it, I am losing consciousness here trying to stay awake.

    I quickly summoned all my weapons and gauntlets and hugged them. I hope they can help me when I am in the dream world. I reached out to grab Rose¡¯s hand before I fully lost consciousness on the floor.

 Book 2 - Chapter 66

    I opened my eyes. Where.. am I? I sat up and noticed I was in an empty room. Someone opened the door and Rose peeked in. Only her head was visible and her fingers gripping the door.

    ¡°Onii-chan, are you okay?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Y.. yea, I¡¯m fine,¡± I replied.

    I looked at her and she kept staring at me. It started getting weird when I noticed she was not blinking and maintaining her pose for such a long time.

    ¡°Rose? Are you okay?¡± I asked her with concern.

    As soon as I asked her, her head and fingers fell to the ground. I screamed a little as the parts where I could see her was the parts that fell off. Where are the rest of her body?!

    I thought of going closer to the door but I heard loud footsteps walking closer. I got myself ready for whoever that was coming but strangely even after a couple of minutes, the sound level remained the same and no one showed up at the door.

    I decided to brave myself and walk towards the door to see what¡¯s on the other side. I opened it and what I saw was an empty grassy field for miles. I know this place. This is where Kirin and Byakko usually resides in when they appear before me in my dream when they wishes to talk to me. But where are they?

    I looked everywhere and no one was around. Hm, what¡¯s going on here? I turned around to see what was behind me and the scenery changed drastically. I was standing on a cliff facing towards the City Of Pines which was burning in its entirety. Rose was strung up with ropes on her wrist in between two wooden poles where I had a clear view of. The dark entity appeared before her and began chocking her from behind. It would seemed that Rose was helpless against this entity as she was struggling to free herself from its grip. The entity pierced its dark looking claws through her stomach, ripped her in half and tossed her aside.

    ¡°You¡¯re next!¡± said the entity.

    I just stared at the entity and chuckled. It thinks that by showing me this would cause me to panic or feel hopeless.

    ¡°You¡¯re going to need to do better than that, Baku. You think Rose is that weak? Oh please, she is stronger than me, dumbass,¡± I told it.

    ¡°Bah,¡± said Baku as he changed the scenery with a swipe of his hands.

    It changed to somewhere unfamiliar to me. There were humans fighting all around me. Wait, not just humans but elves too. Someone knocked onto me in the midst of all the commotion. It was a reptilian and he was bleeding badly along with bruises and a disfigured face.

    ¡°Help me!!!¡± shouted the lizardman as he gripped my clothes.

    ¡°What are you trying to pull here, Baku? Trying to pull on my heartstrings? Where is Rose?!¡± I shouted out loud while shoving the lizardman away.

    There was no reply from him. I decided to summon both Inazuma and Tengu-kaze along with Hands of Lightning God. Alright, I can summon all of them. Whether I can use them to their full potential is something I can only hope for.

    I gathered power to my left hand and slammed Tengu-kaze onto the ground, causing all the beings surrounding me to be blown away. All of them stared at me as they were knocked from the ground wondering what was happening.

    All of a sudden, someone came out to attack me. I managed to block it just in time before the blade reaches me. The flash of red hair flowed smoothly as this being attacked me. I instantly knew who this person was.

    ¡°You again? Enough already. Stop disguising as my mother,¡± I told her.

    ¡°Foul demon, you shall pay for what you¡¯ve done!¡± shouted Jane.

    ¡°Demon? I¡¯m human, you moron,¡± I replied to her.

    ¡°Your trickery will not work on me, demon,¡± she said as she pointed her blade that glowed with dark purple towards me.

    Hang on, isn¡¯t that.. Tengu-kaze? But.. I¡¯m holding Tengu-kaze right now. This is travesty! An impostor pretending to be my mother AND using my legendary weapon?! This shall not stand.

    ¡°Oi Baku, there is a limit to how much you can insult me. You are going to pay for that,¡± I warned him.

    ¡°I am not Baku. My name is¡­,¡± she stopped attacking as she held her head. It seems like she is in pain.

    ¡°J.. Jane, my name is Jane!¡± she shouted as she rushed in to attack me.

    I used Tengu-kaze to block her attacks to prove that I am using the original one. Her attacks were relentless but.. surprisingly light. Strangely though, she had not used any wind attacks so far. Tengu-kaze¡¯s attacks should be heavy and strong in the first place. Hmm.

    This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

    Jane continued her attacks against me aiming for my vital points. Why does.. this feels so familiar? I¡¯ve.. fought with this person before. I know how she is going to attack me.

    She aimed for my neck which I blocked it. Then she aimed for the back of my knee which I moved it out of the way. It was then that I knew that she will be going for my heart next. I pushed the sword aside with my gauntlets and aimed for her shoulder. I gripped her wrist and pushed against her shoulder locking her right arm.

    ¡°Rose, wake up!! Stop attacking me!¡± I shouted to her.

    ¡°I¡¯m.. not Rose. My name is¡­ J¡­ Jane!¡± she tried to break free from my grip.

    ¡°Ah, dammit. Rose¡­. Wake up!¡± I continued to push against her shoulder which she moved around constantly trying to break free.

    She gave me a back kick with her right leg which I grabbed and pulled her to the ground locking her in place.

    ¡°Dammit, Rose! It¡¯s me! Your husband and brother!¡± I realised what an odd sentence I just said.

    ¡°I won¡¯t be fooled by your trickery, demon!¡± shouted Jane as she put more strength into freeing herself.

    We began struggling on the ground trying to overpower the other. It was so difficult to lock her in place as she kept wriggling like a damn fish. It took a lot of effort but I managed to overpowered her by locking all of her limbs down. But in doing so, I am now face to face directly in front of my mother¡¯s face. Damn it, what do I do now to wake her up? Kiss my own mother? No, don¡¯t think of it like that. This is Rose that is brainwashed to act as my mother. I am 99% certain that it is her. Now just need to close my eyes and kiss my mom.

    Fuck! Don¡¯t think of it that way and.. just do it!

    I awkwardly lowered my head and kissed her which caused her to finally stop squirming around. But.. something feels off. Why does it feels different but sort of familiar?

    ¡°Zen?¡± asked a voice.

    ¡°Ro.. L.. Lily?¡± I muttered as I realised who I just kissed a moment ago.

    ¡°Y.. you kissed me. Does this mean you are choosing me as your wife?¡± She asked.

    ¡°H.. huh? N.. no. I had already married Rose and have Daisy together. I can¡¯t choose you, Lily,¡± I explained to her while releasing her grip.

    ¡°What are you talking about? Daisy is our child. We had a steamy night together and you somehow got me pregnant despite my lineage having difficulty in conceiving. I gave birth to our child. How can you forget that?¡± she asked me as she sat up.

    ¡°What? No, Daisy is my child with Rose. Not with you,¡± I gave her a firm answer.

    ¡°Zen.. you loved me. And you are well aware of my feelings for you. But I will not forgive you if say that Daisy is not my child one last time!¡± shouted Lily.

    ¡°What are you even talking about?! Daisy is.. our child? You¡¯re right. What am I even saying? She¡¯s our child,¡± I smacked my head as it started to hurt now.

    ¡°That¡¯s right, Zen. You were drunk and we had a night together. I carried your child for you. Please don¡¯t abandon our child and make her fatherless. Come home, Zen. Come home,¡± said Lily as she extended both of her arms towards me.

    I walked closer to her and accepted her hug. What was I doing? Lily is my childhood friend and I made her pregnant after I foolishly got drunk that night. But why is my head hurting again? The horrible pain seems to be coming back now. But Lily¡¯s hug was comforting and warm which made me ignore the pain. Not only that, my little buddy was reacting to her as well. Between her pleasant body odour, her soft breasts pushing against me and her hair smell, it is certainly getting a rise out of me.

    Something pierced through Lily¡¯s head from behind me while I was hugging her. She fell to the ground and there was a clank of metal as a dagger fell from her right hand. I slowly turned my head behind to see who it was that killed my wife. It was Rose and she glared at me while looking all pissed off.

    ¡°I told you it was only a matter of time,¡± said Rose as sheathed her rapier and walked closer to me.

    ¡°W.. what did you do? Why did you kill Lily? Why did you kill my wife? Now Daisy is going to be motherless because of you,¡± I muttered to her.

    Her facial expression turned sour as she approached closer to me. I tried to defend myself by lifting Tengu-kaze towards her in an attempt to stop her. She kicked the sword aside, gave me a light slap and kissed me deeply. My head was starting to feel lighter and the headache was going away. She can cast Mind Fortification while kissing me?

    ¡°You are my husband and Daisy is MY child. Until you marry Lily, I am your wife. But Daisy will always be my child. Not even Lily can take her away from me, or a fake Lily for that matter,¡± said Rose as she held my face in front of hers.

    ¡°I¡¯m.. sorry, Baku¡¯s powers is strong and it affected me. I am sorry about what I said earlier,¡± I whispered to her.

    ¡°I am not angry at you, onii-chan. I am angry at the fact that this dream mastermind is trying to make it as though Daisy is not my child. I will never forgive it for that fact,¡± she said as she turned her head towards Lily¡¯s corpse.

    Um, corpse? It suddenly stood up inhumanly with a gaping hole where the right eye was. Rose certainly had no mercy on this Lily imposter alright.

    ¡°Rose Starr, possibly the strongest human in this realm. You are certainly a pain to deal with,¡± said the Lily imposter.

    ¡°It would seemed that you had heard of me. Then you know full well what I am capable of, you fiend. Stop trying to tear my family apart. Your illusions will not work on me,¡± spat Rose.

    Yikes. She is angry indeed. What did Baku showed her that pissed her off this much? Don¡¯t you know that angering her might incite a world war? Rose is certainly capable of doing so if she so wishes to. I can vouch on her powers if she ever goes batshit crazy.

    ¡°Illusions might not work on you any longer, but what about physical?¡± questioned Baku.

    I quickly turned my head and noticed a dark figure on all fours creeping up on Rose from behind her. I rushed to her side to protect her, blocking a giant blade that was swung directly at her. Rose did not moved at all and trusted that I will make it in time to protect her while she focused her attention on Baku.

    ¡°Onii-chan, I¡¯ll leave that thing to you while I handle this ¡°Baku¡±, can you do that for me?¡± whispered Rose.

    ¡°Knock yourself out, Rose. He¡¯s all yours,¡± I chuckled.

    ¡°Haha, let¡¯s get a little light here to clear all these darkness,¡± said Rose as she did a quick chant and casted Holy Light.

    Both Baku and this dark figure roared in pain at the sudden appearance of Rose¡¯s Holy Light. It is just a spell to summon a strong light source but it would seemed that Baku is somehow susceptible to lights. I faced this dark figure and noticed that it looked familiar. I felt like I had seen this figure before.

    It charged at me with it¡¯s giant blade once again but I dodged it out of the way. Ah, now I recognise you. You¡¯re that captain who once served the Demon Queen. Why are you here though? You¡¯re already dead in the real world.

    I sheathed Tengu-kaze and slotted it at my hip along with Inazuma. I decided to fight the captain with my gauntlets using unarmed style. I taunted the captain to come with my fingers and it roared with anger and charged at me. I was able to recognised the captain due to the familiar two-handed blade and the heavy armour that it was wearing despite the entire body was dark like a shadow. To fight a being that was capable of fighting two guild masters at the same time, certainly not an easy task for me.

    I glanced behind to look at Rose and she was fighting with the Lily impostor. Rose is certainly not holding back against Baku. She must be angry that he is using Lily as an object to trick all of us.

    ¡°How dare you sully Lily¡¯s name and actions. You will pay for that for treating my sister this way!¡± shouted Rose as she continued attacking.

    ¡°Ah, Rose Starr. You know deep down that you always felt inferior to her. You were lucky that Zen chose you as his wife but deep down, you were always afraid that Lily will take him away. She was never really your sister but your enemy,¡± said Baku as he defended himself against Rose¡¯s attack.

    ¡°Lies! I had always looked up to Lily and I am willing to share Zen with her! Stop spewing lies and using her face!¡± shouted Rose as she used triple stab on Baku but he expertly blocked it.

    I should steer clear of their fight. When two females fight, men would just be in the way. Is Baku technically a female? But his voice sounded deep like a male. Damn, he is ruining Lily¡¯s image with that hole on his face and that voice. I decided to focus my attention on the captain. He had yet to show even a fraction of his true power. Perhaps this captain is just a fake and cannot use any of the original¡¯s power.

    I activated Concentration and got myself ready. The captain, on the other hand, rested his two-handed sword on his shoulder and started to have glowing red eyes and releasing steams from his helmet. Oh boy, guess I was mistaken huh. The captain does have his powers. I wonder is Rose faring better than me since she is just fighting a fake Lily.

    ¡°Persistent human, allow me to show you what true power is!¡± shouted Baku as his body started morphing into something else.

    Hang on, why is it starting to look familiar? Oh no, not her again. It¡¯s the Demon Queen?! Argh, why are they recycling bosses again? Don¡¯t Baku have any better ideas than to reuse someone I had defeated before?

    Rose on the other hand swung her rapier to the side, took a deep breath and started smiling. Uh, what is my lovely wife planning to do with that smile of hers?

 Book 2 - Chapter 67

    I watched Baku as he morphed from Lily into a being that I hated deeply. Who knew that he would actually decides to morph into the Demon Queen herself. Talk about pure luck for me. I finally have a chance to kill this being that I hated with all my might for causing so much pain and suffering for onii-chan. This bitch had the audacity to kill his mother, made him hounded like a dog for years just because he had Hawthorn in his name and eventually causing the death of his grandfather. All because the Queen decided to commit genocide on his entire family bloodline on a whim. Words cannot describe how glad I am to be able to face her once again and kill her with my own two hands.

    ¡°You had just made a grave mistake,¡± I grinned at him.

    ¡°Not as serious as yours, I fear,¡± answered Baku while folding his arms.

    ¡°I was holding back because I did not like the idea of fighting Lily seriously. But for you to turn into the being that I hated the most, what luck,¡± I chuckled.

    ¡°Let¡¯s not stand on ceremony here,¡± said Baku as he expanded his demon wings.

    I sheathed my rapier and removed my left glove, revealing a ton of tiny holy scribblings on my entire left hand. I¡¯ve spent months writing these scribblings as perfectly as I can because I had to use permanent ink for these scribblings. My left hand will forever have these scribblings but it is a small sacrifice in being able to cast advanced spells. I got no reason to hold back now that my most hated enemy is right in front of me.

    My left hand glowed a bright yellow on both my palm and dorsal side. I placed my hand on my face and chanted as fast as I could remember the spell. This will be the second time onii-chan had seen this spell. It is certainly a tough spell to cast as it enables me to be on par if not stronger than a user using Concentration. According to onii-chan, this spell is stronger than perfect Concentration, possibly in the realm of Max Concentration that Tom was using when he fought with him.

    But it takes a heavy toll on me. If I overuse it, I can lose consciousness, overload my brain or even face death itself. For normal users, they need to focus on only activating and maintaining the State of Mind to use it effectively. For this spell, I need to continuously chant it in my mind AND use it like a State of Mind. The time limit that I can maintain this spell is about 15 minutes at most. And this is an exclusive spell that I can only use on myself.

    ¡°Focused Blessing,¡± I whispered as I finished chanting the spell.

    I had never been able to use any State Of Mind due how my mind worked differently than others. This spell forces me to discipline my mind and focus on the enemy in front of me. The best thing about this spell is that it also enhances all my other spells as well which is extremely helpful as a spell caster.

    Let¡¯s see how Baku fare against an advanced spell created by a member of the great powers.

    ***

    Wow, I was certainly not expecting Rose to use Focused Blessing right off the bat. Her eyes glow with a bright yellow when she uses this spell. It is ridiculously powerful that I could not even match with her pace when using Concentration. Only by using Bloodlust or Focused Meditation could I keep up with her during training. Certainly one of her strongest spells to date, but sadly it only buffs herself.

    I guess I should take this fight seriously too. The captain just decided to use Bloodlust as well. I am in no hurry to activate Higher State of Mind so using imperfect Concentration would have to do. I readied my unarmed stance and beckoned the captain to come with my finger. The captain did not took that lightly as he felt like I was insulting him. Not only am I not using Higher State of Mind, I am not even using any of my weapons against him.

    He dashed and leaped at me while attempting to swing down his two-handed sword with both hands. I blocked his attack with both of my gauntlets but the attack was so strong that it cracked the ground beneath and brought me to my knee. The captain is strong, but Peter had taught me how to combat strong opponent if I am disarmed. I guided his sword and slammed it into the ground as hard as I could. Now is my chance to attack. I did a one-two punch on his armour but it was extremely tough. I changed my tactic quickly as I noticed that the captain was already removing his sword from the ground. It starts with a knifehand method to touch his armour, then I slammed my right foot down which shattered the ground and I changed my right knifehand into a fist. I punched the captain using the explosive force that I¡¯ve been gathering within me. Peter discovered this while using his unarmed combat which gave birth to the spell Fa Jin Zh¨°u. While using the spell ensures that all of your attacks to have explosive capabilities, I have to gather them slowly myself through proper stance and breathing method.

    The captain was sent flying by the force of my punch. I leaped after him and summoned Inazuma, aiming for the eye-slit of captain¡¯s helmet. I was fully expecting the captain to avoid my attack but my speed was suddenly boosted. I jammed Inazuma through the helmet and the captain roared in pain. Did I seriously just win?

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    ***

    Baku¡¯s mobility is on par with the actual Queen. Making full use of her wings to dodge my attacks. I had already casted Sacred Wings to keep up with her but fighting while flying is not really my expertise since barely anyone can fly for me to train with and I don''t have much range attacks in the first place.

    He can summon thorn daggers and pillar of thorns at a moment¡¯s notice. I really have to be careful but I am running on fumes here. By my calculation, I should be able to maintain Focused Blessing for about 10 mins more before I have to deactivate it. Can¡¯t fool around as I need to support onii-chan while Focused Blessing is still active. Time for me to cast Light Blessings and Accelerate for the both of us.

    Baku summoned four pillars surrounding me. Thorns started protruded from it on all sides. He is trying to prevent me from casting! But too bad though, I can cast as easily as I breathe now after having years of experience sparring with Peter and onii-chan. As I avoided the numerous thorns attacking me, I casted both spells and had my speed boosted by at least 4 times due to Focused Blessing further increasing the intensity of my spells.

    I sped up drastically with my rapier ready to pierce through the Queen¡¯s eye. But I was stopped by a pillar that my rapier pierced through just inches before reaching his right eye. Baku started laughing as he thought that what I did was futile. I grinned and twisted my rapier a little to extend the length of my rapier blade.

    Baku was caught off guard and my rapier pierced through his right eye. He was stunned by it and I saw black fluid flowing out from his eye. He tried to fly backwards but I increased the length of my rapier to prevent him from escaping. He grabbed onto my rapier blade and freed himself by ripping through his right eye and zygomatic bone. I won¡¯t lie, I smirked when I saw that he was suffering. I instantly retracted my blade and pulled out my rapier from the pillar that it was stuck in.

    I flew towards Baku and swung my rapier after turning its blade into a one-handed sword. He managed to block it with his left hand but he had not recovered from the eye wound that I damaged earlier. My left hand went for his neck and I started chanting another advance spell which made my hand glow.

    Baku was now struggling to free himself from my choke as I gripped tighter and chanted faster. He kicked me in the stomach and managed to free himself while panting. How odd that he would need to breathe. I thought he was just a dark shadowy entity that can morph himself however he wishes. I waved at him as my spell had already taken effect. He looked confused as I continued waving at him but noticed that silver threads were coming out from all over his body and started piercing his own, tying his entire body until he can no longer move or even do anything. It is a cruel forbidden spell that utilises the metals in your blood to create near indestructible threads. I will not cast this spell on any living being unless I really hated them. No one asks Baku to turn into the Demon Queen.

    The silver threads had completely wrapped up the Queen¡¯s body like a cocoon. Subjugation spell completed. Did I win? I turned to look at onii-chan and he was walking closer to me while the captain was lying motionless on the ground. He defeated the captain too? Why does it feel as though we defeated our opponents so easily? Did we became too powerful or something?

    ¡°You okay, Rose?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Yea, I¡¯m fine. Did we seriously just win?¡± I asked him.

    ¡°I.. don¡¯t know. It felt.. pretty easy?¡± he made a grimaced face.

    ¡°What¡¯s going to happen now? Why are we still stuck here? I¡¯ve already casted mind fortification on both of us which should free us from his influence,¡± she explained.

    ¡°Hmm, I don¡¯t know. But perhaps we should keep an eye on.. the Demon Queen and captain? Where.. did they go?¡± I looked around and their bodies were nowhere to be found.

    ¡°How annoying, to think two insects would cause me so much trouble. To think there would be humans with such strong minds,¡± said Baku as his voice rumbled the entire world.

    Rose and I stood back to back and got ready to see what Baku was up to, but I don''t see anything on my side.

    ¡°Uh, onii-chan? On your left,¡± uttered Rose as she started poking me with her elbow.

    I turned to my left and saw something huge. I had to raise my head to see what I was looking at. A huge shadow giant entity the size of a mountain towered over us even from a distance. Yikes, how are we going to fight such a huge being?!

    ¡°Spread out!¡± I shouted as a giant fist slammed onto the ground where we stood which shook the ground.

    Shit, are we even doing any damage to him in the first place? How are we going to take down such a huge entity? Rose doesn¡¯t have such destructive powers to bring down such a large entity while I need time to ready myself if I want to unleash such a power. But I am certain that Baku is not going to just sit around while I ready myself. What are we going to do?

    Baku lowered his head closer to the ground and vomited black fluids that poured all over the ground. Steams could be seen from the fluids and I am not in the mood for some acid bath. He started vomiting even more and the fluids started flooding the entire ground. It was starting to get closer to me even though I was running at full speed. There was nowhere for me to climb and all I can do is jump as high as I can to avoid the incoming black fluids.

    ¡°Jump, onii-chan!¡± shouted Rose.

    I put all my strength into my knees and jumped as high as I can. I saw Rose using Sacred Wings flying towards me. Thankfully she managed to catch me before I fell into the bubbling fluids below. She grabbed onto me and adjusted herself to carry me properly. She won¡¯t be able to fly fast when she is carrying me. We are like sitting ducks right now!

    Baku started laughing and reached out his hand towards us in an attempt to grab us. Rose tried to fly as far as she could to avoid the hand but it felt as though we were not even moving at all as his hand is reaching closer to us by the seconds. Rose did some evasive manoeuvre to avoid getting caught but the hand became so huge that it became impossible to avoid.

    We ended up getting caught by the hand. Just a little squeeze and both of us would be dead. But he brought us closer to his giant shadowy face.

    ¡°So much time and energy just to catch both of you. You must die to ensure the ascension of my God. Farewell, I had fun while it lasted,¡± said Baku as he started to squeeze the life out of us.

    ¡°O.. nii-chan!¡± shouted Rose as the both of us felt like we were getting squashed.

    There was nothing much that either of us could do as our hands were caught in his grip. I guess this is really the end. I am so sorry, Daisy. Mommy and daddy will not be coming home after all.

    Something tapped on Baku¡¯s shoulder which made him turned to see what it was. He was punched hard and was sent flying to the ground. He released his grip and the both of us were in a free fall towards the black fluids. I braced myself to be melted but it was suddenly pushed aside and our descend began to slow down until we touched the ground safely. What is going on?

    ¡°Just sit back and let teddy do his work,¡± said someone behind us.

    We turned our heads and saw Moi looking pass us. I don¡¯t know how to describe what I am looking at. Somehow, Moi¡¯s small teddy bear is as large as Baku now and fighting against him. A giant teddy bear fighting against a shadow entity. Never in my imagination would I ever thought that such a thing would be possible or even happen in my life.

 Book 2 - Chapter 68

    BOOOMM!

    That is the sound of Baku falling to the ground once again. The teddy bear is somehow overpowering him. How is that bear so strong?!

    ¡°My brother¡¯s soul is embedded inside my teddy bear. He is neither dead nor alive which makes him the perfect person to fight Baku as he is not affected by sleep,¡± said Moi.

    ¡°H.. how do you know all this?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°Who knows. Only time will tell, Zen Hawthorn,¡± she answered.

    Baku began to retaliate and deliver a punch of his own that rumbled the entire world. But teddy was skilled and parried the incoming attack to deliver a blow of his own. Two giant kaijus are duking out and all we can do is watch?

    ¡°Moi, is there anything that we can do to help teddy?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Hmm, let¡¯s wait until Baku absorbs all these black fluids first,¡± she answered.

    I had stopped questioning on whatever Moi says now. For all I know, she is capable of seeing the future. Definitely not your average little naive girl when she knew things that neither Rose nor I knows about. And as what Moi said, Baku extended his hand towards the ground and began absorbing all the black fluids up. Teddy did not sit around and waited for him to absorb and began giving a flurry of jabs towards Baku which he avoided. Seems like Baku is regaining his powers by absorbing the black fluids.

    After absorbing all the fluids, Baku roared and began his counter attack. Teddy got ready his fighting stance and block or countered Baku¡¯s attacks. Moi asked us to head closer to support teddy should the need arise.

    Their battle went on with both sides delivering blows to each other. What can we small insects even do in the face of such massive kaijus.

    ¡°Never ever say that you are helpless against impossible odds. Especially when it comes to you two. Even the smallest beings are capable of inflicting harm on a larger host. Just because we are small that does not mean that we are helpless. Always remember that, the both of you,¡± said Moi.

    W.. woah. Why does it feel as though Moi is much more mature and knowledgable than what her age shows. There is certainly something more to her than meets the eye. I am sure Rose had also noticed this and will be keeping an eye on her.

    As the brawling waged on, it was clear that Baku seems to have the upper hand now. Teddy is being overpowered by the numerous tricks that he uses. Blocking Baku¡¯s attack would end up having an additional arm appearing from the forearm to punch Teddy or suddenly changing his fist into a spiked fist to deliver more damage. We can literally see the cottons flying out of Teddy¡¯s body now.

    We seriously need to do something as Teddy is starting to pant right now. Hold up, teddy bears need to breathe?!

    ¡°We need to do something to help him. Is there nothing that we can do at all?¡± asked Rose as we approached closer to both monsters.

    ¡°Agreed. Be on standby, you two. Get ready to act at a moment¡¯s notice,¡± said Moi as all of us looked up and watched them fighting.

    Teddy got on the offensive and raised both of his fist while starting to hop. Moi¡¯s brother was a boxer? Baku also got himself ready for Teddy¡¯s attack. He started with a right jab which Baku reacted immediately. But Teddy stopped his jab as quickly as his left jab made contact with Baku¡¯s face. It would seemed that Teddy is fed-up with Baku¡¯s tricks by now. He is going to show Baku that having skills is better than tricks.

    Baku was not pleased and retaliated with a few punches but Teddy avoided all of them by weaving through all of them and delivered an uppercut to Baku¡¯s jaw that sent him flying backwards. Way to go, Teddy!

    Baku was not having it as he roared when pushing himself up. He raised his hand towards Teddy and shadowy sticky ropes started wrapping around Teddy¡¯s limbs immobilising him. Baku started laughing as he moved in to deliver a punch to Teddy¡¯s face. Blow after blow he started to punch Teddy as he continued to laugh. We seriously need to help Teddy! He is our only hope!

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    ¡°Not yet. Hold your ground, you two,¡± said Moi.

    ¡°What do you mean not yet?! Are we just going to watch your brother die before our very eyes?!¡± I shouted at her.

    ¡°Be calm, Zen Hawthorn. Live up to your name at the very least. I will let you two know when is the right time to act,¡± said Moi calmly.

    How can she remain so calm when seeing her brother getting punched while being tied up like that. I turned to look at Rose and I can see that she is uncomfortable with the situation but remained ready. She seems to trust Moi in doing the right call.

    Baku stopped punching and gripped both of his hands on Teddy¡¯s neck. Oh my goodness, he is chocking the life out of Teddy! He won¡¯t be able to breathe! Wait a minute..

    ¡°Now! Zen, go for the spot that I had marked. Stabbed your blade as deep as you can. Rose, fly above and aim for Baku¡¯s weak point. Extend your blade as far as you can and hang on. You will need a lot of strength for that,¡± explained Moi.

    ¡°Spot that you had marked? What do you¡­¡± I stopped as I saw a large red X on Baku¡¯s body where his ankle was.

    ¡°His.. weak point? What do you.. ohhh,¡± Rose stopped as she seems like she had figured it out.

    ¡°Go you two, before it is too late!¡± shouted Moi.

    ¡°Onii-chan, toss me your strength potion. I am going to need it,¡± asked Rose as the both of us dashed towards our assigned objective.

    I tossed her my strength potion that I had brewed. No doubt I would had preferred to use my all-stats potion during combat but I always keep one strength, skill and agility specific potion just for emergency. Before I made it to my objective, Rose had already casted Light Blessings and Sacred Wings simultaneously which boosted my stats.

    I unsheathed Inazuma and called upon a bolt of lightning with my left hand. I quickly coated Inazuma with Lightning Charge and waited for Rose to be ready before I jabbed Inazuma into the red X.

    ***

    I drank the strength potion which tasted kind of sweet. I know very well that buff potions are supposed to taste nice but did Zen added sugar or something to make it this delicious? I might get addicted to this strength potion because of the taste. I just hope it is not some weird ingredients he used for this potion. Hate to be addicted to something weird.

    I had already casted Light Blessings for both of us and Sacred Wings for me to fly up. I hope I am able to halt the movements of such a large figure while flying. Alright, no time for me to dilly dally, Teddy need our help right now or he is going to choke to death.

    I flew up and finally reached the point of where their faces are. I must had looked like a fly to both of them. I flew close to Baku¡¯s right eye and waved at him while he was still busy choking Teddy. He seems to ignore me but his eye widen as I readied my rapier to stab him. He tried to avoid my stab but he started roaring in pain before I even stabbed him. I took a quick peek and onii-chan had already stabbed Baku in the ankle, giving me an opportunity to deliver a blow on his weak point.

    I twisted my rapier as I stabbed him from range. My blade grew longer and thicker as it extended forward and pierced through Baku¡¯s right eye. This is where I am going to need to hang on for dear life. I gripped my rapier two-handed and steadied myself. Baku roared even louder as he tried to free himself from my rapier but he could not as both of his hands was still gripping on Teddy¡¯s neck. We will force him to release his grip for sure. Let us test his pain tolerance then.

    I made a quick glance at onii-chan and somehow he noticed me and did a quick nod. I guess he had the same idea as me then. Despite holding on for dear life to prevent Baku from moving backwards to free himself from my rapier¡¯s blade, I retracted my blade. I have to time this right or Baku will make use of that opportunity to free himself. C¡¯mon my trusty legendary rapier, I am counting on you, almost there now.

    There! I stopped the blade from retracting further as I estimated that the blade to be right in the middle of his eyeball now. All Baku needed to do was to move his head backwards and he can free himself from my rapier¡¯s blade. I know this is going to be cruel but you can only blame yourself for not releasing your grip on Teddy. I changed my blade¡¯s tip with a twist of my rapier and changed it into a morningstar. I roared a little as I extended the spikes of the morningstar inside Baku¡¯s eyeball.

    ***

    I hung on for dear life as Baku suddenly raised his right foot. I glanced upwards and saw lots of spikes extending out of the right side of Baku¡¯s head. Holy! Did Rose seriously did something so cruel? I better brace for impact as Baku is going to slam his foot down now!

    BOOOMM!!

    Fuck! Almost got squashed by his foot! I had to let go of Inazuma and grabbed onto the top of his foot. No more moving for you, you damn foot.

    I unsheathed Tengu-kaze and stabbed both of my legendary weapons after I resummoned Inazuma into the right toe of Baku¡¯s foot. Both of my blade should be able pierce through his flesh and embed into the ground. Now I just have to hang on to make sure he doesn¡¯t lift his foot again. C¡¯mon you giant ass shadow, release your grip on Teddy already!

    ***

    I started yanking my rapier to cause more pain on Baku. Bloody hell, how does he have such a massive pain tolerance. I matter what we did he just won''t release his grip. Is Teddy going to die if Baku doesn¡¯t release him? What else can we do to help him? C¡¯mon, think Rose. You¡¯re the prodigy, there must be something else that we can do to help!

    SMASH!

    Something hit Baku¡¯s right arm which came from below. I looked downwards and saw onii-chan gathering wind energy and swinging it at Baku¡¯s arm. It is going to take some time for him to be able to cut through his arm but it is better that what we are doing now, I suppose.

    I started twisting my body while gripping on to my rapier. It won¡¯t be easy but I have to concentrate in making the spikes edges sharper. I am going to push all the spikes in a different direction as hard as I can. Let¡¯s see if you can hold out on this!

    Baku started roaring even more as more black bloods were spewing out of his wounds as I use all my strength and concentration on my rapier. I instinctively shouted as I poured more strength into twisting my rapier. It was like pulling a sword out of a stone where you don¡¯t even know whether you are even doing anything. I know that Baku is feeling it as his face started contorting in pain. Both of us must be doing something for sure.

    All of a sudden, a bolt of lightning slammed on Baku¡¯s arm. The lightning continuously struck on his arm as it tried to pierce through to fortify onii-chan¡¯s precious gauntlets. I continued to twist as much as I might granted me.

    Baku¡¯s arm tore apart when another bolt of lightning slammed on it. Onii-chan must be using both of his gauntlets spells to summon these two lightnings. Finally his damn right arm got dismembered, now I just need to make sure that Baku doesn¡¯t escape!

    Teddy punched Baku¡¯s other arm away and moved a few distance back trying to catch his breath. I did not know that teddy bears needed to breathe! I can see red glares in his eyes as Baku was still roaring in pain from losing his arm. I am extremely certain that Teddy is going to get his revenge after this.

 Book 2 - Chapter 69

    Teddy is no longer giving Baku any quarters. I stood by with both my powered up gauntlets ready to help out at a moment¡¯s notice. I wish I can help my wife who is hanging on to her rapier for dear life as Teddy kept delivering punches after punches on Baku. With only an arm left, Baku won¡¯t stand a chance now.

    Rose did her best to prevent Baku from escaping and kept flapping her wings forward to try and control Baku¡¯s movement while Teddy kept delivering flurry of punches to the face and stomach. I shouted at Rose telling her to escape as far away as possible when Baku looked as though he wanted to hurl a mouthful. I readied Lightning Strike hoping to be able to halt whatever he is planning to do next. As per my prediction, seeing that he could not overpower Teddy any longer, his last resort was to puke his black fluids on both Rose and Teddy. Good thing Rose had already flew far away and avoided the fluids but Teddy was unlucky got caught in the puke. I unleashed Lightning Strike on Baku¡¯s mouth forcing him to shut it.

    To my surprise, the black fluids did not melt Teddy at all. As a matter of fact, he seems unfazed by it. He wiped away the fluids on his face and his eyes glared with an even brighter red. Teddy roared and threw himself at Baku to our amazement. He got behind Baku and performed a sleeper chokehold on Baku¡¯s neck, locking him in place. Baku struggled to free himself from the hold but having only one arm is giving him difficulty in breaking free. Teddy started roaring but it wasn¡¯t due to him struggling to keep Baku in place. It looked as though he was roaring at me instead. Is he.. asking me to attack Baku while he continue to choke the life out of him?

    I nodded to him and sheathed Inazuma as I placed all of my attention in activating Focused Meditation. What Rose said before was true. It is easier for me to activate Bloodlust over Focused Meditation as it is tied directly to my temper. As for Focused Meditation, I have to put all my effort in getting myself to remain extremely calm and meditate myself for a couple of seconds. Not useful in the midst of combat but I have some leeway right now.

    I exhaled and opened my eyes. Rose told me that my eyes looked dull and muddy whenever I use Focused Meditation. She also noticed that my eyes moved less in this state despite me having full awareness of my surroundings.

    I¡¯m all set. Kirin, I know this is a dream but I know full well that you are always listening no matter where I am. I will be a using a chunk of your powers now, do lend it to me. I readied my stance to use Twin K Thunderbolts at 100% power which I had not tried before. As I got into position, I realised that Teddy is going to be caught in my attack too. Will he be moving aside when I use it? Will he even make it in time as it strikes at lightning speed? I was caught in a dilemma on whether to attack or hold until Moi came up to my side.

    ¡°Just strike at that spot and everything will be fine. Don¡¯t worry, Teddy can take it,¡± said Moi as she pointed at Baku and a skinny looking red X appeared on his body.

    With Moi¡¯s assurance, I started gathering my powers with a roar. Baku seems to notice the danger that is about to come and he began struggling even more trying to break free of Teddy¡¯s sleeper chokehold. Teddy gripped Baku¡¯s left wrist and pulled it backwards. Now he will have even less struggling power.

    I continued to gather as much power as I can. This will be the first time that I unleashed one of my strongest attack at full strength. I guess I had to when my opponent is literally the size of a giant mountain. Are you ready, Kirin? Let¡¯s go then!

    ¡°Go, onii-chan!¡± shouted Rose.

    I roared as I unleashed Twin K Thunderbolts which happened at a split of a second.

    ¡°Remember, Zen Hawthorn. Even against overwhelming odds, an insect is still capable of causing destruction,¡± said Moi as a second later, two straight lines appeared on Baku¡¯s body.

    The lines grew bigger and a loud boom erupted. The sound of thunder was deafening but so is Baku¡¯s roar for pain. Black fluids erupted from his wounds but I was unsure whether I had sliced through cleanly and hurt Teddy. But I know for sure that I had injured Baku heavily as he was struggling less now. What now? I couldn¡¯t deliver the finishing blow. Is Teddy going to do it?

    Seemly reading my mind, Teddy tighten his grip on Baku¡¯s head with his arm and hand. With a roar of victory, he twisted Baku¡¯s neck with a loud snap that echoed through the entire dream world. Ugh, I can never get used to that crunch sound. Baku should be dead, right?

    Once again seemingly reading my mind, Teddy hugged Baku above the waist and somehow performed a suplex on Baku. How is Teddy strong enough to lift a being the size of a mountain is beyond me. Baku is definitely dead now alright.

    Teddy ran closer to us and shrunk his size to be a little bit taller than Moi. He petted Moi on the head and gave her a warm smile. The both of them hugged as the dream world began to shatter. Rose gave me a hug as well, as though we were expecting the world to end. We continued our hug until my vision was enveloped with nothingness.

    ***

    I opened my eyes with a gasp. Where am I? Oh right, I lost consciousness while I was on the floor. I felt something heavy below my chest area. Is it Rose? My hand instinctively went to stroke on what I assumed was her hair but.. something is not right. It felt like I was stroking on some thick skin rather than hair. I moved my hands downwards and felt something soft and squishy which is awfully familiar. I instantly sat up and gave a shriek of my life.

    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

    Lying on top of me was a creature that I had not met before with its tongue out. And on top of it was Teddy which looked like he had choked this creature to death. Was the hell happened when I was in the dream world? If I am not mistaken, this is the exact creature that peeked on us through the window before. Hmm, this creature.. looked familiar but I couldn¡¯t quite put my finger on it. It had four legs, black body with a large patch of white colour on its hind back. It was like a mini elephant that had its nose and ears sliced off.

    My head started to hurt as I tried to recollect my memory about this creature. It was not long when I finally figured out the name for this creature, tapir was what came to mind. Yes, that¡¯s right. This is a tapir, but.. what is it doing here?

    Rose woke up and gave a shriek of her own when she saw the creature that was lying on top of me. I guess no one had ever seen such a weird creature before. As I was trying to push the tapir aside, Moi came over and picked up Teddy that was lying motionless on top of the tapir. She whispered ¡°Thank you, rest in peace and sayonara¡± to Teddy with a soft gentle tone. Has her brother¡¯s soul left the teddy bear?

    Rose helped me moved the tapir¡¯s body aside. Geez, how much does this thing even weigh? Definitely a few hundred kilograms at the very least. What does it even eat to gain so much weight? John would be interested in using this creature as a dumbbell or something. As I recollected myself, voices could be heard outside. We went out to check and found that people who were trapped in the dream world were waking up now. Thankfully it was snowing lightly right now as some of the people were dangerously thin and frail looking. They seems to be in a daze after sleeping for such a long time.

    Everyone was confused that their city was covered with such a thick layer of snow. Some people might be completely stuck in their houses, unable to open their doors due to the snow blocking their entrance. Moi invited everyone to have a meal at her place while Rose and I went around helping anyone who is stuck in their houses.

    ***

    Nightfall approaches and Moi¡¯s house was filled with people taking shelter including us. Tomorrow is going to be a big day for them to do ¡°spring¡± cleaning for the whole city but Rose and I will finally be returning to the City Of Pines. Daisy should be wondering what happened to us seeing that we were gone for about a week or so.

    To our surprise, none of the survivors remembered anything about being stuck in a dream world. They have no recollection of what happened for the past few months while they were asleep. Damn, now I can¡¯t investigate further on why Baku decided to attack here of all places. Is Baku actually powerful enough to cast illusion all the way to the Northern continent?

    I spoke to Darcy and Danny, asking them about Moi¡¯s brother. None of them had heard about her having a brother before. They had met her parents before but both of them passed right before the dream incident happened. A few of them were discussing on who should take care of Moi now that she is alone. They were extremely certain that she never had a brother before as they were close with her parents. How weird, was Moi lying about her brother¡¯s soul residing in her teddy bear then? But that farewell scene between her and Teddy was genuine. No way would someone smile that warmly to her if it¡¯s not one of her family member. There is certainly more secrets to Moi than what she is hiding but I have no reason to pry on it. She had aided us in our fight against Baku and I have no reason to interrogate her and possibly turn her into my enemy.

    Rose was busy helping Moi in providing hospitality to all the survivors. She turned to look at me with a pleading face and I knew that was my cue to help out. Thankfully there were quite a lot of survivors here otherwise the city is going to be in dire state of being underpopulated and under repairs due to months of snowing and no human activity or maintenance.

    ¡°Onii-chan.. help~¡± said Rose with an adorable pleading face as she tugged on my clothes as I approached her.

    Alright alright, enough of talking to myself. Time to help out my beautiful wife in serving the survivors. Hopefully tomorrow¡¯s weather will be safe enough to travel back to our city. I do not wish to be stranded here any longer if I can help it. I wish to see the face of my beloved daughter.

    ¡°Tomorrow will mark the first day where this city will be embraced with warmness,¡± said Moi as she was washing the dishes while I was busy cutting fruits.

    ¡°If you don¡¯t mind me asking, how do you know so much, Moi? Can you predict the future or read minds?¡± I asked her.

    She turned and gave me a cute smile. That was the only answer that I got from her for my question.

    ***

    Morning arrived and the people were busy doing whatever they could to clear the snows from the city. A lot of them were still frail but they had to start cleaning or search for firewood. The good thing about cold weather is that it can preserve food and water albeit in the form of ice or frozen food.

    Rose and I stood at the entrance of the city while Moi and Darcy sees us off. Danny will be bringing us back to the City Of Pines. We were surprised that Moi had actually kept a horsette fed and alive throughout the few months when she was alone. Without this horsette, we would had to walk all the way back to City Of Pines which was not what I was looking forward to.

    ¡°Farewell Moi, perhaps we may see each other again when I come to visit,¡± I smiled to her as I petted her head.

    ¡°We will meet again, Mister Zen. On that I am certain,¡± she said when something warm hit the back of my neck.

    I turned and saw sunlight piercing through the dark clouds. Snows had stopped falling now. Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at the ray of lights that were getting larger and basked all over us. It felt so unreal that I thought that I was in a dream world again. But somehow this one felt real as the faces of the people changed from confusion to awe and finally smiles or laughters. Once again, Moi had predicted something that somehow came true. She is certainly someone special and I hope that her prediction about meeting me again will come true.

    ***

    ¡°Moi sure is something, huh?¡± said Rose as we rode the carriage.

    ¡°She¡¯s definitely something else. No doubt she¡¯s someone with strange powers. My only worry is that who¡¯s side she is going to end up with. Will she end up being our ally or our enemy,¡± I said with a thinking face.

    ¡°She won¡¯t be our enemy, onii-chan. If she wanted to, she would had let us die while we were fighting against Baku. But she chose to help us out of that nightmare instead,¡± Rose explained.

    ¡°The way I see it, it felt more like the enemy of my enemy is my friend type of scenario. She needed our help in escaping from Baku¡¯s nightmare which is why she helped us,¡± I explained to her.

    ¡°Onii-chan¡­ have a little faith in humanity,¡± sighed Rose.

    ¡°After seeing those fanatics at the Northern continent, I had already lost it. I would rather be faithless or even maidenless,¡± I puffed up my chest.

    ¡°What are you talking about? You already married your maiden,¡± said Rose as she placed her index finger on her lips while acting sexy.

    ¡°Speaking of which, what did Baku showed you that made you so mad? I asked her.

    ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t really wanna talk about it,¡± said Rose as she looked away.

    ¡°Aw c¡¯mon. I¡¯m sure it¡¯s not as bad as me being a mother-kisser,¡± I shrugged.

    ¡°Y.. you kissed your mom?¡± asked Rose with a fearful look.

    ¡°I.. I thought it was you, okay? Baku disguised himself really well and I genuinely thought you were brainwashed or something to act as my mom,¡± I explained.

    ¡°You kissed Baku?! Ewwwww..¡± chuckled Rose.

    ¡°Rose.. quit it. I am dishearten here and don¡¯t wish to remember it,¡± I sighed.

    ¡°I guess that would make me a brother-fucker then? Haha!¡± she laughed.

    ¡°We are both on the same boat on that. Nothing shameful about it,¡± I smirked.

    She smiled and kept quiet. It would seemed that she is not willing to tell me what Baku had showed her. While I am certainly curious about what happened, I guess I shouldn¡¯t pry further. I am sure she has her reason for not telling me about it. Maybe Baku had showed her most darkest desires and maybe it involved Lily and me or perhaps even Daisy. I should leave things as it is for now.

    I thought about the things that I needed to do once I get back to the city. There are a lot to discuss with the guildmasters on what had transpired on this quest of theirs. I will need to talk with the members of the New Order should I wish to get some answers about the church. I peeked my head out of the carriage and looked towards the city that was slowly getting bigger as we approached. Somehow I knew that what had happened thus far was only the beginning of what is to come.

 Book 2 - Chapter 70

    I pushed opened the heavy doors apart. I always dreaded coming here in the past but things are different now. I no longer have to feast my eyes on the hated Queen¡¯s face, sitting on her throne looking at me with a disgusted face. Now it had been repurposed into a meeting room where members of the New Order conducts their weekly meetings. And I am going to interrogate one of the members here.

    ¡°You¡¯re here, Zen. Let us begin,¡± said John.

    I glanced around the members who were seated around the table. John and the Paladin Lord will be representing the guildmasters this time around. The remaining members were 3 elves and 3 humans. One of which is the Father from the Church of Imperatrix. The 6 members were supposedly renowned beings who were voted by the people of the city to become a member to lead this city. The members had already changed once before. 8 years is their limit, separated by two terms if the people decided they were worthy to lead. These members had only a year left before they have to give up their positions to new leaders.

    ¡°We heard you called for a meeting as you had something to discuss, Lord Zen. What is it pertaining?¡± asked one of the elf.

    I walked closer to the round table and placed both my hands on it. I needed them to understand the gravity of the situation.

    ¡°I was recently assigned to head to the Northern continent on an assignment to check on the humans that were living there. There were.. questionable things that occured throughout my journey that I am certain anyone would find intriguing,¡± I started.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Zen. But this topic should be discussed among us guildmasters rather than here,¡± said John.

    ¡°I am not finished yet. I have met the humans that were residing there. Their claim that they were never attacked by demons or any other beings were.. skeptical, which was why I decided to spent a night there to uncover what secrets that they were hiding,¡± I continued.

    ¡°But alas, it started snowing which is something that had never occured in that continent before. And I was forced to leave the settlement in the middle of the night as I was declared as a non-believer for causing the strange weather problems. To claim that me being there tampered the weather was beyond absurd but I am a calm and reasonable person so I decided to leave. But what was beyond my understanding was that the moment I sat foot on the dock of the Northern continent, the blizzard stopped immediately,¡± I ended.

    ¡°I am sorry, Master Zen. But what has any of this got to do with us, really?¡± said one of the human member.

    ¡°You¡¯re right. It only has to do with one of you. Before I left, I uncovered a note stating that the recipient should stop the monster assaults on this city. That letter was signed and stamped by none other than.. you Father. Do you have something you would like to say?¡± I glared at him which made all the other members turned to stare at him.

    ¡°I beg your pardon, but do you happen to have the letter in question?¡± asked Father.

    ¡°I do not. Removing the letter would had aroused even more suspicion from Son, who was originally from YOUR flock,¡± I said.

    ¡°Are we to take your word at face value then? Am I supposed to sit here being accused with no solid evidence?¡± he chuckled.

    ¡°Why are you being so defensive? All I¡¯m asking is whether you sent him a letter. Will you say the same if Peter was here?¡± I questioned him.

    ¡°You are not Peter,¡± he spat.

    ¡°Gentleman, let us keep things civilised in this discussion, shall we?¡± warned the Paladin Lord.

    ¡°You are right, I am not him. But might I remind you that I AM his direct pupil and also a member of the four great powers. And it was because of ME that this city had changed for the better. Do not be delusional in thinking that you will be safe inside your church when I literally dethroned a Demon Queen who sat a few metres away from where you are sitting right now,¡± I warned him.

    His face did not show any signs of fear but his body language betrayed him. He was starting to sweat more as sweat trails were dripping from his forehead. His hand was shaking ever so slightly as he sipped some tea before finally speaking.

    ¡°Yes, I did send a letter to Son regarding the attacks of the monsters on the city,¡± he confessed softly.

    ¡®Why did you suspect that he might be the one orchestrating the monster attacks?¡± I asked.

    Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

    ¡°Call it a hunch. We were not in the best of terms when he decided to leave the church and I was just warning him. That was all my intention when I sent him that letter,¡± he explained.

    ¡°Do you really think Son is capable of controlling demons into attacking the city? Would it be too far-fetched to think that he can control the weather too?¡± I asked him.

    ¡°Anything is possible when you put your mind into it, Mister Zen,¡± he said.

    ¡°Likewise, I would say the same to you then. What if you are throwing us off with that letter but plotting those monster attacks yourself? A show of hands, those in favour that I commence an investigation on the church for the suspicion of soliciting the monster attacks on this city,¡± I raised the question.

    That caught Father off guard and he wanted to retaliate but everyone except him raised their hands. This certainly made him furious that everyone was suspicious about him.

    ¡°Even you two?!¡± he shouted to the two humans that were at the side of him.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Father. But the frequency of the monster attacks are getting out of hand right now. We need to find the reason why,¡± explained one of them.

    ¡°And you think that I am behind these attacks. What would I even gain from these monster attacks in the first place?¡± he blabbered.

    ¡°If the church has nothing to hide and is not part of the attacks then I will personally declare that to the public myself. I take it that you have no objections seeing that the majority of members here had agreed, Father?¡± I asked him with a smirk.

    ¡°Do as you wish,¡± he spat.

    Oh, I intent to do so. I will rip apart that church of yours and unravel its darkest secrets for the world to see. One does not throw a snowball at my wife¡¯s face and gets away with it!

    ***

    ¡°Wow, I didn¡¯t even need to do anything at all,¡± said John as we were walking out of the castle.

    ¡°Ho ho, someone has increased their speech skills I see,¡± said the Paladin Lord.

    ¡°Huh? I never realised it at all. I was just determined to shake him down for more information. I was expecting him to retaliate more, to be honest,¡± I confessed.

    ¡°Aw c¡¯mon. You would expect a priest to not cover in fear by the hero who literally took down the Queen and her armies? You would need to be.. a demon? Zen, you¡¯re not suspecting..¡± John trailed off.

    ¡°I had my suspicion but after our meeting earlier, it would seemed that he is human alright. One thing I noticed is that demons rarely show fear even under pressure which makes Fear spell ineffective against them most of the time. It is their nature to be fearless, I suppose,¡± I explained.

    ¡°When are you planning to raid the church then, Zen?¡± asked the Paladin Lord.

    ¡°Raid is a strong word, really. We won¡¯t be ransacking the church. That would bring down my name to those who worship them. I will be asking the guild members to spread out around the church while I allow Father to escort me around showing what he wishes me to see. Rose, the Dark Lord and other members will be sneaking around trying to find any suspicious activities while Father is escorting me. How fast can you get those members ready? I don¡¯t want to give him any time to hide things¡± I asked the Paladin Lord.

    ¡°Everything is already prepared. You were smart enough to come to us first before the meeting. To be honest, a lot of the things you told us were.. imaginary, that we thought you were having one of your common episodes or something. Having Rose vouching for you certainly brings some validity to your story. How can I doubt my most prized member, am I right?¡± asked the Paladin Lord.

    ¡°Is that supposed to make me feel any better? Do all of you guildmasters see me as someone who is delusional that live in my own fantasy? I know my curse comes out once a while but I am far from being removed from reality,¡± I pouted.

    ¡°Well.. your story was definitely filled with craziness that all of us had trouble believing. To have dreams becoming reality is just so.. bizarre. Not to mention even affecting the weather? Out of this world indeed. I¡¯m a bit worried the next time I go to sleep since dreams and illusions can become a reality,¡± said John with a shrug.

    ¡°Why would you go to sleep when you have a beauty by your side every night? Planning on making another one?¡± I poked John with my elbow.

    ¡°It is not easy for an elf to conceive, I tell ya. You¡¯re lucky you chose Rose instead of Lily. Conceiving Aloe is no joke I tell ya man. Speaking of which, have you seen her recently?¡± chuckled John.

    ¡°Ah, to be young again. You youngsters certainly have a bright future ahead of you. Speaking of which, why does it feel like you barely aged at all? I might be old but you looked exactly like you were when you fought the Queen if my old brain serves me right,¡± asked the Paladin Lord.

    ¡°Yeah brother, what are you smoking that keeps you young?¡± asked John as he smacked my back.

    ¡°I.. don¡¯t really know either. Things changed after my resurrection but I still don¡¯t know what Lily did to me. She won¡¯t tell me or Rose at all which is strange. Been wondering ever since whether resurrecting me broke some of her law or something. I¡¯ve not seen her after she came to visit me around 5 years ago.¡± I put on a thinking face.

    ¡°Been a while since I last saw her indeed. Wonder what¡¯s she been up to? She¡¯s not in this city for sure. Maybe she¡¯s avoiding you again,¡± John shrugged.

    Damn, a part of me worries for her as she had only met us once within these 15 years after I fought with Tom. Then she disappears again and barely even shows herself in the city. Where are you, Lily? What you¡¯re been up to? I hope you are not in a pinch or started avoiding me again. You promised you won¡¯t be doing that anymore.

    As we were heading out of the castle, Rose stood by the main gate while swinging her pocket watch or constantly flipping it open. The only missing thing is a cigarette in her mouth and a cowboy hat. She seems to be uneasy by the way she acts. Did the preparation for the church went sideways or something?

    ¡°Rose, what¡¯s going on? Why are you acting so flustered? Did something happened to our plans?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°Onii-chan, don¡¯t get mad, okay? I think I might have.. accidentally broke my watch,¡± she whimpered at me with teary eyes.

    ¡°D.. did you drop it or something?¡± I asked her with disbelieve.

    ¡°What? No. It just.. stopped moving all of a sudden. I¡¯m not sure why but it just doesn¡¯t move anymore,¡± said Rose as she handed her watch to me.

    I inspected her watch and see no scratches or any cracked glass. It looks brand new to me. I took out my watch and gave it a check. It was still moving so at least one of us can still tell the time when we¡¯re in a pinch. I guess since I will be paying a visit to Stein, it wouldn¡¯t hurt to let him check on why the watch is no longer moving. Guess Stein¡¯s creation is not faulty proof after all.

    ¡°I¡¯ll ask Stein to check on it when I visit him. I¡¯m sure he is eager to understand why the watch stops working when you didn¡¯t drop it or anything,¡± I told her.

    ¡°Oh, can I come along? I am really curious as to what other invention he had made. And.. I also like to hear you talking all smartly, Mister Genius~¡± she whispered to me.

    ¡°Rose.. John and the Paladin Lord are here with us,¡± I reminded her.

    ¡°What? I didn¡¯t say anything weird like ¡°Hawk Tuah¡± or something,¡± she shrugged.

    ¡°Rose! What the hell?! Just.. stop talking. You say weird things in public sometimes,¡± I closed her mouth with my hand.

    ¡°Ahem.. if you two are done with your flirting, shall we proceed with the raid on the church? I am sure the members are itching for me to give the order,¡± coughed John.

    ¡°Right. Go ahead then. I will meet them at the church. Let the raid commence. I look forward in seeing what their miracle cure and other dark secrets lie in there,¡± I rubbed my hands together.

    A place of worship filled with dirty secrets. Not the first time that had ever happened. I¡¯m getting exciting in tearing that place apart if I so much as find a single demon hair or claw inside. As what Rose says, it is only a matter of time.

 Book 2 - Chapter 71

    Damn it, there was nothing suspicious at all from the tour given by Father. But I expected as much. Why would he reveal any of his dark secrets to me willingly. I am fairly certain that he showed me all of the non-suspicious areas of his church. I am counting on you Rose, Dark Lord or anyone from the infiltration team to find some sort of secrets for us. Fingers crossed.

    I waited for Rose in an alleyway where we had agreed to meet after we were done with the raid. She is currently giving her report to the Paladin Lord on her findings. I really hope she managed to find something or even anything. But she doesn¡¯t have Conceal spell unlike the dark guilds so it hampers on her ability to infiltrate effectively.

    I inspected my pocket watch to see if the same issue was occurring on mine but it was still moving. I might be seeing things but it does looked like the watch is slowing down. Best to have Stein check on my watch too. Hope I don¡¯t come off as a demanding customer.

    Someone tapped on my shoulder which made me smile. I turned and expected Rose to be there but no one was around. I looked below and saw Moi smiling at me while hugging her teddy bear.

    ¡°Did you really miss me that much to actually dream about me, Mister Zen?¡± she smiled.

    I was shaken awoke by someone which caused me to open my heavy eyes. Rose was looking at me all worried.

    ¡°Onii-chan, did you wait that long or are you just tired? It¡¯s rare for you to just sleep on the floor in a public place like this. Do you want to go back and take a rest?¡± asked Rose with a concerned look.

    ¡°H.. what? When did I fell asleep? I don¡¯t even remember closing my eyes. Is this some after effect from kissing Baku?¡± I blurted out.

    ¡°Pfft.. what are you saying? You¡¯re just tired, onii-chan. C¡¯mon, let¡¯s go home,¡± she chuckled as she pulled me up.

    ¡°Hmm? No no.. we¡¯re going to Stein, don¡¯t worry about it,¡± I told her as I clapped my face cheeks.

    ¡°Are you sure? You don''t have to force yourself just because I wanted to come along,¡± asked Rose with a worried look.

    ¡°Yea I¡¯m fine. Let¡¯s go. Really, you don¡¯t have to worry,¡± I assured her as I dragged her along.

    As we headed over to meet Stein, I thought of my dream earlier. Why did I have such an odd dream? Why did I even dream of Moi instead of Daisy when she¡¯s my daughter? And why does it seems as though she was actually talking directly to me? Is there something she wishes to convey to me? I still have no idea on the extend of Moi¡¯s powers and what she is capable of doing. I know she can read minds and predict the future. What else can she do? Communicate with me in my dreams? And that reflection I saw when she passed by the mirror. That is not a reflection that a normal girl should have. I will forever remember what I saw even in my dreams.

    ¡°.. chan, onii-chan! We¡¯re here,¡± shouted Rose.

    ¡°Oh, we¡¯re here already?¡± I snapped out of my deep thoughts.

    ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re okay? You¡¯re making me really worried here,¡± she said as she started checking my forehead temperature with the back of her hands.

    ¡°Sorry, I was just deep in thoughts. I¡¯m fine, really. Let us meet Stein,¡± I told her as I knocked on the main door to his workshop.

    We entered and the bell door rang from above the frame. I am not even sure whether Stein is in right now. He has a habit of leaving his front door opened even though he is not in. I sat down and gestured Rose to sit at my side.

    ¡°So.. did you manage to find anything substantial in the church?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°Hmm.. I wouldn¡¯t call it substantial but, there was something fishy going on in there for sure,¡± she made a thinking face.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°Call it a hunch. I couldn¡¯t find anything to back it up though. I hope the Dark Lord or the others managed to find something,¡± she said.

    ¡°Are you saying you get the tingles when you¡¯re in there?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Are you teasing me? Yes, it feels weird when I¡¯m there. Say whatever you want, onii-chan,¡± answered Rose nonchalantly.

    ¡°I¡¯m not teasing you. I felt the same. Something just doesn¡¯t feel right when you¡¯re inside that church despite not being able to find anything wrong about it. I can¡¯t really explain it,¡± I sighed.

    It was then that Stein barged through the workshop door and hurried over to lock the main door. That¡¯s odd, I thought he never ever locked his main door before, like ever. Something fishy is going on for him to be this cautious.

    ¡°Are you being hunted or something, Stein?¡± I asked him.

    ¡°Oh no. Hunted is not the right choice of word. I would say that certain individuals are overstepping their boundaries by constantly disturbing me about new blueprints. I told them that I do not sell exclusives and they will have to bid for themselves in obtaining the rights,¡± sighed Stein as he scratched his head.

    He seems troubled and I¡¯m starting to worry that he might end up getting kidnapped or tortured for new blueprints in the future.

    ¡°We can assign some guild members to be on standby here to protect you. It¡¯s common for guild members to be bodyguards,¡± said Rose.

    Woah, does Rose have that amount of influence over the guilds now? I know she is the most favoured member of the Light guild but still, you need approval from the Paladin Lord before you can actually assign anyone. What am I saying, the Paladin Lord is going to say yes to all her requests anyway.

    This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    ¡°No need. That would be too much of a hassle. And besides, it is not like they come too often to cause me trouble anyway,¡± he said.

    ¡°Stein, it¡¯s not going to be a hassle. I cannot afford to allow my favourite inventor to be kidnapped or harassed by unwanted people. There are plenty of other inventions that I still want to create with you. I need you, Stein, alive and kicking whenever I come over to visit you,¡± I told him.

    He turned his back towards us and judging by the motion of his arm, he seems to be rubbing his nose. I guess he is not used to being praised or wanted eh? Just as planned. Heh heh.

    ¡°Well, if you put it that way. I guess I have no choice, I suppose. I¡¯ll take you up on that offer,¡± he chuckled as he continued rubbing his face.

    Yosh! He took the bait. Grown men are weak towards compliments which is something that I noticed myself. I bet it would had been more effective if Rose was the one who tried to persuade him but it might had come off as flirting which I am not about to allow my wife to do so. Are you kidding me? Rose can flirt with pretty much anyone and guys will be jumping over her.

    ¡°We¡¯ll sort it out after this. Let¡¯s get down to business, shall we?¡± I asked him.

    ¡°Of course. Right this way, Mister Zen,¡± he replied as he lead us into his sacred room.

    ***

    ¡°How can I help, Mister Zen?¡± he gestured as he sat on his favourite stool.

    ¡°Let¡¯s start with this. The watch sort of stopped moving all of a sudden. Even mine seems to be slowing down. Now I can assure that I never dropped mine and I can vouch for my wife¡¯s one too. As you can see there is no scratches or dents on it,¡± I explained to him as much as I can to avoid the repair charges.

    ¡°Let me see them,¡± he took both watches and inspected them.

    ¡°Ah, how silly of me. Have no fear, it is not any of your fault. Even I forget things sometimes,¡± he proceeded to look for something in his table drawers.

    Rose and I looked at each other with a confused look. It did not took long for Stein to find what he was looking for. He held out two small keys in his hand for us to see.

    ¡°Apologies to the both of you. I forgot to inform you that your pocket watches are actually a key-set type. Which means you need this key to wind the watches to ensure that it continues working as intended. Come here, let me show you how,¡± he said as he began removing pieces of the watch.

    ¡°First of all, let me adjust the time with the key. Then from the back, insert the key and rotate it clockwise. There you go, good as new,¡± said Stein as he smiled when his creation started working again.

    In another life, he would had made Frankenstein or something but I¡¯m glad he¡¯s an inventor instead. The things he could do with his mind should he choses to go cuckoo and create questionable things.

    ¡°Ah, a mechanical concept for the watch. Rotating the mainspring to power the other parts of the watch. Clever,¡± I said.

    He turned to look at me with disbelieve in his face. Did I say something wrong?

    ¡°Did you examined this watch from the inside, Mister Zen?¡± he asked me with a suspicious look.

    ¡°N.. no, I did not. I don¡¯t even have the tools to open it in the first place,¡± I told him.

    ¡°Well, there is no evidence that you had opened any of these watches. You amaze me, Mister Zen. Not only do you know the secret to how my watch operates, you didn''t even need to open it to understand the concept of how it worked in the first place. I might run out of business if you were able to guess the concept of my most prized invention so easily,¡± he chuckled.

    ¡°Nah, your brain is way better than mine, Stein. I just have a general idea of how things worked. I can¡¯t put those ideas into motion. Speaking of which, why not make it automatic or y¡¯know, maybe removing the idea of needing a key in the first place?¡± I asked.

    ¡°What do you have in mind?¡± he asked while being intrigued.

    ¡°Hmm, maybe using the crown rotatable to wind the mainspring instead? Or perhaps something to power the movement of the watch?¡± I spoke casually.

    ¡°Then how would you adjust the time if the crown is the only rotatable part you have?¡± he asked.

    ¡°How about a button or a pin to set which rotatable part you wish to control? Something to separate both of them?¡± I thought out loud.

    He closed his eyes and was deep in thoughts. Sometimes, I am kind of happy that he is willing to indulge in my crazy ideas which I just thought on the spot. How many inventors would be willing to listen to a commoner¡¯s suggestion in the first place when their mind worked so differently compared to us. We are like cavemen compared to how their brain worked.

    ¡°You¡¯re a man of ingenious ideas, Mister Zen. That is a brilliant suggestion. I can begin working on a new prototype with that idea of yours,¡± he nodded.

    ¡°Now hold on there. Need to give you my feedback on the lighter. Hmm, how do I start? It¡¯s definitely useful for sure when you need an emergency light source or starting a campfire quickly. Certainly more reliable than using matches in a pinch. This thing will kick off for sure. Just need to be much smaller though. The container holding the liquid gas is way too big in my opinion,¡± I explained to him while holding the lighter.

    ¡°Need smaller container.. Right, what about it¡¯s reliability?¡± asked as he wrote notes on his notebook.

    ¡°Definitely reliable. Can be used during snow or when it¡¯s raining. Will not break easily even if you drop it. Even if it gets wet it still works properly. At times you just need to flick a couple of tries to light it up but that is not really a bad thing,¡± I answered.

    ¡°Mhmm mhmm. Great. I think the only issue you have is with the size of it. Apologises as I just grabbed whatever container I had that was most suited for this first prototype. Glad it worked out relatively well despite being the first,¡± he nodded.

    ¡°Ever thought of using glass instead? You can see how much gas remaining inside if it was transparent,¡± I asked.

    ¡°That would factor in on the reliability portion. Glass is brittle and will break upon impact,¡± he explained.

    ¡°So we need something that is transparent but durable. Hm, doesn¡¯t sound like a material that we have currently,¡± I thought out loud.

    ¡°Let me think on that, Mister Zen. In the meantime, is there anything else you would like to discuss?¡± he asked.

    ¡°That would be all for this round. I¡¯ll come back if I thought of new ideas,¡± I told him.

    As Rose and I gave our farewells to him, I actually thought of something out of the blue that I felt would be beneficial for me in the long run.

    ¡°Hang on, I just thought of something. Now I know you¡¯re a man of science, but.. do you think it is possible to create a device that can detect the presence of a demon?¡± I asked him.

    ¡°I believe your wife is already well suited for that task, Mister Zen,¡± he lifted one of his eyebrow.

    ¡°Rose¡¯s spell is too obvious and it spreads around without a hint of secrecy. I need something more for covert purpose,¡± I told him.

    ¡°This is something different from your usual request, isn¡¯t it? A request as a member of the four great powers?¡± he clarified.

    ¡°Yes indeed, this is a special request. I can foresee my need to use such a device in the near future,¡± I confirmed.

    He smirked and brought out another notebook after he kept his current one in one of his pockets. He had multiple notebooks? I thought he always used that leather covered one for all of our discussion thus far.

    ¡°About time you made a special request under the four great powers. I had been waiting for this day. Now, tell me what you need. This notebook is purely for such request. It is an honour to be able to create something for a member. Come, tell me what you need,¡± he gestured.

    ¡°I need something that can notify me when anything demon related is nearby. Anything at all,¡± I told him.

    ¡°Does it have to be alive or?¡± He asked.

    ¡°Dead or alive, intact or in pieces. Anything from their hair, claws or even their blood,¡± I said.

    ¡°How do you want it to notify you? Subtle or obvious?¡± He asked.

    ¡°As subtle as possible. I will check it when I suspect something is wrong. Not when things are obvious,¡± I explained.

    He wrote down his notes and nodded. I guess that is all the information he needed. I wonder if he is able to create something like that in the first place. I was hoping that it will be useful if I get the chance to sneak into that church again. I need some sort of confirmation that they are in fact doing something related to demons. There is something wrong with that church and I intend to find out.

    ***

    ¡°I just love hearing you talk with Stein. The both of you talked about things that have potential effects on the future. I am so glad my husband is such a genius,¡± said Rose as she hugged my arm.

    ¡°And here I thought you agreed to marry me because I was your elder brother,¡± I chuckled as we headed home.

    ¡°I marry you because you were the one who saved me and treated me with kindness. It didn¡¯t matter if you acted as my brother, father or whoever you wanted to be,¡± she confessed.

    I just chuckled and smile at her response. I never thought of myself as anyone special in the first place. I just acted what I thought was right and in doing so, cause two females to fall head over heels for me. I had never planned or even thought of the consequences of my actions when people needed my help. I just act in times of need.

    ¡°Do you think Stein would be able to create such a device? It will certainly be useful for sure but I¡¯m having doubt he is able to invent such a thing. We are talking about something that reacts to demons specifically,¡± she said.

    ¡°The one thing I learned about Stein is to never underestimate him. When it comes to him, the sky is the limits. He might be the first person to conquer the sun if he had unlimited resources. I have faith in him that he can deliver my special request,¡± I told her.

    ¡°If you say so. I will try to share your believes as he had not failed us so far,¡± she said.

    ¡°Alright, let us head home. I wish to get some rest before tomorrow comes. A meeting with the guildmasters await us,¡± I said.

    ***

    ¡°Right, let us conclude our findings on the church,¡± said the Dark Lord.

    It¡¯s the following day now and we are all having our secret meeting at the hideout. I won¡¯t lie, I am nervous about our findings. This is our only lead about the constant monster attacks on this city. If there is nothing at all, I got nowhere else to find more leads.

    ¡°Zen, I¡¯m sorry to say, even with all of our findings.. there is nothing conclusive that the church is related to the monster attacks,¡± said the Dark Lord.

    Are you fucking kidding me?!

 Book 2 - Chapter 72

    ¡°Are you seriously telling me that there is not a single thing that can pinpoint us regarding the monster attacks? Absolutely nothing at all?¡± I asked in disbelieve.

    ¡°That is not what I said. What I said was that we have inconclusive evidence that the church is related to the monster attacks. What we were able to find was that Father did sent a letter to Son asking him to stop the attacks. But it does not show that either of them are in cahoots with the attacks directly, just suspicions over the other,¡± he answered.

    ¡°What about the cure that they were happily giving out to people? What information did we discovered on it?¡± I asked.

    ¡°That one¡­ is even worse. There is completely nothing whatsoever about the cure. No written notes or even a single mention about it anywhere,¡± he sighed.

    ¡°H.. how can this be? For there to be completely nothing?! What is this?!!¡± I slammed my fist on the table.

    Rose came over quickly to hug my arm and gave me a serious look. That¡¯s her sign to tell me to control my temper. I took a step back and thought about our time in the cave together.

    No wait, hang on. I can¡¯t do that! I¡¯m not about to show a boner right in front of everyone when they have their eyes on me! Ok, calm down. Just clap your face cheeks and breathe deeply¡­ Phew, alright. That calmed me down somehow. Dammit Rose, why did you have to make that memories sexual? I can¡¯t use that without it making me horny.

    ¡°Sorry about that. Been losing my temper lately after unlocking Bloodlust. My apologises,¡± I bowed to all of them.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine, Zen. Been there, done that,¡± said John casually.

    ¡°Alright, let me get things straight. Are we back to square one? Do we really know nothing at all about the monster attacks?¡± I asked all of them.

    ¡°Sadly, that is the reality we are facing. I know you want to pin them on the church, Zen. But without evidence, we cannot take any action. We do not do things based on our guts. So yes, we are back to square one unfortunately,¡± he sighed.

    ¡°Um.. sir?¡± raised one of the Dark guild member.

    There was a sudden silence when the member spoke up and whispered to the Dark Lord which he excused himself to discuss with this member.

    ¡°Sigh.. this is not what I had in mind at all. For us to find nothing at all. How goes the evacuation of the villages in the outskirts? I trust the fund that I provided is being put to good use?¡± I asked the remaining four guildmasters while I squeezing my nasal bone.

    ¡°Of course. For someone as generous as you to provide us with such an opportunity, you can bet that we will make good use of it. That, and the members are quite happy to do a job that compensates well,¡± said the Dragon Lord.

    ¡°We are almost done with the evacuation if you¡¯re asking for the status. It.. took some convincing for some of the villages, but at least they decided that it was better to seek shelter within the city walls. The monster attacks are getting more frequent and ferocious as time progresses,¡± sighed John.

    ¡°I know, John. Which is why I needed to know the root cause of the attacks. Sadly, I couldn¡¯t find anything. I¡¯m sorry,¡± I sighed.

    ¡°Hey, what are you sorry for? You are doing something that matters to us and we all appreciate that. Doesn¡¯t matter if nothing comes up now but I know you¡¯ll find something eventually, brother. Don¡¯t let this gets to you,¡± he came and comforted me.

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you present this earlier?!¡± shouted the Dark Lord from afar.

    Woah, I had never seen him this angry before. We couldn¡¯t hear the discussion aside from the sudden outburst from the Dark Lord. We all turned to the Elementalist and he told us that the Dark Lord will inform us himself after he is done. He is the only one that is able to hear the conversation from afar.

    I removed myself from their guildmaster''s discussion and stood beside Rose. She made a smile when I turned to look at her, possibly asking me to cheer up. But how can I cheer up when we are back to square one? Daisy lives in this city and everyday her life is at stakes. I will never let her travel alone outside of the city walls. The thing about the monster attacks is that it occurs almost instantaneously and they leave as fast as they arrive. I¡¯ve tried to follow them myself but their four legs outrun me even at my max speed. Their hit and run tactics are certainly effective at running our soldiers and guild members dry with each attacks causing casualties or injuries. They know their tactic works, yet we know next to nothing about them. Whether they have a mastermind controlling their movements or how they even reproduce in the first place.

    I sighed loudly once again before the Dark Lord placed a paper on the table for all the guildmasters to see. I couldn¡¯t see what it was from where I was standing but I wasn¡¯t in the nosy mood to check what it was. If it¡¯s important, they will call me over to talk about it. I was feeling too depressed that I no longer have any leads on the monster attacks. And here I thought that I can make the city and its borders safer for Daisy to live in.

    There was a lot of chatter around the table that piqued Rose¡¯s interest. She dragged me by the arm and we headed closer to the table. As we proceeded closer, the Dark Lord grabbed the paper away before any of us could look and spoke to the other guildmasters.

    ¡°Are we in agreement?¡± He asked them.

    All the guildmasters nodded and the Dark Lord handed me the paper while whispering ¡°For your eyes only¡±. I was taken aback when the Dark Lord told me ¡°We trust that you will choose the best course of action¡±. I looked at all of them puzzled and read the paper¡¯s contents with Rose. Obviously ¡®for my eyes only¡¯ meant Rose is allowed to read as well. I¡¯m not gonna say no to my wife. If she wants to read, you let her read.

    A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

    ***

    To the recipient in question,

    The monster attacks are just a warning. Should you continue on your path, the monsters will be the end of you. You will not be safe within your city walls. Consider this your only warning.

    ***

    I was horrified. Not by the contents of the paper entirely but the signature located at the bottom of this letter. I recognised the signature anywhere as it belonged to someone that I trusted. I gripped the letter tightly and left the hideout with Rose following behind me. I rushed straight home with the letter in tow.

    Daisy greeted us by the door when she heard us coming in but I just gave her a simple pat on the head and rushed to my room. I quickly opened one of my locked drawer and began searching for an official letter from Peter. There, found it.

    I placed both letter side by side and compared the signature. Rose came over to check with me. I guess she was curious on whether the signature was legit as well. There is no way Peter is the one behind all these monster attacks. What would he even gain by doing that in the first place? It just doesn¡¯t make any sense.

    I covered my mouth. No matter how I cut it, the signature looks legit. Unless the sender of this letter is a professional signature forger, this letter seems to be from Peter himself. I slumped on my chair trying to think of a reason as to why this letter even exist in the first place. And why is it found inside the church? Are they trying to frame Peter? But how did they forge his signature then?

    Hang on, if this letter is found inside the church, why would Father suspect Son then? Didn¡¯t he read this letter? Or perhaps even he suspected that the letter was a fake? I am so confused as to what is happening right now.

    Daisy was standing on the doorway peeking at both of us. I can see that she is getting worried when both of us returned home in such a serious manner and went straight to my room. Rose was still comparing the letters but I can see that she is sweating from her forehead. I guess even she couldn¡¯t find an excuse for him.

    I moved to the bed and gestured Daisy to come in. She sat in between my lap and I began petting her head while also combing her hair with my hands. She asked whether we were alright and I told her that we are. It was Rose¡¯s turn to slump on the chair but she seems hell-bent in finding some discrepancies between both letters.

    Daisy asked whether it was because of her and I immediately told her that was not the case. She had behaved herself during our time at the Northern continent according to Daffodil and she helped out in doing the chores and finished her homework all by herself. She asked me what was the promised reward that I was supposed to give her. Shoot! I had completely forgotten about it! I started thinking on what would be the best reward for her and luckily, there is a place that she loves going. However, we limit the amount of times we can bring her to that location so she does not get bored of the place. Special place deserves special occasions only.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go to Fishyland since you were such a good girl,¡± I told her.

    ¡°Yay!! I¡¯ve always wanted to go there again!¡± she stood up and started jumping for joy.

    ¡°Ahh, dammit!¡± shouted Rose as she started pulling her hair.

    I quickly ran over to Rose and comforted her. She has a bad habit of getting frustrated when things doesn¡¯t go her way.

    ¡°Onii-chan~ I can¡¯t find anything that can prove this letter is not written by him,¡± Rose looked at me with weepy eyes.

    ¡°Mummy, why are you calling daddy ¡®onii-chan¡¯ in such a tone?¡± asked Daisy with a confused look.

    ¡°Ah, Daisy! I didn¡¯t realised you were here,¡± said Rose while being surprised.

    I guess it¡¯s been a while since Rose called me her brother in the first place. It was only recently when we travelled together or whenever we were alone that she called me that. I guess it would be back to calling me directly by my name or just ¡®dear¡¯.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you know that you are the product of the love between a brother and sister? Your father was actually my older brother while I was his younger sister. We were never meant to be together but our love for each other was too great and hence you were born,¡± she began explaining to Daisy.

    ¡°Rose.. what are you trying to tell Daisy? Why does it feel as though you are trying to promote something?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°I¡¯m just trying to explain to her why I call you onii-chan. Nothing else really,¡± she chuckled.

    ¡°Your story is filled with have hints of incest. You better don¡¯t get pregnant with a boy or she might start in getting weird ideas,¡± I warned her.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry daddy, your entire story is screaming back to me now. You and mommy are not blood-related,¡± said Daisy with wide eyes.

    What the hell? Why does it seems as though Daisy had some sort of horror revelation revealed to her or something? I need to make sure she doesn¡¯t start going crazy or something. What the hell is my wife trying to do to her daughter? We definitely need to go to Fishyland tomorrow to clear the things that Rose told her.

    ***

    Two months passed and the situation in the city is getting more tensed. The frequency of the monster attacks are getting worse as days passed. At first it was about twice a month. Now it is like once or twice every week. We can¡¯t hold out like this.

    I opened the door to my house and announced myself. Daisy greeted me with open arms and a wide smile. I picked her up despite feeling exhausted and after removing my shoes, I slumped on the couch.

    ¡°Welcome back and good work. How is it going this time?¡± asked Rose.

    ¡°Haa.. things are not going good, Rose. I feel like I really have to go over to the East to meet up with him. There is just no other leads that we can go on aside from his letter,¡± I confessed.

    ¡°Well, if you¡¯re planning to go over then I¡¯m coming along,¡± she said.

    ¡°Huh? No, Rose. If you¡¯re coming along then who is going to take care of Daisy? I don¡¯t feel comfortable leaving her with Daffodil when the city is constantly being attacked,¡± I told her.

    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry about it. We¡¯ll bring her along,¡± she said.

    ¡°W.. what? What about her school or extra lessons then?¡± I gave her a worried look.

    ¡°She can skip it once a while,¡± she said without looking at me.

    ¡°Please tell me you¡¯re joking,¡± I clarified.

    ¡°No, I am not! You are not the only one who is worried about the letter, Zen. Peter is my sensei too. I deserves the right to know,¡± shouted Rose out of the blue.

    I was caught off guard by her sudden outburst and quickly went over to hug her. She is right though. Peter is also her sensei and we are both worried that he might had gone to the dark side or something. But will we be able to keep Daisy safe throughout the journey? No, we have to. We must make sure that she is safe. Truth be told, I feel better if we bring her along. At least I can ensure that she is safe.

    ¡°Alright, alright. We¡¯ll go as a family. Nothing wrong about it,¡± I whispered to her as I stroke her hair gently.

    She was wearing a simple dress with an apron which is one of her casual wear when she¡¯s at home. Nothing that you would call enticing or seductive. Perhaps it was my imagination or maybe I was horny but she was releasing a strong pheromone smell and the whiff of her hair was intoxicating. My hand instinctively moved to the lower area of her body slowly so that she wouldn¡¯t slap me for suddenly making a move on her. If she don¡¯t feel like it, she can brush off my hands before it reaches its destination.

    She did not brush it off and my hands reached her nether region which I groped. Daisy was playing behind us so she couldn¡¯t see what was going on. From her perspective, we are just hugging.

    ¡°H.. hey, don¡¯t grope that hard,¡± she whispered to me.

    But I noticed something was different when I was groping her. Is she.. going commando? Rose.. since when did you became so slutty?

    ¡°Rose~ Why are you not wearing anything underneath?¡± I asked her softly in her ears.

    ¡°Ah~ I was waiting for you to come back and started thinking about you. Ah~ why are you groping even harder with two hands now? Daisy is right behind us,¡± she started panting in my ears.

    ¡°Oh sorry, it was instinct. We¡¯ll continue this later after dinner, alright?¡± I stopped groping her butt.

    So she was frustrated and horny. No wonder she couldn¡¯t control her anger earlier. Guess I should do my job as her husband to satisfy her later. I hope I can perform well when I am exhausted from fighting monsters.

    ¡°Mommy, are you okay? You don¡¯t look very well,¡± asked Daisy as she can see Rose¡¯s face from where she was playing.

    ¡°Mommy is fine, Daisy. Can you go upstairs to finish your homework?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°Ehh? I thought of finishing it later. Can¡¯t I, daddy?¡± she asked with pity eyes.

    ¡°There¡¯s still some time before dinner. Finish it up so we can play some games after meal, alright? I need to set your mother down as she is tired.¡± I explained to her.

    ¡°Oh.. kay.. Promise me you¡¯ll play some games with me later,¡± she said as she headed upstairs.

    I brought Rose towards the couch where she can rest. I thought of helping her out in preparing for dinner but she grab on to my cloak. Her face says it all. I guess she can¡¯t wait until later. I carried her up into our room, making sure to lock the door. Why does it feel like making love one last time before our trip? I don¡¯t like the feeling of bad premonition before the journey. I hope nothing bad happens when we head over to the East. Fingers crossed.

 Book 2 - Chapter 73

    Here we are once again on the east port of the Western continent. Rose and I love coming here as the food served here are extremely delicious as everything is fresh and cheap. This is the first time Daisy visits here and she is certainly overwhelmed by the sheer amount of people in this port. She usually runs around exploring things that interest her while I follow after her from behind. However, she was grabbing my hand tightly this time. I guess she is smart enough to realised that if she were to get lost here, it would be extremely troublesome to search for her in this crowd.

    We followed after Rose as she walked around looking for things to buy. The only thing that interest me are trinkets with special attributes. It is exceedingly rare to find. I had hoped to be able to meet that mysterious merchant once again as that Constitution ring that I bought for Rose was the only special trinket that I managed to buy throughout my entire lifetime.

    We had already booked our tickets to the Eastern continent so we were just spending time until the departure time arrives. We are not going to City of Underwater Marrydia so there were plenty of ships heading towards the East for trading or transportation. We still have plenty of time to burn before the boarding time arrives. I made sure to wind up my watch to ensure that it is fully juiced up. Wouldn¡¯t want to be late again.

    I told Rose that we should probably take our lunch first before we ran out of time. I don¡¯t want to be late again like the previous time. She nodded and we proceeded to look for a place to have our meal. As we were walking, my eyes kept staring at hidden alleyways to look for that mysterious merchant. It is not like I never tried searching for trinkets at other stores or merchants or such but none of them had special attributes. I just wish I can meet that merchant again. Damn it, it is turning into an obsession now.

    We stumbled upon a tavern that looked nostalgic to me despite it is my first time seeing it. Why does this seems so.. familiar? I did not even realised I was crying until Rose pointed out to me. Why am I crying when I see this rustic looking wooden building? This is the first time I am seeing it.

    We checked out the menu they had provided outside of the building. The moment I saw the word ¡®oyakodon¡¯, my mind and heart was set. We must eat here. Rose was surprised that I made my decision so quickly when they had not even browse through the second page of the menu. I told them we must give it a try here and she gave the okay after she seeing something in the menu that she was willing to try.

    I peeked out to the alleyway out of habit and did a double take when I thought my eyes was deceiving me. It was definitely that hooded mysterious merchant that sold me that ring a long time ago! I told Rose to head in first and order my meal for me. I ran to the merchant just in case he mysteriously disappears on me again.

    I panted when I reached him and he greeted me with a ¡°Hello stranger¡±.

    ¡°You¡¯re a hard man to find. I¡¯ve been searching for you all over the port,¡± I told him as I continued to pant.

    Why am I panting so hard when I just ran for such a short distance?

    ¡°All my wares are in tip-top shape,¡± he opened his cloak to expose all the items he is selling.

    Woah, there is certainly a lot of jewelries and valuables on sale. All of them looked expensive as they are covered in shiny gems. From ornate necklaces to clocks and fancy masks, who the hell is supplying this merchant with all these fancy jewelries?! There is even a crown covered in 5 different types of valuable gems!

    ¡°None of these seems to have special attributes on them, don¡¯t you have any trinkets with attributes that you sold to me last time?¡± I asked him.

    ¡°Hmm, those don¡¯t come in stock easily. How¡¯s about a lipstick or some makeup instead?¡± he started showing me some weird items now.

    ¡°Um.. no thanks. Those looked used and I highly doubt Rose will appreciate that,¡± I looked at it with disgust.

    After browsing a few items more, I sighed and decided to call it quits. And here I thought after finally finding the mysterious merchant that sold me the Ring of Constitution previously would have something on sale after so many years. I told him as there is nothing of interest to me so I¡¯ll be leaving.

    ¡°W.. wait!¡± shouted the merchant.

    ¡°I might have something that may interest you,¡± he continued.

    He reached into his hood and started fiddling something. He took out what looked like a simple emerald looking earring that looked basic in design.

    ¡°Are you trying to sell me your worn earring? I don¡¯t really have interest in used items,¡± I squinted at him.

    ¡°This ere is an Earring of Constitution. It only comes with a single piece,¡± he explained.

    ¡°Wow.. you¡¯re willing to sell me something this valuable that you are wearing? How much are you planning to sell?¡± I asked him.

    ¡°Five gold coins,¡± he said.

    ¡°Y.. you¡¯re selling me a used earring for 5 gold coins? You sold me a brand new ring at 4 previously. Are you for real?¡± I asked him with disbelieve.

    ¡°Do you want it or not?¡± He made a pissed off remark.

    ¡°Of¡­ Of course I want it. It¡¯s just that.. I don¡¯t wear earrings so none of my ears are pierced. I don¡¯t think I can test it out currently. Do you mind waiting while I ask for my wife to come over? She is just inside this building right now.¡± I told him as I pointed at the tavern at the side of us.

    ¡°If you go inside, I will disappear from your life. This is your only chance,¡± he warned.

    ¡°I offer free ear piercing service, don¡¯t you worry,¡± he continued.

    Wearing an earring that is unsterilised and worn, is that even hygienic? Will I be safe wearing it in the first place? I guess I don¡¯t have a choice if I wish to confirm that this earring is in fact legit.

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    I sighed loudly and I surrender myself to him. He asked me which ear and I told him left. He took out a needle and jab it into my ear lobe. OUCH! That freaking hurts! My face grimaced in pain when he took out the needle and push the earring into the lobe.

    ¡°There you are, good as new,¡± he said.

    I can feel blood dripping from my lobe but I acted tough and smiled awkwardly at him. I quickly took out a stats scroll to check on the attributes of the earring. W.. wow. It added +10 to constitution all by itself. Just 5 gold coins for this? It felt like a steal to me despite being a used trinket. No wonder he was reluctant to sell this in the first place. I quickly passed him the gold coins to complete our transaction and bowed in thanks to him which he replied ¡°Don''t get yourself killed now, haha¡± and disappeared into the crowd.

    I made my way into the tavern where a lady greeted me. She asked me if I was alone and would like a table for one but I told her that my wife and daughter should be inside waiting for me. She nodded and guided me, seemingly knowing who I was referring to. As I followed after her, there was a singer singing some song to lighten the mood of the tavern. I did not recognise what language she was singing in as it sounded human language but it somehow sounded weird. It sounded something about ¡°Ken Lee, tolibu dibu douchoo~¡±. Pleasant to hear but feels weird when you start noticing what she is actually singing. And who the hell is Ken Lee anyway?

    I reached the table where Rose and Daisy was seated. It would seemed that Rose had ordered hamburg steaks while Daisy ordered omurice.

    ¡°White angel-sama, your husband is here,¡± announced the keeper.

    ¡°Thank you so much,¡± Rose replied.

    Geez, how many people actually recognise Rose over my title. I feel so inferior to her. And the keeper even called her ¡°sama¡±.

    Rose smiled to me at first but instantly started squinting at me. I know where she is focusing on. I sat next to Daisy who was munching on her omurice. She turned to look at me at first but immediately did a double take and squinted her vision on my left ear. I tried to play it off by giving thanks to my meal and started eating. Both of them continued squinting their vision at my left ear.

    ¡°Zen? You do realised your ear is still bleeding due to the earring that you are wearing, right?¡± asked Rose.

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s still bleeding? I thought it had dried off by now,¡± I touched my ear lobe and it somehow had more blood than I thought it would.

    ¡°Are you trying to be fashionable? Why are you wearing an earring, not to mention only on one side?¡± she asked me with a confused look.

    ¡°Remember the merchant that sold us the Ring of Constitution previously? I managed to persuade him to sell me this earring that he was wearing,¡± I replied with an excited tone and smiled.

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you call for me instead of getting your own ear pierced?¡± she asked.

    ¡°He was threatening to leave so I didn¡¯t really have much of a choice. I needed to confirm that the earring was in fact legit before I made the purchase,¡± I shrugged.

    Seemingly satisfied with my answer, Rose continued eating. But before the food reached her mouth, she someone realised something and placed down her fork.

    ¡°Did you say that he was wearing that earring?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Um, yeah,¡± I confirmed.

    ¡°D.. did he sterilise it properly before you wore it?¡± she gave a worried look.

    ¡°Um.. no?¡± I shrugged.

    ¡°Oh my gosh, that is so gross!! Take it off, take it off right now! And wash those blood off your ears. With soap. Go, do it now before you get an infection,¡± warned Rose.

    After hearing the word infection, I immediately took it off and handed it to her. Ugh, my ear lobe still hurts currently. I quickly head into the washroom to wash off my blood and wound.

    ***

    Finally, I can eat in peace now. My ear feels better after washing even though it was still stinging a little. I noticed Rose had submerged my earring into a glass of hot water. I even saw her sprinkling some salt into it for safety measures.

    I started eating as I was hungry. The bowl in front of me was called oyakodon. The whole family of chicken is here from the egg to the meat. I took a scoop and to my surprise, there was soft rice inside. I thought rice in this world was mostly large and hard. I took a bite and it was bloody delicious. I swore I ate something like this before a long time ago but that is just not possible. My head was starting to hurt as I am seeing vision of myself eating oyakodon somewhere that I had never seen before. I started sobbing as I ate and placed my left hand on my forehead to hold off the pain.

    ¡°Zen, are you alright? You¡¯re crying again,¡± asked Rose with a worried look.

    ¡°I.. I¡¯m fine. It¡¯s just so good,¡± I assured her as I did not want her to worry that my headache had returned.

    We finished our meal and was pleasantly surprised by it. We will definitely be coming back to this tavern on our return trip. Daisy was asking Rose to cook for her such meal at home but we do not have soft rice like this being sold in the stores back in the city, so it was just not possible to make rice meal at home. Unless, we are able to buy uncooked rice from one of the stores here.

    Rose took out the submerged earring and wiped it dry. She then proceeded to rub my ear with an ice cube and pierced the earring back into my ear lobe. I gripped the edge of the table expecting a ton of pain but to my surprise, there was barely any.

    ¡°There, feel better?¡± she asked with a smile.

    ¡°Definitely. There was barely any pain at all,¡± I said and gave her a smooch on her lips.

    Daisy flinched and looked away when the both of us flirted with one another. Not too long ago she was always happy to see us acting all lovey-dovey. Guess she had matured a little when she stayed with Daffodil alone. Or did she saw something forbidden between Daffodil and John that made her act this way?

    It was almost time for us to depart to the boarding area of the ship that we will be taking. A pocket watch really comes in handy at times like this for being able to keep track of time. I paid for our lunch and told the keeper to never close this shop no matter what as I will be visiting it often. She smiled and bowed in thanks as we exited the tavern.

    ***

    Finally, we made it to the Eastern continent. Boy, was it hard taking care of Daisy as she was seasick throughout the journey. Rose had to cast mind fortification on her every once in a while to stabilise her. So glad we are not going underwater or that would had been worse for her.

    The journey was relatively smooth sailing. We avoided the giant whirlpool in the middle of the ocean and headed directly east until we see land. It took about 3 days to reach here and I am glad that the captain did not suddenly disappear on us unlike the previous boat trip that I had with the Northern continent. As long as I make it to my destination safe and sound, it is a 5-star rating for me.

    We disembarked from the ship and began looking for a place to stay for who knows how long we¡¯ll be here. While we are technically allowed to stay at the free accommodation provided for Peter¡¯s pupils, we preferred somewhere with more privacy since we brought Daisy along.

    I just realised that I had not described this continent properly. At first glance, this place is like a desert with barely anything worth living in. But through the mind of Peter Borage, he made it worked. While all we see is a barren wasteland filled with nothing but sands, he saw a continent filled with important resources. From gems to precious minerals and the recent discovery of black oil that seems to burn with intense heat. There is just an endless sea of resources hidden underneath all those sands.

    Through all his hard work, the City of Heliotrope Ixia was built from the ground up. Despite this continent being inhospitable on its own, the city is thriving with beings from all over the world. No water readily available? They made a huge reservoir that can retain water from the heat. What is readily available in this continent is heat from the sun and plenty of salt water. So, what they did was use to heat to convert it into energy which in turn, boils salt water into purified water. Of course they add in some minerals in after that, otherwise we would had died from lacking in minerals. Hard water is better tasting than soft water after all.

    What¡¯s next? Hot weather? Nothing a little heat energy to convert salt water into ice and using them to cool the interiors of the buildings. Food and crops comes next. All you need is doing some importing from the west and all is good to go. With clever use of greenhouses, ice to cool the temperature and fertile soils from the west, crops and farm animals started growing healthily here. All in all, this city is thriving despite its circumstances.

    I asked Rose on where she wanted to stay this time around. She turned and made a smirk at me. Oh no, I know what that means. I was joking the last time we were here.

    ¡°Rose, we don¡¯t even know how long we¡¯ll be staying here. Are you for real? That place is not cheap,¡± I told her.

    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry. We just stay there a couple of days to get the feel of it then we can swap to something else. Who asked you to pique my interest the previous time? I¡¯ll pay for the accommodation,¡± she said.

    ¡°Oh no, I¡¯m not letting you pay,¡± I declared.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine, Zen. My money is your money anyway,¡± she chuckled.

    Wow.. what a way to put it. While it¡¯s true that her source of income comes from me nowadays as she had been taking care of Daisy at home, she did not have to make it sound so.. wrong.

    We proceeded to head towards the fancy tavern in question but met some sort of performance on the way. Hang on, it''s not a performance. It is just someone showing off and asking people to bet on them. I ignored it until I heard the word ¡°tournament¡±. Now that piqued my interest.

    I nudged Rose about joining the tournament as an outsider. She told me to get my priorities straight and focus on meeting Peter directly. I told her what would be better than giving a surprise to our sensei by winning the tournament? And besides, I am tempted to test the limits of my powers so far. What better way to find out when fighting against strong people? Heh heh.

    She resigned to my request and headed towards the registration counter. Once again I used my fake undercover name, Soong Jean-Wuu to register myself.

    ¡°W.. what, hey! I wanna use an undercover name too,¡± sulked Rose.

    ¡°Sure, what do you have in mind?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°Um.. Ros.. ita Polaris. Rosita Polaris will be my name,¡± she affirmed herself and told the registration counter her name to register.

    ¡°Rose.. I am pretty sure anyone who is even remotely familiar with you is going to realised it is you when they hear that name,¡± I chuckled.

    ¡°W.. well, I wanted an undercover name so I¡¯ll live with that,¡± she puffed out her cheeks.

    I guess we had registered now and will be joining the tournament which happened to start tomorrow. Definitely going to need a face mask to increase our undercover further. I wonder if there is any worthy opponent that will make it worthwhile. Looking forward to it.

 Book 2 - Chapter 74

    We checked-in to our room and.. wow, what a fancy ass room. And a hole in my wallet. The room is massive for starters, more than enough for 5 adults to live in comfortably. There are 3 bedrooms and 2 washrooms along with a small living area and kitchen. We took the cheapest room, mind you and it was still massive in size. What a way to introduce Daisy to room rentals. She is definitely going to be judging all the small rooms in the future.

    All 3 of us could have a room of our own, but of course Rose will be staying in the same room as me. Why would my wife be staying separately anyway? We are still lovey-dovey despite being married for 10 years.

    What¡¯s better is there is space for both of us to do some basic training to prepare ourselves for tomorrow¡¯s tournament. Hm, we will need someone to look after Daisy while we attend the tournament ourselves and I know who exactly to look for. I hope he¡¯s willing to help out. Knowing him, he won¡¯t be joining the tournament himself.

    Right, let¡¯s not get ahead of myself. I look forward to the food of this establishment that will be providing for dinner for us. It better be fancy enough to make me cry from the sight of it as I paid a pretty penny for this entire room. All in all, it better not sucked. I¡¯m warning you, don¡¯t make me regret staying here.

    ***

    It certainly did not sucked as it was really good. The food was prepared with love and care which brought up the taste of the food. Overall, certainly worth staying here. Not for long periods of time though or you¡¯ll go broke.

    I lay on the bed and my body sunk in. How soft is this bed and what is it made of?? Will I be able to wake up tomorrow in time for the tournament with such a comfortable bed? Alright, now is not the time to be resting on the bed. I should check up on Rose and Daisy in the other room.

    I peeked through the doorway and saw Rose chit-chatting with Daisy while combing her hair. They must had just finished bathing. I should have a talk with Daisy regarding the tournament tomorrow. She must be confused that both of their parents who were supposedly on a mission in this continent to talk to an old person would suddenly end up joining a tournament competing with other people.

    ¡°How¡¯s my two most beloved women in my life doing?¡± I asked them.

    ¡°Oh, Zen. You should take a bath, the warm water is kept for you. I know you prefer warm over excessive hot ones,¡± said Rose with a smile.

    ¡°Thanks Rose. Is Daisy aware about the event tomorrow?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Yes she¡¯s aware. Obviously surprised too,¡± she chuckled.

    ¡°Hey, little sunshine. You¡¯ll be able to see daddy and mommy duke it out with other people tomorrow. We are going to show you how powerful mommy and daddy is. I hope the both of us don¡¯t end up facing each other as opponent,¡± I told her.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay. Mommy will kick your ass if that happens,¡± she smiled.

    ¡°Haha, can¡¯t argue with that. Someone will be watching over you while we are sparring in the arena, alright? Do behave yourself as he is not really a man of humour,¡± I told her.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me, I¡¯ll behalf myself. You two have fun,¡± said Daisy.

    Huh, sometimes her maturity appears befitting for her age while at times she acts half her age. I really wonder how her brain works sometimes. I petted her and took a bath. Got to make sure I am at peak condition tomorrow. Can¡¯t afford to look embarrassing in front of Daisy.

    I won¡¯t lie, a part of me wished that I might have a chance to compete against Rose. It¡¯s been a while since I fought with her properly and this tournament might be an excuse to test my strength. Can¡¯t wait to see who my opponents will be. I hope they do not disappoint me.

    ***

    We had our breakfast at the fancy tavern since meals was provided for both breakfast and dinner. Before we meet up with the guy in question to ask him to help us look after Daisy, we have to find a suitable disguise for both of us. We stumbled upon a store that was selling omen mask that seems to fit what we were looking for. Both Rose and I browsed for whichever mask that would suit our personality. She decided upon a white fox mask that suits her overall white outfit. It was not her usual signature guild outfit but it was still white. I was struggling to find one that suits me until I saw a skeletal looking horror mask that was black and white. Now that would suit me and hopefully enhance my Fear spell when I cast it. I feel sorry for those unlucky souls that I would have to step on to face more powerful opponents. Something oddly unsettling about this mask is that it makes me want to scream ¡°Bankai!¡± somehow.

    Right, our disguise is done. Let us proceed to look for the person in question. He should be where he usually is at this hour. We went into a tavern called ¡°Continental¡± to look for him. Just as I thought, he¡¯s here having his breakfast.

    ¡°Still having your daily meals here, Mr Wick?¡± I asked him.

    ¡°Fancy meeting you here, Mister Zen. This is one of the few establishments that is pet friendly. To what do I owe you the pleasure?¡± he asked as he petted his dogette.

    ¡°Well.. I was hoping that you can look after Daisy for a short while. Both Rose and I had signed up for today¡¯s tournament. And I¡¯m hoping you wouldn¡¯t tell sensei that both of us are here?¡± I explained.

    ¡°Why am I not surprised? Very well, she¡¯ll get the best seat and security in the house when you two are in the arena. Is that the reason why you bought those masks though? Believe me, I am sure the master already knows you¡¯re here. Can¡¯t confirm about the tournament participation though for the both of you,¡± he sipped his drink.

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    ¡°Thank you. Consider this meal on the house as thanks for looking after Daisy,¡± I bowed to him.

    ¡°Mr Wick, it¡¯s been a while,¡± bowed Rose as she brought Daisy.

    ¡°Madame Angel, indeed it has. I¡¯m sure the master would be delighted to see you,¡± he said.

    ¡°Please.. call me Rose. I don¡¯t enjoy being called by my title especially from my close friends,¡± she gave an awkward smile.

    ¡°Should we proceed to the tournament?¡± I asked Rose as I had paid for Mr Wick¡¯s meal.

    ¡°We can proceed together should you wish. I¡¯m done with my meal,¡± said Mr Wick as he stood up and brought his plate and cup to the counter. What a chad.

    All of us headed towards the tournament location which was located inside a colosseum. Way bigger in terms of size than what the West has. They really love live actions here and the entry for these gets sold out almost immediately. I guess that is how they keep themselves entertained here. Nothing like smelling fresh blood from contestants, isn¡¯t it?

    Rose and I checked-in for the tournament while Mr Wick escorted Daisy to where he described as the best seat of the house. Where in the world could that be, I wonder?

    There was a long queue instructed by the receptionist for us to get our levels checked. What did they meant by levels exactly? We only had stats in this world and nothing that represents our level. Curious to see what they will be using for us to get it checked.

    Both Rose and I had worn our mask by now. We needed to keep our identities hidden should we wish to remain anonymous. A couple of people were admiring at Rose while plenty of people were horrified by my horror mask. Better steer clear before I Getsuga your ass, heh heh. Either way, people were starting to give way for us to move forward most probably out of fear from me. We reached the counter and there was a giant crystal ball of some sorts that was held by some dragon statue. Very impressive to look at but otherwise obstructive. The queue could had been shorter if it was not for this statue.

    ¡°Name and designation?¡± asked the receptionist.

    ¡°Soong Jean-Wuu, outsider. Right behind me is Rosita Polaris with the same designation,¡± I told him.

    ¡°Are you two together? Will you be fighting as a couple or something?¡± he asked.

    ¡°We can do that? Uh.. sure. We can fight together,¡± I told him.

    ¡°And here I thought we might end up as opponents,¡± whispered Rose from behind.

    Was she hoping we could had sparred against each other? I guess I was not the only one who thought of it after all.

    ¡°Here is a gavel. Strike on the crystal ball gently and it will resonate your level to us,¡± said the receptionist.

    It was a small wooden gavel that felt normal without a hint of anything magical. Oh well, nothing else to do but to strike the crystal ball I suppose. Please don¡¯t break. I struck it as gently as I could and after a moment, the word ¡°Level ???¡± appeared on the ball. The receptionist looked confused at first but checked his book. After a while, he started ringing his bell as though he was calling for someone. He instructed me to wait at an area that looked like a jail. Da hell? What did I even do??

    Rose was concerned when she saw where I was heading but she kept calm and proceeded to do the same and struck the crystal ball. Once again, ¡°Level ???¡± appeared on the ball. The receptionist shouted out loud ¡°Again?!¡± and proceeded to strike the crystal ball to check on it himself.

    I was watching from the partial wooden jail area and Rose was also instructed to come here after the receptionist had confirmed that the crystal ball was in fact working as intended.

    ¡°I guess the both of us are going to jail?¡± I chuckled.

    ¡°What did we even do? We just did as we were instructed,¡± Rose sounded concerned by what had just happened.

    ¡°Nah, don¡¯t worry about it. I¡¯ll make sure nothing happens to us even if I have to destroy this entire city. Can¡¯t let my waifu get captured for no reason,¡± I laughed.

    ¡°Haha.. there¡¯s no way you can do that. Peter is not going to let you rampage. And besides, he is stronger than the both of us. There is no way you can win,¡± she chuckled.

    I kept quiet after hearing that. How can she be so sure that I can¡¯t win against Peter? Neither of us had gone all out before. Not that I intend to do so but there was nothing in this world so far that tested me to my limits. Even I¡¯m curious who would win if I fought Rose seriously. I had not been sitting back and skimping on my trainings for the past 15 years. While I kept lying to myself that I did not need to get stronger after I had beaten Tom, a part of me knew that I had to prepare myself to fight against the Demon King.

    ¡°Why are you thinking as though you can win? You can¡¯t, right?¡± she asked me once again.

    I just looked at her with a smile. Not that she can see through my mask but she got gist of it. It was not long later that someone came over wearing a blue coat with the receptionist that sent us to jail. He even said ¡°It¡¯s these two, officer¡± before stepping aside to let the officer inspect on us. Is he going to shout ¡°FBI, open up!¡± or something?

    ¡°Let¡¯s see who we have here. Soong Jean-Wuu and Rosita Polaris, both outsiders. Curious names that deserves inspection indeed. You two are definitely going to jail,¡± he said.

    Before the both of us could say anything, the officer laughed loudly which made both of us looked at each other.

    ¡°Ahh, I kid, I kid. It¡¯s been a while since I exploded with laughter. This is definitely da bomb. So anyway, here is what happened. We had never had the crystal ball giving us such a response before. You two are definitely the first,¡± he said.

    ¡°What do you mean? What was supposed to happen actually?¡± I asked curiously.

    ¡°Ah, the ball was supposed to give us a response between Level 1 to Level 10 which is determined by your strength. But in your case, you two are too strong for the ball to determine your level,¡± he said.

    ¡°So.. we can¡¯t join the tournament for being too strong?¡± asked Rose with a confused look.

    ¡°Hm, that might not be the case. Do allow us some time to sort things out. Feel free to stay here at the VIP lounge in the meantime. If you need anything at all, just approach one of our staffs and we''ll get you comfy,¡± he said.

    Both the officer and the receptionist began whispering to each other as they proceeded somewhere else. Is the officer joking? This is definitely not a VIP lounge. It¡¯s definitely a jail of some sorts by the design of it. But he did technically say that we are free to roam around but Rose suggested that we just stay put. What an awkward situation we are in right now. Being in jail with my wife for trying to join a tournament using our fake names.

    "Do you think we''ll be in trouble for faking our names?" I asked Rose.

    "I don''t think so. But I think this will certainly be brought up to Peter, so he will definitely be knowing that we had joined the tournament. Question is, will he humour us and go along with it?" she asked.

    "Knowing him, I feel that he would. Why do you think there is this gladiator culture here? It is mostly due to him. Entertainment is pretty important here over anything else. So much for being a peaceful person, huh?" I chuckled.

    "Well, everyone have their own entertainment to fulfil in this lifetime. I mean, it is mostly for entertainment sake and nobody dies from it. Besides, what else do they have here? They have limited resources and beauty as compared to the West. But, let us not compare with Marrydia. That city is built by the elves, mermaids and even the Underwater Dragon King altogether. It¡¯s incomparable to anywhere else" explained Rose.

    Surprisingly, it did not take long for someone to escort us somewhere else. We were brought to what looked like a board meeting room. Uh oh, is Peter going to be in? Will our cover be blown before we even make it to the tournament rounds?

    Sadly, yes. He was in the meeting. I just hope our mask and clothes were able to throw him off. We weren''t wearing our usual clothings as those were kept in our fancy room. What is the point of being undercover if you wear something that is easily recognisable?

    "Who do we have here? Little girl, do you happen to know these two?" asked Peter.

    "Um, no. I don''t know who these two are," replied Daisy.

    Why is Daisy here? I thought Mr Wick was supposed to look after her and bring her to somewhere she can view the tournament safely. Damn it, did he betray us by spilling the beans?

    "Ah, alright. So.. outsiders, what business do two strong individuals like yourself have in my city and not to mention joining the tournament? Are you trying to show off your strength?" he asked us.

    I coughed and tried replying with a fake voice.

    "Ehem, we just saw that there was a tournament being held and thought of experiencing it. We do not know our strength would be as strong as you say they were. We do not mind pulling out if it causes you any problems," I said.

    "Oh, no problem at all. In fact, it would do me good for her to face against strong opponents. She had been getting too good lately, as a matter of fact under my tutorage. Be sure to give her a trashing for me," said Peter.

    "Um, who exactly?" asked Rose.

    "Don''t worry. Once you see her, you will recognise her. Now let us discuss about your roles in this tournament. You two will be facing the last of the contestants that made it till the end. But my request is that Ze.. um, I mean.. Mister.. Soong Jean-Wuu? Aw c''mon. Pick a better name, would you? Now where was I? Ah yes, for Mister Jean-Wuu to fight first while Rosita would be fighting last. Would you comply to this simple request?" he asked both of us.

    "Uh, of course. Sure," I responded. He obviously knows who we are.

    "My men will escort you to somewhere you can watch until it is your turn to appear. I will keep Daisy safe with me. No worries," he smiled at us.

    So much for being undercover. He saw right through us immediately. Oh well, no point in breaking our covers when he did not ask us to. I wonder who was he referring to? Under his tutorage? There are many that trained under him but he had declared that both Rose and I were one of his best pupils. Who else can it be? And I wonder who exactly will be trashed when we face one another. I am getting a little excited when Peter himself recognises her strength. Finally, a worthy opponent. Our battle will be legendary!

 Book 2 - Chapter 75

    We waited in some special room that had full view of the arena. It was frankly the direct opposite end of where Peter and his men were seated. Mr Wick was there with him and Daisy certainly had the best seat in the whole colosseum. Although she looked awkward sitting there among the adults. I can see that she is uncomfortable but Peter was there to calm her. I wonder Peter will start finding it weird that a 10 year old girl would behalf like a 5 year old. But at least we don''t have to worry about her wellbeing. She will certainly be in safe hands when we duke it out with the finalist and eventually that secret pupil of Peter that he had taught. Who is it though? Can it be? No, it can''t be. She rarely comes to this side of the continent in the first place and I don''t recall that she had trained under Peter.

    Well, no reason to think about it now. Sooner or later, I''ll be able to see who that person in question is. I guess all we have to do now is wait for someone to make it to the finalist. I¡¯m pretty sure it is going to be a level 10 dude. There is just no way a level 1 is going to be able to make it until the end. They just separate the levels to make things more interesting for the viewers. If we were to fight Level 1''s at the very beginning, how boring would that had looked. It would probably be someone running away from my Fear spell once again. No one wants to see a grown ass man running away without fighting. Come to think of it, something like that did happened before.

    There was a huge crowd of contestants that had joined this tournament. There is probably a way for them to narrow things down quicker with the sheer amount of people who joined. Judging by the size of the arena, probably multiple fights will occur simultaneously. Or perhaps an all out battle between each level to see who is the best? Whichever it is, I''m looking forward for some entertainment myself. I doubt there would be a finalist today so the both of us should relax today. So much for getting prepared for today''s event.

    Among the contestants however, one of them stood out among the rest. Not because he looked strong or anything, but his appearance just stood out from the rest. He was wearing nothing but a white underwear and holding a wooden club. His appearance was.. something else. Is he seriously expecting to fight in the tournament with nothing but that? He¡¯s probably some low level adventurer who can¡¯t afford to buy anything. But how broke can you be to not even afford rags? Guess I was lucky that grandfather gave me a decent amount of money to start out with. I wish him luck that he will be able to put up a good fight for the other contestants despite his appearance. All the best, chap.

    ***

    What in the actual¡­ H.. he actually did it. He ended up as the finalist! H.. how is that even possible?! He had this special power that made him resurrect himself over and over. None of the contestants had any idea on how to defeat him permanently. No wonder he needed nothing but an underwear and a wooden club when he has such an overpowered ability. I seriously need to figure out a way to stop him from resurrecting himself. Otherwise in a battle of attrition, I am going to lose eventually like the others. So much for underestimating him.

    Rose was intrigued that this person made it to be the finalist. She told me if I ended up losing then she will handle it. Geez, such little faith in me winning. I¡¯ll show her what I''m made off. I slid down my mask and headed down towards the arena. What awaits me is a battle that I had never faced before.

    ***

    ¡°Ladies and.. gentlemen! We had made it to the semi-finals! I promise you all that this battle between the semi-finalists, will be one for the ballads! Let us see who will make it to the finals! Allow me to introduce to you who the combatants are. In this corner, we have a champion that rise above all else from the very beginning, defeating and conquering all the other combatants with his special resurrection powers and sheer tenacity, armed with nothing but a wooden club and his undergarments, please welcome.. THE WRETCHED!¡± shouted the announcer.

    The whole colosseum roared and clapped as he came out from the entrance. He was carrying a broken statue of some sorts along with his wooden club. He placed the statue at the side of the arena and roared towards the crowd. He certainly knows how to make an entrance. I guess I should wait for the announcer to introduce me before I show myself.

    ¡°And in this corner, we have a mysterious outsider. He is known as the man who single-handedly overthrew the Queen of the West and made her run for her money. In doing so, our relationship between the West had been restored and we can trade in peace now. Certainly not a hero that we deserved but a hero that we needed. Ladies and gentlemen, put your hands together.. for the Dark Caped CRUSADER!!¡± shouted the announcer.

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    I appeared out from the entrance and into the arena with my mask on. To my surprise, not a single cheer or clap could be heard. Everyone was dead silent and I can literally hear my footstep as I made my way into the arena. Is everyone afraid of my mask? Or are they just unfamiliar with me? It doesn¡¯t matter, I guess. My attention is to defeat this person who calls himself the Wretched. Not exactly a cool nickname but certainly better than mine somehow.

    I stood at the opposite end of my opponent. Everything was still silent until I hear a small clapping in the distance. I turned towards the sound of the clapping and saw that Daisy was only one who was clapping loudly while cheering for me. It was then that I lifted my hand in a fist and pointed it towards Daisy. It didn¡¯t matter if the crowd was not cheering for me, all I needed was my daughter¡¯s cheerful face to boost my confidence in battle. I was smiling underneath my mask when I saw her responding to my fist bump with her own.

    Things happened in the least expected way when I saw Peter started chuckling and started clapping himself followed by Mr Wick who was standing behind him. Suddenly, the crowd started following suit and more people began clapping after the founder himself started cheering for me. Even after becoming the fourth great power, I still get pity claps. Ah well, beggars can¡¯t be choosers. Daisy¡¯s encouragement was all that I need.

    I readied my stance towards my opponent who was smirking at me. Getting cocky, eh? You¡¯ll regret that.

    ¡°Are you all ready for the semi-finals? Too bad if you¡¯re not, because let the battle.. BEGIN!¡± shouted the announcer.

    As expected, my Wretched opponent roared in fury and dashed towards me with his wooden club held high up. I still cannot get over the fact that a bare naked man with nothing but an underwear is running towards me but I need to focus on his movements entirely. He swung his club with a downwards strike but it slammed on the ground which shattered the arena tiles. I dodged to the side and gave a palm strike of my own but he rolled to the side and avoided my attack. This person likes to roll around rather than dodge attacks, based on all his previous fights that I watched.

    He leaped at me and attempted to slam his wooden club at me once again. I guided his attack and slammed it to the ground. I attempted another palm strike but he leaped backwards and made a forward dash immediately in an attempt to hit me.

    I made a quickstep to the side and instantly delivered a counter punch to his chest but as soon as I thought I made contact with his body, it somehow did not connect as he rolled away from my fist. What the hell? I was sure my fist reached him but somehow it did not connect as soon as he started rolling. It defies all logics!

    He made another roar and charged after me once again. I had enough of his rolling and made my stance to charge up my strength. It was then he started rolling around. I was confused as to why he is panic rolling when all I did was readied my stance to attack. My eyes were getting tired in seeing him rolling around but at one point, he stopped rolling somehow. Perhaps he had tired himself out needlessly. Now¡¯s my chance.

    I dashed towards him and made contact with his chest using my left knife hand stance. Then I retracted my left hand and slammed my explosive right fist on this chest. This time I definitely made contact with him. Have a taste of the power of Fa Jin Zh¨°u.

    The Wretched flew backwards and made an exaggerated death movements while his body started to shine and dissipate. It was then his body fully disappeared and reappeared in the middle of the arena with him being anew. This is his true power. Battle of attrition until his opponent falls over. What a scary power to fight against. I need to find how to stop his resurrection power or I will definitely lose.

    ***

    We fought for almost 30 minutes and I had so called ¡°killed¡± him a couple of times, but he kept coming back. While he did not inflict any serious wounds on me, he did managed to hit me a once or twice with his club which actually hurts. This bloody cavemen is tiring me down by the second. I need to figure out how is he resurrecting himself. C¡¯mon, think you stupid brain, THINK!

    It was at that point that I remembered something. When he first came into the arena, he was carrying a statue and placed it by the side of the arena. But why? What was his reason for doing that in the first place? Can it be?

    The statue was directly right behind where I am standing. I reached for my dagger which was hidden at my back and behind my cloak. I quickly tossed it at the statue before he could react. All he managed to do was to squeak out an ¡°Ah¡± as my elven dagger smashed his statue and shatter it to pieces.

    He wailed a loud ¡°NOOOO!!¡± and fell to his knees. What a dramatic person. Did I figured it out his secret? Was his statue the reason behind his resurrection powers? Judging by his depressed look, it would seemed that might be the case. I guess I might have a chance to win after all.

    He glared at me with a murderous intent. Uh oh, did I anger him that much by destroying his statue? He tossed aside his wooden club and reached for something behind him. It was then he took out a large jar and he wore it on his head. It looked like a strange jar design with two handles at the side and was brown in nature with a red lid. Where on earth did he kept that giant jar behind him in the first place?

    He stood up and summoned two katanas on both of his hands. Oh shit, this guy is serious now. And he can use Sunder spell?! I can see his killing intent emitting behind him. This person is not joking around now. I am almost certain that he can solo me if he wanted to. It was as though all of his experience in fighting is flowing back into his body now.

    His katanas was completely different from the other. On his right, he wield a blood reddish katana that had odd design for its blade portion. It looked as though it was designed to rip apart flesh and cause his opponent to bleed profusely. His other katana on the left looked normal as compared to the other one but it glowed with a blue hue on its blade. There¡¯s no denying that these two katanas are legendary items. This person had just turned into one of the deadliest opponent that I had ever faced. All the while he was playing around since he can resurrect himself but now he is dead serious in facing me. I need to take him seriously or I might not be able to live to see another day. And I haven¡¯t even discovered who is Peter¡¯s new pupil yet!

 Book 2 - Chapter 76

    Holy shit, this guy had changed his fighting style completely. He wields his dual katana with proficiency that even I can learn a thing or two from him. He is no longer charging towards me like some fumbling buffoon but walk calmly towards me while emitting deathly aura behind him. I doubt using Fear spell will have any affect on him at all now. I can no longer fight this person unarmed now as any of my attacks would just go through him as he dodged or roll out of the way with precise timing. Now is no longer a battle of attrition but a battle of combat experience and skills.

    I summoned Inazuma along with my trust Hand of the Lightning God gauntlets with a flick on my wrist. The crowds went wild as two person capable of using Sunder is duking it out which is a rare occurrence. What I can think of right now is to parry him at the right time. Using Lightning Strike on him is useless as I felt that he is capable of dodging it at the last second. Seeing that I was only wielding one weapon, he slotted his normal looking katana and wielded his blood reddish katana two-handed.

    I must avoid getting any injuries from that serrated blade. One slice is definitely going to cause me to bleed profusely. I cannot afford to get badly injured when I had not fought Peter¡¯s new pupil yet. I bet I need to be at my peak to fight with whoever it is.

    The both of us were wary over the other. Neither of us made the first move. I can only strike when he lets his guard down. But there is no point in stalling any longer or the crowds will start getting bored. I dashed closer to him closing the gap. He crouched low and started swinging his blade from a distance. At first I thought he was losing it until I noticed streaks of blood flying through the air towards me. It started with a cross double slash, followed by a triple and finally a heavy overhead slash.

    I won¡¯t lie, the moment I saw blood flying towards me, I panicked and immediately used Rend to summon my semi-transparent purple cloak and quickly hid underneath it. I¡¯m glad I followed my cowardice instinct as the arena was riddled with sliced marks all around me. I would had been sliced apart if it wasn¡¯t for my indestructible cloak. I peeked out from my cloak to look at my opponent. He was standing tall and proud while gripping his bloody katana. Such intimidation from a half-naked man.

    I knew that I had to take things even more seriously now. One wrong move and I would be sliced cheese. That bloody slash is strong enough to slice through the tiles of the arena but I had a hunch that Tengu-kaze¡¯s wind pressure should be able to neutralise it. I¡¯m guessing I will need to dual wield as well should I wish to stand a chance at beating him.

    I stood up and summoned Tengu-kaze with a flick of my left wrist. Things are about to get rough now. I am certain I won¡¯t be able to get out of this fight unscathed. Seemingly reading my mind, he dashed forward and attempted to use his bloody technique again. I charged up Tengu-kaze and countered his technique with my own. All of his five slashes were blown apart by the wind pressure from Tengu-kaze. Having found a way to counter his attack, I made a grin.

    He made a small nod, or what seemingly looked like a nod when his jar helmet moved downwards. Is he in agreement to take this fight seriously now? He unsheathed his other katana and both of us were dual-wielding our weapons now. May the best wielder wins.

    I must not hold back. This person can resurrect himself so it doesn¡¯t matter if I accidentally killed him, I hope. Now that I had destroyed his statue, he should still be able to resurrect himself, right? No point thinking about it. I might have to consider using my full strength to beat this guy. Is this fight planned out by Peter to see how much I¡¯ve grown? Why do I get the feeling of being dragged along like a puppet in this tournament.

    I took a deep breath and activated Concentration. Now that he is serious, I am not taking any chances. I still don¡¯t know what his other katana can do and I¡¯ll be damned if I caught off guard by it. Who knows what that second katana of his can do. Flying ice or water perhaps judging by the blue hue I saw earlier.

    Both of us rushed in closer to deal the first blow but ended up blocking each other¡¯s attack. From here on out, I do not know whether the spectators could even see anything. I started moving at full speed, finding angles and weak points to hopefully put some damage on him. But he still managed to avoid or dodge all of my attacks skilfully. All of his attacks on the other hand was either blocked by my weapons or by my cloak. Neither of us were giving any quarters to the other and started attacking relentlessly.

    I was counting on Inazuma¡¯s passive ability to perhaps immobilise him, stunning my opponent every time I blocked his attack. But when would that finally take effect? Will I be able to last until then? I¡¯ll admit, his dual-wielding is way better than mine. But due to Inazuma being light as a feather, I am able to block his attacks quicker than he can strike.

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    I started panting as we had been trading blows continuously for about 10 minutes now. How is he even breathing through that jar helmet? And is it just me, or is the temperature getting colder by the second? It didn¡¯t start snowing all of a sudden, did it?

    My opponent lifted his feet and stomped on the floor which causes ice spikes to erupt from the floor towards me. Shit, I need to jump right now! I thought I would be vulnerable in the air but.. he¡¯s running away? Huh? What is going on? Then he came running back towards my direction and started rolling around afterwards. I stared at him looking all confused until my feet were back on the ground. It was not until he noticed that I was staring at him that he realised what he was doing. I won¡¯t lie, it was certainly funny to see him doing weird things instead of pressing his advantage to attack me.

    So.. blood and ice. What an odd combination that he uses. I got no way of countering his ice stomp since I don¡¯t know any fire spell. Very well then, seems like we are going to see who tires out first. I summoned a lightning using my left gauntlet and coated Inazuma with Lightning Charge. Let¡¯s go!

    ***

    I am definitely tiring him out and was able to inflict some wounds on him. But in return, he managed to do the same as well. I am shivering and bleeding in several parts of my body. That normal looking katana of his is so ridiculously cold to the touch that getting even a small cut from it is no joke. His other katana on the other hand, no pun intended, makes me bleed profusely from even the slightest touch. But there is nothing I can do now but to tough it out. There is no way am I going to distract myself by patching my wounds. Although, I cannot drag this fight much longer or I am going to bleed to death.

    He should be feeling the shocking effects from Inazuma right now. Might be the reason why he started moving more sluggish. In terms of injuries, I¡¯ve only inflicted minor wounds on him with Inazuma with Lightning Charge. He seems to be wary of Tengu-kaze for some reason despite not having any passive effects. The only reason I can think of is that Tengu-kaze hits hard due to its heavy weight in nature. I guess he would rather receive some flesh wounds over having his bones broken.

    I can see the ending now. We had been fighting for more than 30 minutes now and my beloved cloak had disappeared. There was no reason for me to resummon it as I felt that I can take him head-on now. I had learned a lot from his dual-wielding technique and countering him back. What a way to improve my skillset in the midst of battle. This must be Peter''s way of teaching me dual-wielding more effectively. No wonder he asked me to fight first.

    He charged at me once again. This time I was ready for him. He used his ice stomp which made me jumped up again and started using his bloody slashes towards me. But I countered his bloody slashes with Tengu-kaze''s wind pressure so he could no longer damage me with that blood technique of his. It was back to fighting in close combat when he seems to be running out of options. The both of us block or dodged each other¡¯s attacks continuously. I am beginning to feel exhausted from this prolonged battle. How is he not feeling it?

    It was then that I noticed that he was sort of stuttering in his movement. Is he.. lagging? I took my opportunity and got closer to him. He swung his bloody katana towards me but his movement was definitely slowing down. Now¡¯s my chance. I held both my weapons in a reverse grip and swung Inazuma to parry his bloody katana. Then I spun my body and slammed Tengu-kaze through his torso. I released my grip on Tengu-kaze and spun my body forward to grip it with a forward grip.

    The Wretched feel to his knees and dropped both of his katana. He reached out his hands in an attempt to grip my left hand but I quickly released my grip and leaped backwards while I gripped Inazuma tightly. But I was mistaken, he gripped on Tengu-kaze and pulled it out from his body. Talk about a chad.

    I assumed he would be tossing my katana aside but he held it up towards me with both hands. It was as though he wanted me to retrieve my katana which I approached him slowly while being cautious. After retrieving my katana, he bowed to me like a knight which I quickly returned with a polite bow when I noticed his body was dissipating. He gave me a thumbs up before his entire body vanished into thin air. Even his katanas and helmet disappeared with him.

    I quickly looked around the arena and after a couple of seconds, rested on my butt when he no longer resurrects himself. My goodness, that was one of the most exhausting battle I ever fought in and definitely one of the important ones. Thank you, half naked jar man for teaching me how to dual-wield more effectively in combat. I hope you did not die from the wounds that I had inflicted on you.

    I realised that the entire colosseum was completely quiet despite me winning. Where is the announcer anyway? Did he not realised that the fight had ended?

    ¡°W.. w¡­ we have a winner! Oh my gosh I had never seen such a fight before! It was so exhilarating that we could not believe our eyes. Everyone, put your hands together to the contestant who will be heading to the finals¡­ Zen Hawthorn!!¡± he announced.

    Geez, what is the point of me using my undercover name when you¡¯re announcing my real name to everyone? I guess there is no point in me wearing my mask now, isn¡¯t it? I am sure people know my name here as I am known to be one of Peter¡¯s strongest student when I was training here.

    The audience went wild upon hearing my name and all of them started cheering to no end. I removed my mask and I waved towards the crowds which made them cheer even louder upon seeing my face.

    ¡°Ladies and gentlemen, consider yourself extremely lucky to be able to watch a fight from one of the four great powers. Count yourself lucky that you had bought the tickets for today. But sadly, we will have to postpone the finals till tomorrow as the arena had been damaged badly. Your ticket will still be valid but should you wish to upgrade your seats, you will be able to do so. And I do so encourage you all to upgrade because tomorrow, you will be able to see the Dark Caped Crusader versus the Elemental Ice Queen in action!!¡± he shouted into his loudspeaker.

    The crowds continued cheering but I got up and proceeded to the arena¡¯s exit. Elemental Ice Queen? Who in the world is that? It can¡¯t be Lily as she was known as the Silver Head-Smasher. I am certainly curious to see who will be facing tomorrow. Rose met up with me at the entrance exit along with Daisy. Both of them leaped into my arms which made me shout in pain as I had not patched my wounds yet. Daisy was screaming all excited and jumping around saying that the fight was so exciting and that she was rooting for me and such. All my wife said was ¡°You did good, Zen¡± and smiled at me with a kiss on the cheek. Ah, she know me so well.

 Book 2 - Chapter 77

    ¡°You set that guy up to with fight me, didn¡¯t you? You knew he was going to make it as the finalist,¡± I questioned Peter.

    He invited us to dinner at his place. I guess we won¡¯t be eating that fancy dinner that I had paid for. That¡¯s not to say the dinner Peter provided is not fancy, but that meal is just on a whole different level.

    ¡°Nope, I had not met the guy in my entire life. He almost took you out, didn¡¯t he? That was one of the longest fight I¡¯ve ever seen so far. How rare to see you being that cautious against an opponent,¡± he replied.

    ¡°Aw c¡¯mon. There is no way you wouldn¡¯t know a half naked man that can fight like that. His dual-wielding skills were top notch. I don¡¯t believe you did not set me up to fight him. And he is powerful, extremely powerful that I did not think I could actually beat him. It felt like he was holding back and letting me win¡± I frowned.

    ¡°But I didn¡¯t. I give you my word that I never knew the man. It was purely coincidental that he became the finalist. Who would had thought that he was hiding his true nature. Only you could had forced him to fight that seriously,¡± he shrugged.

    ¡°And what about his resurrection skill which is tied to the statue? What is up with that?¡± I asked him with squinting eyes.

    ¡°No idea. He was truly a mysterious person with no affiliation to this city. A true outsider, unlike a certain someone,¡± he glanced at me with a lifted eyebrow.

    ¡°I find it hard to believe that you wouldn¡¯t know a thing about him. If there¡¯s anything that you excel at, it¡¯s information gathering,¡± I said.

    ¡°Ah, but this person had certainly eluded me. Almost like he doesn''t belonged here. He had certainly caught my attention for sure,¡± he smiled.

    ¡°Right, aside from that, since when did you start being fashionable? What¡¯s with that earring of yours?¡± he continued.

    ¡°Oh, this? It¡¯s actually an earring of constitution. There¡¯s no way I am wearing a jewellery for no reason. You know I am not that kind of person,¡± I told him.

    ¡°Which is why I was asking. Not to mention it was only one sided,¡± he chuckled.

    ¡°Alright, enough chit-chat. It¡¯s unheard of that you two would come to this continent unannounced. What is your task? I doubt you are here for sightseeing with Daisy¡± he continued.

    I checked my surroundings and Peter seems to get the gist of it. He whispered something to Mr Wick which made him snapped his fingers loudly. All of the people surrounding us got up and started leaving. Mr Wick bowed to Peter and left the room as well. Now it was just the four of us here.

    ¡°Sensei, whatever answer you give us, we¡¯ll believe it. Tell me, is this letter really from you?¡± I asked while handing him the folded up letter.

    He opened the letter and started reading. Not a moment later, he started laughing. It seems as though it was something amusing to him when Rose and I were giving him a serious look. Should we take it as a fake letter judging from his response?

    ¡°First off, where did you get this from?¡± he asked as he continued chuckling.

    ¡°We found it inside the Church of Imperatrix,¡± I told him.

    ¡°You found it? No, I don¡¯t believe that. There is no way he would just leave this lying around. You probably raided the church and stole this letter from them,¡± he replied with a serious tone.

    ¡°Sensei, based on your statement, it would seemed that you are aware of this letter¡¯s existence. Are you really the sender?¡± I glared at him.

    Rose gripped my hand under the table. Is she expecting the worst? Or is she afraid to know the truth? Depending on his reply, I will do what it takes to ensure my family''s safety no matter the cost.

    ¡°I am sensing hostility from the both of you. Let me be clear that I am not the one behind these monster attacks nor am I involved in it. But yes, I am the one who sent out this letter,¡± he sighed.

    ¡°W.. Why? Why did you send out such a letter if you are not the related to it? Why are you willing to tarnish your own name when it is not true?" I asked him for an answer.

    He swirled the drink in his cup as he needed a moment to think. I glanced at Rose and she continued to grip my hand from under the table. I guess she was dissatisfied with his answer earlier and is waiting for a better explanation. The both of us braced ourselves for his reply.

    "When did the monster attacks started for the West? About half a year ago? It¡¯s not even a year yet but I am sure you are feeling the effects from it. The fear that we will not be able to hold out, the fear that hiding inside the city but it doesn¡¯t even protects you. And the fear that all your men will die without you being able to do anything about it,¡± he explained with a sour face.

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    Rose and I didn¡¯t said anything. Or more like, there was nothing for us to say. I moved my hands while still gripping Rose¡¯s hand and she responded the same. Years of being married had taught me sometimes, we do not need to talk to communicate with each other. Just a simple gesture and you can understand what your partner¡¯s feelings are.

    ¡°The attacks started here, about two years ago. Very much earlier than the West. Since then, their attacks were relentless, unforgiving and brutal. A lot of my soldiers gave their lives defending this city and it may only be a matter of time before our¡­ my city falls,¡± he clenched his fist.

    ¡°Are you really serious? The city is still in pristine shape. It doesn¡¯t even looked as though any attacks had taken place. Nor do the people living here cower in fear. How is that possible? And, why didn¡¯t you contact us about this? We could had helped out,¡± I asked him.

    ¡°All the attacks took place in odd locations. They had found ways to infiltrate the city and attack soldiers most of the time. They never once attacked from the front or through the gates, preferring to use hit and run tactics most of the time. It is their unpredictable nature that is causing me so much trouble in protecting this city. And regarding to your question, it was pointless to ask for either of your help when I could not even figure out who or what is behind these attacks,¡± he sighed.

    ¡°So that letter is for..¡±

    ¡°A scare tactic or bait. I only sent out these letters to individuals that I had my suspicions on. But so far I had not gotten any reply. How strange that these few individuals did not seek me out whether they were the actual culprit or otherwise. It would seemed as though they know who or what is the one that is causing these attacks,¡± he explained.

    Both Rose and I sighed. We were glad that Peter had not turned out to be the reason for these attacks. What will we even do if he really joined the dark side. I cannot bear the thought of fighting against my sensei when he had taught me so much in fighting techniques or life experiences.

    ¡°You two really thought that I was the one behind these attacks. Such little faith you have in me,¡± he chuckled.

    ¡°No. Believe me when I say that we tried to find discrepancies in that letter to prove that the letter was fake. If we had not believed you, we wouldn¡¯t had given you a chance to explain in such manner. It is because we trust you that you deserved to explain things to us,¡± I pointed out to him.

    ¡°If I had really been the one causing the attacks, what would you had chosen? Kill me? Or sacrifice the cities to spare my life?¡± he asked with a grin.

    ¡°That would be obvious, we would had joined you and destroyed the cities together,¡± I said.

    Rose showed me a confused & surprised look. She is definitely conflicted by my answer. I have my reasons for choosing such a path if he really had been the mastermind behind these monsters.

    ¡°Oh ho, an interesting but wrong choice of answer. You should kill me, Zen. Without a doubt, should I turn for the worse. You cannot and will not protect me even though I am your teacher. You have to follow the teachings that I had taught you. Protect the innocent and defend the vulnerable such as your child here, for they are our future,¡± he explained as he gave Daisy a pet on the head.

    ¡°I was thinking that if I joined you, I was hoping that you will spare my family. I know very well that I cannot defeat you, so dying pointlessly and leaving my family alone is just foolish,¡± I told him.

    ¡°Nonsense, the three of you are capable of defeating me. There is a limit to how many youngsters I can fight against. And besides, none of you had reached your limits yet. There is still much for the three of you to grow,¡± he smiled.

    ¡°Um.. I¡¯m sorry? The three of us? Are you referring to Daisy? How do you even know how strong she is when we didn¡¯t even taught her how to fight?¡± I asked with a confused and speechless look.

    ¡°I meant you, Rose and my current pupil. The three of you are capable fighters that will be stronger than me in the future. I am certain one of you will be my successor eventually. I look forward to that very day,¡± he smiled.

    ¡°Who is your pupil anyway? We do not know anyone with a nickname called ¡°Elemental Ice Queen¡±. Are you sure you did not mistaken her for someone we don¡¯t know?¡± I scratched my head.

    ¡°Oh, I am sure. You will be meeting her tomorrow, don¡¯t worry. And do wear your disguises tomorrow. She had not seen any of the tournament matches today and I am certain she will be surprised to see both of you tomorrow. There was barely any contestants that could match her new found strength so she had been holding back her powers. I am certain you will be able to make her realise that she still have much to learn despite the powers that she had obtained thus far,¡± he turned to look at Rose.

    ¡°M.. me? You want me to fight her seriously?¡± asked Rose.

    ¡°Please do. I doubt Zen will fight her seriously in the first place. I¡¯ll be counting on you,¡± he smiled.

    ¡°Ahem, let us get back on topic. How about Rose and I do some covert operations and search where these monsters are coming from? It won¡¯t be easy but we got to try something at least. It is hard to tail after them in the West because they always run into forest immediately. But out here, there is nowhere for them to hide,¡± I explained.

    ¡°You can try. I¡¯ve tried to follow them myself but once they know someone is following them, all of them will split up in different directions. These monsters are sentient and cunning. Either you¡¯re able to follow them but end up getting killed or you end up with nothing. I am really curious who is controlling them as these are not a typical common behaviour for a leaderless pack. Come here, I¡¯ll show you the general location of where I suspect they might be. You can do your own scouting from these findings. Oh, bring my pupil along too,¡± he chuckled.

    ¡°Oh my gosh, who is she?! I am not bringing someone that I am not familiar with on such an important mission. Spill it out, who is it?¡± I demanded for an answer but he laughed it off.

    I don¡¯t understand why he is refusing to let me know who is the identity of his pupil. Fine, I¡¯ll beat your pupil¡¯s ass tomorrow since you want to be so vague about it.

    ***

    We made it back to our room where I decided to hit the sack after taking a bath. I am dead tired fighting against that strong opponent. I guess there won¡¯t be any happy time today since there is a chance that Rose will have to fight too. She was combing her hair while being seated in front of a mirror. She looks beautiful as she slowly straighten her hair. When she noticed that I was watching her, she fixed her hair behind her ear exposing it for me to see. She knew that I had a thing for ears when girls does this. It is something feminine that only girls can pull off and despite the action actually shows very little skin, just the action alone is enough to get my heart racing.

    ¡°You know, don¡¯t you? Who the pupil is,¡± I asked her.

    ¡°I have my suspicions, but it is merely a hope more than anything. She don¡¯t really like coming to this continent as it is far away from the elven forest,¡± she answered.

    ¡°Yea, we always wondered where she went. It would be great if it¡¯s really her,¡± I sighed.

    ¡°What are you going to do? If it¡¯s her?¡± she asked.

    ¡°What do you mean? I¡¯ll have to spar with her. Can¡¯t expect me to rollover without trying. I am curious to see how much she had grown,¡± I answered with a confused look.

    ¡°I meant after. It¡¯s your chance to make sure she doesn¡¯t disappear on you again. And by grown I hope you are referring to her powers,¡± she squinted at me.

    ¡°Rose, we¡¯ve been through this. I am not taking her as my second wife. Think about Daisy. What would she feel if her father suddenly brought in another woman into the family. I would lose all dignity as her father and betray her. No way, I don¡¯t want Daisy to hate me. And besides, for all we know, she might already be married by now,¡± I replied firmly.

    ¡°Well, then Daisy will have to stick to me instead. Haha. Oh, don¡¯t worry. Daisy won¡¯t hate you or anything since I''ve already gave you my permission. You do what you want with it,¡± she smiled.

    "Rose.. why do you still insist that I make Lily my wife? What is going through your head? Is it not good enough that it is just the three of us together? Do you need some tension in our family to make things interesting?" I asked her with a sigh.

    "Zen.. onii-chan. You know full well what I am thinking about. We owe it to Lily, the both of us. She brought you back from the dead, she''s travelling alone and no longer lives in the city. We always wondered where she went or what happened to her. I know you think about her all the time, you don''t have to lie to me when I worry about her as well. You know this, Zen. I know you do," she placed her hand on my cheek.

    I sighed and held her hand. What she said is true. She really understands me so well. But I don''t feel that making her my second wife is the right thing to do despite our worries. Am I being stubborn for following my principals? Am I just being foolish and not considering both of their feelings? Perhaps I am. But I will know more if I see her tomorrow. All this worrying when we don¡¯t even know if it¡¯s her in the first place.

 Book 2 - Chapter 78

    "Ladies and.. gentlemen, welcome welcome welcome.. to This Week Today''s Tournament. My name is Oliver and I see a lot of you had purchased the seat upgrade which I promise that you won''t be disappointed! We have exciting combatants today that will definitely knock you out of your seat! Now sit back and relax as our combatants prepare themselves for your entertainment!" announced the speaker.

    I was sitting in the exact same waiting room as yesterday with Rose. I was wondering whether I should proceed to head to the arena but one of Peter''s subordinate told me to just sit down and relax. There will be other entertaining performances before my final fight with the Elemental Ice Queen. And besides, my opponent was still busy getting herself ready. Hm, sounds like her alright. She spends time putting her face on often. Not sure why she would need to do that when she is already the most beautiful elf with her natural beauty. Perhaps to the members of her own race, she is not.

    We started seeing performance of all sorts from cultural dances to martial arts. What a tactic to drag out the main event and persuade people to purchase more food and beverages. I am not really complaining but the longer this drags on, the more nervous I get. Damn it, how much longer do I need to wait until the fight begins?

    Rose saw that I was restless and held my hand. She smiled at me attempting to calm me and rested her head on my shoulder. I hugged her and started petting her head. Hang on, who is calming who now? But the very act of stroking her hair and her familiar smell calms me somehow. It is always intimate moments like this that is the most memorable in my opinion.

    We heard a knock on the door and a cough. I turned my attention to who it was and it was an escort who gestured me to follow her. I guess it is time for me take the stage. I gave Rose one last hug and made my way to the arena with the help of the escort. Without her, I would had gotten lost. Such is the size of the colosseum that I am fighting in.

    I reached the entrance of the arena and the escort told me to wait here. No doubt we are expecting for the announcer to give my introduction first before I show myself. Why am I so nervous? It doesn¡¯t really matter if I win or lose anyway. But strangely my hands are shaking. Is it from excitement or am I just so nervous? I don¡¯t understand what is going on with myself right now. Gotta start taking deep breathes to calm myself.

    The escort noticed that I was restless and asked if I needed a drink. I told her I¡¯ll be fine and will live through it. The waiting period is killing me with anxiety. It was then that I heard the soft pitter-patter of footsteps running closer towards my location. Before I turn to see who it was, I knew in my heart that it was Daisy. Rose had brought her here to calm my nerves. She reached out her arms wanting me to carry her which I obliged. She gave me a hug and asked me to win the tournament for her. I gave her a kiss on the forehead and promised her that I will do my best to win. Who knew the best way to get rid of nervousness is to have an adorable daughter to shower you with love.

    ¡°Ladies and gentlemen, the moment that you all are waiting for is finally here! Are you all excited? I sure am. Our contestant for today is the winner who won yesterday¡¯s match. The fourth member of the great powers who decided to sneakily participate in the tournament. You all know him by his title, but did you all know about his undercover name? Put your hands together, to the one, the only, Soong Jean-Wuu!!¡± shouted Oliver.

    Geez, do you really have to insult my fake name like that? I placed Daisy down and adjusted my mask to cover my face. I gave Rose a nod before heading out to which she replied with a nod of her own and a smile. As I walked out of the entrance, the escort wished me best of luck and I thanked her for it.

    The crowds were wild today as I was greeted by waves of cheers, completely opposite to the welcome I had yesterday. As I made my way to the arena zone, I waved to the crowds and bowed in thanks for their support and encouragements. I am always grateful for the people here who accepted me when I was hunted by the Demon Queen many years ago.

    The crowds went silent when Oliver brought the loudspeaker closer to his mouth. It would seemed that the crowds are aware about the identity of my opponent. I held my breath as he made his announcement.

    ¡°Facing our handsome chad over here, is an undefeated Queen that arrived in this shores about 5 years ago. She is known for her beauty where some might say¡­ me gusta. But she is also known for her brutal tenacity towards her opponents, pounding them into the abyss. With beauty and brawn, ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the stage, our beloved champion of the West, the Elemental ICE QUEEN!¡± he shouted.

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    She walked into the stage gracefully while appearing to be in good mood. It seems like she had grown her ponytail even longer than before. She looked at me with her emerald eyes that sparkles in the dark against the moonlight, her perfect body that would make any men drool in her very presence. She was not wearing her glasses which she usually swapped them for her contacts. And she is still wearing an outfit that exposes her stomach area. When will she learn?

    As she stood opposite me inside the arena zone, I knew full well who she was. Underneath my mask, I realised I was smiling awkwardly at her. She was the one that stole my heart before I met Rose and I am certain my heart still flutters in her presence. I was genuinely surprised when I realised that she was still wearing the bracelet that I bought for her a long time ago. Lily Moonshine, my first crush, female friend and resurrector. Perhaps Rose was right, maybe she could not forget about me as long as I am alive.

    She smashed her fist together which was not her usual steel gauntlets that she used to brawl with. All she was wearing is a white half leather gloves that exposes her fingers. There is barely any protection on that glove, will she be alright?

    It took her a while to notice who she was looking at and she tilted her head. I was certain she mouthed the word ¡°Zen?¡± when she realised who she was looking at. I placed my index finger on where my mouth would be in front of the mask and shook it left and right. I wanted her to not fight me as Zen but as Soong Jean-Wuu. She understood my intention and smirked.

    The both of us readied our stance. Being a brawler, she will be fighting using unarmed combat techniques. A brawler that fights exclusively in close combat. No doubt Peter had a lot of fighting techniques beaten into her as he is also an unarmed fighter himself. I would have to assume that I am fighting a lesser version of Peter himself which means I will need to be careful. But I am not in a rush to start using my weapons just yet. Let us see who has the better unarmed techniques taught by the very same teacher.

    Before Oliver even announced "Begin", Lily rushed in close to me and delivered a right jab, aiming towards my mask. I moved my head aside and was met with her leg. She kicked me with her left leg which I managed to block in time with both of my arms but I was sent flying a couple of metres away. My arms were shaking from the impact of her kick which felt extremely heavy. She used momentum and her full body weight to deliver her kick. It would seemed that she had perfected her fighting technique under the guidance of Peter. I certainly need to be careful should I wish to continue brawling with her if I do not want to have my bones broken.

    "W.. what am I still doing here? Begin, begin now!" shouted Oliver as he rushed out of the arena.

    I breathed deeply. To counter heavy attacks, I will have to guide her attacks away from me or using to damage herself. What better way to use the water style, Liu He Ba Fa for this purpose. I changed my stance to water style and Lily smirked at me with a "Fu fu" remark. I got to be like water if I were to counter her attacks.

    Her response to my stance was to use tiger style. I was confused and intrigued by her choices. Is she telling me that even if she is using a style that is directly opposite my mine, she is still able to win? How cocky she had gotten. Definitely deserves some spanking.

    She leaped at me, bringing her hand in the form of a claw towards my mask. Boy, she really intends to break my mask. I guided her attack aside and deliver a casual leg sweep to her left leg to break her balance. She immediately lifted her leg and delivered a knee strike towards my left side. I used both of my palms to block her attack but it still sent me flying backwards again. Geez, she is not holding her punches at all.

    Once again she came on the offence and started attacking me with ferocity. I avoided or countered her attacks but being an elf meant that she was flexible and light which she uses it to her advantage to avoid my attacks. No wonder she was confident that she counter my fighting style despite using strong aggressive attacks. She continued her attacks but at some point, she realised that neither of us were able to overpower the other. I was surprised that I am good enough to be on par with her using unarmed techniques. I was certain that she would had overpowered me a long time ago as I trained using unarmed techniques as my backup combat style in the event I do not have any weapons with me.

    I smirked and perhaps she heard my ¡°Heh¡± under my mask as she started sneering upon hearing it. Never underestimate the hearing of elves. She dropped her guard and started approaching me nonchalantly. What is she planning to do? I kept my guard when she suddenly leaped into the air. I was expecting her to deliver a flying kick at me or something but to my surprise, she did a backflip and went over my head.

    Shit, she is right behind me now. I thought she was going for my weak spots but to my surprise, I felt her back leaning against my back. What is she doing? How is she going to attack me if we are both facing the opposite way? We aren¡¯t covering each other¡¯s back right now.

    ¡°It¡¯s been a while,¡± she whispered.

    I felt her move and instinctively moved my palm to block her elbow strike to my mask. It was purely my intuition that I predicted her move as I couldn¡¯t see what she is planning to do. I leaped away to put some distance from her. Huh? Where did she go? I peeked behind and she was still right behind me. She is mimicking my movements and is preventing me from seeing what she is doing. Fine, two can play in that game.

    I delivered an elbow strike of my own which she blocked with her palm. I was surprised when I saw her eyes were closed. Is she predicting my movements based on my muscle movements? When did she learn such an advanced technique? There is no style that I know which is able to combat someone who is behind you. Well, there are some but those techniques are brutal and I doubt she is going to let me grab her neck from the back.

    Running out of options to counter her, she started attacking me at the few spots that she can reach. My head, sides and legs. I blocked a couple of them but she kicked my knee which caused me to fall forward. She took the opportunity to rush at me to break my mask. But crouching low, I had some advantage to deliver an upwards strike. We traded blows. Her right hand went for a jab which smashed my mask while her left hand blocked my upwards palm strike going for her chin. She thought she had me but realised my left palm was on her stomach.

    I sent her flying with a palm strike but she performed a flip that stopped her momentum. Geez, she is really athletic and flexible now. I wish I can be ¡®that¡¯ flexible.

    ¡°You can¡¯t beat me in unarmed combat, Zen. C¡¯mon, show me Inazuma. I bet he is itching for a fight,¡± she smirked and curled her index finger at me.

    I adjusted my stance and body. No painful injuries so far, I can still face her using unarmed combat but let¡¯s make things harder for her since she had gotten so arrogant now. I raised both of my hands in front of me. With a flick of the wrist, I summoned my gauntlets. Let¡¯s see how well she fares against them.

 Book 2 - Chapter 79

    Now things are going to get interesting. Hand of the Lightning God is definitely going to be a challenge for her. One thing I realised when using this gauntlets is when I summoned a lightning for Lightning Charge but ending up not using it on any of my weapons, it actually charges the gauntlets instead. Perhaps this was it¡¯s original function. This makes it an extremely effective weapon at punching and shocking people simultaneously, rendering them immobile and exposed. This was something I recently discovered when I was training and accidentally destroyed a tree from a casual swing with my gauntlets when it was charged. No doubt Lily wouldn¡¯t know about this but I can see that she is being cautious about it. I will force her to show me her true powers as to why they gave her the nickname Elemental Ice Queen. What ice powers does she have or is it just because of her turning down guys after guys?

    She is probably puzzled as to why I summoned my gauntlets instead of Inazuma. I called forth a lightning with my left hand and it slammed directly on the gauntlet with force. The crowds went wild and started cheering upon seeing such a spectacle. To be able to call forth a lightning from the sky even in broad daylight is just unimaginable if you had not seen it before. I gripped my hands together and upon releasing them, lightning were streaking between the both of them.

    I readied my stance as a boxer. What I need to do is to deliver fast punches to Lily as quickly as I can to shock her to the ground. She will have to dodge my attacks completely instead of blocking if she doesn¡¯t wish to get shocked by touching it. She took a deep breath and readied her stance. That is.. oh ho, she definitely knows something is up when she is using water style now. Let us see how well you can dodge my fast punches.

    It was my turn to be on the offensive. I rushed in and delivered a few jabs at her which she dodged skilfully. I got low and performed a leg sweep which she jumped in response. I continued spinning myself and delivered a backhand to her which she leaped back upon touching the ground. But she was unlucky. My gauntlets graced her left forearm and I can see that it had an effect on her when her hands were shaking profusely now.

    After checking her left hand¡¯s status, she pouted and squinted at me. I responded with an awkward smile but kept my guard up. What is she going to retaliate with, I wonder? Her guild spells? Will that really help her against my Lightning Charge?

    She took a deep breath and changed her stance as she realised it was hard to avoid my gauntlets. What stance¡­ is that? I had never seen such a style before. It looked a bit like mantis style but she protruded her index and middle finger. If I am right, she is going to aim for my acupoints. But I had never seen such a style before so I need to be extremely cautious. One tap on the wrong point and I¡¯ll be dead, like literally dead if she happened to hit my death point. Not that she would be aiming for it, right? I just didn¡¯t choose her as my wife, she won¡¯t be ¡®that¡¯ vengeful as to kill me when she literally resurrected me from the beyond, I hope?

    She rushed at me with speed. I thought she would be more cautious because of my gauntlets but she seems to be fearless. She began her assault without hesitation. As I suspected, her stance is primary used for aiming for acupoints. I¡¯ll admit, I could not master this technique well enough to use it for offensive purposes. This technique is only effective against humans or elves as our acupoints are relatively similar. Completely ineffective against armoured beings, monsters or unknown beings. Not unless you are Peter who had mastered it well enough to predict what each acupoints does depending on what he is facing.

    She was quick with her hands in trying to strike my points. I thought that my gauntlets would had made her hesitate in attacking but I literally could not move fast enough to even touch her hands. I did not even realised she had activated Concentration which is probably why she could move this fast. Such is her focus in aiming for my pressure points. Her eyes were literally wide opened with a single purpose in mind.

    She poked my shoulder which rendered my left arm useless. Damn it, only my right hand is still working but Lily is not letting up her assault to give me a free arm to undo the pressure point that she just hit. I tried my very best to release my point but she did everything she could to prevent me from doing that, even swatting my gauntlet aside with her bare hands even though it shocks her.

    Alas, I failed to stop her from hitting my other shoulder¡¯s acupoint and I slumped my right arm. She let out a ¡°Phew¡± and wiped the sweats from her forehead. That must had taken a lot of focus on her part to pull this off. She checked both of her hands and they were shaking a little. If she touched even more of my gauntlets then it would had rendered her hands numb for a couple of minutes due to the shocks from my gauntlets.

    ¡°Fuh.. damn it, Zen. Peter really downplayed your unarmed combat abilities. He said that it was just your secondary fighting techniques. Its been a while since I had such a workout,¡± she panted.

    ¡°Well, you¡¯re still better at it than me. It¡¯s literally your fighting style,¡± I said as my two arms dangled downwards.

    ¡°It¡¯s my only fighting technique, Zen. Not everyone is as lucky as you,¡± she smiled.

    ¡°Surrender, or I¡¯ll hit the acupoints on your legs as well. You don¡¯t wanna be embarrassed by me in front of all these audiences, do you?¡± she smirked with a ¡®fu fu¡¯ remark.

    ¡°What¡¯s going to happen if I don¡¯t?¡± I asked and returned a smirk of my own.

    ¡°I will make you kneel for what you did. I deserved that much at the very least,¡± she frowned.

    ¡°Ahh.. I meant no disrespect, Lily. You¡¯re one of my best friend, after all. But I¡¯ll like to see you try,¡± I moved my right hand and undo the acupoint that she hit on my left shoulder.

    Lily¡¯s eyes went wide opened when I suddenly moved my hand. Little did she know that before she hit the pressure point on my right shoulder, I moved it just at the right time so she misses the point that immobilises my entire right arm.

    Taking the opportunity where she is caught off guard, I closed the short gap between us and sent Lily flying with a palm strike empowered by the last few second of my Lightning Charge spell. I hope she¡¯s fine after receiving a direct strike while being shocked by my spell. Who asked her to not protect her stomach area with armour?

    She landed on her knees while clutching her stomach. I was worried that might had hurt her badly which was not what I wanted. She started vomiting and I started sweating buckets upon the sight.

    ¡°A.. are you alright?¡± I asked while moving closer to check on her.

    ¡°You¡­¡­ arse! I just had a good meal today. I¡¯m going to kill you, ya bloody wanker,¡± said Lily as she channeled her inner British.

    I moved away from her as she was really serious now. Her aura had completely changed and I can tell she is really angry at me with those glowing red eyes. My first instinct was to summon Inazuma at my side but I stopped myself. I should not be responding to her anger with retaliation. No matter what, she is still my friend.

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    She stood up and casted her guild spells. Fire spell on her left hand while lighting on her right. Since when did she learned how to dual cast? I thought only selected people knows the secret to cast it. Did Rose taught her or was it Peter? Either way, she is planning to fight me seriously now. Although I am not sure why she decided to use her usual spells. Perhaps there are some extra tricks to it that she had discovered.

    She took a quick glance at Peter¡¯s direction as though she was asking for some approval or something. It was then she reactivated Concentration. I shouldn¡¯t be lax now that she had activated Focused State of Mind.

    ¡°Zen, you should take things seriously if you don¡¯t wish to get hurt badly,¡± she warned.

    ¡°Oh, you don¡¯t need to worry about me. I¡¯ve always been serious when it comes to sparring with you. Don¡¯t wish to get my head smashed in by you,¡± I chuckled.

    She maintained her posture and demeanour despite my attempt to make her laugh with my lame joke. I decided to activate Concentration as well to make things even. I don''t want to give excuses for losing just because I got too cocky.

    We glared at each other. I can see sweats dripping down her forehead. Is this due to her being focused or is it from the heat of her fire spell? Instinctively, my eyes moved lower to her.. ahem, the curse of being a male. She had certainly maintained her body figure for sure. I could had made it all mine but I decided not to. But what Rose told me yesterday was starting to sound really appealing right now. Zen, stop it. You have a wife now and you''re in the middle of a fight. Keep your hormones in check!

    Perhaps she noticed that I was staring at weird places that she decided to strike first. I raised my arms to protect myself or to counterattack when possible. She got in but crouched extremely low. I thought she wanted to attack my legs but to my surprise, she did an uppercut with her right hand which made me exposed myself due to such an unexpected attack. She then performed a kick to my chest immediately which caused me to fall. What a fast and unexpected reaction. I was supposed to be faster in speed but her attacks are quicker. She must had trained this move many times to pull it off so smoothly.

    I quickly got back up but she was right in front of me. I quickly delivered a punch but she dodged it skilfully. It was then my body went cold. What I saw was a knife shaped stance on my chest with her right hand. Shit! I need to dodge this now!

    I leaped backwards as far as I could but Lily did not miss her chance. She swung her left hand coated with her fire spell and an extremely huge explosion erupted from her fist. Despite my efforts to dodge it, the shockwave sent me flying until I made contact with the colosseum wall. That is to say, I am out of the arena zone and that means I had officially lost.

    I dropped to the ground with wide opened eyes. Everything happened over the span of a few seconds. So this is Lily when she is serious. Lily, who had always been the weakest in our group had beaten me fair and square. Well, I wasn''t exactly being a fully serious but still, I wasn''t exactly slacking off either. She had me with her sudden burst of speed and unpredictable techniques. And her Fa Jin Zh¨°u is absolutely crazy! Holy crap, that was like a TNT explosive. Did the fire spell boosted her Fa Jin Zh¨°u¡¯s power? No wonder she gave me a warning earlier. If I did had not avoided that seriously, I would had been dead.

    I turned to look at her as she crouched at the arena''s edge grinning at me. She told me that is what I get for not taking her seriously. And she had not even showed me the reason as to why she was called the Elemental Ice Queen. I should had taken things more seriously after she gave me that warning. I resigned my defeat to her with a sigh. I guess I really am kneeling to her at the end.

    The cheering stopped after I was sent flying out of the arena zone. The crowd was stunned that Lily had defeated one of the member of the four great powers. It definitely happened way too quickly for people to realised what had just happened. Even the announcer had to slap his cheeks to snapped out of it.

    "W.. what.. what the hell is going on?! Our Elemental Ice Queen had just defeated number four! Holy shit, is that a monumental achievement! Does this mean that Peter¡¯s newest pupil is going to replace Zen Hawthorn as the fourth member? I think not. The winner is Lily Moonshine!¡± shouted Oliver.

    ¡°But stay tuned for a more exciting announcement as we take a short break. Seriously, do not leave exit the premise as you will regret for what is about to come,¡± continued Oliver.

    Lily hopped down from the arena and came over to me with a smile while placing both of her hands behind her back.

    ¡°That¡¯s what you get for ogling at me and making me puke in front of all these people~¡± she whispered.

    ¡°Ehem.. caught red-handed, huh? I guess it¡¯s my lost for not taking things more seriously,¡± I chuckled.

    She extended her hand to pull me up. I won¡¯t lie, my heart is definitely beating fast now and it was not due to the fight. I know full well I loved her, even now. But spending time apart had made me forget about my feelings for her and focused on Rose and Daisy. But meeting her once again, I can¡¯t help remembering all the things we did together. And the one forbidden night that we shared.

    I headed towards the exit, fully expecting Rose to be waiting there to poke fun of my defeat but she was nowhere in sight. I think she doesn¡¯t want to reveal herself just yet and wished to maintain the surprise. Lily tagged along with me which puzzled me. Did she not realised that Oliver had not announced her as the champion of the tournament yet?

    "How you been? Is everything good with Rose and Daisy?" she asked awkwardly.

    This is probably the first time we talked alone since 15 years ago. When she visited previously, the 3 of us spoke together. I am not about to miss my chance in letting her know how worried we are about her.

    "I miss you, Lily. I thought we''ll be able to see you often but we haven''t seen you in five years or so. I.. hate that not seeing you makes me worry," I told her.

    "You don''t have to worry about me, Zen. I''m way older than you and can take care of myself. There''s nothing you need to worry about. Don¡¯t miss me and focus on Rose,¡± she said.

    "Oh, I know you can take care of yourself. It is more like.. the aftermath of my battle with Tom and you suddenly had to go with the elves, I can''t help but worry that you had broken a rule or something by resurrecting me. You were gone for 10 years before you visited us. Then again you disappeared for 5 years. Even Rose is worried about you," I explained to her.

    "It''s been such a long time, Zen. As you can see, I am fine living here, training under Peter is something I¡¯ve been dreaming off. There''s nothing you have to worry about, really. Then again, how are you feeling lately? You.. looked exactly like you were 15 years ago," she asked with concern.

    "I would like to ask on what you did to resurrect me but I doubt I''ll get an answer from you. But yeah, I''ve never felt better," I said as I headed towards a side store that was selling food and beverage.

    "Here, this is yours," I handed a drink and some food to her.

    "Huh? You didn''t have to. I can buy my own," she retorted while waving her hands.

    "C''mon, we haven''t met in ages. Just take it. It''s your favourite strawberry milkshake and nuggets. Don''t push it back to me as you know I don''t like it. Consider this an apology for making you puke earlier,¡± I chuckled.

    "Y.. you remembered. Um, thanks. You really didn''t have to," she took the drink and started sipping while turning away.

    "Think nothing of it," I smiled to her.

    She uttered something beneath her breath that I couldn''t hear but I decided to not ask her about it. I hope I did not ticked her off. She seems to hate kindness ever since I met her.

    She continued to follow me as I strolled around the colosseum. Does she.. not know that she will be sparring against Rose later? We stopped at main entrance of the colosseum and she told me this was were we part ways. I stared at her with a confused look. Why is she exiting the colosseum? I instinctively grabbed her forearm preventing her from leaving.

    ¡°W¡­ What¡¯s wrong? There¡¯s something I need to be doing,¡± she said.

    "Um, are you sure you should be leaving? Didn''t you hear what the announcer said earlier?" I asked her.

    "Oliver? Nah, it''s just something that they are promoting to persuade people to purchase. It''s got nothing to do with me anyway," she replied.

    "A.. are you sure? Can''t we spend a bit more time together? We haven¡¯t met in ages,¡± I asked as I was running out of ideas to prevent her from leaving.

    "Zen.. you have Rose who is your wife. And I have somebody else now. We shouldn''t be spending so much time together when we have our loved ones," she said with a sorrowful look.

    I was taken aback. She.. have a partner now. I guess Rose was wrong after all. But why does it bother me? I felt like pins and needles were piercing through my heart when I heard her saying that.

    "Um.. I''m sorry. I didn''t know about that. I just thought we can spend some time together as best friends. I was not asking for a date or something,¡± I replied.

    "Well.. we can. But I''m not sure if we have much chance to meet up when you have a family of your own and I have my trainings," she answered.

    "W.. why does it feel as though you are pushing me away?" I asked her sternly when her facial expression did not match the words that she was uttering.

    "No, I''m not," she pulled back her forearm.

    "Yes you are. Did I do something wrong? What is going on? Is this because you saved me that time?" I followed after her.

    "Zen.. stop! Stop... following me. Don''t.... don''t give me...." she trailed off as her back was facing me.

    I stood there stumped by what she said. It doesn¡¯t sound as though she was crying but she was sad. I thought of giving her a hug but that would had made things worse for sure.

    "I''m sorry," was all I could reply to her as I began walking away.

    As I headed back into the colosseum, I turned to look at her. She was still standing there looking downwards. What did I do wrong? I just bought her a drink, food and made some small talks. Did I said something wrong? I scratched my head as I thought of what I did in this short amount of time.

    A few people ran towards Lily and started talking to her. Based on her reaction, she was surprised and confused on what they are telling her. She followed after them while still holding the drink that I bought for her. If she hated me, she would had thrown it away on the spot. I am just so confused right now as I proceeded to where Peter and Daisy was.

 Book 2 - Chapter 80

    "Feeling sad because you lost to Lily? You always took it easy when you sparred with someone you knew." asked Peter.

    "Not.. really. It''s something else that happened after that," I replied as I sat down.

    I sat next to Daisy who was poking at my arm and pouting. She must be upset that I had lost to Lily. But hey, at least she get to see her mom in action. I lifted her and placed her on my shoulder so she can get a better view of the arena.

    "Colour me intrigued, did you argued with her about the fight?" he asked.

    "No. Truth be told, I had no idea as to why she behaved the way she did. I just bought her a drink, some food and told her that I wanted to spend more time with her. But she got mad, angry.. despite looking sad and depressed. I''m confused as to why she said those things," I answered.

    "What did she say?" asked Peter.

    "Hmm.. something about having a partner, can''t spend as much time as we used to, her training takes up most of her time, something like that," I mumbled.

    "Partner? Ah. I get the gist of it," chuckled Peter.

    "What do you mean? If she have a partner, I understand she wants to spend more time with him. But there''s nothing wrong in spending some time with old friends, isn''t it?" I asked him.

    ¡°Ah, Zen, despite being called a genius, you were always slow to realise the behaviours and interactions of those around you," he sighed.

    I kept quiet as I understood what he meant. Daisy was a clear evidence that I sucked at noticing things until someone pointed it out to me. But what can I do? I know I am not perfect, but I strive to be a good husband, father or person. Nothing else really matters to me.

    "Give Lily some time. She''ll come around. In fact, she is probably regretting what she said by now," smiled Peter.

    "Either that or her partner is going to beat me up for making her upset," I chuckled.

    "You can count on that not ever happening," answered Peter quickly.

    How can he be so sure? Her partner have every right to hate me for bringing down her mood. Sigh, ah well, the announcer had finally appeared on stage and was ready to make his announcement. I passed Daisy a hotdog as she was still sitting on my shoulders. I warned her to not drop any ketchup on my head, otherwise she will have return to her seat. She asked me to pass her the paper tray where she placed it on top of my head. Since when did I became a table for her? The things a father do for her beloved daughter.

    "Ladies... and.... gentlemen!! As promised, we will be announcing the secret event that we all had in stored for you. Are you all excited?! Let me tell you, it is my great honour, to announce to you that the true final match is about to begin! If you were disappointed by the previous fight, we have a contestant that is well beloved and renowned to all people around the world. And, she will be fighting with our champion!" shouted Oliver.

    Wow.. way to bring my mood down even further. Was my fight against Lily THAT disappointing? I''m already feeling down in the dumps after what had happened after the match. I carried Daisy down and placed her seated on my knees while hugging her from behind. Daisy noticed my weird behaviour and asked what was wrong. I told her everything was fine and that I was just excited to see Rose fighting with Lily. She looked up towards my face and placed her hand on my cheek. She assured me that everything is going to be alright and she will take care of it.

    I smiled when I heard what she said. Even though she doesn''t know what was going on, she still tried her best to cheer me up which I really appreciate it. I petted her head and she began shaking her head side to side cheerfully.

    The announcer had already finished Lily''s introduction and she appeared from the entrance. She was dragging her feet into the arena with slumped shoulders. I guess Peter was right after all. She might had regretted what she did earlier.

    Do I hate Lily? No, of course not. I still want to talk to her and make amends if possible. She is my saviour who brought me back to life. How can I possibly hate her when I.. still have feelings for her. I can never bring myself to hate her no matter what as she is one of the first friend that I had bonded with along with John. But I guess I should let Rose have some girl talk with her first to shed some lights on her strange behaviour.

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    Lily stood in the arena while being confused. It is always the champion that appears later than the contestant but she was completely alone inside the arena. She turned towards Peter''s direction but noticed I was sitting next to him along with Daisy. With a surprised gasp, she turned away. I guess she was shocked to make direct eye contact with me all of a sudden. A moment later, she placed her hands together and bowed towards my direction. I guess she is asking for forgiveness from me which I am eager to do so.

    "Told you," chuckled Peter.

    "I can sense the crowd getting confused as to why our champion is alone in the arena. Now hold your horses, allow me to introduce to you the opponent that she will be facing. Coming into fame due to her heavy involvement during the Demon Queen''s war, she had continued to make a name for herself by being a saint. Helping folks from all walks of life whenever she can, it is a wonder she had not started her own church or religion by now. I would had been first in line if she had started her own religion. Ladies and gentlemen.. I bring you... the one¡­ the only¡­.. WHITE ANGEL!!" shouted Oliver.

    The colosseum roared with cheers and claps when Rose entered into arena with her fox mask and white clothing. Before she headed up the arena zone, she removed her white cape that she had never worn before. As she stood opposite of Lily, she removed her mask and tossed it aside. Lily, who was standing directly opposite of Rose suddenly burst into laughter at what had just happened. Rose with an expressionless face, told Lily to stop laughing as she was just doing what she was told.

    Lily tried to stopped herself from laughing but snorted when she remembered the scene. Oliver had announced ¡°Begin¡± but things were still awkward between the both of them. Rose removed her left glove and began chanting the spell for Focused Blessing. Seeing this, Lily immediately snapped out of her laughter and got serious. She activated Concentration and flicked her wrist. Oh, so she knew how to use Sunder. Had she learned how to use Rend too?

    A beautiful gauntlets enveloped her fist up to her forearm. All it took is one look and I knew full well that it is a legendary gauntlets. It wasn¡¯t shiny or coated with gold or silvers but it¡¯s design is.. unique. It did not have spikes unlike her previous one nor did it looked heavily armoured. But there is a unique pattern on the gauntlet that stood out. Amongst the bluish white colour of her gauntlets, there was a lightning bolt symbol etched on the forearm portion.

    I can¡¯t believe I got beaten without getting a chance to see her new powers. Now I am invested in this fight. Obviously I want Rose to win because she is my wife. But I do want to see Rose getting pushed around sometimes. Just because she was praised for being a prodigy or gotten more famous than me, doesn¡¯t mean she don¡¯t need to work hard to improve herself. Am I being jealous? Ehh.. yes. Yes I am.

    ***

    Using focused blessing right off the bat? Unlike Zen, Rose doesn¡¯t mess around when it comes to sparring. Sad to say, Zen is actually a horrible person to spar with as he doesn¡¯t take things seriously. I really wondered how Rose actually trained or sparred with him in the first place. That¡¯s not to say that I¡¯m belittling him or anything. I am sure if we were enemies, Zen is a nightmare to fight against. His fight with Tom had made me realised that he is on a whole other level that all of us. And he had yet to unlock his full potential according to Peter.

    Alright, stop thinking about him. I don¡¯t understand why are you still hung up on him, Lily. He had made it very clear that he does not want a second wife and I am tired of thinking otherwise. But I don¡¯t understand why I can¡¯t move on. I am sure there are plenty of great guys out there, better ones even. But I just can¡¯t help comparing them to him.

    Just.. why? He¡¯s not perfect, not at all. He is full of flaws. Talking about weird things that don¡¯t even exist, even when he his sleeping! A moron that stole my heart when I was young and just started on an adventure. And to top it off, he chose his little sister over me! Wasn¡¯t I his first crush? Didn¡¯t he had fetish for female elves? I even made sure to maintain a beautiful figure to meet his standards which he was still ogling at earlier! Argh.. it¡¯s so frustrating to even think about it!

    Sigh¡­ quit it, Lily. Rose is in front of you right now and she had already finished her casting. I need absolute focus if I wish to stand a chance at defeating her. No more thinking about that asshole any longer. Although, I am really sorry about what I said to him earlier. It was not his fault that I am feeling frustrated and sad that I wasn¡¯t chosen. Love is unpredictable after all. I must apologise to him after this. I even lied to him about having a partner even when I don¡¯t. Why do I need to make him feel miserable the same way that I feel?

    Rose unsheathed her rapier and it looked gorgeous. I am sure Peter gifted her that legendary weapon, the same way that I was gifted mine. He had a whole vault of collections kept in his secret stash that he was willing to give to any of his favoured students. I¡¯m surprised Zen went for a red dragonhide cloak instead of a legendary weapon. Well, what am I thinking. He already had 3 of them. I¡¯m sure if he gets even more then the universe would implode on itself.

    Hang on, what is going on? Her rapier looks.. weird? Why is the blade portion a blunt rod instead of it being a sharp blade? Oh, here she comes.

    She aimed for my shoulder which I blocked with my gauntlets. I am certain it will not let me down as Peter vouched that this is one of his prized possession and was awaiting for someone suitable to wield it.

    ¡°Hey, it¡¯s been a while,¡± whispered Rose.

    ¡°Hey, yes it has. You doing good? Is he giving you a hard time?¡± I whispered back.

    ¡°I¡¯m doing good. He¡¯s fine, you know him as much as I do. We¡¯ll talk more later, alright?¡± she asked me.

    ¡°Yea.. we¡¯ll talk later,¡± I mustered a smile.

    Despite Rose marrying him, she still treated me like her real sister. She never once showed that she was superior or that she was the better woman who won the man. Whenever we talked, she showed her real personality which was warm and kind. How can I push her away after all that we¡¯ve been through together.

    I never really bonded with anyone of either gender this closely before. Sure, there¡¯s Zen and John but they are of the opposite gender and there are things that we can never connect with. But it was never with Rose. We can talk just about anything, literally anything at all and we love it. And apparently she became unhinged after she tasted the forbidden fruit for the first time. Was Zen that good? It felt.. normal when we slept together that one time. Maybe it was because I was the one who pounced on him. Sigh, not like I have a chance for it to be the other way around.

    I blocked another of her attacks and she leaped back. She warned me that she will be taking things up a notch. I stood ready and she charged towards me. In an instant, she casted Accelerate and Light Blessings on herself which boosted her speed significantly. It was purely luck and combat instinct that I managed to block in time.

    Focused Blessing is the perfect state for her as a supporting spell caster. It enhances all of her spell buffs drastically, and it gives her a state where she can be on par with those that uses Concentration. That is what makes it scary to fight against her when she can buff herself with all sorts of beneficial spells and enhance it¡¯s potency. I am glad that she had found an alternative to using State of Mind when she couldn¡¯t use it.

    I am panting horribly now. Her sudden boost in speed is pushing my body to it¡¯s limits. I never had high agility in the first place but this is on a whole other level. I shudder to think what Rose is capable of if she uses Grand Blessings or Sacred Wings while Focused Blessing is activated. She will literally be teleporting all around the battlefield or something.

    Alright, calm yourself Lily. You had been practicing for this day. A chance to be stronger than the others with your own strength. Rose may be fast but I have a trick of my own. Time to show everyone as to why I earned my new nickname. I bumped my fist together and grinned at her. All bets are off now.

 Book 2 - Chapter 81

    Remember Lily Moonshine, these gauntlets had chosen you as the worthy wielder. Do not make the mistake that it will stay by you should you choose to neglect it. Care for it like its your own child, nurture it like how you treat your plants, and most importantly, never doubt its capabilities. Do so, and you shall never regret having these in your life.

    Those were the words that Peter warned me when he gifted me these gauntlets. I do not know what these gauntlets had seen in me but I have no reason to doubt it. I need it, if I wish to stand a chance at beating Rose. You will lend me your powers, right? Please do, as you always have.

    I placed my gauntlets together forming an X and started charging it up. It started glowing brightly in light blue as it responded to my request. While my gauntlets utilises lightning, it is completely opposite than what Zen uses. His one favours destruction using white lightning, while mine¡­ uses blue lightning. I never knew there were different types of lightning, until now.

    I raised my right hand and a huge blue lightning struck the gauntlet, engulfing my whole body with it. But instead of dissipating, the lightning stayed where it struck as though it was frozen in time. A couple of moments later, the frozen lightning started cracking and shattered into pieces, revealing my frozen lightning armour and gauntlets. I was unable to learn Rend, or more accurately, I was not chosen by any spectral armour from the other dimensions. I was extremely disappointed as it took me years to learn it, but to think that no armour would be willing to choose me. What a slap in the face.

    But now, all thanks to the frost lightning dragon that lay dormant inside these gauntlets that I am wielding, I can finally be stronger and perhaps be on par with the three of them. Sadly, I had not been able to communicate with it, unlike Zen who could communicate with Kirin or Byakko. But to be chosen by it is more than enough to make me happy. Perhaps in the future it might open up to me.

    Rose''s eyes were wide opened as she saw me emerged from the shattered frozen lightning with a different look. I am certain that she had never seen such a thing before and is curious to know about what my new powers can do. Its too bad that Zen was knocked out of the arena before he gotten the chance to face me in this form. I was certain that I can beat him. Oh well, no point crying over spilled milk. I¡¯ve beaten him fair and square. It¡¯s his fault for not taking me seriously. Alright, Concentration activated with frozen lightning armour casted, all is set.

    Rose placed her rapier in front of her and started chanting. The speed of her chanting along with dual casting is ridiculous that she can even cast both Sacred Wings and Grand Blessings in a matter of seconds. Is she still facing the backlash of using Grand Blessings? Only one way to find out. A prodigy versus a common elf, who is going to come out on top, I wonder?

    Semi-transparent golden wings with chest armour, pauldrons, gauntlets and greaves. It¡¯s no wonder people started worshipping her when she looked like a literal angel. I swear there are people who is crying or praying to her in the crowds now upon seeing her in this form.

    None of us were on the offensive, probably wary of one another when we are using such strong forms. I guess we will be here all day if neither of us starts attacking. Seeing that Rose was on the defensive, I decided to take the first strike. I leaped and delivered a downward kick towards her. She dodged and a crater erupted where she stood as my kick touched the arena floor. Now, where did she go? There!

    I charged after her and activated Time Freeze. It does not matter how fast you are. When I activate Time Freeze, everyone stops moving except me. Sadly though it only lasts for about 3 seconds.

    ¡°Boo!¡± I appeared in front of her and she instinctively flew backwards but I was not about to let her escape. Having charged up my gauntlets, I delivered a heavy punch towards her, aiming for the rapier that she is using to block. There is no way I am aiming for any parts of her body as I might accidentally destroy her bones or even worse, her organs.

    I sent her flying and hopefully out of the arena zone. I only have the element of surprise once before she figures out what my powers are. But it¡¯s a stretch to eliminate Rose that easily when she can literally fly. She regained her balance and landed back on the arena zone while squinting at me.

    ¡°Hmm.. that new power of yours. For you to be able to appear so instantaneous in front of me, it is either teleportation or messing with time. I¡¯ll figure it out eventually,¡± she smirked.

    Scary! For her to be able to guess the possibilities of my power after only seeing it one time. This is why it is hard to beat her. That brain of hers thinks of possibilities beyond what any normal people can comprehend and she uses them to counter you. Fair to say she is called prodigy for a reason. But it is because of that brain of hers that she couldn''t use any State of Mind in the first place.

    But I have another trick up my sleeves, she probably would had started noticing that her right hand is getting numb after blocking my attack. Any attack from my gauntlets will inflict cold upon them, stronger effect if it makes direct contact. And there is something else that is going to make her feel even colder.

    Right about now, she should be feeling the surrounding temperatures dropping. It won¡¯t be long until the cold affects her movements drastically. Seeing that she was breathing cold vapours when she exhaled, she immediately casted Mind Fortification on herself. But that is not going to work. This is no illusion, it¡¯s real. I am reducing the temperatures within the arena zone to slow down her movements. It wasn¡¯t easy to control the size of the affected area and the targets within it. I daresay my daily trainings are to control these powers so it won¡¯t affect allies when I fight along their side.

    Rose looked up and noticed a dome like shape covering the arena zone. She must had figured out that my powers are related to frost by now and should be thinking of ways to counter it. I readied myself to see what¡¯s her next move but¡­ huh? What is she doing? Did she just closed her eyes and starting thinking? She even placed her hand on her chin, mimicking a behaviour commonly associated with Zen. Are you mocking me?

    There is a limit to how much you can insult me, even if you¡¯re like a sister to me. I will not allow you to just stand there and do nothing. I charged towards her ready to punch. She knows how deadly my punches are so you only have yourself to blame for taking me this lightly. I delivered my punch but it was nullified by both of her wings which she used to block with.

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    She flung her wings forward which shoved me backwards and immediately leaped into the air. She dived towards me with her rapier, still with a blunt rod as the blade portion. She struck out, aiming for my chest area but I blocked it with my gauntlets. It is going to take more than that, Rose. In quick succession, she twisted her rapier which causes it to extend, pushing me backwards with speed.

    The strength of the sudden extension was no joke, it felt like a dragon was pushing against me with force. I pushed her rod aside and only then did I realised that I was almost at the end of the arena zone. I looked ahead and saw that she was flying towards me with a dropkick. Unarmed combat was never Rose¡¯s specialty despite Peter¡¯s teaching. Surprised she thought of doing this in the first place. Is it a desperate move to kick me out of the arena zone?

    I narrowly dodged it out of the way and thought of delivering a shockwave punch to throw her flight off course. Huh? What''s going on? I can¡¯t move my arms. What is this? My arms were wrapped with a sort of metallic like rope. It would appear that Rose had changed her rapier into what looked like a whip and had successfully wrapped me with it. Damn it, her dropkick was a distraction!

    She yanked her whip but I stood firm, resisting her pull to drag me off the arena zone. But I can see that I am losing balance as there is only a couple of centimetres left for me to hang on to before I fall out of the zone. She gripped her rapier two-handed and I knew I was toast. With a strong pull, she yanked me out of the arena zone and I fell to the dirt on my back. I¡­ lost.

    Damn it! I fell right into her trap! How foolish of me. Argh!

    ¡°Phew! Just in time,¡± said Rose as she landed back on the arena.

    Her Sacred Wings dissipated soon after. She knew full well that her only chance at beating me is to use her mobility using Sacred Wings. With my Freezing Aura, her legs would had started slowing down despite her speed buffs but not her wings. She figured it out so quickly and I fell for it. Sigh.

    Here I am, down in the dirt. So this is what Zen felt like when I beat him. It¡¯s been so long since I¡¯ve lost. I¡¯ve been the undefeated champion for 4 years now and here comes the prodigy to pull me down from my winning streaks. How does Zen live with such a powerful woman and not feel inferior to her? Not only did she married the love of my life, I couldn¡¯t even best her in a one-on-one combat. What else do I have left to live for?

    She leaped down form the arena and extended her hand with a smile. She said ¡°Let¡¯s go¡± despite Oliver still delivering his speech. Does Rose not know that she have a medal to receive? I mustered up a smile when she pulled me up and started dragging me towards the exit.

    ***

    Rose won. Was there ever any doubt? She had always been extremely powerful but training with Peter had brought her power levels to a whole other level with all those advanced spells. But I am certainly curious about Lily¡¯s new found powers. Frost abilities that can temper with time and speed. How would I had fare if I fought against her? I got no fire spells that can thaw her spells and speed is my forte. Would Bloodlust had helped in keeping my body warm enough to fight through the cold?

    I headed down to wait for Rose at the entrance along with Daisy. Wait.. is Rose planning to ignore the announcer? Why is she coming towards the exit when she is supposed to be receiving the medal before that? What is going on?

    ¡°So.. how are things going?¡± asked Lily.

    ¡°O, same ol same ol. He still likes it when you spit on that thang,¡± replied Rose.

    Lily¡¯s eyes widen immediately and I rushed to cover Daisy¡¯s ears. What the hell? Why is my wife so unhinged now ever since we slept together. Does she have no shame that she just blatantly tells everyone about the things we do?

    ¡°Rose! What the hell?! Do you announce to everyone about the things we do together in private?!¡± I shouted at her.

    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re here. Onii-chan, do you mind receiving my medal for me? I wanna have some girl talk with Lily. It¡¯s been so long,¡± she pleaded.

    ¡°Fine. But after this, I want to have a meal together along with Lily. Persuade her on that and we have a deal,¡± I said.

    ¡°Sure thing. See you later, onii-chan~¡± she waved.

    Sometimes I really wonder. If I didn¡¯t come along, would Rose and Lily ended up together. I do suspect that Rose might be bisexual but her brotherly love for me is stronger. Hang on.. is she.. wanting me to marry Lily part of her plan to have a threesome?! Is she going to abandon me and Daisy in the future for Lily?! I don¡¯t want to end up as Ross Geller!

    Sigh, I won¡¯t know what the future holds but for now, let¡¯s collect her medal. The announcer seems to be waving at me to come over to collect as he had no idea what to do if no one comes forward. I carried Daisy and headed into the arena.

    ***

    "How was your first time receiving a medal in front of a crowd?" I asked Daisy.

    "It was fun and exciting! The man was so kind. I wondered how he knew my name though," she placed her hand on her chin.

    She really is my daughter, following my exact behaviour whenever I felt that something was wrong. I thought she will follow after Rose instead of me. Who knew my genes were stronger. Heh heh.

    I brought Daisy on a sightseeing tour around the colosseum as Rose and Lily were busy chatting away at some restaurant that they found. I wondered what they have to talk about. I mean, it''s only been 5 years apart since the last time they met.

    Oh well, they will have to find us once they are done chatting. Time to bring Daisy for a walk.

    "What do you think about Miss Lily, Daisy? Do you like having her around?" I asked her as she sat on my shoulders.

    "Hmm.. she''s nice. But I don''t really like her so much," she said bluntly.

    "Why do you say that? Did she done something to offend you?" I asked her in confusion.

    "No, she didn''t do anything wrong. I just get the feeling that she likes you, daddy. I don''t want you to leave mom," she pouted.

    "I won''t leave your mom. She will kill me before I even make the thought. You know how scary your mom can be when she''s angry," I assured her.

    "Why do you ask, daddy? Are you planning to marry aunt Lily?" she asked with a curious look.

    "Aunt? What makes you call her that? And what makes you think that I''m going to marry her?" I frowned.

    "Mommy said to call her that. She is her sister and I should call her aunt. And also if daddy chooses to marry her, I should not be sad but be happy instead that I''ll be having two mothers," she replied.

    "W.. what?! Rose told you that?! When? Oh gosh, how do you feel when you heard that? You must had been so distraught when she told you that," I carried her down to hug her.

    "It''s okay, daddy. You''ve already gave off the vibes that you will eventually marry aunt Lily in the future. I remembered your story and how she treated you. It''s a wonder that you chose Rose over Lily in the first place. I''m intrigued to see how your future goes," she chuckled.

    I was stumped. Why did Daisy''s tone and choice of words changed this drastically all of a sudden? What is going on?

    I pulled Daisy away. Who... who is this? What happened to Daisy?

    "Geez, Mister Zen. You really have to stop thinking about me," smirked Moi.

    ***

    "GAH!" I lifted my head.

    W.. when did I fell asleep? I looked around and it would appear that Daisy was trying to wake me up. She looked surprised when I woke up all of a sudden. Gosh, these microsleep happened so quickly that I didn''t noticed I fell in one.

    As I tried to recall what happened, memories of after the ceremony came flooding back. We sat down for some snacks when Daisy said she was tired from all the walking. How long was I even out? I did not even noticed that I was tired.

    "How long was I asleep, Daisy?" I asked her.

    "Hm.. just a couple of seconds. I thought of letting you nap but mommy is coming towards us now," she said.

    And true enough, I see Rose and Lily walking closer to where we are. Daisy stood up and ran towards her. I followed suit and started rubbing my forehead. Why do I keep dreaming about Moi? This is the second time that I''ve dreamed about her out of nowhere. And I am certain she is communicating with me through my dreams. But why? I just don''t understand it.

    "What''s wrong? Are you alright?" asked Lily when she saw my face.

    "Yea, I''m fine. Didn''t even realised I fell asleep while waiting for you two," I made a dry chuckle.

    "You two must be exhausted to fall asleep so quickly," Lily made an awkward smile.

    "Huh? Us two?" I shot her a confused look.

    "Yea. Rose took a short nap when I went to the washroom. I had to shake her up when she started drooling. She said she didn''t even realised that she had fallen asleep," she chuckled.

    That can''t be right. I need to talk with Rose later about this. Is Moi''s power affecting us, causing us to sleep randomly? Or is it because of Baku? We never had this problem before meeting Moi and I doubt this is due to illusions or nightmares. I gripped my hands together as I followed after Lily and the others. I can''t shake off the feeling that something bad is about to happen.

 Book 2 - Chapter 82

    "Aunt Lily, are you planning to take daddy away?" asked Daisy.

    Both Rose and I spat our food. What is Daisy trying to do by asking that? She is making things awkward between us.

    "Daisy! What are you asking?! Don''t be rude to aunt Lily," shouted Rose as she knocked her head.

    "I was just curious, mommy. Lily likes daddy, right? She''s beautiful and daddy likes beautiful women. I¡¯m just worried she might take daddy away,¡± she retaliated.

    ¡°I¡¯m not going to take your dad away, Daisy. You don¡¯t have to worry about that,¡± said Lily as she petted Daisy¡¯s head.

    ¡°Really? Even if daddy jumps on you, are you going to push him away?¡± she asked.

    It was at this point I walked up to Daisy, placed both of my fist against her head and pushed it together tightly. Daisy started screaming in pain and asked for forgiveness.

    ¡°You were begging to be walloped, weren¡¯t you? You were being disrespectful to your father by saying that he is going to cheat,¡± I smacked the top of her head which left a bump.

    ¡°Daisy, what you said was not something nice. Apologise to both aunt Lily and your father,¡± warned Rose.

    ¡°Sorry aunt Lily and daddy,¡± said Daisy with a sad look.

    ¡°Goodness, what made you ask these kinds of questions? Have some faith in your father a little. He won¡¯t abandon us, am I right, Zen?¡± she glared at me.

    ¡°What are you glaring at me for? I literally didn¡¯t even do anything wrong. If anyone is at fault for making her like this, it should be you for telling her that it is fine for me to marry Lily and she should be happy about it,¡± I frowned at her.

    ¡°W.. what? I never told her this. Never. Who did you hear it from?¡± she sounded surprised.

    ¡°Don¡¯t play dumb. She told me about what you told her before just today. Didn¡¯t you, Daisy?¡± I turned to look at her.

    ¡°What are you talking about, daddy?¡± it was her turn to look confused.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t we talked about this earlier today when I carried you on my shoulders before we had your evening snacks?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°We didn¡¯t talk about this, daddy. We just went for some walk when you said you were tired and wanted to sit down. That was why we sat down for some snacks,¡± she replied.

    ¡°W.. what? Are you sure? Was that what happened today?¡± I clarified with her.

    She nodded her head with an ¡°Em¡±. Rose and Lily looked at each other with a worried look. They must be worried that I am losing it. As though my curse is not bad enough, now I am hallucinating. Oh gosh, is this going to be the end of me? Dying due to some unknown cause?

    ¡°Zen, you told me you were fine this afternoon. Why didn¡¯t you tell me you had this?¡± asked Lily.

    ¡°Are.. you saying that this is because of you resurrecting me? One of the side effects?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t know, Zen. There had never been anyone else,¡± she answered.

    ¡°What do you mean by that?¡± I questioned her.

    ¡°Alright, enough questions. You need some rest, Zen. Let¡¯s finish up so we can get back to our room,¡± said Rose.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine. No reason to rush our meal. I''m just fed-up that Moi might be messing with my head,¡± I blurted out.

    ¡°Huh? You too?¡± said Rose.

    ¡°Um, we¡¯ll talk later about this,¡± I told her.

    ¡°Moi is my best friend! She visits me every night to play with me,¡± smiled Daisy.

    ¡°W.. what?!¡± Rose and I shouted at the same time.

    ¡°Umm.. sorry but who is Moi exactly?¡± asked Lily.

    I looked at Rose and she was also struggling to figure out a way to explain. How do we explain a being that we don¡¯t even understand?

    ¡°She¡¯s¡­ a little girl that we have met during our journey back from the City Of Lilies Dahlee. We¡­ still don¡¯t know who or what she really is, to be honest,¡± I shrugged.

    ¡°In my dream she¡¯s a beautiful lady that brings me on all sorts of adventures,¡± said Daisy with a cheerful tone.

    ¡°Daisy dear, mommy is going to ask you more about Moi later, alright?¡± asked Rose to Daisy.

    ¡°Sorry to pull you in on our family issues, Lily. We should had spent more time asking about you instead,¡± I told Lily.

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s alright. When the both of you told me that everything were going great, I assumed things were fine. But as it turns out, things were worse than I thought,¡± she chuckled.

    ¡°No no.. things were relatively great. Really, there were a few things we literally just knew moments ago, which we will need to sort out later. You don¡¯t need to worry about it, Lily,¡± said Rose with an awkward smile.

    ¡°Then I guess I shouldn''t take more of your time then. I should take my leave now. It was fun meeting you all again. I hope it won¡¯t take another 5 years to our next meet-up. I promise to visit you more often in the West,¡± said Lily as she stood up.

    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re leaving? See you soon,¡± said Rose.

    ¡°I doubt it will be soon as I have my trainings to get to. It was a pleasure to see you three once again. Farewell you three,¡± waved Lily as she headed out the tavern¡¯s main door.

    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

    ¡°Bai bai~¡± waved Daisy in response.

    ¡°She doesn¡¯t know that we will travelling together, does she?¡± I asked Rose after she left the premise.

    ¡°I guess she will know sooner or later,¡± she chuckled.

    ***

    We were back in our room now. What a difficult talk we had to convince Daisy that she will be under Peter''s care until we figure out what is causing the monster attacks on the city. It was certainly heartbreaking seeing her cry and hugging Rose, refusing to let her go. A lot of explaining and convincing were needed until she eventually gave in. Her mood was certainly sour after the talk that we decided to ask her about Moi some other time instead. I hate leaving her alone but Rose insisted to come along on the investigation. Her sixth sense was telling her to follow me along and she was having none of it. I was not planning to talk her out of it as I felt that I needed her help. Whoever is controlling these monsters is definitely a powerful being, capable of attacking both East and West at the same time is no easy feat.

    ¡°I guess you were wrong about Lily, Rose,¡± I said.

    ¡°Huh? In what sense?¡± she asked while being confused.

    ¡°You said that she will not find someone else when I¡¯m still alive, but she told me she had a partner now,¡± I answered.

    ¡°P.. partner? Are you sure? She never said a thing about it when we spoke,¡± she frowned.

    ¡°Well, that was what she told me,¡± I sighed.

    ¡°Run me through what happened. I need more context here,¡± she scratched her head.

    ¡°Nah.. I¡¯ve already told Peter and I don¡¯t wish to retell it again. It was a painful experience for me,¡± I sighed.

    ¡°Zen, onii-chan~ Tell me about it and I¡¯ll do the thing that we talked about. It¡¯s strange that Lily would hurt you in any shape or form. I wish to know what happened,¡± said Rose.

    ¡°Y.. you sure? You¡¯re not just saying that to get my hopes up, are you?¡± I asked in eagerness.

    ¡°Yes, so spill it already. I¡¯m dying with anticipation here,¡± she nagged.

    I told her what happened after she had beaten me in the tournament to our interactions thereafter. Her words still stung my heart when her sudden outburst told me to stop following her. Or perhaps when she told me that she had a partner of her own. Either way, I just don¡¯t wish to retell the story again if I can help it.

    ¡°No wonder she felt so down during our fight. So it was because of you,¡± she squinted.

    ¡°A.. are you saying it¡¯s my fault? What did I even do wrong?¡± I asked with a sad tone.

    ¡°Zen.. you need to remember. Lily loves you, probably as much as me. While I get to indulge in your love, she does not because you refused to accept her. The more time you spend with her, the more she longs to be with you. I know you are horrible at detecting behaviours but just try not to forget that. Lily is just trying to push you away so as to not get hurt again because of you,¡± she sighed.

    ¡°Soo.. it was a lie that she have a partner?¡± I clarified.

    ¡°Does it matter? You don¡¯t want to marry her either way, so wouldn¡¯t it be better if she actually has a partner of her own. Now get on the bed and strip. I don¡¯t wanna end up hurting my knees,¡± she shooed me.

    ¡°Yes ma¡¯am,¡± I obliged as I hopped on the bed.

    ***

    ¡°The things you make your wife do just for your pleasure,¡± said Kirin.

    It was the familiar grassy land where Kirin and Byakko resides to meet me in my dream world. And as usual, Byakko was sitting on his favourite spot atop a flat rock.

    ¡°Hey, I didn¡¯t force her or anything. She offered to do it in the first place,¡± I retaliated.

    ¡°You could had rejected her offer,¡± answered Byakko.

    ¡°Why would I? It feels special when she does it. And it¡¯s not like she does it often anyway,¡± I shrugged.

    ¡°What a selfish host to think of your own pleasure over your own wife,¡± squinted Kirin.

    ¡°Did you two summoned me just to judge and torment me?¡± I folded my arms together.

    ¡°No. We are here to warn you about the dangers ahead. Your previous endeavours had you angering a Cosmic Being. We do not know which but it is certainly one of the old ones. Not a relatively new God that just started out,¡± warned Kirin.

    ¡°Old ones? New Gods? You never told me that they were young or old Gods before. Did they give birth to new Gods or something?¡± I asked with curiosity.

    ¡°Hmm.. let¡¯s just say that Gods are created from beliefs, emotions or faith. When there are many beings that share the same values or emotions, it gives birth to new Gods. The old ones are those that had already existed for centuries due to common emotions or beliefs,¡± Byakko explained.

    ¡°Do you know their identities? How many Cosmic Beings are there out there? The Goddess of Divinity? The Imperatrix of Mortal? Are these actually real Cosmic entities?¡± I asked them.

    ¡°We¡­ can never be certain that these beings exist as we can never enter the Ethereal. All we feel is their emotions of the Gods overflowing from the Ethereal or the birth of a new God. That is all we are allowed to know sadly,¡± sighed Kirin.

    ¡°So we don¡¯t even know which one I angered. Great. But why though? Is it because I angered Son and their flock? That is the only thing I can think of. I do not believe that the Imperatrix of Mortal who is supposed to be the God of humans would be angered when I didn¡¯t even do any harm them on them. And I¡¯ll be extremely disappointed if she is really helping them,¡± I recalled what had happened previously.

    ¡°We do not have the answer for you. All we can say is that you need to be careful on your next adventure. You do not want to anger another Cosmic being,¡± warned Kirin.

    ¡°Quite the party you have here,¡± said a voice behind me.

    I turned quickly and was surprised by who it was. Should I really say surprised when she had been appearing in my dreams twice now? But.. this should be a secret meeting between my two legendary items and the celestial beings that reside in it. How can she be here?

    ¡°M.. Moi? What are you doing here? And how?!¡± I asked.

    ¡°Well, I overheard there was a party so I thought I¡¯ll stop by,¡± she chuckled.

    ¡°Moi.. I don¡¯t want to be rude or even turn you as my enemy. But leave Daisy alone. That is the only warning that I am giving you. She has done nothing to you,¡± I pointed at her.

    Moi was intrigued by me and stared at me with a smile. She walked towards Byakko who seems to be afraid of her. What is going on? A celestial being is afraid of a little girl? For real?

    ¡°Do you mind if I sit on you? You have nice soft fur that is comfortable to sit on,¡± she asked him while hugging her teddy.

    ¡°Uhh.. be my guest?¡± Byakko submitted to her.

    Kirin was also speechless as he seems to be afraid of her as well. Two celestial beings afraid of her? Who the hell is she?

    ¡°Moi,¡± I asked again.

    ¡°You never knew, did you? Zen Hawthorn?¡± she asked as she rested herself on Byakko¡¯s body.

    ¡°What about exactly?¡± I asked back.

    ¡°The reason as to why I appeared in your dream twice,¡± she smirked.

    ¡°No. I do not. I am a dense person as many had told me. I hope you can shed some light on what you are trying to convey to me,¡± I answered.

    ¡°Baku¡­ was a vessel.. of a Cosmic Being. And both you and Rose had defeated it. Did you think the Cosmic Being would allow you to roam freely after disposing its vessel?¡± she questioned me.

    ¡°W.. what? A.. vessel of a Cosmic Being?¡± I turned towards Kirin and Byakko who started to sweat upon hearing those words.

    ¡°I am surprised that the both of you are unaware of this seeing that the two of you are one of the oldest Celestial Beings out there. Allow me to explain then,¡± sighed Moi.

    ¡°Listen very carefully. A Cosmic Being cannot step into the realm of reality. Even a Celestial Being can only exist as a spiritual being or as an object. This is the rule set by all the Cosmic Beings. Should any Cosmic Beings choose to break this rule, well, let¡¯s just say that all hell will break loose as Gods will be fighting against one another. Which would basically mean the destruction of this world as well,¡± she explained.

    ¡°So, what do Cosmic Beings do in their own time? They play games with one another. All the realms are their playground to participate in. They can choose two beings to do their biddings in each realm. One is a vessel, who executes the demands of their God, while the other is a champion, who is chosen by their God to spread their names, and gaining more followers to do their biddings. Champions usually receives direct blessings or powers from their God as rewards. Both are very dangerous individuals that is not to be trifled with. Remember that,¡± she continued.

    ¡°Okay¡­ so Baku was a vessel of a Cosmic Being. So you visited us in our dreams to protect us? But how come you¡¯re not affected by it? How does this relate to you and Daisy?¡± I questioned her.

    ¡°Your microsleep is due to the side effects of defeating Baku. You and Rose were experiencing them without even knowing. ¡®I¡¯ was there to wake you up. As for Daisy, well, she was the one who came looking for me to be honest,¡± she chuckled.

    ¡°Woah, hold up. So microsleep is due to us slaying Baku since sleep was his weapon. But, why microsleep? It feels harmless, isn¡¯t it? And what are you trying to say? Daisy was in the city where we left her. How could she even find you? I¡¯m just so confused right now,¡± I rubbed my forehead.

    ¡°One thing at a time, Mister Zen. Microsleep is actually more dangerous than you think. Imagine falling asleep in the middle of combat, that pretty much spells defeat. And besides, I was the one who woke you up. Who knows what would had happened if I did not. Perhaps you might had been stuck in the dream world forever,¡± she started rolling on Byakko¡¯s furs.

    ¡°As for your daughter, well, she is more powerful than you think. She have a deep connection to the Ethereal and she has a strong spiritual essence. Be warned though, if she is careless, the Cosmic Beings might not be fond of her using the Ethereal as a way to communicate with other individuals. She misses both of you when you were in the Northern continent. Which was how she met me, seeing that I was the closest to both of you at that point in time. Aren¡¯t I right, boys?¡± she smirked at Kirin and Byakko who curled their lips.

    ¡°You two.. knew about Daisy¡¯s powers? Why didn¡¯t any of you said anything?¡± I stared at them with upmost surprise.

    ¡°Just say we did, would you had believed us? She visited this place when she was just a baby. You had no idea how nervous we were when she suddenly appeared out of nowhere. We were afraid that your kid was some Cosmic entity in the making but luckily she was not. So far, we know she can visit us outside of the Ethereal but not inside. But she was never afraid with either of us. Even now, she still visited us once a while. You had no idea the number of times she rode on Kirin who happily took her for a ride,¡± laughed Byakko.

    ¡°H.. hey! She rode on you too. I recall someone letting her sleep on your fur and did not dared to move a muscle so as to not disturb her,¡± shouted Kirin.

    ¡°As you can see, Mister Zen, I was not lying to you,¡± Moi smiled.

    ¡°Assuming what you told me is real, and seeing that you were not affected by Baku¡¯s side effect, then what ¡®are¡¯ you? Are you a vessel yourself? Why help us in the first place?¡± I questioned.

    ¡°You¡¯ll know sooner or later, Mister Zen. Let¡¯s just say I grew fond of you and your family. The both of you were willing to help the City Of Lilies Dahlee despite having the option to walk away. A noble act, despite knowing you might end up dying. And I enjoying the things that you had showed me so far,¡± she smirked.

    ¡°Enough chit-chat. I am here for a reason and it is two-fold. Firstly, I am here to make sure that you no longer suffer microsleep. Where you are going, it would be certain death of you. Secondly, there are two things you need to know,¡± she raised up two fingers.

    ¡°Do remember this when you wake up. You must remember these, Mister Zen. First of all, you must protect Rose at all cost. She must live no matter what,¡± she started walking closer to me while still hugging her teddy.

    She placed her index finger on my forehead. She was floating mid-air at this point.

    ¡°And lastly, FEAR THE NEW BLOOD,¡± her voice grew deeper as I was thrown out of the dream world in an instant.

 Book 2 - Chapter 83

    ¡°Ahhhh!¡± I sat up after waking up abruptly.

    It was the dead of night when I woke up all sweaty. There was no light source aside from the moonlight that was shining in through the window. I held my pocket watch that was placed at my side and checked the time. 3am exactly was the time shown on the watch. Still plenty of time before dawn arrives but I worked up a sweat. Realising that it would be uncomfortable to continue sleeping, I decided to take a refreshing bath before getting back to bed.

    ¡°Onii-chan? What¡¯s wrong? Another nightmare?¡± asked Rose as I stroke a match to light a candle at my bedside.

    ¡°Y.. yeah. Moi decided to pay a visit again when Kirin and Byakko were talking to me. Feel like I¡¯m forgetting something,¡± I rubbed my forehead.

    ¡°I guess she is planning to visit all of us in our dreams, huh? She was in my dream too. She warned us that the journey ahead is going to be rough for us and she will do whatever she can to help us. We were completely mistaken that she was disturbing us or Daisy,¡± she breath a sigh of relief.

    ¡°Did she tell you about cosmic beings and their vessel or champions? Or about Daisy¡¯s condition?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°Yeah. I allowed her to explain as to why she wanted to visit Daisy in her dream and she mentioned that it was Daisy who searched for her instead. It was because of us, Zen. Our daughter is worried and misses us. I think this will be the last adventure that we will travel together. I can¡¯t bear the thought that Daisy is feeling all alone when both her parents goes out to protect the world and neither of us are at her side. It.. reminded me when I was alone in this world,¡± she explained.

    ¡°Yeah. You¡¯re right. I doubt there¡¯ll be a good onii-chan that randomly appears to help her. I¡¯ll find other allies to travel with me next time. I need you on this trip so we should enjoy it while it last,¡± I smiled.

    ¡°Maybe I should let you and Lily travel alone instead. Perhaps something might bloom. Heh heh,¡± she chuckled.

    ¡°Ha ha, very funny. You know I won¡¯t betray you no matter what. Feels like I¡¯m forgetting something. What is it?¡± I racked my brain.

    ¡°Really? Are you sure? Even if Lily does this?¡± Rose started crawling on top of me and blew off the candle.

    It was relatively dark now and I couldn¡¯t see her features. But I thought of playing along just for her sake.

    ¡°Zen, why won¡¯t you choose me? I love you, just as much as Rose. Perhaps even more,¡± she imitated Lily¡¯s voice.

    ¡°Lily, you know I can¡¯t reciprocate your feelings. I¡¯m married and I have a child of my own. I am sorry,¡± I played along.

    ¡°Zen, I don¡¯t care if I end up as your mistress or even a concubine. Let me be with you. I¡¯ll do whatever you want. I¡¯ll do anything that Rose doesn¡¯t want to do,¡± she continued as she lowered her rear region on my crotch.

    Oh boy, not good. Any reaction and she will definitely know. It¡¯s just Rose and not Lily on top of me. I can control myself.

    ¡°Alright Rose. Fun¡¯s over. I want to take a bath and continue my sleep,¡± I placed my hand on her shoulder to push her off.

    She quickly moved my hand to her chest which shocked me. What is she trying to do? It¡¯s way too early for us to be doing stuffs like this. Something else happened that shocked me. Strands of silver hair flowed down from above the ear. Shit, is this another one of the microsleep? I thought Moi had taken care of that?!

    ¡°Damn it! Moi, I need help here. I thought you said that I won¡¯t be having anymore microsleep. I don¡¯t want to dream of Lily raping me!¡± I shouted.

    Someone opened our door with a light source. It was Daisy and she was rubbing her eyes.

    ¡°Mommy, why is your room so noisy?¡± asked Daisy as she held the candle towards us.

    Her eyes grew widen as she saw Rose wearing a silver hair wig straddling on top of me. She quickly closed our door and the sound of her running back to her room could be heard. Rose burst out laughing and fell to the bed. I sighed loudly as I prepared myself for a quick bath before I continued sleeping. How are we going to explain to Daisy tomorrow about what happened? Rose decided to follow along for a quick bath of her own. That is not going to do me any favours after the things she did earlier.

    ¡°Ahh, that was just so funny. And you thought it was a dream too. You definitely had a reaction, didn''t you?¡± she chuckled.

    Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe you would pull such a prank. Where did you even hid the wig in the first place?¡± I squinted at her.

    ¡°My secret. Haha!¡± She laughed.

    Rose begun stripping to place her clothing on a basket before heading into the bathroom. I glanced at her and noticed that she is getting older. After giving birth, she had stretch marks that she struggled to get rid off. Not that I mind in the first place as giving birth is a difficult task. But unlike me, she was certainly getting older while I remained the same. My body was suspended in time due to whatever Lily did to resurrect me.

    Thinking about it, will I outlive Rose? Or even Daisy? No. I don¡¯t believe that is the case. My body might be young but I won¡¯t live longer than a normal human being. But what if I am mistaken, what if I really outlive Rose? I will end up alone with Daisy. Me, a father who couldn¡¯t even realised that Daisy had age condition until people pointed out to me. I hate to admit that I am not exactly a good father.

    I walked closer and hugged Rose from behind. She was surprised by my action, probably due to my younger brother as well. She might had thought I wanted to sleep with her right here right now.

    ¡°Rose, if you¡¯re so insistent that I make Lily my second wife, then during this trip, I will do what I can to persuade her. Anytime you feel uncomfortable about it, you let me know,¡± I whispered to her.

    ¡°W..w..www¡­ what¡¯s going on? What¡¯s with the sudden change of heart out of the blue? You were stubborn for so many years and you just decided to change your mind just like that? What is going on in your head, Zen Hawthorn?¡± She kept blinking as she asked me.

    ¡°Well.. I just thought of the future a little. About you and my condition. A lot of what ifs involved but maybe it might help in the long run. Just a little scenario I thought off where you might not be.. alive?¡± I suddenly recalled my dream.

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m glad you¡¯re finally realising things now. I am getting older while you remained young. There will come a day where I no longer be around. Which is why I kept insisting for you to marry Lily so she can help take care of Daisy and you,¡± she confessed.

    ¡°No no no.. I take it back. I won¡¯t be pursuing Lily. I need to keep you alive no matter what. I will not let you leave me,¡± I explained to her.

    ¡°Zen.. onii-chan. I will not always be around at your side. I will eventually die. If its not from old age or any incoming battle that arises. You will need to come to terms with it when it happens. And I need you to promise me that you will take care of Daisy. Please dear?¡± she pleaded as she places both her hands on my cheeks.

    ¡°I promise you that I will take care of Daisy. And I will do whatever it takes to keep you alive. Even if I have to fight the Death God himself to bring you back,¡± I promised her.

    ¡°Death God? Is the even a real Cosmic Being?¡± she chuckled.

    ¡°I just said it to make it more dramatic,¡± I shrugged.

    She chuckled as she headed into the bathroom. She also reminded me that I must pursue Lily and make her my wife. No more change of heart. I made an empty promise to her as Lily was never my main priority. Now, I have a new objective after my old one 15 years ago. It was thanks to Moi helping me realising it. I need to keep Rose alive. No matter what it takes.

    Main Objective: Waifu must live!

    ***

    A new day arrived and Daisy seems to hate me. She thought that I had forced Rose to pretend as Lily so I could make-believe that I was sleeping with her. Not only is that degrading towards Rose but also my integrity as her father. Rose had explained to her that what she imagined was not true but she certainly laughed her ass off upon hearing it. Here I am being associated with more weird fetishes despite some of them not being true.

    We were now inside one of Peter¡¯s meeting rooms along with him. Lily was here too but she was covering her face with her hands. She must had been ashamed about what she told us yesterday night when she thought we won¡¯t be meeting so soon, not to mention travelling together at that.

    "Been a while, isn''t it, Lily?" both Rose and I chuckled.

    "Noo! Don''t remind me! I''m already ashamed right now. You guys are evil for not telling me about this yesterday," shouted Lily as she continued covering her face.

    "Ahem, shall we begin?" asked Peter.

    ¡°Right. So, what¡¯s the plan? How are you going to alert us on any incoming monster attacks?¡± I asked Peter.

    ¡°Sorry to interrupt, Sensei. But how would this tracking be any different than anything we did before? No offence to Zen and Rose, but even you couldn''t find out where there were heading," asked Lily.

    You can sense the frustration in her voice. I know she means well as they must had launched plentiful attempts at tracking these monsters but none of them shed any light on what they are or why they are attacking in the first place. Why would things be any different just because Rose and I are attempting to track them?

    "That''s because the three of you will be the one performing the tracking this time around. My three most gifted students that I have faith in. That, and Zen seems to have an idea that can make full use of your gifts as an elf," he smiled.

    "H.. Huh? What does that mean?" asked Lily as she tilted her head.

    "Let''s not get ahead of ourselves. Let us run through what plan you have in stored for us first," I asked Peter.

    "Very well. When the monster attacks occurs, which I suspect will be anytime between today or tomorrow, my people will sound the alarm from the bell tower and inform you on the exact location of the attack. You will have to rush over to said location and commence your plan. My soldiers will do whatever they can to help you but do remember that they are mostly normal humans and not high ranking adventurers," he explained.

    "Alright. I guess we will have to be on standby until the monster attack us. Got to make sure we have our backpacks ready. And also a location where we can hear the bell and announcements," I mumbled while thinking out loud.

    "Zen, I''m sorry, but what is this plan of yours? I''m sorry for being skeptical but.. I just want to know that we are not wasting our time," she sighed.

    "Is doing nothing better than actually doing something? Here, this is going to be the key to our mission''s success," I smiled and held out a small looking bell.

    "A... bell? Do you think this is the first time someone thought of this? The monsters have sensitive hearings and they will destroy it when you attempt to put any on them. These monsters are not fools, Zen. I''m sorry if I am coming off as rude but... we had tried almost everything by now," she flustered and gripped her hands.

    I walked closer to her but her gaze remained focus on the ground. I held out my index finger and placed it on her lips which snapped her out of her emotional state. I recalled doing this once before when we first met. I wonder if she remembers it.

    "Shhh.. let me finish. Do you hear the ringing sound?" I rang the bell on my hand.

    She nodded her head without saying a word as my finger was still on her mouth. I can see that she was starting to blush when my face was close to hers. I tossed the bell towards a soldier at the far end of the meeting room. I gestured him to ring it which he did.

    "How about now? Can you still hear it?" I asked once more.

    She nodded once again which made me smirked. Seems like the plan is going to work after all. Lily looked confused and so were the others. The soldier holding the bell was literally placing it next to his ear just to hear anything.

    "Lily.. you recall the time when we were together in the elven forest for a couple of years? You told me my hearing was bad when I couldn''t hear the ringing of the bells there. But the truth was, it was actually a bell designed for elven ears only. I found this bell in one of the shops at Marrydia where I held my marriage and honeymoon. Daffodil was the one who highlighted to me about this discovery. Even she was stumped that neither Rose or I could hear the bell. I bought it out of curiosity and perhaps to prank you but it turns out, there is a purpose for it now. I''ve already tested this out with the monsters and it would appear that they do not have any reaction to it. I can''t pull this plan off because I needed an elf, someone who is willing to join me, to track with me. That person is you, Lily. You are the key to this mission''s success," I explained to her.

    "M.. me? You.. need me?" she asked as her face was getting redder.

    "We always needed you, Lily. Are you on board with this mission?" I asked while extending my hand.

    She turned her back towards me and clapped her face cheeks. A couple of seconds later she turned towards me and shook my hand in agreement. I guess we will be travelling along after all. Yay!

 Book 2 - Chapter 84

    "Sometimes I forgot how smooth you were at flirting with females," said Rose as she was packing her stuffs.

    We were back in our room, packing and separating items for the mission and finally checking out from this expensive place.

    "Flirting? With who?" I asked in confusion.

    "Don''t play dumb, Zen. You were flirting with Lily in front of everyone. ''We need you, we always needed you''. It was so obvious you were flirting with her. I won''t lie, I definitely felt jealous hearing that," she chuckled.

    "I wasn''t flirting with her. I was just telling her facts. We really needed an elf which happened to be her if we are to accomplish our mission. Without her, we have no way of tracking the bell,¡± I explained.

    ¡°You never understood, did you? It¡¯s the way to phrase it, Zen. Oh gosh, Lily is going to hate herself for feeling hopeful again. She was blushing when you told her that. You¡­ mister, are going to tell her that you love her and is going to make her your wife,¡± she pointed at me.

    ¡°No, I will not. Change of plans, Rose. I have a new objective now and I intend to see through," I said.

    "And what would that be? Keeping me alive? Zen.. onii-chan.. I will die.. eventually. You have to accept that. The both of us are going to die eventually, Zen," she explained.

    "Look.. I don''t mind if I were to die before you. You are fit to care for Daisy. I, am not. Let''s face it, I am a terrible father that doesn''t even realise his own daughter''s condition. I can''t do this alone, Rose. I need you at my side," I sighed.

    "Let''s be realistic here. What can you even do if I were to die? There is nothing you can do about it, onii-chan," she pestered.

    "Unless... no.. No! You will not attempt to resurrect me. That would defy death itself. I forbid you from resurrecting me, Zen," again she pointed her index finger at me.

    "That is not up for you to decide," I looked away.

    "What do you mean?! It''s my life, Zen. Hey.. look at me. You''re a good father, Zen onii-chan. You are a loving father and Daisy knows that. I love our daughter and I will continue caring for her. But you need to promise me, if anything happens to me, if I don''t make it, you have to let me go," she placed both her hands on my face.

    "Argh.. fine, fine! I promise I''ll let you go. Only, and only IF, you leave this world. As long as you''re still alive, I will do anything to bring you back. Deal?" I lifted my pinky.

    "Deal," she sealed it with a pinky promise.

    "Now, back to Lily. Make use of this mission to get closer to her. Just.. tell her you have a change of heart. That''s it, she''ll get the idea. We don''t have much time," she continued.

    "W.. what do you mean we don''t have much time? What is that supposed to mean?" I confronted her.

    "Oh, it''s nothing. Sorry, just a slip of the tongue. What I meant is that we don''t have much time left to finish our packing before the check-out time," she hurriedly continue her packing.

    "Rose? Is there something you''re not telling me? I can trust you on that, right?" I asked once again.

    She sighed and replied with "Yes, you can trust me on that". But I knew that she was hiding something.

    Does she know something that I don''t? Have she seen her future or her own death that triggered her to keep pushing me to make Lily my wife? It.. somehow makes sense as to why she kept insisting on it. But, is it really? She had been insisting it even before we married. Maybe I am just overthinking it. I should just finish our packing and help Daisy with hers.

    ***

    I knocked on Daisy''s door. Expecting she needed help with her packing but it appears that she had already completed all of it. Colour me amazed, she is completely different than her mom who was still struggling to pack everything into her bags. But it is noticeable that her mood was sour. Once again we have to leave her with someone else to care for her. Daisy had always been an attached child who stuck with Rose majority of the time. It''s no wonder Rose is so heavily against her becoming an adventurer when she still behaves this way.

    "Hey, kiddo. How''s it going?" I sat at her side.

    "Dad, can I be selfish?" she asked me.

    I turned to look at her. Now that was not an answer I was expecting. She leaned her head against my arm and I was worried that she was crying. I began petting her head to calm her down.

    "I don''t want you to go," she tugged on my sleeve.

    "Daisy, daddy promise you that this will be the last quest that your mother will be following me with. After this is over, mommy will be staying with you back in the City Of Pines. Alright? Things will be safer after this, I hope," I tried to calm her.

    "What about you, daddy? I miss you too," she refuses to release my arm.

    Hmm, what do I do? Again, I feel like I am missing out on something. Oh, that''s right. Her spiritual powers.

    "Daisy, do you know who Kirin or Byakko is?" I asked her.

    I felt her body tensed up. She quickly moved her face in another direction away from my sight.

    "W.. who are they? I.. don''t know them," she stuttered.

    "Daisy, I know you''ve met them. You don''t have to play dumb. Daddy is not going to scold you or anything," I petted her head.

    "Then why are you asking about this?" she asked.

    "Well.. since you have the power to reach out to us, you can find me and them through dreams, isn''t it?" I asked her.

    "It''s.. not that simple. I''ve tried before it before and that was how I met Moi instead of you two. She was the one who responded to my calling when none of you did," she pouted.

    Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

    "Daisy.. my child. I know you can do it. I have faith in you. All you got to do is trust here.. and here. Focus on looking for me, Kirin and Byakko. The three of us are always together. Daddy will always respond to your calls . I promise," I pointed to her brain and heart.

    "Okay. I will do my best to find you. Thanks Dad," she smiled.

    For a second I thought I saw an adult form of Daisy smiling at me. I rubbed my eyes and Daisy was staring at me wondering what I was doing. That can''t be right. Daisy is at most 10 years old now. That is a far-fetched from being in adulthood. I must had been seeing things.

    "You don''t have to be alone, you can always find us with your abilities," I smiled and kissed her forehead.

    She hugged me close when Rose knocked on the door. I guess she is finally done with her packing. Time for us to checkout of this fancy tavern once and for all. My wallet is going to thank me for not staying another night.

    ***

    I opened the door to our new room. Peter had booked a room for us near the bell tower. We will need to be completely deaf if we couldn''t hear the warning from it. We had our backpacks ready for us to grab immediately at a moment¡¯s notice. Rose had insisted that Lily shares the same room with both of us for ease of mobility and communication, hence we had been provided with a sort of suite style that comes along with multiple rooms.

    While it is a big step-down from our previous fancy room, it is certainly better to have a roof over our heads until we start sleeping with the moon above our heads. Any moment now the bell might ring at a moment''s notice. It is quite unnerving when you think about it. Just imagine if you happened to be in the bathroom when it occurs. Sigh.

    We had already left Daisy with Peter so it was just the three of us. It was certainly heart wrenching to leave her with Peter but we don''t have a choice this time. She was a strong child, putting on a happy face as she cheered good luck for us and ensuring that we don''t have to worry about her. I am happy that she is such a strong child and perhaps I really did saw a glimpse of her being an adult.

    Truth be told, I am worried about this quest that we will be undertaking. Both Kirin and Byakko had taken the liberty to warn me personally. Hell, even Moi came over to warn me about it. Even my gut feelings is telling me to be careful this time. I have a strong feeling that I might come face to face with another vessel or champion without getting any help from Moi. She helped us a lot when we fought Baku previously.

    I sat on the couch of the living room after placing my backpack and waist pouches on the floor. I guess it was obvious that I am feeling distraught as both of them sat at my side. Lily asked for the bell which I provided. Apparently she is going to make a bola or something to ensure the bell stays tightly wrapped on a monster''s leg, arm or body.

    The three of us were quiet. Since when did things became awkward for the three of us? Rose was resting her head on my shoulder while Lily was making the bola with some strings and some metal looking donut. No one was saying anything. Even the sound of the wind was louder than the three of us. I tried to think of a topic to talk about but nothing was coming to mind. Are we going to be this awkward until the bell rings? That is even more agonising than the quest itself!

    "Zen, if you don''t mind me asking," asked Lily out of the blue.

    Oh thank the above Lily broke the silence. What the hell is wrong with us? We''ve literally been friends for such a long time but now things are awkward? That doesn''t make any sense.

    "Since when did you start wearing earring? And only on one side for that matter," she asked without shifting her head as she was still tying the bola.

    She was wearing her signature circular glasses that she had been wearing since long ago. I''m amazed at how those glasses were still usable after almost 30 years. And how it still fits her after turning into an adult!

    "Oh, this? It''s an earring of Constitution, not some cheap earring or me trying to be fashionable. I wear it for a purpose," I explained.

    "I see," she ended her question just like that.

    In my mind, I was like, that''s it? Why are things awkward again? Rose was nudging me with her elbow, telling me to make more conversation.

    "Uhh.. uhhh.. how are things going with you and your partner?" I stuttered while asking her.

    Ouch!! Rose pinched me at my side. Lily probably couldn''t see what was happening when she was so focused on making the bola. It was as though she was performing a sewing with what she was doing. Any moment now she is going to lift up a clothing or something to show me with a ''Tada''.

    "Zen, you don''t have to worry about me getting the wrong idea. I know what you meant when you said you needed me for this quest. I would also like to apologise that I had lied to you before. I don''t have a partner. Probably won''t have one in a long time," she smiled without looking at me.

    "Is it really because of me?" I asked with a serious tone.

    She seems to be in the mood to open up her feelings instead of bottling them up. I should use this opportunity to understand what she had been through. She''s my saviour and I should return the favour to her in any way possible.

    "Oh, what do we have here? There seems to be some nice tea available," said Rose as she headed off to the kitchen.

    It was pretty clear she wanted to give me time to talk with Lily. What an odd situation I am in, your wife pestering you to get along with another woman. It just doesn¡¯t feel right. But I know Rose is hiding something from me that made her kept pushing me to marry her. I know something is wrong but Rose remained tight-lipped about it. Sigh.

    It was soon after Rose had left that Lily decided to reply me. The kitchen was not exactly in a separate room but it was far away for us to talk in secret if we talked quietly. Let¡¯s see what Lily¡¯s respond will be.

    ¡°I guess it¡¯s.. partly because of you. But I¡¯m not saying this to make you feel bad. It¡¯s my fault for not being able to get over you,¡± she whispered.

    Obviously she is afraid of letting Rose know about our conversation. Despite Rose being vocal about us getting together, she is still my wife. What she says and what she feels are two completely different story.

    ¡°Lily.. I want to know. How did it all started? I don¡¯t remember leaving that big of an impression on you when we first met. Did you really fell head over heels for me on that very day?¡± I asked her with a soft tone.

    She placed aside the bola she was making. It seems as though she had already completed it some time ago but was just looking at imperfections. She lifted both her legs and hugged them, burying her face on her knees.

    ¡°I guess it really did start on the day that we met. Even you figured out that I had feelings for you. But I blamed it on the Stockholm Syndrome that I was merely attracted to you because of your heroic rescue. Then someone decided to buy things for me. It was only two days but you stole a part of my heart that day. But as time goes on, my denial grew stronger and I started avoiding meeting you. Y¡¯know, the part where I stopped meeting for about.. four years? We finally met again when John was about to be the next Viking Lord,¡± she chuckled.

    ¡°Right. It¡¯s been so long since then. Since you¡¯re being honest telling me about your story, I guess I should let you in on mine too. You were my first crush, Lily. For the next few years after we met, whenever I see any female elves, I immediately think of you. As a matter of fact, you still are to be honest. My heart still beats quickly when I¡¯m with you,¡± it was my turn to chuckle.

    I was shocked when Lily actually reached out her hand and placed it on my chest. Did she thought I lied to her? What happens next was even more unexpected. She held my hand and brought it closer to her body. I started panicking as I assumed that she was going to place it on somewhere dangerous but soft part of hers. Thankfully she placed it above her chest instead. Phew!

    I could feel her heart beating fast. So it was the same for her too? She leaned closer to me, really close. Uhh.. things are getting uncomfortable now. I was not expecting to get all romantic with Lily but it would appear that I might have opened a floodgate in her. No way am I going to get lovey-dovey with her in front of Rose. I still have my conscious that I am doing something wrong when I have a wife of my own. I instinctively turned my gaze to Rose but she seems to be turning her back towards us. Is she really just making tea? I am so worried that any moment she is going to turn her head, drop whatever she is holding and starts chasing me with a knife.

    I slowly turned my gaze back to Lily. Oh boy, I know that look of hers. That is the gaze of a woman deeply in love. She¡¯s not going to kiss me, right? I¡¯m so glad that Daisy is not here with us now. I don''t wish to be judged by her right now.

    ¡°Then why didn¡¯t you choose me instead?¡± she whispered with a flirting tone.

    ¡°H.. huh? Oh, I..... was just thinking what was best for you. You know you''re going to outlive me, right? I¡¯ll eventually be a thing of the past for you,¡± I panicked as I stuttered my reasoning.

    ¡°That¡­ was your reason? What.. makes you think you know what is best for me? Who are you to dictate my life for me? You are not just anyone that I can simply forget, Zen! You¡¯re someone special!!¡± she shouted.

    ¡°If the both of you are done talking, perhaps you can join me at the table?¡± asked Rose as she sipped her tea.

    Lily stood up, stomped her feet to the dining table and sat there. I was left alone on the couch. Right, poor choice of words, Zen. You numbskull, why did you say that without thinking? I thought of pouring myself some tea but upon gazing at Lily¡¯s death glare, I decided to head into one of the rooms instead. Ah damn it, I hope I didn¡¯t strained our group¡¯s relationship that it affects the quest mission. You''re a fool, Zen Hawthorn.

    ***

    I heard a knock on the door as I opened my eyes from my nap. A dreamless nap? Felt so surreal. I guess Moi did keep her promise after all. I wondered how she stopped those microsleep from affecting us. I announced whoever it was to come in. Fully expecting Rose to be on the other side, I closed my eyes once more to rest my eyes.

    ¡°Oh, you were sleeping? We''ll talk some other time then,¡± said Lily.

    I quickly opened my eyes and jumped out of bed. A polite bow of forgiveness was needed to apologise to her for my poor choice of words earlier.

    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry for the things I said earlier. It was not what I intended to convey to you. I should had thought about it properly before saying them,¡± I maintained my bow.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine, Zen. I hurt your feelings too back at the colosseum. Call it even?¡± she asked with a smile.

    ¡°Fair enough,¡± I smiled back.

    ¡°Besides, it¡¯s not like I don¡¯t get where you¡¯re coming from. It can be intimidating to marry someone completely different from your own race. It¡¯s alright, no hard feelings, Zen. You don¡¯t have to worry about me,¡± she made a sad smile.

    I instinctively reached out to grab her wrist. I don¡¯t want things to be awkward when all three of us need to travel together. I should say it now before I ruined my chance.

    ¡°You don''t intimidate me, Lily. That is not the reason why I didn''t choose you. Listen, about the things I said before. I¡­ might have a change of heart,¡± I told her.

    She looked at me confused. Probably thinking about the things I said to her before. It was then that Rose knocked and opened my door. I immediately released my grip on her wrist but Rose definitely saw me holding her.

    ¡°What were you two doing?~ Fu fu,¡± she sneered.

    ¡°I just apologised to him and that was it. I wish to get some rest,¡± said Lily as she hurried out of my room.

    Rose turned to me and asked whether I had assaulted her or something and I showed her a speechless expression. As though I would do something so impolite to a close friend of mine in the first place.

    ¡°So.. how did things go?¡± she asked.

    ¡°As my wife, you are awfully invested on me getting a second partner. I¡¯ve told her I had a change of heart like you wanted. Can we get some rest while we still can? We have no idea when the bell will start ringing,¡± I asked her.

    ¡°Yeah. We should get some rest. I¡¯ll take the other room so we don''t distract ourselves. Zen, you might think otherwise but I love you. I really really do. Just think of me as being an understanding wife, alright? Rest well.¡± she smiled before exiting my room.

    ¡°That.. or there is something you¡¯re just not telling me,¡± I said to myself.

 Book 2 - Chapter 85

    I fucking knew that it was going to happen in the middle of the night. Good thing I was well rested when the bell started ringing. I¡¯m sure Lily had already heard the commotions before then. The three of us grabbed our bags and out the door within seconds.

    ¡°East gate. Their favourite attack location due to its mountainous terrain. This is the first time they are attacking through a gate. We must hurry,¡± explained Lily.

    Lily''s hearing had always been sharp, probably sharper than most elves that I knew. She must had heard it from the person announcing from the bell tower. Sounds like this round of attack is getting more serious.

    We followed after Lily while ensuring that we were prepared for combat in a moment¡¯s notice. I instinctively moved my hand towards my back to check that my trusty dagger is with me, not that I really needed to but it gives me a peace of mind. Lily had already summoned her legendary gauntlets which glowed with a hint of blue in the dark.

    ¡°Rose, be ready to cast Holy Light,¡± I told her.

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to tell me twice,¡± she chuckled.

    As we approached the gate, there was two soldiers with torches and swords fighting off a monster. Oh, that¡¯s not too bad. But.... where are the other soldiers? I doubt Peter would stationed so little soldiers guarding here if this location is known to being attacked by them. Rose casted Holy Light which brightens our surroundings.

    Oh shit! There are¡­ so many monsters around us hidden in the darkness and these were even larger than the one the soldiers are fighting now, or even those back in the West. Damn it, are they planning an all out assault on the city with these? We started hearing bells ringing even louder and more people shouting in the distance. They probably saw what we were seeing and calling more backup for us.

    I nudged Rose with my elbow and she understood what I asked. She casted a brief moment of Mind Wall on herself.

    ¡°Zen.. these are real. It¡¯s not an illusion,¡± she told me.

    Several of the monsters were hanging from the walls of the cliff, munching on soldier¡¯s bodies. All of them were wearing chain armour but they were chewing on them as though it were paper. Lily shouted to those two soldiers to rush over to where we were as they managed to slain the monster they were fighting earlier.

    ¡°Rose, support us like you always do and cover our backs. Lily, we are going to need a lot of AOE attacks. Don¡¯t stray too far from one another,¡± I said as I summoned my gauntlets and weapons with a flick of my wrists.

    ¡°Yes boss,¡± both of them responded simultaneously.

    I thought I can get away without using my gauntlet''s charges but I guess I won''t be that lucky. The remaining two soldiers were shivering to their knees at the sight of so many giant four-legged beasts glaring at us. I won''t blame them, even I am concerned that we might not make it. Fighting one strong opponent doesn''t give you the fear of being overwhelmed. When you have this many quantity with unknown strengths, it''s just human nature to fear the unknown.

    "Soldiers, hang back and protect White Angel. Lily and I will take the front. You''ve done well thus far. We will live to see another day," I assured them.

    "So much for wanting to track them, Zen. Let us see how many we can kill first," said Lily with a terrified tone.

    "Are you ready?" I asked her which she nodded.

    Both of us raised our gauntlets and two lightnings struck where we stood. A blue and a white lightning powered both of our gauntlets but Lily had some cool looking armour on top of that. I guess that''s why she didn''t need to protect her stomach area when this ice lightning armour of hers covered all the vital points.

    As though on cue, the monsters started attacking us. Many of them leaped at us from all directions but good thing they are not too fast for us to take on. Facing them is one thing, maintaining our speed to chase after them is another. I leaped at those within my vision and sliced through all of them with Inazuma and Tengu-kaze. No reason to use Lightning Strike now when I can still face them head-on.

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    After eliminating them, I leaped back to where our group was to ensure that I always have someone protecting my back. Legions of beast landed where I stood upon earlier. I guess they were not happy that I had slain their brethren. I made a quick glance behind to make sure everything is okay. To my surprise, Lily was using ranged attacks to fight. She was forming some sort of lightning that turned into ice spikes over her gauntlets and she tossed them at the monsters. Had no idea she could do that. But she went berserk when some monsters got too close to her. I can safely say she was holding her punches back when she was sparring with me or Rose. Such was the speed of her punches, yet it decimated those giant monsters with ease.

    Things were going relatively well. Rose were buffing us with her spells and attacking any stray monsters that were foolish enough to attack alone. The two soldiers were sticking close to her which I do not blame them. Rose is an icon for the people and they trust her. It¡¯s a wonder how her reputation is on par with the four great powers in the first place.

    More and more monsters were rushing towards us now. It was getting harder to dodge and attack the sheer amount of them charging at me. I will need to do more or I¡¯ll be overwhelmed. I released Lightning Strike which struck a couple of them that were foolish enough to be in close proximity. But many more were still leaping at my direction. I swung a strong wind pressure after charging Tengu-kaze, slicing cleanly through numerous monsters. Several monsters were starting to hesitate upon seeing so many of their brethren dead from just one swing of Tengu-kaze¡¯s wind pressure. I used Fear spell to scurry them towards the gate.

    I thought I had a moment of peace but I was ambushed from behind which triggered me to instinctively swing my blade. The monster was sliced cleanly in half due to the wind pressure that I had gathered previously. Hang on, I shouldn¡¯t have done that! The wind pressure is heading towards Lily. I shouted to her to dodge my attack but she diverted the wind with a casual swing of her gauntlets.

    ¡°Watch where you¡¯re swinging, Zen!¡± she shouted.

    I was stumped. Not by how easily she diverted my attack but what happens after. A few monsters that were caught in the wind pressure were all.. frozen. What¡¯s going on? Was it supercharged by Lily¡¯s gauntlet or something? Lily was confused as well when she noticed what I was looking at. She even inspected her gauntlets to be sure.

    ¡°Guys?! A little help here!¡± shouted Rose.

    Lily and I answered the call and approached where Rose was. I was extremely shocked when both Kirin and Byakko shouted telepathically at me to ¡°MOVE!¡±

    Things went into slow-motion. My hands moved on instinct as though someone had taken over my body. My left hand swung Tengu-kaze which blew a massive wind towards Rose and the two soldiers. They were swept off their feet and flew to some other location. My right hand reached out to grab Lily¡¯s hip and my legs leaped as far away as possible.

    BBBBOOOOMMMMM!!!!

    Something massive landed which destroyed most of the surrounding buildings. What the fuck just happened? Did a meteor landed inside the city or something? As I regained my bearings, Lily, who I was still hugging by her hips, was staring directly into my eyes.

    ¡°Zen, your eyes,¡± she pondered.

    ¡°Hm? What about them?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Oh, they¡¯re back to normal now. Both your pupils and eye colour were different to one another. I swear I wasn¡¯t seeing things,¡± she said.

    ¡°I think we should focus on what just happened first, shall we? We can talk about my pupils later,¡± I advised her.

    We were on top of one of the buildings. Dust and debris were everywhere but a huge giant silhouette was all I needed to know as to what just happened. A tall monster was shrieking in the distance. Oh my lord, how are we going to fight that thing? I hope Rose is alright after getting blown away by Tengu-kaze. What in the world is this giant monster doing here? Is this the mastermind that is controlling all these monsters? If that is true, we need to bring it down once and for all.

    ¡°Is that¡­. a Bokushi no Kemono? But why? And how?¡± asked Lily without expecting an answer.

    ¡°Bokushi no Kemono? Chaplain Beast? Tell me more, Lily,¡± I asked her.

    ¡°I¡¯ve only read them in folklores from the elven library. It was said that a Chaplain Beast is a cursed being doomed to roam the world alone, forever in pain from the sins it had committed. When sighted, avoid it at all costs as it is extremely aggressive due to the constant pain that it is suffering. But.. why is it here? It¡¯s supposed to belong in another realm. Not here,¡± she explained.

    ¡°If what you say is true, then this is not the one pulling the strings for these monster attacks. Perhaps it was guided here by the mastermind himself. And that means we have to kill it to prevent more damage to the city. Damn it, we were supposed to be on a tracking mission instead,¡± I scratched my head.

    ¡°One step at a time, Zen. Let us focus on what¡¯s in front of us. I¡¯m sure Peter and his soldiers is already on their way to help us. We just need to hold until reinforcements arrive,¡± she reached into her pouch and released a flare into the sky.

    Another giant being to fight right after Baku. Sheesh, is there no end to it? Good thing it is much much smaller than Baku so it is sort of doable I suppose. Will need fight seriously if I don¡¯t wish to get squished by it.

    ¡°Zen, I¡¯m sure this is not a good time, but I don¡¯t wish to regret not telling you. I still love you, and I forever will,¡± she smiled brightly at me.

    I approached and hugged her. It might not be appropriate but I wanted her to have a reason to live for. Even if we¡¯re not together. I don¡¯t want her to feel alone just because she is not by my side.

    ¡°Me too, Lily. So don¡¯t you die on me,¡± I whispered to her.

    ¡°Okay,¡± she replied softly.

    Something was flying at a distance. Oh no, please don¡¯t tell me they fly now? Oh good, it¡¯s just Rose using sacred wings flying towards our direction. You should slow down now, honey. Slow down.. why aren''t you slowing down? Hey hey.. wait!

    I fell backwards as she flew towards me attempting to hug me. What a reckless waifu I have.

    ¡°Superb thinking and reflex, onii-chan! You saved all of us in the nick of time!¡± she shouted while hugging me.

    ¡°What can I say? I told you that I¡¯ll do my best to keep you alive. I take it that the other two soldiers are alive as well?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ve brought them to safety. Guess they won¡¯t be defending the city anytime soon as their morale are extremely low right now. Probably due to the fact that they had seen their colleagues or friends eaten alive,¡± she replied.

    The three of us turned our head towards the Chaplain Beast who started shrieking loudly again but had not moved an inch from where it fell. Here¡¯s hoping that it might had broke its legs from the impact earlier.

    ¡°Are we¡­ really going to fight that thing? It seems to be in pain,¡± asked Rose.

    ¡°Doubt we have much of a choice if we wish to prevent further destruction upon the city. Did you happened to see what happened to the other monsters when you were flying around?¡± I asked.

    ¡°A lot of them had died from the impact while some had exited the city, or is running rampant inside. The soldiers and adventurers are coming to help out. I couldn¡¯t see Peter anywhere though,¡± she answered.

    ¡°I hope the monster I caught is still alive. But looking at the destruction, it might had been smashed to bits by the impact or from all the rubbles,¡± sighed Lily.

    ¡°As you said, let us focus at the task at hand. We¡¯ll figure something out after this. Let¡¯s move out, our furry friend is on the move now,¡± I said as the Chaplain Beast started walking.

 Book 2 - Chapter 86

    Chaplain Beast. A 30 feet monster covered in fur from top to bottom making it taller than the majority of the surrounding buildings here. With an elongated body, jaw, hands and legs, it is something straight out of a horror gothic theme. It had plenty of horns protruding above its head and it has excess skins that made it looked like it had a cloak. It had 3 slits on its face but only two eyes were opened. Whatever this thing is, we need to bring it down now.

    Cannon fires hit its mark but nothing was slowing it down. It didn¡¯t even seemed as though cannon balls had any effect on it as it bounced off from its body. We have no idea what it¡¯s objective is but it seems to be heading straight towards the city centre. We need to find a way to stop it in its tracks. But nothing seems to be able to pierce its thick hide. Not even Inazuma powered by Lightning Charge and Dark Slash can pierce through when it was capable of harming the Underwater Dragon King¡¯s diamond scales with it.

    ¡°What are we going to do? Nothing seems to be stopping this monster. Where is Peter when we need him?¡± asked Rose in frustration.

    ¡°He¡¯s probably sorting things out in the city. Don¡¯t forget, our daughter is with him. We need to figure things out ourselves. I have a dumb idea. Lily, follow me. Rose, you stay up here and keep a look out for danger,¡± I leaped down from a building with Lily tagging along.

    ¡°What do you have in mind?¡± asked Lily.

    ¡°You remembered what you did to my wind pressure attack earlier? It literally froze any surrounding monsters that happened to be in its way. I want to see if it works on this Chaplain Beast,¡± I explained.

    ¡°Uhh.. alright, sure. What have we got to lose?¡± she shrugged.

    We stood behind the beast. It was still making it¡¯s way towards the city centre for some reason. I am amazed that it is even able to walk with those elongated hands and legs. That is not normal appendages. Cannon shots were still being fired on its body but it paid it no mind. For something to be tougher than dragon hide, I am tempted to flay this beast and turn it into my next cloak. Heh heh.

    ¡°You ready?¡± I asked Lily.

    ¡°I guess, hit me what you got, handsome,¡± smirked Lily.

    She¡¯s enjoying this, isn¡¯t she? I gathered power to Tengu-kaze and swung a wind pressure at her. She deflected it skilfully, but¡­ it went the wrong way!

    ¡°W.. what are you doing?!¡± I shouted at her.

    ¡°I¡¯m not skilled at re-directing an attack, okay! I am trained to deflect but not redirect. Hit me again!¡± she shouted back.

    I almost chuckled at her remarks but curled my lips instead, holding back my laughter. Once again I sent wind pressure towards her but she only got it right at her third try. Did it work? Did we freeze the beast somehow?

    The Chaplain Beast stopped in its tracks and inspected its left hand that was hit by our frozen wind pressure. It gripped its fist which broke the ice that was forming around it. In a span of a second, it suddenly shrieked and leaped at us. Holy shit! What¡¯s with the sudden aggression?!

    ¡°Get out of the way!!¡± I shouted as I reached for safety.

    ¡°Accelerate!¡± I heard Rose casting from a distance.

    The Chaplain Beast was chasing after us with aggression that I had not seen before. We need to split or we will end up getting stomped by it.

    ¡°Split off! I¡¯ll be the bait!¡± I shouted to Lily as I ran in a different direction.

    It definitely hates me as it chased after me intently, destroying any buildings obstructing like it was nothing just to bite or grab me. I leaped into the air as it¡¯s jaw almost bit me. I pulled my cloak back, exposing my right gauntlet to charge it with lightning. I spun my body, avoiding its hands attempting to grab me. A trail of lightning followed after me as it tried to reach my gauntlet as I ran full speed. I ran along its arm, heading closer to its face.

    I felt the impact of the lightning as it touches upon my gauntlet and I roared with fury. I almost shouted ¡°Chidori!¡± but sadly it does not have the same effect as it. I gripped the Chaplain Beast in the face and released a point blank Lightning Strike. That had to have done something, this was strong enough to kill the Demon Queen when she was in her first phase before.

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    There was a moment of silence after I¡¯ve shocked it. Did I¡­ kill it? That can¡¯t be right. For something that was capable of withstand cannons fires and my fully charged Inazuma combo, I do not believe that it will fall that easily. Folklore creatures are in books for a reason.

    As if on cue, I swore I could hear Latin words chanting in the background. In an instant, what I thought was a scar in between its eyes turned out to be a third eye that opened vertically. A giant red eye with strange pupils and iris was staring directly at me in the face. I started panicking and jumped as far as I could, away from the Chaplain Beast.

    It started shrieking extremely loud, forcing me to use my hands to cover my ears. Its hands started moving towards the chest area. What is it doing? Hang on, is it for real? It started gripping on its rib cage so tightly that it is starting to bleed. What, is it going to pull out its rib cage or something?

    A loud crunching snap could be heard as what I predicted came true. The front half of its front rib cage was snapped apart as it held it up with both of its hands. W.. what the hell is going on? Is it offering it¡¯s rib cage to it¡¯s God or something? But in doing so, it has given us an opportunity to attack its internal organs now that they are exposed.

    The ribs started shining with blinding lights. I am really at a loss for words as to what it is trying to do exactly. I had to shield my eyes from the lights as I struggled to see what it was trying to do. The lights died down and the beast was no longer holding the half ribs. It seems to have wrapped around its body, providing a sort of blackish bone armour. Damn it! As though its thick hide wasn¡¯t bad enough, now we have this obsidian bones to content with?

    In an instant, a ray of light shot from its third eye, Wait, that is a laser! It swung it¡¯s head up and loud explosion could be heard. Shit! How many casualties did that attack caused? We need to take this thing down right now before it fires that damn laser again.

    I leaped closer, trying to find a vantage point but it immediately shot its laser at me. Once again my left hand moved on its own and casted Rend, pulling my indestructible spectral cloak from the fabric of reality into this realm. It was luck that the laser hit my spectral cloak and not anywhere else or I would had been dismembered. But I was still being pushed back by the strength of the laser.

    I landed some distance away from the beast but was relatively unscathed. I know who was protecting me in my time of need. Kirin and Byakko, I thank you for helping me out. But how are we going to bring this beast down? Is there anything that it is weak against in the first place?

    From a distance, I can see ice spikes being thrown at the beast and a small white being flying around. I know full well who are fighting the beast right now and I need to help them. I made haste towards the beast, making full use of my time to figure out a weakness that might be possible. It felt as though I was overlooking an important piece of information here. But what could it be? Hmm.. I am going to need Rose to figure it out with me.

    ***

    The three of us hid behind some building away from the Chaplain Beast. It doesn¡¯t seems to be firing its laser now as it was fixated on finding us instead of destroying the city. Glad we¡¯re able to gained it¡¯s interest despite being a nuisance.

    ¡°How long are we going to fight this thing? Is there really no weakness that we can exploit?¡± whispered Lily.

    ¡°Nothing I tried seems to be working. Not even Lightning Strike or Charge is doing any effect on it. There must be something that we had overlooked,¡± I placed my hand on my chin.

    Rose turned towards me and I nodded. Lily was confused as what we are planning to do and was surprised when the both of us sat down with our legs crossed and closed our eyes.

    ¡°Y.. you guys! Now is not the time to be thinking!¡± shouted Lily with a soft tone.

    ¡°Shhh¡­ we''re trying to think here. Give us a moment of peace, please,¡± I shushed her.

    What are we missing here? Let¡¯s start from the beginning. It started with us finding the two soldiers fighting against a single monster. But.. why didn¡¯t the other monsters attacked them while the other soldiers were decimated? Is it because they were fighting? I highly doubt these beasts understands what it means to be fighting honourably. Or perhaps they had something that the monsters didn¡¯t like? Hang on¡­ can it be?

    I opened my eyes and it would seemed that Rose had made reached the same conclusion as me. I think there is something we can try to see whether it works.

    ¡°Lily, can you lend me your wine?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°H.. huh? Are you planning to drink it? Elven wine is not really for human consumption, Zen,¡± she warned me.

    ¡°Just lend it to me. I¡¯ll get you another one, don¡¯t worry,¡± I assured her.

    She handed me her wine and I took out a small bottle and poured it in. She seems to be heartbroken when she saw me pouring quite an amount from it into my small bottle. Then I took out some of my bandages and soaked it with the wine. This is where my lighter comes in handy. I passed her back her bottle of wine which still had a small amount remaining.

    I lit the bandages which was attached to the contents of the small bottle and tossed it towards the Chaplain Beast. A makeshift molotov using Elven Wine which had ridiculously high percentage of alcohol in it, that is going to burn real nicely. Lily had her mouth agape when she saw what I did to her precious wine. To turn her precious wine into a molotov, she must be speechless after she saw what I just did.

    ¡°You.. you¡­ you¡­¡­. Zen!! You evil monster!! That wine was precious to me! And you just turned it into a molotov?! Now I barely have any left!¡± she started hitting me.

    ¡°I¡¯ll buy you more next time, alright? High quality ones. I promise!¡± I grabbed her hand to stop her from hitting me.

    Even though she was not hitting me with much force, it still kind of hurts as her strength was way above a normal human being.

    ¡°It¡¯s Elven wine, Zen. You won¡¯t be able to purchase any as it is sacred to the elves. Sigh, I guess I¡¯ll just have to suck it up for lending it to you in the first place. Ugh, my precious wine,¡± she started sobbing while stroking her flask.

    ¡°Try me, you¡¯ll be surprised,¡± I told her.

    I was more fixated on what was happening to the beast. The molotov landed beautifully on the Chaplain Beast and it was starting to shriek. But it was not the usual shriek that it did before. This is the shriek of pain. I guess it seems to be working really well. It would seemed that beasts are weak against fire. Its no wonder the two soldiers were not attacked as they were holding torches. That was probably the reason why they were still alive when we reached them.

    ¡°Lily, we are going to need you for this. You are the only one that can use fire spell. You take point and I¡¯ll cover you,¡± I told her.

    ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll do it. I¡¯m going to hold onto your words about you buying me an Elven wine,¡± she bump-fisted her gauntlets together.

    ¡°Rose, announce to the soldiers and adventurers that they are weak against fire. Find whatever flammable they can and throw at the Chaplain Beast when they can. Doesn¡¯t matter if they are unable to light it, just toss at it and we¡¯ll handle the rest,¡± I advised her.

    ¡°Will do. Stay alive you two. I¡¯ll cast some support spells when I can. I¡¯ll be back soon,¡± she casted Sacred Wings and flew towards her objective.

    I guess it is just the two of us again. Now that we had found it¡¯s weakness, time for us to end this. There is too much destruction you had caused upon the city. I shall grant you the peace that you were looking for, Chaplain Beast. I shall end your suffering.

 Book 2 - Chapter 87

    Soldiers were starting to come on their own. Tossing molotov or oils at the Chaplain Beast, dousing cannon balls with oil before firing and shooting flaming arrows at it. While the effects were minimal, it would seemed that it is hurting the beast continuously.

    All around the city we can hear people scurrying to safety or adventurers fighting against monsters. From what Rose informed me earlier when she went scouting, more beasts were pouring through the Eastern Gate. This is definitely an all out assault on the city. Whoever the mastermind is, I am going to make him pay.

    I faced towards Lily once again, with wind gathered around Tengu-kaze. But this time, we are trying with fire instead. Since both of us does not have any ranged fire attacks, this was something that I thought of hoping that it might work. Doesn¡¯t hurt to try, I guess.

    Lily deflected the wind pressure towards the Chaplain Beast with her fire spell but it dissipated before it even reaches the beast. Right, fire uses air to burn. What the hell am I thinking, hoping that a fire wind pressure would work? There is only hot or cold air, there is no such thing as fire air, you doofus.

    Lily was holding back her laughter after what she saw. I sighed loudly and scratched my head. We need something to fight this Chaplain Beast. The worse scenario is for Lily to fight it up close on her own but I am worried. It¡¯s risky to fight close combat with this beast as it is surprisingly nimble despite those elongated limbs. But do we have a choice? Maybe I¡¯ll just be her meat shield when she fights with it.

    ¡°Zen.. your blade,¡± said Lily.

    I inspected my blade and¡­ what? There was a sort of spinning fiery effect enveloping Tengu-kaze. I did not even realised that I had my blade close to Lily¡¯s gauntlets when I moved closer to her. But for it to catch fire from Lily¡¯s fire spell? That had never happened before. Will this really work? It would appear that a steady amount of wind was keeping the fire alive. Maybe Byakko is helping me to maintain the fire spell around the blade.

    I held Tengu-kaze in front of me and tried communicating with Byakko. ¡°Just fight on. I¡¯ll do what I can to keep the barbecue going¡± was what Byakko replied. I guess it might work. Not that I had tried this before.

    ¡°Ready, Zen? We have to go now or this will never end,¡± asked Lily.

    ¡°You go ahead. There¡¯s something I want to try. Stay safe Lily,¡± I told her.

    She nodded and proceeded towards the Chaplain Beast. I headed towards a different direction instead, preferably behind the beast as there is something I wish to try again without knowing whether it¡¯ll work. I started gathering more wind around Tengu-kaze. The spinning fire was getting larger by the seconds despite it not being hot to my touch. Hell, I don¡¯t even feel any heat coming from my blade. Is this because it is due to it being a fire spell rather than real fire? Will this work against the beast then if there is no heat? No point pondering about it, now is the time for action.

    I raised Tengu-kaze above my head two-handed. A giant vortex of spinning flame started swirling around it. Perhaps I can spread the fire around it¡¯s body with a swing from Tengu-kaze. I got really close to the beast and I am certain that the fire will burn the beast before it dissipates. I hope it doesn¡¯t fail as horribly as my previous idea. Let¡¯s try then, I¡¯ve got nothing to lose!

    I swung Tengu-kaze vertically sideways. I needed to swirl the fire in hopes of catching its furs or skins. But I was dead wrong. The giant swirling fire of death flew towards the beast instead of spreading apart. It looked like a giant flaming beehive heading towards the beast. I smacked my head once again as what I imagined became something different instead. It¡¯s just going to hit the beast and dissipates. Not strong enough for it to bother with.

    The giant swirling fire hit the Chaplain Beast dead on. But it started spreading around more. It was as though the fire was alive and still in a spinning mood that it literally started engulfing the Chaplain Beast in it¡¯s entirety. The beast roared in pain as it¡¯s whole body was being charred alive. The smell of burnt flesh filled the air which was intoxicating to breathe. But I knew this was not enough to kill it. I need to gather more fire to kill this thing but the fire was gone from Tengu-kaze now. I need Lily to give me more of her fire spell.

    The fire dissipated from the beast¡¯s body and was now glaring at me with piercing eyes. I knew what it was going to do and I readied myself to leap at a moment¡¯s notice. It tried to fire it¡¯s laser at me but someone punched it¡¯s face so hard that it swung in the opposite direction. Lily had delivered a massive heavy punch towards the Chaplain Beast¡¯s face and then proceeded to punched it on the chest. Despite using fire spell, it had minimal effect on the beast¡¯s obsidian bones. Probably her actual punch did more damage than her fire damage.

    Lily went berserk as she swapped to using her ice lightning spells instead. As she ran after the beast, her footprints started to show signs of ice being left behind. Is she overexerting herself? I can only support her from the sides, hopefully to protect her from any unexpected attack.

    She was on a rampage. Continuously striking on the obsidian bones that was covering the beast. With each strike from Lily, blue lightning erupted from where she punched and turned to ice. It seems like her attacks are working. The beast is slowing down and I can see the formed ice cracking from Lily¡¯s continuous assault.

    The beast tried to strike back by trying to grab her or swipe her aside but it¡¯s movement was slowing down significantly as more ice formed around it¡¯s body giving Lily plenty of opportunity to avoid these slow attacks skilfully. With a roar of defiance, she delivered an earth shattering punch that smashed apart the black bones protecting the chest of the beast, revealing all the vital organs inside.

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    Lily did not hesitate and ran closer to the beast as far as she could. She leaped as high as she could and summoned a bolt of blue lightning from the sky which she grabbed upon.

    ¡°GO!!¡± she shouted as loudly as she could and tossed the massive blue lightning directly into the exposed chest of the Chaplain Beast.

    Where the lightning spreads, ice formed all around it. I guess that is what you call frozen lightning I suppose. I don¡¯t think the beast is able to escape now that majority of its body is frozen. It is only a matter of time until the light of the beast fades out.

    As a last act of defiance, the beast shot a massive laser towards Lily. At such close range, Lily knew she could not avoid it in time and closed her eyes, accepting her fate once again. But I had already predicted that the Chaplain Beast would not go down without attempting to kill her.

    I shoved Lily aside and blocked the laser with Tengu-kaze, but the force of the laser sent me flying backwards. How long until this beast dies?! I am going to hit the walls of the city soon if this beast doesn¡¯t stop its laser! I couldn¡¯t think of any method of escaping until I realised that the laser was being redirected towards another direction by Tengu-kaze.

    Despite my fingers and forearm getting numbed from the force of the laser, I began twisting Tengu-kaze, making sure that I was redirecting it at the correct angle that I want it to go. I roared as hard as I can as I used all of my strength to twist Tengu-kaze, redirecting the laser to slice off the Chaplain Beast¡¯s head. The laser stopped instantly and I curled myself to brace for the impact against the city walls.

    SMASH!

    Yeouch! That hurts but I¡¯m okay. My red dragonhide hide cloak dampen the impact. But what about the Chaplain Beast? Is it finally dead? I strained my eyes to see what happened to the beast despite the surroundings was still pretty dark. It would appear that the laser had sliced the beast from the left neck to the right armpit. However, it stopped falling midway as it¡¯s entire body is completely frozen solid from Lily¡¯s ice lightning spell.

    We did it, right? The Chaplain Beast is finally dead? I was hoping for some giant sign or background music to stop playing but the city went relatively quiet now when there is no 30 feet monster shrieking or wreaking destruction every few seconds.

    I dropped to the ground and did a self-body checkup on myself. Other than my aching forearm, fingers and back, I think I¡¯m good. No major injuries which I am thankful for. I should head back to check on Lily. I hope she his fine after I shoved her aside because of the laser.

    I saw her lying flat on her back, on the ground. Shit! Is she alright?

    ¡°Hey, are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?¡± I asked her as I crouched down to inspect her body of injuries.

    ¡°H.. Hey¡­ I just can¡¯t feel my legs. Probably I¡¯ve overexerted my strength. I¡¯ll be back on my feet after I¡¯ve rested a while. So glad we were well-rested before this started,¡± she chuckled.

    ¡°No can do, princess. It¡¯s not exactly safe out here. If you don¡¯t mind..¡± I trailed off as I carried her princess style.

    ¡°Wha¡­.. you don¡¯t have to do this! Zen! Put me down!¡± she suddenly started wriggling like a fish.

    ¡°Hey, hey, stop wriggling or I might drop you. You deserved this for defeating the Chaplain Beast. Think of it as a reward,¡± I smiled at her.

    She began hitting me gently on my right collarbone area. But it quickly turned to her playing with it using her index finger. Um, not a great time to be stimulating me in the middle of a combat zone, Lily.

    ¡°How many times does that make it now? Four, was it? I had already resigned myself to the fact that you will always be there to save me when it matters,¡± she whispered.

    Is she talking to me or is she just talking out loud? Either way, I have to get us to safety in case of an ambush. Can¡¯t fight when I¡¯m carrying Lily like this. Where is Rose or the city soldiers? I just followed after the voices of people calling out to head for safety. There should be soldiers around somewhere.

    ¡°You resurrected me from the dead, Lily. I¡¯ll safe you as much time as I need to,¡± I smiled at her.

    ¡°Zen¡­ I¡­. Never mind,¡± she stopped.

    ¡°Speak your mind, Lily. I¡¯m listening,¡± I said.

    ¡°But¡­ okay. I don¡¯t know what you meant entirely when you said that you had a change of heart. But you.. got me feeling hopeful. Zen.. I don¡¯t need to be your wife. I don¡¯t mind being a side-lined caretaker for your family or just someone you wish to vent your lust at. Can I¡­ be selfish in thinking that you will love me back?¡± she covered her face.

    It was still dark but I knew that she was blushing. For her to even say such things just to stand a chance to be with me, I do not deserved this woman at all. But¡­ it¡¯s not the right time to be with her just yet. I have a feeling that things are going to get worse from here.

    ¡°Let¡¯s talk more about this when this is over. I promise that I¡¯ll give you a straight answer. Lily.. you don¡¯t need to degrade yourself to deserve my love. As though I would allow the most beautiful elf I know to force herself to be a side caretaker just to be with me. As to the answer to your question..¡± I trailed off.

    She was still covering her face but her lips were exposed. I leaned in to give her a kiss. A warning in my brain was sounding an alarm that what I am doing is a horrible thing to my wife but she was the one who insisted that I get along with her. If anything, she is to be blamed for kept pushing me. I just have to accept the fact that she have a reason for wanting me to make Lily my second wife.

    She moved her hands aside when she realised I was kissing her. It was only for a brief moment before we parted our lips. I don¡¯t wish to get too intimate with her out here in the open. Where the hell are those soldiers? They should be close now as I can hear people shouting louder than before.

    ¡°You.. horrible naughty man. You just cheated on your wife,¡± Lily buried her face on my chest.

    Her elven ears were bright red. I guess it¡¯s been awhile since she got intimate with anyone. Such a beauty and only I had touched, kissed and slept with. Geez, what am I thinking about? Feeling superior over other guys just because you stood at chance at these two beauties? Don¡¯t think too highly of yourself, Zen Hawthorn. You just got lucky.

    ¡°I guess I can¡¯t hide the fact that my heart is beating fast since your ear is right next to it,¡± I chuckled.

    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ soothing to hear. I might get addicted to it,¡± she chuckled back.

    The sound of footsteps landed on the ground. I turned to see who it was and it was Rose panting. She must had been flying around the city looking for us or supporting the soldiers. We don¡¯t have her flight mobility so we are very dependent on our legs instead of her wings.

    ¡°Geez.. I know I¡¯ve given permission but to flirt during combat is just¡­¡± she sighed.

    ¡°No no! I¡¯m sorry, Rose! I just overexerted my legs fighting earlier. We weren¡¯t flirting,¡± Lily started flustering and wriggling to get back on her feet.

    I placed her down and her leg was shaking from side to side. I guess she wasn¡¯t lying after all. I thought she just wanted me to spoil her.

    ¡°What¡¯s the situation, Rose? Where are the soldiers? Please don¡¯t tell me they are wiped out,¡± I asked.

    ¡°Things are stabilising now. Most of the soldiers are at the eastern gate trying to stop them from coming in. But I would say that since you¡¯ve taken down the Chaplain Beast, a lot of them had started fleeing. I guess we won¡¯t be able to track them after all this time. Might have to wait for the next round of their attack,¡± she explained.

    ¡°Wait.. things might not be over yet. Can you carry me to where we were fighting the monsters near the gate? Perhaps all is not lost,¡± asked Lily.

    Rose nodded and I followed after the both of them on foot. It was a small race that I challenged myself to see who was faster. As it turns out, we actually reached the same time. But Rose was carrying Lily so her speed was hindered in some way. But I am running on foot and there were plenty of obstacles for me to avoid. Is my speed faster than Rose? What a pointless thing I do during my free time.

    ¡°Now, let¡¯s see. Please be alive,¡± she mumbled.

    She placed her hands on her ears and pushed it forward. Those soft ears of hers are nice to nibble at last I recall. W¡­ what the hell is wrong with me? My brain kept thinking of stupid things right now! Control yourself you horny moron!

    We kept quiet but Rose was looking at me smacking my own forehead. She shushed me to keep quiet so we don¡¯t disturb Lily as she listened to what she was looking for.

    ¡°Can it be?¡± she started moving towards the direction of some rubbles.

    We followed after her, helping her to remove some rubbles aside. Please be good news. Who knows what is going to happen next time the monster attacks. There might be more beasts or something worse than that Chaplain Beast.

    Pushing aside the remaining last rubble, we found what we were looking for. A beast, legs fully tied together from Lily¡¯s bola, and best of all, still breathing. Yes! We finally stand a chance at finding who is behind these attacks. And I am not going to give any mercy to the mastermind behind these attacks. Mark my words. I am coming for you.

 Book 2 - Chapter 88

    ¡°We will need to break one of it¡¯s legs,¡± I said out loud.

    It¡¯s been a couple of days since we officially defended the city against the monsters attack. The city is still in the state of recovering from the damages caused mostly by the Chaplain Beast. There were minimal casualties but something unfortunate happened that brought down our moods.

    Peter was caught in the rubbles trying to protect Mr Wick and Daisy during the initial laser attack by the Chaplain Beast. It was our fault to push him to care for Daisy but he denied and said that his age and his carelessness was the reason that he couldn¡¯t avoid it in time. It was just a leg injury so his life is not at stake but he¡¯ll be bedridden for a couple of days to a week depending on his healing capabilities.

    He shooed us to begin our tracking mission after we had explained to him that we had successfully captured one of the beast. It was being held captive in one of the most secured prison available here as we cannot afford to allow it to escape.

    Which brings us to where we are now, in the operations chamber to do an anatomy inspection on the beast and to sew the elven bell underneath it''s skin. This suggestion was given by Lily as this would minimise the chance of it being caught by something or removed by other beasts. She assured us that she can still hear it at a distance despite being underneath the beast¡¯s skin. And this is where I made the suggestion of breaking one of it''s legs.

    There were quite a few people around the room studying the beast. From high ranking officers to doctors and scientists that may shed some light on their weak-spots to their dietary preferences and their reproductive organs. But all of them turned to look at me when I made that suggestion.

    "W.. why do we need to break it''s leg for?" asked one of the scientists.

    "Because we need to slow down the beast in order for us to be able to keep tracking it by sound. The hind leg would be more preferable," I answered.

    "I don''t think that would be appropriate seeing that we are still studying the beast," answered another one of the eggheads in the room.

    "I''m not saying right now but eventually we will have to. You don''t have the luxury of inspecting this beast for long. You have plenty of time with the other dead specimens to inspect. We need this one for tracking purposes," I answered firmly.

    "There will be no violence or cruelty in this room," one of the more senior scientists came to warned.

    "I''m sorry... cruel? You do realised that there are hundreds of dead soldiers and adventurers out there who gave their lives because these beasts decided to attack the city just a few days ago. Families that had their lives and homes ruined from the attack. This city.... Your city, is now in ruins, disrepair and will probably take months just to get back in shape. And you call this cruelty? You better pray to the lords above that another attack doesn''t take place anytime soon or you won''t have a city to live in," I warned all of them.

    Rose confronted me and pushed me away from the operating table. She placed her hand on my chest and stared into my eyes. She probably thought that I was losing my temper but I was not. I just stated the truth and she realised it soon after. She breathe a sigh of relief and petted me on the head, just because she is taller than me doesn''t mean she can treat me like her little pet.

    SMASH!

    A loud smash followed by a sick crunching sound erupted from somewhere within the room. All of us were stunned by the sudden event except for the one who made the noise. It would appear that Lily had broken the hind leg of the beast with her fist. To be able to break such thick bones without her gauntlet at that, yikes. Just how thick are her bones to be able to break the hind leg of the beast?

    The beast awoke from the sudden pain, roaring and struggling to free itself from the restraints. Doctors and officers rushed in to hold down the beast while one of them rushed to inject sedatives into it¡¯s bloodstream for quicker effects.

    "I believe you were trying to test the healing factor of the beast earlier. Feel free to do so. You have until tomorrow where we will begin our mission," spat Lily.

    "Y.. you can''t be serious? This is an important research for us to discover more about the beast attacking us. We need this information to help us, all of us," explained one of the doctors.

    "I am afraid Mister Zen have the blessings of our founder and have every right to do so. And I do agree that there is no cruelty in this when our opponent is slaughtering us without mercy," said one of the high ranking officers.

    "Gentlemen, might I remind you that time, is of the essence," said a familiar voice through a microphone.

    The doctors coveted at the sound of his voice and proceeded to do whatever they needed to research on the beast. The three of us headed out to meet with the speaker. We knocked on the door and he allowed us to head in.

    Mr Wick was there, overseeing the operations that these people are doing through a glass window. His voice is basically the order of Peter himself. And here I thought that Mr Wick was just a simple commander when I first met him the first time.

    "I trust that you will be giving us an update on whatever information they are able to find? We will begin our quest at dawn tomorrow," I informed him.

    "And you shall have it. I swear these people will never come to terms that you are one of his greatest students not to mention a member of the great powers. It would appear that their discipline with rankings are.. questionable as of late," he said as he gripped on a pencil tightly.

    "Woah woah.. like they said, no need for violence in that room. That pencil have done you no harm, so you should put it down," I tried to calm him down.

    "You can be assured that everything will be in place at dawn tomorrow. East gate. Your room had been extended and thankfully it was not destroyed by the so called Chaplain Beast. Rest well, ladies and gentleman. We are all counting on you," he bowed to us.

    ***

    "Are we heading straight back to our tavern? I feel like we should go for a walk as it''s still pretty early," asked Lily.

    It was still midday and there was nothing else for us to do for the rest of the day. I told both of them that there was something I wanted to see and both of them told me to lead the way.

    We reached the site in question and it was a magnificently beautiful scene. The Chaplain Beast was still completely frozen with no sign of thawing, and it is breathtaking when the sunlight bounces off around it.

    "Wow.. a little overkill, isn''t it, Lily?" chuckled Rose.

    "I might had. I needed to make sure that it stays dead. Who knew what else is this beast going to do. Good thing ice works on it as much as fire does," she scratched her head with her tongue out trying to act cute.

    "About that new power of yours, Lily. Does it uses charges? What''s the name of your legendary gauntlets?" I asked her curiously.

    "Heh heh, trying to figure out my weakness? I don''t have charges if that''s what you''re asking. It mostly uses cooldown though. It''s called "Breath of Kuraokami" and I ain''t telling what other spells I have. Fu fu," she smirked.

    "Well.. let''s see. So far you''re able to freeze time, summon an ice dome to reduce people''s speed, toss ice spikes, deliver punches that spreads frozen lightning on impact and toss a giant frozen lightning spear that you call from the sky. Did I miss anything out?" I grinned evilly at her.

    "Y.. you.. memorised all of my spells?! Why would you do that?!" she started hitting me softly.

    ¡°Of course I need to! We¡¯ll be travelling together and I need to know what your new capabilities are. I¡¯ve known Rose¡¯s strength since we often trained together. We rarely keep any secrets from each other so we can support each other properly,¡± I explained to her.

    ¡°Well¡­ I don¡¯t know about that,¡± Rose started whistling and moved her eyes away.

    ¡°What do you mean by that?¡± I squinted at her.

    She continued whistling trying to avoid answering me. I sighed and changed the topic as I know I am not getting anything out of her.

    ¡°Right, let¡¯s move to the next thing. Who¡¯s going to be the team leader for the upcoming mission?¡± I asked both of them.

    In the exact same time and motion, both of them pointed at me. I thought of raising concerns but quickly gave up on it. These two share the same brain cells one way or another. It¡¯s the reason why the both of them get along so well in the first place.

    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

    ¡°I wonder if Peter will keep this frozen beast somewhere. It¡¯s beautiful and certainly a marvel to look at,¡± said Rose.

    ¡°Why would anyone want to keep this thing for? We should smash it apart and be done with it,¡± sighed Lily.

    ¡°It¡¯s your trophy, Lily. I believe Peter would be delighted to keep this in his museum. ¡®Chaplain Beast, frozen in time, by Lily Moonshine¡¯. Haha, seems cool, doesn''t it?¡± I smiled with affection.

    ¡°Well.. if you put it that way. I guess it¡¯s fine if he chooses to keep it,¡± she shrugged.

    "One question, your frozen lightning is not affected by heat? There''s no signs that it is melting even with direct sunlight," I asked her.

    "No.. my spells are quite special. No ordinary sunlight is going to ever melt this thing, nor will it melt ever again," she stared at it her trophy with passion.

    ¡°Alright, what''s next? Is this all you wanted to see, onii-chan?¡± asked Rose.

    ¡°There¡¯s one more location I wish to visit. Got to keep my promise to a certain someone,¡± I chuckled as I headed towards a direction.

    Both of them looked at each other confused. They are probably wondering what promise that I was referring to. Well, they just have to follow along to figure it out.

    ***

    I knocked on the door of the location I wanted to visit. There was barely any signboard stating the name for this store aside from a logo of a diamond square shaped with a long haired mermaid on top of the door frame.

    Upon opening, there was nothing but barrels all over the reception area. The only thing out of place was a table in the middle of the room with an old candle, a box of matches and a bell.

    I walked up to the table and rang the bell. First impression, I am about to do something illegal from Rose and Lily¡¯s perspectives. Truth be told, I am sort of doing something illegal. But hey, that''s what connections are for. I waited for the person in question to appear from the backroom before I proceed to do anything else.

    ¡°Who are we waiting for, onii-chan?¡± whispered Rose.

    ¡°Oh, you¡¯ll see,¡± I smiled to both of them.

    Someone hunched back hiding behind a cloak appeared and took a peek from behind the door. Even without showing himself, I knew he was grinning after he saw me. He was practically giggling as he approached the table.

    "Greetings, Master Zen. To what do I owe the pleasure? Heh heh," he giggled.

    "A pleasure to see you again, Quasimortuus. How have you been?" I asked him as I lit the candle.

    I placed it in the middle of the table, lifted it up once more and blew it directly at him.

    "How did you beat the mold?" I smirked at him.

    "Heh hehe.. I¡¯m glad you still remember, follow me right this way," he gestured us to follow him to the backroom.

    I gestured both Rose and Lily to follow after me but keep close. We headed downstairs to what looked like a creepy empty room with couches. It wasn''t brightly lit but there was another door where no one can ever peek into. Pretty sure that is where he keeps all his merchandise but no one is allowed to see what is inside.

    "Juice or wine?" he giggled.

    "Wine for the silver lady and juice for the rest," I said.

    "Just juice for all of us, please," Lily overwrote my words quickly.

    "What are you looking for this time, Master Zen? Please tell me it has something to do with both of them," he licked his lips as he passed us a cup of juice.

    Both of them were grossed by his demeanour but I gave him a straight answer to ease tension in the room.

    "I''m looking for the finest elven wine, do you happened to have one?" I asked him straight.

    "Heh heh.. as a matter of fact, I do. And what do you have to offer?" he giggled.

    I reached into hip pouch and pulled out a potion and recipe. He seems intrigued by it.

    "My offer, the all stats potion including the recipe. And you, my friend, will be the only one in the world that will have access to this recipe," I smirked as I lifted it up for him to see.

    "My my.. what generous offer you made. Are you sure an elven wine is all that you need?" he giggled.

    "Finest elven wine, mind you. And what else are you willing to trade for this one of a kind potion recipe?" I asked curiously.

    "Heh heh heh.. wait right here," he proceeded into his secret door.

    "Zen.. who the hell is this? I don¡¯t really like his.. demeanour. And why are you trading your prized possession for just a wine? Why would you do that?" flustered Lily.

    "What do you mean? That wine was your prized possession and I used it as a molotov. Who am I to not provide you with the best wine available as a replacement?" I smiled at her.

    "No... not by giving up your own. This was not what I wanted, Zen," she explained.

    "Oh, calm down. I never said it was my most prized possession. I never told him how much stats it added in the first place," I shrugged.

    "H.. huh?" she grew confused.

    Quasimortuus opened the door and brought a few items along with him. He placed them inside his cloak but placed the wine bottle on one side of the large rectangle table. That.. is a fine looking wine bottle. It''s like it''s carved and decorated by the elves for sure. I thought he wanted to offer something else along with it.

    "I have a couple of other things with me that I am willing to¡­ complement along with this wine. But only one additional item is allowed. Here are three items for your consideration," he placed them at the opposite side of the table.

    There was a pair of rings, a weird looking book that I do not recognise and lastly, what looked like a pocket watch. Damn it, Quasimortuus. Where did you get that watch from? How is it possible you already have one this quickly?

    "Heh heh.. which one tickle your fancies?" he grinned.

    "You can remove the watch. I already have one of my own. What am I interested in is that book in the middle that I don''t recognise," I said.

    "Colour me intrigued, I thought the watch would had been your main choice. Heh heh. Well, this thing over here? This¡­ is a prayerbook, traded by a stranger that passed by here a couple of days ago. Inside, it contains a seal, and spells that belonged to what seems to be.. fingers related," he opened the front page along with the seal inside and lifted it up to show us.

    "In short, you have no idea the value of that book. I¡¯m surprised you¡¯re willing to trade with something that you have no knowledge of,¡± I replied boldly.

    "Oh no, Master Zen. I know the value of this. The reason I am willing to sell this to you... well, I know what your wife can do," he snickered.

    "And the rings? Because my silver-haired friend is not wearing one?" I asked bluntly.

    "Come now, Master Zen. Anyone who is anyone knows about you and Lily Moonshine''s unrequited love. This is no ordinary ring mind you, it belonged to an elven couple that had pushed through time and realms in order to be reunited. This ring is imbued with their undying love. This... is the ring of eternal love," he showed us.

    I stopped both of them from approaching the other side of the table. None of us are allowed to approach close to him. Rose was getting giddy wanting to inspect the book but I had to stop her by grabbing her shirt. Should any of us approached him while the transaction is taking place, we will be instantly sent out of his shop without making a deal. This little hunchback is no joke.

    Damn, two interesting items he offered because he knew both of their values. What if I turned down the wine instead? No, that will not work. He will never agree to it because that was what I was requested for in the first place. Alright then. Let¡¯s negotiate then, you cunning lad.

    "What if.. I take everything you¡¯re offering instead? And offer you something new?" I asked him.

    ¡°Oh? Ho ho.. I knew you would take the bait. What else are you willing to offer?" he giggled.

    I opened my backpack and searched for something. Hmm.. what am I willing to trade that is unique enough? The lighter? Nah, that is too valuable and it is really handy in the field for me. My other potions? I don''t think he would be that interested in single stats potion though. Hmm...

    "I offer this for the book," said Rose as she raised a gold coin and placed it on the table.

    Somehow that coin got him all giddy and he started approaching us quickly. I warned him with a glare and he stopped in his tracks. He raised his hands and walked back to the other end of the table. Both sides have to follow the rules. I took the coin and inspected it. On one side, it looked like an angel was stabbing a dragon while on the other, a ship with a rose. What''s so special about this gold coin?

    I lifted it up for him to see again and along with the opposite side. Then I slammed it on the table.

    "Careful Master Zen! That thing is worth more than your life!" he shouted angrily.

    "Well.. you seems to be really interested in this coin. Mind telling me it''s worth?" I grinned at him.

    "That.... is the Angel coin. The one and only coin of it''s kind. How interesting that your wife was the owner of this coin, but fitting I might say. I would be willing to trade that coin with the book and the watch. Two items for four. A fair trade, one might say," he chuckled.

    I turned to Rose and whispered to her. We do not know the value of that book yet she was willing to trade this precious coin that even Quasimortuus is getting all giddy to obtain. She said it''s fine as she never understood the value of that coin in the first place. Her guildmaster passed her the coin and told her to do what she wanted with it. However, she knew the value of that book. She can feel it in her guts. I asked her whether she was firmed with her decision and she answered with a firm ¡°Yes". Such unwavering conviction.

    "Alright, it''s a deal. All items on the table then. Rose and Lily, would each of you stand on one side of the corner?" I pointed to them.

    Both of them responded and stood at the corners of the room. Quasimortuus and I had placed all our items on the table and proceeded to walk to the other side. He took the left side while I walked on the right with the same pace. Everything must be at the same pace without showing any hints of eagerness or any attempts at stealing the items. Anything out of place and he will cancel the deal with a snap of his fingers. What''s fair is that even though the deal is off and you get kicked out, he still gives you back your items without taking it for himself.

    We reached the other end of the table and I stared at him. "Inspection time," he said.

    I checked the four items and they seems to be in excellent condition. Even the watch looked better than what I have. The wine was sealed and showed no signs of it being opened but it certainly looked fancy. Only Lily can understand the value of it. I couldn''t understand the book but it definitely have informational value in it. The so called "seal" looks weird. It was V shaped but circular at the end. I wonder if Rose can make sense on what this is.

    "Are we in agreement? Everything checks out," he grinned.

    "Yes, deal is complete. We will be on our way," I bowed lightly.

    "Perfect, this way," he gestured us to head back up to where we came from.

    The deal is never over until we leave his premise. I still need to be careful until I make it out of his shop.

    "A pleasure doing business with you, Master Zen. I look forward to the fruits of your exploration," he grinned.

    "Likewise, see you next time, Quasimortuus," I bowed lightly once more and headed out the door.

    ***

    "Phew! Glad that''s over," I breath a sigh of relief as I stretched my body.

    "What would had happened if things went south?" asked Rose curiously.

    "We would had been kicked out with a snap. I''ve tried to be an asshole once and¡­ let''s just say I needed to do favours to gain back his trust," I chuckled.

    "Is that all for your errands?" asked Lily.

    ¡°Yep. Any of you got anything else to do for the day?¡± I asked both of them.

    ¡°Hmm.. let¡¯s go on a double date. Who knows what¡¯s going to happen after this mission. Let¡¯s spend time together while we still can,¡± said Rose.

    Her idea of a ¡®double date¡¯ is inaccurate but we knew what she was asking for. As we headed towards a place for a meal, I deliberately slowed my pace and pulled Rose to slowly match mine.

    ¡°Rose.. last chance to change your mind. You sure you want me to get along with Lily in a romantic way? Give me your word and promise me that you won¡¯t get jealous. Don¡¯t say that I¡¯m a cheater or being unfaithful,¡± I warned her.

    She pushed me into an alleyway. She rested her head on my chest, bending her knees just to do so. I am sorry that your husband is such a shorty. Sob sob.

    ¡°Onii-chan, this is why I love you so much. Any other guys would had leapt at the opportunity without even asking their loved ones in the first place. But you.. are just so different. I love you, Zen onii-chan, and will always do. But this¡­ is because Lily resurrected you. Without her, I wouldn¡¯t had gotten to experienced this. We owe her that, onii-chan. She deserves your love as much as I do. Just.. promise me that you¡¯ll treat us equally? I will eventually grow old, and you¡¯ll be fed-up with me. Just.. promise me that you won¡¯t abandon me or Daisy?¡± she asked with a soft tone.

    ¡°This is why I insist that having only one partner is the best as it breeds insecurity. I promise you, Rose. You are and will always be my first and most important wife,¡± I hugged her.

    Lily¡¯s head poked out into the alleyway squinting at us.

    ¡°If you two wanted to be left alone, you could had just told me instead of leaving me to walk ahead,¡± she pouted.

    ¡°Oh no, we were just clearing something up. Let¡¯s go, Lily onee-chan,¡± she started pushing Lily from her shoulder to walk together.

    I smirked at their interactions. Perhaps things might work out after all. Or Rose might finally get to experience the threesome that she is secretly plotting and I¡¯ll end up all alone.

    ¡°Now, hang on there you two. Let¡¯s see here, right, this here is for you, Lily. And.. keep this as well. A reason for you to not forget or avoid me any longer," I passed her the wine bottle and the rings.

    "W.. what? Zen. I''ll take the bottle but you should give this rings to Rose. This is meant for your wife, not me. C''mon, you have to give this to her," she tried to pass back the rings.

    "Nope, we already have a ring of our own. No reason to overwrite it with something else. Just think of it as.. hope," I smirked when I pushed the rings back to her.

    "W.. what are you trying to say? You want to marry me?" she asked while tilting her head.

    "Hmmm... I wonder, we shall see," I chuckled.

    "Why won¡¯t you tell me instead of leaving me with a cliffhanger? You can¡¯t do this, Zen¡± she pouted.

    ¡°Sorry but we have a mission to complete. Got to focus on that first,¡± I whistled.

    She inspected the wine bottle and gave a loud gasp. She told us that this wine is one of the oldest and rarest out there. There is no way she is going to drink any of this as it costs a fortune if sold to the right noble elf. I teased her that she is that noble elf and she should enjoy her life but she retaliated that she is not one of them and will never live like kings.

    Rose approached her and passed her the watch. As expected she tried to reject it but gave in when we told her that both of us have one of our own. How speechless she became when we suddenly showered her with gifts. I thought she would be crying tears of joy now.

    As both of them walked ahead, I turned back to gaze at the frozen Chaplain Beast once more. Whoever is pulling the strings is definitely going to stronger than that beast. The three of us will be plunging ourselves into danger and possibly get outnumbered by the beasts. But we don¡¯t have a choice. We are this city¡¯s only hope of stopping the attacks. I should make sure to enjoy this last few remaining hours with both of them while I still can. The calm before the storm.

 Book 2 - Chapter 89

    I yawned loudly as it was still the wee hours of the morning. Despite being well-rested, it was still way too early for my liking. Truth be told, even Rose was yawning. But what¡¯s surprising is that Lily was wide awake without showing any hints of being tired. Lily, who was known for not being a morning person, looked like she is ready for war at a moment¡¯s notice. That was how pumped up she was for this mission.

    In front of us was the very beast in question who was wriggling itself, trying to break free from the restraints. Very few people were here to see us off. Peter, Daisy, Mr Wick and a couple of other high ranking officer were present. It would appear that Peter had fully recovered his leg in just a few days. How does he even do that? In fact, how can the founder of this city who was supposed to be more than 100 years old by now looking like he is in his mid fifties. Was he resurrected before like me? Or perhaps Ivy had done something to him? Hmm.

    We gave our farewell to all of them. Daisy was holding back her tears as she waved us farewell. We had already given her our farewell hugs and assured her that we will be coming back for her. It is always heartbreaking for any parents to be separated from their children. Despite going on quests often, I still misses her whenever I head out the door. It¡¯s not something you can get used to, but you have to do your duty as a father to provide for the family.

    Rose and I shook the monster¡¯s body while Lily listened for the bell sown below the skin. She nodded in acknowledgement that she can hear it and we began to release the restraints from the monster. Both of them backed off when only one restraint remained and it was my duty to release the last one. Will the beast turn to attack us or will it just speed off and run ahead? Only one way to find out.

    Mr Wick had informed us that they do not have much of a healing factor. The broken bones in the hind leg showed no signs of recovery nor any of its injuries. Its stomach was completely empty and the beast seems to be malnourished. It did not even have any reproductive organs which made us curious on how they even gained their numbers in the first place. Despite investigating on a live one, we still know very little about them.

    I released the last shackles and quickly put some distance between us. Let''s see what it is going to do. Will it attack us for breaking it''s leg? Or will it try to escape? I was fully expecting it to turn its head to attack us, but surprisingly, it bolted off heading towards a certain direction.

    So begins our tracking quest. Despite only having three working legs, it was still pretty nimble. It was still a challenge for us to keep up a constant pace following after it. How strange, will this beast actually lead us to their secret hideout? Usually they would had split up or find ways to throw us off but this beast seems to be heading towards a straight path.

    It is midday now and we were still following after the beast after some considerable distance from the city. It is clear that both the beast and us were exhausted from all the running but the beast pressed on. How is it still able to run this much despite having nothing to eat and a broken leg? Doesn¡¯t it feel any pain or exhaustion?

    ¡°We might be out of the bell¡¯s range soon and will need to rely on following it¡¯s tracks instead,¡± said Lily.

    No time for us to rest. We need to keep up with it as I do not wish to lose it this quickly. When nighttime falls, we will have no choice but to abandon the beast if it chooses to continue running. But it was just midday and I am not about to lose it this quickly. What to do, what can I do? Hmm.

    An idea popped out of my head. I squeezed Inazuma tightly and seems to get a response. It would appear that he is willing to help us.

    ¡°Everyone, get ready for a ride. Lily, you take point in guiding Kirin with his manes,¡± I announced loudly.

    Lily gave me a confused look but let out a shriek when a spectral version of Kirin appeared at her side cantering along side her.

    ¡°Hop on and don¡¯t fall off,¡± I told her as I leaped onto Kirin¡¯s back.

    ¡°W.. wait, there¡¯s no saddle or reins!¡± she shouted as I pulled her up onto Kirin¡¯s back.

    ¡°Just trust him. All you need to do is guide him to which direction and he¡¯ll do the rest. I¡¯ll need to hold on to you as there is nothing else that we can hold on to,¡± I told her.

    Lily was in the front to guide Kirin while I was in the middle and Rose was seated at the back. Rose was already hugging me tightly from behind and I needed to hug Lily to balance the both of us. It was a bumpy ride and I quickly hold on to whatever I could. Hold on, why am I feeling something soft and circular right now?

    ¡°Zen¡­ now is not the time to be groping me! Watch where you¡¯re touching!¡± shouted Lily as she smacked my hand.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry! It¡¯s a bumpy ride and I swear it¡¯s an accident! R.. Rose, stop pinching me. I told you it¡¯s an accident,¡± I quickly answered.

    The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    We started galloping after the monster who was far ahead of us. What endurance to be able to run for half a day with only three legs. We must chase after it.

    ***

    Nightfall arrived and we had no choice but to halt our journey. According to Lily, the beast seems to be resting as the bell¡¯s volume remained the same and not moving further ahead. Thankfully the beast requires sleep, otherwise we will have to purely depend on tracks to follow where it went. Following tracks is much harder than it sounds as it can be covered by anything or ruined by rain unless you have Witcher senses.

    I inspected our map and marked our location on it. I was surprised there was some part of this continent that had a dense section filled with greenery. So much for not being able to grow anything on this continent. This is our only way of informing Peter about our whereabouts. Should we need help, he would be willing to send reinforcements to support us.

    ¡°Q, are you there?¡± I asked.

    Q poked his head out of the ground. I handed him the map and he bit it with his mouth. My family pet that almost died when I fought with Tom. I am forever indebted to Rose for saving his life. Both women had done so much for me during my revenge arc, yet I only chose Rose as my wife. Not to mention I had no idea what happened to Lily after she followed her brethren. I will ask her about this when I get the chance.

    ¡°Sorry to make you work overtime, Q. Give this to Peter, alright?¡± I gave him a little tickle.

    He nodded and dug back into the ground. I turned towards the two. Rose was reading the prayerbook that she traded recently and was reading intently. Lily on the other hand was admiring the rings that I gave her.

    ¡°Is it worth it?¡± I asked Rose.

    ¡°For sure. Zen, if I am reading this right, this book seems to contain a solution to resolve our in-field problems. There are information here talking about.. healing spells. Zen, healing wounds with magic. This discovery is going to change the world,¡± she whispered.

    ¡°Well, are you able to cast it then? Surely it won''t be that easy, right?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°Hmmm.. it says to sling a seal in between my middle finger and start chanting. But I need.. Faith to cast it? What does that even mean?¡± she started scratching her head.

    ¡°You¡¯ll get the hang of it. You always do,¡± I smiled at her.

    ¡°Anything interesting with those rings?¡± I asked Lily.

    I didn¡¯t even realised that I was sitting in between the both of them. Will things be like this in the future? I¡¯m just worried that Daisy won¡¯t be able to acclimatise herself in having two moms. And it¡¯s going to be my fault for being naughty and unfaithful. Sigh.

    ¡°It looks like an ordinary ring. Doesn¡¯t seemed like any enchantment in it or anything. I guess you got scammed with this rings,¡± she said.

    ¡°Hmm.. knowing Quasimortuus, he will never lie about the item that he is trading. I think it¡¯s real, despite not having any enchantments in it,¡± I took one of the ring to inspect myself.

    ¡°So why give it to me? You said it¡¯s to give me hope. Look, Zen. You probably don¡¯t know but... I was in pretty bad shape when you.. didn¡¯t choose me. I certainly do not want to feel that way again. So I want you to be clear with me. Did you give me these rings with the intention of marrying me?¡± she asked with a serious look.

    ¡°Ummm¡­ short answer? Perhaps, in the near future,¡± I answered.

    ¡°W.. what?! Rose, w¡­. w¡­ what happened?! Y.. your husband changed his mind?! H.. how?? What happened to his principals and all that nonsense he was so dead set upon?¡± she stuttered with excitement.

    ¡°Long story short, he is worried that he might outlive me with his current condition. Then, he is worried that he is not fit to care for Daisy alone. That¡¯s where he started thinking that perhaps having you by his side is not such a bad idea after all. Something like that,¡± Rose said bluntly.

    ¡°So, that¡¯s it? I¡¯m just a backup?¡± she pouted.

    ¡°Woah woah.. I never once thought of it that way. You think my heart would beat fast for just a ¡°backup¡±? No, you were never a backup, Lily. Never in a lifetime,¡± I gave her a straight answer.

    ¡°Gee.. your heart had never beaten fast when you¡¯re with me. Talk about being bias,¡± now it was Rose who pouted.

    ¡°That¡¯s different. You and I started out as with a sibling relationship. Lily was my crush. Different feelings ya¡¯know,¡± I shrugged.

    ¡°Are you trying to degrade me or something just because I gave you permission to be with Lily now?¡± she squinted.

    ¡°I¡¯m just stating the facts. I can¡¯t control my heart nor my feelings, alright?¡± I sighed.

    ¡°Look.. no matter what happens, the both of you will always be my two most dearest friends and family. I don¡¯t have any relatives or anyone else. Grandfather was all I had and now he''s gone, may he rest in peace. I think that keeping both of you close to me is for the best. Just.. don¡¯t fight among each other, please?¡± I held both their hands and asked them after giving some thoughts.

    They didn¡¯t answer but I knew what their answer was with their smiles. I looked up to the starry sky and it was gleaming brightly. Low chance of rain which meant that we can sleep in the open. Of course it won¡¯t be a good night sleep as we can only sleep lightly in case of an ambush but better than looking for a cave. I hoped these moments of peace would last longer but I knew a battle is encroaching closer. Lily continued holding my hand but started giving her answer after some thoughts.

    ¡°Zen.. I¡¯m¡­ happy that you¡¯re willing to accept me. Really.. your words.. made me really happy. I never thought you would actually change your mind. But.. I think I need some time. To.. sort things out, you know?¡± she wiped her tears.

    ¡°I¡¯m not rushing you or anything. Truth be told, I would prefer that we consider this after things are relatively safer. I.. get the feeling that we might have to fight the Demon King in the future,¡± I confessed.

    ¡°There had been no signs of his revival, onii-chan. The guildmasters had been searching for years on the northern continent. Strangely, we have no idea what happened to Sladar though. It¡¯s like he went missing. Is that what you¡¯re worried about?¡± asked Rose.

    ¡°It was actually the warnings from the yellow dragon that concerned me. When it spoke to me, it showed fear but not because of me. It was the Demon King that had influenced him, causing it to fear him over it''s own death. No sealed Demon King is capable of doing that, Rose. He¡¯s coming back for sure, one way or another,¡± I sighed deeply.

    ¡°I¡¯m with Zen on this. The elves are actually preparing for the inevitable. We know something is coming but we don¡¯t know what it is yet. Our seers couldn¡¯t pierce through the fogs to reveal the future. At least that was what I was told so far,¡± she explained.

    ¡°Well.. then I guess we just have to ready ourselves when the time comes. I hope it¡¯s in the far future,¡± sighed Rose.

    There was a moment of silence when we sat together and stared at the campfire. I thought of something that needs to be mentioned if our relationship is to be changed. Lily will need to know about the terms and conditions of getting married to me.

    ¡°Lily, should you be willing to accept to be my wife in the future, one thing you should know is that we don¡¯t keep secrets among each other. "Some" secrets maybe, but we can¡¯t keep secrets about important information. Are you onboard?¡± I snickered.

    ¡°Why does it feel like you will interrogate me the moment I say yes? What makes you think I will say yes in the first place?¡± she gave a hmph but she was blushing.

    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll just be asking about what happened to you right after my fight with Tom and what you did to resurrect me. That¡¯s the only questions I have in mind for now,¡± I whistled.

    ¡°Sigh, I¡¯ll do my best to answer that but not now. Those two questions are... very sensitive topics. You¡¯ll know in due time, I promise,¡± she rested her head on shoulder.

    Alright, guess I''ll just leave it at that. Time for us to rest for the night. It¡¯s been a while since I slept against a tree trunk. I hope I don¡¯t get any aches tomorrow. Or worst, come face to face with another vessel or champion.

 Book 2 - Chapter 90

    After a quick breakfast with our leftover stew, we proceeded with our journey in tailing the beast. As soon as dawn arrived, it began its journey albeit slowly. What an early bird. Although it was no longer running but limping all the way. I guess fatigued had finally caught up to it. With no food or water and running for the whole day straight, it was obviously going to tire itself up. We kept a respectable distance from it in case it leads us into an ambush.

    Is this going to be a slow moving day? I was expecting something.. more exciting. Should we offer it food or water to speed up the journey? As tempting as that sounds, I¡¯m worried that when it sees us, it will detour to another location instead. I guess I will have to suck it up and just follow after it.

    ***

    Midday arrived and we had not travelled far from where we were. I was munching on some jerky as we trailed after it slowly. I¡¯m surprised Lily was focused all the way despite it limping so slowly.

    "Give me one of those," asked Lily without so much as turning to look at me.

    I passed one to her and she started munching on it while still being focused on the beast. Why is she so focused on it when she can literally hear it from afar?

    "Something is not right. Why did it stopped moving?" she whispered with a mouthful.

    "Perhaps it had gotten too tired and at its wits'' end? Not something good for us either," I answered.

    "No, it''s not dying that''s for sure. It''s heartbeat is still beating normally. Something else is going on. This is not a normal behaviour," she insisted.

    "Y.. you can hear it''s heartbeat from here? Just how insane are your ears?" I asked her with a soft tone.

    "It''s because of the bell. I can focus my hearing on it which sorts of transmit it''s heartbeat to me as well. I was surprised that I could hear it in the first place," she explained.

    The beast turned it''s head to the left and made a sudden bolt of speed that we weren''t expecting. We were caught off guard and tried to follow after it. But with it''s sudden acceleration, it managed to gained some considerable distance from us. Damn it, what a fool we were thinking that it was tired and was about to die. It was hiding it''s strength to shake us off despite having a broken leg.

    "We are going to lose it, it''s gaining distance too fast!" shouted Lily.

    "Point me the way. Rose, give me Accelerate!" I shouted to both of them.

    "Wait! Something is wrong, why is the bell ringing so much?! Hold your position!" shouted Lily.

    The three of us stopped dead in our tracks. The both of us waited for Lily to give us instructions but she closed her eyes and focused with her ears. We kept quiet while she gave us a vague breakdown on what she was hearing.

    "There.. is still a lot of ringing but it is not moving further away. What''s going on? Is it getting attacked? Wait.. the bell stopped ringing completely. Oh no.. that is not good. Let''s go," she started heading towards the last location of the bell.

    We followed after her but kept our senses on full awareness. Something strange had happened and I am not about to get caught off guard once again. I hope the beast had not perished or our tracking mission is officially ruined. I will destroy the surrounding landscapes to find what killed our beast if I have to.

    "We''re close. Be on your guard," warned Lily.

    We poked our head out of some bushes. The beast was lying flat on the ground as though it was sleeping. Is that another possibility that we didn''t think off? We slowly approached the beast and it became evident that it is dead as it had no signs of breathing. Damn it, I am dead wrong, no pun intended.

    Lily checked on the beast''s heartbeat by placing her head on the body. I went to inspect the body for any injuries while Rose went to inspect the head. She let out a "Huh?" which triggered me to check it alongside her.

    Inside the mouth, was a white creature. Did it get choked when it tried to eat this thing?

    "H.. hey, can you help me out? I''m kind of stuck in here," said a voice.

    D.. did the beast just spoke? Or is it the white creature?

    "C''mon onii-chan. Let''s help him out," said Rose as she starting pulling the white creature out from the beast''s mouth.

    It took some yanking but we managed to pull it out in one piece. It looked like a small white wolf covered in blood. How is it still alive?

    "Thanks for saving me lads. Owh, sorry about that. Did not know there were two ladies here. Oh geez, look at my fur covered in blood. I wish to get it cleaned as soon as possible," it started licking it''s paw.

    "W.. who.. what are you? Why can you speak in human tongue?" I asked it.

    "Oh, right. Where are my manners? I am Okuri-Inu. At your service," it bowed to us.

    "Nice to meet you, I am Zen, this is Rose and Lily. Mind telling us how you ended up in the jaws of that beast?" I asked him.

    "Boy do I have a story for you, but can I give my story as we head towards a stream? I hate being all bloodied over. Not good for ma fur ya''know," he said.

    This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

    "Uhh.. sure. Are you hurt or something? Don''t try do anything funny by the way or you wouldn''t like the consequences,¡± I warned him as we followed.

    ¡°Strangely no, some bite marks but the beast was strangely weak that it couldn¡¯t pierce through my hide. I was just minding my business strolling along the forest floor when that beast charged directly at me trying to take a bite at me. I guess I got lucky that it choked itself to death while trying to swallow me. Thanks for saving me by the way," he gave a few adorable barks.

    "Is this the first time you encounter such a beast? Awfully dangerous for you to be strolling around alone, isn¡¯t it? Don''t they run rampant around the forest?" asked Rose.

    "Hmm.. they barely come to this part of the forest for sure as they usually speed their way towards somewhere in a hurry. No idea why though, maybe they''re hungry or there¡¯s free food being offered," he started increasing his pace once he realised that we had no problem following him.

    We came upon a small stream with fresh water flowing. Is it safe to drink perhaps? Nevermind. Okuri-Inu had already began taking a bath in it.

    "Soo.. whatcha doing in this part of the forest? I mean, humans usually avoid coming here in the first place. The pretty elf is not out of place though," he asked as he splashed around in the stream, rinsing off the coagulated blood on his furs.

    I glanced at Rose and Lily. Both of them nodded lightly as they seemed to agree with me. This.. Okuri-Inu is awfully suspicious. However, we don''t have any other options but to play to this wolf''s tune. Perhaps he can be resourceful and help us.

    "We are looking for the location of the beasts. Do you happen to know where they are?" I asked him.

    "Ohh.. you''re looking for them beast? Sure, I know where they are. I used to sneaked around peeking at what they do. It''s not too far from here to be honest. Hey.. why don''t I guide you there? As thanks for saving me earlier." he barked joyfully.

    I squinted at him. Now that is just sus. Why would he offer to bring us there? Just because we helped him? But what if he''s telling the truth? We got nothing to lose now as we are stuck and have no idea where else to go.

    "Can you give us some privacy?" I asked him and he sat down, wagging his tail and tongue.

    "Can we trust him? I don''t buy his story," I whispered.

    "I agree. Those blood around his body doesn''t belonged to him. He might had been the one who killed our beast," whispered Rose.

    "Do we have any other options? We had come so far, much further than any of our attempts at tracking them. Let''s just keep an eye out on him while he escorts us. Anything funny from him and I¡¯ll beat him up,¡± whispered Lily.

    I glanced towards Okuri-Inu who was still sitting down looking at us with his tongue out, as though he was waiting for an answer from us. Lily is right, we don¡¯t have any other options now.

    "All in agreement? Alright, let''s go," I said.

    "Hey, Okuri-Inu. Lead the way. Bring us to their location safely, alright? You¡¯re going to be our guide," I smiled at him.

    "Cool! You can just call me Inu by the way. It''s much easier. Let''s go humies.. oh, and elfie," he started jumping for joy while moving towards north.

    We might be dancing to his tune but we don¡¯t have any choice. He said it was not far from here so we might be able to reach before nightfall. A little worried that something might happen in the darkness that we might not be prepared for. I cannot drop my guard any longer, especially when Okuri-Inu is around.

    ***

    Not too far my foot! It''s nightfall now and we had not made it yet. We asked Inu how much further is the location and again he said it was not too far. I asked him to give an estimation on the distance and he said it was probably a couple of kilometres more. How is that "not too far"?!

    I called it quits for the day and started a campfire. I suspected by the time we actually reached the destination, it might had been dawn the next day. There was nothing much for us to eat as we did not have time to hunt any game or food. I guess it is meat jerky along with some canned food for dinner then. The three of us stuck closed together as it was getting cold now that night is upon us. Despite being surrounded by lush greenery, majority of the Eastern continent are desert areas which meant that nights can get relatively cold.

    Two beautiful women rested their heads on my shoulder for comfort. Ugh, am I really going to get used to this? I must promise not favour one of them over the other for my own sake. Can''t take any of them for granted. I can predict that Rose is going to be jealous when she starts getting old while Lily remained beautiful.

    Inu came close and sat on Lily''s lap. I can see that she is not comfortable with him suddenly sitting on her lap.

    "Miss Lily, you''re really beautiful. Would you be willing to be my wife?" asked Inu with an upbeat tone.

    "Uhh.. thanks? But no. Can you find your own place to rest instead of my lap?" she asked politely.

    "Aww c''mon. A strong beautiful woman like you should be with a strong male like me," he smiled cheerfully.

    "Once again, thanks for the flattery but no," she lifted her knees to force Inu to move from her lap.

    "What are you looking for in regards to your partner? Please don''t say you''re interested with that guy," Inu insisted on the topic.

    "As a matter of fact, yes I am. Zen is a partner of my dreams and you''re way out of your league if you think you stand a chance of me choosing you,¡± snickered Lily with her signature evil laughter ''fu fu''.

    "Really? This guy? This weakling can''t protect you. You''re wasting your time with him fasho. Pick me instead and you¡¯ll never regret it," he started hopping around.

    "Hey.. dog. One more word out of you and I''m going to beat you to a pulp," spat Lily.

    Lily spat those words before I even said anything. No idea what Inu is trying to do by riling Lily or me up but I am certain he have his own agenda. One that I am eager to find out. Inu seems to finally gotten the hint and walked over to a fallen trunk to rest.

    "I won''t give up on you, Miss Lily," he said.

    "You best give up now. I am not going to change my mind," Lily said loudly.

    Persistent little bugger, isn''t he? Lily wrapped her arms around me and snuggled with me. It would appear that Inu had pissed her off by insulting me. You would think that I would be insulted first. I never knew Lily would be so overprotective of me. I thought Rose was the overprotective one.

    "Hey.. it''s just a wolf. No reason to get this riled up," I whispered to her.

    "No.. he''s not just a wolf. And he was being serious that you can''t protect me, despite you saving me like 4 times now. There¡¯s something behind in his eyes. We need to be careful around him," she whispered back.

    ¡°No argument there. I don¡¯t trust him either and we don¡¯t know what his endgame is,¡± I sighed.

    ¡°Which is why, you should keep this with you,¡± said Lily as she passed me the small elven bell.

    ¡°Oh, when did you extract this out? Won¡¯t this annoy elves if I keep carrying this around?¡± I chuckled.

    ¡°Well, just keep it wrapped up and only use it in times of need. And what I mean is when I need to follow you,¡± she giggled.

    ¡°I guess I¡¯ll keep that in mind then. Either way, should we take turns sleeping tonight?" I asked both of them.

    "For our safety, I think we should," answered Rose.

    ¡°I¡¯ll take point while you two princesses sleep first. Goodnight you two,¡± I comforted them.

    ***

    Finally, we made it to our destination by midday. Phew, what a journey that was. Inu was clever enough to bring us to a vantage point where we can survey over the.. should I call it den? I would had called it den, if it wasn''t for some cloaked bipedal beings walking around. Are those humans living with them? It looked more like a campsite than a den.

    "Inu, you brought us to the right place, right? I hope you ain''t messing with us?" I asked him.

    "Why would I mess with my saviours? It is the right place. You can see beasts roaming down there. I promise I did not lie," he said.

    "But... who... what are those bipedal beings walking around? I can''t see their faces. Are those humans?" Rose asked.

    "Don''t know. Never spoke with any of them before," said Inu nonchalantly.

    "I''m... confused as well. From what I''m able to see, it seems to be some bipedal beast under those hoods," gasped Lily.

    "Are you telling me there are sentient beasts among them? Then why are they attacking us in the first place?" I said out loud without expecting an answer.

    The sound of a horn resonated loudly and a gate made of rocks opened to allow something in. Wait.. those sentient beasts had brought in humans! What are they trying to do with them?!

    A large bipedal beast wrapped with what I can assume is some cloth made of skins, walked towards the group of humans and inspected each of them. Can this beast be the mastermind behind all this attacks? It is not as large as the Chaplain Beast but I can tell that it is strong, despite being all skinny looking.

    It lifted one of the human''s face and allowed blood to drip from its wrist. The human started gagging from the blood and started screaming, writhing in pain on the ground. And what followed after was the most disgusting thing I had ever seen with my very eyes. The human started clawing on his own face, seemingly trying to tear his own skin apart. Sharp bones protruded from his spines and that made him crouch as his body can no longer stand up. His fingernails grew longer yet he continued to claw on his face and body as he tried to remove more of his skin, all the while screaming in agony loudly. All of a sudden, the human stopped moving and dropped to the ground, seemingly dead. The large bipedal beast kicked the human aside and proceeded with another one while the hooded bipedal beasts carried the failed human somewhere.

    I punched the ground hard. Fuck, are you telling me all the beast that we fought and killed were humans?! Why is this even happening? Why is this skin covered beast turning humans into beasts and attacking us? Why.. who is this beast and what is its purpose?

    I glared at the "ceremony" taking place and gritted my teeth. A part of me wishes to run rampant and destroy everything here but we are horribly outnumbered. Despite us killing a number of beasts from the recent attack, there were still a lot roaming here. I need to calm myself and not make any rash decision. What we need to do is to infiltrate this den and kill that damn beast. And I know just how to do it.

 Book 2 - Chapter 91

    I handed a map of our current location to Q. Even if it reaches Peter, I doubt he can send any help to us in time. But at least we have some sort of failsafe should we perish. I don¡¯t wish to have my corpse eaten by the beasts.

    We will just have to make do with the three of us. And for that, we need to infiltrate in and slay that pack leader quietly. We had performed our scouting on this den for a time and there was no other potential beasts that showed authority over the others. That should be the mastermind that we were looking for. But¡ª why am I having doubts? The facts are there but my gut is telling me otherwise. It didn¡¯t emit any strong aura nor does it looked any stronger than the Chaplain Beast. Perhaps it is hiding it¡¯s true strength from us.

    Alright, what are our options? When it comes to infiltration, my guild is the best. Unfortunately, I can¡¯t use Conceal here because the den is smacked dab in the middle of a steep circular ravine. There is just no way am I going to survive a direct fall from this height.

    I ¡®could¡¯ wait until the gate opens for me to sneak in using Conceal, but that rocky gate is really tall and the gap they open to let those beasts in are way too small for my liking. The chance of me failing is too high and it is not worth the risk.

    Our only option, is to kidnap some of the hooded beast and disguised as them. According to Lily, they spoke the human tongue so we might stand a chance at sneaking in if we were to lower our hoods to avoid detection.

    Now, all we got to do is wait for some unlucky hooded beasts to leave the den. Hopefully we are able to interrogate them for information should we have the chance. Now is just a waiting game.

    ***

    Finally! Some unsuspected fools were foolish enough to be caught by us. Too much time was wasted in waiting for someone to leave the den. Thankfully there is just enough hooded robes for the three of us. Now, let¡¯s see what I¡¯ll need to do for them to talk; I am going to love watching them squirm.

    We tied their wrist and they seemed to be obedient enough. But why do they seemed terrified of us? I was expecting them to be aggressive and trying to bite us whenever they can. From what I can see, they barely resembled human any longer as their bodies were covered in furs with elongated limbs. One of them had an elongated jaw while the other two had bandages wrapped around their faces.

    ¡°Listen properly, the three of you will only get 1 chance each. If I don¡¯t like any of your answers, all of you will die. Do I make myself clear?¡± I warned them.

    ¡°A¡ª aa¡­ aren¡¯t you here to help us?¡± whimpered one of them who sounded like a male.

    ¡°Help you? Why should I? The three of you looked like you''ve been chosen to serve that.. thing," I spat.

    ¡°W¡ª What? No! We were forced to serve them! We were brought here against our will and¡ª forced to drink that stupid blood of his. We are not his servants. We are actually rejects that managed to maintain our sanity instead of outright turning into those¡ª four-legged beasts," she shivered.

    Her tone showed signs of fear and I was surprised their voice still sounded human, unlike reptilians who had ''sss'' when they speak the human tongue.

    "I don''t like your response. That''s strike one. You, what do you have to say?" I pointed to the one who asked us to help them.

    ¡°W¡ª what?! No, no no- we are telling the truth. Please! We just want to go home. Please, please please..¡° the second one started sticking to my leg and kissing my shoe.

    How desperate are they to act like this? They must had gone through some pretty rough experience to behave like way.

    "That''s strike two," I said and turned to the one with the elongated jaw.

    He looked as though he had given up on hope and has resigned to his fate. His eyes were completely out of focused when he spoke. Rose and Lily were tugging on my clothes from behind but I ignored them. These two were always quick to judge and naive when someone act innocent enough. I will not to be fooled by these beasts who were cunning enough to use strategy to attack us.

    ¡°We¡ª we''re... we''re gonna die, aren''t we? This guy just won¡¯t believe us. To be dragged all the way here, turned into a monster, and worked like slaves for those beasts just because we retained our sanity. Oh lord, free me from this curse, I want to go home" the third one quivered and started crying as he stared into the sky.

    Hmm¡ª that looked legit. His eyes were lost and had given up on hope. Hard to imagine anyone can lie like that. Not to mention he wasn''t even looking at me when I glared at him.

    The first two was already bawling their eyes out before I crouched to speak to them. How young were these three before they were forcefully turned into beasts? I guess I was being too harsh in pushing them into a corner like that.

    ¡°Two final question for you three. Why were you sent out from there; and when are they expecting you to return?¡± I asked them.

    ¡°Huh? Uhh¡ª probably tomorrow? We were tasked with hunting food but we have no hunting experience before,¡± said the female beast as she wiped her tears.

    ¡°What food do you hunt? Humans?¡± I asked another; contradicting myself.

    ¡°Animal meat. Raw bloody meat is what we¡­ I mean, the beast likes,¡± shunned the male beast.

    It¡¯s midday now so we have the remaining half day to hunt games for our infiltration and perhaps some for dinner. More than enough time for us to prepare ourselves; and perhaps we can extract more valuable information from them. No, they must. I need to know more about this¡ª cult. I was already mislead into assuming that they were voluntary servants; I don¡¯t wish to make a mistake in murdering innocents if I can help it.

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    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ve made my decision. You¡¯ll live, but only if you provide us more information about this¡ª cult. We¡¯ll do the hunting and take your place tomorrow, so we¡¯ll be needing those cloaks of yours. Do you agree with the terms?¡± I alternated between the three of them.

    The three of them nodded after agreeing with each other. They were crying tears of joy as they thanked us for sparing their lives. These three are certainly younglings from the way they behaved. I¡¯m curious to listen to their backstory later.

    ***

    We caught a little too much games than were needed. A little worried that they will question us when we bring in this many games tomorrow. We were supposed to be newbies at hunting. The three little beasts followed after us in learning how to hunt but I doubt they can put any of the techniques into practice. Truth be told, Rose was the one who did most of the hunting; her extendable rapier was practically a cheat code to hunting. Just a twist of her rapier and the bunny is dead, pierced through the neck within a split of a second.

    I was expecting today to be the day we sneaked in. But that might arose suspicions from the gatekeepers. Best not to deviate from the norm should we wish to infiltrate successfully. Hate to see things go wrong after coming so far.

    Inu was still following us around, sticking to Lily like a pet dog. He didn¡¯t say much but Lily was uncomfortable with him following her around. But she let it slide as he didn¡¯t disturb or annoy her; unlike yesterday.

    Seeing that we had nothing else in store for the day, we decided to camp at a nearby cave that we stumbled upon. Getting more information from those three are important as we needed to understand the objective of this cult. We sat by a campfire and had our conversations while Rose made stew with some of the games we hunted.

    The three of them surprisingly remembered their human names Aria was the name of the female, Nick was the male and Lee was the one with elongated jaws. They weren¡¯t from the city; they belonged to one of the many different tribes that lived in this continent. The beasts kidnapped them in the cover of darkness and brought them here. Who would had thought that the beast was kidnapping people and turning them into beasts instead of outright devouring them. This was the reason why no one sought out to search for them. What¡¯s the point in searching for devoured flesh and bones inside the beast¡¯s stomach?

    ¡®Rejects¡¯ was the title the pack leader called them. Not only were they able to retained their sanity, they were basically useless in battle due to it. The ¡®Perfect¡¯ beast were those mindless ones ready for war. I asked them what was the objective of the leader to wage war with the humans? Is the leader himself born a beast or was he a human?

    According to them, the leader spoke the human tongue, so there is a high chance that he was a human before. But his motive remains unclear. What is the reason for him to attack humans in the first place? Did someone inflicted a horrible curse on him which turned into a beast? Guess we will have to interrogate him directly should the opportunity arise.

    Their jobs were simple, tend to the needs of the four-legged beasts. Whether it is cleaning them, feeding or anything you can think of. They were obviously terrified at first but none of them harmed them before. It would appear that the beasts considered them as allies rather than foes. My assumption is that the blood from the pack leader had altered their minds to only attack humans.

    Rose handed a bowl of stew to each of them which they gladly accepted. I thought of continuing asking them when one of them started crying upon eating the stew. He said that it reminded him of home and his mom''s cooking for about a year now. Lily comforted him but the other two also started to have teary eyes upon taking a bite. We tried our best to comfort them before I continued with my questions.

    Seeing that they had calmed themselves, I asked them the reason as to why they had not fled when they were seemed to have plenty of opportunities to escape. They mentioned that many had tried and were killed immediately after trying to do so. The leader was capable of killing any of them without so much as lifting a finger. It would appear that by drinking his blood, some pact was formed, and the leader can sever that pact on his will should anyone chooses to betray him. Such is the strength of his blood pact.

    What strong blood powers to command these many beasts. Can this beast be the one who commands the one at the east too? Or is there another leader there? Damn it, so many questions yet no answers.

    Will these three end up dead if he assume their identities? We have no way of assuring their safety once we head in. Will the leader know about it and snap them out of existence? We have no way to prevent him from doing that. Damn it¡ª need to think of a way to ensure their safety.

    ¡°So why aren¡¯t you three dead yet? If the leader is so powerful, shouldn¡¯t he already know that you are giving valuable information to us now? Does he even keep track of who leaves the den?¡± asked Rose.

    I was stumped and so were the three. Now that¡¯s a good question which they have no answer for. They suspected it might be through smell, but there is no way of confirming it. They were showed what would happen if they were to try to escape which is how they come to fear it in the first place.

    I asked them to elaborate further and they said a couple of the sane beasts tried to escape when they first joined the cult and the leader killed them with a wave of his hand. Something is not right. I asked them how often this occured and they said rarely. Every once a while some beasts tried to escape and the leader would kill them off.

    ¡°Does this happened when new sane beasts were forced to join?¡± I asked them.

    The three of them looked at each other and tried to recall when it occured. Each of them sort of remembered that those beasts who tried to escape seems to leave at broad daylight when the leader is preaching to the new beasts. Now that is way too sus, even for me. Showing what would happen if you chose to betray him as if on cue does not lend credibility. Were those beast actually dead or where they just acting? Why would you choose to flee in broad daylight? That¡¯s just suicide.

    Rose, Lily and I discussed the best course of action for the infiltration mission. Our plan is simple, eliminate the scent from the cloaks, infiltrate in and assassinate the pack leader. We must not allow the leader to summon the help of the other beasts who are kept inside a cave within the den area. From what we were told, the leader¡¯s shelter is located in the middle of the den. Thank goodness we do not need to sneak inside the cave filled with beasts just to locate him. I will attempt the assassination on the leader while Rose and Lily will eliminate as many beasts as they could.

    ¡°You might want to sneak in tonight instead. You can utilise the cover of darkness to hide your identities better,¡± said Inu out of the blue.

    ¡°Won¡¯t that arose suspicion from the gatekeepers if we head back this early? I asked.

    ¡°Will it? Their main purpose is to catch food. Who¡¯s to say they cannot return if they catch earlier,¡± he shrugged.

    I gave some thoughts to his suggestion. What he said is actually true. Why can¡¯t we infiltrate using the cover of darkness? All we have to do is show them that we caught some food and that should grant us the way in; at least, that¡¯s what I hoped.

    ¡°Is there any particular reason as to why you¡¯re still with us, Inu?¡± asked Rose with suspicion.

    ¡°I¡¯m just here to ensure Lily is safe. I¡¯ll leave after making sure she is safe,¡± he puffed up his chest.

    ¡°Excuse me? I don¡¯t need you to ensure my safety. You can run along now. Shoo, begone,¡± Lily waved Inu away.

    ¡°Aww.. don¡¯t say that, Miss Lily. You¡¯re going to hurt my feelings,¡± he tilted his head.

    ¡°Good,¡± whispered Lily beneath her breath.

    ¡°No, it¡¯s fine. You can stay, Inu,¡± I told him.

    Lily gave me a death stare that pierced through my very soul. I rubbed her back and winked at her. If what I suspect is right, we need him in the upcoming battle.

    ¡°Are you sure? Let me be clear that I¡¯ll only protect Miss Lily alone,¡± he wagged his tail with delight.

    ¡°Yea, it¡¯s fine. You can stay with us until this is over,¡± I assured which made him hopped with delight.

    ¡°Zen¡­. What are you doing? Are you trying to annoy me by keeping him around?¡± whispered Lily into my ears.

    Rose leaned in closer to our conversation and I explained that Inu might be instrumental in the coming battle ahead. Whether it¡¯s for better or worse, we might need him. Call it a hunch if you will.

    She sighed and warned me that it is because she trust my instincts that she is willing to entertain my request. She made it clear that she is not going to be responsible for Inu should anything happen to him. I told her to let him be, should things go the way that I suspect it will, Inu doesn¡¯t need protection at all.

    Now that all is said and done, time for us to prepare ourselves for the infiltration mission. Let¡¯s ensure that we eliminate the leader as fast as possible once we get in. A couple of hours until night arrives. Maybe a short nap to calm my nerves.

    ***

    Everything is in place. We had rubbed strong scented ingredients on the cloaks to mask the smell. Let¡¯s hope the gatekeepers doesn¡¯t have any ideas on who¡¯s cloaks we stole from. We can just tell them that we fell into a bed of flowers or something should they asked us what happened.

    The three little beasts will be staying in the cave until the mission is over. I doubt the three of us have the time to keep them free from harm if we wound up getting surrounded by thousands of beasts. This is our only way we can hope to keep them alive if our assumptions are correct. Otherwise, the pack leader might sever the blood pact and they will end up dead before we know it. But they were content in what we decided for them. Despite them pleading now to kill them, they were happy that someone is willing to help them, even though they might not make it. I really do hope they will be alive after this is over.

    Inu hid behind Lily¡¯s cloak which she almost punched me for making my decision earlier. I better pray my hunch is right, otherwise I would rather let the leader devour me than to taste Lily¡¯s wrath.

    We got up to the gate unopposed and thankfully it was raining. Hopefully this would mask our scents further. We were supposed to knock three times and slam our palm two times. A secret code perhaps?

    ¡°Who goes there? Ah, I see that you have returned. Got the goods? Well, that¡¯s quite a lot of games you got there,¡± shouted the gatekeeper over the sound of the rain.

    ¡°What¡¯s the password?¡± he asked us.

    Ohhh.. fuck.

 Book 2 - Chapter 92

    Fuck! What is the password?! Why didn¡¯t the three of them warned us about this?! Were they trying to sabotage us?? Or did they simply forget?

    Shit shit shit! I can¡¯t lie my way out of this by saying ¡®I¡¯ve forgotten, teehee¡¯. That will cause even more suspicion leading to the gatekeeper asking us to remove our hoods. Damn it, what is the password? What can I even think of?!

    I closed my eyes to think of anything. Absolutely anything that might help me figure out the password. What is it.. what is it?!

    Someone¡¯s face appeared before me and her words came screaming back to me. I sure hope this is the password or we¡¯re screwed.

    ¡°Fear¡ª the new blood,¡± I said out loud.

    The moment of truth now. I no longer knew whether the water dripping from my forehead was from the rain or from my sweats.

    ¡°Geez, you had me worried when you paused. Don¡¯t make me scared like that,¡± sighed the gatekeeper as he gestured someone to open the gates. Thank you, Moi! You saved our asses once again!

    The gate opened slightly, just enough for one of us to head in at a time. We walked in with a slow pace, careful to not arose any suspicion from anyone. We passed the food to one of the guards as instructed and he told us to head back into the ¡®stables¡¯. The stables being the place where the beasts are kept and we¡¯re supposed to care for them. Oh, we¡¯ll care for them alright.

    Making sure we were out of sight, we leaped onto one of the shelter to understand our location and the den¡¯s layout. The cover of darkness is really helping us out as there was barely any torches or braziers inside the den. The beasts are highly dependent on using smell and their hate for fire is apparent now. I¡¯ll be fine as I can use Conceal to hide my presence, but the both of them are going to have a rough time in this pure darkness.

    ¡°Zen¡ª how did you know the password? Shit, my ass was sweating when the gatekeeper asked for it,¡± whispered Rose.

    ¡°No shit, I was shitting bricks. That was the most intense few seconds I ever faced. I thought we were done for,¡± whispered Lily.

    ¡°Hey, language you two. The audience aren¡¯t looking forward to the both of you cursing like this,¡± I chuckled softly.

    ¡°You and your curse again. Leave us out of it, Zen. Focus at our task,¡± sighed Rose.

    ¡°Right, you both stay here while I use Conceal to assassinate the leader. The complete darkness is perfect for my spell. I can make my way to the middle without gaining attention,¡± I whispered to them.

    ¡°Perfect for your spell but not your eyes. None of us are suited to see in the dark. Which is why¡­¡± Rose trailed off and started chanting softly.

    ¡°Holy visions,¡± she casted.

    Since when she had this spell? I never heard of such a spell before. My vision brightens to the point I can see my surroundings clearly. While not exactly bright daylight, it was bright enough for me to understand my surroundings.

    ¡°I never knew you has this spell, Rose,¡± I gave her a speechless look.

    ¡°It¡¯s not as good as Holy Light as the duration is about 10 minutes. Make good use of it,¡± she smiled.

    ¡°Zen, you do what you do best. We¡¯ll find our way. Don¡¯t worry about us,¡± Lily placed her hand on my shoulder.

    ¡°Alright. Please, don¡¯t you dare die on me, the both of you,¡± I leaped down from the shelter we were standing on and headed towards the large looking shelter in the middle.

    ***

    Hmm. No door. Just some cloth covering over the entrance. Now I just need to¡­ good, I¡¯m in. I made the cloth moved naturally as though the wind blew in. I made a quick check with my pocket watch and five minutes had passed since Rose casted Holy Vision. Five more minutes to assassinate the leader. Where is he though?

    I was surprised there was a ramp leading upstairs. I guess he had no use for stairs when his feet are larger than a human. I cautiously made sure to take a quick peek at each corner in case of any surprise. It was absolutely silent throughout the den and inside this shelter. You would think there would be howling with so many beasts around.

    It was so quiet that I can practically hear the creaking sounds from where I put my weight on. Is the leader even upstairs? Where the hell is he? Entering a room, I heard something snoring.

    There you are. Mothafu¡­ he has a mattress! All the others were forced to sleep on some straws or the ground while this asshole is sleeping all comfortably here. Why I oughta¡ª

    ¡°Sniff sniff, A human? How long has it been? Who sent you? Father?¡± the leader raised his head even though I was completely still.

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    ¡°I smell you, but, I don¡¯t see him? Ahh.. a member of the Dark Guild using Conceal? Do you really think that is going to help you?¡± he raised his arm as it started growing larger.

    SMAAASSSHHH!!

    He destroyed his own shelter with a swing of his finger claws. I trusted my instincts and it paid off. Seems like my red dragonhide was thick enough to negate the damage from the claws. But this leader is getting much, much larger now. I guess he didn''t mind destroying his own home.

    The pack leader crawled on all fours as his body grew to the size of the Chaplain Beast. What is with those skins dangling from his back and covering his head like some cloak? Sharp bones started protruding from his spines in a gruesome way. It released a shriek that was much sharper than the Chaplain Beast and it hurt my eardrums. Is it planning to call the other beasts over?

    "Ah.. I longed for him to try and assassinate me. To think it would take him such a long time to send someone over. But I guess I trained my beasts well. I commend you for actually finding this place," he slurred his words. I guess he had not spoken the human tongue for a long time.

    "What makes you think Father sent me? Isn''t there a more powerful being on this continent instead?" I asked him.

    "The founder? Hmm¡ª I guess my champion had failed then," he looked towards the direction of the city.

    "You mean your Chaplain Beast? He''s living his life in the South Pole by now," I grinned at him.

    So.. he doesn''t know what happened to his beasts, huh? So much for blood pact nonsense. There is no way he is able to kill anyone who went rogue and flee. So much for inflicting fear on his followers.

    "Well well¡ª it would seemed that a strong human had decided to¡ª meet his death. Perhaps I would like to know your name before you die," he growled.

    "You don''t need to know my name when you won''t live long enough to remember it. Just know that the fourth won''t be showing you any mercy," I spat.

    "Fourth? Ooo¡ª he is going to love it when I tell him that I slayed a member of the great powers!¡± he licked his lips.

    ¡°Who? Your God?" I raised my eyebrow.

    It was quick but I avoided his claws. He was causing a rampage that many of the his followers started running towards the edge of the den areas. This leader doesn¡¯t give a damn about his lackeys at all. Hopefully they are smart enough to leave the den to escape.

    He is surprisingly nimble for his size. Perhaps it is due to his extremely slim body structure that he can move this fast. He looked as though he had not eaten in years. I dodged all of his attacks as it was predictable. This is the leader of the pack? I am disappointed. No point delaying the inevitable any longer. I rushed closer to the giant four-legged beast and attempted to decapitate it, but my blade was stopped by¡ª a spectral beast?

    I leapt back but the spectral beasts refuses to release my blade, following after me as it attempted to bite me. I summoned Tengu-kaze and immediately slashed the spectral beast but it vanishes, only to reappear at the side of the pack leader.

    Two spectral beasts stood at his side with distinctive features. The one who stopped my blade was a six-legged beast with a sharp tail on its back. The other was bipedal but its arms were located on the shoulders instead, making it incredibly disturbing to look at. The stuff of nightmares is what I would like to say.

    "I will enjoy flaying you alive," slurred the pack leader.

    My five minutes was up. I quickly tossed some incendiary bombs toward some shelters to brighten the area. I grinned at them. The leader assumed that he have the advantage just because he summoned some spectral beasts? Oh please, I have two celestial beings at my side. I tapped on the hilt of both of my blades and they responded to my call. Both of them appeared as spectral beings of themselves at my side. Kind of wished I could had summoned them using a bell, like calling a receptionist for help.

    The leader¡¯s eye widen at the sight of Kirin and Byakko. I am certain fairly certain he is aware how strong these two are and should not to be trifled with. It would appear that I can kill this leader without the help from Rose or Lily. You have a lot to pay for wreaking havoc in both Continents.

    I charged towards the beast with Kirin and Byakko at my side. The two spectral beasts responded the same and charged towards both of them, leaving me to fight with the pack leader. It tried to swat me aside and squish me but I dodged all of his attacks. This beast is too weak to be a vessel or champion. Can¡¯t believe I had my hopes up with this rather disappointing fight.

    I sliced through the leader¡¯s belly and was surprised by the amount of blood that spilled out from the wound. I avoided the blood splatter in the nick of time, realising something was up. Without notice, the leader started shrieking; clawing at his own body and spilling more of his blood. What is this beast trying to do? Suicide?

    The beast''s body began glowing unholy red colour and started catching fire. However, this is no normal flame at all. Instead of the usual orange looking fire, this one was blood red. It engulfed his entire body, brightening the entire den with his blood flame. I glance at Kirin and Byakko, both of them had easily beaten the spectral beasts and was either sitting or standing on top of them, preventing them from escaping. Alright, at least I don¡¯t have to worry about getting backstabbed.

    The pack leader lifted his left arm, dug into his own flesh and tossed some blood at me which immediately burst into flames. Oh boy, I need to dodge this!

    FROOM!

    Phew, I barely dodged that blood attack as it covered a huge area. With his height, he can spray his blood literally anywhere within this den. The good news is, the blood flame doesn''t spreads like a typical fire, only burning from where the blood splattered.

    Seriously though, how am I going to fight this thing? It is drenched completely in blood flame and I have only two ranged attacks. Tengu-kaze''s wind pressure is not going to help me here aside from fanning the flames. Maybe a sharp wind pressure might help. Lightning Strike is limited to five charges and I don¡¯t think it is enough to kill it. These beasts seems to be quite resistant to lightning aside from a point blank blast. What else can I do? C''mon, think you idiot. There must be a way for me to fight this thing.

    As I maximised the processor in my head, the unexpected happened. The pack leader leaped directly at me, attempting to use his entire flamed body to eliminate me. Fuck, I am toast! How am I to escape far enough to avoid this? Will Rend even help me against fire? I really need to do something now!

    Something impacted the side of the beast, changing his trajectory from me. But the solid punch to the beast''s face slammed it to the ground for good. I was wondering where she went and thought the both of them was eating popcorn and watching me from a distance.

    "About time you showed up. Almost got squashed here," I chuckled.

    "Well sorry princess, we were busy killing beasts inside the cave. There was plenty of them and I thought you needed some help when I started hearing a ton of fires around the den,¡± she explained.

    "Will Rose be fine on her own? Hate for her to be outnumbered in there," I asked with a worried tone.

    "She''ll be fine. Kirin and Byakko came to help us out and they stuck close to her," she watched as the pack leader stood up.

    "W.. what? I thought they were... never mind," I gave up in asking when I noticed both of them were missing from my sight. Gee, you would think MY celestial beings would consider protecting their host instead.

    "What am I looking at here? A flamed beast? No wonder you have difficulty fighting up-close," we watched as the beast lifted both of his front legs.

    "It uses some sort of blood flame; using blood to continuously fuel the flames that he coated himself. He also uses his blood as flame projectiles so be careful. Fighting close combat with him is suicide," I warned her.

    SLAM!

    The beast slammed his two front legs in an attempt to squash us. We dodged the attack but the beast threw his blood towards our direction. Will Tengu-kaze''s wind pressure alone be able to blow some of the blood away?

    "Zen, stick close to me! Here, you know what to do!" she extended one of her gauntlet which glowed with bright blue.

    I placed Tengu-kaze on her gauntlet and Byakko got to work. Wind particles started swirling around the blade along with ice particles. To think that Byakko is able to syphon Frozen Lightning from Lily¡¯s gauntlet. Who knew Tengu-kaze had this kind of power.

    I swung horizontally towards the blood that was falling in our direction. It froze the blood flames and turned most of it into frozen blood droplets. I am loving Tengu-kaze''s ability to syphon elements with his wind capabilities. Okay okay, stop hitting me Inazuma. You¡¯re still my main weapon dammit.

    The pack leader shrieked once more after my successful attempt at nullifying his blood flame projectiles. What else is up your sleeves, Mister Leader? I can¡¯t wait to destroy whatever you have.

    "I can fight him up-close, my frozen lightning armour will protect me. I trust Byakko can maintain that? You just need to cover my six, Zen. I''m going in," said Lily as she slammed her gauntlets together.

    Guess she is the star of the show now. Glad Lily came along to help us. Can¡¯t imagine how Rose and I would fare fighting these beasts ourselves. Probably we might end up dead with all these fire abilities that they have. Protecting Lily is my priority now. Let¡¯s fucking go.

 Book 2 - Chapter 93

    W¡ª what just happened? I¡¯m¡ª bleeding out on the ground? I was stabbed. There¡¯s a hole in my stomach and blood was gushing out of it. Oh lord, I need to stop it or I¡¯m going to bleed to death. I need my healing gel. Where¡ª is my pouch? What happened to it?

    I turned my head to the left and found my hip pouch a few metres away from me. That stab must had pierced through the strap. My hand reached out towards the pouch but I can barely move. It felt my body was stuck to the ground. I am losing too much blood despite putting pressure on the wound. I''ve only realised how severe it was as I tried to sit up; the stab had pierced through my body. Shit, things are not looking good. Am I going to die? Nobody is around to save me. Rose, I guess I really will be passing before you. Daisy¡ª I am so sorry, I couldn¡¯t keep my promise.

    My vision was starting to fade with each passing seconds. Once again, I face death with a smile. Rose, Daisy¡ª Lily¡ª I love you.

    ***

    One hour earlier

    ¡°Take point, I¡¯ll cover you,¡± I stood at her side.

    ¡°I know you will, Zen,¡± she smiled at me as she got herself ready for battle.

    Sparks of frozen lightning streaked from her gauntlets as she slammed them together. I inspected Tengu-kaze and the icy wind was still gathered around the blade. Seems like Byakko is getting better at maintaining this power instead of only being a single use. The pack leader was wary of us now. Not only did my Tengu-kaze nullified the blood flame that he tossed, Lily made physical contact with him but was unscathed by his body''s blood flame. We have the advantage over him and he knows it.

    Lily charged ahead while I stood behind, finding attack angles or potential attacks she that she couldn¡¯t dodge. The pack leader struck first, delivering a swipe with his claws but Lily dashed forward closer to his face. The beast decided to slam his fist other fist on Lily but was sent upwards as Lily countered it with a punch of her own. Seemingly exposed, Lily jammed her fist into the beast¡¯s mouth and ripped out his tongue. The beast shrieked in pain at the sudden visceral attack and started attacking erratically.

    Lily dodged skilfully, harnessing her elven heritage of being light-footed. I was so entranced by her moves that I had to slap myself; reminding myself that we are in the middle of combat. The beast sunk his claws into his ribs and coated it with his blood, resulting him in having claws with bloody flames. This certainly made Lily more cautious but she still pushed on, dodging or avoiding his attacks despite the never ending combos.

    The beast was tiring himself with the constant blood usage and attacks, giving Lily an opportunity to counter attack now. Hang on, I was deeply mistaken. Lily had been using her frozen aura all this time without me realising as our surroundings were still draped in darkness. The dome was overshadowed by the beast¡¯s flaming body.

    A flurry of punches made the beast bled even more. He was slowly down to a crawl as I noticed his body was getting frosted up. It shrieked once again and I predicted what his move was. Two spectral beasts appeared and attacked her from the front. I wrapped my arm around her stomach from behind and shoved her to the side, blocking the incoming attacks with my legendary weapons.

    "Go! I''ll hold them off!" I shouted to her.

    She nodded and pushed ahead. I thought of using Kirin and Byakko to deal with these two again but Rose will end up fighting alone in the cave. I can''t have that so I''ll deal with these two personally.

    Without warning, a nail biting shriek shook the entire ground, causing me to instinctively shut my ears. What the fuck just happened? Did the pack leader went insane?

    Even the spectral beasts in front of me were clasping their ears, fading in between existence due to the ear rupturing shriek. What about Lily? Oh no, she is sitting on the ground clasping her ears and I can see blood flowing at the side of her face. It must be worse for her as her hearing is better than a human. I need to save her!

    W¡ª wait a minute. The shriek was not from the pack leader? The skin that was dangling on his body and face acted as a ear muffle for him. Shit¡ª he can move freely while we are pinned down!

    The shrieking stopped but my ears and body was still in absolute pain. My visions were blurry and my whole body and hands were shaking uncontrollably. It was only then did I noticed a hint of red at both my palms. It would appear that my eardrums had ruptured.

    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

    The pack leader was approaching closer to Lily; I need to act fast. Lily is in no position to defend herself when she is in a foetal position, still clutching her ears. It must had been agonising experience for her.

    I tried lifting my right hand but my entire body was numbed. Even lifting a finger is excruciatingly hard to perform. It took every effort to lift my right arm and called a bolt of lightning to power it. But I am not going to make it. The beast is already attempting to swing at Lily and I still can''t move my arm properly. Damn it, I hope he misses!

    Something white leapt and blocked the swipe with its body. Is that¡ª Inu? Oh no, why did he do that? Is he even going to survive by such a hit? I roared as hard as I could and released Lightning Strike on the leader. The two spectral beasts in front of me vanishes as the beast was electrocuted by my spell.

    The leader snapped out of my spell and began approaching me. I certainly gained his attention. Now to force my body to move so I can kill this bastard once and for all.

    ***

    It¡ª hurts. My ears are ringing horribly and I can''t even open my eyes as I gritted my teeth against the horrible deafening shriek. All I could do is curl myself on the floor, despite knowing that I am completely vulnerable to any attacks. Is Zen able to help me? I am sure even he is struggling to move an inch with this shriek.

    The deadly shriek stopped but I was still feeling the effects from it. Warm fluids were streaking down my ears and I knew my eardrums had ruptured. My body was shivering as though I was in a seizure. I felt something landed on my body which snapped me out of my shivers. Oh no¡ª please don''t be Zen. Oh please¡ª oh please, don''t be him. I will hate myself for doing nothing to help him.

    I mustered enough strength to open my eyes and turned my head. Something white and bloodied was on my shoulder. Wait¡ª can it be? But¡ª why? Why would it protect me?

    I pushed myself to sit up; feeling more blood leaking out of my ear. This was more agonising than training with Peter when he was teaching me about acupoints. At least that doesn''t give you concussion or rupture your eardrums. Inu was bleeding profusely as I struggled to hold him. His body was getting colder by the seconds and all I could do was stroke his fur. I could barely hear anything as everything sounded muffled. I asked him "Why would you do that? Just¡ª why?"; yet all it did was lick my hand. Eventually, he stopped moving. I continued stroking his body even though I knew¡ª I knew.

    An animal that I hated sacrificed himself for me. You are a fool, Lily. Such a fool. Inu meant well when he wanted to protect me. But why? I just don''t understand why was he attracted to me? Is it because I am an elf? I understand that elves naturally have good affinity with animals but Inu¡ª felt different. But it''s too late now. He literally sacrificed himself for me yet I doubted him. Did Zen knew he would be saving me? Why didn''t he tell me earlier then? He was so sure Inu had a role in something.

    The leader was heading closer to Zen who was still struggling to stand. I need to help him. I can''t afford to see him die, never again will I allow that to happen. C''mon, Lily. Push through it; push yourself further! Otherwise the only man you loved might die again!

    I placed Inu at my side gently, you can rest now, Inu; may you rest in peace. I will perform a proper burial for you when this is over. My arms was the first to regained some strength which I used to balance myself. I slapped my thighs in an attempt to wake it up quicker. Listen to me you stupid limbs; I am the master, you are the host, listen to my every command!

    A potion rolled towards me from the front. I quickly reached out to grab it and poured its contents into my mouth. I knew what it was and it was exactly what I needed. I felt my strength returning to my body, but I know full well it will only last for a couple of minutes. More than enough time to kill this stupid beast. Adrenaline is just a temporary buff to mask my sense of pain and symptoms.

    Zen had already started fighting the beast, despite knowing that he might get burned by the blood flame. C''mon, Lily. You can do this. At least avenge Inu who protected you with his life.

    ***

    You would think my red dragonhide would at least negate some of the flames but that was far from my assumption. This blood flame is not normal at all; completely defies all logics and only burned me through my clothes. But to hell with it, a little burn is not going to kill me. I am wounding him as much as he is burning me. Let''s see who falls first!

    I swung Tengu-kaze with the frozen lightning wind and more blood started spraying from where it struck. Does it not feel pain, like at all? I noticed that his eyes were glowing red now and seems to be attacking in a berserk-like state. Did that shriek changed his behaviour?

    Spikes of ice pierced through the beast''s side but he completely ignored it, seemingly feeling no pain whatsoever. Then I guess it is time for us to end this fight for good.

    Noticing Lily was about to call her bolt of frozen lightning, I started gathering more wind powers around Tengu-kaze; possibly too much as I noticed that it started shaking erratically. The beast retaliated with his own, seemingly releasing a huge pool of blood in all directions. How much blood does this skinny beast have?!

    I gave a roar of defiant as I used all of my strength to swing Tengu-kaze which was ridiculously heavy. The adrenaline potion that I took earlier must be starting to wear off. A huge wave of frost flew towards the beast, freezing the most of the blood from his blood flame projectiles but it was stopped by the jaw of the beast. Do you really think you can stop such an attack with your jaw?

    Lily was gripping onto her frozen lightning and was taking aim. The frost wave vanished and the beast stood still. What a fool; his insides must be freezing over by now. Lily won¡¯t be be missing her aim when the beast can barely even move now. Lily¡¯s lightning slammed on the beast which spreads throughout the beast¡¯s body. Literally getting frozen inside and out, a fitting end to this beast. Your blood flame will not save you now.

    In a swift movement, the beast extended one of it¡¯s claw and decapitated itself; catching us off guard completely. I rushed towards the head, feeling my strength fading with every step I took but I pushed on. I thought of delivering the coup de grace but fortunately, it was not needed. The head was dead as it had no pulse. An odd attempt to save itself; thinking it was able to regenerate from his head like a demon.

    Making sure no regeneration occurred, I limped my way towards Lily who was, once again, lying flat on the floor. That frozen lightning spell of hers must be exhausting her strength whenever she uses it.

    ¡°We.. did it,¡± I smiled at her.

    ¡°Y.. yeah, we certainly did,¡± she waved a little.

    ¡°Hey, sit-up. There¡¯s blood everywhere. Wouldn¡¯t want to ruin your silver hair,¡± I reached to pull her up.

    ¡°Ehe, you¡¯re the only man who ever compliment me about my hair colour. Oh no.. Zen, your skin is burned. We need to get that treated,¡± she inspected my hand and forearm.

    ¡°I¡¯m¡ª good. We need to help Rose. I¡¯m worried about her fighting alone. C¡¯mon, let¡¯s go,¡± I nudged my head towards the direction of the cave.

    We finally killed the pack leader. But¡ª why do I feel.. restless? Like my guts is telling me something; something that I had missed. It was then did I realised a mistake; a mistake that caused me my death once again.

 Book 2 - Chapter 94

    I¡ª I failed.. once again. The man I loved, the man I longed for, the man that finally agreed to love me in spite of his stubbornness, was bleeding on the ground trying to move. Blood was spreading across the ground as he struggled to reach for his hip pouch which landed a few feet away from him. Oh goddess, why am I staring at such a scene again? What did I do in my previous life to deserve such a scene; not once but twice now. Yet I cannot do anything for him as I¡¯m being carried further and further away from him.

    I hopelessly tried to free myself from the clutches of this asshole carrying me away; my strength leaving me as the effects from the adrenaline potion wears off. Oh Goddess Of Divinity; in all my life, I had never asked for your help, despite all the troubles that I faced. But please.. PLEASE, keep him alive! This is all I asked of you!!

    ***

    Five minutes earlier

    ¡°C¡¯mon, let¡¯s go. Rose needs our help,¡± he extended his arm and pulled me up.

    ¡°Just a minute, I need to make sure that Inu''s body is kept somewhere¡ª safe? Where did it go? I am certain I left it there,¡± I scratched my head. Did some beast ate his body? Last I checked he had no pulse so I''m fairly certain he''s dead.

    A nearby conversation snapped us to attention. Who is it? A stray beast that wandered too far? Despite my hearing was muffled by my ruptured eardrums, I can still pickup on what they were talking about.

    ¡°¡ªter, why¡ª did you blocked that attack? I could had killed one of them,¡± spoke the decapitated head. Oh gosh, that thing is still alive? I thought Zen made sure it was dead?!

    ¡°You were supposed to kill the boy. Yet despite ample of opportunities, and me helping you; You.. still¡ª failed. I have no use for a failure like you,¡± spat someone.

    Who is he talking to? The voice sounded rough and deep yet commanding. I focused my eyes and did not like what I saw. How¡ª is it possible? He had no pulse! Yet here he is talking to the head!

    ¡°Master¡ª give me one more chance. P¡ª please,¡± begged the head.

    ¡°No¡ª you deserved nothing but death,¡± the head screamed in agony as it burst into flames.

    Who is this Inu? Is this what Zen had predicted? His curse, despite making him extremely weird, sometimes gives him good intuition and intellect. Well, this is all according to Rose as I had not interacted with him much for the past 15 years.

    ¡°Sigh, you had every opportunities to kill him, yet you couldn¡¯t even defeat the weakest Champion. My disappointment is immeasurable; along with foiling all my plans because of your incompetence,¡± spat Inu.

    Weakest Champion? Who is he referring to? Zen or me? I don''t recall any of us being someone''s champion. The hair at the back of my neck began to stand. I do not like this; we might have to fight Inu, in spite of our current conditions.

    Inu¡¯s body started morphing. His bloodied fur cleaning itself as he grew larger. W¡ª what is he? He looked like a crossbreed between a wolf and a human. Standing bipedal on two strong legs and having claws instead of fingernails. ¡°A Jin-Rou,¡± uttered Zen as he realised I had no idea what I was looking at.

    Jinrou? Were¡ª wolf? This is a werewolf? It looked really gruesome despite having silky white furs.

    ¡°Have you heard about me¡ª boy? You were wary of me from the very beginning,¡± he asked Zen.

    ¡°I heard stories that Okuri-Inu were mischievous creatures. Turns out I was right after all,¡± he grinned.

    ¡°I¡¯m amazed you¡¯ve even heard of me when I had killed every single being that I made contact with. There is only one Okuri-Inu,¡± he seemed impressed with Zen.

    ¡°Who are you? You must be a Vessel or Champion since you called me a ''Champion'' earlier. I serve no one, aside from Rose so you are deeply mistaken,¡± asked Zen.

    ¡°Which is why I called you the weakest Champion. You don¡¯t even know about the God that chose you. Although¡ª allow me to return the favour for my subordinate. You don¡¯t need to know my name when you won¡¯t live long enough to remember it,¡± he chuckled.

    In less than a span of a second, the werewolf vanished from my vision in front of me. W¡ª where did he go? I turned my head to look at Zen, the werewolf was in front of him, seemingly stabbed him with something as he lifted Zen who began coughing blood from his mouth.

    Inu retracted his arm, exposing Zen''s stomach wound which started spewing even more now. What did Inu do? Did he stabbed Zen with his claws? But claws don''t inflict a huge circular wound nor is it long enough to pierce through his stomach.

    I could barely react at all as everything happened stupidly fast. I finally came to my senses when Inu stood in front of me, towering over me with his height.

    ¡°I have plans for you,¡± he grinned and carried me under his arm like a sack of potatoes.

    I tried to free myself from his clutches but I was losing strength as the effects from the adrenaline potion wears off. Pain and concussion began to overwhelm my body once more as I slow watch Zen getting smaller and smaller with each second. No.. no¡ª Zen! You can¡¯t die! You had just agreed to accept me!

    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

    I punched Inu as hard as I could but it was in vain. My body had succumbed to fatigue and concussion that had accumulated thus far. But¡ª all is not lost yet. While I don¡¯t have my strength with me, I still have my voice. I can still scream!

    ¡°ROSE!! WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU??!! ZEN IS DYING AGAIN!! SAVE YOUR HUSBAND; YOU BLOODY CUNT!!¡± I shouted as hard as I could and suddenly felt myself falling face flat to the ground; followed by an explosion that made my ears rung again. This concussion is a nuisance!

    ¡°Geez, do you really have to curse me like that? I was just done with clearing the cave,¡± sighed Rose as she approached closer. Her clothes were bloodied but it was clear that it wasn¡¯t hers based on the direction of the splatters.

    ¡°Rose¡ª Zen, save him. You can make it. Go!¡± I shouted to her.

    ¡°I can¡¯t. Not with this opponent in front of me,¡± she remained focused on Inu.

    ¡°W¡ª what do you mean? Is defeating Inu more important than saving Zen? Your beloved husband?¡± I questioned her.

    ¡°Lily¡ª every inch of me is holding back from running to him. But I know full well the moment I turn my back; I¡¯m a dead woman. Now take these and do whatever you need to stand up. I need help here,¡± she tossed a couple of potions at me.

    A drip of blood flowed from Rose¡¯s lips which made me shameful. What am I doing? Of course Rose cares about him and wishes to save him. But what''s the point if she ended up dead in the process. It was clear that Rose was holding herself back from saving Zen. But I was so distraught that I only thought about him without considering the situation we are in. What a fool I am.

    ¡°Rose Starr¡ª also known as White Angel; possibly the strongest human in this generation. I was wondering where you were,¡± grinned Inu.

    ¡°Heard of me? Wished you hadn¡¯t,¡± she spat.

    ¡°Only an ignorant fool had not heard of you. The God Of Destruction will be delighted with your death. Such a pity; so renowned yet not a Champion,¡± he laughed.

    ¡°I don¡¯t need to be a ''Champion'' to defeat you, Inu. Allow me to send you back to your maker,¡± she readied her rapier coated in Fa Jin Zh¨°u.

    ¡°Ahh.. perhaps I should announce my name after all. I hated when people call me that. Horrus¡ª is my name; Vessel of the God Of Destruction. And I shall be your death reaper,¡± he crouched low, ready to strike.

    I need to help Rose. This Horrus is strong, like ridiculously strong, possibly even stronger than Peter himself. Rose will not stand a chance against him alone. The three of us will need to fight him together. Damn it, Zen¡ª we need you. You can¡¯t leave me and Rose to fight against Horrus alone. Please¡ª don''t die.

    ***

    This¡ª Horrus, is powerful. Immeasurable in terms of power. We were lucky Moi helped us against Baku, who was also a Vessel for an unknown God the last time. But Baku uses mind abilities over strength. This being in front of me is the definition of pure strength and power. Is he as strong as the Demon King? I certainly hope not otherwise we''re screwed.

    Sweats were forming from my forehead and began trickling down my face. I am breathing hard even though we aren''t fighting yet. He was adjusting himself and yawning casually; mocking me that he will win despite not taking things seriously.

    I took a quick glance at Lily. She was checking the potions that I''ve handed to her. Just drink it all already, Lily. I need your help in this fight. Strength and Adrenaline potion will help you in getting back your strength.

    "Rose, give me a couple of minutes," she whispered to me.

    W¡ª what?! I don''t even know if I can survive a couple of minutes fighting alone against Horrus. Damn it, Lily. You really ask for the impossible sometimes. What are you even planning to do? A¡ª are you for real? You''re¡ª meditating right now?!

    "Tsk tsk tsk¡ª pay attention, Miss Angel," said Horrus.

    I blocked his strange attack and countered him. He dodged it easily, as though he was already bored with this fight.

    "This is not what I am looking for, Miss White Angel. Show me your strength!" he roared.

    I am lucky that he is taking things easy now. But he is right. He can kill me anytime as he is that strong. I need to use all the spells at my disposal should I wish to stand a chance against him.

    I reached into my hip pouch and took out two potions. A spell intensity potion and Zen''s most prized possession, the +10 all-stats potion, which is ridiculously addictive to drink. Why is it when the potion gives better effects does the taste ends up getting more delicious.

    I felt the potion''s effects coursing through my body, empowering me even further. Oh gosh, that all-stats potion was the best drink I ever had. I might end up drinking it even when I don''t need it. But drinking is not my specialty. What I am known for is my terrifying usage of forbidden spells.

    Focused Blessing comes first, followed by Sacred Wings and Grand Blessings. Both Lily and Zen should be close enough to had received the buff effects from Grand Blessings too. Fa Jin Zh¨°u is still active and I can dual cast Accelerate with Light Blessings during combat, all is set. Time to kill this monster.

    Zen¡ª dear, please.. don''t die. I cannot bear the thought of you leaving me so soon.

    ***

    Oh, Frost Lightning Dragon, heed my call. I need your help; literally need your help right now. Please grant me more of your strength. C''mon, answer me already! I know you can hear me!

    Sigh, guess I shouldn''t waste my time trying to communicate with the Celestial in my gauntlets. I just don''t get it, why can''t I communicate with it? Does it not want to talk to me? Then why choose me as the wielder in the first place? Ugh, I''m feel so lost right now.

    Maybe¡ª maybe if I were to use Concentration while I meditate, will I be able to talk to it? Doesn''t hurt to try I guess, here goes nothing.

    "Gah! Finally, took your time figuring out, didn''t you?" said an enormous being in front of me.

    "AHHHHHHH!!!" I screamed and started running as far as I could. What the hell is that thing?!

    "Hey hey¡ª that''s rude. I am not that ugly for you to scream like that," he stopped me from running by lifting me up with some frost lightning. I was dragged closer to him like how you would lift a kette by the neck.

    I marvelled at him. This¡ª is a dragon? He looked¡ª weird. Completely different than the dragon in the real world. He have six legs and a rather metallic body instead of leathery hide. And he''s chubby¡ª as though he had never exercised in his entire life.

    "Excuse me¡ª you do realised that I can like.. read your mind? What a rude host that I had chosen," he pouted.

    "Umm¡ª Frost Lightning Dragon?" I smiled awkwardly.

    "Primordial Frost Lightning Dragon. You can just call me Prifrolid by the way," he smiled.

    "Excuse me¡ª Mister Prifrolid sir, you looked so different than the dragons that we meet in the real world. And I wasn''t expecting you to be so cheerful. Zen always said that his Celestial Beings were always judging him," I stuttered.

    "That''s because Celestials are somber beings. I, on the other hand, am a Cosmic Being. We are unique in our own ways," he chuckled.

    "W¡ª what? Are you saying that you''re a God? Are you fucking joking?" I asked with disbelief. I was certain my mouth was agape upon asking that question. My mind is blown away right now.

    Prifrolid brought his face closer to mine and stared at me. Uh oh, did I made him mad?

    "Did anyone tell you that you are noisy and talk too much?" he asked seriously.

    "W¡ª wha.. how rude! And you said that to my face!" I flustered.

    "HAHAHA! Have a taste of your own medicine!" he started laughing and rolling around.

    I took a deep breath and calmed myself. THIS being is a God?! But he''s right, I was being rude to him earlier. I am just having such a hard time processing everything that is being unravelled to me so suddenly. I need to remember that Rose is fighting alone right now.

    "I''m sorry, Prifrolid-sama, I apologise for my rude behaviour earlier," I bowed properly to him.

    "Hm? What an instant change in behaviour. Very well, I am sure you have questions from all this sudden development; state your mind," he sat on the ground.

    "You said that you''re a Cosmic Being, but why are you living inside a gauntlets? Shouldn''t you be living in the Ethereal? And is it because you are a Cosmic Being that I need to use Concentration to talk to you?" I asked politely.

    "Hmm.. I''m not used to seeing you being so polite. It makes you feel¡ª disingenuous," he frowned.

    "Please answer my question. I don''t have much time as I need to help Rose," I started to get annoyed with him.

    "You mean that girl fighting outside? Nah, she''ll be fine. We still got plenty of time to talk," he started whistling.

    "If you''re not going to talk then I''ll be on my way," I stood up and started walking away. This "God" is so annoying to talk to.

    "And do what? Your eardrums are ruptured and you''re still feeling the effects from a concussion. You barely have enough strength to even stand. What do you think you can even do by going out there?" he insinuated.

    "You''re right. I can barely even stand. I will be a nuisance out there. But I still have to try. I am not going to sit by and watch Rose die. I''ve already lost¡ª Zen. I don''t wish to see my sister die as well; not when I can do something about it!" I shouted.

    "He''s fine~ But I admire your determination. You sought me out for help after all. You thought that I would be kind enough to lend you a hand if you were to meet up with me. But sadly, you are wrong," he said.

    I stood there stumped. Are all Gods like this? Refusing to hear the pleads from anyone unless it favours them? Is the elven Goddess like this too? Only willing to help when we have something to offer?

    "You didn''t need to find me. I would had willingly lent you a hand when you called," he snapped his fingers.

    Frozen lightning started engulfing me, lifting me up as though I am being worshipped. W¡ª what is going on? What''s happening to me?

    "Make me proud out there, Lily Moonshine," he smiled as the world started to fade from my vision.

 Book 2 - Chapter 95

    I''m at my peak but he is still toying with me. He managed to hurt me in a few places but thankfully it wasn''t serious. But I am not going to be fine when he stops holding back. I am going to die if Lily doesn''t start helping me anytime soon!

    He''s using a strange weapon which is so grotesque to look at. Protruding from the palm of his right hand, it is an extremely sharp bone where he can extend or retract at will. That bone blade of his is strong enough to even withstand my Fa Jin Zh¨°u. You would think a wolf would be using his claws to attack instead.

    "Is this all you''ve got to offer? Honestly, I''m starting to get disappointed," he yawned.

    Starting to get cocky, eh? So be it. I readied my palm for a spell that I forbid myself to use, but this is a life or death situation right now. I cannot allow myself to relax as I need full concentration just to keep up with him. I started chanting, making sure the spell is ready in a moment''s notice. I will need to get close to him for this to work.

    He charged at me with blinding speed. Even with all my buffs, he was still faster than me. But I have better reactionary speed to avoid his attacks, which is why I only have minor injuries so far. He swung his bone blade and I crouched low to avoid it. He immediately followed with a stab but I avoided it with a roll.

    I clutched my rapier tightly; losing my weapon in the middle of this fight would be a stupid way for me to die. I need a range weapon to fight him, facing close combat with him is suicide; especially with that bone blade of his. No choice then, while a whip is effective at hitting or catching people at a distance, it doesn''t deal significant damage to the target. I will have to use a weapon that I still struggle to use.

    I swung my rapier which changed its blade to a more flexible long blade. I am going to get cut by this blade again. I held the end of the blade and readied to strike Horrus. He grew cautious as soon as I swapped to this blade. This is a weapon that, once again, is thanks to Zen''s weird ideas.

    "W¡ª what is that weapon?" he remained alert.

    "This? This is an urumi. A weapon created by the man you killed!" I shouted as I swung the blade towards him.

    He avoided it easily and dashed towards me; but he was sliced from behind by my weapon. I quickly swung my weapon to the side to prevent it from slicing me. I am not fully proficient in using this blade yet. Urumi is much different than a whip. Using a whip is like an extension of your body, focusing on the tip most of the time. But for Urumi, the entire blade is flexible and sharp. I need to focus in using the entire blade rather than just the tip. Not to mention I can extend or retract the blade at will which changes it''s trajectory on the fly. It certainly pushes my skills and brain to the max when I need to calculate the trajectory of the blade to attack.

    "What an unpredictable weapon. But what''s unpredictable is the wielder herself. It takes skills to use such a weapon," he growled as he inspected his wound.

    "What can I say? I''m a prodigy," I smirked.

    "You certainly live up to your name," he continued his charge towards me.

    I maintained a safe distance from him using Sacred Wings, flying backwards or upwards to avoid his bone blade; all the while slicing him with my urumi blade. I felt a few cuts on myself from my own blade as I struggled to keep up with the attack pace, and Horrus knew that he can take advantage of that.

    He struck out the moment I retracted my blade; leaping towards me with his bone blade ready to pierce me. But he fell for my trap, what he doesn¡¯t know is that I have my spell at the ready. Luring him closer in mid-air was exactly what I¡¯m looking for!

    The both of us landed some distance apart after attacking one another. He was aiming for my side and he wounded me. I was bleeding but it didn''t look too bad. Nothing a little pressure and healing gel can''t stop. Him on the other hand, is in for a world of hurt. The mark on his neck was a sign that I had succeeded in casting my spell. He seems to have no idea why I would risk myself to choke him earlier. He grinned at me as he readied himself to attack me once more.

    I¡¯ll admit, I commend him for not screaming in pain when the first silver threads sprouted from within his body. He pulled out the thread immediately but more began to sprout as it started to wrap his body. I didn¡¯t want to use Subjugate on you but consider this a professional courtesy for killing my husband.

    Horrus continued to pull as many threads as he could but the sheer number was overwhelming him. As long as you have blood, you can never stop this spell. Even I don¡¯t know how to counter this forbidden spell despite being the caster. I am so glad this spell is declared as a forbidden spell and is excruciating to learn. May those rats rest in peace. Victory was at hand; I did it, I stopped a Vessel all by myself.

    The threads caught flame and began to burn. I watched in horror when the flames burned with blood red; acting unnaturally as it burned all the threads from within Horrus''s body. Did¡ª he just burned all his blood away? How is that even possible?!

    Horrus was panting horribly as he glared at me with murderous intent. I should prepare for a counter attack before he¡ª

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    ¡°YOU¡ª you.. that took a toll out of me! That was the most painful thing I had ever experienced. To force myself to burn all of my blood¡ª that spell of yours is.. cursed!¡± He growled loudly as he lifted me by the neck.

    I couldn¡¯t even react at all. He literally vanished from my sight without me even blinking. I¡¯m losing my breath¡ª can¡¯t think straight. His wounds started steaming as he began to heal himself; possibly regenerating the blood that he had burned. Horrus extended his bone blade from his right palm again and swung it towards me. I¡ª need.. to move.

    The sound of glasses breaking rang in my ear and I dropped to the ground. I must¡ª catch my breath while I can. Breathe Rose, breathe.. The sudden surge of air going into my throat caused me to cough.

    ¡°Took¡ª your time, didn¡¯t you? Cough. Were you waiting for me to die until you decided to help out? Cough cough,¡± I panted.

    ¡°Sorry. Not used to this new power,¡± said Lily who sounded different than usual. Did she hurt her throat or something?

    Catching my breath, I finally saw what happened to Horrus. Frozen lightning spikes protruded from the ground, piercing his body through various parts keeping him in place. Lily¡ª looked different too. Her armour was different as it glowed with a hint of blue and so did her hair. No longer did she had her iconic silver hair with a hint of emerald at the tips. What shocked me was her lack of eye pupils; it was completely white.

    ¡°Lily? That¡¯s you, right?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Do I look that different? I am just feeling really calm right now. It¡¯s such a strange feeling,¡± she explained.

    Horrus broke through the frozen lightnings keeping him in place, or more like he tore himself to free himself. A couple of limbs were dangling from his body as it started to regenerate; not a scene I would like to remember.

    ¡°You met someone, didn¡¯t you?¡± asked Horrus.

    ¡°You¡¯re right. And he¡¯s going to help me destroy you,¡± hustled Lily with her fingers.

    ¡°Such arrogance, you will pay for your insolence! To think I have such hopes for you,¡± Horrus dashed towards Lily with blinding speed once again, but was met with an uppercut to the jaw, sending him flying backwards.

    ¡°Rose, you might want to stand back. Would hate for you to get caught by my attacks. Even I don''t know what I am capable of right now," she walked ahead.

    Is that¡ª Lily''s version of Focused Meditation? She was never able to achieve that state despite trying whatever she could. Even Zen couldn''t explain to her as he said that it occurred naturally to him after meeting his mother in a dream. And apparently he made his decision to choose me after his mom agreed to choose me. The nerve of that man to have his dead mother making decisions for him.

    "Who did you meet?! That power doesn''t belong here!" he shouted.

    "A God," Lily charged towards Horrus who was retreating at Lily''s new found strength.

    I performed a quick status check on myself. Focused Blessing, Scared Wings and Grand Blessings is on cooldown. Accelerate and Light Blessings is ready. I can support from range using my whip; definitely not using urumi unless I want Lily to punch me.

    ***

    I¡ª feel so calm, as though I am floating on a calm sea without a care in the world to where I drift off to. I thought I was a hot-headed elf by nature, constantly charging ahead to brawl in close combat. But now¡ª I just feel so.. composed.

    "Careful now, Glacial mode doesn''t last as it''s your first time," Prifrolid spoke through my mind. Then I guess I should end him before it comes to that.

    Horrus was recoiling with my every step forward. He is afraid of me? The beast who murdered Zen in less than a second? Now that is baffling to me. But less not stall any longer, I want him DEAD!

    I dashed forward, noticing I was leaving a trail of ice shaped footprint with my every step. I delivered a punch to him but he blocked it with his bone blade. He extended another bone blade with his left palm to combat my attacks with his own.

    We exchanged a flurry of attacks, punches and blocks. Neither giving any quarters to one another. He is fast with his attacks, some managing to hurt me even through my frozen armour but with every milliseconds he fights close combat with me, he is getting his speed reduced. Frost began to form throughout his body as I brought the surrounding temperatures to freezing levels. I hope Rose is far enough to not be affected by it as I do not have sufficient control over my new found powers yet.

    Horrus realises too late as he tried to gain some distance away from me but he was already moving too slow now. I gave no quarters and continued to chase after him, further increasing the frosting all over him. I thought I had him but a burst of blood flame emerged from within his body, melting all the ice that I fought so hard to freeze him with. No matter, let us see who¡¯s power is stronger then; your blood flame or my frozen lightning!

    The surrounding temperature was reaching subzero now; the ground was cracking due to the temperature and beginning to crack or shatter with my every step. Horrus was regaining his speed as his blood flame was melting the frost from his body. Stopping his fire is what I need to do if I wish to win against him.

    Time to try out my frozen lightning strike with this new form. I leapt into the air and lifted my right arm. An enormous blue lightning flew from the sky and landed on my palm. Horrus retreated at the sight of my lightning but there is no way I¡¯m about to let him escape. I took aim and threw the enormous frozen lightning towards him which flew at lightning speed and hit it''s mark, sending him flying and impaling him to the ravine''s wall.

    Horrus struggled to remove the giant frozen lightning that was embedded in his torso but frost were spreading all over his body at a ridiculous pace. He intensified his blood flame but the strength and intensity of my frozen lightning outmatched his blood flame.

    All I could do was watch. I wished I could continue my assault on him but I knew that I had hit my limit after that last attack. I had never dared to test whether this lightning from the heavens would cause friendly fire should I get too close.

    "No¡ª it doesn''t," said Prifrolid. Ah, thanks for clearing that up.

    Horrus''s blood flame were beginning to freeze over. Never before did I imagine that flame would just stopped moving and be frozen over. Right, what am I thinking; that blood flame is already unholy in nature. Just¡ª a little more. C''mon, you can do it. Please¡ª Just.. DIE ALREADY!

    He gave his last roar of defiance but finally succumbed to the frozen lightning completely, his whole body covered in frost. Everything went eerily quiet aside from the sound of my frozen lightning that continued to spread on the ravine walls where Horrus was impaled.

    I¡ª I did it. He''s dead. Oh my¡ª this new form is so powerful! Thank you so much, Prifrolid-sama. I am so glad you chose me as your host.

    A sudden wave of fatigue hit me and my legs gave out; but someone held me by the arm, preventing me from touching the ground. Zen?

    "I guess you''re the strongest now. Heh heh," chuckled Rose.

    "Hah¡ª I really wonder if that''s the case," I sighed. My strength had officially left me and I couldn''t even stand properly. Arctic form is powerful but it takes it toll on my body. I need to be careful in using it in the future, and possibly learn how to take full advantage of this form.

    "Wait¡ª did you check up on Zen yet?" I asked her.

    "I''m¡ª afraid in finding out. Can you¡ª come with me?" she shivered.

    I daresay that I understood what she was going through. Even I can''t bear the thought of seeing him lying dead on the ground in a pool of blood once again. As though experiencing it once wasn¡¯t bad enough and the Goddess decided that I had to experienced it twice. It is better that the both of us checked on him. At least we¡¯ll have a shoulder to lean on should one of us burst into tears.

    "Well¡ª you''re going to have to carry me then. I''m here with you, Rose. Let''s¡ª find out together," I uttered.

    ¡°Alright¡ª let¡¯s go,¡± she slumped my arm over her shoulder.

    As we headed to that dreaded location, the sound of ice breaking could be heard over the silence in the den area; sending a shiver through my spine. You got to be kidding me!

    Both of us turned our heads slowly, dreading every second of finding out what was making that sound despite knowing the truth. Blue flames melted the ice around Horrus¡¯s body. Fuck, why isn¡¯t he dead yet?! To think I wanted to mourn his body earlier when I thought he saved my life.

    Horrus fell to the ground from where he was impaled, seemingly pissed at what happened to him.

    ¡°To force me to use Hellfire, what a bloody joke. The power of the Gods should be reserved for powerful beings, not the two of you,¡± he spat.

    Prifrolid-sama, are you able to help me once again? Otherwise, we¡¯re fucked.

 Book 2 - Chapter 96

    W¡ª where am I? Why does it feel like I am floating? A familiar scene appeared below me and I swam towards it. How strange that my body felt surprisingly light. Wait¡ª am I.. dead?

    Kirin and Byakko was bantering with one other at their favourite spot; yet they weren¡¯t surprised to see me in my strange form.

    ¡°What did I missed?¡± I chuckled.

    ¡°Sigh, this is why we shouldn¡¯t had used our spectral form. Our current sanctioned powers aren¡¯t enough to protect him when we split our consciousness,¡± sighed Kirin.

    ¡°Hang on¡ª am I really dead? For real?¡± my mouth went agape.

    ¡°Close, you are inching closer to death with every seconds. And none of your wives are in a position to be helping you,¡± shrugged Byakko.

    ¡°I only have one wife. Still reconsidering whether I should have another but as of now, it¡¯s just one. Anyway¡ª what¡¯s going to happen to you two when I passed on? Are you going to search for another host?¡± I casually asked them.

    They glared at me with hostility. Did I asked something wrong?

    ¡°Are you in a hurry to get rid of us? You seemed¡ª awfully accepting of your own death. I do not believe we had treated you badly enough for you to hate us this much. We stuck with you because you were destined for greatness. Just like your parents,¡± Kirin sounded pissed but Byakko kept his silence.

    ¡°Woah¡ª the both of you should know very well that ¡®that¡¯ was not what I meant. C¡¯mon, you can literally read my mind. Don¡¯t do this and sour the mood of our last meeting,¡± I tried to calm them.

    Kirin started approaching me but Byakko stood in the way. Did he really wanted to kill me? But I¡¯m already dead.

    ¡°Calm yourself, Kirin. Live up to your reputation at least. You know full well that the boy is right. I am sure you know what he¡¯s feeling right now. You¡¯re welcome, boy. It¡¯s been an honour to fight by your side. I am certain Kirin felt the same.¡± bowed Byakko.

    ¡°Oh no! I should be the one bowing to the both of you. Thank you, for accepting me as your host, and fighting with me thus far. I am eternally grateful to the both of you,¡± I started to float up.

    ¡°I guess this is goodbye. If possible, can you look after my family and Lily for me? I know it¡¯s much to ask but at least I¡¯ll feel better knowing when the both of you is watching over them,¡± I waved at them as I started to float higher.

    ¡°You can tell them yourself boy. I daresay we got lucky¡ª really lucky. You can expect us to give our utmost cooperation in the future. This is a wakeup call to both of us,¡± he turned to look at Byakko.

    ¡°Hey, what do you mean? Hey¡ª wait. I am not done yet!¡± my vision turned white as I continued to float higher into the sky.

    ***

    I opened my eyes. W¡ª what? Everything was dark. I was expecting everything to be white and Morgan Freeman there to be welcoming me. Guess I got my hopes up for nothing. Why is it dark though? Even if I went down under, you would had expected it should had been hot and fiery.

    A friendly hedgehog appeared in my vision, seemingly soaked in something. He started licking my face excessively and I told him ¡°I¡¯m up, I¡¯m up¡± as I tried to move my hand to stop him from licking me.

    ¡°OWWW!!¡± I squirmed in pain as I tried to sit up. An excruciating pain resounded on my stomach as though someone stabbed a burning poker through me. I inspected the wound and quickly realised that it was sealed. Who¡ª helped me?

    I inspected my surroundings and saw my tube of healing gel was squeezed half empty and Q was drenched in it. Did Q saved my life? Upon further inspection, my wound was sealed both ways which amazed me. Q is a brilliant hedgehog and I am eternally grateful that he ended up as my family pet.

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    I carried Q and placed him on my shoulder. Ugh, it hurts to even walk. I knew that Q had only sealed my wound from the outside and prevented me from bleeding out but any wounded organs might still be bleeding internally. I walked to my hip pouch and retrieved a cloth to wipe Q.

    ¡°When this is over, fancy meal is on me, including your family,¡± I told him as I wiped him down.

    ¡°Kew kew,¡± he pointed his adorable hand towards a direction. Right, despite my hearing being muffled due to my ruptured eardrums, I knew that Lily and Rose were still fighting. I must help them when I still can. I inspected my fingernails and it was extremely pale. That¡¯s a sign that I am horrendously lacking in blood.

    I placed Q on the ground and rummaged through my hip pouch. Three potions was what I retrieved; an adrenaline potion, +10 all-stats potion and an experimental one; a blood regeneration potion. This is the closest I had ever gotten to making a healing potion. I had tried it once without the knowledge of my wife and I fell horribly ill the next day. My whole body felt fatigued like I had been working the field for a week continuously. I lied and told Rose that I came down with a horrible cold but in actual fact it was the side effect of this potion. Better to be seriously ill than dead in this situation.

    I took a swig of all three of them. Ahh~ Best drinks I ever had. I¡¯ll live, for now. Blood regeneration potion will keep me alive as my body goes into overhaul, creating more blood to keep me alive. But I still need medical care after since it doesn¡¯t stop me from bleeding out internally.

    Time to head over to where Rose and Lily are. Inu is going to pay for that sneak attack of his. One do not stab someone when they are talking!

    ***

    "Unforgivable! To be forced to use this sacred form against a human¡ª and an elf. I knew there was something about you, Lily Moonshine. To think you were this powerful," he glared angrily at us.

    Horrus looked really different now. His form grew grotesque as the bone blade on his right palm grew shorter but much sharper. Additional eyes grew at the side of his primary ones. Sharp spiky bones protruded from his right forearm, further increasing the amount of grotesqueness from before. Blue flames engulfed his entire left arm as he held a highly concentrated blue flame on his palm while a cape of blue flame covered his back. Talk about being presumptuous.

    How are we going to win this? Lily seems to be down for the count after using that new power of hers. I can fight but¡ª Horrus is literally melting everything around him. I will be cooked alive trying to fight him at close range! But why¡ª despite everything that is happening around me, why am I feeling so calm right now?!

    "Time to feel the wrath of the God Of Destruction. My flesh reconstructed¡ª and my blood, burns. Corpse after corpse, burned in my stride. As I awaited¡ª for his return. Heed my words. I am Horrus, Amaterasu Jinrou. And I have never known defeat," he readied himself.

    "Uh-uh, no. You can''t just say that, you have to proof it first before saying that," said a familiar voice behind me.

    My heart brightened upon hearing his voice. He''s¡ª still alive. But how? Did Lily imagined that he died? What happened when we were fighting Horrus? Did someone else saved him? The only thing I can think of is perhaps Q saved him. He¡¯s a brilliant hedgehog that will go through lengths to protect him.

    Zen walked calmly towards us; his eyes muddy as he had activated Focused Meditation. So that was why I felt so calm despite Horrus''s powerful form. A gaping hole can be seen on his armour and cloak ending with a sealed wound. He must had been stabbed horribly judging from that wound of his. I am glad he is alive despite what Lily told me. However, will the both of us stand a chance against him? How are we going to fight when we can''t even fight him up-close?

    "Give me a sit-rep. Inu seems to be in his second phase right now. Can you fight with us, Lily?" he asked.

    "We are not badly injured but Lily should be down for the count. She almost killed Horrus but he came back with this form. We can''t get close to him, not when that blue flame of his is melting anything in his vicinity," I explained.

    "Horrus? What heresy is this? Horrus don''t look like that in my book. Hmm, I guess it''s up to the two of us then? I''ll take point," he rummaged through his hip pouch.

    "Hey¡ª I''m not dead, you know. I can help. Just¡ª need to regain my strength," Lily tried to stand.

    Zen continued to rummage through his pouch and took out four potions. I recognised two of them both the other two looked foreign to me. He tossed three potions to Lily while he drank the foreign one himself. Why don''t I have any?

    "Rose, you have your urumi so attack from a distance. I only have two fire resist potion with me so only two of us can only fight him in close combat. Lily¡¯s Frozen Lightning is going to help tremendously; possibly turn down the heat," he said calmly.

    "Zen¡ª my gauntlets; they''re are not responding. I don¡¯t think I can use frozen lightning now," she panicked.

    "W¡ª what? Then pass Rose the fire resist potion then. Wait, did you just¡ª" he trailed off.

    "I''ve already drank them all! You didn''t tell me what potions they were so I trusted you!" she pouted.

    He scratched his head. What is my husband doing? Despite using Focused Meditation, he still does silly things. What''s done is done I suppose; Lily will have to drag her feet and fight by his side despite not having her frozen lightning spells.

    "Lily, you can stand and fight, right? I''m sure the strength and stamina potion should had helped your condition for now. You can use your fire spell at the very least?" he asked her after some thoughts.

    "Yea¡ª I can fight if that''s what you''re asking. But why are you asking for fire spell when I am more proficient in using lightning? Fire is the most basic spell in my guild, Zen," Lily explained to him.

    "Ever heard of the term ''fight fire with fire''? We had already proven that beasts are weak against fire. I''m fairly confident that Horrus is weak against fire too," he explained.

    "Zen, Horrus is literally covered in blue flame. Isn''t it obvious that he''s immune to it?" I questioned his flawed logic.

    "Just use fire and lightning then, we''ll see which one works better," he summoned his spectral cloak with Rend.

    I changed my blade into an urumi with a swing of my rapier. I need to deal significant damage to Horrus from a distance and urumi is perfect for that. I need to be confident in myself. You have the skills to do it, Rose. You can master this!

    Horrus lifted his left arm which held the concentrated flame and slammed it into the ground, spreading the blue flame throughout the whole entire area; melting anything in its path. We leapt to avoid that flame but I was the only one who could fly. Both of them fell to the burned area of the ground and which was still burning hot. It would seemed that the fire resist potion worked miracle as they were smirking rather than screaming in pain. We can win this, we can kill Horrus. Let the final round begin.

 Book 2 - Chapter 97

    Horrus is powerful. Possibly even stronger than Peter himself. His second phase is driving me to my absolute limits even though I was not holding back. The fight with Tom was like child¡¯s play compared to this. The number of times I almost died was insane. If it wasn''t for Lily and Rose helping me, he would had flayed me alive 30 moves ago. His speed ludicrous; even faster than me with all the spell buffs from Rose. I had learned to dodge like what the half naked guy taught me, only moving when the attack is close but Lily was the one who saved me numerous times by blocking the attacks from Horrus. He seemed intent in wanting me dead. Probably not happy that am still alive from his sneak attack earlier.

    Horrus swung his left hand and flamed me with his blue flames. Thankfully I am able to negate most of the damage with my fire resist potion, red dragonhide cloak and Rend. But I am certainly getting burned alive slowly every time he uses his blue flames. My fire resist potion doesn''t last forever.

    Rose had been attacking him from range whenever it was clear for her. She seems to be getting the hang in using her urumi now, fumbling lesser with each consecutive swings. I have a feeling she might end up using urumi as her main weapon over her rapier in the future. Can''t imagine what she can do when she uses Fa Jin Zh¨°u with urumi; it would be insane to hit multiple targets with explosive effects.

    Lily took point and fought at the forefront. She knew that Horrus was either not taking her seriously or intending not to kill her. He seems set in capturing Lily for his ''plans'' whatever that is. Not that I will allow him to do so.

    My prediction earlier was accurate. He seems to be resistant to lightning after shrugging off a direct hit from my Lightning Strike or Lily''s punches imbued with lightning. She ended up using fire spells exclusively despite being uncertain on whether it helps. I used Inazuma powered with Lightning Charge and Tengu-kaze powered with fire spell from Lily despite using Focused Meditation. This state is certainly not Byakko''s preference but as I said earlier, I needed everything at my disposal to even stand a chance at fighting Horrus.

    He charged at me once again, kicking Lily aside with ease. He certainly have no intention in fighting Lily whatsoever. She could only use Concentration now as her gauntlets were strangely not responding to her. Never knew a legendary item could malfunction like that.

    He extended his bone blade in an attempt to stab me once again but I swatted it aside with Tengu-kaze, hoping the heavy weight would throw him off balance, giving me an opportunity to counter him. But I was deeply mistaken, he easily retracted his blade and struck out once again. My training with Rose is what kept me alive thus far, doing my best to predict when my opponent retracts their blade or extend them with the slightest of movements. Rose twist her rapier to the right to extend the blade while the opposite to retracts; Horrus was no different, he moves all his fingers upwards whenever he extends and downwards when he retracts. To others, it might be irrelevant to the fight but for me, it¡¯s indispensable for me to survive this fight.

    Horrus struck out his left hand and shot flames at me like a flamethrower. I dodged to my left and charged at him, constantly keeping an eye on the direction of the flame and his right arm. Things were getting uncomfortably hot now. I don''t even know which part of my body that had not been burned thus far. He struck out his right hand. My first instinct was to dodge immediately but his fingers barely moved. He grinned and moments later, he moved his fingers upwards, extending the blade from his palm.

    He had me; or so he thought he did. I twisted my body immediately the moment I saw his fingers twitched. He completely missed, giving me an opportunity to strike him. There is precious milliseconds where he needs to retract his blade. I threw Tengu-kaze towards my right, slamming it into his left forearm to prevent him from flaming me.

    I was close to him. Close enough to smell his horrible beastly odour and the absurd heat radiating from him but I pressed on. I resummoned Inazuma on my left hips with the scabbard. I unsheathed it as fast as I could, my muscles screaming at the sudden intense movements. This is probably the fastest iaijutsu I ever performed in my entire life. But the blade misses him as Horrus had already leapt backwards, far enough for my kodachi¡¯s blade to miss his furs.

    I grinned. Moments later, a diagonal wound ruptured from his bottom right side to his left armpit along with streaks of lightning along the wounds. He grunted, expecting me to be finished with my strike but I ain¡¯t letting up. It¡¯s called Twin K Thunderbolt for a reason. Holding Inazuma two-handed from my right shoulder, I swung diagonally downwards toward Horrus who appeared to be bracing for the attack. Once again the effects occurred only after I completed my swing. The walls of the ravine ruptured from the top first, then it trailed downwards all the way to the ground. A fresh wound appeared on Horrus yet I did not managed to slice him apart despite the destructive power of the final swing. What are his bones made of? Adamantium?

    His wounds were starting to heal albeit not as quick as before. Perhaps the lightning streaking along the wounds were preventing him from healing quickly.

    "YOU¡ª INSOLENT WRET¡ª ARGH!!!!!!" he trailed off as Tengu-kaze pierced the location where I predicted his heart might be.

    "Consider this payback for the sneak attack you pulled on me," I smirked.

    Horrus grabbed the hilt and attempted to pull Tengu-kaze out of his chest but I can clearly see that he is having a hard time. He adjusted himself a couple of times as his feet were sinking into the ground. Byakko must had activated his maximum weight limit to slow him down.

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    I quickly checked my fingernails. It was a little pale but I should have enough blood to survive until the end of this fight. I am definitely having internal bleeding from my stab wound, otherwise the colour of my fingernail would had returned to normal by now. A quick check with my pocket watch indicate that the blood recovery potion had ended while the fire resist potion had a couple of minutes left. I am running on fumes with my remaining blood. If I run out, no one is able to save me this time.

    Rose did not let up and continuously slicing Horrus in all sorts of manner despite him doing whatever he can to remove Tengu-kaze from his chest. Lily, on the other hand, was tapping her gauntlets to wake it up. I could only watch as Tengu-kaze being pulled out inches by inches. Believe me, I would had gladly took the opportunity to slice off his head or limbs if I could but even Kirin''s Thunderbolt could not cut through his bones. How are we going to win this? We will lose in a battle of attrition against him.

    He have incredible healing factor and ridiculously strong bones. I hate to admit it but are we even hurting him from all the damage he had took. At least we knew that demons had a weakness with their brain. But what weakness does werewolves have? Silver? Rose''s rapier doesn''t even do anything to him despite being made from silver meteorite. There must be some weakness to him. Everything must have a weakness no matter what they are.

    Horrus is close to pulling out Tengu-kaze from his chest and shrugging off Rose¡¯s constant barrage of attacks. I quickly resummoned it to my side, catching him off-guard and immediately Lily went in for a strike. However, despite Lily''s bone-crushing punches, Horrus tanked her attacks easily. But there was one thing he was not expecting.

    Lily eventually stopped punching when she realised that it wasn''t doing much harm. Horrus was looking downwards at her, as though an adult taking pity on a child trying to harm them.

    "So, this is only what you''re capable of without your gauntlets. How disappointing if you think you can harm me with something like this," mocked Horrus.

    "You''re right. I am not powerful without my gauntlets. I can''t even achieve Higher State of Mind without it. But in spite of that, I still have some trick up my sleeves if you think I am purely dependent on my gauntlets," she changed her fist into knife-style.

    Her left fist was brimming with obscene amount of flames as she uses Fa Jin Zh¨°u on Horrus, erupting a massive explosion similar to a dozen of TNTs. I wonder if that actually hurt him but I was not about to sit back and find out. Taking advantage of the situation, I charged in close and struck him diagonally with Tengu-kaze, hoping the wounds that I inflicted earlier had not regenerated and some continuous damage at the same location might do something.

    Horrus was pushed back by our attacks. His furs were badly burned along with a giant burned marks on his chest. But what caught my eye was a bleeding wound that seems to be caused by Tengu-kaze. A diagonal cut wound, despite not deep was causing him to bleed. None of our attacks made him bled before; not even Twin K Thunderbolt. What changed? Is it due to Lily''s Fa Jin Zh¨°u that hurt him enough for me to finally injured him?

    "You¡ª BASTARD! THAT POWER BELONGS TO ME!" roared Horrus.

    What is he talking about? Power? It took me a while to process what he meant until I saw blue flames swirling around Tengu-kaze. W¡ª what? Did Byakko managed to steal his power from the previous time I threw it at Horrus?

    "This power¡ª is unstable. I will need full focus to keep it going. Kirin, swap with me. Time for this bastard to have a taste of his own medicine," Byakko spoke through my mind.

    Will Kirin even entertain his request? As the main host, he sort of have some authority over Byakko and usually ignores his request.

    "Go. I''ll support from the side," replied Kirin.

    W¡ª what? What happened after I regained consciousness? Did these two come to an agreement or something after I almost died?

    I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. Upon exhaling, steam seeped out of my mouth. I suppose I really am more proficient in using Bloodlust over Focused Meditation. It is so much easier for me to activate Bloodlust but it a risk reward state. I am not built like a tank unlike John who can take massive amount of punishments; I am certainly more powerful and defensive when I use Focused Mediation. That is not to say Bloodlust is not powerful but it is not my nature to use anger when I fight. It is a delicate balance between proficiency over power for my case.

    ¡°How is this possible? Now you¡¯re using Bloodlust? A being capable of using both Yin and Yang? I can finally see why you were chosen as a Champion. Things are certainly getting interesting now," he readied himself on all fours.

    ¡°Interesting indeed, how I am able to make you bleed with your very own powers. I guess your ¡®God¡¯ didn¡¯t grant you immunity over your ¡®gifts¡¯. Allow me to deliver your soul over to him directly; or her,¡± I snickered.

    ¡°Bold of you to assume you can defeat a Vessel when you don¡¯t even know who you serve,¡± he leered.

    ¡°Oh I do not need to assume; I had already killed one of your kind under my thumb. And you¡¯re next,¡± I smirked and initiated the fight.

    ¡°W¡ª what?!¡± he shouted at my remarks.

    I made sure to summon my spectral cloak with Rend before engaging him. This will be my last time summoning it for today so I have to make sure to end this fight within 30 minutes. Horrus met my blade with his own and we exchanged blows. With unholy speed, we attacked, blocked or countered one another. Bloodlust had always been focused on offensive rather than defence which was where Inazuma came in handy. Seemingly moving my arm by itself, Inazuma blocked most of the attacks, making full use of its weightless nature to block both of Horrus¡¯s bone blades.

    "Who had you killed?! Which Vessel?!" he roared in anger.

    With every passing milliseconds, my skin and clothes were getting burned to a crisp. Being such close proximity with him, I knew full well that it is going to be more than just ¡®comfortable¡¯ fighting with him. But at the very least I can say the same about him. He was getting burned from my blade too. Passive aura works both ways I guess. And what I was glad to see was that any wounds caused by Tengu-kaze, he cannot heal them no matter how big or small. Finally, I found his weakness!

    "Getting hot, isn''t it?!" he grinned.

    "I can say the same to you. Your furs aren''t looking too shabby," I smirked back at him.

    "Haha! It''s been years since I had such an exciting battle. To think the three of you would get my blood pumping. Enough talk, let¡¯s turn up the heat!" he roared.

    His blue flames rose with intensity. I am going to end up with third degree burns throughout my body when this is over. Or I''ll become Kentucky Fried Zen. The price to pay for facing a Vessel of a God. But the thought of killing him and ending all the beast attacks occurring around the world, it is certainly a small sacrifice.

    Lily came over to my side when we broke ways during my clash with Horrus. I warned her to stay away from this battle as the heat from Horrus''s flames are scorching and her red dragonhide cloak alone is not enough to deter the heat. At least I have Rend and my cloak to help me out despite the effect from fire resist potion had wore off. She slapped me lightly on my cheek and poked her index finger on my collarbone, warning me that we cannot win unless the three of us fought him together. And the idea of me dying once again is not something she wishes to experience again. Not when she still stands.

    Rose leapt and landed on my right. I guess all of us are going to be scalded by the end of this.

    "My body burns hotter with every passing second. Now, who will rise from the ashes? Me, or you three. Let the final battle commends!" he roared with fury and charged towards us with all four of his limbs.

    "Ever heard the saying ''If you could make God bleed, people would cease to believe?''. We will kill you, just as we did to Baku!" I roared as I met his charge with Lily. We cannot afford to fail when the stakes are these high, no matter the cost we must win; even if we end up dying.

 Book 2 - Chapter 98

    Horrus continuously swung his ridiculously long bone blade at me. His only weapon that was capable of piercing through my spectral cloak despite being supposedly indestructible. Not even Tom''s arrows were strong enough to pierce through my cloak; although I was not willing to test his powered shot that was capable of piercing through tree trunks or rocks like paper.

    Both Lily and I dodged his swings. Lily was much nimble than me so she had no trouble avoiding and getting some hits in. Me, on the other hand, was doing my best to avoid his flames and blade. He knew full well that Lily was barely able to do any damage to him aside from using Fa Jin Zh¨°u which takes a long time to restore. Innate explosive power takes time to recover within the body and I was certain that Lily had used all of it with that one powerful strike of hers earlier.

    Horrus knew that preventing me from getting close is what he needed to do. Let his flames do the job in roasting me from a distance while sustaining no further damage to himself. A smart tactic but I am not going to sit back and let that happen. He retracted his blade and extended it in an attempt to stab me again. I turned my body to the side and spun my body, bringing both of my blades to slam his blade into the ground. Inazuma powered by Lightning Charge, Tengu-kaze enveloped by blue flames and Dark Slash combo for the both of them for maximum attack power.

    CRACK!!

    I was geniunely surprised when his bone blade snapped in half. I was fully expecting it to sink deep into the ground to throw him off, but to actually snapped it; Horrus should be sweating bricks right about now. His face says it all with that speechless opened mouth of his.

    Dawn was approaching closer but I can still make use of the darkness around us. I quickly casted Conceal and ran towards him. Hopefully with all the sudden unexpected events, Horrus would be thrown off and miss his opportunity to search me using smell.

    "W¡ª where did he go?!" he shouted to himself.

    He tried to kick Lily aside once more but she was not about to fall for the same trick again. She grabbed Horus''s leg and with both fully powered flame gauntlets, she slammed both of them on Horrus''s right knee on two opposite ends. I swore I heard something cracked before Horrus swung his broken bone blade diagonally at Lily, slicing through her cloak, armour and flesh. He proceeded to flame Lily with his left hand, seemingly decided that Lily is no longer worth the trouble in keeping her alive.

    A swift flexible blade swung through the air and pierced through Horrus''s left primary eye. Rose seemed to have a knack for weak-points and certainly did not waste the opportunity provided by Lily when Horrus''s mobility is hampered after breaking his knee. And neither will I.

    Horrus stopped flaming Lily after his eye was stabbed. It would seemed that his regeneration had slowed down or is being hampered by something. Is it due to my blue flames constantly damaging him that he cannot regenerate quickly? Either way, after a quick glance to ensure that Lily was still wriggling under her cloak, I appeared behind Horrus and casted Fear, hoping that it might have some effect on him when it is empowered by Bloodlust.

    Horrus swung his left arm behind in an attempt to flame me but I was no longer there. Rose with her proper timing, casted whatever spell she had to buff me in speed, strength and defence. I reappeared in front of him when I was midway swinging both of my blades at him, I spun myself for further momentum to strengthen my attacks.

    I hit home, feeling the weight from my blades as it made contact with Horrus¡¯s body. What is the outcome from my attack? Did it work?

    Massive pain erupted from my body. I was too focused on my attacks that I failed to realised that Horrus had the same idea. He spun his body to the front after missing his attack and sliced me diagonally with his broken bone blade. From my right ribs to my left eye, I was bleeding profusely from that backhanded attack Fuck, this hurts like shit. I was already low on blood but this is just pushing me over the edge. With one eye down, I tried my best to see whether I had wounded Horrus as badly as me.

    Two large diagonal cuts were visible on his chest and most importantly, he was bleeding profusely too. I was uncertain whether I sliced through his bones but that injury on him was a fair trade for losing my left eye. Horrus roared angrily as he was not having it and approached me to finish the job. It would seemed that he had healed his knee by now. I was struggling to keep myself from losing consciousness due to the extend of my wounds when I noticed two figures standing in front of me.

    ¡°Zen, take this and heal yourself. We¡¯ll buy you some time,¡± said Rose as she handed me her healing gel.

    Rose was injured on one of her sides judging by the blood stain on her signature white guild¡¯s clothing. Lily on the other hand had burns all over her visible skin and a sealed wounds that Horrus inflicted on her earlier. I¡ª should use the healing gel to staunch my wound before I bleed to death. Oh lord, why is my visions getting so blurry now? I¡ª must¡ª heal myself!

    Quickly removing the cap of the tube, I simply applied the gel on where I felt the most intense pain. I cared not whether dirts were mixed into my wounds as it was simply do or die now. With one remaining eye, I could barely see the extend of my wounds as I simply spread the gel on myself. Of course I could not seal the wound on my eye. I will never be able to recover the damage from my left eye unless Stein is somehow capable of making a bionic eye. The feeling of relief was brief but intense pain throughout my body still present. Must¡ª push through the pain to help them.

    ¡°Why is it so difficult for you three to die? You defied all odds when other humans would had been burned alive by now. Especially YOU, Zen Hawthorn! Why won¡¯t you just die?!¡± he roared as he fought with Lily and Rose.

    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

    Beats me. I was wondering the same as to why am I not dead yet despite everything that had happened thus far. I¡¯m not some main character in some story with plot armours. I just narrate the things that are happening around me to make my life more interesting. A forced habit after years of talking to yourself.

    But Horrus is right. I must stand. I need to defy all odds and kill this Vessel. Byakko, why don¡¯t you have any strong attack like Inazuma with its Twin K Thunderbolt. Aren¡¯t you a legendary weapon?

    ¡°Damn it boi, you are asking at the wrong time. I need full concentration to maintain this blue flame of yours!¡± he scolded me through my mind.

    What¡¯s the point of maintaining this when what I need right now is the total destruction of Horrus. I can barely even stand straight now and is about to kick the bucket real soon. I even lost my left eye! I wish to see Horrus dead before I head to the afterlife.

    ¡°Fine, you¡¯ll probably get one shot at this judging by the remaining blue flames, so pay attention. Wind has always been my strongest power, so you can technically create tornadoes or twisters in your vicinity. But I doubt that is what you¡¯re looking for; so what you need is an extremely strong wind pressure. For that, you need to condense the strength of a hurricane into a single point. I¡¯ll recommend you start with twisters first,¡± he spoke through my mind.

    Why twister? Is tornado actually stronger than twister? Aren''t they literally the same thing? Run me through the difference as I''m confused.

    "Sigh, you ask for the weirdest things at the wrong time. Fine, I''ll give you the short version. There are 5 categories to a hurricane. It starts with whirlwind, twister, tornado, cyclone and maelstrom. Since this is the first time you''re using this power, I would suggest that you start with category 2 first. Hey, pay attention!" he shouted.

    Sorry, I just thought of something. I just realised if I were to combine both you and Kirin''s powers, I can actually create thunderstorms or a cumulonimbus for large devastating effects. Why don''t you two work together?

    "Careful what you wish for, boy. Your parents had the same idea and¡ª let''s just say some landscapes and a small village was levelled to the ground. You do not want to follow what they did. Hey, what''s gotten you all freaked out?" he asked.

    I just remembered someone warning me that before. Someone really important but I just can''t remember who it is.

    "Do recall that you are at death''s door. Focus on the important things at present. I''ll guide you on how to use it," he reminded me.

    I allowed Byakko to guide my hands. Both my hands gripped Tengu-kaze tightly and lifted it up to the right side of my face, simulating the Kasumi no kamae stance. Uh¡ª is it safe for me to have an eventual flaming twister right next to my face?

    Strong winds began gathering around the blade while my shaky legs struggled to keep myself upright. I was genuinely sweating buckets, worrying that a twister would spin out of control just inches away from my face. I am so glad the blade is on my right side instead of my left as I can barely see anything with my left eye now. But all was safe as Byakko skilfully controlled the miniature vortex surrounding the blade mixing with the blue flames that he stole.

    So, what do we call this attack? I am sure you have a name for it, right? Even Kirin thought of his attack before showing me how to do it.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Just call it ¡®Twisty son of a bitch¡¯. We don¡¯t exactly have a lot of time to think here,¡± he sighed.

    Fine. Twisty S.O.B. it is. I can get on board with that.

    I kept my remaining eye up ahead on the fight before me. Rose was suffering the most as her skins were starting to melt from the intensity of the blue flames. Without much protection from anything, she is exposed to the direct heat. My wife will never look the same after this fight. Lily had a small chunk of her hair burnt off along with some second degree burns on her shoulder. That was probably where Horrus was flaming her earlier when she used her cloak to try and negate the flame damage. Both of them must be struggling to fight against Horrus even though he himself was badly wounded. Is it just me, or is Horrus¡¯s body steaming?

    ¡°Why won¡¯t you both just die?!¡± roared Horrus as he fought against those two.

    ¡°Stand back you two! You¡¯ve done enough!¡± I shouted at both of them.

    They obliged and leapt back to where I was standing. The smell of burnt flesh filled the air and it was intoxicating. Will any of us make it out alive if we managed to defeat him? I just hope both of them will live to tell the tale. Me, on the other hand, would be considered lucky if I am able to embrace them after this is over.

    ¡°How infuriating. The death reaper is literally looming over your shoulders yet you all refuses to follow him,¡± he spat.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you on the same boat? Your wounds no longer heal itself and your flames are out of control. Why don¡¯t you do us a favour and visit your maker instead,¡± I smirked.

    ¡°Nonsense, I am the Vessel for the God Of Destruction. He will never allow me to die,¡± he laughed.

    ¡°Tell that to Baku who got strangled to death by a teddy bear. I bet his ¡°God¡± is extremely happy about that alright,¡± I chuckled.

    ¡°You lie! Gods would never allow their Vessels to die! It¡¯s unforgivable!¡± he roared.

    ¡°Feel free to test it to out. I have no reason to lie. When was the last time your talked to Baku? You think I would know his exact name if I didn''t fought him?¡± I questioned him.

    His face turned sour with a concerned expression. He probably saw the truth in my eye. Tengu-kaze was rattling on my grip, signalling that it is ready to strike. I do not know what will happen when I swing this but Byakko seems confident that we can destroy him. I really hope so as this will be my last attempt at killing him.

    Horrus¡¯s hands started shaking; is he afraid or in denial? Nevertheless, he struck out and charged at me full speed. Both Lily and Rose leapt away from where I was to give me space. It¡¯s now or never, I only have precious seconds to release this attack on him. Dear body, please stand firm!

    I swung Tengu-kaze diagonally downwards. The muscles on my forearms were screaming as I was not expecting the swing to be so heavy. But¡ª why is everything so quiet? What happened to Horrus?

    As I looked ahead, Horrus had completely stopped dead in his tracks seemingly bracing for something. Why did he stopped though? There was absolutely no signs that the attack even did anything. Was the attack a failure?

    Seemingly out of nowhere, a huge diagonal gaping wound erupted on Horrus¡¯s body from the left shoulder to his right side. It was so deep that I could literally see his bones from the wound but it still did not sliced through. It was then some mini vortex covered with blue flames swirled around the wound, generating screeching sounds that causes me to grit my teeth and cover my ears. It lasted a couple of seconds and a huge explosion erupted from where Horrus was standing, sending a wave of dust and smoke into the air.

    W¡ª what the hell just happened? I had never seen such an attack before. Is this the true power of Tengu-kaze? Compressing powerful winds and focusing it on a single point? Destructive and dangerous is what I would label this attack.

    As the dust settled, what remained was Horrus gripping the wound tightly with his claws. Is he¡ª trying to prevent his body from slipping off? Ugh, I guess that¡¯s one way to hold your body together.

    ¡°H¡ª how can this be? *cough. I¡ª am a Vessel. I can¡ª not die,¡± he started coughing blood.

    His blue flames were dying off. Is it finally over? Can I drop backwards and lie in peace? I was seeing double despite having only one eye as my body struggled to maintain consciousness.

    Horrus tried to move forward but his dismembered body was only pinned in place because of his claws. I was surprised that he could even move when he was already sliced apart. His eyes widen when blue flames suddenly erupted from within his body, seemingly engulfing him entirely with it.

    ¡°N¡ª NO! I am not done! I have a duty, my ambition is not yet fulfilled!!¡± he roared as the blue flames began to burn his body to cinders.

    ¡°Ladies,¡± I trailed off.

    ¡°Yes?¡± both Rose and Lily responded to me.

    ¡°Sorry, I meant, lay these foolish ambitions to rest, Horrus. Your time is done,¡± I started coughing blood myself.

    ¡°No, it is not done, until you are dead,¡± he spat.

    I genuinely had not anticipated that Horrus would use the bottom half of his body to leaped his top half dismembered body at me. I commend his tenacity in wanting me dead. His devotion to his Cosmic Being certainly noble.

 Book 2 - Chapter 99

    What haunts me to this day was his agonising screams. Zen was completely engulfed in blue flames thanks to that bastard Horrus who decided to do a suicide run at him. "Burn in hellfire with me" was what he said to Zen.

    Everything was moving slowly as though only a few milliseconds had passed. There is no way I am sitting back and watch him burn. Instinctively, I moved my gauntlets to summon some sort of frozen lightning crystal in hopes of preventing Zen from burning to cinders. Perhaps it was my extreme desire to save him or maybe Prifrolid had awoke from his slumber that my gauntlets finally responded to me.

    SHHIING!

    I¡ª I actually did it. I managed to freeze Zen who now appeared to be suspended in time. But the blue flames were still burning despite being covered in ice. But at the very least, Zen is no longer screaming in pain and it would seemed that the flame no longer causing him any harm. For how long though? The flames are melting my frost and I can only do so much to continuously summon more until the blue flame dissipates.

    But what then? With the severe injuries that Zen has, he will succumb to his injuries the moment my ice thaws. We don''t have anything with us that can save him from the injuries he sustained. I¡ª no longer have the Water of Life to resurrect him again. What else do we have that can help him?! Hang on, I remember Rose talking about a healing spell. She need to heal him. This is our only hope of saving him.

    "Rose! You need to heal him with that healing spell you were talking about. That is the only way we can save him!" I shouted at her as I maintained the frost.

    "I¡ª can''t. I don''t know how to make it work. I don''t have faith to use that spell. I was chanting blanks when I tried before. Y¡ª you have that miracle healing thing that you used to resurrect him before. You have to use it again, Lily!" she started panicking.

    "Rose¡ª I no longer have it. Every female elf is only entitled to one and I''ve already used it on him. We don''t have any other option except that spell. Believe me, I would had gladly used it again if I have it with me but I don''t. You must figure out a way to heal him. You must, Rose. You are the only one who can save him. I can only do so much in maintaining the frost on him," I explained to her.

    "W¡ª what? No no no¡ª this isn''t some simple spell. It need requirements. There is only so much I can do. H¡ª how? I can''t just gained faith out of nowhere. It says here that in order to use a healing spell, you need a seal, faith and chant the following words. But I''ve already chanted the words and nothing happens. I''ve deciphered the words I am certain it is correct. The only missing is faith. Without that, nothing happens¡ª nothing happens!" she was mumbled and shouting to herself while holding the book.

    "Rose¡ª I can only hold the ice for a few more minutes. The blue flames have dissipated but Zen might only have seconds before he succumbs to his injuries after the frost thaws. Unless there is a resurrection spell in there, I suggest you make full use of this precious few minutes to figure things out," I warned her.

    "No no¡ª wh.. how? What is faith? Where do one obtain faith? Believing in God? Believing in someone? How does one gain ''faith''? The Goddess of Divinity? The church? I am so confused right now!" she shouted as she held her head.

    I wished I can help her but there is nothing I can do. Rose have to figure things out on her own while my hands are tied in maintaining what little frost is left on Zen. I am gritting my teeth to extend even a millisecond to keep Zen alive. But I don''t have much strength left. Can I hold for about a minute longer? I am losing the grip of my powers.

    "R¡ª Rose.. I don''t think I can hold much longer. The frost are going to thaw soon," I warned her one last time.

    "No! No no no¡ª faith faith, faith! Faith in who? Moi? Can you help him?" Rose was losing it. I can see that she was panicking beyond help at trying to solve the faith issue. I guess we will have to say our goodbyes to Zen for real this time.

    "Wait a minute!" she shouted out of the blue and started praying as she kneeled down. What is she trying to do? To whom is she praying to that can help us out in this situation? Did she figure out the key in obtaining faith?

    Her eyes opened with conviction as though whoever she was praying to had responded to her prayers. She placed both hands on Zen who only had a few thin layers of frost left on his body; any second now and he will be thawed for good and awake to his agony. Rose chanted the healing spell with accuracy, not once did she stumbled on the foreign words that she had memorised. She repeated the spell a few times, not losing hope in casting the spell.

    It was perhaps on third time she chanted that golden lights started forming around her hands. Not once did she let up and she continued chanting the spell on Zen''s wounds until the heavily burnt skins on Zen started disappearing. His skins were self regenerating, forming bonds together to heal whatever wounds that he had before. But the healing spell only affected a small area; Rose had to move her hands to heal every part of his body. The longest to heal was his stomach wound where Horrus had stabbed him with a sneak attack. I hope her spell heals internal wounds as well, otherwise Zen would be out of blood by now. It''s incredible how he was still fighting despite sustaining the wound he already had.

    Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

    It took some time but Rose had performed a miracle; she had completely changed what was thought to be impossible in this world. She had successfully casted a healing spell; and she saved her husband with it.

    Zen suddenly sat up and started coughing blood when he realised both of us were sitting next to him. We were crying tears of joy when we realised that we had actually saved him from certain death. Uncontrollable feelings washed over me. We actually did it.

    "Rose¡ª Lily. Don''t cry. I love both of you and Daisy. I will watch over both of you from above," he said as he laid back on the ground pretending that he was dying.

    "Y¡ª you''re *hick not dying," stuttered Rose.

    "Y¡ª you''re f¡ª*hick ine, damn it" I stuttered myself.

    "I don''t understand what you two are trying to say. But what I''m confused is, why do I feel great? Wait, why am I not burnt to cinders? What''s going on? I can see clearly with my left eye now," he questioned himself as he stood up and checked his body.

    "Y¡ª you.. you''re¡ª UWAH!" Rose leapt onto Zen''s arms as she continued sobbing. I did the same too. I am certain our feelings were completely distraughted from what had just happened. It was the most significant couple of minutes of our life and we actually did it. We pulled it off and saved him. Zen lived due to a miracle.

    ***

    "Allow me to heal you," said Rose as she raised both of her hands and started to heal Lily''s wounds. She slotted the seal into middle finger and it was dangling side to side as golden lights started shining from her palms. The sun had risen now and upon checking my pocket watch, it was about 8 in the morning.

    My wife had successfully figured out on how to use healing magic in this world. She is going to be even more famous than she already is, isn''t she? Will she be using it for good though? Or will she keep it a secret?

    I inspected my body once again as it felt unreal. Everything was indeed healed now. Even the wound on my stomach was healed with no evidence that it was ever pierced, aside from the holes on my cloak and armour. How did she managed to figure it out though? I''m am certainly curious about it.

    "Rose, how did you discover faith? What did you do?" I asked her with a serious look.

    "I¡ª prayed to the Imperatrix and she responded to me," she smiled.

    "T¡ª the Imperatrix? The one that the church worships? But why? Why her?" I questioned her worriedly.

    "Zen¡ª she is the God of mortals. She is the one that oversees humanity as a whole. She was kind enough to respond to me even though there are millions of humans out there. She''s not who the church made her out to be," she explained.

    Rose finished healing Lily''s burnt wounds and injuries. She looked exhausted but she still had her own injuries to tend to. I can only stay by her side as she muster her remaining strength to heal her wounds.

    "Which is why¡ª I am going to do something about it. Zen, I am not asking for approval, but I am going to start a small gathering within the confines of the Light Guild. Ones that worship and prays to her for guidance and grace. I need to return the favour that she had granted me. The life of my husband in exchange for spreading her name is a small price to pay. Forgive me, Zen. I know you don''t fancy religion but without the Imperatrix granting me her faith, I wouldn''t be talking to you now," she continued.

    "Are you planning to help people with your healing spells?" I asked.

    "I will. But probably only selected ones. I don''t think I can heal diseases or old age. Only fresh wounds and injuries. I should make full use of my reputation to help people under her name. Not under the influence of churches or politics. I am going to do it my way," she assured me.

    "Then I''ll support your every decision. Who am I to deny my wife when she wishes to do something good. Just¡ª don''t neglect Daisy, alright? She is still our daughter first and foremost," I reminded her.

    "Of course, Zen. Family still comes first. It won''t be a daily thing, I promise," she hugged me.

    A sudden loud booming sound could be heard against the gate of the den. Oh no, please don''t tell me there are other things we need to fight. I am so not in the mood to be fighting anymore.

    The gate broke apart after a couple of more hits and we braced ourselves for the inevitable. Is a purple baldy with a golden glove going to show us our place? As a matter of fact, a baldy did appeared but he was not purple. It was Peter and he brought along reinforcements. We can finally rest now that backup had arrived.

    I stood up and a small clink could be heard at my feet. Huh? What''s that? A golden necklace? I don''t remember having this with me. Why does this looked so familiar? I just kept it safe in one of my pockets so that I can ask Rose about it later.

    Peter came rushing towards us after he realised there was barely any enemies inside the den. How convenient of them to arrive after we had resolved everything.

    "Let''s tend to your wounds," he said after noticing our burnt and bloody clothes.

    "It''s alright. We''re no longer injured," Rose explained to him.

    "Nonsense, with your bloody and burnt clothes, there''s bound to be injuries. There''s nothing to be shy. C''mon," he ushered medics to approach us.

    "No really. See, no wounds," she lifted the clothes from her side to show that her she indeed had no wounds. My goodness Rose, have a little bit of shame. So casually showing your skin to people that you are not even close with. Even Lily was taken aback by her boldness.

    "Ahem, run me through what happened. How is it possible for you three to sustain no injuries when your equipment says otherwise," he asked us.

    "Before that, don''t kill any of those sentient beasts. They were once humans¡ª," I trailed off as I suddenly blanked out and fell to the ground. The last thing I recall before falling unconscious was both Rose and Lily calling my name and reaching out for me.

    ***

    "Hey there, handsome. Glad to see you back in the land of the living," someone whispered into my ear.

    I opened my eyes. Where¡ª am I? In my vision, there was a familiar looking beauty who was sitting sideways. Am I resting on her lap? What kind of horny dream am I having right now?

    "M¡ª Moi? Is that you?" I asked the beauty.

    "Yup. What''s wrong? Don''t recognise me anymore?" she smiled warmly.

    "Well¡ª you looked completely different from the last time we spoke. More matured looking from what you looked like. Reminded me of what I saw when you walked by the mirror at your house," I explained.

    "Are you ogling at me? I am single but I doubt we can make things work. I can assure you that I am still the same little girl in my physical form. It''s just my spiritual form that had gotten stronger now," she chuckled.

    "Uh¡ª no thanks, two is more than enough for me. I don''t wish for World War 3 to happen," I assured her.

    "Hehe, I''m just glad that you''re safe. I''ll admit, I didn''t have high hopes that you might make it out alive," she smiled once again.

    "So even you can''t exactly see the future? I thought you knew what was going to happen. Where is Kirin and Byakko anyway? How strange that I don''t see them when this is their domain," I asked.

    "Them? They are having a discussion on how they are going to work with you in the future. You can expect them to discuss with you after you had recovered properly. As for your question, the future is never certain, Zen. It is always cloudy and uncertain. I can only predict the future but never be certain of it," she chuckled giddily.

    "Moi, can you answer me this? Are you a God? Did you made me your Champion without me knowing? What happened that caused you to have such drastic change to your spiritual form?" I asked politely.

    "Hmm¡ª you will know in due time, Zen. But you are not my Champion. Let''s just say that something unexpected happened which led to my growth in the right path," she stroke my hair and gave me a peck on my forehead.

    What is this that I am feeling? Why does it feel like a mother nursing me? I feel so warm and loved by her embrace. Why the hell am I feeling this way when Moi is just a little girl in reality? Better yet, I still don''t know what''s her true identity.

    "Thank you, Zen. Because of you, I can start my journey on the right path now. Don''t worry, this is not goodbye. We will cross path again in the future. I will be looking forward to that day. In the meantime, get some rest," she smiled as my vision began to fade, all the while stroking my hair until everything had faded completely white.

 Book 2 - Chapter 100

    I opened my eyes. An unfamiliar scene unfolded in my vision. The flapping of the cloths overhead felt so alien to me that it made me realised that this was the first time that I had woken up inside a tent. Peter¡¯s henchmen must had established a perimeter around the den for investigation. How many days was I out? Somehow, I feel extremely great right now. Never felt better in my life.

    I sat up from what I assumed to be a sleeping bag but turned out to be a mattress. Did Peter instructed his men to carry along mattresses for this reinforcement party? I thought I was the last to regained consciousness until I noticed Rose sleeping in a separate mattress on my right while Lily on my left. I thought I had the worst injuries among them but I guess they might had overexerted their strength from the insane battle we had with Horrus. May he burn in hell.

    Ha chiu, HA CHIU!

    Never felt better my arse. Here comes the side effects from my blood regeneration potion. I guess the healing spell doesn¡¯t stop delayed side effects. But hey, as long as I''m still alive to see my loved ones, nothing else really matters.

    I got up and immediately my body started feeling fatigue. Yup, exactly what I remembered from the previous time. I better make full use of today before I end up bedridden for the next few days. I headed out the tent, only to find Mr Wick standing guard. Shouldn''t a soldier be doing such a duty instead of him?

    "Afternoon, Mister Zen. Surprised to see you''re up and about before the ladies. How are you feeling?" he asked.

    "I would really like to tell you that I''ve never felt better but I know I''m going to be down for the count soon. Where''s Peter? I''m sure he''s waiting for us to answer some questions. Better for me to answer them before I fall badly ill," I sneezed.

    "How interesting that you can predict when you''re about to fall sick. Peter is right this way, follow me," he gestured me to follow him.

    We headed back into the den where hundreds of soldiers were rummaging through the area, Peter was overseeing the procedures as always. He will not settle for less when such an important operation is at hand.

    ¡°How long was I out?¡± I asked as I approached him.

    ¡°About two days. You looked worse for wear. I had assumed that the other two would had woken up first before you. Tell me everything. There are clear signs of an intense battle here so it just doesn''t make sense that all of you could walk out unscathed,¡± he asked.

    And so I did. From the sentient beasts that we spoke with, to the giant four-legged beasts that we fought along with Horrus.

    ¡°Vessel of a God? I''m amazed you three made it out alive yet relatively unscathed. But how is that even possible when you said that it was potentially stronger than me? Another breakthrough in your alchemy?¡± he questioned me.

    ¡°Well¡ª let¡¯s just say Rose found a miracle,¡± I kept things vague.

    ¡°Either you give it to me straight or I¡¯ll get it from your wife. Now is not the time to be keeping secrets, Zen,¡± he sounded annoyed.

    ¡°Alright alright. But this is for your ears only,¡± I glanced at Mr Wick who took the hint and respectfully walked off after he bowed.

    ¡°Rose had successfully figured out a way to use healing magic,¡± I whispered softly.

    ¡°W¡ª what? Are you certain?¡± he whispered excitedly.

    ¡°You¡¯re looking at three living specimens. How it goes and works; you¡¯re gonna have to ask her directly,¡± I shrugged.

    ¡°I always knew she was brilliant. But to think that she had exceeded beyond my forbidden spell book. She is certainly something else. Your wife had just discovered real magic, Zen. That is going to change the world,¡± he nodded to himself.

    ¡°C¡¯mon, let¡¯s not forget that fortification magic had already existed. But indeed it is something else. She had succeeded where I couldn''t in Alchemy. I wonder, if she is able to teach others about it though? Last I heard, there are strict requirements to using it,¡± I pondered.

    We took a moment of silence as we needed a minute or two to absorb what we had just discussed. Healing magic is actually real now. I had been trying to brew a healing potion all my life ever since I started doing Alchemy but none of the ingredients combination in this world was able to heal your wounds completely. Healing gel is still the best healing item I invented and all it does is seal your wounds. There is also the blood regeneration potion but I had not perfected that yet. If only I can find a way to combine the properties of these two, and the ability to heal internal wounds.

    I broke the silence and asked Peter on whether it was possible to thaw the frozen four-legged beast but sadly, it is just not possible. Frozen lightning do not thaw under normal circumstances after they had fully frosted their target. Even if Lily were to defrost it, the target would break apart if it was frosted for more than three hours or so. That was what they had discovered during her training.

    Damn it, and here I thought that I can harvest the hides to make myself a replacement cloak. I guess red dragonhide is still the only replacement for me.

    ¡°To think the three of you actually fought against such a dangerous foe. If Rose hadn¡¯t figured out how to how to use healing magic, the three of you might had already left this world. I¡¯ve been too sloppy in thinking that it was nothing more than some sentient beast that was behind these attacks,¡± Peter gripped his fists.

    ¡°Hey hey, we¡¯re still alive, aren¡¯t we? No reason to think of possibilities that didn¡¯t happened,¡± I tried to calm him.

    ¡°Times are changing, Zen. You know better than anyone that everything that is happening around us is because of him. You had beaten two Vessels and emerged victorious. What do you think the Gods are going to do to you? What do you think he will do when he knows you are foiling his plans? The Gods do not take failures kindly and you know full well His resurrection is imminent. And I am certain he serves one of the Gods, probably a very powerful one. Not to mention, we had not heard about Sladar for years now and I would hate it if he had perished alone in the North,¡± he sighed.

    The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

    ¡°Knowing Sladar, he won''t perish so easily. Something must be happening there that I couldn¡¯t discover. Until then, I¡¯mma head to get some rest. My potion¡¯s side effects are hitting me badly now,¡± I waved at him as I headed back to the tent.

    ¡°Wait, what are you gonna do with the sentient beasts? You¡¯re not going to kill them, right?¡± I asked with concern.

    ¡°Most of them seems to be intelligent enough to speak the human tongue but there was a couple of feral ones we had to put down. It would seemed as though they have a strong appetite for raw bloody meat, probably due to the fact that they had not eaten cooked meals for a long time. You confirmed that they are weak against fire, yes? They will have difficulties living on their own if that¡¯s the case," he explained.

    "We still can''t abandon them. We can find a way to reverse their bestial form. The answer is in their blood, I am certain of it,¡± I tried to persuade him.

    "They''ll be monitored by my soldiers but I will not allow them to live in the city. This is for their safety and my people. But rest assured they will be kept someplace safe until we find a cure for them. You, on the other hand, will have to return to the East to ensure that the monster attacks had stopped there. Let us hope that killing the Vessel would put a stop to all future attacks,¡± he glanced at me.

    "I''ll return when I feel better. Doubt I am in the mood to be sailing when I am seriously ill," I dropped my hand to my side which made contact with something in my pocket. Oh right, there was a foreign necklace that I found at my feet before I lost consciousness.

    ¡°Sensei, have you seen this symbol before? It looked familiar but I can''t quite put my finger on it," I lifted the necklace to him as I tried to recall the symbol.

    "Isn''t this from the Church of Imperatrix? There are similarities to their symbol with some minor alterations," he inspected it.

    "W¡ª what?! Are you sure?" I clarified firmly.

    "About 99%. Maybe you can ask your wife to be sure. I doubt Lily would know much about the church. She rarely takes interest in other religions aside from her own, or you,¡± he smirked.

    ¡°Har har, then I''ll take my leave then. Come find me if you require any other information, I¡¯ll try my best to answer you if I¡¯m down,¡± I waved and headed back to the tent.

    ***

    "You''re saying you found this necklace at your feet? You¡¯re certain this dropped off of you when you stood up?" asked Rose as she examined the necklace.

    "Y¡ª yea. *Ha chiu!" I rubbed my nose. This illness is going to last for about a week innit, if I recall properly? Both Rose and Lily regained consciousness a day after I woke up and they were feeling great. Wished I was that fortunate. I feel like absolute crap like right now with a fever, headache, running nose and constant sneezing. Can¡¯t really complain as that potion sort of overhauled my body to produce more blood in an instant. The side effects could had been worse than this.

    "Hm, it does share some similarities to the church''s symbol but I am uncertain what does this meant. We might have to ask Father about it. But why was it on you though? I never gave you such a necklace before. No way did it just fell from the sky," she scratched her head.

    "Ahem. Did the both of you knocked your head and forgot about something crucial? Didn''t Horrus gave Zen a lovely hug before he burned to cinders? Perhaps his necklace survived somehow?" Lily adjusted her specs.

    Rose and I gasped. She''s right. Why didn''t we thought of it? I had completely wiped my mind that Horrus gave me a hug of death to burn me along with him.

    "W¡ª wait. Does this meant that the church was involved after all? I knew it, I fucking knew it," I slammed my fist on the table.

    "Zen, we''re eating," Peter warned me with a stern look.

    "Right. Sorry I got carried away," I apologised with a bow. I inspected the bottom of the table and Q¡¯s family were having a feast. I did promised him a fancy dinner and I intend to honour my word. He did saved my life after all. He waved at me telling me everything is fine and I should enjoy my dinner. Best family pet I ever had.

    "Let''s not jump the gun just because you found this necklace. I will provide you a letter to gain audience with Father, one that he cannot turn away. You will confront him about the necklace that you found. Do not mention that you found it off a Horrus. We do not want him to be suspicious. Claim that you found it during your journey here or something," he explained.

    "Right. No point making turning him into my enemy when I should be keeping him close inside the city. I will send you a letter about my findings after my discussion with him. There is also a person I planned to interrogate upon heading back to the city," I told him.

    "Sensei, I would appreciate if you can provide me with a letter as well. With your permission, I wish to start a small gathering to worship the Imperatrix of Mortal. It will be a complete separate entity than the church," asked Rose.

    "With you, it will be a crowd rather than a small gathering. Do realised that this will be causing problems with the church as it is a direct conflict with them. You hold much influence, Rose. Any religion you start will have followers and they will follow you over the church. I will suggest you choose something different to worship rather than the Imperatrix herself. How about changing the name or identity for the time being?" warned Peter.

    Changing the name? Why not change the gender too? King of humanity? Monarch of shadow? Emperor of Mankind? Talk about the possibilities.

    ¡°I appreciate the thought but that would be disrespectful the Imperatrix herself. What I need is your endorsement so that I can start a group of my own. I will handle things from there myself,¡± said Rose.

    ¡°Even if it meant waging a religious war against the church?¡± warned Peter.

    ¡°Yes, what¡¯s the worst they could do to me? My fame alone supersedes their influence within the city. It would be foolish of them to even try anything,¡± Rose gripped her fist.

    ¡°Careful now. Never underestimate the power of the church. If they are truly the mastermind behind these monster attacks then you need to tread lightly. Who knows whether they have direct help from the Gods themselves,¡± he warned her again.

    Exactly what I thought but I remained silent as I felt that a stern warning from Peter will be more impactful than hearing it from me. After being married for so long, my words no longer have the influence that it once had.

    "Rose, the church might not harm you directly, but what about your followers? I am certain you don''t want them to be kidnapped or tortured, right? Maybe you should think about them rather than just yourself," I elaborated.

    "Hm¡ª perhaps you''re right. I can''t protect all of them and people might end up getting hurt just for joining," she put on a thinking face.

    "Think of it as a temp. Until we run the church down, maybe keep things subtle until then," I smiled.

    "Zen, that''s a horrible rationality. We can''t keep finding fault with the church if they are truly innocent," she was speechless.

    "Oh trust me, they are not. My hunch had never failed me thus far. I swear to dig out every dirty little secret they have even if I have to tear down their walls one by one,¡± I assured her.

    ¡°Ahem, getting back on hand, I''ll ready the letters for you two. Consider this as payback for you, Rose, since you''ll be showing us your magic," said Peter.

    "Will you be coming back to the East, Lily? I''m sure Daisy would be delighted," I asked her.

    ¡°No, Zen. There are things that I need to do here. Don''t worry, there is no reason for me to avoid you anymore. I will hold you to your words. Don''t you dare change your mind anymore. I do not want to hear a different answer the next time I see you. Promise me on that," she held out her pinky.

    "Yes, I promise," I wrapped her pinky with mine.

    "Is there something I missed?" asked Peter curiously.

    "Long story short, Zen finally agreed to marry Lily. Yay," cheered Rose.

    Peter gave her an astonished face when she acted cheerfully. I completely understand his perspective. This wife of mine is happy that I am getting a second wife. How many females out there would be this enthusiastic about it. Thankfully everyone who actually knows me are aware that this is all Rose''s idea. Otherwise my reputation would be flying downhill faster than a crowd with a strike.

    ***

    A month had passed since we returned from the East. Before we returned here, Rose had spent an entire week trying to teach Peter and some of his trusted men on how to use healing magic but none of them succeeded. She mentioned that none of them had gained faith so they couldn¡¯t use it. She explained to them how she received her faith from the Imperatrix but neither of them could receive her blessings. Is Rose going to be the sole entity in this world who can use healing magic?

    The reason as to why we stayed an additional week was because I was recovering from my potion''s side effects. Whole week of cold like symptoms are not fun. Thankfully I was feeling much better after a week and we sailed back to the Western continent, making sure we had done everything we could over there beforehand. Daisy was obviously reluctant to return as she knew full well that it was back to school and additional lessons for her.

    The first thing I sorted out when I returned was regarding the beast¡¯s attacks. John had gotten me up to speed over a meal. He mentioned that beasts were attacking at full wave about a few weeks ago, which happened to be the same time as when the Chaplain Beast attacked the City of Heliotrope Ixia. But after they had successfully defended the city at a cost, the attacks had ceased ever since. While remained unclear, there were reports about beast monsters fighting with themselves. Perhaps by killing Horrus, the blood pact was shattered and all the mindless beast went even more feral. Thankfully the sentient ones were unaffected thus far.

    I had settled down from my trip and will begin my interrogation with the church. And to meet someone who had direct connection with one of the Demon Gods. I look forward to both encounters wondering which will squeal. There¡¯s no way I nearly died twice for nothing.

 Book 2 - Chapter 101

    ¡°Welcome, Mister Zen, to my humble abode,¡± said Father as he welcomed me into his church.

    It was time for both of us to meet after I handed in the letter with Peter¡¯s order sometime ago, informing that there were things we needed to discuss. Rose decided to follow along as she was worried that I might accidentally kill Father. Such little faith she have in me.

    ¡°Thank you, Father. Is there¡ª somewhere we can discuss privately?¡± I asked him.

    ¡°Of course, of course. Right this way, my private quarters are exactly where I showed you last time,¡± he gestured us to follow after him.

    And we did, once again I am inside this very church that I raided previously but sadly couldn¡¯t find even a single dirt about them. But things will be different this time, I will find some evidence about your dirty deeds. There is too much coincidence happening around the world that is somehow tied to this very church.

    As we were following after Father, who was talking about the things that he do to keep the place¡ª ¡°holy¡±, he somehow noticed my cloak pin had changed in colour.

    ¡°What an interesting cloak pin you have there, is there¡ª a reason for it to be changing colours?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Yes, it detects the slightest change in temperature as a way of warning me when I¡¯m on my journey. You can never imagine the dangers at the Northern continent. This is invaluable to me,¡± I informed him.

    ¡°Interesting, for something to be able to detect temperatures aside from thermometers. Tell me, does that symbol represents something? That is a unique¡ª circle, I might say,¡± he asked.

    ¡°Yes, this symbol represents my name. Even I never knew there was a symbol that represented me,¡± I chuckled.

    ¡°We¡¯re here, step right in,¡± he gestured both of us to head into his private quarters.

    As we entered in, the atmosphere was rather gloomy in his quarters as the curtains were blocking the lights coming in. Shouldn¡¯t you raise your curtains during the day to brighten up your room? The only thing lighting the room was a few candles. What a peculiar person.

    ¡°Alright, what do you want to discuss with me? I hope this is not another one of your attempt at accusing my church further. The only reason we¡¯re talking is because of Peter¡¯s request and nothing more,¡± he changed his tone the moment he sat on his fancy chair opposite a ridiculously designed table.

    ¡°Nothing of the sort, there is just a matter where we would appreciate if you could enlighten us with,¡± I raised my hands lightly as a form surrender.

    ¡°Hmm, what is it?¡± he asked as he gestured me to show him.

    ¡°Have you seen this before? It looked similar to the church¡¯s symbol so I wanted you confirm it for me,¡± I handed him the necklace.

    ¡°Hmm¡ª this.. this is¡ª!¡± he shouted as soon he got a good look at the necklace.

    ¡°Where did you get this?¡± he questioned me with concerned in his tone.

    ¡°Could you answer my question first?¡± I smirked. I got him where I wanted.

    ¡°This¡ª necklace belonged to a close student of mine. He was the first vicar, and his name was Laurel,¡± he explained. Did he just said Laurel or was it Yanny? Either way, he confirmed that Horrus did originated from the church. That''s what I needed to know.

    ¡°Mind telling me where you get this from?¡± he asked again.

    ¡°I found it on my travels when I was at the East. There was a merchant selling this necklace at a hefty price that somehow intrigued me. I asked him where he got it from and he said that a member of a church sold it to him in exchange for some coins. He never met the man again after that. Seeing the symbol so closely related to the church, I thought of purchasing it and gifting it to you as a sign of peace for our¡ª strained relationship,¡± I explained to him.

    ¡°Still buying things on a whim, I see. Your reputation for flaunting your wealth certainly knows no boundaries, Mister Zen. But I do appreciate the thought. This necklace is dear to me as he was my very first student. I wonder where he is now?¡± he said.

    ¡°Tell us more about him. I¡¯m curious about your first student and how you started out,¡± I asked.

    ¡°Seeing as to how you¡¯re putting effort into mending our¡ª relationship, I guess this is the least I can do. I was a broke of a joke; I spent all of my wealth on gambling, liquors and women whenever I had some money. Day after day I live the life that I thought I always wanted, but as it turns out, there was something more to life than that,¡±

    ¡°I began to realised that there are actually more meaning to life than just spending money on such things; and it was that faithful day, when a Goddess appeared before me. She introduced herself as the Imperatrix of Mortal and I was to spread her teachings and guidance. I was blessed by her when she decided to choose me and it was then and there I made the change to how I lived my life. It wasn¡¯t easy starting out as I didn¡¯t have much money, influence or fame. But little by little, people started believing in my ramblings as I stood on top of a box everyday to spread her guidance. I still kept that box with me over there,¡± he smiled as he pointed to an old looking box.

    ¡°You said she appeared before you, did you catch a glimpse of how she looked like?¡± I asked him.

    ¡°Not just a glimpse but her whole features. She is no common lady I tell you, pardon my words but she is beyond what beauty can describe, leagues even above your lovely wife. She had gorgeous wings and best of all, she was a holy God that was beyond my comprehension. Serving her has been an honour indeed,¡± he looked content as he explained.

    We kept silent as we listened to his story. My face says it all as he realised that he had left out on a question that I asked him earlier.

    ¡°Oh right, about Laurel. Almost got ahead of myself there. He¡ª was the first individual that came to me when I was still a propaganda speaker. He reached out and agreed to help me that fateful day. I was surprised that he was willing to do so when there was nothing for me to give him. Not to mention he was just a young lad at that time with so much potential to be doing something else. Yet he stayed with me and helped me to spread the message about the blessed Imperatrix. It was not long after that one of the council member decided to listen to our preaching and was willing to give us a chance. A chance to spread her guidance and grace in a more¡ª proper establishment,¡±

    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

    ¡°And from there, we worked our way to create the foundation of our church. He was there with me from the very start¡ª and we were inseparable. I daresay without him, I could not reach where I am today,¡± he said.

    ¡°So what happened? Did you have a fall out with him? Got to be a reason as to why he left, isn¡¯t it?¡± I asked as politely as possible.

    ¡°Not at all. He actually went on a quest to spread her blessings in other locations. We didn¡¯t separate on a bad note if that¡¯s what you¡¯re asking. I was actually worried about him since he hadn¡¯t gotten back to me in such a long time. Was getting worried about him. I really hope he¡¯s fine,¡± he said.

    ¡°I hope so too. May he fare well on his travels and his quest,¡± I nodded lightly.

    ¡°Is there¡ª anything else you would like to discuss?¡± asked Father.

    ¡°There is, but it¡¯s from me. I want you to hear it from me directly instead of rumours or such. I have started a gathering of my own that worships an entity completely different from yours. I am not competing with you or your worshippers as my gathering is small nor it doesn¡¯t conflict with who you''re worshipping,¡± announced Rose.

    ¡°So I heard; I have no quarrel with that. We do live in a city of democracy after all. Do tell me though, which Cosmic Being that miraculously gained your favour? Last I recall, you visited the church of the Goddess Of Divinity. Are you opening a branch for humans?¡± he asked.

    ¡°No, as much as I would had welcomed that, I doubt the elves are eager to allow me to run a church belonging to their God. The one I am worshipping is a complete separate entity that had so benevolently bestowed her blessings upon me. The God I am worshipping is the Goddess of Mercy,¡± explained Rose.

    I take it that is all the information Rose is willing to indulge. No reason to explain things further to him when it¡¯s not necessary.

    ¡°I¡ª see. Then I wish you and your flock the best. You have my blessings and I rest assured, I won¡¯t interfere with your group. Any potential problems that may arise will not be from me and will face severe punishments if any of them are from my flock,¡± he bowed lightly to Rose.

    ¡°Then we will be on our way so as to not disturb you further. You can keep that necklace by the way,¡± I gestured him farewell.

    ¡°Mister Zen, I¡ª thank you for this. Words cannot begin to express my gratitude for you to bring this to me. I will forever remember this deed of yours,¡± he bowed to me.

    ¡°Think nothing of it. It¡¯s best to mend bridges when possible. For the Imperatrix,¡± I nodded to him and proceeded out the door.

    ***

    ¡°Well? What say you about the conversation we had?¡± I asked Rose.

    We were in our favourite tavern ¡®Sleeping Daisies¡¯ to have a meal but opted for a more private room instead since there will be many confidential conversations to be had.

    ¡°He¡¯s lying, Onii-chan. The Imperatrix isn¡¯t what he described at all. She doesn¡¯t look like that,¡± she frowned.

    ¡°Are you sure? Did you happened to catch a glimpse of her, by the way?¡± I asked with curiosity.

    ¡°Zen, don¡¯t question me. I know how she looks like,¡± she answered with a sour tone.

    ¡°Rose¡ª I am only asking out of concern as your husband. Please don¡¯t dismiss me like that,¡± I explained to her politely.

    ¡°You¡¯re¡ª right. Sorry, Onii-chan. My emotions are in distraught right now,¡± she sighed.

    ¡°Alright, c¡¯mere. Come on, stand up,¡± I gestured her.

    She looked at me in confusion but somehow obliged my request. I gave her a hug and stroke her head. Glad I wasn¡¯t too short to be unable to do this.

    ¡°Better?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°You really do know how to cheer me up. I think it¡¯s your smell,¡± she giggled.

    ¡°Alright, is it comfortable enough to answer my question then?¡± I continued stroking her head.

    ¡°I seen her, Onii-chan. While it¡¯s true that she was beautiful, she didn¡¯t have any wings. She was surprisingly humble and she only told me these few words. ¡®I shall grant you faith, but you must clear my name; for I am the Imperatrix of Mortal¡¯. She even introduced herself to me, Onii-chan. But never did she asked me to worship or spread her guidance. Whoever appeared before Father is definitely not the Imperatrix. On that I am certain,¡± explained Rose as she continued to hug me.

    ¡°What if¡ª she decided to show her true form to Father but her humble self to you? That could be a possibility, isn¡¯t it?¡± I asked after some thought.

    ¡°If that was true, why would the Imperatrix ask him to spread her guidance when she didn¡¯t offer anything in return? The Imperatrix gave me a chance to save you, Onii-chan. She could had taken the opportunity to turn me into her slave or whatever if she wanted people to spread her name. But she didn¡¯t, Zen. She didn¡¯t even ask me to worship or serve her. All she wanted was for me to clear her name; whatever that may be,¡± she explained.

    ¡°Hmm, that¡¯s true. What better way to take advantage of someone when they need something,¡± I put on a thinking face.

    ¡°That¡¯s because that is not who she is. Believe me, Onii-chan, I had thought of this very long time now. She could had appeared in front of me like some saviour of humanity, expecting me to do her every bidding but instead¡ª it was more like she was pleading for help. Alright, enough about the Imperatrix, let me worry about her. Don¡¯t you have more pressing matters to worry about?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Nothing I can do until both of them arrives. Speak of the devil¡ª¡± I heard a knock on the door and approached closer.

    ¡°Save Martha,¡± I asked whoever was on the opposite side of the door.

    ¡°Why did you say that name?¡± answered a familiar voice.

    I nodded to myself with a slight grin on my mouth as I opened the door, revealing John and the Dark Lord on the other side. John was the one who answered my little passcode entry.

    ¡°I never understood that reference, Zen. What does it even mean?¡± he said as he entered the room squinting at me.

    ¡°Neither do I, just something I thought of. Do the both of you need food or something?¡± I asked them.

    ¡°Just beverage is fine. Is this going to be a long conversation, Zen?¡± asked the Dark Lord.

    ¡°Depends on how you look at it. The way I see it, it¡¯s going to take some time explaining to you two about the monster attacks and our findings thereafter,¡± I explained.

    ¡°Snacks and beverages then,¡± sighed the Dark Lord.

    ***

    We ended up ordering food as our conversation ended up being longer than anticipated. Both guildmasters wanted a detailed story about my journey there and how I eventually defeated Horrus. I thought of leaving out the details about Rose being able to use healing spell but she ended up telling them instead. She seems to trust these two enough to spill her secret to them.

    ¡°Oh my¡ª my brain hurts from everything you just told me. And I didn¡¯t even took a swig of alcohol thus far. From a Vessel of a God to humans being turned into monsters and now you¡¯re telling me that Rose can use healing spells? If you weren¡¯t my best bud, I would had taken you for being mad, brother,¡± said John as he rubbed both of his temple.

    ¡°Spell, John. I only discovered one thus far,¡± corrected Rose.

    ¡°So that necklace that you showed us before really belonged to the church? And that Vessel you fought was the First Vicar? Yet he became a beast and a Vessel, that is some drastic changes indeed. From a human to a Vessel of a God, I can¡¯t imagine the journey he went through in achieving that in the first place,¡± said the Dark Lord.

    ¡°You left out the most crucial part of your story, Zen. Did you find any evidence in the church that there are in fact doing something with demons?¡± asked John.

    ¡°About that, let me explain what Stein have created for me,¡± I placed my cloak pin on the table.

    ***

    ¡°This is what I have created for you, Mister Zen,¡± he placed a badge looking thing on the table for me to inspect.

    ¡°What¡ª is this? And this weird imperfect circle? Is it supposed to mean something?¡± I asked him.

    ¡°For a genius like you, I¡¯m surprised you don¡¯t even know what your name represents. That is an Ens¨­ symbol, it represents you, Zen,¡± explained Stein.

    ¡°Oh¡ª I.. didn¡¯t even know there was a symbol that represented me. What¡¯s the reason for you to put this?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say you wanted this to be covert? If you pin this to your cloak, no one is going to notice or be suspicious with it since it represents¡ª well, you. Observe, this is what happens to it when a demonic material is exposed to it,¡± he opened a small container that appears to be covered in lead.

    ¡°It¡¯s¡ª turning black. How did you do this? I never thought you''ll be able to create this demonic detector in such a short amount of time,¡± I asked.

    ¡°Ho ho, it wasn¡¯t that hard to be honest. All I needed to do was to search for the right material that resonated with demonic presence. I never thought there was such a material from the Northern continent that was perfect for this. After that it was only a matter of figuring out how to turn it into something that you can use on a covert mission,¡± he explained.

    ¡°A material from the North that reacts to demons? Colour me intrigued. Please don¡¯t tell me it¡¯s a common everyday material,¡± I asked.

    ¡°It¡¯s not. It certainly took me some time to test out majority of the materials this world have to offer. But thankfully I did managed to find one. Otherwise, I would had to think of something else to fulfil your request,¡± he sighed with relief.

    ¡°Thank you, Stein. This will prove helpful indeed. I am looking to using it for my upcoming meeting. This will help me prove their involvement once and for all,¡± I gripped my hand tightly.

    ***

    ¡°So you¡¯re telling me this¡ª badge of yours detects demonic presence? And you said it turned black when you were there. Rose seems to agree with you on that matter but what I¡¯m curious is, does it only detect demonic materials? Did you try with other materials at all?¡± asked the Dark Lord.

    ¡°I somehow knew you were going to ask that. Alright, here are a bunch of materials that I have with me currently. But in these boxes, there is material from a beast and demon respectively. Feel free to test it out,¡± I gestured to both of them.

    John stood at the side, observing the Dark Lord where he poured out many different materials from the sack that I brought. Seems like John trust me even without testing it. There were many things that I brought from common materials to tree barks, gems and minerals. Pretty much anything I can find, I stuffed it in the sack. But there was no need to keep it in lead as my pin would only react to one and one thing only.

    Seemingly realising this, the Dark Lord didn¡¯t waste time and reached out to test the two boxes that I placed on the table. He took the beast¡¯s box first and opened it, exposing any beastly presence to the pin but there was absolutely no reaction whatsoever. It was then he decided to open the box containing a small fragment of a demon¡¯s claw. It was then my pin started to rattle and began to gradually turn black.

    After some time, seemingly satisfied with what he saw, he closed the box and my pin stopped rattling as it began to revert to its original yellowish colour. He reached for the pin and inspected it, seemingly intrigued by the material of the pin. He handed it back to me after he was satisfied with it.

    ¡°Colour me intrigued, who knew that such a thing could actually exist. You have my full attention, Zen. What do you plan to do then? Another raid at the church?¡± he asked.

    ¡°No, that would be pointless. There are demonic presence there but I don¡¯t think they are actually doing any experiment inside the church. Probably some minute materials that some of the members dealt with for the church. There is nothing we can do with this information sadly unless we track all of their member''s movements. I have something else in mind though that requires both of your approval,¡± I told them.

    ¡°What is it?¡± asked John.

    ¡°I would like to have a conversation with the previous Dragon Lord,¡± I told them bluntly. They did not take my request kindly.

 Book 2 - Chapter 102

    ¡°How the hell did you even find out about this, Zen? Very few are privy to that information and we intend for it to remain that way. Not even the council members are aware of this, yet somehow you found out. How? Just how?¡± grumbled John as he lead me somewhere.

    We were inside some building that was close to the edge of the city. The building from the outside looked like some small little hut but it had a basement with complex pathways, making it difficult for anyone to navigate without knowing the full layout of this place. Which is why John is leading me since I somehow managed to convinced them to allow me to talk to the previous Dragon Lord.

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to know how I got that information, John. Just know that I have my ways of¡ª mining interesting conversations,¡± I chuckled with a grin.

    ¡°You don¡¯t understand, Zen. I NEED to know because this is not an information that anyone, especially the public should know. There is a reason why we declared him dead after the war. But I guess you¡¯re not going to tell me anyway,¡± he frowned.

    ¡°But I am not just ¡®anyone¡¯, am I? Besides, I know what you all are doing with him. He¡¯s the only ¡®being¡¯ that had successfully assimilated demon blood into his veins and hadn¡¯t gone mad, or dead,¡± I sighed.

    ¡°H¡ª how did you even know that?! Zen¡ª that information is only privy to the guildmasters alone. Oh my¡ª how did you get this information? Don¡¯t you dare tell me that you¡¯ve been snooping around digging information from the guilds. We trust you Zen, don¡¯t you dare break our trust,¡± he warned me.

    ¡°I did no such thing. Do you even think I even have the time when I¡¯ve been travelling literally everywhere trying to resolve each continents of their problems? It was only a matter of figuring why you needed him alive. And I have my own¡ª sources, that I trust,¡± I said.

    ¡°I thought we''re best buds and trusted one another,¡± he sulked.

    ¡°Do best buds perform human experiments behind their backs?¡± I told him bluntly.

    ¡°Ok, now you¡¯re way out of line. We had never and WILL never perform such a thing. I am telling you straight from the bottom of my heart, we did no such thing!¡± he pointed at me with his index finger.

    ¡°You¡¯re right, I am out of line. It serves as a reminder for you that I¡¯ll always be watching and hearing things about you. I know you have your duty as a guildmaster but there are some things that are worse than what I just did. Even though we are best buds, there are some lines we do not cross,¡± I warned him.

    ¡°Fine, consider your warning noted. Can¡¯t believe you would accuse me of performing human experiments,¡± he spat.

    ¡°How else would I get you to take me seriously? You¡¯re my very first friend and I would hate to make you my enemy for the wrong choices you make,¡± I explained.

    ¡°I thought Lily was your first friend? Speaking of which, how is she by the way?¡± he asked casually.

    ¡°She¡¯s doing great. Possibly the strongest out of all of us now. Decided to marry her by the way. How much further do we need to go?¡± I asked him.

    ¡°W¡ª w.. what the fuck?! You can¡¯t just drop a bomb and just wave it aside like that! We are continuing this conversation after this is over. I can¡¯t believe you threw away your principals and decided to take on another wife. Even I was impressed by your principals, Zen, that even I started following it. Guess I¡¯m gonna be the only one who is loyal to my wife,¡± he puffed up his chest.

    ¡°Well, if your wife constantly pester and nags you to get another, you think you can bear it forever? Besides, I¡¯m not marrying her on a whim. I have my reasons,¡± I explained to him.

    ¡°Whatever you say man, he¡¯s just up ahead. You¡¯re gonna need to head in alone as he doesn¡¯t likes seeing me, guess it¡¯s mutual I suppose,¡± he pointed the direction.

    ***

    ¡°And here I thought that man wanted to see me again. Didn¡¯t expect it to be you instead. Congratulations in finding out about me,¡± chuckled the ex-Dragon Lord.

    There he is. Chained up in every way imaginable except his face. No doubt the chains alone couldn¡¯t keep him locked up here. I am fairly certain that Peter had already disabled most of his movements by hitting majority of his pressure points. Only his important vitals are working to keep him alive as long as possible. What a pathetic way to live; fitting for a traitorous heretic that he is.

    ¡°You don¡¯t seemed to be surprised that I¡¯m here. Were you expecting me?¡± I asked.

    ¡°I wanted to get a good look on the saviour of the city. Boy, is he dashing. Who knew this young boy would actually be capable of slaying the Queen himself. A commendable feat, some might say,¡± he continued chuckling.

    ¡°Indeed. I slayed your beloved Queen yet you seemed amused. Thought you would bare your fangs at me. Oh sorry, do you have still fangs or is it human teeth now?¡± it was my turn to chuckle.

    ¡°You won¡¯t get a rise out of me nor will you be getting any information about the Queen. You¡¯re not the first, and certainly won¡¯t be the last to interrogate me,¡± he started giggling.

    If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    ¡°Really now? I¡¯m fairly confident in my negotiation skills. Care for me to try?¡± I asked with a smirk.

    ¡°Who am I to say no to the saviour? C¡¯mon, do your¡ª¡° he couldn¡¯t finish his sentence as I punched him hard on his face.

    ¡°PUHAHAHA!! Look at you go! I wasn¡¯t expecting you to start off with violence! You had me fooled with your smirk earlier!¡± he laughed loudly before spitting some blue blood out of his mouth and a soft clattering could be heard across the ground.

    ¡°Damn, you cost me a tooth. You know how long it takes to grow back?¡± he glared at me.

    ¡°Blue blood¡ª I know you served the Queen and was one of her trusted slave. I highly doubt she would be willing to share her blood with some common fool. Tell me, how many times did you have to lick her boots before she willingly shared it with you?¡± I spat.

    ¡°Well, what can I say? I¡¯m a natural charmer that even a Demon Queen is attracted to,¡± he shrugged. I gave him another punch in the opposite direction.

    ¡°HAHAHA! Does your fingers hurt yet? I bet it must be screaming about now,¡± he grinned.

    ¡°You underestimate me, my gauntlets are not some cheap item can''t protect my fingers. You¡¯re in for a world of pain if you think you can continue to avoid my questions,¡± I said to him.

    ¡°You think I fear death? I embrace it everyday. My life was not full of sunshine and butterflies as one could imagine,¡± he spat.

    ¡°Oh I can imagine, alright. You¡ª licking the boots of the Queen; imagine touching her smooth blueish skins or even caress her ample bosom, expecting her to accept your embrace if given the chance. O, I¡¯ve seen her in all her glorious form. She was certainly beautiful with curves in all the right places. But the Captain was always in the way, isn¡¯t it? No matter how hard you tried to improve yourself, he was leagues above your power level,¡± I jested.

    He said nothing in return which was a start. He was starting to frown after hearing me insulting his Queen. Seems like I am pushing the right button in stirring him up.

    ¡°She could never looked your way, isn¡¯t it? Her heart had always belonged to the Demon King, despite being dead for years now. Yet you cling on to hope, praying for a miracle that she might look your way one day. Hoping one day you might have the chance to fuck her,¡± I continued.

    ¡°Choose¡ª your next few words wisely,¡± he glared at me with murderous intent.

    ¡°And why should I? Struck a nerve, did I? You know that to be true. How you were so infatuated with her, how you longed to bed her, you said she saved your life and you were indebted to her. But deep down you know that wasn''t true. You fell in love with a demon. What¡¯s the matter? Can''t get a female of the same species to appreciate you? Or elves? Or even lizard people? Yet you settled for a demon instead. What a fucking joke, innit?¡± I laughed.

    He sprung at me attempting to attack me but the chains held him down. Well well, he could move after all. How interesting that he didn''t try to escape. But I¡¯m not here for games; I kicked him on the face hard enough to make a crack on the wall behind him.

    More blue blood dripped out of him as I didn¡¯t bother to hold back in torturing him. He was a traitor and deserves this. How many lives were lost because of him and his ¡°Queen¡±, I ought to BLAM! him for his heresy against humanity.

    ¡°I am done playing games. You will answer my questions or I¡¯ll kill you as I did to your Queen. Or Baku,¡± I glared at him.

    ¡°W¡ª what?¡± he quickly raised his head with a surprised look.

    ¡°I know your Queen served a Cosmic Being. She was a Champion, wasn''t she? And Baku was the Vessel of that very same God. Both of them shared the very same blue blood. There is no one that is going to protect you now, ex-Dragon Lord. Or should I say¡ª Pietro Sorrel,¡± I spat the words.

    He kept quiet but glared at me. Guess he didn¡¯t expect anyone to figure out his secret.

    ¡°You think I couldn¡¯t figure out your identity? Information gather is what I¡¯m good at. How smart of you to work with the Queen to dispose of the Dragon Lord and for you to assume his place. That must had been a chore getting rid of him. Yet you so cleverly followed after me to the Northern continent where my last name was spilled. I bet there were rumours floating about that there was a Hawthorn living in the city, isn''t it? Only you didn''t know who it was. That was still your real face at that time, isn''t it? I suspected it was the Queen who impersonated the Dragon Lord during that meeting where you were chosen as the last remaining member on the secret mission. How convenient. Yet you were lucky enough to struck gold in the end,¡± I said.

    ¡°H¡ª how did you figured out?¡± he confessed.

    ¡°You mistook me for a fool, Pietro. I never trusted you to begin with nor even after we made it back from the Northern continent. I knew deep down you were on a mission of your own. My gut feeling had never been wrong thus far hence, I ordered Lily to do a little spying of my own. But it turns out you were either dead or missing at that time, probably because you had already assumed your new identity. But your biggest mistake was your so called ¡®pregnant wife¡¯ that you used to pull the heartstrings on people. How clever of you to use sympathy as a distraction for your disappearance who you managed to fool John but not me. Who would had suspected that you were acting as the Dragon Lord when your wife was so good at acting. Too bad your "wife" wasn''t expecting Lily to be stalking her until she dropped her guard with her fake ''belly''. Bet she didn''t know was someone peeping at her when she was showering. You might had fooled John, but you can never fool me. It was a matter of filling the blanks and solving the puzzle as to why you needed a fake wife,¡± I told him.

    ¡°But I never thought you would go so far as to alter your whole body structure and facial features to look exactly like the ex-Dragon Lord. Must had been the reward for you after spilling my last name to the Queen. Yet you decided to impersonate Rick on top of your own. I daresay that was bold indeed. Rose¡¯s Revelation spell couldn¡¯t break through your second disguise as you had completely altered your body. How tricky, but it is all for naught now the moment I found your identity,¡± I continued.

    ¡°W¡ª What do you want?¡± he asked.

    Colour me surprised, I didn¡¯t expect him to give in that easily. Is it because I figured out his secret identity? Or he had given up since I revealed to him that Baku is dead. He must had thought the Vessel would be coming to save him.

    ¡°Which God do you serve? What does he or she wants?¡± I asked him.

    ¡°Y¡ª you think the Gods find me worthy enough to speak with? Not even the Queen was capable of speaking to the God Of Deception directly,¡± he started chuckling.

    ¡°So you have no idea then? How disappointing. What a waste of time coming here,¡± I sighed.

    ¡°Fine, since you¡¯re genius enough to figure out my true identity, allow me to deliver to you a gift. This is the exact words the Queen told me so listen carefully. I''m only gonna say this once. ¡°To speak to the Gods, you have to serve them with a tea¡±; these are the words she told me. Even she couldn¡¯t figure out what that riddle meant,¡± he shrugged.

    ¡°A¡ª are you fucking with me? Tea? Are you asking for another beating?¡± I spat with fury.

    ¡°I ain¡¯t lying. As I said, consider this a gift since you were smart enough in figuring out so many of my secrets. Even I''m curious in solving that riddle so why don''t I have you do it since you¡¯re so eager to speak to the Gods,¡± he answered flatly.

    I stared into his eyes; there was no sign that he was lying. What in the actual¡ª tea? Fucking tea? Are all the Gods British or something? Am I suppose to serve them tea? And how? Who the hell can I even discuss this with? Moi perhaps? Will she know about this?

    ¡°Is that all you¡¯re gonna give me?¡± I asked him.

    ¡°Hey, you¡¯re the only who figured out so many things when others couldn¡¯t. I¡¯ll admit, your ¡°negotiation¡± skills are pretty good,¡± he chuckled.

    I thought of leaving until I heard a footstep behind me. Oh shit, was he eavesdropping on us? This is not going to go well.

    ¡°Pietro? Is that¡ª really you?¡± asked John with disbelief look on his face.

    ¡°Howdy partner? How you been?¡± he smiled.

    ¡°Y¡ª you.. you fucking asshole! Weren¡¯t we friends?! We bonded so much after we made it back! I mourned for you after I thought you were dead! I mourned for your wife who I thought was killed by a demon during the assault in the city! All that time I kept thinking how much I failed you and your wife, yet all of this as deception by you?! You motherfucker!!¡± shouted John as he rushed after Pietro but was held back by me. And by held back, I meant I had to jammed Tengu-kaze into the ground to stop John from killing him.

    ¡°Stop it, John! There¡¯s no point in killing him! Keeping him in prison is a better fate for him than a swift death! You should know that very well!¡± I continued holding him back.

    ¡°FUCK!¡± he shadowed punched the air which produced a shockwave towards Pietro but thankfully it did not harmed him.

    John angrily stormed out from the prison basement and I followed after him, stopping short by the door to ask one last question.

    ¡°Pietro, you knew about my identity much earlier yet you kept it a secret for a few years. Why?¡± I asked him without turning to look at him.

    ¡°There was no reason for me to reveal all my cards immediately. That and¡ª I thought we were friends after what we been through,¡± he lowered his tone at the end.

    ¡°We could had been. Until you made the wrong choice,¡± I spat and exited the cell.

 Book 2 - Chapter 103

    ¡°Goddammit, I can¡¯t believe I fell hook, line and sinker from his plan,¡± John slammed his fist on the table.

    ¡°Gee, keep that up and you¡¯re going to break another one of our furniture, John,¡± pestered Rose.

    ¡°S¡ª Sorry, I just can¡¯t get over the fact that I was deceived by him,¡± sighed John.

    ¡°Well get over it, it¡¯s been a week already,¡± she continued pestering as she stretched herself.

    John was hanging out in our house, or more like throwing a fit, since he couldn¡¯t exactly release his tantrum in public or his home without arousing questions from people. Daisy was away on one of her lessons so John took the opportunity to come over once again. He had definitely memorised the best time to visit our place to rant again.

    ¡°You don¡¯t understand, Rose. He was like¡ª a second brother to me. And he fooled me. That sucks, man,¡± he sulked.

    ¡°I did warned you not to get too close to him. Guess you didn¡¯t want to listen to your first brother then? I poked fun at him.

    ¡°Nah, you¡¯re like a cousin to me, Zen. He was more like a brother,¡± he said.

    ¡°A¡ª are you saying you¡¯re closer to him than me? Your best bud? Your literal first male friend?¡± I confronted him.

    ¡°Maybe? At least he didn¡¯t accuse me of performing human experiments,¡± he pouted.

    ¡°Alright, enough! The two of you had been on repeat for the past week. Stop this conversation right now before I flip a table on you two. Fix your relationship right now or I¡¯ll call Lily over to fix it for you,¡± shouted Rose. She seems to be annoyed by our conversation.

    We kept quiet for a time as Rose continued with her stretching exercise. She said it helps her in controlling the Urumi blade better when she is more flexible. But¡ª what she¡¯s wearing right now is way too arousing for me. She was wearing a skintight clothing so it¡¯s easier for her to move but¡ª does she have to exercise now when John is right here? No wait, it¡¯s John fault for intruding on us during our free time. She only have time to exercise when Daisy is away on her lessons. It¡¯s not her fault that her time is limited when she needs to care for our daughter and her flock.

    Thankfully, John is aware of that fact and is staring out the window instead. He should know better than to ogle at my wife. He is a good man and I know he loves his elven wife who is strangely fond of his muscles. If I ever catch these two making out, John is not gonna like what will happen to his wife, considering he is very well aware of my fetish for female elves.

    I decided to turn my gaze away from Rose and focused on solving the riddle instead. Is there something I¡¯m missing here?

    ¡°John, don¡¯t you have things to do? Aren¡¯t guildmasters usually busy with work?¡± asked Rose.

    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m helping you two in solving the riddle,¡± he answered.

    ¡°I don¡¯t hear you two talking about it. How about asking questions related to it instead of bickering at one another,¡± questioned Rose. I think she¡¯s trying to ask John to leave as he¡¯s sort of intruding on our private time.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you mentioned this is top secret and nobody should know about it?¡± I shrugged at him with a smirk.

    ¡°As though you can keep a secret from Rose. Besides, that riddle is gonna need both of your brilliant heads to solve. Even I got no idea what the hell it really wants,¡± shrugged John.

    ¡°Then why are you really here, John?¡± squinted Rose.

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s not be rude to each other. The riddle goes ¡®To commune with the Gods, you have to serve them with a tea¡¯. Rose, any idea from that brilliant head of yours?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°Onii-chan, I told you before, the only thing that¡¯s weird with that sentence is why does it go with ¡®serve them with a tea¡¯ rather than ¡®serve them tea¡¯? You said this is the exact words that Pietro told you, right? That is the only thing I find misleading in that riddle,¡± she shrugged.

    ¡°There must be something we¡¯re missing. Why tea? And how exactly do we serve them anyway? Do I need to find an altar or a church? Or some artefact belonging to the Gods? Why the hell would I be serving tea to my gauntlets if that¡¯s the case? Damn it,¡± I sighed.

    All of us kept quiet once again as we had no idea how to solve this confusing riddle. I wonder if my imaginary audience had solved it by now? Wished they can give me some sort of hints right about now.

    I sighed once again and decided to ogle at Rose as she continued to exercise herself. Damn it, if John wasn¡¯t here, I would had approached her and hugged her right about now. Instead I need to control myself as John somehow refuses to leave. Seriously, why is he here though? Just because he can¡¯t release his temper somewhere else? There¡¯s plenty of private places he can go aside from my house.

    Wait a minute, I just remembered something. Didn¡¯t Rose¡ª

    ¡°Rose, there was a sealing spell that you performed before, right? The one where you need to maintain a Y-pose? When we fought against the Demon Queen?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°I¡¯m¡ª surprised you remembered that. Are you planning to make fun of my spells? I¡¯m in no mood for jest right now,¡± pouted Rose.

    ¡°I¡¯m not making fun of your spells, Rose. I just want to know whether it signifies anything. Last I recall you used the sealing spell to block the entrance of a cave, isn¡¯t it?¡± I clarified with her.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    ¡°It¡¯s the same spell but with different effect. The one I needed to use that Y pose is to seal a spell which was magical in nature. I need to maintain that pose to chant the sealing spell. The one at the cave was to seal the entrance which is mostly physical. It¡¯s not foolproof though,¡± she explained with a shrug.

    ¡°So it does signify something. I wonder if¡ª,¡± I trailed off.

    Silence engulfed us once again. The both of them were staring at me as though waiting for me to finish my sentence.

    ¡°Can it be? Is it really that simple?¡± I said out loud.

    ¡°Did you figured it out, Onii-chan?¡± she asked with a surprised tone.

    ¡°I can¡¯t say for sure. But I am eager to try it out. John, I¡¯m gonna need to talk with Pietro again. How fast can you make that happen?¡± I asked him.

    ¡°Well, I can give you permission anytime. But, if you really did managed to figure it out, then the Elementalist would like to have a word with you. He¡¯s been waiting to have an audience but I told him you were busy trying to solve the riddle,¡± he explained.

    Is that why he¡¯s here? To find out whether I solved the riddle? If it¡¯s that urgent, why didn¡¯t he just tell me in the first place? There¡¯s something sus about this. For John to frequently visit us, something must be up.

    ¡°John, what¡¯s it about? For you to visit us so frequently, it must be pretty urgent,¡± I asked him.

    ¡°Ah nah, nothing too urgent. Seeing that you might had solved the riddle, I¡¯ll set the appointment tomorrow for you to visit Pietro,¡± he answered.

    ¡°Alright, guess you can go now?¡± I asked him.

    ¡°Yea, guess I should,¡± he stood up as he headed towards our main door. He stopped short and to ask me a question.

    ¡°Zen, you won¡¯t¡ª make use of me, right? I am your best bud, aren¡¯t I?¡± he asked genuinely.

    ¡°I won¡¯t, John. You have my word. Just¡ª try not to make bad choices, please? That¡¯s all I ask,¡± I told him.

    ¡°I¡¯ll try. See you soon,¡± he waved farewell as he headed out the door.

    I closed it and quickly realised someone¡¯s presence behind me. I quickly turned and noticed Rose was standing behind me. She slammed her palm on the door giving me a surprise at her rough sudden actions.

    ¡°Finally he left. Someone¡¯s been ogling at me for a while now. Like what you¡¯re seeing? Onii-chan~¡± she whispered into my ear.

    ¡°Um¡ª yes. But we don¡¯t really have much time as I need to pick Daisy up soon,¡± I tried to escape her clutches.

    ¡°Oh no, you¡¯re not leaving mister. Daisy can wait for a while or you can run there with your speed. C¡¯mon, y¡¯know you want it. We want another kid, don¡¯t we?¡± she bit her lips.

    Geez, this horny wife of mine. Fine, guess I have to try my best to satisfy her before I can leave. Don¡¯t want my wife ending up in the clutches of another man just because I didn¡¯t give her enough attention.

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s head to our room then,¡± I gestured her to head up but she refused and stood by the main door.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you wanna¡ª try it here?¡± she exposed herself a little more than what I was expecting. Sex by the main door? Fine, just got to make sure it¡¯s locked. The things my wife gets up to nowadays.

    ***

    ¡°Hope you figured out that riddle somehow,¡± said John.

    It¡¯s the following day and John once again brought me to the prison where Pietro was kept. No one knows that he¡¯s here as the guards aren¡¯t even allowed to go in to check. They are only stationed there but do not have access into the basement area where there were five keys in total to open the entryway. Each of them being kept by the guildmasters and can only be retrieved by the other guildmasters themselves. Which was why the previous initial request of mine took a while as John and the Dark Lord had to convinced the other three to approve of my request and how I even found out about it in the first place.

    ¡°I hope so too, otherwise it¡¯s back to square one for me,¡± I sighed.

    ¡°Let us hope that strange mind of yours was able to crack the code. As you said, your mind had not failed you thus far,¡± he chuckled.

    ¡°No, that¡¯s my gut feelings, not my mind. It had failed me a couple of times before and not to mention Daisy is infected with my curse too. Sigh, how I wished I was normal,¡± I exhaled loudly.

    The both of us stood at the pathway leading to where Pietro was kept. I took a deep breath and crouched to remove some items in my bag. John¡¯s jaw dropped when he saw the items that I pulled out.

    ¡°Y¡ª you¡¯re joking. You would think that Pietro or the Queen might had figured that out by now?!¡± he shouted.

    ¡°Shh¡ª keep quiet and stand guard. Under no circumstances are you to come in to see what¡¯s going on. Do I have your word?¡± I asked him as I poured hot water from a flask into a cup filled with tea leaves.

    ¡°I¡ª uh¡ª alright fine. I thought you said you¡¯ve solved the riddle. I¡¯m speechless, Zen,¡± he kept shaking his head.

    ¡°Well, watch and learn. I might be an actual genius,¡± I smirked and heading into the cell where Pietro was kept.

    ***

    ¡°Well well, didn¡¯t expect to be seeing you again so soon. Is that¡ª oh you got to be fucking kidding me,¡± he glared at me holding a cup of tea with a saucer.

    ¡°Zen, do you take us for a fool? Do you really think that riddle is actually involving tea? Get real! We would had solved it by now if it was that easy!¡± he shouted.

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t hurt to try. And besides, you didn¡¯t think I would actually be wasting my time here if it was that easy to solve,¡± I placed the cup and saucer in front of Pietro and took out my pocket watch.

    I checked the time and waited for it to hit the number 12 mark. I took a deep breath as the clock¡¯s hand got closer to number 12 and assumed my position. Almost there¡ª now.

    ¡°What the¡ª what the fuck are you doing?¡± asked Pietro as he squinted his eyes at me.

    ¡°You blind? I¡¯m posing,¡± I told him without taking my eyes away from my watch, counting the seconds as it crossed by.

    ¡°Oh, I can see that, but why¡ª Ohh.. I get it. Zen, I really thought you were smart but¡ª oh my gosh this is just so funny! I seriously can¡¯t believe you¡¯re T-posing in front of me now! John! Come over here and see this shit! You won¡¯t believe what I¡¯m looking at right now!¡± he shouted and started laughing loudly.

    But I ignored him. I kept looking at my watch and kept track of time. Will there be a mark where something happens? Or will I actually end up as a laughing stock?

    ***

    Minutes passed but nothing happened. Pietro who was laughing for a long time had quiet down by now and was just glaring at me. I continued to ignore him as the 10 minute mark passed by. How much longer is it gonna take before something happens? Am I missing something or did I missed the mark completely?

    ¡°How long are you going to stand there with that stupid pose? You¡¯re being an eyesore to me and it¡¯s not funny anymore,¡± he grumbled.

    ¡°Can you just shut the fuck up and let me concentrate?¡± I scolded him.

    ¡°Fuck you! I¡¯m prisoner of war here and you think I want to see your shit?! I would rather be alone than to see you pulling stupid shits like this! Get the fuck out of my sight right now before I¡ª¡± he suddenly stopped talking and dropped his head.

    Did something really happened? The time mark was 11 minutes and 1 seconds. Or basically, 666 seconds. That can¡¯t be a coincidence for Pietro to play a fool on me at such a precise timing.

    The cell was starting to get colder at of a sudden but there was only silence thus far. Did something really happened or am I just losing it? Without warning, darkness completely engulfed the entirety of the cell. It was pitch black except for Pietro who somehow maintained his lighting. Even my body was pitch black as I moved my hands in front of my vision.

    A dark shadowy aura seeped out of Pietro¡¯s body and floated above him, manifesting into a shadowy form with glowing blue eyes. I watched everything unfolded before me, all the while thinking of an escape route or the possibility of fighting a God. The shadowy form started speaking in the roughest rumbling tone that shook the world of darkness.

    ¡°How impressive. To think someone could actually solved my riddle, or foolish enough to actually performed it,¡± said the shadowy form with its rough rumbly voice.

    ¡°Does it work for all the Gods?¡± I asked bluntly.

    "Mostly. It''s kind of an agreement among us to make it as unreasonable yet plausible," answered the deep voice.

    I kept silent. Thinking of what I¡¯m gonna ask this Cosmic Being. Am I the first to actually communicate with a God? Not to mention a Demon God?

    "You''re not. There had been some before you but¡ª you''re definitely the first to use this method to communicate with any of us. However, you''re wrong about me being a Demon God. There had never been one," answered the voice.

    Can''t even talk to myself, huh? What a violation of privacy.

    "Are you willing to answer some of my questions? Will you be answering honestly, though? Seeing that you''re the God Of Deception after all," I asked.

    "You slayed my Champion and my Vessel. Do you think you have the right to demand answers from me?! I should flay you where you stand!¡± boomed the deep voice.

    "So why humour me by showing yourself in the first place?" I questioned him while accepting the consequences.

    ¡°Consider me intrigued that you actually solved my riddle when nobody else did. I¡¯ll grant you one question that I¡¯ll answer truthfully. Choose wisely,¡± he said.

    ¡°No reading my mind and deciding for me. Deal?¡± I clarified with him. The shadowy figure shrugged which caught me off guard.

    What should I ask him in the first place? It need to be of value since this is my only chance to talk to a God. He said that he¡¯s not a God for demons? Are there really no Gods for them? So why choose them as champions then? I¡¯m so confused right now. How many Gods are playing with demons for their amusement? Then why choose a human to be a Vessel? So many questions yet I can only ask one. Think Zen, think of the best question to ask. Wait¡ª there is one. Will he really answer honestly though?

    ¡°You give your word that you will answer truthfully no matter what. So here is what I¡¯ll ask,¡± I said.

    ¡°How do I permanently kill the Demon King?¡± I asked the God Of Deception bluntly.

 Book 2 - Chapter 104

    ..n, Zen?

    I snapped out of my thoughts. It was the following day after I spoke to an actually Cosmic Being directly. We were waiting inside the Elemental guild, awaiting for the Elementalist to speak with me. Rose tagged along with John, whom I was surprised wanted to be present for that audience.

    I shuddered at the thought that I actually spoke to a God. John told me he couldn¡¯t hear anything when the God Of Deception showed himself. He said that everything was completely silent and he thought I had fell asleep or something. I only informed him that I had solved the riddle that Pietro told me, but I kept silent about me communicating with a Cosmic Being. I needed to ensure that only the person I trust knows about my discussion with the God Of Deception. Safe to say, only Rose was qualified to know, for now. She certainly checked my temperature when I told her about, thinking I was losing it.

    ¡°Are you okay? You were sort of zoning out earlier,¡± asked Rose.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine. How much longer do we have to wait? It¡¯s been a while since we waited,¡± I complained to John.

    ¡°Um, I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll be soon. Just wait a while longer?¡± he smiled awkwardly.

    I thought he said it sounded urgent from the Elementalist. But we had been waiting for about 15 minutes now and we¡¯re still waiting. The whole guild seems to be in a hustle as their members were rushing about constantly as though they are preparing for something. Just then, we heard the footsteps of someone running closer to us. Is a messenger finally coming to inform us?

    As we stared at the direction of the incoming footsteps, we were surprised to see the Elementalist himself was running towards our direction. A guildmaster running? Things must be dire.

    ¡°My apologies, I rushed over as soon as I could. Come, right this way, we can discuss in private,¡± he gestured us to follow him.

    ***

    ¡°My apologies once again for the wait, Master Zen,¡± he bowed to me.

    He brought us to a meeting room that was relatively quiet. No one was inside or near this room at all. Not even guards were posted outside to prevent unwanted guest from coming in. Seems like we will be discussing something that is extremely confidential.

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing, don¡¯t worry about it. However, please stop calling me master. I don¡¯t deserved to be called that,¡± I explained.

    ¡°Nonsense, a man such as yourself who had achieved greatness is well deserving of such a title. But I¡¯m going to be blunt, I need your help in my upcoming¡ª endeavour,¡± he bowed once again.

    ¡°I need to know what it is before I decide. Do explain what help you need with,¡± I informed him.

    ¡°We¡ª the elves from the elven forest had been sending us startling reports about¡ª some unusual activities that had been occurring lately,¡± he sighed as he place his hand on his forehead.

    ¡°And, what did those reports state? Don¡¯t leave us hanging now,¡± I asked him.

    ¡°There are¡ª bugs attacking them at an unusual rate,¡± he stuttered to finish his sentence.

    I shook my head rigorously and blinked a couple of times as I realised what he just told me. Bugs? For real?

    ¡°I¡ª I¡¯m sorry, did you really just said bugs? H¡ª how am I supposed to help you with that? You should be calling the exterminator or something instead of me,¡± I explained to him.

    ¡°Allow me to explain things more clearly. In the elven forest, whether it is animals, insects or plants, all of them co-exist with the elves. We are friends of the forest and it knows this very well as we help to nurture it. Nothing from mother nature attacks the elves when it knows we cohabitate with her. Until now,¡± he explained his side of the story.

    ¡°So¡ª you¡¯re saying that something spooked the bugs into attacking the elves, and you need my help to figure out on what is stirring up the bugs? I¡¯m beginning to wonder if I¡¯m really the right person for the job. And besides, elves doesn¡¯t allow humans into their forest. The last time I was there, they only granted me entry to their borders and that¡¯s about it. Two years I stayed and trained there, yet not once was I granted access into their forest,¡± I answered.

    ¡°You will be granted access into our forest this time. I made sure of it. Like I said, despite the odd explanation I told you, the elves in the forest usually doesn¡¯t seek help, unless the situation is dire. You will understand more once you¡¯re there. And besides, this is a good opportunity for you to make amends with them,¡± he explained.

    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    ¡°Make¡ª amends? For what exactly?¡± I asked him with a confused look.

    ¡°You¡ª don¡¯t know? She didn¡¯t tell you?¡± he curled his eyebrow.

    ¡°Who? Lily? She never told me I had done something wrong there. Is this because of my fight with Tom? The elves themselves assured me that everything was fine before I left. Why would they not inform me if there was something wrong I did. Wait¡ª is that why Lily stayed there after my fight? For something wrong I did? Why would they punish her for something I did? What was it? Tell me,¡± I demanded answer from him.

    Lily always refused to tell me the reason as to why she had to remain there for a couple of years. If the Elementalist knew what happened, I am eager to find out the truth about what had transpired when she was there.

    ¡°It was most certainly due to your fight with Tom. However, I¡¯m afraid there is nothing further I can say. It is not my place to inform you on what had transpired. Perhaps, there might come a day for her to inform you herself. Until then, our council¡¯s order is to never speak of that¡ª incident,¡± he apologised to me with a bow.

    ¡°Why? Why can¡¯t you elves tell me what happened? Was she tortured? Was she imprisoned? Please, tell me. I need to kno¡ª,¡± Rose grabbed my arm and shook her head. She¡¯s telling me to not push him for answers. But why? Doesn¡¯t she wishes to know what really happened to Lily? I thought she cared for her like her own sister? Or does Rose actually knew what had happened?

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Zen. I know this might sound¡ª impolite to you, but please respect our way of life. As much as I really wished to tell you, breaking the council¡¯s orders have¡ª dire consequences; even for a guildmaster,¡± he bowed respectfully.

    I exhaled loudly. Will there come a day where I finally find the answer? I certainly hoped so. What Lily did for me is something I should know before I marry her. It is invaluable for me to know what she had done for me.

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s get back on topic. When shall we depart?¡± I asked.

    ¡°In three days,¡± he answered.

    ***

    Three days, huh? What I can even do with this short amount of time?

    I sat in front of my alchemical equipment. I have plenty of ingredients at my disposal to create all the important potions I needed. But there were a few more things that I needed to figure out to bring on this trip.

    First of all, Rose won¡¯t be following me on this journey. She need to care for Daisy, and the last two adventures was more than enough for her to be separated from one of us. This means that Rose won¡¯t be there to heal me if anything bad were to happened to me. John will be tagging along instead. While he certainly add more power points to our fighting force, he ain¡¯t no support team. I will have to depend on my healing items to keep as many people alive as possible. But healing gel only works for surface wounds. If you¡¯re bleeding internally, I¡¯ve got no way to staunch the bleeding. Blood regeneration potion is far from perfect and it only keeps you alive until the end of the potion¡¯s duration or you eventually bleed to death. It is in no way a healing potion to heal all of your wounds. What I¡¯m thinking is a potion that can boost the clotting mechanism of our blood to stop our wounds from bleeding, as in clot where one is heavily wounded. Now that¡¯s gonna be a challenge.

    Another thing that I need to figure out is a way to combat¡ª bugs. Never thought I¡¯ll be forming such a sentence in my entire life. According to the Elementalist, those bugs are huge. Way larger than the normal bugs and they are resistant against physical attacks.

    Hmm, is using wax good enough when physical damage are difficult to inflict? The best way I know when it comes to bugs is to use fire. Kill it with fiyah, as the saying goes. Fire wax, perhaps? Tengu-kaze seems to have good affinity siphoning fire with it¡¯s wind capability. Maybe I should try making a fire wax. It¡¯s not gonna be easy though when it¡¯s completely different from usual wax that I¡¯ve been making so far.

    ***

    Uhh¡ª okay, guess I was wrong. Turns out it was easier than I thought. But¡ª this is just a normal fire coating. Using the slime from fire snails and some sparks from both weapons seems to do the trick. However, it would appear that Tengu-kaze is not able to siphon this wax coating at all. It¡¯s basically a normal flame and not some flame spell. Does it only work exclusively with spells and not real fire? Something is amiss, I am definitely missing an important factor on why Tengu-kaze can only siphon spells.

    Hang on, didn¡¯t Lily deflected the wind from Tengu-kaze before and it became frigid cold? As I recall, it worked with frozen lightning. What does these two even have in common? Aside from it being spell-based. Hmm.

    A light-bulb appeared at the top of my head as I figured something out. Can it be? It¡ª can¡¯t be, right? I summoned Inazuma and thought of trying something stupid. But I decided to head to another room in the house where it was more secluded and empty before I test out this silly theory of mine.

    ***

    Zen will be going on another trip in three days time. This had been a busy year indeed. Zen and I had been going on plenty of adventures lately, yet there seems to be more coming. Is this a sign of the Demon King¡¯s resurrection? I shudder to think of such a possibility. I decided that I won¡¯t be following him this round as I need to take care of Daisy and my flock. Is this a mistake? He almost died twice while fighting against Horrus. I don¡¯t want to lose him. Never in my life do I wish to lose my husband, my beloved Onii-chan. I would do anything, ANYTHING to have him not leave me.

    The main reason as to why I¡¯ve been pushing him to marry Lily is due to the fact that I¡¯m afraid; so afraid that he might leave me or Daisy one day in pursue of his fetish for female elves. I know deep down he¡¯s not that kind of person. I know full well on that fact. But I feel more at peace if Lily was at my side. We can discuss and figure out things together. Lily is aggressive I¡¯m certain she can keep Zen in check if he decided to do stupid things. I¡¯m confident both of us are able to handle him thoroughly, even if I were to pass on first.

    I¡¯m sure Lily had done something to Zen when she brought him back to life. She was always reluctant to tell me what she did when she is willing to tell me anything else. Zen is going to outlive me; for how many years ahead though? Will he eventually outlive Daisy? Who knows how many years his life expectancy had extended. Provided he doesn¡¯t get killed in combat by the many strong foes this world had been spitting out at us lately, I¡¯m sure Lily will be there for him after I¡¯m no longer in this world.

    BBBBOOOMMMM!!!

    W¡ª what the fuck was that?! Are we being attacked?! That sounded like someone bombed us!

    I rushed out of the house to look for the culprit, ignoring the fact I was wearing a common dress and apron. Is there anyone suspicious running away? I don¡¯t see anyone that fits that description whatsoever. A quick glance revealed that no one was running away from the scene. All of them were staring at the second floor of our house which had a gaping giant hole with a bit of smoke. Isn¡¯t that room supposed to be relatively empty? How is it possible to have something explode in there? If anything were to explode, it would had been the alchemy room which we made sure to fortify for such an event. Is Onii-chan in that room currently?

    I headed back into the house and ran upstairs quickly. As I approached the room, I could hear him coughing loudly inside. What is he even doing? I pushed the door open and confronted him. He heard me and rushed towards me to grab my shoulders.

    ¡°Rose, I figured it out. I found the secret of using elemental spells! I found it¡¯s true nature!¡± he screamed loudly like a little child.

    ¡°W¡ª what are you talking about, Onii-chan? You blew a hole in our house. How¡¯re we gonna get that fixed when you¡¯re leaving so soon?¡± I questioned him.

    ¡°I¡ª I¡¯ll find someone to fix it. But this is huge Rose, I never thought it was possible but I actually cracked the code. The elemental guild is definitely not gonna like what I just discovered. Or will their God be hunting me down for discovering this?¡± he put on a thinking face.

    ¡°I¡¯m¡ª lost, Onii-chan. What on earth are you talking about? What secret? Are you telling me you can start using elemental spells now?¡± I shook my head.

    ¡°Not exactly. But with this information, I can start creating a whole different breed of weapon coating. I can¡¯t wait to make that breakthrough,¡± he rubbed his hands together.

    ¡°Well, what is it then? Are you gonna leave me hanging or something? Good thing Daisy isn¡¯t here or I¡¯ll give you a proper smacking for putting her in danger,¡± she folded her arms.

    ¡°Alright, alright. Why did you think I even tested it in this room and when Daisy was out. What I discovered is¡ª lightning is actually the base for all elemental spells,¡± he grinned at me.

    The hell did he just say?

 Book 2 - Chapter 105

    Can¡¯t believe I actually figured out the fundamentals of using elemental magic. However, what¡¯s the reasoning for this? Using lightning as the base for all elemental magic? It¡¯s just so bizarre as to why this is the case. There must be a reason for this and I intend to figure it out.

    From what I can tell thus far, white lightning is, well, lightning. Your standard everyday 2000 volts tesla trooper¡¯s favourite weapon. Then there is Lily¡¯s case, who¡¯s using blue lightning which seems to be related to frost despite being lightning itself.

    According to Byakko, he can only siphon elemental magic which is basically lightning magics. Kirin¡¯s lightning is based on standard lightning which was how the explosion took place. Both of them were bickering at one another and screwed up the whole siphon process. I took a gamble trying out Kirin¡¯s lightning with Tengu-kaze but at least that led to my discovery on it¡¯s secret.

    I clarified with both of them whether they knew about this in the first place. They told me that they were not at liberty to discuss it. It was actually a cosmic secret that very little individuals were supposed to know, until I figured it out myself. Surprised to say, I¡¯m actually the very few beings in this universe that managed to figure it out. Less than the number of fingers on your hand, according to both Kirin and Byakko. But hey, it was thanks to them giving me hints that I figured it out in the first place.

    ¡°We did not!¡± they screamed at me telepathically.

    Alright, so now, what I need to do is to figure out how to use fire spells. It should be red lightning, right? Please don¡¯t tell me it¡¯s pink, otherwise it should had been pink flames instead. Don¡¯t give me different colours but different effects now.

    How do I even start with this? Figuring out the secret is one thing, turning it into a weapon coating via Alchemy is another. Should I just ignore the creation of using flame magic and focus on healing items instead? Only two days left before I need to depart. What can I even create in two days? Neither path is easy for any sort of breakthrough.

    Seemingly undecided on which path to take and instead of wasting time, I decided to search for my wife. Where is she by the way? The sound of sweeping could be heard in the room that exploded. I took a peek in and saw her cleaning the relatively empty room with a giant hole on one of the walls. I sneaked behind her and gave her a hug. A sniff of her hair pheromones usually calms me with its unusual unique pleasant smell.

    ¡°Onii-chan, do you want the whole world to see what we¡¯re doing? You do realise there¡¯s a giant hole right over there, right? Besides, I¡¯m in no mood today,¡± she sighed as she continued sweeping.

    ¡°Just to calm myself, dear. Not every physical touch have to lead to that,¡± I told her as I continued sniffing her hair.

    ¡°Alright, that¡¯s enough. Got to get this room all cleaned up before the repairman comes over tomorrow. Hey, you made this mess, come and clean it with me,¡± she squinted at me.

    I obeyed her command and took over the sweeping duty from her as I swept all the dirts and dusts out the giant hole. Judge me all you want but I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll do the same. Rose lifted a couple of boxes to another room as she didn¡¯t want it to obstruct the people who will be coming over to fix the hole. A small lockbox fell out from one of the boxes with a loud thud. I thought of helping her until I saw the lockbox. Yikes, I had completely forgotten that this was here.

    ¡°What¡¯s this? I don¡¯t remember we had a lockbox stored here before. Is this yours?¡± asked Rose.

    ¡°Um¡ª yeah. I store ingredients that I couldn¡¯t figure out it¡¯s usage in there. I didn¡¯t want to remind myself on how much I spent on unknown ingredients the last time I was curious about Alchemy,¡± I scratched my head.

    She opened and took a peek of its contents. It wasn¡¯t locked because there was nothing secretive in it. It was filled to the brim with many different types of ingredients that I just couldn¡¯t figure out it¡¯s usage no matter what combination I tried. And a few of them were expensive too.

    ¡°Wow, some of these looked¡ª beautiful. You really don¡¯t have any use of these? I can think of many things I can do with these,¡± she chuckled.

    If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    ¡°You¡¯re thinking about turning them into jewellery, aren¡¯t you? I think gemstones would suit your purpose more so than these. Some of those ingredients you¡¯re currently holding are even more expensive than gemstones itself. I just¡ª couldn¡¯t figure what is their purpose yet,¡± I sighed.

    ¡°And this? Did you get conned into buying this? This is just an ordinary stone, isn¡¯t it? Just a jagged looking stone. Ouch!¡± she dropped the lockbox and the stone she was holding.

    It dropped and rolled across the floor towards me. Did I just¡ª saw some electric sparks on the stone?

    ¡°You okay? Did you cut yourself with the stone?¡± I inspected her wound on her fingers, except, there wasn¡¯t any.

    ¡°I¡¯m alright. That stone just¡ª shocked me. What the hell was that?¡± she massaged her fingers that was shocked.

    ¡°That¡¯s¡ª odd. I never knew such a stone existed. I thought I was duped by the old lady when she sold me this stone for a hefty sum,¡± I walked closer to pick it up from the floor.

    ZAP!

    It was my turn to get shocked. What¡¯s going on? The stone had never acted this way before. I went to grab my leather glove to inspect it and touched it once again with my bare finger. Hmm, nothing. Did something triggered this stone to release the sparks?

    I recalled what happened earlier. Can it be? I tossed the stone on the floor again and once again, saw sparks erupting from it. This¡ª stone reacts to impact. Can this be the discovery that I was hoping for?

    ¡°Rose, I love you. You gave me ideas and inspiration on how to start my next alchemy experiment. I¡¯m gonna make love to you right here right now,¡± I hugged her.

    ¡°Wha¡ª Hey! There¡¯s a giant hole there, Mr Hawthorn! And I told you that I¡¯m not in the mood,¡± she gently pushed me away.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you said you wanted another child? I won¡¯t be around for a while in two days time. Who knows whether I might make it back after,¡± I poked fun of her as I started smooching her neck and nibbled her ear gently.

    ¡°D¡ª don¡¯t say that, please. Damn it, you. You really know how to get me all riled up. Fine, but we¡¯re not doing it here. I don¡¯t want the whole world to see what we¡¯re about to do,¡± she gave in.

    ¡°Right you are, my princess. Allow me to carry you to your personal chambers,¡± I lifted her up with a princess carry and brought her to our room. Whatever happened in there, well, I¡¯ll just leave it to your own imagination.

    ***

    ¡°It¡¯s called a thunderstone,¡± answered the old lady of the Pink Carnation store. She had browsed through her Book of Ingredients and found the stone in question.

    ¡°And you didn¡¯t think of telling me this when I bought it off you in the first place? I¡¯ve been keeping this in a reject box for so long without knowing it¡¯s true nature. I even paid a pretty sum for this dumb piece of stone. Aren¡¯t I your precious regular customer?¡± I squinted at her.

    ¡°Well kid, you bought a lot of ingredients from me. You can¡¯t expect me to explain all of them, right? Besides, I can¡¯t even remember what I had sold to you before when you had purchased like half of my store¡¯s ingredients. Tell you what, you bring over those ingredients that you couldn¡¯t use then I¡¯ll check them for ya with my book. Least I could do for you since you¡¯re the one who made me rich. Haha!¡± she chuckled.

    ¡°Alright, guess I am sensible enough to see where you¡¯re coming from. Tell me more about this stone. Where did it came from and why¡¯s it so expensive?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°Let¡¯s see. Says here that these stones are found near the coast of some areas where lightning occurs frequently. Over time, these stones begun to emit lightning properties but only when faced with impact. Miners must wear extreme safety gear before even considering to mine these stones, which is relatively few at the time of this writing,¡± she explained.

    ¡°Guess that¡¯s why it cost a fortune for this. Is there¡ª any ingredients like Firestone or stones with similar properties?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Sorry kid, this stone is special as the Gods deemed it so. I don¡¯t remember seeing any other stones that had similar properties before. I can assure you that these are the only stones I have in my store. Even I took a gamble when I ordered this some time ago,¡± she shrugged.

    ¡°Hmm, how many of these do you have in stock? Just in case I want more of it?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°Last I recall, I ordered about five of these when it was still at a reasonable price. Never ordered more when the price went tits up. You bought one so I have four. No one else seems to have any interest in buying a plain looking stone in the first place,¡± she shrugged.

    ¡°Great. Keep them in stock for me until tomorrow. I¡¯ll be doing a little experiment on these when I get back. I wonder if this stone can even help me with my little experiment in the first place,¡± I sighed.

    ¡°Whatever you¡¯re doing kid, be extra careful. Lightning is the gift of the Gods. You don¡¯t want to do stupid things with their powers. Incidentally, do you wish to purchase anything today?¡± she grinned.

    ¡°What ingredients do you have that are related to fire?¡± I smirked.

    ***

    I slumped on my chair. Despite finding something that might had helped in the creation of elemental magic, I can¡¯t get a breakthrough in creating one. Perhaps I should look at things differently. This stone requires impact in order to activate the lightning sparks, so I can¡¯t make it like my usual wax coating. What if I coat the stone with something flammable instead? Will that work? Sigh, this blows. I just can¡¯t figure out how to replicate red lightning in the first place, what am I doing in thinking I can use it as a wax coating instead?

    I sighed once again and pulled out one of my table drawer to search for something that might be able to help me with this experiment of mine. A bunch of stat scrolls rolled into view. Ah, been a while since I last checked my stats. How long has it been? Since I¡¯m procrastinating right now, let¡¯s check my current stats for fun. I took out a scroll and blew on it which caused dusts to spread all over the place. Wow, *cough. I really need to do some spring cleaning in my room.

    Oh hey, my agility had went up somehow. It¡¯s at sitting at a good number of 110. My strength remained the same though at around 80. My constitution is still on the lower side at 60 but good thing I have my earring to boost it further. Now, let¡¯s see¡ª oh¡ª OHH!! My skill is at 49 now! Yyyeeesss!!! About fucking time it went up. How long has it been since it got stuck at 48.

    Just one more skill point, just one more and I can unlock the last hidden spell for my gauntlets. Bloody hell, I had to fight two Vessels just to increase one? And I almost died a couple of times in the process just to defeat both of them. Talk about ridiculous difficulty in levelling skill stats for me.

    Damn, now I¡¯m pumped. I can¡¯t wait to see what it is! It better be a fucking good spell after all I¡¯ve been through. Just one more to go. So near, yet so far, sigh. I should get back to solving my little experiment on how to make elemental magics work, perhaps that might raise the last skill stat that I need. Damn it, stop making yourself too hopeful. You know very well that it¡¯s gonna be a long time before it gets 50, but I just can¡¯t stop myself from being excited. Dammit!

 Book 2 - Chapter 106

    I ensured the strap of my backpack was secured tightly. One last I gear check that I have everything I need in my hip and back pouches. Alright, seems like I have everything all set. Today is the day I¡¯ll be heading to the elven forest. Once again I have to be apart from my family.

    The giant hole caused by the explosion was finally fixed yesterday. Those premium repairmen was certainly worth every penny in getting it fixed quickly. And it wasn¡¯t some sloppy job either. It was like that wall never been breached before.

    I glanced at Rose and Daisy who was staring at me as I inspected my baggages. I approached them but spoke to Daisy first. Once again, she looked really sad and had tears around the edges of her eyes.

    ¡°Hey there, my little sunshine. Daddy need to head out on another quest. Please study well and finish your homework, alright? And try not to cause trouble for your mum when she¡¯s alone taking care of you. Can you promise me on that?¡± I asked her while petting her head.

    ¡°Dad, I don¡¯t want you to go,¡± she rushed in and hugged me.

    ¡°I know, sweetie. I know. But your father have to help those in need. Please find it in your heart to forgive me for not being able to spend more time with you,¡± I explained to her.

    She didn¡¯t answer me but continued to hug me tightly. I thought she was sobbing but I guess she just wanted some closure. I needed to break the hug but she refused and rubbed her face on my chest as she hugged me even tighter. Rose had to pull her apart to break the hug.

    ¡°Daisy, you know you¡¯re special, right? I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve figured out how to find me in the dream world by now. I¡¯ll always pick up your call when you search for me,¡± I fixed her pinkish hair behind her ear and she just nodded with a sad face.

    Now it was my wife¡¯s turn to say goodbye. We usually don¡¯t say much aside from the usual goodbye hugs. But this time around, she seems to be much vocal than usual.

    ¡°Hey you. Please, come back to me. I¡ª don¡¯t want a letter or a messenger knocking at our door,¡± whispered Rose as she hugged me.

    ¡°I¡¯ll come back for you, I promise. I will never leave you two even if I have to crawl my way back,¡± I brushed her hair.

    ¡°Alright, time for me to go. I¡¯ll see you soon,¡± I waved both of them farewell and headed out the door.

    ***

    ¡°Ahh, dammit. I was so used to being surrounded by ladies on my adventures. But this time around, it¡¯s just men,¡± I jokingly said out loud in the carriage.

    ¡°Gee, you and your lucky life. Well, you¡¯re just gonna have to suck it up this time around. If you¡¯re that hungry for women then there¡¯s an army of female elves following behind us,¡± chuckled John.

    It was just the three of us inside this carriage. John, the Elementalist and me. The remaining adventurers would be following us on foot unless they decided to fork out some money for a carriage themselves. It would take about a full day for us to reach the elven forest. I was pondering on whether I should stop by my hut in the forbidden forest to pay my respect to grandfather. Feels like it¡¯s been awhile since I paid my respect to him.

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t recommend it, if I were you. Elves¡ª love to gossip. Things will eventually reach Lily¡¯s ears and knowing your wife, she might eventually find out who you¡¯ve been fooling around with. There¡¯s a reason why we don¡¯t fool around, unlike humans, who only faces minor consequences. What was it called again? Divorce? Such a trivial thing compared to ours,¡± chuckled the Elementalist.

    ¡°What do you mean? Do you mind elaborating on that?¡± I asked him.

    ¡°For humans, you go through your divorce procedure and then you¡¯re pretty much done. Only those who know you are aware of your actions. For elves, we will be heavily judged by our entire community. Having multiple wives is one thing, fooling around is another. Besides, it was the elves who initiated the multiple wives solution because we have less males as compared to females in the first place. Not to mention, our females have difficulties in conceiving, unlike other species. How convenient for humans to use our solution to have multiple wives as an excuse,¡± he sighed.

    ¡°I¡¯m sort of glad that both of you remained loyal to your spouse exclusively. I¡¯m glad there are still noble humans out there,¡± he smirked as glanced between us.

    ¡°Oh no, sorry Zen, I can¡¯t give you this. He¡¯s already planning to marry Lily. Not as noble as you think he is,¡± smirked John.

    ¡°Hey, as of now, I still only have one spouse. I¡¯m still a noble human right now,¡± I explained to both of them.

    ¡°Y¡ª you¡¯re planning to marry Lily? What about your wife? Right, scratch that. Your wife was literally pushing for it, as I recall. But Lily¡ª can be quite.. aggressive, even by elven standard,¡± he tried to explain to me.

    ¡°Are you saying she¡¯s a brute? Or is it due to her insane punching strength?¡± I asked him.

    ¡°That¡¯s not what I meant. For someone to be called a brute, you have an example right here. It¡¯s more like her personality in nature. She¡¯s hot tempered and she sometimes¡ª have no control over her speech or actions,¡± he elaborated.

    ¡°Excuse me, did you literally just called me a brute and expect me to wave it off?¡± shouted John.

    ¡°Truth be told, for a second there, I thought you were referring to Rose. I guess that¡¯s why they are like sisters. And probably why I¡¯m attracted to both of them in the first place. Tell me though, Elementalist, by elven standard, is Lily¡ª considered a beauty?¡± I asked him curiously.

    ¡°I believe you had already met her mother, Violet Moonshine. Lily certainly inherited her beauty with slight variations. Violet is¡ª a beauty that comes once in a lifetime. Many elven males tried to woo her but many failed. One of the reason was that she¡¯s flirtatious in nature,¡± he chuckled.

    ¡°Tell me about it. She even flirted with me, and she told me that she was her Lily¡¯s older sister,¡± I rubbed my forehead remembering how she flirted with me.

    ¡°Not surprising. Her husband, Noah was the only one who could withstand her personality. However, that does not mean that Violet fools around with other men. There had been no evidence that she had done so before, only being flirtatious which gives men the wrong idea,¡± he elaborated.

    ¡°Hang on, if Violet was so sought after, doesn¡¯t that mean Lily is the same? How is she still single after all this time? But¡ª Kirin mentioned that Ivy was even more beautiful than Lily,¡± my jaw dropped after realising it.

    ¡°You know the answer to that, Zen. It¡¯s because of you. No doubt I¡¯m sure there were plenty of males who had already attempted to woo her before she even left the elven forest. Who knew she would instead fall for a human so quickly after she left. Regarding your question, I have not the answer as I¡¯ve never met Ivy before,¡± he smirked.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    ¡°I can definitely vouch on that. I was there when Zen saved us from those bandits. He was like a hero to all of us. Which maiden wouldn¡¯t fall for a handsome sod who appeared out of nowhere to save her just in the nick of time?¡± John laughed.

    ¡°Ah well. Lily was literally the first female I ever met in my life so I guess it was mutual. Both of us had a crush on one another after our first meeting,¡± I explained.

    ¡°It¡¯s not just a simple crush, Zen. If that were so, she would had forgotten about you during the time she was training in the guild. She always had trouble fitting in or finding her own combat specialty. Whenever she had difficulties, she will always talk about you. And I can tell you, she was already deeply in love with you even when you weren¡¯t there. You had already stolen her heart after you saved her that day. Take it from me as her guildmaster who is always confided in,¡± smirked the Elementalist.

    ¡°If only you could tell me what she did for me after my fight with Tom. I have a feeling that she gave up something for my sake,¡± I sighed.

    ¡°Sorry, that is the one thing I can¡¯t tell you. What I can tell you though , is that she really loves you, Zen. Maybe it is better for you to have two wives instead of one,¡± he chuckled.

    ¡°Either it¡¯s going to be the best decision I ever made, or it¡¯s gonna be the worst. Only time will tell when that actually happens,¡± I told both of them.

    ***

    We carried on with our conversation until we reached the outskirts of the forbidden forest where we¡¯ll have to continue on foot. It was evening so we¡¯ll most probably reach the elven forest by nightfall. Not the most ideal arrival time but according to the Elementalist, apparently time was of the essence. The rest of the adventurers should be arriving by tomorrow morning since none of them opted for carriage. The mood of the adventurers were strangely cheerful, seemingly oblivious to the danger that we will be facing. Or perhaps they just don¡¯t know about it? Did the Elementalist even informed them on what they¡¯ll be doing?

    The sky was darkening so I¡¯m sure all of them will be getting ready to camp the night soon. Our task, however, is to announce ourselves to the elves first to ensure smoother passage for the adventurers.

    As we walked through the forbidden forest, I was hit with nostalgia from every angle which caused goosebumps to appear on my forearms. I lived here with grandfather for 10 years and I¡¯m certain I still remember my way around here, even with my eyes closed. I remembered one of my early training was to ambush grandfather as best as I could. Never once did I managed to sneak up on him. I wondered how would I fare against him now? His katana is a pain to deal with when it affects your vision during the initial stage of combat. I wonder if his katana is looking for a new owner to wield it. I¡¯ve never been able to communicate with his katana before. Perhaps it¡¯s still mourning even after all these years as they had been together for who knows how long.

    Sigh, who knew that scrawny little brat who grew up in a forest would end up becoming one of the Four Great Powers. Or better yet, fought with one of them and ended up replacing his position. I swear I can see past visions of myself struggling to survive all the trainings that grandfather pushed me through when I was young. It does put a smile on my face seeing how far I¡¯ve come.

    ¡°What¡¯s so funny? Thinking about someone?¡± asked John.

    ¡°No no, more like memories of my early days here,¡± I sighed.

    ¡°Of all the places he could had raised you, I always wondered as to why he chose here instead. Is his¡ª grave around here?¡± asked the Elementalist.

    ¡°Do you wish to pay your respect to him? How about a slight detour if you don¡¯t mind? It¡¯s not too far from here. I would like to visit him too,¡± I asked both of them and they nodded.

    ***

    ¡°So this is where he¡¯s rested. How''re you doing, old friend?¡± asked the Elementalist as he kneeled in front of grandfather¡¯s grave.

    ¡°Sorry you had to come along, John. Hope you don¡¯t mind?¡± I asked him.

    ¡°What¡¯re you talking about? I definitely want to pay my respects too. He¡¯s the reason as to why all three of us are alive today. Wished I could had brought something. Does he like liquor?¡± asked John nervously.

    ¡°You can offer whatever you want, John. Grandfather had never been a picky person before. You can pay your respect however you wish,¡± I told him.

    ¡°Guess I¡¯ll do just that,¡± said John as he searched for his liquor in his backpack.

    I awaited for both of them to finish with their prayers and respect before I give mine. I was surprised when the Elementalist brought over grandfather¡¯s katana, seemingly wanting to ask me about it.

    ¡°Zen, his katana, may I have it?¡± he asked me solemnly.

    ¡°Well, I doubt he¡¯ll mind, but¡ª are you planning to wield it? Or are you just planning to keep it?¡± I questioned his choice in taking it.

    ¡°I intend to display it for all to see. Richard, deserves recognition for all of his accomplishments. Consider it an honour for everything he has done for the Elemental guild, and also my way of honouring an old friend,¡± he explained.

    ¡°Be my guest, then. Doubt anyone is planning to use it. I¡¯m surprised you¡¯re able to hold it without difficulty. Isn¡¯t that katana supposed to be a legendary weapon?¡± I asked him.

    ¡°Legendary indeed. But Richard, your grandfather, had never spoken about his weapon being special before, aside from the reflective part,¡± he answered.

    ¡°Guess this katana doesn¡¯t have any celestial being then,¡± I stroked the scabbard of katana. A glimpse of a vision of something appeared in my mind for a split second.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? You looked spooked after touching it. Is something the matter?¡± asked the Elementalist.

    ¡°I¡ª thought I saw something. You might want to be careful with that. Feels like there¡¯s something slumbering in it,¡± I explained.

    ¡°Well, it had not rejected me yet so I shall carry it with me until otherwise. Thank you, Zen, for allowing me to have it,¡± he bowed.

    ¡°Better than just leaving it out here with risk of being stolen, I suppose. Now¡¯s my turn to give my respect,¡± I headed towards the gravestone.

    ¡°Ojii-san, hope you¡¯re doing fine. Sorry I couldn¡¯t swing by often as I have a family now. The pink haired female you saw before you passed, I married her, despite telling you I¡¯ve taken her in as my little sister. But I might take in another wife soon. I know you didn¡¯t raise me to fool around with women, but I¡ª felt like I owe it to both of them. I wished to make them happy even if I have to break my principals. I hope you would give me your blessings when I hold Lily¡¯s hands. Here, I brought you your favourite sake since I thought I might had the chance of stopping by. I hope I bought the right one since it looked like the exact same bottle that you drank often,¡± I poured some over his grave.

    ¡°Many things had happened but I¡¯ll always remember what you told me. I always have to be better than being sorry. All your teachings will always be with me. Sayonara, Ojii-san. I¡¯ll visit again soon,¡± I tapped on his grave and bowed with a prayer before heading where John and the Elementalist waited.

    ***

    We were coming upon the borders of the elven forest. You¡¯ll immediately noticed the change of floras upon crossing their borders despite being enveloped in darkness. There is a strange difference in air quality and temperature as though they were capable of controlling nature itself.

    John and the Elementalist moved forward cautiously while each of them held a torch, knowing full well they are within the elven borders. Where are the sentries though?

    The sound of a whoosh sliced through the air and the elementalist unsheathed one of his dagger to parry the arrow aside. More arrows were being shot and John enlarged his axe to block all of the arrows. What else are they planning to do next?

    The elementalist spoke the elvish tongue and the forest went silent. Someone emerged from the darkness and replied in elvish before bowing to him and John.

    ¡°Welcome, Elementalist and Viking Lord, to the elven forest. We were expecting you,¡± he bowed politely.

    ¡°If you were expecting us? Why attack us then?¡± squinted John.

    ¡°Merely a test. What guildmasters aren¡¯t capable of blocking a few arrows? Am I right?¡± smiled the elf.

    ¡°Come, allow me to guide the two of you into our forest. Very few humans are granted access into the heart of our forest, so don¡¯t get lost,¡± he gestured us to follow him.

    ¡°T¡ª two? There¡¯s three of us,¡± uttered John.

    ¡°Sorry?¡± asked the elf with a confused expression.

    All of them went silent as they searched around for a missing person. The elven sentry went cold as he realised there was a cold metal dagger around his throat after I unveiled my Conceal spell.

    ¡°Gotten sloppy with intruders, eh? I always thought the elves protected their borders well?¡± I smirked as I held the dagger at his throat. He raised his fist to gesture the other elves to stand down. Those who knew me are aware of my capabilities as I¡¯ve trained with them during my stay here.

    ¡°What can I say? I¡¯ve not done sentry work for quite some time. Do forgive an old man for losing his touch,¡± he smirked.

    ¡°Old man? I thought only youngsters are qualified for sentry work?¡± I asked as I lowered my dagger.

    ¡°That¡¯s because I knew you were coming, Zen Hawthorn and wished to meet with you once again. After all, my daughter is extremely fond of you,¡± he said.

    ¡°D¡ª daughter? Wait, Noah¡ª Moonshine?¡± I asked the elf.

    ¡°In the flesh. How¡¯ve you been, Zen? Quite impressive that you¡¯re skilled enough to avoid our detection and ears. Seems like you haven¡¯t been slacking off with your trainings,¡± he turned to face me and extended his hand.

    ¡°I¡ª I¡¯m so sorry, Mister Noah. I had no idea it was you. Please forgive me,¡± I bowed to him.

    ¡°Mister? I don¡¯t remember you being this polite before. What¡¯s the matter? Afraid that I¡¯ll reprimand you for not marrying my daughter?¡± he chuckled.

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s the least of my concern. I need to stay on your good grace if I wished to¡ª¡± I stopped as someone placed their hand on my shoulder.

    It was the Elementalist and he spoke something to Noah which changed his expression to a much more serious one. What did the Elementalist said to him exactly?

    ¡°Come, you all must be tired from your journey. Allow me to guide you to where you¡¯ll be resting tonight. You can have the audience with the council tomorrow morning when the sun is up,¡± he gestured us to follow after him.

    I approached closer to Noah and whispered to him. I wonder if he¡¯s aware of Lily¡¯s action when she saved me.

    ¡°Excuse me, Mister Noah. Are you¡ª aware of your daughter¡¯s action after my battle with Tom?¡± I asked him softly. No doubt I¡¯m sure all the other elves were able to hear every word of what I said to him.

    ¡°What kind of nostar would I be if I¡¯m not aware of what she did. Suffice to say, I was shocked indeed. But her actions speak louder than words, for I understood why she did it. I am sorry, Zen. Despite being her parent, I cannot tell you what she did on that fateful day. Only Lily is allowed to inform you about it on her own terms. What I beg of you, however, is to treat her well. That is all I ask of you. And also, just call me Noah,¡± he smiled but I detected hints of sadness during his speech.

    Damn it, it sounds as though Lily had done a great deal in resurrecting me back from the dead. And it seemed as though she had committed some form of cultural incident that made all of them tight lipped. Perhaps marrying Lily is a good way of thanking her for what she had done for me. But I am still deadly curious as to what she did. I just¡ª need to know.

    We came upon an extremely dense forest that prevents us from seeing further ahead. The forest sounded peaceful with the sound of insects singing in the distance. Have we reached the entrance to the heart of the elven forest?

    ¡°Gentlemen, we are here. Not many humans have the¡ª opportunity to feast their eyes on our forest. But today, be thankful that you¡¯re alive to witness¡ª our way of life,¡± said Noah as he waved his aside and the trees moved their branches and roots aside.

    Words couldn¡¯t describe what I¡¯m seeing, not to mentioned Ents were actually guarding the entrance. Perhaps some other time, when words starts forming in my brain to explain what exactly am I seeing.

 Book 2 - Chapter 107

    I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll be thinking, the elven forest would definitely be breathtaking, it would had blown my mind or, it¡¯s nothing I¡¯ve ever seen before in my entire life. However, I was barely mind-blown at all. I¡¯m astonished, sure. But perhaps the City of Underwater Marrydia had dampened my expectations of elves living in the forest. After all, there¡¯s only so much ¡°wow¡± to be had when it¡¯s just trees and wooden houses.

    I was, however, amazed at the size of the leaves that the houses were built on. Just how massive are these trees to be able to support an entire wooden house in its entirety? There were some houses on the forest bed but those looked smaller. Are those even houses for the elves in the first place? It all looked¡ª rather small. Wasn¡¯t expecting the elves to be this modest when the Elemental guild was so grandiose and luxurious. Perhaps the elves in the forest lived a more simple life as compared to those in the city.

    Glowbugs were flying about everywhere and it helped in illuminating a lot of the scenery. There were very little torches or braziers here which made me curious about their decision. If I were to somehow shooed away all these glowbugs, how are they expecting to see in the dark? It¡¯s not as though the elves had perfect vision to see in the dark. Which was why my Conceal was able to bypass their sentries in the first place. That and, I knew just how they think and react. They were always too dependent on their ears to detect imminent threats.

    ¡°Gentlemen, I bid you welcome, to our first line of defence. This here is our Wolf¡¯s Den. They are always the first to detect any signs of trouble. Even the slightest change in temperature or a whiff of something foreign would trigger their senses to investigate. You certainly won¡¯t be able to sneak up on our wolves, Zen. But I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll like to try. We live together mutually where we care for them in exchange for their protection. After all, wolves doesn¡¯t like to shower on their own,¡± chuckled Noah.

    ¡°Always looking for an opportunity to diss us, I see. You haven¡¯t changed at all,¡± answered a deep voice.

    I turned to see who it was who spoke and was genuinely surprised. It was¡ª a wolf. A dire wolf, from the looks of it, since it was so huge. Much taller than me even on all fours. But what astounded me was¡ª they had wings! What the hell are these?! Some winged dire wolf or something? It was extremely furry with white and greenish furs that almost made me reached out to stroke it on a reflex.

    ¡°Always a pleasure, Kuchisabishii-sama. How is the pack?¡± asked Noah.

    ¡°Always at the ready. I take it these two humans will be staying with us for the time being? Been a while since I get a whiff of a human. However, one of them smells oddly familiar. Ah, you must be the one who stayed at our borders some years back, weren¡¯t you?¡± asked the dire wolf.

    ¡°Yes. I am that human. I¡¯m surprised you remembered me when I¡¯ve never stepped foot in here before. By the way, if I may, is that really your name?¡± I asked while raising my eyebrow.

    ¡°Why yes it is. It¡¯s been a while since I¡¯ve eaten human so my mouth had been itching for some¡ª human bones. HAHAHAHA!! I¡¯m just kidding. I earned my name due to the fact that it¡¯s been close to a century since I had to use my fangs in combat. It had certainly gotten lonely after such a long time. If you¡¯re wondering why I remembered your smell, my nose is capable of smelling for miles away so one does not need to be here for me to detect them,¡± he grinned.

    ¡°I never knew there were winged wolves in this world before. Never saw one in the wild before. Are all of them your size? You¡¯re¡ª pretty huge,¡± I smiled awkwardly.

    ¡°Haha, I¡¯m the alpha of the pack which makes me the largest. There are¡ª not a lot of us in the wild. We are not originally from this realm but decided to come over to aid the elves. After all, we had bonded well in the elven realm. When the first batch of elves decided to come to this realm to start somewhere new, I volunteered my pack to help out. If you happened to see one in the wild, it must be one of mine who had sneaked out from here. But safe to say from the last round that I¡¯ve counted, all of them were still here. Which raises the question, why do you have a foreign wolf smell on you?¡± he approached closer to take a whiff at me.

    ¡°W¡ª wolf smell? I don¡¯t have a doggette at home if that¡¯s what you¡¯re asking. Wolf? The only thing I can think of is¡ª Horrus. Wait, do you know him?!¡± my mouth flew wide opened.

    ¡°No, this smell is foreign to me, yet it have a minute similarities of a wolf. Very curious indeed. Tell me, what happened to this¡ª Horrus, I wished to meet this foreign wolf counterpart,¡± he grinned.

    ¡°Sorry to break the news but this Horrus is¡ª dead. He was a human who decided to serve the God Of Destruction by being its Vessel, which somehow turned him into some sort flaming werewolf. A pain in my arse as he nearly killed me a couple of times,¡± I sighed.

    ¡°You were¡ª able to slain a Vessel of a Cosmic Being? What an accomplishment indeed. To my knowledge, I don¡¯t recall any of the other two Great Powers having slain one before. I¡¯m certain that Ivy had. That woman is¡ª a beast of her own after all,¡± he explained.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    ¡°Two actually, I¡¯ve gotten rid of two Vessels and a Champion thus far. Crazy life I¡¯ve been through, huh?¡± I chuckled.

    ¡°Puhahaha!! Crazy indeed! And at such a young age nevertheless. This will certainly boost your reputation with the elves, which you¡¯re going to need,¡± he grinned.

    ¡°Kuchisabishii-sama, we should allow the guests to rest for tomorrow¡¯s audience, if you would please,¡± bowed Noah.

    ¡°Of course! Of course, have a good rest, humies. I look forward to our next conversation,¡± he bowed slightly to me.

    ***

    We followed Noah as we headed deeper into the forest after the Wolf¡¯s Den area. Bloody hell, I was fooled into thinking that that was where the elves stayed. This must had been Noah¡¯s tactic to fool me into thinking that they¡¯re modest beings. I won¡¯t be fooled by another one of their Eldar trickery anymore!

    I pulled out my pocket watch to check the time. It was close to 9pm now. How much further do we have to walk before we reached our resting area? I¡¯m dying for some food and a comfortable bed to rest my head. I hope they won¡¯t be offering us some grass and bullshit us that it¡¯s better to sleep on some grass rather than some proper fluffy feathers.

    ¡°Won¡¯t be any further now. Apologies for the¡ª earlier introduction, just a little tease we enjoy when we show our way of life to newcomers. Right this way,¡± chuckled Noah.

    Laugh all you want, Noah, I won¡¯t be falling for any of your jokes any longer!

    ¡°Here we are, this is where you¡¯ll be staying for the night. I hope this¡ª would be more to your liking?¡± he continued with a question as he pushed aside some vines.

    It was such a huge shock for me that the whole atmosphere and scenery changed the moment we stepped through some passageway. The whole scenery was brimming with wonders and possibilities. I was wrong in thinking that they were modest when their whole city here was the exact opposite.

    I had thought that the City of Underwater Marrydia was already living in the future, who knew the elves here were even better. They had a huge clearing where all the elves inhabited. They had large wooden buildings all around with few storeys high, some sort of squarish contraption where it would appear to be running on wheels using steam technology, and lots of footholds all around buildings or trees that surrounded the city. The elves sure loves leaping around for faster movements rather than walking since they were born light-weighted in the first place.

    It had a completely different ambience to it as compared to City of Underwater Marrydia which felt more rustic and peaceful. This city here¡ª felt more modern, despite being in a forest. There were certainly more torches and braziers around to brighten up the city. I guess lights were not needed at the Wolf¡¯s Den since their noses were so ridiculously sensitive. I am tempted to test out my sneaking skill on them though.

    They had a large brightly lit clocktower in the middle of the city for everyone to see. Seems like Stein have competition in inventing new items. I wonder will his mind be blown if he ever gets the chance of coming here. We followed after Noah as we strolled into the city. They were using pebbles as their walkways but it was so perfectly levelled that I would had imagined I was walking on a true level of perfectly flat floor.

    However, nothing outshines the beauty of¡ª that tree. That golden tree is massive yet beautiful to gaze at. I might be mistaken, but why does it looked so¡ª familiar? What¡¯s it called again? A boxelder tree? Can¡¯t wrap my head around it. Everyday, my curse gets worse every time I see something new. Sigh.

    ¡°Hey Noah, what¡¯s this place called? Elven City or something? Does it have a name?¡± I asked him.

    ¡°We do, however, it¡¯s in elvish which would be difficult to pronounce in your tongue. I suppose Elven City would suffice. How is it though? Much different than the city you were staying, yes? I trust my future son-in-law would be comfortable living here? Just a little joke, by the way,¡± he chuckled.

    ¡°Oh um, har har har! Very funny indeed,¡± I laughed awkwardly.

    ¡°That tree, it¡¯s precious to the elves, isn¡¯t it? So massive yet glowing so bright,¡± I continued.

    ¡°The Cosmic Tree¡ª is just a sapling. Nowhere near the adult form of its original, which is in our realm. This sapling was brought over to this realm as a symbol that our community was able to prosper here. Not every realm is fit to grow the Cosmic Tree as there are many factors that comes into play to raise it. Every elves is sworn to protect this tree, even if it means giving our lives to ensure that it survives,¡± he explained.

    ¡°Elves certainly have better understanding with one another to be able to prosper like this. I doubt every human would agree to such a responsibility. The curse of us humans is that we are our own individual with a mind of our own. While that on its own isn¡¯t a bad thing, some humans decided to ensure that their way of life is superior and forces it upon others. I¡ª like how the elves are able to unify themselves to serve a common cause,¡± I confessed.

    ¡°Do you wish to live here, Zen?¡± he smiled warmly.

    ¡°Huh? Oh no, I¡¯m not even an elf in the first place. Doubt they¡¯re gonna allow it. Besides, I have a wife and daughter waiting for me at home. I can¡¯t abandon them just for the sake of living here,¡± I explained with a chuckle.

    ¡°Perhaps if you¡¯re able to gain more reputation among the elves, then it might be plausible. If you do end up marrying my daughter, living here wouldn¡¯t be a myth. However, there are certainly many¡ª hurdles to overcome before that can ever happen,¡± he sighed.

    I kept quiet as I sort of understood the gist of what Lily had done. I guess resurrecting me was frowned upon and Lily was punished for it. But¡ª shouldn¡¯t she had been pardoned after all these years? What¡¯s the reason for Lily to remain at the East instead of coming back here to her family? Hmm.

    ¡°Right, here we are. This is where both of of you will be staying for the duration of your stay. It might look simple on the outside but I assure you that the interior will¡ª suit your taste. The Elementalist will be staying somewhere else since he have a home of his own here. Rest well, gentlemen. And goodnight,¡± Noah bowed to us and took off with the Elementalist.

    John and I entered our own room respectively. Okay, this is outrageous. How is the interior so much better looking than the exterior?! It looked like some simple wooden dorm on the outside, yet the interior looked like some fancy ass hotel room. Geez, they even have a separated room for their washroom and comfort zone. Why am I not surprised that they also have their own plumbing and electrical system of their own. I placed my baggages aside and tested the bed to be sure. Then I leapt onto the bed and rolled on it. Oh me gosh, what is this mattress even made of? How is it so soft and fluffy? Where have this mattress been all my life?!

    I quickly freshen myself up before I accidentally fall asleep due to the comfort of the bed. How long will I be staying here? Such a luxurious lifestyle to live in. Would this¡ª had been my life if I chose to marry Lily instead? I don¡¯t know if I¡¯ll ever get used to this. Even the water they served in this room tasted ridiculously good. Oh lord, I don¡¯t feel like leaving this place now.

    Alright, jokes over. Best to get some rest for the audience tomorrow. I have a bad feeling that whatever Lily did for me is gonna bite me in the arse. No matter, I¡¯ll do what I can to help her since she had done so much for me. Got to bring up my future wife¡¯s reputation. A wife in need is a wife indeed. Why did that sounded so right yet so wrong?

    ***

    ¡°Let me be straight with you, Mister Zen Hawthorn, thanks to the action of one of our member, our community just doesn¡¯t like you,¡± said one of the councillors bluntly.

    Ah shit, here we go again.

 Book 2 Side Story - Xmas Special

    It¡¯s that time of the year again. My husband, Zen, ever since we came back from the east and bought a house here, he pleaded with the Council to make this day as some sort of holiday. Seeing as he¡¯s the hero who reclaimed this city from the Demon Queen, they were willing to obliged his request and made it so that today is officially some sort of holiday for everyone to celebrate. And yet they don¡¯t even know what they are celebrating for. Apparently it¡¯s due to someone¡¯s noble sacrifice or something that we had never heard about. Sigh, I swear my husband¡¯s curse is affecting all of us somehow.

    What¡¯s worse is that after the council had agreed, it started snowing on this very day! Never before had City Of Pines snowed before yet it somehow did and only on this particular day. Is Zen¡¯s curse capable of affecting the weather or something? Or did he made some pact with Baku.

    Brrrr, it¡¯s freezing cold this year. I¡¯m sure I¡¯ve bought all the necessary groceries needed for today as I¡¯m in no mood to be going out again in this weather. We had invited all of our friends to come over today to celebrate. I hope¡ª she¡¯s willing to come this year. It¡¯s been so long since we last saw each other. How¡¯s she doing, I wonder? You promised you¡¯ll come to visit us after Tom was defeated. Where are you now, Lily?

    I made it back to our home. All our plants and flowers were surprisingly healthy despite this cold weather. And¡ª my husband is decorating this tree that he painstakingly went out to find. After the council agreed to make today a holiday, he went all out to find this particular tree. I thought he was out doing some quest but it turns out to be some tree hunting quest. And he had the guts to call the scrapper company to uproot the entire tree just to bring it back to our house. Y¡¯know, the company that¡¯s supposed to bring back monster parts from adventurer¡¯s quest, and yet he asked them to bring back a tree instead!

    Ah well, anything to keep him company with Daisy is a good thing for me. I should be happy that he isn¡¯t going out drinking or out there fooling around with women; especially female elves. He¡¯s been loyal so far and I¡¯m glad it was this man who took me in or even willing to marry me. I won¡¯t lie that I thought I lost to Lily when I saw him whispering something to her back in the elven forest. I had already thought of leaving this city and staying in the east. Who knew that he would ask me to marry him in front of his grandfather¡¯s grave. I¡¯ll forever remember the day when he bend on one knee and asked me. And now, I have this ring to commemorate our marriage, making it the second ring that I wear daily.

    ¡°Dear, when you¡¯re done, help me out in the kitchen. There¡¯s a lot of preparation to be done,¡± I told him before I headed in.

    ¡°Yes dear,¡± he answered sarcastically.

    Daisy was staring at his father from inside the house through a window. While she¡¯s interested in seeing what he¡¯s doing, it was too cold outside and I don¡¯t want to risk something falling on her if Zen accidentally drops something. So she¡¯s allowed to watch him from the comfort of our home. Doubt she would mind though, since all she needed to do was to open the window a little to chat with him.

    ***

    ¡°Alright, what needs to be done?¡± he asked.

    ¡°You done with your tree already? Where did you even get those decorations anyway?¡± I asked him.

    ¡°Oh, I just have them specially made. Doubt there¡¯ll be anyone else in this world who have those. Our house will be the only special home in this city,¡± he grinned.

    ¡°W¡ª wait, you¡¯re telling me there¡¯s no one else who will be decorating outside of their house? Oh no, you¡¯re going to attract more strangers to our house again! Zen! We have people coming over today!¡± I shouted at him.

    ¡°Huh, what do you mean? No one is going to bother our house. It¡¯s just a tree with decorations. What¡¯s so special about it?¡± he questioned me.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

    ¡°Really? Nothing special? C¡¯mere Mister. I bet there are already¡ª see what I mean!¡± I pointed outside to the window of our living room.

    There was plenty of people staring at the decorative tree that he painstakingly decorated. Sigh, way to be subtle this year. Fine, as long as they don¡¯t disturb us inside our home then I just have to live with it.

    ¡°Get your butt in prepping our ingredients. There¡¯s still more to do,¡± I kicked his butt.

    ***

    Daffodil and her child, Aloe was the first to come over. John decided to skip this year as he had something to do. I welcomed her into our home, making sure it was warm enough in our living room by adding a little more firewood to the fireplace. Aloe immediately began seeking for Daisy who was like an elder sister to her. I seated our guest at our living room while I went back to preparing the dishes. Zen had already begun setting the plates on the table as there was nothing else he could do. It was only a matter of waiting for the dishes to be ready.

    The roast turkette was almost done. Zen was particular about me cooking turkette as he had always preferred jikentette instead. But I told him we had invited a lot of people today so we will need to roast a whole lot of jikentette if we were to serve our guests. He eventually gave in when I perfected the gravy that was suited to be eaten with turkette. I won¡¯t lie, I do prefer jikentette¡¯s juicy meat over the rather dry turkette meat but I have confidence that my gravy will make it better.

    ¡°Zen dear, come and take out the dishes,¡± I called out to him.

    Huh? Where is he? Wasn¡¯t he setting the table earlier? I peeked out of the kitchen but I don¡¯t see him. He was nowhere to be found even in the living room. Just when I was about to head upstairs, he came down wearing all yellowish.

    ¡°W¡ª what the hell is that? Aren¡¯t you supposed to be wearing red?! Didn¡¯t you said that today is a day of red?! Now I look like a fool wearing this colour!¡± I shouted at him.

    ¡°Naw, I¡¯m wearing yellow because I¡¯m the star today. See the decoration outside? As long as it¡¯s any of those colours, then you¡¯re fine,¡± he pointed.

    ¡°So I¡¯m one of those red dangling balls, am I? Way to go on your reference,¡± I squinted at him.

    Just then, we heard another knock on the door. I opened the door to greet our guest but, huh?

    ¡°Hey! Merry Christmas everyone! Yohohoho!!¡± laughed John. What the hell is he wearing?! Why is it all silver?!

    ¡°Brother, it¡¯s just ¡°Hohoho¡±, not ¡°Yohohoho¡±. You¡¯re not a pirate, you¡¯re supposed to be Santa,¡± sighed Zen.

    ¡°Dear?! I thought you were on some quest!¡± shouted Daffodil as she was surprised that her husband showed up.

    ¡°Sorry I had to lie, wanted to give you two a surprise. Here are gifts for everyone,¡± he smiled as he handed the gifts.

    ¡°Dammit, ours is upstairs. I thought we¡¯ll only be giving when everyone had reached. Dammit John,¡± sighed Zen as he rushed upstairs.

    SIGH! Guess I¡¯m gonna be the one who will be taking out the dishes then. My husband will be too busy entertaining our guests who will be coming in soon. Ah well, the one who hosts will always be the busiest.

    ***

    There was so many people who came this year. All the guildmasters are here along with my friends. There was even someone that I didn¡¯t know who was invited. Must be Zen¡¯s friend or something. He even brought along some rather large strange looking device with him.

    Everyone is here except¡ª Lily. I don¡¯t even know whether you read my letter when I could only sent it to the elven forest. Where are you, Lily? I wished you could had been here to join us.

    ¡°Alright everyone, can I have your attention, please? Thank you, for coming over today on this special holiday. I really appreciate all of you for being here, and for those who are watching me from afar. Can all of you gather round the fireplace for a commemorative picture?¡± Zen asked everyone.

    A¡ª what? A picture? Who¡¯s the artist among here? How long are we supposed to be staying still with so many people around?

    The unknown stranger took his large device and placed it opposite the fireplace. He gestured us to stand in front of it and held some strange looking device. All of us looked confused but Zen and the stranger sort of starting to adjust our position so that it fit to what they wanted.

    Just then, a knock could be heard on our main door. I stared at Zen and he looked rather confused as well. Who else could it be? I believe everyone is already here. Could it be? I quickly rushed to the door and opened it quickly. Please, let it be her.

    ¡°H¡ª hey, it wasn¡¯t easy finding you but, I heard that you two had settled down? Is now a good time?¡± she asked awkwardly.

    I threw myself at her and hugged her tightly. Am I dreaming? Is this an illusion?

    ¡°You¡¯re finally here. I missed you, so much! There¡¯s never a bad time for you to visit, Lily¡± I said to her.

    ¡°I¡ª missed you too. How are you? Is Zen around too?¡± she asked.

    ¡°We actually have a lot of people over today as it¡¯s a holiday. You came just at the right time actually,¡± I smiled.

    ¡°H¡ª holiday? What holiday? I never heard of such a thing,¡± she looked confused.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. Your favourite colour seems to match today¡¯s theme. C¡¯mon, they were about to take some picture,¡± I held her hand and brought her into our house.

    ¡°T¡ª take picture? Isn¡¯t it supposed to be a drawing?¡± she continued looking all confused as she stepped into our home.

    ¡°Alright everyone, smile,¡± said the stranger.

    ¡°I think it goes by ¡°Say ¡®Cheese¡¯, I think? Or was it Peace?¡± said Zen as he put on a thinking face.

    ¡°Just do whatever you need and stop stalling. Our guests are waiting for you, geez,¡± I complained to him.

    Oh well, there¡¯s much to explain to her but at least everyone is finally here today. I¡¯m really glad and thankful she showed herself and we managed to take this rather bizarre picture that took just a flash. Will need to question Zen on what device that is.

    I hope you¡¯re with your family, friends and loved ones today and celebrating this rather strange holiday filled with laughter and joy. Merry Christmas everyone~

 Book 2 - Chapter 108

    ¡°I must say, your reputation precedes you, Mister Zen Hawthorn. Having slain the Demon Queen along with two Cosmic Vessels. It would seemed that her decision was¡ª respectable, to say the least,¡± said one of the councillors.

    She looked really old which threw me off momentarily. I never knew elves would actually be able to grow this old in the first place. I guess this granny must be really really old to actually start looking like that. There were five councillors with this granny seated in the middle of a U-shaped table.

    ¡°I¡¯m¡ª surprised you knew about my achievements, despite some of them being close secrets that very few individuals were supposed to know. Am I¡ª being stalked by the elves?¡± I asked jokingly.

    ¡°We have ways to seek information despite living here, especially if it¡¯s regarding you. You are, after all, his son. But I¡¯ll be straight with you, Mister Zen Hawthorn, your reputation with us is¡ª rather bleak. Through no fault of your own, you¡¯ve been the target of a rather¡ª major controversial event. On that, I personally seek your forgiveness if some of us appear to be distrustful when it comes to you. I hereby declare to all elves that we should cut you some slack as what had happened was not entirely your fault or your choice to make. You did helped us solve our little problem with Tom after all,¡± she explained.

    ¡°Right, you were all having difficulties in getting rid of him in the first place. Will Lily be receiving the same forgiveness, I presume?¡± I asked bluntly and immediately heard loud gasp from the audience around me.

    ¡°I presumed she had not informed you about her actions? Then I apologise that we¡¯re not allowed to discuss about it any further,¡± she answered bluntly.

    ¡°Did she¡ª really commit such an atrocious act that warrants her to be shunned by her community? Is there really nothing I can do to help her out?¡± I questioned the councillors.

    ¡°I believe a¡ª proper explanation should be given to our honoured guest here. I¡¯m sure he doesn¡¯t know about our ways after all,¡± answered one of the five councillors.

    ¡°Very well. For the elves, when one of us commits something that breaks our rule, the offender will face judgment within the community that they live in. Depending on the severity of their acts, we give the offender a choice between a list of options that they wish to bear. Lily had¡ª chosen one that might not had been the best option but, it was through her own decision to establish the condition that only she may inform you on what had transpired that day. And we always honour their decision, no matter what it may be,¡± explained the granny.

    ¡°I¡ª never knew that it was Lily who set that condition. Forgive my ignorance. I will do my best to pester her into telling me the next time we meet,¡± I bowed in apology to the councils.

    ¡°Have no worries, for we require your help to save our forest. We have every reason to believe that we are facing a dangerous foe. Potentially even a Vessel or Champion of a Cosmic God,¡± sighed the granny.

    ¡°Now that¡¯s rather quick for you to declare on such a possibility, what are the findings so far?¡± asked John.

    ¡°Which is why we require Mr Zen to clarifying for us. Tell us, Mr Zen, a relatively peaceful city being attacked by hordes of monsters out of the blue; unusual beings at that. Sounds familiar?¡± asked the granny.

    ¡°Well¡ª in our case, it was beast monsters. But¡ª isn¡¯t it bugs that are attacking here? Isn¡¯t it common for bugs to live inside the forest?¡± I asked them bluntly.

    ¡°Technically yes, but have you seen bugs like these?¡± she snapped her fingers and someone brought out a rather large dead body of a bug and tossed it in front of us.

    With a slight nod from Noah as I glanced at him, I inspected the body of the dead bug and felt that it was rather¡ª off. While it technically still looked buggy in nature, the anatomy was messed up. Take a cockroach for example, antennae in front of the head, connected to an abdomen with legs at the side and wings located at the top. This bug, on the other hand, head at the mid- section underside of the abdomen, two legs at the front and back, and wings that completely covered the topside of the abdomen. What stuck out the most was the amount of spikes it has; almost like its sole purpose was built to inflict pain.

    ¡°Well, you have winged dire wolves in your borders that I¡¯ve never seen before too. I can¡¯t say that I¡¯m knowledgable about bugs in the first place. Perhaps this is a new species that emerged from somewhere deeper in the forest? Just a plausibility,¡± I shrugged.

    ¡°We are not fools, Mr Zen. We had been living in this forest for millenniums and never had we seen such a being attacked us before. There is no reason to believe that evolution is at play here since these attacks occured rather¡ª rapidly. These bugs are certainly being controlled by something to attack our city,¡± explained the granny as she folded her arms.

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s just say that there is indeed something controlling these bugs into attacking the elves. The monsters that attacked us were¡ª humans being forced to turn into beasts against their will. The blood of a four-legged beast were used for such drastic changes. If what you told us is true, then I¡¯m worried that these bugs might had been humans, or even worse, elves,¡± I explained my side of the story to which the audiences gasped loudly.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

    ¡°That is¡ª concerning news indeed. Madame, we need to take action before it is too late!¡± shouted another one of the councillors.

    ¡°Hold your horsettes, there¡¯s no evidence thus far that our people are being turned into bugs. There are no reported missing elves from our city, aside from the casualties that we faced in protecting the city. However, I do agree that we need to stop it, once and for all. While I do not crave for war, our city are being attacked after all which threatens our safety,¡± she placed her fist on the table.

    ¡°Madame Abatina, our forces stand at the ready to help. I believe with the help of one of the Great Powers and the Viking Lord, the enemies won¡¯t know what hit them,¡± said the Elementals as he stood forward.

    ¡°Indeed, we appreciate their help and yours for amassing such a force. I am certain the insight from Mr Zen is going to be invaluable in the upcoming battle. As with all wars, we will need a leader to lead the forces into battle. All in favour to appoint General Noah as the Supreme Commander to lead our forces, raise your hand,¡± announced Abatina as she raised hers.

    G¡ª General Noah? W¡ª what?! Lily¡¯s father is a general?! Why didn¡¯t she tell me before?!

    All of the councillors raised their hand in agreement. Noah stood forward and kneeled before the councillors.

    ¡°General Noah, I hereby appoint you as the Supreme Commander of our forces. Lead us well to eliminate our enemies. Tread lightly, as we have every reason to believe that you might be fighting against a Vessel or Champion of a Cosmic God. It won¡¯t be an easy task. I bid all of you, Maethe Taerde~¡± Abatina stood up and placed her palm on the table.

    The other elves stood up and saluted her back by placing their palm on their chest. John and I were confused by it and just bowed to the granny. I hope we¡¯ll be forgiven for our ignorance of their culture.

    ***

    ¡°Come in, come in! Eat to your heart content, my Mon-Keigh friends,¡± gestured Noah, inviting us to what looked like a banquet feast. I thought we would be planning our attack plans rather than enjoying ourselves. But maybe this is their way for welcoming us into their city.

    ¡°Did he¡ª just called us monkey?¡± whispered John.

    ¡°Sounds like it, isn¡¯t it?¡± I chuckled.

    ¡°Friends, relatives, loved ones, I thank you, for helping us in our time of need. Our hospitality is all we can offer you in return for your contribution,¡± said Noah as he spoke to everyone.

    ¡°Or your daughter,¡± whispered John to me.

    ¡°Sorry, what was that?¡± asked Noah with a confused expression.

    ¡°Nothing, nothing,¡± smiled John awkwardly.

    I poked him with my arm. He must had forgotten about the power of the elven ears. I certainly have no wish to get on Noah¡¯s bad side if I can help it, not to mention he¡¯s a General. Why didn¡¯t Lily told us about this? Violet was at this side, smiling and greeting other guests. She really do looked like Lily in so many ways. I get to have such a beautiful woman as my wife? Will the elves hate me if they ever found out that I¡¯ll be taking Lily as my wife?

    Violet turned towards my direction when she noticed I was staring at her. I quickly turned my gaze away to make things less awkward. What the hell am I doing staring at Lily¡¯s mother? You have a wife and daughter at home waiting for you. Adultery with your potential mother-in-law is a freaking big NO!

    ¡°Never knew you were into older women,¡± chuckled a familiar voice. Ah shit, she definitely noticed I was staring at her earlier.

    ¡°Not at all. I was just wondering how similar you looked to your daughter,¡± I smiled at her.

    ¡°So you¡¯re thinking you¡¯ll able to get some of this?¡± said Violet as she leaned forward, exposing her cleavage to me. Oh lord, please don¡¯t remind me of that night!

    ¡°N¡ª not at all! J¡ª just a very general similarities. I wasn¡¯t comparing body shapes whatsoever,¡± I smiled awkwardly at her.

    ¡°Haha, there¡¯s nothing to worry about, Zen dear. After all, you had spent a night together with her before. What, you thought I wouldn¡¯t know about it? My daughter do tell me things that she finds confusing for her. She is still a growing woman after all that have yet to experienced many things. Tell me though, why the sudden change? Last I recall, you always avoided my gaze or hesitant to even look my direction, yet somehow, you were staring at me earlier. Did you¡ª have a change of heart?¡± she smirked widely.

    ¡°Oh yeah. Zen had already asked your daughter for marriage,¡± said John nonchalantly as he held what looked like some roasted meat on his hand.

    ¡°Oh my! Is that true, Zen? What did she say?!¡± asked Violet as she stared at me with sparkling eyes.

    ¡°Gee, thanks John, for sending me to my death. Uhh¡ª she sort of agreed but asked me to wait?¡± I smiled awkwardly at her. Damn it, John! I wished to get out of this forest alive and back to my family!

    ¡°Did she? Now, that¡¯s interesting indeed. I wonder what she¡¯s planning to do with herself. Hey, Noah darling! Zen had asked for our daughter¡¯s hand in marriage!¡± shouted Violet as she waved at her husband.

    ¡°W¡ªWHAT?!!!¡± shouted the entire room.

    Ohhhh¡ª fuck. WHY?!

    Noah¡¯s expression changed from being shocked to feeling confused and eventually anger. He stomped his way towards my direction and stood in front of me with glaring eyes. I got no place to hide!

    ¡°Did you really asked Lily for marriage?¡± glared Noah at me.

    ¡°Y¡ª yes,¡± I answered as softly as I could while avoiding his deathly gaze.

    ¡°What was her response?¡± he continued.

    ¡°She¡ª agreed but asked me to wait,¡± I smiled awkwardly at him.

    ¡°Did she now? I thought she¡¯ll be leaping at your arms after you asked her. Violet dear, our wish actually came true. There¡¯s more to celebrate today then!¡± smiled Noah as he held Violet¡¯s hands.

    Uh¡ª what? Their wish came true? What the hell¡¯s going on? All around me there were elven males who were sulking or crying out loud upon hearing about the marriage. Guess there really were many males who were gunning for her after all, in spite of her circumstances.

    ¡°Right, I¡¯m sure you wish to know about our respond to the marriage. We agree to it. You certainly have our blessings. After all, we can only depend on you to keep her safe. Do promise us on that, please?¡± asked Noah as he and Violet held my hands.

    I knew it. They are worried about their daughter yet they¡¯re unable to do anything about it. Seeing that I¡¯m able to move around and Lily trusts me, they must have thought I was the best candidate to ensure her safety. Is¡ª Lily shunned from here and unable to return? Why do I get the feeling that that seems to be the case when she seems to be afraid of coming back to this continent.

    ¡°I promise that I¡¯ll keep her safe and happy, even if we aren¡¯t married yet,¡± I stood up and bowed politely to them.

    Both of them hugged each other happily as though they were relieved to hear what I told them. Guess there¡¯s no way I can turn back on my words now, since both of her parents had literally agreed to it. Well Rose, you wanted this, don¡¯t blame me when it really happens.

    ¡°Where are my manners, apologies everyone! Please, continue to enjoy yourself! Eat and drink as much as you want before we begin our discussions tomorrow. Make today a day you¡¯ll never forget!¡± laughed Noah as his mood flew up even higher than before.

    ¡°Zen, would you mind having a private conversation with us tonight? We wished to know how she¡¯s faring currently,¡± asked Violet politely.

    ¡°Of course, I¡¯ll inform both of you whatever you wish to know. Just seek me out in my room when you¡¯re ready,¡± I answered politely with a bow.

    ¡°Oh you, just because you¡¯re our future son-in-law doesn¡¯t mean you have to be more polite. Careful, you might end up attracting me instead~¡± she winked at me.

    I laughed awkwardly and continued with my meal. John was laughing so much but congratulated me that I somehow passed the parent¡¯s test. Wait a minute, didn¡¯t John married an elf too? Why didn¡¯t he decide to live here instead?

    ¡°John, isn¡¯t Daffodil from here too? Why didn¡¯t you stay with her here? Seems like a nice place to raise a family,¡± I asked him.

    ¡°Ah, on that, let¡¯s talk privately later in our rooms. There¡¯s much to talk about if you wish to know further,¡± he smiled.

    That¡¯s¡ª odd, is there something that can¡¯t be said in front of all these elves? My suspicions only grew further when John started eating less. Oh no, what have I done? I made my best friend lose his appetite!

 Book 2 - Chapter 109

    ¡°Let¡¯s¡ª steer clear from the windows and door,¡± warned John as he asked me to sit in the middle of his room.

    I obliged and sat with him on the floor as we whispered as softly as we could; as though we were about to do something entirely illegal or something.

    ¡°So, what you wanna know? Why we decided to not stay here instead?¡± he asked softly as I nodded to him.

    ¡°Well, the final decision was all Daffodil. I gave her a choice whether she wanted to raise our child here or in the City Of Pines. She¡ª actually have a strained relationship with her parents. Her parents were opposed to our marriage as they wanted her to marry one of their own species instead of some monkey,¡± he sighed.

    ¡°Let¡¯s¡ª not call ourselves that, please. Hard for me to stop myself from laughing,¡± I held my laughter.

    ¡°Right. Either way, things were pretty rough for me to convince her parents, even though I¡¯m the Viking Lord, it didn¡¯t seemed to matter since I¡¯m not an elf. It was a tough period indeed, Daffodil almost called everything off when she was at her wits end. I did my best to convince her that I will only take her as my wife, even if we have to elope somewhere else. She finally managed to convinced her parents when she promised her parents that she¡¯ll marry an elven husband when I passed on,¡± he sighed.

    ¡°W¡ª what?! Is that really something you¡¯re willing to accept?¡± I asked him with concern.

    ¡°Shhhhh¡ª keep it down. Obviously, I¡¯m was not happy about it. But when I think about it, our lifespan is so short anyway. What does it matter if she wants to marry another down the road? We won¡¯t be there for our partner and if she finds someone she wishes to get along with, I would be happy for her. Although, she did promised me that it¡¯s her utmost priority to care for our children, no matter the cause. Truth be told, I don¡¯t even know whether she will actually find someone else. That promise will only comes into play if there¡¯s a candidate,¡± he smiled sadly.

    ¡°Gee¡ª I never knew you had such a marriage condition. I guess that¡¯s why you¡¯re trying for another child, isn¡¯t it? Perhaps she preferred to be further away from her parents that to stay here I suppose,¡± I sighed.

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s not even the main cause. Come closer,¡± he gestured me to lean in which I obliged.

    ¡°Apparently, the lifestyle here is not as magical as we thought,¡± he whispered.

    ¡°Huh? Is there¡ª something I¡¯m not aware about?¡± I asked him curiously.

    ¡°Well, the elves have placed a sort of compulsory training for every elven child that inhabits here. And they start their training at a very young age. And their trainings are¡ª brutal. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve noticed the children having scars as we passed by? Those are not from hunting; it¡¯s from their trainings,¡± sighed John.

    ¡°That¡¯s¡ª strange, I don¡¯t remember seeing any on Lily before,¡± I answered.

    ¡°I never even knew you saw her in all her glory before. Maybe she got lucky or something. Daffodil had a couple of them and, let''s just say it wasn¡¯t pleasant to look at,¡± he sighed.

    ¡°Are you trying to tell me that your wife isn¡¯t beautiful or something? What¡¯re you trying to say?¡± I questioned him.

    ¡°What? No, no! You got me all wrong. What I meant to tell you is that¡ª seeing those scars, doesn¡¯t bring pleasant ideas, y¡¯know? And it certainly doesn¡¯t bring back pleasant memories for her too. She never told me what she¡¯s been through as she doesn¡¯t wish to relive it again,¡± he explained.

    I just nodded in agreement. And here I thought that grandfather¡¯s training was brutal. Turns out the elves had it even worse. But why though? Why the need for such brutal training? John wasn¡¯t kidding about those scars as I had saw a few children living here that have scars on them, some of them even looked fresh.

    ¡°Thinking from their perspectives, at least their children is fit for combat when they leave here? Won¡¯t your children be less combat ready when they¡¯re at the same age?¡± I asked curiously.

    ¡°Well, Daffodil and I will personally be training our kid. We have Uncle Zen and Aunt Rose for additional training as well, isn¡¯t it? She made it very clear that she will not subject our child through what she¡¯s been through.¡± he explained.

    ¡°Fine, you train mine and I¡¯ll train yours. I¡¯m on board for that. Provided Daisy wishes to be an adventurer in the first place though,¡± I sighed.

    ¡°Do tell, she¡¯s already ten, right? But she¡ª looks like she¡¯s five or something. Did Lily¡¯s resurrection affected Daisy or something?¡± he asked.

    ¡°I wished I knew, brother. The elves won¡¯t talk, Lily refuses to tell me, I¡¯m in a pinch here, John,¡± I sighed.

    ¡°Guess we all have our own problems to deal with, huh? Let¡¯s keep our backs covered. You know where to find me whenever you need help. We monkeys have to stick together,¡± he laughed.

    ¡°Gosh, stop calling us monkeys!¡± I shouted at him.

    Footsteps could be heard approaching closer outside of John¡¯s room. Is it who I think it is? We kept quiet as we¡¯re being careful so as to not offend any of the elves when we¡¯re here. A knock could be heard opposite us calling for my name. I guess it is them. I thought they¡¯ll be celebrating longer since the General was supposed to be the main person for that event.

    I checked the time and it was about 6pm. Still pretty early, all things considered. I guess I should greet them rather than keep them waiting.

    ¡°Alright, parents-in-law awaits. See you tomorrow, John,¡± I stood up and headed to the door.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

    ¡°All the best, brother,¡± he locked his door as soon as I left.

    ¡°Apologies, Noah and Violet. I was hanging out with my friend. Allow me to open the door for you,¡± I quickly opened it.

    ¡°No worries, we were¡ª just excited to hear about her. After all, you¡¯re the only one here who had met her after all these time,¡± said Violet.

    ¡°Before¡ª I let you in, can we cut down on the flirting, please, Violet?¡± I asked sincerely.

    ¡°I¡¯ll keep her in check,¡± sighed Noah.

    ¡°W¡ª what? Don¡¯t I have a say in this?¡± asked Violet as she stared at her husband.

    ¡°No,¡± he gave a firm answer.

    ***

    ¡°Wished I can offer tea but¡ª water is all I have here. Would that suffice?¡± I asked funnily.

    ¡°Water will do. Zen, do tell us. How is she? Is she safe? Is she¡ª in this continent?¡± asked Noah.

    ¡°She¡¯s fine. Doing well actually. She¡¯s in the East though, training under Peter Borage himself,¡± I passed each of them a glass of water.

    Both of them gasped and Violet embraced Noah. How lucky for Lily to have parents that worry about her this much. I wonder if my parents would behave the same way if they¡¯re still alive.

    ¡°Never in my wildest dream would I expect her to become a student of one of the Great Powers, yet even agreed to marry one. She was always timid and a slow learner when she was young. We were so worried about her when she had to leave the forest to become an adventurer,¡± sighed Noah.

    ¡°Is it¡ª alright for me to be informed on why she decided to become one? She could had stayed here and chose a different path, right?¡± I asked both of them.

    ¡°Of course, as our future son-in-law, we can certainly indulge you with what she¡¯s been through in her childhood. Lily was¡ª a rather quiet child. She was always scared of something which we could never figure out. Doesn¡¯t help that men disturbs her despite still being a child. Many of them were hoping that she¡¯ll grow to be a beauty like me and they wished to form some sort of bond with her as early as they could to stand a chance. I¡¯m not arrogant, if that¡¯s what you¡¯re thinking; I just know full well of what I am and what effect it had on Lily,¡± she explained.

    ¡°We did our best to protect her however we could. But it was just impossible to stop them from disturbing her even when they shouldn¡¯t. Alas, since we knew keeping her here would only make things worse, we decided to request her to become an adventurer. To leave here and see the world for her own,¡± Noah continued.

    ¡°One thing you should know about us is that¡ª we have a rather harsh training that all elven children must go through with no exceptions. All of us horrible suffered scars from those trainings when we were growing up. We tried our best to prevent Lily from joining, using our status to supersede what we could or even telling them that her health was in a bad condition; because we knew she will not survive the trainings. But deep down, we knew that we couldn¡¯t protect her forever, so we had to do something. There was only two choices for her, risk her life with those trainings, or leave here and become an adventurer,¡± answered Violet.

    ¡°We took a gamble, since we had taught Lily on ways to defend herself, we decided for her to test her luck in becoming an adventurer. The road towards the city was relatively safe so we assumed it was the best choice for her, but we never expected that she would encounter bandits on her way who tried to kidnap her. We would like to thank you and the current Viking Lord for saving her life that day,¡± bowed Noah.

    ¡°The both of us were so distraught on the day she left. We were so worried that we armed her and prepared her in whatever way we could before praying for her safety. But when she came back to visit us a few years later, your name was the first thing she spoke of. We were surprised at first that who she was speaking of was actually a human. Being her mother, I teased her that she might be in love with you but she denied it at first. However, she eventually caved and asked me whether loving a human was actually something we could accept. I won¡¯t lie, I was genuinely surprised when she asked me that question and pestered her to tell me more about you. But I knew full well that she was already deeply in love from the way she spoke of you. Noah here was completely caught off guard when I told him that our daughter had fallen for a human male,¡± she smiled.

    ¡°No wonder Lily wasn¡¯t proficient in combat when I first met her. And why she was rather clingy to us despite only meeting the first time. I never knew we were her first friends. But, with all due respect, you were mistaken about her. Lily is a brave woman who was willing to use her own body to protect the Viking Lord. And I can assure you that she¡¯s no longer the woman you once knew. She daresay she¡¯s even stronger than me now,¡± I told them.

    ¡°We know, Zen. After all, she was the one who asked us to wage war on the City Of Pines just for you. It¡¯s all for you, Zen. She found purpose in life because of you. Which is why we¡¯re glad that you¡¯re willing to accept her. We didn¡¯t want our daughter to continue with this rough culture of ours. Nor any of our grandchildren for that matter,¡± Noah gave a sigh of relief.

    ¡°If I may, why don¡¯t the elves just change their way of life then? Reduce the intensity of the trainings and such. Isn¡¯t it difficult for the elves to conceive in the first place? Is the mortality rate high for these trainings?¡± I asked them.

    ¡°There¡¯s not¡ª many recorded deaths so far, but you definitely won¡¯t emerge unscathed. The biggest problem with these trainings are that, all children must attend and finish it, despite their circumstances. However, not all children are physically fit or even meant for such trainings in the first place. Our main issue is that we don¡¯t like to change. But that¡¯s not to say that there hasn¡¯t been elves that raised this concern,¡± he explained.

    ¡°So¡ª I take it that the councillors decided to ignore the concerns of their people? I guess it¡¯s common for old folks to be stubborn despite being different species,¡± I shrugged.

    ¡°I would lower your voice if I were you. But that¡¯s not the only thing we are facing, we have conservatives that refuses to change even a single thing of our culture. Which is why we have elves who would rather choose different species for their partner just to avoid embracing our culture any longer,¡± he sighed.

    ¡°I guess that¡¯s why you¡¯re glad that I decided to marry her. Thank you, for giving me your blessings. I was sort of caught off guard earlier when it happened so quickly. Please don¡¯t expect a grandchild anytime soon,¡± I bowed to both of them.

    ¡°We were surprised as well. Last she told us was that you chose Rose as your partner and you have absolutely no interest in having another. You¡ª broke our daughter¡¯s heart, Zen. You never knew how sad she was even after what she did for you. Thinking about it, I should give you a spanking for making her cry,¡± she chuckled but Noah glared at her.

    ¡°I¡¯m¡ª incredibly sorry. Circumstances had changed my perspective and principals. I¡¯m¡ª not sure whether you can tell me if I had stopped aging due to what Lily did to me? I never seems to aged even a bit ever since that day. Will I actually live longer than what a normal human should?¡± I asked them curiously.

    ¡°We really have no answer for you on this. Not because we can¡¯t speak of it, but we really don¡¯t have an answer for your case. Hang on a minute, are you¡ª marrying Lily because you think you¡¯ll outlive your wife? Is that the only reason why you¡¯re marrying her?¡± asked Noah as he raised his voice.

    ¡°Absolutely not. I didn¡¯t choose to marry Lily on whim. Hear me out before you murder me. I chose Rose as my wife because she was a human and I know we have the share similar lifespan. I also realised I love her more so than Lily, despite my feelings for Lily is stronger. It¡¯s a little hard to explain what I¡¯m trying to say but I¡¯ll try my best. As I come to realised, if I were to live longer than Rose, then who¡¯s gonna care for my daughter? I know full well that I¡¯m not fit to care for anyone, since I¡¯m so slow to realised things. I thought that if I might live longer somehow, having Lily at my side might be the best, and perhaps I can actually be together with her longer. I hope that makes some sense?¡± I shied myself.

    ¡°We won¡¯t harm you, Zen. It will be good news if you can actually live longer than a century as you will have more time to spend with our daughter. Sigh, we do hope Lily would be able to resolve her current predicament so that we can celebrate your wedding here. I will ensure it¡¯ll be the most extravagant wedding you will have in your entire life. Leave all the preparation to us, we will ensure that it¡¯s ready when the time comes,¡± he assured me.

    ¡°Zen, you¡¯re not as bad as you say you are. You willingly raised Rose on your own despite your circumstances. I don¡¯t believe you¡¯re a bad father when you¡¯re so worried about your daughter. You are an excellent father, Zen. Don¡¯t think otherwise,¡± smiled Violet.

    ¡°I¡ª thank you. I really appreciate you saying that,¡± I bowed to her.

    ¡°Alright, we have taken much of your time. Thank you so much, for spending time in informing us about our daughter¡¯s condition. We¡¯re really glad that she¡¯s safe and sound. Have a good rest and prepare yourself for tomorrow¡¯s planning; we are definitely going to need your insight,¡± both of them bowed before leaving which I gladly returned.

    ¡°I¡¯ll do whatever I can. Goodnight, my future parents-in-law,¡± I chuckled a little which made them laugh.

    They exited my room and I heard them knocking on John¡¯s door. Perhaps they wish to convey their thanks to him as well. I laid on my bed and thought of our discussion about Lily. She had been suffering a lot, huh? Damn my stubbornness for not marrying her earlier. I might had been able to help Lily in many ways after she decided to resurrect me. Perhaps I could had helped her in reducing her sentence or something. Damn it, I really wished she would tell me what actually happened to her. Knowing how stubborn she is, I really wonder if there would come a day where she will actually tell me. Maybe I should force her to tell me before we get married, set a condition before we tie the knot. Heh heh.

    But I am amazed at how fate had linked us together. If I left a day later or sooner, I would had not met Lily, John or Rose. It just felt like it was due to circumstances that we met but I¡¯m sure it was all because of fate. Maybe I was actually fated to marry Lily in the first place but meeting Rose changed that? Ah well, what¡¯s the point in thinking about possibilities when it already occured.

    Should I even sleep so early? Felt like too early for me to hit the sack. But what can I even do here? Hmm¡ª oh, I thought of something! Will he even entertain my request? Doesn¡¯t hurt to ask I suppose. A bit of training in their turf sounds fun to test my skills. Let¡¯s go.

 Book 2 - Chapter 110

    Here I am in some large meeting hall after we were served with some rather luxurious breakfast earlier. All of us were seated in places that were strategically allocated to us. I was surprised when I was being seated at the front. I would assumed it was due to humans having horrible eyesight compared to elves but the Elementalist assured me that wasn¡¯t the case. He needed my insight as well which was why he brought me over in the first place. But compared to the other guildmasters, I¡¯m the youngest compared to all of them. What insight could I provide compared to their centuries of experiences?

    But what pisses me off is¡ª where the fuck is Zen?! Why is he always late?! Now everyone is staring at me as though I knew where he went. I had knocked on his door several times before coming here and there was no response whatsoever. I thought he went out earlier and was pretty sure he¡¯s not in his room. Where the hell did he went though? Please don¡¯t tell me he¡¯s fooling around with some female elf and got drunk somewhere after what the Elementalist had warned him. Zen, don¡¯t you fucking dare sully the reputation of humans any further. We¡¯re already considered as monkeys in their eyes now. Hurry your ass here, right now!

    ¡°Where¡ª is Zen? Any idea where he is?¡± asked the Supreme Commander.

    ¡°I¡ª don¡¯t know either. We had looked all over for him but we couldn¡¯t find him at all. It¡¯s as though he had vanished from our city. Where else could we went?¡± the Elementalist answered with another question.

    ¡°Unless.. I have a feeling I know where he went. Come with me,¡± said the commander as he gestured the Elementalist to follow after him.

    I thought of following them but as they were heading out the main door, some commotions could be heard outside the hall. As they almost exited the door, they were halted in their tracks by something blocking their way. A rather large wolf was squeezing his way in through the main door while he was biting on to something. Hang on¡ª isn¡¯t that Zen?!

    ¡°W¡ª what¡¯s going on, Kuchisabishii-sama? Did Zen caused you any trouble for you to carry him here?¡± asked the commander with a rather speechless expression.

    ¡°Not at all! I had fun, honestly speaking. This boy is certainly¡ª interesting, to say the least. He almost had me a couple of times! Hahaha!!¡± laughed the dire wolf as he placed Zen on the floor.

    ¡°What happened? Did he challenged you to a duel or something? I¡¯m surprised you were willing to entertain him in the first place knowing you,¡± asked the Elementalist.

    ¡°Not a duel but rather a game of cat and mouse. His sneaking abilities versus my nose. I thought of entertaining him a little at first but turns out he was interesting indeed! I daresay he fooled me a couple of times. You elves are going to have a tough time if you ever make him your enemy. This boy¡ª is destined to be even more powerful than he is right now,¡± he laughed.

    ¡°I can vouch on that. He even managed to sneaked up on me in our own turf. This future son-in-law of mine is a real trouble indeed. Wake up, Zen. It¡¯s already time for the meeting,¡± poked the commander.

    ¡°Gah! Need to hide again! Huh? Where am I?¡± he asked as he realised the changes in his surroundings. I smacked my head in embarrassment.

    ¡°You¡¯re in our meeting hall. It¡¯s already morning now. I¡¯m surprised you challenged Kuchisabishii-sama until morning. Lost track of time?¡± asked the commander.

    ¡°It¡¯s¡ª morning already? Shoot, I¡¯m so sorry. I had way too much fun training with the alpha dire wolf. Do forgive me, I¡¯ll get myself as presentable as possible,¡± he quickly stood up and bowed to the commander.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. Go wash yourself up before we begin. We¡¯ll bring some food for you,¡± the commander snapped his fingers as a member came over to guide Zen somewhere.

    ¡°Thank you for willing to entertain me, Kuchisabishii-sama. You really put me to work with that nose of yours,¡± he bowed to the alpha dire wolf.

    ¡°Likewise, young one! I really had fun finding you as well. I¡¯ll be up for another round if you make it as entertaining as what you did,¡± he laughed as he followed Zen out the door.

    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t you worry. I already have many ideas to combat that nose of yours,¡± he chuckled before disappearing out the door.

    Sigh, as much as I want to reprimand him, his unorthodox method of training is how he improves himself. And I can certainly see where he¡¯s coming from. The alpha dire wolf had extremely sensitive nose that is effective at tracking. What better way to train your specialty when such opportunity had presented itself. How strong will you eventually become, Zen? Even I¡¯m curious as to how far you can go.

    ***

    Damn it, what an embarrassment that I needed Kuchisabishii-sama to carry me here. I never even noticed that I had passed out until morning. Such was the excitement of the challenge. Sad to say I couldn¡¯t outfool the wolf as his nose is just too precise to pinpoint my location, despite having managed to fool it a few times at most. I¡¯ll be more prepared with some equipment next time when I challenge him.

    Glad Noah¡¯s my future father-in-law though, otherwise I would had been punished for my actions. I was surprised they were even kind enough to allow me to munch on a rather large jikentette leg as we proceeded with the meeting plans. I¡¯m sure there will be a lot of elves judging me but fuck it, I¡¯m really hungry now and I am eating as silently as I could already.

    Let¡¯s see, their plans were pretty solid thus far, but it¡¯s based on a lot of ¡°what ifs¡±. A lot of talk on being on the offensive but¡ª so little on the defence of the city. Even John had raised his concern that we will still need to have some armies defending this city in the event the enemy outsmarts us. ¡°It is pointless to fight when there¡¯s nothing to protect¡± he said which many of the members here nodded. And so began the discussion about the defence of the city after many had agreed. I just kept quiet thus far since they were deep into the conversation. That and, I should just finish my meat before speaking with a mouthful.

    ¡°What do you think, Zen? You¡¯ve been quiet thus far, despite knowing that you¡¯re still eating,¡± asked Noah as he smiled at me. He must be finding it funny and intriguing for someone to actually be eating in such an important meeting.

    Realising he had somehow made me the centre of attention, I quickly chewed my food and swallowed as fast as I could. Good thing I didn¡¯t get choked or something. Someone was even kind enough to serve me tea as I was chewing.

    ¡°The plans are good both offensively and defensively, which is a good insight from John. One question though, how are you planning to track the bugs? From what I understood thus far, it was based on the assumptions that you could follow the bugs. Have anyone here succeeded before?¡± I asked.

    ¡°We¡ª couldn¡¯t follow after them as they had the power of flight. But rest assured, this time, we have our winged dire wolves who be helping us. We will be able to track them with the help of their nose and our ears,¡± answered Noah.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

    ¡°What about on foot? Couldn¡¯t you have followed after them by sound in the first place?¡± I asked curiously.

    ¡°These bugs¡ª seems to defy logic. They don¡¯t.. seems to make any noise when they fly despite having those wings. Even we are confused as to how they can avoid our ears,¡± he sighed.

    ¡°How about¡ª employing some sort of tracking item on them?¡± I asked all of them.

    ¡°You seems to be implying something, Zen. If you have an idea, I¡¯m all ears,¡± Noah gestured for me to present my idea.

    I rustled through my back pouch to look for the item in question. I kept it inside an airtight glass container so that it doesn¡¯t make too much noise when I¡¯m carrying it around. Where is it? I swear I kept it¡ª Ah, there it is.

    ¡°Ever used one of these before?¡± I lifted the glass container before all of them.

    A couple of them were confused as to what they were looking at. Even Noah squinted at it in confusion while Violet and a few more female elves seems to be chuckling. Is this bell supposed to be funny?

    ¡°Zen dear, what you¡¯re holding is actually something that only female elf uses. That bell is actually used to signal our partner on which location to meet. Each bell actually plays a different frequency that only our ears can identify. It¡¯s actually a rare item now but one that I had used before, isn¡¯t that right, darling?¡± Violet poked her elbow against Noah as he coughed.

    ¡°Uh¡ª pardon me for not knowing it¡¯s real usage but this very bell is the reason as to how I tracked the beast monsters back to their hideout. With¡ª the help of your daughter of course who was instrumental in its success. Rest assured, I only used this for tracking purposes,¡± I answered firmly.

    ¡°Reverse hideplay? We should try that out, honey,¡± chuckled Violet.

    ¡°So, what you¡¯re trying to say is that using this bell was a success for tracking down the beast. Violet, do you trust your future son-in-law¡¯s idea of using the bell for tracking?¡± asked Noah.

    ¡°It¡¯s a sound plan for sure over just following them using our wolves. It¡¯s more subtle and allows us to follow the bugs without alerting them. I¡ª actually like his idea more,¡± she giggled.

    ¡°Alright then, let us form a small team to track the bugs on foot. Violet, you take charge on that since you vouched for him. Let¡¯s have a little test, Zen¡¯s idea over mine, which of it is better?¡± he smirked at Violet who suddenly frowned at his sudden suggestion.

    Uh¡ª did he just turned this into some competition? I just gave my insight on what I did previously to track the beast. And I to have Violet as our leader? Oh gosh, is there going to be more flirting from her throughout the journey. I¡¯m so glad that Lily doesn¡¯t take after her otherwise I¡¯m not sure if I can take it.

    ***

    ¡°I swear that husband of mine is so unpredictable,¡± complained Violet as she followed after us as soon as the meeting had ended.

    We found it strange that she decided to follow us when we will only be departing tomorrow. Why is she following us in the first place? To find someone to complain to?

    ¡°Uh, Violet? Any particular reason as to why you¡¯re tagging along with us? We were just planning to stroll around and do some sightseeing,¡± I asked her.

    ¡°Is that the right way to ask your future mother-in-law? O, I just thought we can bond together since we¡¯re in the same group tomorrow. You know you want to~¡± smirked Violet as I turned my gaze to John asking for help.

    ¡°Uh, I just remembered that I have something to do,¡± answered John as he tried to run away but I grabbed his arm tightly before he could escaped. There was no way he can escape with my high agility.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare, John. You owe me a lot and now is a good time to repay one of those favours by not leaving me alone with her,¡± I whispered as I grabbed his collars.

    ¡°Okay okay, I¡¯ll keep you company,¡± he smiled awkwardly.

    ¡°C¡¯mon boys, I¡¯ll show you around. Just give a holler if you find something you find interesting,¡± she chuckled at our interaction and walked ahead.

    We followed after her as she guided us around the elven city. I guess she had taken upon herself to become our guide and bring us around the city as we only have today to enjoy ourselves here. How kind of her to guide us. I must had thought too badly about her due to all of her flirting but since she is Lily¡¯s mother after all. Her kindness have to come from somewhere and I doubt it¡¯s from her father.

    ¡°Whatcha thinking about, future son-in-law?~¡± asked Violet as she grabbed my arm intimately.

    Oh gosh, this is not good for my heart whatsoever!

    ¡°N¡ª nothing, just thinking how peaceful this place is. A shame that I can¡¯t bring Rose or my child here to visit,¡± I sighed.

    ¡°Well, if you¡¯re able to boost your reputation from this war with the bugs, they might be kind enough to grant you unrestricted access. It all depends on your role in this war. Knowing you, you¡¯re going to be at the brunt of it. You are born for greatness after all, Zen. Just like your father,¡± she smiled as she stared directly into my eyes.

    Thump

    ¡°I¡ª thank you. You¡¯re too kind. Let¡¯s see what else this place have to offer. Lead the way,¡± I gestured her to guide us which she obliged to do so happily.

    W¡ª what the hell was that? Don¡¯t you dare, don¡¯t you fucking dare! This is her mom, dammit!! Control yourself, you fool. You¡¯re just getting confused because she looks too similar to Lily.

    As we followed after her, we came upon a marketplace where the elves were happily doing business out in the open. This area was covered in soft grass that was completely comfortable to step or even sleep on. It looked as though these were mostly small businesses that were looking to sell their specialties. I stood upon a side store that was offering to draw cute things or portraits. Emiley and Daidas¡¯s inks, eh? Pretty cute name for a store.

    ¡°Anything tickle your fancy?¡± asked the elven male. He looked like an emotional boy with that orange hat of his.

    ¡°Yeah, how fast can you draw a female elf?¡± I asked him.

    ¡°Female, eh? Emiley would be more suitable for this. Hey Em, get over here,¡± shouted the male elf.

    ¡°What¡¯s up? Please don¡¯t tell me it¡¯s about cute stuffs again. You¡¯re totally qualified to draw it,¡± she squinted at him.

    ¡°What? No! This gentleman here wishes to get a drawing of a female elf. You¡¯re way better at drawing girls than me,¡± he explained to her.

    ¡°Oh, c¡¯mon. You¡¯re not that bad at it. Is there anyone in particular you want drawn?¡± asked the female elf.

    ¡°Her actually, but with some minor differences,¡± I pointed my thumb towards my back where Violet was chatting with another woman.

    ¡°V¡ª Violet?! Oh no, you take the lead, Em. I can¡¯t handle her non-stop flirting,¡± shouted the male elf as he scoured to hide.

    ¡°What do you mean?! She¡¯s not that bad!¡± she retaliated but the male elf ignored her.

    ¡°So uh, are you willing to draw her?¡± I asked awkwardly.

    ¡°Sigh, I¡¯ll do it. Not the first time someone asked me to draw her when she¡¯s such a beauty. You said earlier that you wanted some alterations on Violet¡¯s image, are you referring to her daughter?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Y¡ª yes. How did you know?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°I think everyone knows. You¡¯re pretty well-known and it¡¯s no secret that you had decided to marry her. Doubt you would want a picture of her mom in your bedroom, right?¡± she smirked at me.

    ¡°Of course not. Do you take western currency, instead? I don''t have any EVCs on me, sadly,¡± I asked her.

    ¡°Hmm¡ª it¡¯s a bit of a hassle to get it exchanged but I guess I¡¯ll give you a pass,¡± she sighed.

    ¡°Great, much appreciated. I would like to have an image of her sitting on a chair inside a house looking out a window. Would that be possible?¡± I asked and placed a gold coin on the table.

    ¡°W¡ª whuat?! How detailed do you want the picture to be for you to give me a gold coin?! It¡¯s going to take days before I can fulfil your detailed request,¡± she asked with her mouth agape.

    ¡°Just do your best within a couple of hours. I¡¯m not asking for details down to her skin pores. Consider this a reward for willing to take my request,¡± I smiled to her and proceeded to ask Violet to take a seat.

    She stared at me curiously but somehow obliged my request. I decided to let both of them do what is necessary as I left them alone and continued to stroll around the marketplace with John.

    ***

    ¡°Is that your way of shooing her away? Sneaky,¡± asked John.

    ¡°Yes and no. I kind of want to give them a picture of Lily since it sounded as though they have no idea when she¡¯s able to come back here. There¡¯s not much to change from Violet since she is a carbon copy of her daughter minus the emerald hair tips and glasses,¡± I explained.

    ¡°How kind of you, Zen. Not even married but already giving gifts to your future parents-in-law,¡± he chuckled.

    ¡°Oh har har. I¡¯m sure you did what you could to suck up to yours as well. Besides, Rose doesn¡¯t have any parents, so Noah and Violet are practically the only ¡°parents¡± that I¡¯ll ever have,¡± I sighed.

    ¡°Yea, I certainly did sucked up to them. Sadly they still don¡¯t like me though. I didn¡¯t even dared to visit them since Daffodil isn¡¯t here with me. Who knows what they¡¯ll do to me if I were to meet with them alone,¡± he made a dry laughter.

    ¡°Sigh, getting married isn¡¯t easy, eh? Guess I lucked out with Rose somehow,¡± I patted his shoulder.

    ¡°Tell me about it. Why would anyone want to marry twice or more is beyond me. There¡¯s so much hassle, especially when it comes to parents,¡± he sighed.

    ¡°Oh, get off my back, John. If you¡¯re in my shoes, you¡¯ll marry both of them too. Sigh, let¡¯s check back on Violet. We¡¯ve been gone for a while now,¡± I told him.

    ***

    ¡°Oh, there he is! Zen dear! Over here!¡± shouted Violet.

    I hurried over to her and was surprised that the painting was already completed. Surprisingly detailed despite only a couple of hours passed. Turns out the elven male was forced to help out with the painting as well to quicken the process. I am glad though, the painting is really good and was exactly what I wanted. An exact copy of Lily, minus her gauntlets, of course.

    ¡°Thank you so much. This is exactly what I wanted,¡± I bowed to them.

    ¡°You gave us a gold coin, what do you expect? Of course we have to do our very best,¡± she wiped the sweats on her forehead.

    ¡°And I appreciate that. Thank you, once again. If I were to return here, I¡¯ll gladly commission you for another,¡± I smiled to both of them with another bow which they returned.

    ¡°Let¡¯s get back to our rooms. It¡¯s evening now,¡± I gestured Violet to lead the way.

    ¡°Are you going to hang it in your bedroom? Won¡¯t your current wife be jealous of it?¡± asked Violet.

    ¡°Actually, this is for you and Noah. You won¡¯t know when Lily will be able to return here so I thought of getting something for you to remember her by. This is how she looked like now and I can attest to that. I promise I¡¯ll do my best to help her in anyway possible so that she can come back here again,¡± I handed the painting to her.

    ¡°Zen¡ª this is.. such a thoughtful gift. I love it, and I¡¯m sure my husband will appreciate it too. You are such a good person. I¡¯m getting jealous that Lily will be having such a good husband. Thank you, Zen,¡± she gave me a peck on my cheek.

    Thump thump

    ¡°You boys know how to get back from here, right? It¡¯s just straight from here. I¡¯ll need to make dinner soon. Jaa Ne~¡± she winked at us and skipped happily away while hugging the painting.

    John stared at me as I clutched my chest. He seems to know what¡¯s going on with me.

    ¡°You do realised that¡¯s her mom, right?¡± asked John as he curled his lips.

    ¡°I know, John. I know,¡± I told him as I rubbed my forehead and sighed. Fuck my life.

 Book 2 - Chapter 111

    ¡°Are we good to go?¡± asked Violet as she glanced at the group of elves and the two humans behind her.

    She was chosen as the leader of our group by the commander as she was the one who vouched for my method of tracking. There was only a handful of us in this scouting party as it would be pointless if too many individuals were to follow. I had passed her the bell in question, and she had already thought of a method on how to attach it to the bugs. Instead of using bolas, she would be using some throwing needles instead. I was intrigued at first, but she explained that her combat specialty was actually throwing objects with pinpoint accuracy. What a direct opposite of her daughter, who preferred close combat.

    ¡°Let us head out then. I¡¯ll take point,¡± she said as she led the way. Let¡¯s hope she¡¯s as dependable as her husband.

    John was at my side, who surprisingly decided to follow me. You would have thought that the Elementalist would have followed instead, but it seems like he¡¯ll be following Noah instead. I questioned his choice, but he explained that he didn¡¯t want to leave me with Violet alone in case I end up doing something really stupid. I explained to him very clearly that we are in a group, and I¡¯ve already placed safety precautions to keep it in check. I¡¯m not stupid enough to assault my future mother-in-law just because she looks like Lily. Besides, Kirin and Byakko had agreed to do what¡¯s necessary so I don¡¯t end up doing stupid things. I¡¯m not going to end up a motherfucker, dammit.

    ¡°You boys ready? We¡¯ll be picking up the pace~¡± asked Violet as she smiled at me.

    YEOUCH! Stop shocking me, Kirin! Nothing happened for you to shock me!

    ¡°S¡ª sure. L.. ead the way,¡± I answered while feeling the after-effects of the electric shocks from Kirin.

    ¡°Using your Celestial Beasts to control your feelings, eh? You¡¯re really something else!¡± laughed John.

    ¡°I can¡¯t control it, John. If I could, you think I¡¯ll be having this trouble in the first place? I don¡¯t even understand why this is happening? It¡¯s not as though I¡¯m starved from being loved by someone. It doesn¡¯t feel like a crush, and it¡¯s definitely not as though I like her in a romantic way,¡± I shuddered.

    ¡°Can it be¡ª that you¡¯re craving for motherly love?¡± asked John curiously.

    ¡°What¡¯s that? Never heard of it before,¡± I frowned at him.

    ¡°Oh boy, explain what you¡¯re feeling towards her. Give her a good look and explain in words to your cousin, c¡¯mon,¡± he patted my back.

    ¡°We don¡¯t even know if we¡¯re actually related. Your parents got no idea on that?¡± I asked him.

    ¡°Oh no, don¡¯t try to change the topic. Explain your feelings, you little midget,¡± squinted John.

    ¡°Hey¡ª you don¡¯t have to be so mean. Fine, fine. Sigh. I guess I¡ª want to be embraced or act smitten with her? I realised I feel all giddy inside when she praises me,¡± I tried explaining to him.

    ¡°Do you want her to pamper you?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Well¡ª who doesn¡¯t?¡± I giggled.

    ¡°I don¡¯t. Not by her. Zen, what you¡¯re feeling right now is probably something you¡¯ve never experienced before. That¡¯s motherly love that you¡¯re craving. Is that¡ª why you had a crush on Lily in the first place?¡± he gasped.

    ¡°W¡ª what?! Hell no! Lily never even acted like this when we first met. You were there, she acted more like some brat. There was nothing motherly about her in the first place,¡± I pouted.

    ¡°You boys seem to be having fun chatting back there. Mind toning it down as we¡¯re about to venture into enemy territory? And also, I think everyone heard the entirety of your conversation. You two are going to have a private conversation with me later,¡± she glanced at both of us.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    Fuck, I had completely forgotten about their sensitive hearing!

    ¡°Halt,¡± she whispered softly.

    All of us stopped dead in our tracks, and both of us stayed as silently as we could while the elves spread their ears to listen. Being the only two humans here, I will be relying on my other senses and instincts to compensate for what I lack.

    ¡°It would appear that our enemies are just a few clicks ahead. From the sound of their interactions, there seems to be a large group of them. I would say we have found our targets,¡± said Violet.

    ¡°Based on the number of tracks leading in that direction, it would appear that assessment is accurate. Our enemies are close. Awaiting your orders, leader,¡± said one of the elves.

    ¡°It won¡¯t be long before we engage our enemies. If there are any concerns or preparations that need to be done, please do so now. Are we all in agreement?¡± she asked all of us.

    All of them either nodded in agreement or answered with a yes. All except me.

    ¡°I don¡¯t,¡± I spoke loudly enough for all of them to hear as I was kneeling down, staring at the ground.

    All of them kept quiet as they turned to see who it was that disagreed. It was Violet who broke the silence when she realised that it was me who had spoken.

    ¡°Speak your mind, Zen. I wish to hear your thoughts,¡± she asked politely. There was no hint of annoyance in her tone, which I¡¯m thankful for.

    ¡°Look here. Doesn¡¯t this track look fresher than the others? A lone bug heading towards a different direction? Awfully suspicious to me. My hunch is that this lone bug is the scout who is reporting back to their leader, while the others ahead are just traps to lure all of you into thinking that all of the bugs are just there waiting for you. Which is why they are making so much commotion for you all to hear,¡± I explained.

    ¡°What are you suggesting? That these bugs are sentient enough to lure us into a trap? I find that a little hard to believe,¡± spoke one of the elves.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you thinking too far ahead? These are just bugs,¡± said another.

    ¡°Really? Just bugs? How come neither of you were able to solve this matter on your own then? Didn¡¯t these bugs outsmarted all of you before? Listen, these bugs¡ª are not fools. They are aware of your capabilities and they make use of that. Even their wings don¡¯t make any buzzing when they fly. They were built for stealth in the first place, so why would they be making so much commotion up ahead? You wanted my insight, and now I¡¯m here to tell you differently,¡± I explained to them.

    ¡°I¡¯m with Zen. Why are the bugs just making so much commotion for you all to hear? Aren¡¯t bugs supposed to be quiet in the first place and only make noises when they wish to mate? Seems pretty odd to me,¡± said John.

    ¡°What¡¯s your call, leader? There are some merits to his assessments,¡± asked one of the elves.

    She gave it some thought before responding. She even placed her index finger on her lips and pushed it upwards, trying to act cute. Oh no, don¡¯t shock me, Kirin! I swear I didn¡¯t feel anything!

    ¡°The wolf party will be heading to that location, which I am certain. I doubt they¡¯ll be needing our help. Zen had also achieved numerous odds, and his achievements far surpass any of ours. We¡¯ll go with his assessment. Let us head in the other direction,¡± she smiled and took point.

    Damn it, why does she always have to praise me? Now I¡¯m getting all giddy inside. Sigh.

    ***

    ¡°What¡¯s it¡ª trying to do?¡± whispered one of the elves.

    ¡°I think it¡¯s¡ª drinking water?¡± answered one of them.

    In front of us was a single giant bug that was happily submerging itself partially while wriggling around like some puppy. As its head is located in the mid-section of its body, it needed to submerge partially in order to drink. Guess it still needs water and food to survive.

    I moved closer to Violet to ask her what our next move should be. Should we attempt to capture it or find some way to plant the bell on its body without it noticing? She placed her index finger on her lips and winked at me as though to leave everything to her.

    She took out a large needle that had the bell tied to it. Is she planning to throw it from here? We were still some distance away from the bug as we didn¡¯t want to spook it. The bug¡¯s carapace is thick and tough. If she were to pull this off, she¡¯ll need to¡ª

    Whooosh

    Wow, right in between the crevice where the carapaces overlap each other. I guess throwing is her specialty after all. The bug grew alert and started scanning its surroundings, seemingly unaware of the needle sticking in between its carapaces but probably heard the sound of the needle flying through the air. Despite its sensitive hearing, it couldn¡¯t detect any of us as we stayed silent and hidden. And it definitely couldn¡¯t hear the sound of the bell ringing for sure, otherwise it would have been struggling to remove it right about now.

    Something triggered the bug to stare at a certain direction. From the looks of it, it would seem that¡¯s the direction of where the group of bugs were supposed to be. Did the elves with the winged wolves begin their assault? It should be quick work for them in eliminating all of the bugs. The bug turned to a different direction and took off without a hint of hesitation.

    ¡°Good call, Zen. If all the bugs were there, it should had went to help, but it decided to head towards a different direction. Perhaps it¡¯s heading back to its nest or it turned tail against its brethren. Either way, we will have to follow it and if we¡¯re lucky, eliminate the last survivor,¡± she smiled at me.

    ¡°Then we shouldn¡¯t be wasting time in talking then. We better follow after the bug before you couldn¡¯t hear the bell anymore. It is flying after all,¡± I reminded her.

    ¡°Oh, you have no worries, my good looks aren¡¯t my only traits. I thought you would have known that Lily had superb hearing by now,¡± she chuckled as she poked my cheek.

    ¡°I only know that her eyesight isn¡¯t as good as the others. She never told me about her hearing abilities. I thought it was common for all elves to have sensitive hearing,¡± I explained.

    ¡°Indeed. But mine and hers are¡ª exceptional. She definitely inherited my traits for sure, as my eyesight is much poorer than hers. You should have seen me with my glasses when contacts weren¡¯t invented yet,¡± she chuckled.

    ¡°N¡ª no. Please don¡¯t. I don¡¯t want to get you even more mixed up with Lily if I can help it,¡± I flatly refused.

    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t you worry. Mommy¡¯s here for you,¡± she hugged me tightly.

    ¡°P¡ª please stop! We need to follow after the group!¡± I shouted at her as all the other members had already went ahead to follow after the bug.

    ¡°Haha! Right. Let¡¯s go. We¡¯ll talk more when this is over,¡± she smiled.

    No, please. I don¡¯t want to talk with you more than I have to. I just want Rose and Lily. I don¡¯t want to have a relationship with my mother-in-law! I¡¯m not a MILF lover!

 Book 2 - Chapter 112

    ¡°Oh my¡ª¡± uttered one of the elves as he couldn¡¯t believe what he was seeing. Truth be told, none of us were.

    This section of the forest was rather secluded and, according to the elves, a part where they rarely ventured due to the high density of flora, distance, and how unfriendly the terrain was for them to track through. Who knew that something could actually be thriving here? Better yet, modified to suit their habitat.

    ¡°How could we have neglected this part of the forest that these bugs had ample time to transform it into¡ª this? It¡¯s like I¡¯m seeing a part of the forest that''s dying,¡± uttered another elf.

    He was right. This part feels¡ª off. Like how the strange anatomy of the bugs somehow affected the forest too. Everything felt off here. The trees looked sickly yet somehow thriving under those weird purply or greenish-looking fluids. Though the anatomy of the trees itself was the complete opposite, spouting leaves at the bottom yet growing roots at the top. Why does everything feel so¡ª disordered? Is this a common theme from one of the Gods?

    ¡°We need to report this back to our commander. We need to exterminate the entire section of this forest. But¡ª can we even fight all of them? There¡¯s just so many bugs,¡± muttered another member.

    ¡°Just like our city. They¡¯re preparing for a full scale attack,¡± whispered John.

    ¡°If they attack us with all of their forces now, I¡¯m not confident that we¡¯re able to fend them off. Just look at the amount of forces they have,¡± whispered Violet.

    We were at the top of some cliff overlooking a large area of sickly-looking forest that had a massive clearing. It¡¯s strange that there were so many puddles of strange, glowing waters that the bugs seem to enjoy. There were also a ton of eggs around that are frightening for us. If these eggs were to hatch right now, we¡¯ll possibly be outnumbered by 100 to 1 even if we were to include the entirety of the elves¡¯ community here. What¡¯re we supposed to do now? It¡¯s suicide if we decided to engage them now. We should head back and prepare ourselves for the eventual attack on the city. Perhaps even asking for more reinforcements from the City of Pines for help.

    ¡°Your orders, my lady?¡± I asked Violet.

    ¡°Y¡ª you don¡¯t need to call me that, Zen. You can just call me mom,¡± she smiled.

    ¡°Can¡¯t do that. I¡¯m not married to your daughter yet. On a more serious note though, what should we do?¡± I asked once more.

    ¡°You faced overwhelming odds before when you fought against the beast. What did you do when it was just the three of you?¡± she asked curiously.

    ¡°Most of the beasts were sleeping inside a cave, so we had some opportunity to slay them in their sleep. These bugs seem to be sleeping out in the open, not to mention they have thick carapaces, which is going to be much harder for us to deal the killing blow quietly,¡± I explained to her.

    ¡°So our best course of action is to retreat then? I hate to admit it, but I don¡¯t like our odds of engaging right now with our small party. Let us head back before we attract any of their attention then,¡± she gestured us to follow her.

    ¡°W¡ª wait. What¡ª is that?¡± stuttered one of the elven member.

    We turned our gaze to what he¡¯s pointing at. What I saw was some rather large-looking hole on the ground, but what¡¯s emerging from it was even larger. It destroyed the entrance as it erupted from the ground. This bug is¡ª huge! Close to the size of the four-legged beasts that I fought! Wait, possibly even bigger!

    However, it doesn¡¯t look that much different than a normal bug. In fact, is it even built for fighting? The only weapon that I can see is just the rostrum. There are no spikes or anything else that I can see. But¡ª why does this bug look so familiar? Almost like I¡¯ve seen it before.

    I clutched my head as it started to hurt the more I focused on that massive bug. Despite all of us being in a prone position, I had to roll over as my head started hurting badly. Shit, and Rose is not here to soothe the pain. Am I going to be down for the count? I should move away from the edge and rest myself somewhere further to avoid attracting attention.

    ¡°Viking Lord, carry Zen away and come along with me. Try not to make any noise in doing so,¡± whispered Violet.

    John obliged and dragged me away from the edge with Violet following behind. John wanted to lean me against a tree trunk, but Violet stopped him beforehand. She leaned on it first and gestured to John to place me leaning against her. John hesitated as he obviously found it odd for her to be doing that.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

    ¡°Viking Lord, pass him to me. That¡¯s an order,¡± she ordered him with a stern expression.

    Hearing the seriousness of her tone, John quickly set me down, leaning against her. She quickly embraced me and started petting my head.

    ¡°Shhh, shhh¡ª there, there. What¡¯s wrong, child? Does your head hurt? Do you have a headache?¡± she continued rubbing my head as I continued clutching it from the pain.

    ¡°His curse must be at play again. Rose had warned me about the possibility of it happening to him on this trip. What we can only do is to knock him out cold with this, since his wife¡¯s not here to soothe him with her spell,¡± said John as he took out a small bottle of liquid.

    ¡°His¡ª curse cause him this pain? I really hoped this is not a side effect of Lily¡¯s actions. I hate to think that his suffering is due to what she did for him. Let me try something before we let him drink that,¡± she started rocking me slightly.

    ¡°Hush, my child, there there, the pain will go away. Mommy is going to sing you a song,¡± she whispered with a soothing voice as she started singing softly in elven language.

    I didn¡¯t understand the words, but the song was deeply calming, almost like it reminded me of¡ª a distant past. As though I had a mother that held me tightly before. Why does this feel familiar?

    ¡°M¡ª Mom?¡± I whispered as I fell unconscious while feeling a tear dripping from the edge of my eye.

    ¡°Your persistence is rather commendable. Guess I have to use something stronger then,¡± said a deep-toned voice inside my head before I lost all consciousness.

    ***

    Violet¡ª seems to be very focused on Zen. The rumour was that she flirts with anyone, but from what I can see, she¡¯s just flirting with him. At first glance, it almost looked like they were lovers. But I¡¯m not allowing my best friend to go down that path. He warned me not to choose the wrong path, so this is me helping him. Ain¡¯t no way I¡¯m letting this happen. Lily would be devastated if she found out about this.

    ¡°Listen, Zen might be confusing you for Lily as the two of you looked really similar. Please don¡¯t take this the wrong way, but you might want to tone down on the flirting? For his sake?¡± I asked as I sat at her side.

    ¡°I overheard your conversation with him earlier. He¡ª doesn¡¯t have a mother? Such a poor thing,¡± she stroked his hair. Zen was deeply asleep after she sang that lullaby of hers.

    ¡°Not just that, he had never even met any of his parents before. Just his grandfather when he was young, but he was robbed of him by Tom when he had just set his journey to become an adventurer. His childhood is actually pretty traumatic if you think about it,¡± he sighed.

    ¡°And now he¡¯s mistaking me for his mother, whom he had never met. What a cute child indeed. As to your request, I¡¯ll try my best to tone it down, but no promises though. Can¡¯t say I¡¯m not attracted to him,¡± she chuckled.

    ¡°Y¡ª you¡¯re joking, right? You¡¯re married, and he¡¯s your future son-in-law! He¡¯s married too!¡± I shouted softly at her.

    ¡°Calm down, you. I¡¯m not saying that I¡¯ll start a family with him. What I meant to say is that I can finally see why my daughter is so attracted to him. He¡¯s brilliant and charismatic for sure. I¡ª I admire him for being so similar to his father. He certainly reminds me of him,¡± she hugged him tighter.

    ¡°Why¡ª are you saying as though you had known his father? Have you¡ª interacted with him before?¡± I asked curiously.

    ¡°Hehe, we were together for a short period of time before he got married. Ah, perhaps it¡¯s only short for us but not for humans. Not many individuals had known that we were together before, not even my husband. Zen has many traits that are rather similar to his father,¡± she confessed.

    ¡°W¡ª what? You were actually close with his father? Why didn¡¯t you tell Zen about it? Oh no, please don¡¯t tell me Lily is¡ª is that why she¡¯s so attracted to him?¡± I asked in horror.

    ¡°Are you implying that Lily might be his half-sister? Hmm, now that would make things interesting, isn''t it?¡± she laughed.

    ¡°Please don¡¯t. That would devastate him even more than he already is. Tell me that¡¯s not true,¡± I asked for clarification as much as I could.

    ¡°One thing you should know about me is that I¡¯m loyal to my husband despite what people think. I know I have a habit of flirting around, but I assure you, I don¡¯t spend the night with other people. This is just who I am, Viking Lord. But don¡¯t worry, I never had Jack¡¯s child before since it¡¯s difficult for me to conceive in the first place. Lily had probably inherited my preference of being attracted to his bloodline. Ah, I wonder if I¡¯m attracted to Zen because of how similar he behaved and acted like Jack. I¡ª I really do miss him. Maybe I did flirt with him a little too much,¡± she sighed softly as she hugged him tighter.

    ¡°I¡¯ll take your word for it then, ma¡¯am. I hope you¡¯ll treat him well. But do realise that Zen is not his father,¡± I bowed slightly to her.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be a mother for him if that¡¯s what he wants. But you don¡¯t have to worry about me jumping on him like what my daughter did. He is centuries too young for me after all, or is he?¡± she chuckled.

    ¡°Guess I¡¯m starting to understand your personality now. Perhaps there is nothing for me to worry about after all. Now it¡¯s just him that I¡¯m worried,¡± I released a sigh of relief.

    ¡°What a good man, taking care of his own cousin like a real brother,¡± she chuckled.

    ¡°Wait¡ª huh? What did you just say?¡± I turned my gaze to her immediately with a confused look.

    ¡°Hm? I just said you¡¯re a good cousin to him like a brother,¡± she repeated.

    ¡°I¡¯m¡ª related to him? You¡¯re not joking, right? How do you even know when even my parents don¡¯t?¡± I questioned her.

    ¡°Your parents are Gladiolus, right? Is your mother¡ª June Gladiolus? I¡¯m pretty sure she¡¯s related to Zen¡¯s mother in some way. I did performed some research on her after all,¡± she sighed.

    ¡°Pardon my language but¡ª were you.. obsessed with Zen¡¯s father?¡± I asked cautiously.

    ¡°Oh my, for you to even thought of such a thing, I must have come off as a horrible person,¡± she gasped.

    ¡°I guess¡ª you can say I was infatuated with him. Despite only being with him for a few years, he was the only human that I¡¯ve ever loved. And I felt loved by him too. That¡¯s¡ª not to say that I don¡¯t love my husband, but humans show affection very differently than elves. I guess you can say that Zen and I had both mistakenly projected our feelings for the wrong person,¡± she started cuddling him while I swore I heard her sniffing her nose.

    I never knew Lily¡¯s mother was in love with Zen¡¯s father. No wonder I felt something was off. She had been focusing on Zen ever since he set foot in the elven forest. Perhaps Zen might have mistaken Violet for his mother, but it felt weird that Violet seems to be flirting and praising him in every way possible. It felt icky to me, but I guess she had her circumstances; and I choose to believe that Violet will remain loyal to her husband. I really hope her husband doesn¡¯t find out about it, or he¡¯ll definitely not allow Lily to marry him. God, I hope there won''t come an awkward situation where I¡¯m placed in the middle. But hey, at least I know for sure that I am related to Zen in some way.

    ***

    Hachiu!

    How strange it is for me to be sneezing in the middle of combat. We¡¯ve already mopped up most of the bugs here with the help of the wolves, but¡ª I don¡¯t see my wife or Zen anywhere. Where could they have gone to? I sure hope that they aren''t in danger elsewhere. I hate for them to be outnumbered somewhere else without my knowledge.

    ***

    ¡°Well, well, what do we have here? Some little insects have actually found my hiding place. Too bad none of your brethren will be saving you from your impending doom,¡± spoke a sinister voice.

    Shit, we stayed here too long and now we¡¯ve been discovered by this massive bug. Damn it, Zen. You picked a bad time to fall unconscious!

 Book 2 - Chapter 113

    ¡°Leader!¡± shouted one of the elven member.

    I quickly turned my head towards the member who shouted and immediately heard a loud, deadly shriek that instinctively made me cover my ears. A bug had somehow found us and is probably warning the others. How¡ª how did this bug even sneak its way up here? Did it use the underside of the cliff? But why didn¡¯t the elves hear it climbing up then?!

    The elven members were affected worse than me since they were the closest and had more sensitive hearing.

    ¡°Fall back!¡± I shouted as loudly as I could to warn the other members.

    Despite the effects of the shriek, they still had some sense of semblance in listening to orders, even though I wasn¡¯t their leader. The sound of loud rumbling footsteps approached us, and I knew full well what was coming.

    ¡°Ma¡¯am, you need to wake Zen up right now. We can¡¯t afford to have a man down; we need him,¡± I told Violet.

    ¡°Right. Zen, dear, wake up~ We need to get going,¡± whispered Violet.

    ¡°Unn~ Not now, Lily. We¡¯re not married yet,¡± answered Zen as he remained half asleep. The fuck is he dreaming about?!

    ¡°Wake him up properly, Violet! Now¡¯s not the time to fool around!¡± I shouted at her as I reached into my back pouch.

    ¡°Viking Lord, is¡ª his pin supposed to change colour? It just turned black,¡± asked Violet with a puzzled expression.

    W¡ª What? There¡¯s a demon here? Shit! A demon and a massive bug to deal with at the same time?! It¡¯s just not my lucky day today. Fuck.

    I took out my one-handed gauntlet and wore it into my right hand. It was a metallic gauntlet that Zen had commissioned from Stein specifically for me. Not to mention, I had to part with my axe for a few weeks because of this. Glad I caved, because I¡¯m certain that I can take on anything with all of these upgrades.

    The gauntlet¡¯s initial orange glow changed to blue and it began to slot perfectly into my right hand with a satisfying click. Apparently, there is some mechanism to detect the user wearing this gauntlet and only I can wear this without it exploding or something. Thanks for making this gauntlet even more dangerous than it is, Zen.

    I unsheathed my axe from my back and got ready. All the other four elven members stood behind me and readied their weapons despite still being disoriented by the earlier shriek. The loud rumblings grew ever closer, and a loud buzzing could be heard that sounded like it could have made a twister. The massive bug clung to the underside of the cliff with only its head staring at us. What an ugly ass motherfucker.

    ¡°Well, well, who do we have here? Some intruders somehow found their way here. I was certain the elves were foolish enough to bite my bait. No matter, dead man tells no tale. You will all die here,¡± hissed the massive bug.

    ¡°Do your worst. I¡¯ll like to see you try,¡± I shouted at the bug as I held my axe tightly.

    ¡°What¡¯s this? A human? Red hair and beard. Ah, the Viking Lord. Surprised to see you here. And that person at the back, Zen Hawthorn, a fearsome enemy of the Ruinous Gods. I shall personally see him dead!¡± said the massive bug as it started crawling up the cliff.

    A couple of arrows flew towards the massive bug, but none of them pierced through its thick carapace. The bug continued to stride closer to us, towering over all of us with its massive size. Yet, I readied myself to throw my axe at this large being.

    ¡°The Colossal Axe, a feared weapon, but it was unable to deal enough damage to even the Dragon Lord. Pitiful that the wielder is such a weakling,¡± said the massive bug as it stood before me.

    ¡°Seems like you¡¯ve heard of me. I didn¡¯t realise I had a stalker. I always thought it¡¯ll be some young, pretty lady that¡¯ll be the one doing that,¡± I chuckled.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you humans always say, it¡¯s the inside that counts? I assure you that I¡¯m beautiful on the inside,¡± said the massive bug.

    Why¡ª the fuck is a bug trying to flirt with me? What the hell is going on here?! Zen gets the hot mom while I get a freaking bug? Fuck that!

    ¡°NO, thanks. I¡¯m not into bugs no matter what they looked like. Outside or inside!¡± I flatly refused.

    ¡°Shame, I had always found you attractive even when I was a tiny insect. You never noticed me even when I was always there for you,¡± answered the bug.

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    "Can we stop with the flirting and get to the action? I am seriously not in the mood for some bug action right now," I readied my axe.

    "If you think you''re confident enough to break my carapace, then be my guest. Until then, Zen Hawthorn is as good as dead," laughed the bug as it approached closer to us.

    "Wake him up or get him out of here, Violet!" I shouted as I took aim.

    I threw my axe, aiming at the softer area where the leg and the carapace met but the hilt ended up bouncing off the carapace and flew further away.

    "Are you planning to teleport to your axe? You¡¯ll be leaving the group exposed. I shall be the one who slay Zen Hawthorn once and for all then, proving that my God is better than the others!" shouted the bug as it lifted one of it¡¯s leg in an attempt to stomp on all of us.

    I smirked. I quickly raised my right hand towards the bug in an attempt to reach for something, then I pulled my hand back, gripping it tightly into a fist. The sound of electricity erupted from my gauntlet and the sound of a rather large object could be heard flying towards my direction.

    Whoosh¡ª SLICE!!!

    "GAHHHH!!" shouted the massive bug as my massive axe sliced through its leg that was about to stomp us. I quickly shrunk my axe as I reached out to grab it with my right hand and sheathed it. I needed to stop the massive mutilated leg that was about to squash all of us. Tossing it aside, the massive bug was still squirming about wondering how I was able to slice off its leg with ease. I unsheathed my axe once more and readied myself for another throw.

    "H¡ª how were you able to slice through my carapace?! Your axe wasn¡¯t even capable of doing much damage to the Dragon Lord in the first place!" shouted the bug as it retreated.

    "Well, with some minor tweaks, it¡¯s safe to say that it works brilliantly now," I smirked as I got myself ready for its next move.

    ***

    There was nothing minor at all regarding to the upgrade of my axe. First of all, I tried seeking out the weapon-smith who made this axe. It was not a genuine legendary weapon as I thought it was; it was actually a manmade item that was powerful enough to be called a legendary weapon. Similar to Rose¡¯s legendary rapier which was made out of the materials from a meteor, we don¡¯t have any Celestial Beings residing in our weapons.

    It was a long trip, but I finally found the person who made it, or half a person. He said that he was a Viking himself, but he was extremely short, like ridiculously short; even shorter than Zen. He mentioned that he had dedicated his life to becoming a weapon-smith after he had sustained an injury to his leg.

    ¡°Upgrade my axe so that it¡¯s worthy for even Thor to wield,¡± I told the weapon-smith.

    He laughed as he responded that it was not possible. It is not his duty to ensure that the wielder can fully utilise this axe. He was confident enough in saying that his axe rivals Mj?lnir or even the Leviathan Axe. I stood silent as I stared at him with sceptical eyes. He sighed and explained to me that while he can make the axe sharper where it could cut through steel, it was up to me to discover its hidden secrets. I agreed and allowed the weapon-smith to sharpen the axe, which he obliged. He started sharpening the bladed portion with the use of another chipped scale belonging to the same sea serpent that made this axe: J?rmungandr, the World Serpent of Midgard that belonged to the Norse realm. This weapon-smith had managed to retrieve one perfect scale belonging to that serpent and somehow managed to carry it all the way to this realm, where he forged the Colossal Axe; worthy of the name in my opinion. With his smithing skills, he had found a way to shrink the axe at will; otherwise, it would have been a nightmare to forge such a massive scale. And I thought I was using its full size fighting against the Dragon Lord. Would I be strong enough to use its full potential one day? Definitely a stretch.

    With my axe sharpened, I seek to search for the secrets of J?rmungandr¡¯s power. There were very few books about it in the library as it belonged to another realm. There was one that mentioned him having the power of Eitr, which was strong enough to even kill Thor, but that would have been its fangs rather than the scales. I was close to giving up on searching for the secrets about my axe until Zen approached me with a proposal.

    ¡°Do you want to feel like being Thor?¡± he smirked as he asked me. I will forever remember that damn smirk of his.

    With the genius of Stein and Zen, they had enveloped the hilt of my axe with some sort of special metal that only reacts to this gauntlet that I¡¯m wearing, making full use of magnetic properties for me to summon or control my axe at will. Now I make my opponents even more confused as to whether I¡¯ll recall my axe or teleport towards it.

    ***

    I checked the blade of my axe; blood had definitely been drawn from the massive bug. Now my axe will¡ª yup, it¡¯s flashing red now. And¡ª it¡¯s absorbing the blood. I had never told anyone about this, not even to my wife, but I¡¯ve actually managed to figure out one of the secrets of this axe.

    Any blood that I draw while I¡¯m using it, even if it¡¯s from me, it will absorb the life-force of the blood to empower me. So even if I¡¯m in a losing battle, my axe will keep empowering me to be stronger with my own blood, but will probably shave off a couple of decades from my lifespan. This is why, I need to win. In continuously doing so, I can prolong my life further with the blood of my enemies.

    It was actually my wife who brought this up when I came back from a bloody battle one day. She told me I looked so much more dashing and handsome when I just came out from a bath. I thought she was just flirting with me for some action, but after checking it out myself, I do realised that I somehow looked younger. Perhaps my wife had already suspected something by now but decided to keep quiet about it. Never underestimate a woman¡¯s intuition is what Zen had taught me. He might not be the only human that¡¯s gonna live longer than what a normal human should. Alright, that¡¯s enough of self talk, time to focus on my enemies.

    ¡°Weren¡¯t you extremely confident earlier about your carapace? Let¡¯s see whether that proud carapace of yours can withstand more of my axe,¡± I grinned.

    ¡°Hmph, jest all you want, you only have a single axe while I have thousands of my soldiers ready to pounce on all of you. It¡¯s only a matter of time before all of you are dead,¡± laughed the massive bug before it shrieked loudly, signalling all the bugs to begin the attack.

    Arrows started flying across my visions as the four members of the elves started shooting with pinpoint accuracy. I even saw throwing needles among the arrows, which meant that Violet is finally fighting with us.

    There were so many of the bugs surrounding us, constantly swarming around trying to flank us from all directions, and I thought of a stupid idea to use Taunt so as to attract all of them into attacking me while allowing the other members to attack safely. The scream of one of our elven members triggered me to cast the spell on impulse, roaring as hard as I could to attract all of the bugs¡¯ attention.

    It worked, but a stupid idea IS a stupid idea. With so many pincers and spikes heading towards my direction, even my axe¡¯s life-stealing force is not going to help me. Will I be leaving my wife and my daughter so soon? I tossed my axe towards the massive crowd of bugs and recalled it, but it did very little to diminish their total numbers. I¡¯m fucked if he doesn¡¯t¡ª

    A blinding flash of light erupted nearby, followed by the sound of thunder. In an instant, lightning began arching throughout all of the bugs, roasting them as their bodies were unable to withstand the power of his lightning spell.

    ¡°Damn it, when did I even fall asleep? And to have my future mother-in-law smack me in the face just to wake me up. Damn crispy critters, what an embarrassment,¡± sighed Zen as he walked to my side. There was a reddish handprint directly on his face, alright.

    ¡°Finally decided to join us, sleeping beauty? How¡¯s that headache of yours? Take care, as there might be a demon in our midst,¡± I warned him as he took a glance at his pin.

    ¡°Better. You¡¯re going to need to tell me what happened when I was asleep,¡± he summoned his signature blade with a snap of his right fingers.

    ¡°Just know that we were caught off guard. Now we have to face this giant bug and its armies,¡± I gave him the short version.

    ¡°Hmph, what makes you think I¡¯m interested in committing to this fight with a small scouting party? As soon as I take flight, none of you will be able to warn the elves of their impending doom. Which is exactly what I¡¯m going to do!¡± screamed the massive bug as it shrieked while taking flight, bringing along all of the bugs with it.

    Fuck! We won¡¯t be able to chase it even if we ran with all of our might! This is exactly like that time at the Demon Continent. It¡¯s d¨¦j¨¤ vu all over again.

 Book 2 - Chapter 114

    I watched as the bugs flew further and further away from me as seconds passed. I turned my gaze towards Violet, who had her mouth agape at what had just happened. Even she was stunned by the sudden turn of events. Only the sound of Zen¡¯s voice, seemingly talking to someone, could be heard. Is he¡ª talking to his blades? Wrong time to succumb to your curse, Zen.

    ¡°What should we do now? Ma¡¯am? We can¡¯t just stay here and do nothing,¡± I asked Violet.

    ¡°R¡ª right. Just needed to catch my breath. We should hurry back and help the others. If we¡¯re lucky, we might meet some friendly animals that might be willing to allow us to mount them. C¡¯mon, let¡¯s go,¡± ordered Violet.

    ¡°Wait!¡± shouted a familiar voice.

    All of us turned towards Zen, who was holding both of his weapons. I wanted to question his reasoning for wanting us to wait when time is of the essence, but he started talking to his weapons again. Wait a minute, his pin had changed back to normal. Is the demon gone?

    ¡°Stop arguing and come out. We don¡¯t have time. No, I¡¯m not looking for an opportunity to ride Byakko. You¡¯re the one who kept the wagon. Just¡ª come out, both of you, before I start looking like some lunatic,¡± he sighed. You¡¯re already giving off that impression, Zen.

    With a flick of his two blades, two spectral animals appeared in front of him. A horsette with a horn and another who looked like some large white kette. Are these¡ª the Celestial Beings residing in his weapons? I don¡¯t even have one, and he has two!

    ¡°Alright, all of you, get on the wagon and Kirin will bring you back. With luck, we might make it before those bugs. Be warned though, hang on to the wagon like your life depends on it. I¡¯ll take Byakko and rush ahead first. Hop on¡ª What? Kirin, stop sulking and summon the wagon that you took previously. I know you still have it with you. Byakko can¡¯t carry the wagon like you can. Help me out here,¡± he spoke to the horsette.

    With a loud ¡°Hmph!¡±, he summoned the wagon but refused to look at his direction. This ¡°Kirin¡± seems to have an attitude with his host.

    ¡°Get on board, everyone. And remember, hang on for dear life. I¡¯m not joking when I say this. The speed of these two is completely out of this world. I¡¯ll head ahead first,¡± he hopped on top of Byakko.

    ¡°Zen, can you bring me along? I need to get back quickly too,¡± said Violet as she tugged on his cloak.

    He turned his gaze towards Byakko, who shook his head sideways. Is his kette trying to stop her from flirting with Zen any further?

    ¡°Sorry, Violet. For Byakko to move at top speed, the fewer people he brings, the faster he can move. Kirin can move as fast, if not faster. You don¡¯t have to worry. Let¡¯s not waste time and go with what I proposed,¡± he told her, and Byakko sped off without waiting for an answer from her.

    ¡°Ojou-sama, stop flirting with my host and move it. We are burning sunlight,¡± said the horsette as he jerked his head to tell Violet to get on board.

    ¡°I¡ª I¡¯m not flirting with him! And I¡¯m not an ojou-sama either. I genuinely need to get back quickly. Please, gallop as quickly as you can,¡± said Violet as she hopped onto the wagon.

    ¡°I won¡¯t lose to that second-rate Celestial Being. Grab onto the wagon tightly, and never let go,¡± said the horsette as he carried the wagon and placed it on his back with his teeth, flinging all of us onboard.

    The last thing I remember was grabbing onto the side of the wagon when a sudden gust of wind started hitting my face as the horsette started galloping at full speed.

    ***

    ¡°Faster than me? Are you trying to piss me off?¡± grumbled Byakko as he ran.

    ¡°I was just trying to assure her that Kirin can move fast. I understand her need to rush back quickly, but it would be better if I reached first. I don¡¯t like what that giant bug is about to do if my hunch is right,¡± I explained to him.

    ¡°In case you didn¡¯t notice, your pin had returned to normal after it left. I thought your pin only detects demons? Perhaps it detects something else too?¡± asked Byakko.

    ¡°Doubt it, my best guess? This pin actually detects demonic presence rather than just purely demons. That bug might be some Champion or Vessel. Only time will tell, I suppose,¡± I answered.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

    Byakko¡¯s ears perked up as though he had heard something. Perhaps Kirin was coming in close. Would he pick up the pace?

    ¡°Grab on tight. I will not let him win,¡± growled Byakko.

    ¡°Wait, let me¡ª okay, full speed ahead!¡± I grabbed my goggles from my back pouch and wore them quickly. And I made sure to grab onto Byakko¡¯s furs as much as I could.

    Upon hearing my confirmation, Byakko roared loudly as he increased his speed. The surrounding trees started to turn blurry as my vision struggled to focus due to the speed that Byakko was running. All I knew was that I needed all of my strength to ensure I didn¡¯t fall off.

    ¡°Woo hoo!!!¡± I screamed out loud.

    ¡°Damn horse, what¡¯s he trying to do? Kill those elves? They must be struggling to keep themselves on board!¡± said Byakko.

    I had to turn my head backwards to see what he was talking about, as all I could hear was the sound of the wind in my ears. Kirin could be seen in the distance trying to catch up, and it was clear that all of his passengers were clinging on for dear life despite the ride looking relatively stable. Kirin¡¯s teeth sure are something else to hold onto those metal bars so tightly that they don¡¯t even sway at that speed.

    ¡°Are you¡ª still planning to pick up the pace?¡± I asked jokingly.

    ¡°Damn right I am!¡± roared Byakko as he started running even faster.

    I stopped talking entirely as I hung onto Byakko¡¯s furs even tighter than before and I didn¡¯t want to accidentally bite my tongue. The whole journey back took a couple of minutes before Byakko skidded to a halt when we reached the elven city, passing through the sentries protecting the entrance before they could even react. Such was Byakko¡¯s speed that no other being could react in time. Should had rode him in the first place as it took us a whole day to find the bug¡¯s hiding place!

    Murmur of whispers could be heard all around as I dismounted Byakko with my shaky legs and removed my goggles. It was certainly a struggle to maintain my balance after such a speedy ride. ¡°Is that a kette? Why¡¯s it so big and white? It looks so fluffy,¡± was what I kept hearing all around me. They had never heard of a tiger before? Odd, I thought it was a common animal. The sentries on duty leapt their way towards my location to inspect the commotion. Before they could even ask me anything, I spoke to them quickly about the approaching danger.

    ¡°Sound the alarm. Get everyone ready for war. The bugs will be attacking here any minute. Go, now!¡± I ushered one of the sentries away.

    ¡°Have the main forces returned? We need them,¡± I asked another one of the sentries.

    ¡°They had just gotten back moments ago. Perhaps you might want to¡ª¡± he stopped as I had to cut him short.

    ¡°No time. Make sure the Commander hears about this and get everyone ready. We need to¡ª¡± I was interrupted by the sound of a bell ringing throughout the city. That sentry worked fast indeed. I hope we¡¯re able to get things going before the bugs reaches. Who knows how much time we have left before they¡ª

    The sound of loud buzzing approaches along with the sound of galloping. Seems like they¡¯ll reach the city before the bugs. Nice, at least all of us will make it in time to protect the city. Guess I should look for Noah and warn him about the impending war.

    As I headed towards the opposite direction, I crashed headfirst onto something solid, which hurt my nose. Someone was kind enough to grab my arm before I fell on my back.

    ¡°In a hurry somewhere? Seems like you brought back the whole army of bugs with you. Mind telling me where my wife is?¡± he asked.

    ¡°She¡¯ll be here in a short while. I¡¯m sure you can hear the sound of galloping over the loud buzzing. That¡¯s just the sound of one massive bug, by the way. Command your forces and get them ready for war. And¡ª I have a request, if you don¡¯t mind. Do allow me free rein of my actions throughout this war. I wish to help out using my specialty where it¡¯s needed. I only require the help of the Viking Lord and the Elementalist. Do I have your approval, Supreme Commander?¡± I bowed to him.

    ¡°You need not bow to me, Zen. As my future son-in-law, you¡¯re second in command of this army. Should anything happen to me, you¡¯ll be the one leading this army. Your achievements say it all, and I have no reason to doubt your judgments. I believe you heard his request, Elementalist? What say you?¡± he glanced towards his back.

    ¡°It would be my honour, Commander. I would rather trust Zen¡¯s judgment over my own. He is extremely capable despite being human. I shall serve your son-in-law,¡± he bowed to Noah.

    Gee, all these talk about son-in-law when I have not even married his daughter. Elves sure love to jump the gun, don¡¯t they? The sound of Kirin skidding to a halt could be heard nearby. Violet leapt off the wagon and immediately approached Noah. They had a brief hug and started speaking in elvish tongue.

    Their conversation matters little to me as I have an objective of my own. Now that I have permission to do whatever I want, I can start thinking outside the box. I have my suspicions on what the main objective of the massive bug is, but it remains an assumption for now. I walked up to Kirin and gave him my thanks, to which he ¡°hmph¡± me again before dissipating into thin air. Byakko had already left the moment I got off him. He never liked attention in the first place.

    John was still clutching onto the wagon tightly as he tried to disembark with his wobbly legs. Seems like Kirin is abandoning the wagon this time. Aww, it was so useful in a pinch. It was not until I inspected it that I realised why he decided to leave it behind. It was in shambles, as though someone had gripped it so tightly that a portion of the side had ripped off, and I know full well who was the one who did it since he was still gripping onto the ripped portion.

    ¡°You good, John? How¡¯s the trip? You¡¯re with me, by the way. Let¡¯s go,¡± I told him.

    ¡°Give¡ª Give me a moment. I had never sat in something that moved this fast before. My hands and legs are literally still shaking right now,¡± he stuttered as he spoke.

    ¡°I noticed. You¡¯re still clutching onto a part of the wagon. C¡¯mon, here¡¯s some water; we don¡¯t have much time to waste,¡± I passed him my bottle.

    ¡°R¡ª right. Where are we heading, boss?¡± he chuckled after taking a sip of water.

    ¡°Elementalist, how far is the Cosmic Tree from here?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Cosmic Tree? It¡¯s not a place that we can just stroll around without permission. It is being protected by the Watchers. Why do you ask?¡± he gave a puzzled look.

    ¡°I have a feeling that it will be the target of the massive bug. If my hunch is true, we might need to defend the tree,¡± I answered.

    ¡°I¡ª see. The Watchers will be the first to protect the tree if that happens. They are¡ª powerful beings, so we need not worry. As to your previous question, it¡¯s about a couple of kilometres away from here. Not a short distance if we require to reach it. But we won¡¯t be able to gain entry even if we tried, unless the threat is imminent. Not by choice, mind you,¡± he explained.

    ¡°We¡¯ll stay close then. I¡¯m still hoping for my hunch to be wrong and they will just target the city instead. Let us stay in the shadows. We won¡¯t be engaging in the initial stage of the war until I know their true objective,¡± I explained to them.

    ¡°Not¡ª something that I wished to hear, but I guess you have your reasons. Can¡¯t believe there will come a day where my city will be under attack by bugs. And I¡¯ll just be standing aside watching it,¡± he sighed.

    ¡°Aw c¡¯mon, don¡¯t try to guilt-trip me. You agreed to follow me, so I hope you understand. I need you, Elementalist. Have no fear though, we¡¯ll be engaging in the heart of this battle, just not its initial stages,¡± I tapped his shoulder.

    ¡°As you wish, Master Zen,¡± he chuckled.

    ¡°Don¡¯t call me that. Sheesh. You two are the best companions I can hope for,¡± I sighed.

    ¡°Really? Don¡¯t you prefer Rose or Lily instead?¡± squinted John.

    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t have that choice right now, so¡ª yeah,¡± I laughed.

    Both of them shook their heads, and our conversation came to an end when loud screams could be heard in the distance, along with sounds that signify the start of a war. So it begins.

 Book 2 - Chapter 115

    The sound of cannons, guns, and arrows firing erupted into the battle between the elves and insects at the border of the city. The elves had not suffered any casualties thus far as they had some interesting tactics to prevent themselves from getting overfatigued. It would seem that these elves had learned how to use elemental spells too. What surprised me the most is that these forest elves were actually using guns when they were already using bows and arrows. Guess they understood the beauty in shooting leads quickly rather than having to draw a bow before shooting. Who doesn¡¯t want to see an elf going akimbo style with dual pistols? Wait, are there even any?! I would love to see one in action!

    The Elementalist appears to be restless as we watched over the war from a distance. As much as I hate the idea of holding him back, the situation was actually handled rather well. The elves had a good idea of taking turns to reduce each warrior¡¯s fatigue. None of the bugs were able to push into the city thus far. Almost seemed like they were being used as baits instead of a full frontal assault. Is this it? Is this all you can conjure, Saruman? Wait a minute, who¡¯s Saruman? Why do I find this so funny when I don¡¯t even remember who he is?

    ¡°This¡ª isn¡¯t right. We should be down there helping them. What are we even doing just by sitting here and doing nothing?¡± questioned the Elementalist as he noticed I was chuckling softly.

    ¡°Have patience, young Padawan. The situation is under control, isn¡¯t it? You all have a¡ª rather interesting tactics that we humans could never copy; making full use of your lightweights to fight in turns. A sound tactic, if I say so myself. But our main objective is to hunt for the massive bug,¡± I explained.

    ¡°P¡ª Padawan? Never mind. Aren¡¯t those bugs massive enough? You¡¯re telling me there¡¯s an even bigger one?¡± he questioned us.

    ¡°Oh yeah~ I¡¯ve already taken down one of its massive leg but it is definitely the leader of the swarm. You will know when you see it, or hear it,¡± shrugged John.

    ¡°Hmm, why do I get the feeling that I¡¯m missing something here? What¡¯s the point in sending a small force to attack from the front? Are they just trying to wear us down? The enemy should know what the elves are capable off,¡± I scratched my head.

    ¡°They won¡¯t win in a battle of attrition, that¡¯s for sure. Elves can continue fighting for long durations without tiring ourselves, as we can take turns. If this continues, the enemy will run out of numbers before we suffer any casualties,¡± answered the Elementalist.

    ¡°And I¡¯m sure the enemy is aware of this. That massive bug is not a fool. Not to mention the beast monsters outsmarted us a couple of times when they attacked our city. I remember one time they¡ª¡± John stopped his sentence and quickly turned his gaze towards the Elementalist.

    ¡°They¡ª aren¡¯t going to do that, right?¡± asked John as he continued staring at the Elementalist with concern.

    ¡°Do what exactly? I wasn¡¯t there protecting the City Of Pines. What was their strategy?¡± I alternated my gaze between both of them.

    ¡°I¡¯ll do some inspections. You tell Zen about it,¡± said the Elementalist as he made his way to the city.

    ¡°John, don¡¯t keep me in the dark. I need to know what happened,¡± I urged him to tell me.

    ¡°Okay, the beast monsters used a few tactics against us the last time. Attacking in pairs, sneaking up on adventurers when night arrives or hurling the bodies of fallen adventurers at us. But the worse was¡ª¡± John was interrupted when we heard loud commotions coming from the city.

    From what I can see, the Elementalist was shouting something towards the main force. Not long after, something erupted from below the ground, and the Elementalist struck his dagger against what came out of it. Off goes one of the bug¡¯s heads, but plenty more emerged along with more holes erupting from the ground.

    Shit, I never thought they could tunnel through the city without them noticing. Is that¡ª why they used a small amount of their forces to cause all those commotions so that the elves couldn¡¯t hear them tunnelling? What a cunning strategy. But the massive bug is still nowhere to be seen. No matter, we should help out for now until it decides to show itself.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go, John. We should help the elves to prevent casualties,¡± I told him.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t our main objective the massive bug? It¡¯s still nowhere to be seen,¡± questioned John.

    ¡°Which is why we should just help what we can since the elves seem to be disoriented by the enemies attacking from all sides. Now that the enemy has shown one of its hands, I doubt it will show another one so soon. Besides, last I recall, it didn¡¯t look as though the massive bug had any healing capabilities unlike demons. It is probably wary of you since your axe is capable of hurting it,¡± I explained to John and proceeded to head towards the Elementalist.

    ¡°Hope you¡¯re right. Don¡¯t wish to be caught off guard once again,¡± sighed John as he followed after me.

    ***

    Just¡ª how many bugs are there?! We had been fighting for hours, yet their numbers seemed endless. Despite being easier than fighting beast monsters, their numbers more than make up for it. Not to mention killing them requires precision since all of them have thick carapaces.

    I shudder to think of the possibility that any of these were previously human or even an elf. It can¡¯t be. There are just too many of them. No, what am I even talking about? There were a huge number of beast monsters who attacked us in both the east and the west. Many humans had already died because of that.

    I took a glance around me, we can¡¯t afford to fallback as there¡¯s nowhere else for us to retreat to. This city is all there is for the elves, yet there should be somewhere we can regroup to restrategise ourselves.

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    Despite the overwhelming odds, we continued to defend the city. I refrained from using any of my gauntlet¡¯s spells as I knew I needed to use it when I faced the massive bug. Is it time for me to use it? I will need some cover beforehand to prepare myself.

    While I was debating with myself, loud howling could be heard all around us that sounded familiar. Flashes of white afterimages flashed around us. Something was moving extremely fast around us, picking off enemies with each flash.

    ¡°How¡¯s it going, young one?¡± asked a familiar voice behind me.

    ¡°Took your time, didn¡¯t you? Still not using your fangs, I take it?¡± I smirked without even turning to look at who was talking to me.

    ¡°No reason to, my claws are good enough for insects like these,¡± he chuckled.

    The winged dire wolves had finally joined the fray. They must had been preoccupied with something that delayed them from helping us earlier.

    ¡°These insects are brilliant. They knew how to stall us at the forest¡¯s borders to prevent us from helping here. But now that we¡¯re here, we can end this fight quickly,¡± he sneered.

    ¡°Not that easy. We need to find a way to close those tunnels, prevent more from coming through, and eliminate those below the surface. Damn it, I wished my wife were here to seal those tunnels,¡± I sighed in frustration.

    ¡°No point in thinking about what we lack; focus only on what we have and can do. Come, what ideas does that brilliant head of yours conjure?¡± he spoke wisely.

    ¡°Surprised you¡¯re sticking to me rather than the Commander. You would think the Alpha of the pack would serve the Commander instead of me,¡± I questioned his choice.

    ¡°To win a war, I choose the most brilliant and influential one that is capable of turning the tide. You are the one that will win this war for us, which is why I am here. Enough chitchatting. What¡¯s your plan?¡± he asked once more.

    Hmm, I have no bombs that can close them, and just closing them doesn¡¯t do anything since they can just tunnel elsewhere and re-emerge. I need to eliminate all those bugs inside those tunnels and those surrounding it. Think you¡¯re up for the task, Tengu-kaze?

    Always ready. Itching to try out that new thing you invented, spoke Byakko telepathically.

    ¡°Kuchisabishii-sama, will you allow me to ride you? The plan requires some height for me to achieve,¡± I asked curiously.

    ¡°Hm? Haha!! Can¡¯t resist, can ya? Tell me your plans and consider it a deal!¡± he laughed loudly.

    ¡°Very well, I¡¯ll be roasting all of those bugs if you can get me close to one of those tunnels. Here¡¯s hoping all of them are interconnected together so I don¡¯t need to destroy them individually,¡± I explained.

    ¡°Interesting, do you have bombs that are capable of doing so? You will need a lot of them if you wish to close all of them simultaneously, and from the look of your pouches and not a sniff of gunpowders, you don¡¯t have any bombs with you. How are you planning on roasting all of them then? Colour me intrigued by your proposal,¡± he grinned.

    ¡°Feast your eyes on the impossible then. You don¡¯t need a bomb to create a huge explosion, just a little bit of help from oxygen. Cover me while I do the necessary preparation. It¡¯s a pain to pull this off,¡± I reached into my back pouch and took out a cloth and the prototype lighter.

    I coated Tengu-kaze with a special wax that I formulated with the cloth and lit it on fire with the lighter. This is just a normal fire burning on the blade with the help of the wax. Then I searched for what I need to replicate the fire spell in my hip pouch. There you are, found it. It¡¯s a glass ball with two materials inside, a small fragment of the thunderstone and a chipped fang belonging to a red dragon.

    I tossed the ball into the air and smashed it with my flaming blade. The flames immediately extinguished in an instant but the blade started glowing yellow. Yellow sparks began snaking across the surface of the blade as though awaiting for something to ignite it. That¡¯s your cue, Byakko.

    Winds began to gather around Tengu-kaze as yellow fires started to emerge from the blade. Not long after, a vortex of pure yellow fire began swirling around Tengu-kaze as a cyclone of fire spun around the blade itself. Now this, is my fire spell. I had always noticed that Lily¡¯s fire spell looked rather reddish when she uses it. Turns out, that was what green dragon uses. Using the fang from red dragon, I can somehow replicate the fire that red dragons use instead which had the intensity to melt boulders. Time to put this into action.

    Kuchisabishii-sama¡¯s eyes widen as he saw the flames swirling around my blade and began laughing loudly. It must be amusing for him that I can somehow use fire spell.

    ¡°You never seek to amaze me, young one! Your brilliance certainly knows no bounds, possibly even exceeding the elves! For you to crack the code in using elemental spells on your own, I doubt the elves are going to be happy about it; but¡ª that¡¯s for another time. Let¡¯s get to roasting. My back is yours,¡± he laughed.

    I leapt up and mounted him, which gave a completely different experience for me. Dire wolves had broad backs, that¡¯s to say I had to spread my legs further apart. Not to mention Kuchisabishii-sama was the alpha of the entire pack, making him the largest wolf I could ever mount. And the next best thing is¡ª

    ¡°You ready? I¡¯m about to take flight,¡± he announced to me before spreading his wings and taking flight after a short run.

    I quickly grabbed onto his furs with my right hand to prevent myself from falling. Woo hoo!~ This is fun! I never thought I had the chance to fly someday!

    ¡°Stop having fun and focus!¡± screamed Kirin and Byakko as they knew how happy I was feeling. Aw c¡¯mon, can¡¯t I have a bit of joy in finally getting a chance to fly? It¡¯s not like any of you have wings. I swore Kirin shocked me out of jealousy after that thought.

    ¡°We¡¯re coming in close. You better get ready. Wait¡ª incoming!¡± warned Kuchisabishii-sama as he avoided the insects that were coming in to attack us.

    All the bugs had to do was to fly in close and let their spikes do all the work for them. They didn¡¯t even need to do much as their spikes were both used for offence and defence, which was why melee fighters were having such a hard time fighting against these bugs.

    ¡°Damn it, there are too many of them taking flight now. You need to do something since we¡¯re the only ones up in the air now. We had been fighting them on the ground because we knew we would be at a disadvantage due to their superior numbers,¡± growled Kuchisabishii-sama as he continued avoiding the bugs while slashing a couple of them with his claws.

    ¡°I¡¯ll handle it. You just focus on getting me close to a tunnel. The best way to kill bugs is with fire,¡± I assured him.

    I lifted Tengu-kaze above my head and gripped it two-handed. More winds began to spiral around the blade and the surrounding temperatures began to rise. Focus on heating the air around us and keep it focused around the blade. Heat it up, more, more! MORE! Now, let¡¯s get some explosion going.

    Tengu-kaze released superheated air, resulting in an explosive expansion that caused a massive shockwave, which was more than enough to obliterate most of the bugs around us. I hope this doesn¡¯t cause a thunderstorm in doing so; we shouldn¡¯t be high enough for it to cause some sort of reaction from Mother Nature.

    ¡°That was dangerous, young one! I almost lost control of the flight path!¡± shouted Kuchisabishii-sama.

    ¡°Well, at least the coast is clear now. Get me closer quickly,¡± I told him.

    ¡°We¡¯re almost there. Now¡¯s your chance. Take down those tunnels!¡± he roared.

    ¡°Tell everyone to stay as far away from any tunnels, I¡¯m worried that some of our allies might get hurt,¡± I told him as I started gathering more winds around Tengu-kaze, oxygen specifically.

    ¡°Leave it to me,¡± he assured me as he howled loudly for everyone to hear.

    Seeing that the elves understood what the howl meant, I guess it¡¯s time for me to take action then. I leapt off from Kuchisabishii-sama despite being up in the air. He let out a ¡°Wha¡ª¡° as he realised my weight was no longer on him. He tried to pursue after me, but I told him to stop where he was or he might get burned.

    Hot gasses could be seen trailing towards Tengu-kaze as the mini flaming vortex got bigger with each second. ¡°Time for a trip, Byakko,¡± I spoke to my blade before taking aim and throwing it into the middle of the tunnel. A trail of pure yellow flame could be seen before Tengu-kaze vanished into the darkness of the tunnel. The insects who were oblivious to the danger approaching them noticed that I was falling closer to the ground and decided to attack me. So many of them dashed their way towards me after I landed nearby their tunnel as they knew I was some high-value target. I waved at them before a flash of yellow engulfed the entire area.

    A massive explosion of flames erupted from the ground, as though numerous high explosives had gone off inside the tunnel. Tengu-kaze must have finally mixed the oxygen with the flames, which resulted in a more lethal explosion. Guess learning Alchemy paid off in some ways. And my hunch was right; they were all interconnected to one another, which made things easier for me. I stood still and admired the scene. I was unharmed as a protective bubble of cold air was swirling around me, keeping me protected. The ground was getting warmer, but nothing life-threatening. A sea of yellow flames was unfolding before me as the bugs burned where they stood. With the intensity of the flames, they would not even feel pain before turning into ashes. They might not even realise that they had died either. I wonder if I¡¯ll be able to create Hellfire that Horrus used on me. That would be insane if that ever happens.

    After the last flame died out, I resummoned Tengu-kaze with a snap of my left fingers. How was it, Byakko-sama? Had fun?

    ¡°Most definitely, boy. That was rather¡ª intense, even for me. You had outdone yourself in utilising my element in ways that I never thought possible. Even more so than your mother,¡± he spoke telepathically.

    Thanks for the compliment, but we still have work to be done. There are still more bugs for us to kill within the city. Let¡¯s go.

 Book 2 - Chapter 116

    Bloody hell, we just can¡¯t kill it. No matter what we do, it refuses to die. Are we just going to sit here and do nothing? No, no! There must be a way. I refuse to let it have its way! It must not finish what it¡¯s doing or we¡¯re screwed.

    ***

    Few hours earlier

    ¡°You¡¯re unpredictable, courageous, and dangerous, but that was a splendid sight indeed. Those pillars of flames that erupted from those tunnels were certainly a sight to behold. Tell me though, how are you unharmed from those flames of yours? Are you saying you can control those flames so as not to hurt you? If so, your proficiency in controlling elemental spells is even better than elves,¡± asked Kuchisabishii-sama.

    ¡°Well, I had a protective bubble that was preventing me from getting burned. I doubt my Celestial Beasts will allow their host to die, even though we bicker every once in a while,¡± I gently stroked Tengu-kaze¡¯s hilt.

    ¡°Well done indeed. I believe the Commander is looking forward to speaking with you,¡± he said as he spotted Noah approaching closer.

    ¡°Zen, what¡ª how¡­ thank you for what you did. You eliminated so many of those insects, yet you are somehow unharmed by the flames. I have so many questions for you, but now is not the right time. Come, follow me; we still have bugs in other sections of our forests that need to be eliminated,¡± said Noah as he gestured for me to follow after him with the Elementalist and John tagging along.

    ¡°Had anyone seen the¡ª¡± I was interrupted by a loud pinging sound followed by a wave of gold that washed over us. W¡ª what the hell was that? Where did that wave even come from?

    ¡°The Cosmic Tree, it¡¯s calling for us. What¡ª are the watchers doing? We need to go, we need to protect it! Sound the alarm, all hands, we need to protect the Cosmic Tree!¡± ordered Noah.

    ¡°Wait, what about the city? What about your people living here? You can¡¯t just abandoned it,¡± I questioned his decision.

    ¡°The importance of the Cosmic Tree supersedes everything else. We have no choice,¡± he explained.

    ¡°Leave a third of the army here to protect the city. We have a lot of powerful people that will be coming with you. This city is also important, Commander,¡± I explained my point.

    ¡°You don¡¯t understand, Zen. When the Cosmic Tree calls for help, anyone who is combat-ready must help it. This is our way of life, even if you disagree with our choice,¡± he explained with frustration.

    ¡°Noah, as your future son-in-law, please understand that this city is as important as the Cosmic Tree itself. These are your people who are living here. There are children, civilians and old folks that can¡¯t protect themselves. You can¡¯t just abandon all of them despite the call of the Cosmic Tree. Compromise a little; these are your people that you will be protecting. Otherwise, you end up losing when there is nothing left for you to protect,¡± I tried to persuade him to consider.

    ¡°There¡¯s no room for consideration. All of the elves had already agreed to this. Follow your orders, Zen. As your commander¡ª¡± Noah was interrupted by John, who tapped his shoulder.

    ¡°Hey hey, calm down, both of you. Every capable elf has to go, right? Since I¡¯m human, I can stay and help out. All of you can go ahead. I¡¯ll catch up after I¡¯m done,¡± he waved us to proceed.

    ¡°John, you are needed since your axe is capable of hurting the giant bug. You shouldn¡¯t be wasting time fighting these bugs when we have a priority target,¡± I explained to him.

    ¡°I fight better alone, Zen. It won¡¯t take that long, don¡¯t worry. Have some faith in me, brother. You are needed up there for your insight,¡± he smiled as he proceeded to enter the city.

    Noah didn¡¯t seem to bother as he started shouting something in Elvish, and all of the soldiers abandoned their positions to assemble around him. I grew worried about leaving John alone and thought of helping him when someone spoke behind me.

    ¡°I¡¯ll stay with him. He¡¯s strong, so there¡¯s nothing you need to worry about,¡± said Kuchisabishii-sama as though he knew what I wanted to do.

    ¡°I¡¯ll hold you to that. He means a lot to me, and I hate to see anything happen to him. Please protect him, Kuchisabishii-sama,¡± I bowed to him.

    ¡°Haha! I doubt I¡¯ll need to do anything, but I promise to keep him alive. Have no worries; you are needed elsewhere, young one,¡± he laughed.

    ¡°I know, as much as I hate to admit it, I have a feeling that I¡¯m needed up there. What I¡¯m worried is that this is a trap by our enemies to separate us,¡± I noticed Noah had done giving his speech to all his soldiers. It was then another ping of golden wave erupted from the Cosmic Tree. Something must had gotten it spooked for it to constantly call for help. What are the watchers even doing? I thought they were supposed to be powerful? Aren¡¯t they supposed to be protecting the tree?

    ¡°Zen, we need to go. You¡¯ll be taking this wolf to the Cosmic Tree. Something is wrong with the tree to behave this way. We need to protect it,¡± the Elementalist quickly passed a wolf to me.

    ¡°I thought the tree had its protectors? Were they defeated or something?¡± I questioned their existence.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. But we have to go. I¡¯ve been assigned to guide you, follow me,¡± he gestured.

    ¡°You mean in case I went rogue? I thought he trusted me,¡± I squinted at him.

    ¡°He does. Just that your point of view is different than ours. Yet he knows that he needs you, Master Zen. He is only acting in the best interest of the elves. Believe me, I¡¯m sure he wishes to protect this city himself,¡± he assured me.

    ¡°If he really needs me, then he needs to listen,¡± I sighed as I mounted the wolf assigned to me. The wolf glanced my way as though it wanted to take a good look at who was mounting it.

    ¡°Do you have a name? Your fur is so fluffy,¡± I smiled as I brushed its fur.

    ¡°Kogarashi, you have a rather pleasant scent, Master Zen. No wonder our Alpha is so fond of you,¡± smiled the female wolf.

    ¡°Oh, um, thanks. I wasn¡¯t expecting a compliment, Ms. Kogarashi. Bring me to the Cosmic Tree safely, alright? I hope your name doesn¡¯t reflect your flight skills. I don¡¯t want to freeze to death,¡± I petted the wolf.

    ¡°No worries, I¡¯ll do my best. Otherwise, Kuchisabishii-sama will kill me should anything happen to his favourite human,¡± she chuckled. Never thought winged dire wolves would be such lovely creatures.

    Noah and a couple of other soldiers who were mounting their wolves began flying towards the Cosmic Tree, while the others who weren¡¯t so lucky had to trek their way there on foot.

    ¡°Brace yourself, Master Zen. I¡¯ll be taking off,¡± said Kogarashi as I complied by holding onto her furs. Please be safe, John. There¡¯s still a lot of bugs remaining that you have to face alone. Don¡¯t be foolish and take on all of them at once.

    ***

    ¡°I¡¯m surprised you decided to follow me instead of Zen. Thought you were fond of him,¡± I spoke to Kuchisabishii-sama as I sliced through a couple of insects who were coming to attack us. My objective is to head towards the city centre, which was the reason as to why we went strolling yesterday. We needed to understand the layout of the city to protect it better.

    ¡°Couldn¡¯t leave his best friend alone. Besides, you piqued my interest too. It¡¯s not everyday we have humans inside our forest, not to mention such powerful ones,¡± he chuckled as he followed after me, only attacking the bugs that tried to sneak up on him from behind. Guess he¡¯s just here to ensure that I make it out alive.

    ¡°Well, you¡¯re in for a treat. I had never fought seriously after my battle with the previous Dragon Lord since I still couldn¡¯t control Bloodlust properly. Activating Frenzy while filtering out allies from foes are extremely difficult. But since there is barely anyone near me, I¡¯m able to use the full extend of Frenzy. All I had to do is to get to the centre of town,¡± I spoke as I ran towards the centre.

    ¡°I look forward to it; have no fear, I am not so easy to succumb to the effects of State of Mind,¡± he assured me.

    ¡°Great, filtering out a couple of individuals is still feasible for me though,¡± I hurried to a landmark that I was familiar with.

    There, that¡¯s where I need to go. If I could just¡ª BBBBOOOMMM!!

    ¡°Ahh!!!¡± I screamed as I was suddenly sent up into the air and was now in a free-fall.

    ¡°I got you, youngling!¡± said Kuchisabishii-sama as he grabbed me with his fangs and tossed me onto his back.

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    W¡ª what the hell was that?! Did an explosion happen from below when I was running? Dusts were still lingering in the air due to the explosion, but something tall was visible. Wait a minute, that was no explosion; something large erupted from the ground and tossed me into the air. But¡ª what is that? I had never seen such a large insect before.

    When the dust began to settle, this insect began spewing some form of acids on the buildings, instantly melting them like paper. I really hope there is no one inside as they would had been melted instantly. I definitely can¡¯t afford to get hit by that, don¡¯t wish to be melted alive.

    What in the world am I looking at though? I had never seen such a horrifying creature in my entire life. This insect is capable of standing upright even without any legs but having holes at each side of its body. It also has long jaws, two forearms, and an antennae. How is it even moving about with no legs? What stood out the most is that creepy face. Dear Odin, what is with that face? It¡¯s like a hybrid between a centifette and a manfette. Everything is just screaming WRONG about the existence of this insect, yet here it is in front of me.

    ¡°We need to stop this¡ª thing from causing more destruction. Put me down, Kuchisabishii-sama,¡± I tapped his body.

    ¡°You won¡¯t be able to handle that thing alone with the other bugs attacking you from all sides. I will help out,¡± he started descending.

    ¡°Not yet, I should be able to handle all of them. I am the Viking Lord, after all,¡± I assured him.

    ¡°Well, you better be careful. This war is getting stranger by the minute. I had never seen such a creature in my entire existence,¡± he growled as he got closer to the strange insect.

    ¡°Me neither. Let¡¯s hope we make it out of this battle alive. Guess I was wrong in saying that it won¡¯t take long,¡± I dismounted him and approached the insect cautiously.

    ***

    ¡°Hey, ugly!! How about you stop melting things and face something that moves,¡± I shouted to the hybrid insect.

    With a quick, unnatural reaction, the insect turned its head and slid its way towards me, as though wondering why someone was still there.

    ¡°What¡¯s this? Someone is still here? How unusual. It smells rather differently too,¡± spoke the insect as it twitched unnaturally as it stared at me.

    ¡°A¡ª human? Inside the elven forest? That¡¯s even more unusual. Not to mention, it has a pleasant musky smell too,¡± said the insect as it continued to inspect me.

    What the hell does that even mean? Am I some sort of insect magnet or something? I have no interest nor any attractions towards insects whatsoever. I don¡¯t have formicophilia, so stop with the weird insect fetish already.

    ¡°I¡¯m here to deal with all the insects attacking this city, and that includes you,¡± I gritted my teeth.

    ¡°How arrogant of you to think that you can stop all of us alone. You shall be punished for your arrogance,¡± hissed the hybrid as it started screeching out, calling to its brethren.

    More and more insects began to swarm and swirl around me and Kuchisabishii-sama. He released a growl but I made a glanced at him which made him silent. He must had noticed the power that had been gathering within me.

    ¡°We shall flay you where you stand. Your flesh will be stripped from your bones as we devour it in front of you while you suffer a painful death. The odds are not with you,¡± laughed the hybrid as the insects continued to circle all around us from all angles.

    ¡°Sadly though, you made a grave mistake. Thanks for calling all your brethren here. Now you can watch them die by their own hands,¡± I smirked and roared with fury, releasing all of the power gathered within me.

    I activated Bloodlust and unleashed Frenzy upon my enemies. There were no other beings nearby aside from Kuchisabishii-sama, which was easy enough for me to exclude since he¡¯s so large. All the other elves must have left the city since it was dangerous to be here, which worked in my favour.

    Steam was leaking out of my mouth as Bloodlust was active now. My only focus was the large hybrid insect who seemed to be unaffected by Frenzy. All the other bugs were killing among themselves as they had fallen prey to Frenzy. Now the odds are even. Let¡¯s dance.

    Bloody hell, we just can¡¯t kill it. No matter what we do, it refuses to die. Are we just going to sit here and do nothing? No, no! There must be a way. I refuse to let it have its way! It must not finish what it¡¯s doing or we¡¯re screwed.

    ***

    Few hours earlier

    ¡°You¡¯re unpredictable, courageous, and dangerous, but that was a splendid sight indeed. Those pillars of flames that erupted from those tunnels were certainly a sight to behold. Tell me though, how are you unharmed from those flames of yours? Are you saying you can control those flames so as not to hurt you? If so, your proficiency in controlling elemental spells is even better than elves,¡± asked Kuchisabishii-sama.

    ¡°Well, I had a protective bubble that was preventing me from getting burned. I doubt my Celestial Beasts will allow their host to die, even though we bicker every once in a while,¡± I gently stroked Tengu-kaze¡¯s hilt.

    ¡°Well done indeed. I believe the Commander is looking forward to speaking with you,¡± he said as he spotted Noah approaching closer.

    ¡°Zen, what¡ª how¡­ thank you for what you did. You eliminated so many of those insects, yet you are somehow unharmed by the flames. I have so many questions for you, but now is not the right time. Come, follow me; we still have bugs in other sections of our forests that need to be eliminated,¡± said Noah as he gestured for me to follow after him with the Elementalist and John tagging along.

    ¡°Had anyone seen the¡ª¡± I was interrupted by a loud pinging sound followed by a wave of gold that washed over us. W¡ª what the hell was that? Where did that wave even come from?

    ¡°The Cosmic Tree, it¡¯s calling for us. What¡ª are the watchers doing? We need to go, we need to protect it! Sound the alarm, all hands, we need to protect the Cosmic Tree!¡± ordered Noah.

    ¡°Wait, what about the city? What about your people living here? You can¡¯t just abandoned it,¡± I questioned his decision.

    ¡°The importance of the Cosmic Tree supersedes everything else. We have no choice,¡± he explained.

    ¡°Leave a third of the army here to protect the city. We have a lot of powerful people that will be coming with you. This city is also important, Commander,¡± I explained my point.

    ¡°You don¡¯t understand, Zen. When the Cosmic Tree calls for help, anyone who is combat-ready must help it. This is our way of life, even if you disagree with our choice,¡± he explained with frustration.

    ¡°Noah, as your future son-in-law, please understand that this city is as important as the Cosmic Tree itself. These are your people who are living here. There are children, civilians and old folks that can¡¯t protect themselves. You can¡¯t just abandon all of them despite the call of the Cosmic Tree. Compromise a little; these are your people that you will be protecting. Otherwise, you end up losing when there is nothing left for you to protect,¡± I tried to persuade him to consider.

    ¡°There¡¯s no room for consideration. All of the elves had already agreed to this. Follow your orders, Zen. As your commander¡ª¡± Noah was interrupted by John, who tapped his shoulder.

    ¡°Hey hey, calm down, both of you. Every capable elf has to go, right? Since I¡¯m human, I can stay and help out. All of you can go ahead. I¡¯ll catch up after I¡¯m done,¡± he waved us to proceed.

    ¡°John, you are needed since your axe is capable of hurting the giant bug. You shouldn¡¯t be wasting time fighting these bugs when we have a priority target,¡± I explained to him.

    ¡°I fight better alone, Zen. It won¡¯t take that long, don¡¯t worry. Have some faith in me, brother. You are needed up there for your insight,¡± he smiled as he proceeded to enter the city.

    Noah didn¡¯t seem to bother as he started shouting something in Elvish, and all of the soldiers abandoned their positions to assemble around him. I grew worried about leaving John alone and thought of helping him when someone spoke behind me.

    ¡°I¡¯ll stay with him. He¡¯s strong, so there¡¯s nothing you need to worry about,¡± said Kuchisabishii-sama as though he knew what I wanted to do.

    ¡°I¡¯ll hold you to that. He means a lot to me, and I hate to see anything happen to him. Please protect him, Kuchisabishii-sama,¡± I bowed to him.

    ¡°Haha! I doubt I¡¯ll need to do anything, but I promise to keep him alive. Have no worries; you are needed elsewhere, young one,¡± he laughed.

    ¡°I know, as much as I hate to admit it, I have a feeling that I¡¯m needed up there. What I¡¯m worried is that this is a trap by our enemies to separate us,¡± I noticed Noah had done giving his speech to all his soldiers. It was then another ping of golden wave erupted from the Cosmic Tree. Something must had gotten it spooked for it to constantly call for help. What are the watchers even doing? I thought they were supposed to be powerful? Aren¡¯t they supposed to be protecting the tree?

    ¡°Zen, we need to go. You¡¯ll be taking this wolf to the Cosmic Tree. Something is wrong with the tree to behave this way. We need to protect it,¡± the Elementalist quickly passed a wolf to me.

    ¡°I thought the tree had its protectors? Were they defeated or something?¡± I questioned their existence.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. But we have to go. I¡¯ve been assigned to guide you, follow me,¡± he gestured.

    ¡°You mean in case I went rogue? I thought he trusted me,¡± I squinted at him.

    ¡°He does. Just that your point of view is different than ours. Yet he knows that he needs you, Master Zen. He is only acting in the best interest of the elves. Believe me, I¡¯m sure he wishes to protect this city himself,¡± he assured me.

    ¡°If he really needs me, then he needs to listen,¡± I sighed as I mounted the wolf assigned to me. The wolf glanced my way as though it wanted to take a good look at who was mounting it.

    ¡°Do you have a name? Your fur is so fluffy,¡± I smiled as I brushed its fur.

    ¡°Kogarashi, you have a rather pleasant scent, Master Zen. No wonder our Alpha is so fond of you,¡± smiled the female wolf.

    ¡°Oh, um, thanks. I wasn¡¯t expecting a compliment, Ms. Kogarashi. Bring me to the Cosmic Tree safely, alright? I hope your name doesn¡¯t reflect your flight skills. I don¡¯t want to freeze to death,¡± I petted the wolf.

    ¡°No worries, I¡¯ll do my best. Otherwise, Kuchisabishii-sama will kill me should anything happen to his favourite human,¡± she chuckled. Never thought winged dire wolves would be such lovely creatures.

    Noah and a couple of other soldiers who were mounting their wolves began flying towards the Cosmic Tree, while the others who weren¡¯t so lucky had to trek their way there on foot.

    ¡°Brace yourself, Master Zen. I¡¯ll be taking off,¡± said Kogarashi as I complied by holding onto her furs. Please be safe, John. There¡¯s still a lot of bugs remaining that you have to face alone. Don¡¯t be foolish and take on all of them at once.

    ***

    ¡°I¡¯m surprised you decided to follow me instead of Zen. Thought you were fond of him,¡± I spoke to Kuchisabishii-sama as I sliced through a couple of insects who were coming to attack us. My objective is to head towards the city centre, which was the reason as to why we went strolling yesterday. We needed to understand the layout of the city to protect it better.

    ¡°Couldn¡¯t leave his best friend alone. Besides, you piqued my interest too. It¡¯s not everyday we have humans inside our forest, not to mention such powerful ones,¡± he chuckled as he followed after me, only attacking the bugs that tried to sneak up on him from behind. Guess he¡¯s just here to ensure that I make it out alive.

    ¡°Well, you¡¯re in for a treat. I had never fought seriously after my battle with the previous Dragon Lord since I still couldn¡¯t control Bloodlust properly. Activating Frenzy while filtering out allies from foes are extremely difficult. But since there is barely anyone near me, I¡¯m able to use the full extend of Frenzy. All I had to do is to get to the centre of town,¡± I spoke as I ran towards the centre.

    ¡°I look forward to it; have no fear, I am not so easy to succumb to the effects of State of Mind,¡± he assured me.

    ¡°Great, filtering out a couple of individuals is still feasible for me though,¡± I hurried to a landmark that I was familiar with.

    There, that¡¯s where I need to go. If I could just¡ª BBBBOOOMMM!!

    ¡°Ahh!!!¡± I screamed as I was suddenly sent up into the air and was now in a free-fall.

    ¡°I got you, youngling!¡± said Kuchisabishii-sama as he grabbed me with his fangs and tossed me onto his back.

    W¡ª what the hell was that?! Did an explosion happen from below when I was running? Dusts were still lingering in the air due to the explosion, but something tall was visible. Wait a minute, that was no explosion; something large erupted from the ground and tossed me into the air. But¡ª what is that? I had never seen such a large insect before.

    When the dust began to settle, this insect began spewing some form of acids on the buildings, instantly melting them like paper. I really hope there is no one inside as they would had been melted instantly. I definitely can¡¯t afford to get hit by that, don¡¯t wish to be melted alive.

    What in the world am I looking at though? I had never seen such a horrifying creature in my entire life. This insect is capable of standing upright even without any legs but having holes at each side of its body. It also has long jaws, two forearms, and an antennae. How is it even moving about with no legs? What stood out the most is that creepy face. Dear Odin, what is with that face? It¡¯s like a hybrid between a centifette and a manfette. Everything is just screaming WRONG about the existence of this insect, yet here it is in front of me.

    ¡°We need to stop this¡ª thing from causing more destruction. Put me down, Kuchisabishii-sama,¡± I tapped his body.

    ¡°You won¡¯t be able to handle that thing alone with the other bugs attacking you from all sides. I will help out,¡± he started descending.

    ¡°Not yet, I should be able to handle all of them. I am the Viking Lord, after all,¡± I assured him.

    ¡°Well, you better be careful. This war is getting stranger by the minute. I had never seen such a creature in my entire existence,¡± he growled as he got closer to the strange insect.

    ¡°Me neither. Let¡¯s hope we make it out of this battle alive. Guess I was wrong in saying that it won¡¯t take long,¡± I dismounted him and approached the insect cautiously.

    ***

    ¡°Hey, ugly!! How about you stop melting things and face something that moves,¡± I shouted to the hybrid insect.

    With a quick, unnatural reaction, the insect turned its head and slid its way towards me, as though wondering why someone was still there.

    ¡°What¡¯s this? Someone is still here? How unusual. It smells rather differently too,¡± spoke the insect as it twitched unnaturally as it stared at me.

    ¡°A¡ª human? Inside the elven forest? That¡¯s even more unusual. Not to mention, it has a pleasant musky smell too,¡± said the insect as it continued to inspect me.

    What the hell does that even mean? Am I some sort of insect magnet or something? I have no interest nor any attractions towards insects whatsoever. I don¡¯t have formicophilia, so stop with the weird insect fetish already.

    ¡°I¡¯m here to deal with all the insects attacking this city, and that includes you,¡± I gritted my teeth.

    ¡°How arrogant of you to think that you can stop all of us alone. You shall be punished for your arrogance,¡± hissed the hybrid as it started screeching out, calling to its brethren.

    More and more insects began to swarm and swirl around me and Kuchisabishii-sama. He released a growl but I made a glanced at him which made him silent. He must had noticed the power that had been gathering within me.

    ¡°We shall flay you where you stand. Your flesh will be stripped from your bones as we devour it in front of you while you suffer a painful death. The odds are not with you,¡± laughed the hybrid as the insects continued to circle all around us from all angles.

    ¡°Sadly though, you made a grave mistake. Thanks for calling all your brethren here. Now you can watch them die by their own hands,¡± I smirked and roared with fury, releasing all of the power gathered within me.

    I activated Bloodlust and unleashed Frenzy upon my enemies. There were no other beings nearby aside from Kuchisabishii-sama, which was easy enough for me to exclude since he¡¯s so large. All the other elves must have left the city since it was dangerous to be here, which worked in my favour.

    Steam was leaking out of my mouth as Bloodlust was active now. My only focus was the large hybrid insect who seemed to be unaffected by Frenzy. All the other bugs were killing among themselves as they had fallen prey to Frenzy. Now the odds are even. Let¡¯s dance.

 Book 2 - Chapter 117

    Chaos ensued around me as insects were dropping like flies and in pieces from above. This power that the Demons wield is truly bonkers, especially when you pair it with Frenzy. I doubt even Zen had the luxury of seeing it with his own eyes: the true power of Bloodlust with Frenzy active. As far as I know, he doesn¡¯t use Frenzy on his opponents and mostly uses it for stat boosts and increased spell intensity. Honestly speaking, Zen¡¯s Bloodlust appears to be different from mine. His one causes uncontrollable fear to his surroundings rather than depicting any sort of Frenzy effects, which I found puzzling. I thought all Bloodlusts were the same. Even Zen had no idea how to even use that fear of his effectively in combat.

    Alright, seems like I¡¯ve steered too far from the main topic. Frenzy is extremely difficult to control on its own as it affects the entirety of your surroundings. I have limited control over this power and it works best when there are no one around me or at most a couple of friendlies. If I¡¯m surrounded by allies, you can forget about me using it effectively. The biggest issue with Bloodlust is that it provides negative effects to both allies and foes, unless you¡¯re a Demon who is capable of harnessing those powers naturally.

    What is Focused Meditation compared to Bloodlust, huh? It is so much easier to use when all it does is calm your surroundings as opposed to using Bloodlust with Frenzy, who can end up turning your allies against each other. Why did I have to end up being born as a Gladiolus when I literally suck at controlling things?

    As I continued to glance at my surroundings, I realised it felt like a waste to not be using my axe to absorb all of these insect¡¯s life-force. But I knew it would be foolish to be taking them head-on and risk my life. Better to play it safe than being a fool.

    ¡°A human using Higher State of Mind to this extend, how rare, and annoying,¡± sighed the hybrid as it began shrieking loudly. All the insects stopped killing each other and seemed to have snapped clear of Frenzy¡¯s effect. Oh bugger, I was expecting the massive bug to have some sort of rallying power but for this hybrid to actually have it too? This is gonna suck for me, big time. Damn it, and here I was hoping that Frenzy would reduce more of their numbers before they snapped out of its effects.

    ¡°Your plan has failed, and now you will suffer the consequences,¡± hissed the hybrid.

    I wore my gauntlet and waited for it to activate. Seems like I¡¯m gonna need some other strategy to fight this swarm.

    ¡°Well, I was hoping that you wouldn¡¯t possess the power to rally the other insects. Guess you¡¯re not some disposable chump after all,¡± I smirked at the hybrid.

    ¡°Our lord had predicted the possibility that you would be staying here to protect the city and specifically chose me to fight against you. Her plans will grant us the seat at the top of the food chain, and I shall be her instrument in making it a reality. You will die by me today, Viking Lord,¡± hissed the hybrid.

    ¡°We shall see,¡± I exhaled, and upon hearing the satisfying click of my gauntlet, I unsheathed my axe quickly and threw it at the hybrid where it reacted quickly and avoided my axe.

    ¡°Fool, now you¡¯re unarmed!¡± laughed the hybrid as it rushed towards me with unholy speed.

    SMASH!!

    The hybrid slammed headfirst into an attempt to clamp its forearms onto me, but I managed to hold it back. Those spiky forearms bit into my left palm, but I maintained my grip in stopping the forearms from clamping me. Knowing what a manfette is capable of doing, I did not wish to be devoured alive. As luck would have it, my right palm was also open, which worked in my favour.

    ¡°You can never hold me back forever! You¡¯ll eventually tire out!¡± shouted the hybrid as it pushed its entire body weight against me.

    ¡°Perhaps so. But I guess your boss didn¡¯t inform you about what I¡¯m capable of,¡± I smirked as my axe flew back to me and sliced off the forearm that I was gripping tightly with my right hand.

    ¡°GAAAHHH!!! What devilry is this! There was no report about you controlling your axe in this manner!¡± spat the hybrid.

    The hybrid retreated as the other insects began to swirl around me and Kuchisabishii-sama once again. I stood still as my axe started glowing red after having drawn blood from the hybrid. My left palm began to heal after my axe had fully absorbed the blood. Sigh, this axe¡ª is the coolest weapon I have ever wielded in my entire life! Yeah, sure, it doesn¡¯t have a Celestial Being residing in it, but as long as I draw the blood of my enemies with it, any wound that I sustain will be healed. How cool is that?!

    The insects began to close the distance as they continued to swirl around both of us. I held my axe at the ready with my right hand and readied myself to do something clever, or something that was stupid. I spun myself, holding my axe by the edge and increasing its size. A couple of insects that tried to attack me were sliced apart by my axe. While it sounded cool, there was no way I could continuously spin myself forever.

    Using the momentum of my spin, I tossed my axe in a circular arc which miraculously began spinning around me. Ha! My idea works! Now, if I were to lift my gauntlet higher, will it¡ª it most certainly does. I can control the height of my spinning axe with my gauntlet. Now, let¡¯s see what these insects will do when we¡¯re protected by my axe.

    ¡°Insolent wretched. Your little spinning axe isn¡¯t going to save you! Our numbers will swarm through that pathetic axe of yours. Attack!¡± roared the hybrid.

    I gripped my right fist, and the gauntlet clicked as it released steam. I kept Frenzy active as I noticed some of the bugs were still attacking each other. Hm, guess this hybrid is losing its grip or perhaps it doesn¡¯t have a perfect rallying counter to my Frenzy. I moved my axe according to where the insects attacked us. All I had to do was raise, lower, move my gauntlet forward or backward to move my axe, and it counters any of the insects that tried to attack us. Seems like they are not entirely unified after all.

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    Despite the horrible visibility, I managed to notice a couple of insects were being eaten by the hybrid. Moments later, the missing forearm regrew with a sickening loud pop. The colour had a much lighter green as compared to the older forearm, possibly due to it being newly regenerated.

    Glancing at the situation around me, it would seem like my randomly thought-out plan had not failed me thus far. Most of the bugs were unable to get through my axe due to how fast it was spinning around us. Any that somehow made it through were met with my fists or Kuchisabishii-sama¡¯s claws. Thinking I was relatively safe, I was suddenly yanked by the collar and was in mid-air before even realising what had happened. I took a quick glance behind me and Kuchisabishii-sama was dragging me away with his mouth. It was not until I paid attention to where we were standing moments earlier that I realised the reason he did so. The ground was bubbling and steam was rising as though it was doused with acid. I really need to pay more attention to my surroundings, but the swirling insects was disorienting and it was difficult for me to see what the hybrid was doing. Perhaps that was the main reason as to why the insects kept swirling around us.

    My axe flew back to me automatically as we had gained significant distance from the hybrid. Thanks for making me fall in love with my axe even more than I already have, Zen. I will never forget what you had done for me. Time for another change of plan, as I doubt I can repeat what I had done earlier. I deactivated Frenzy to conserve my strength, all the while wondering if they will be coming after us or will they continue to destroy the elven city instead. To my luck, the sound of the hybrid sliding towards us and loud buzzing could be heard. Nice, either they had forgotten their objective or they are just foolish to avenge their fallen. Either way, I need to figure out a new plan to stop the acid attack from the hybrid.

    ¡°You need to stop that attack should you wish to fight properly, since you seem to be lacking in the speed department,¡± explained Kuchisabishii-sama.

    Ouch, does he have to be this direct? I know my weaknesses, okay?

    ¡°I¡¯m fully aware of what I need to do. Feast your eyes on how reckless a Viking fights,¡± I removed my gauntlet to keep it safe. I hate to see it getting melted when I fight aggressively.

    The hybrid emerged among the trees, but the sound of buzzing had completely stopped. Damn it, did they tunnel themselves underground again? Seems like Kuchisabishii-sama had reached the same conclusion as me, as he placed his ear closer to the ground.

    ¡°The Viking Lord sure is a persistent enemy to fight. I shall ensure your quick death before I continue with my assigned task,¡± the hybrid raised its body.

    ¡°You¡¯re right, I should eliminate you quickly before I head my way towards the big golden tree there. You¡¯re just not worth my time to waste,¡± I held my axe ready.

    ¡°Your insults mean nothing when you¡¯re practically like an insect to me,¡± the hybrid shrieked, and insects leapt from its back to ambush us.

    I tossed my axe towards the head of the hybrid, which it avoided with ease. Fully expecting me to still be on the ground, it readied itself to spit acid on me but realised that I was missing. It turned its head towards my axe, where I had teleported to, and once again, I threw it towards the hybrid.

    It slapped my axe aside with its forearm and spat acid towards my direction. I quickly teleported to my axe and somehow landed on its back. I wrestled the hybrid with all my might as it struggled to free itself from my grip and began trashing about. It slammed me against some trees in an attempt to get rid of me, but I held on tightly. I tried to snap its neck, but it was difficult as it kept moving about, preventing me from getting a good hold, not to mention its carapace was much thicker than I initially thought.

    The hybrid began to roll itself on the ground, to which I had to release my grip as the weight of the hybrid was ridiculously heavy, and I did not want to be crushed. Regaining my balance, I quickly rushed towards the hybrid as it struggled to raise itself after that strange move.

    I lunged at the hybrid, hoping to grab its forearms before it lunged at me and getting devoured alive instead. And¡ª I was foolish. I had completely forgotten the speed at which a manfette is able to strike its opponent. Both my hands ended up getting caught in the grip of the hybrid¡¯s forearms as I am brought closer to its mouth. Fuck! I¡¯m going to have nightmares about this for days to come.

    ¡°I shall enjoy snacking on you for causing me so much trouble. Might be tough to chew, but better than having you causing me more problems,¡± said the hybrid as it brought me closer to its scary mouth.

    I released my grip on my right hand to call my axe, only to realise I had removed my gauntlet earlier to prevent it from getting melted. Damn it! There is only one thing I can do now, and I need to make it count.

    ¡°Quit squirming. Fine then, I¡¯ll eat your head first!¡± The hybrid brought my head extremely close to its mouth.

    I made my move when I was close enough to the hybrid. I twisted my body upwards and kicked the chin of the hybrid as hard as I could. The spines in the forearms bit into my arm¡¯s skin, but I ignored the pain as I needed to take advantage of the situation. The hybrid¡¯s head flew upwards, and I quickly pulled my left arm so that I could move more freely. The spines bit into my left forearm, and blood was gushing out by the second. After ensuring I had enough freedom to move, I quickly slammed my left foot on the hybrid¡¯s right forearm. Perhaps it was due to it being a newly regenerated forearm, I had no problem dismembering it with just the strength of my foot.

    Now that my right arm is free, well technically, since the dismembered forearm was still attached to my arm as the spines had embedded deeply into my flesh, I quickly reached into my pouch to wear my gauntlet. The hybrid was starting to recover itself, but I was quicker. I reached out to my axe as my gauntlet clicked, hoping that it would reach faster as the spines in the hybrid¡¯s left forearm were biting deeper into my left arm since it was the only thing preventing me from falling straight down.

    The hybrid recovered itself and almost spat acids at me, but not before my axe sliced through the hybrid¡¯s left forearm, instantly sending me into a free fall. I was not expecting my axe to be coming from that direction, as I had no idea where it went, honestly speaking. Acting on instinct, I threw my axe and somehow managed to pierce one of the hybrid¡¯s eyes, sending it roaring in pain. I quickly teleported to my axe again to prevent myself from falling to my death.

    Without so much as thinking about the consequences, I used my axe as a handhold and slammed my left fist into the mouth of the hybrid. Upon finding what I was looking for, I grabbed onto its tongue and pulled it out as hard as I could. Despite the mouth of the hybrid being riddled with teeth and mandibles, I powered through the pain and focused on getting rid of the acid sacs inside its mouth.

    Having fully ripped the tongue out, I pulled myself upward using all my remaining strength and propelled myself above the hybrid. Gripping my axe with both hands, I increased the size of my axe until it was large enough and swung it towards the neck of the hybrid, decapitating its head with a satisfying clean slice. Once again I was falling towards the ground, but I proceeded to jam my axe into the hybrid¡¯s long carapace, using it to reduce my falling speed and reaching down safely to ground level. The hybrid¡¯s body fell to the ground with a loud thud.

    Gaining some semblance after finally placing my feet on the ground, I noticed what I ripped out wasn¡¯t actually the tongue but looked like some sort of poison gland with a tiny-looking hose at the tip. Not wanting to figure out the extent of my wounds, I took a peek at my left arm and it was in a horrible shape with the flesh and skin melting from the poison. But none of this worries me as I knew I had drawn a lot of blood from the hybrid. My axe was practically soaked in the hybrid¡¯s blood and as though on cue, it began glowing red and absorbed all the greenish blood from the blade to the hilt, healing all of my wounds in the process.

    I scanned my surroundings, wondering why everything was relatively quiet when there were supposed to be a bunch of insects remaining that I had to eliminate. It was not until I noticed Kuchisabishii-sama resting on the ground and waving at me that I realised he had already killed all of them. I approached him, hoping that we could take a quick look at the elven city before making my way towards the golden tree, but to my surprise, he started reprimanding me.

    ¡°And here I thought the other young one was dangerous, as it turns out, you¡¯re even worse with that recklessness of yours. However¡ª it would seemed that axe of yours is exactly what you need to complement your fighting style,¡± he chuckled.

    ¡°Oh, um, thanks? Is it okay for me to ride you? We should be heading towards the golden tree as time is of the essence,¡± I asked him.

    ¡°Absolutely not. I am not letting you ride when you¡¯re practically drenched in all of those green blood. A dip in the river is what you need to do before I allow you to ride me. I ain¡¯t letting my fur be sullied by those icky blood,¡± he blew steam from his nose.

    ¡°O¡ª okay, where¡¯s the nearest river then?¡± I asked him as I couldn¡¯t believe what I had just heard. I thought he, of all beings, would be eager to protect that golden tree from whatever was trying to attack it.

    ¡°Right this way, youngling. Make sure to scrub yourself properly. I want to see all of that blood gone before I allow you to ride me,¡± he led the way.

    Guess a quick shower is needed before I can be on my merry way. Be safe up there, Zen and Elementalist. Don¡¯t do anything foolish until I get there.

 Book 2 - Chapter 118

    W¡ª what in the world am I looking at here? Is that¡ª an ant? But why does it look so¡ª different? Its appearance seems to be a hybrid between an ant and a human. It is bipedal with four legs fused together to become two instead. However, those spiky arms and claws are definitely dangerous for sure.

    It was lifting what appears to be one of the watchers, who turns out to be some sort of robotic figure of sorts. There were a couple of them littered all around the tree in pieces. The ant glanced towards my direction as it dropped the Watcher it was holding and stomped on its face.

    This¡ª ant, is dangerous for sure. Only one insect to protect that damn massive bug who appears to be sucking on the Cosmic Tree? Must be pretty cocky in thinking that this ant is capable of handling all of us at the same time.

    ¡°T¡ª this humanoid-looking ant defeated all the Watchers single-handedly? Dear Goddess, we¡¯re screwed,¡± uttered the Elementalist who was flying beside me.

    ¡°Are the Watchers actually powerful? They appear to be some sort of robots,¡± I asked him.

    ¡°The Watchers¡ª were beings that were originally created and brought over from our realm. Invented and handcrafted from the brightest of minds, the Watchers are capable of defeating even a red dragon single-handedly without much effort. With a handful of them, they are capable of taking over the world should they wish. But¡ª this ant took all of them down. We are in for the fight of our lives,¡± sighed the Elementalist.

    Hm, was I mistaken in thinking that the massive bug was the Vessel of a God? Can it be this ant instead? No, my gut feeling is telling me that this ant is just the henchman for the massive bug. It must be vulnerable now and requires a powerful being to protect it while it feeds on the tree. Perhaps it had poured all of its power into this ant while it knew it could gain more from the Cosmic Tree.

    ¡°We should split ourselves. One team will eliminate that massive bug sucking on the tree, while the remaining will do our best to stall this humanoid ant. I don¡¯t like what that massive bug is doing and what powers it can obtain from sucking the tree. One thing¡¯s for sure, the fate of the elves is at stake here. We need to win this,¡± I spoke loudly.

    ¡°I agree with your assessment. We are dealing with two unknowns here, but we can¡¯t afford to waste time. As much as I wished to proceed with caution, we cannot afford allow that giant insect to feed on our Cosmic Tree even a second longer. We need to eliminate it fast,¡± answered Noah.

    ¡°As you wish, Supreme Commander. We will do your bidding,¡± replied the Elementalist as half of the forces split themselves.

    ¡°Who will you be going for, Zen?¡± asked Noah.

    ¡°Neither. I don¡¯t have a clear picture on where I¡¯m needed yet. I know our main target is that giant sucking bug, but I am rather concerned about this ant as well. Allow me to hang back before I make my decision,¡± I explained to him.

    ¡°Well, don¡¯t take too long. I need all available hands to protect the tree,¡± he warned me as he began his descent.

    ¡°What shall we do, Master Zen?¡± asked Kogarashi.

    ¡°Is it possible for you to remain out of sight, hidden among the trees? It will be better for us to be hidden if we wish to oversee the fight,¡± I whispered to her.

    ¡°Stealth isn¡¯t exactly my forte, but I¡¯ll try my best,¡± said Kogarashi as she flew on top of some trees and hid among some dense covered leaves.

    Hm, I wonder if I were to use Conceal now, will it affect Kogarashi too? That sounds rather tempting. Definitely a good time for me to check whether my spell affects mounts. Without hesitation, I casted Conceal on myself.

    Well, what do you know, it does affect mounts. Wonder if Kogarashi is aware that her body is partially invisible right now. Upon overlooking the scene from above, I still have no answer as to where I¡¯m needed. I know full well that the damn large sucking bug needs to be eliminated but my instinct is telling me that the ant is who I should be prioritising instead. What a wrong time to be stuck in a dilemma.

    The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    ***

    Never thought I would be leading this half of the forces in taking down this massive insect that both Zen and the Viking Lord were talking about. Despite being half the size of the Cosmic Tree, it is certainly one of the largest creatures I have ever seen. I should apologise for doubting them earlier.

    However, what is this insect trying to do? What is it even planning by sucking the sap of the Cosmic Tree? Is it trying to obtain some sort of power from the tree itself? I shudder to think of the possibilities. Whatever it is, we need to stop it now.

    ¡°Archers! Take it down!¡± I roared as I pointed my dagger towards the massive insect.

    Hundreds of arrows flew towards the insect, but none of them struck home. All of them bounced off or were deflected by the insect. Is it due to its thick carapace? Our arrows were made from the strongest of bones or materials and imbued by elemental properties. How can it deflect every single one of them? Fine then, I shall strike it between the carapaces then!

    My winged dire wolf flew closer as I readied my daggers to pierce the soft tissues of the insect. I struck out and thought I had managed to pierce it in between the crevices of the carapace. It was not until I realised my hand was shaking as my dagger was just a few inches away from reaching the soft tissues. The body of the giant insect suddenly started glowing gold and with a burst of golden energy, it sent me flying backwards along with my mount.

    W¡ª What in the world just happened? Is that its defence mechanism to prevent us from killing it? If melee is out of the question, we¡¯ll need a strong ranged weapon that is capable of piercing through its carapace then. Damn it, we don¡¯t have any cannons with us currently as all of them are being brought along with our remaining forces, who have yet to trek their way here. The Viking Lord! Shit! He¡¯s protecting our city right now. The only remaining option I can think of is¡ª Zen. His lighting should be strong enough to pierce through the carapace of the massive insect!

    My forces continued to attack the insect with ranged attacks, but it was relatively pointless. A couple of soldiers went in to melee the massive bug but were met with the same fate as me. We need Zen here. Where the hell is he?!

    ¡°HOLD!¡± I shouted as loudly as I could to stop my forces from wasting their ammunition or thinking of doing something stupid. I thought of seeking the Supreme Commander¡¯s advice, but the massive bug suddenly released a golden energy once again for no apparent reason. That can¡¯t be right. I scanned its surroundings, trying to find whether there were any foolish soldiers that ignored my order, but¡ª there were none that I could see. Why did it suddenly release that energy burst then?

    It was then a massive bolt of lightning fell from the sky and struck the top portion of the bug directly. But an extremely loud pinging sound erupted where it struck, causing all of the elves to cover their ears, including me. Once again a burst of golden energy erupted from the bug, sending something flying towards my direction.

    I know full well what it was and quickly rushed over to grab him before he landed on the ground. He appears to be unharmed, which is good, but my worst fears are realised. We can¡¯t harm this insect with whatever we have right now. Is there nothing we can do at all? Are we just going to stare at it sucking the life-force out of our Cosmic Tree? No¡ª NO! There must be something we can do to prevent it from harming our Cosmic Tree!

    ¡°Is there a way we can cut the Cosmic Tree?¡± whispered Zen.

    ¡°W¡ª what? That is preposterous! How could you even suggest such a thing?! Under no circumstances will any of us be cutting down the Cosmic Tree.¡± I scolded him.

    ¡°Elementalist, with all due respect, open your bloody eyes and see the bigger picture. Didn¡¯t you noticed the Cosmic Tree is getting duller as time passes? What¡¯s going to happen when this damn giant bug sucks out all the life-force of the Cosmic Tree? What if it becomes unstoppable? What if it ends up wiping all the elves of this realm? For all we know, this bug might end up becoming the next Demon King. Am I going to sit around doing nothing and let it do its thing? Absolutely not! I¡¯m not going to let this entire realm be destroyed just because you don¡¯t want to stop it,¡± he warned me.

    I was stunned and taken aback by his words. His tone was sharp and direct, but¡ª every word he said was true. We don¡¯t know what will happen when this bug absorbs all the life-force of the Cosmic Tree. We worship this tree, and we are willing to defend it with our lives. But right now, there was no way for us to even defend it from this giant insect feeding on it.

    I closed my eyes and gathered my thoughts to process things logically. Zen was right on all accounts. We had never understood the power of the Cosmic Tree and what it is capable of translating to after being sucked from it. It is not far-fetched if this insect ends up becoming the next Demon King with the absorbed power of the Cosmic Tree. I opened my eyes and glanced at the Supreme Commander, who was fighting against the ant. They will not last long with how fast that ant is taking down our forces like¡ª well, ants. We need to do something. I¡ª I need to do something. I gestured Zen to lean closer to me as I whispered to him.

    ¡°There¡ª is a legendary sword, called the Vengeful Flame, that is embedded inside a boulder inside our city. Legend has it that it is capable of slicing through anything with its flame. That¡ª might be powerful enough to bring down the Cosmic Tree. But it had never been tested or anything, and the sword can only be pulled out by the chosen one,¡± I whispered to him.

    He absorbed the information as he closed his eyes and looked upwards. With a sigh, he pulled me closer and gave me an order.

    ¡°Elementalist, get this sword from the city and come back here to burn the shit out of that insect. If that fails, cut the Cosmic Tree. Focus on this order and nothing else. When all of this is over, head towards the West and seek for my sensei, Peter Borage. You can seek shelter at my place there while I take responsibility for everything that happens here,¡± he whispered to me.

    ¡°No, I will take responsibility for my actions. Should the council deemed me a traitor and have me executed, I will gladly do so to protect this realm,¡± I assured him.

    ¡°Never will I ever let that happen. Go, you know what you need to do. I will take over the forces from here. Pull that damn sword as though your life depends on it. Carry the boulder here if you need to,¡± he ushered me to go.

    ¡°Understood. I¡¯ll be on my way then,¡± I whistled to my wolf who flew directly towards me to perform a quick mount. I know what needs to be done. I will be a traitor in the elf¡¯s eyes, I will have to forgo my beliefs, my culture, my¡ª duty; but I have to protect this realm from being destroyed. We chose to come here when it was not our realm. We chose to bring the Cosmic Tree to this realm even when we don¡¯t have to. This realm¡ª does not deserved to be destroyed due to our stubbornness to change. And I will change that.